“If there is a perception that there is a threat to the Serbs … Serbia is going to have a very difficult decision to make in terms of what it is going to do.”
In lighting a national Christmas tree in the capital of Pristina Wednesday, Kosovo’s president, Fatmir Sejdiu, said the province’s independence is only days away.
In fact, Kosovo’s government is not expected to declare independence until late January at the earliest. All of Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian leaders favor independence but most say that move needs to be approved by the United States and the European Union.
Serbia says independence for Kosovo would be in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution, and Belgrade would not recognize it. Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since NATO bombing in 1999 halted Serbia’s repression of the 90 percent Albanian majority.
The U.S. government supports a plan drawn up by U.N. mediator Martti Ahtisaari, which recommends independence for Kosovo, but under international supervision to provide protection for Kosovo’s ethnic Serbs and other minorities.
Elez Biberaj, an expert on Albanian politics and the EuroAsia division director at Voice of America, told a forum at Washington’s Wilson Center that Kosovo independence will promote regional stability.
“The status-quo is not in Serbia’s interest, it is not in Kosovo’s interest, and it is not in the interest of other neighboring countries,” said Elez Biberaj.