Serbia digs in
ROME/BRUSSELS — Kosovo is ready to declare unilateral independence, but will coordinate its moves with the United States and the European Union, the leader of the province’s Democratic Party said on Friday.
Former rebel leader Hashim Thaci, who has vowed to declare independence in Kosovo, won parliamentary elections in the predominantly Albanian province on November 17, which was boycotted by the ethnic Serb population (around 6 percent).
“Yes, we will proclaim the province’s independence, even unilaterally. When? Kosovo is ready (to do that) even today. Tomorrow may be too late. But we will seek to coordinate everything with Washington and Brussels,” he told Italy’s Corriere della Sera.
Asked about the future of the Serb minority, Thaci vowed to ensure their security: “Kosovo will be a country not only of Albanians, but of all citizens,” he said.*
At an ongoing summit, the EU leaders said Serbia could be offered an accelerated path towards EU membership. But, Belgrade said earlier it would not trade in Kosovo’s independence just to join the EU.
* “The current hostilities pit ethnic-minded Albanians against the various Slavic populations of Yugoslavia and occur at all levels of society, from the highest officials to the humblest peasants. . . . Slavic Orthodox churches have been attacked, and flags have been torn down. Wells have been poisoned and crops burned. Slavic boys have been knifed, and some young ethnic Albanians have been told by their elders to rape Serbian girls.” — New York Times 1987
“. . . the first war of the 21st century: a conflict not about communism, but about race and ethnicity, being waged by committee, against a madman who is not himself a direct threat to the countries waging war against him. . . . [T]he President is committed, and the country is behind him. The number of Americans willing to take the war to the next step – committing ground forces – has in fact been increasing steadily. It speaks well for the future.” — Susan Estrich, 1999, Clinton activist and Cabinet post nominee
“There is no place in modern Europe for ethnically pure states. That’s a 19th-century idea, and we are trying to transition into the 21st century, and we are going to do it with multi-ethnic states.” — General Wesley Clark NATO Commander, April 1999