Twenty years after the U.S. and NATO bombed Serbia into submission June 11, 1999, Serbian President Aleksander Vucic continues the campaign led by the late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, whose ethnic cleaning against Kosovo’s ethnic Muslim Albanians led to his end. Instead of Serbia’s leaders accepting the outcome of the Kosovo War, including prosecuting Milosevic at the Hague for war crimes, the Orthodox Christian country continues to fight Kosovo’s independence Vucic claims that a 2013 Brussels’ accord prevents both sides from seeking backers-or-detractors from Kosovo independence. Why, at this point, Serbia still tries to prevent Kosovo independence is anyone’s guess but clearly mirrors same line of the Kosovo War. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton led a NATO multinational force against Serbia’s attempt to persecute Serbia’s ethnic Albanians.
Belgrade stakes historic claims the Prishtina, the capital of Kosovo, where the population has close ethnic ties to Albania, whose population is primarily Muslim. Kosvo, at one time, was an extension of Serbian Orthodox Christian power but, like other countries, changed demographics, eventually turning primarily Salafist Muslim, the same Islamic roots as the Ottoman Empire. Before the end of WW I Nov. 11, 1918, Turkey’s Ottoman Empire controlled the Balkans for over 500 years. Serbian hatred toward ethnic Albanians stemmed from Muslim atrocities against Orthodox Christians, breeding today’s modern day hatred. Serbia’s Deputy Premier Ivica Dacic rejects Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence, promising to keep the Muslim country in Serbia’s orbit. Sitting directly South of Serbia and North of Albania, Kosovo’s the smallest Balkan country.
Vucic and Dacic have worked feverishly to persuade a variety of Western African countries including Togo, Grenada, Suiname, Liberia, Sao Tome and Principe, Guinea-Bissau, Burundi, Papua New Guinea and Lesotho to reverse their support for Kosovo independence. But whether Serbia pleads with other countries for its support, the fact is that Kosvo has no intent of returning to Serbian rule. Serbia enjoys the backing of Russia, China, India and five EU states, Spain, Slovakia, Cypress, Romania and Greece that have not recognized Kosovo. Kosovo’s foreign ministry complained that it’s faced “an unprecedented diplomatic and propaganda campaign by Serbia with the support of Russia and other countries to hinder Kosovo’s integration into the international community.” Kosvo wants to join NATO but has encountered stiff resistance by Serbia and its allies.
Kosovo enjoys close ties with the U.S. State Department that wholeheartedly backs Kosovo’s right to independence. After the Kosovo War, Serbia’s done everything possible to sabotage the Nov. 21, 1995 Dayton accords, ending the conflict among Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia. But no matter what was done to resolve the conflict among warring factions, the Kosovo issue was kicked down the road. While there’s barely tolerance for the Dayton Accords, Serbia never agreed to surrender Prishtina to Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians. Dayton Accords did nothing to stop the Serbian onslaught on Kosovo’s Albanian Muslim population, eventually resulting in the 1999 Kosovo War. Serbia and Kosovo signed a U.N.-brokered framework in 2013 but have faced stiff resistance from Belgrade ever since. Belgrade wants no part of Kosvo’s attempt to join Interpol, a prelude to joining NATO.
Kosovo’s President Hashim Thaci slapped Belgrade with a 100% duty on Serbian goods, essentially making trade impossible between the two countries. Thaci wants Serbia to recognize Kosovo’s sovereignty before resuming normal trade relations. Premier Ramush Haradinaj made his 100% tariff a key part of his campaign ahead of Kosovo’s Oct. 6 vote. “For Kosovo, that means suspending the tariffs imposed on Serbia,” Western nations said in a joint statement in Mid-August. “For Serbia, that means suspending the de-recognition campaign against Kosovo,” something, so far, Serbia has refused to do. Vucic rejects any attempt by Kosovo to seek independence, citing the 2013 deal signed in Brussels stopping both sides from corralling votes to either support or rejects Kosovo’s sovereignty. Whether Vucic likes it or not, Kosovo has long ago moved toward independence.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has worked overtime to gain Kosovo’s recognition as an independent state, despite attempts by Serbia to work with Russia and China to keep Kosovo part of Serbia. Russian President Vladimir Putin views Kosovo as another potential loss to the Russian Federation, after the Soviet Union dissolved Dec. 26, 1991. But no matter what Putin and his Serbian ally Vucic do to resist Kosovo’s independence, it’s a done deal. Serbia has no real interest in managing a primarily Muslim country, even though Belgrade has historic ties to Prishtina. When Interpol holds its conference in Chile in October, Kosovo will seek membership in the largely NATO-backed international police organization. Belgrade has no business trying to interfere with Kosovo’s sovereignty, no matter what its historic ties. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, regardless of Belgrade‘s objections.
