A Gift For Kosovo

I would have predicted that the week following Kosovar independence would be full of hand-wringing over the status of international law, the ability of Kosovars to govern themselves, and the role of U.S. foreign policy in re-shaping the world. But something else grabbed headlines instead: the behavior of the Serbs and the irresponsibility of the Serbian government.

"A Serbian leader delivered another demonstration Thursday of why it was necessary for NATO and the United Nations to intervene to protect the province of Kosovo and then to guide it to independence. Appearing before a large rally in Belgrade orchestrated to protest Kosovo's independence declaration on Sunday, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica incited Serbs against the United States and other governments that had recognized the new state. Then his police melted away from the center of the city, allowing an organized group of masked thugs to attack the U.S. Embassy, where they broke in and set a fire. The embassies of Croatia, Turkey, Bosnia, Belgium, Germany and Britain were also attacked," wrote the Washington Post in their lead editorial on February 23, 2008.

The New York Times was even more pointed about the violence in Serbia, "Kosovo’s declaration of independence was never going to be easy. Still, it is alarming to see the Serbian government so unwilling to peacefully channel its citizens’ anger and disappointment. Its failure to control rampaging crowds that set fire Thursday to part of the United States Embassy compound in Belgrade — and attacked several other embassies — is a shocking and unacceptable abdication of responsibility."

Meanwhile, the story from inside Kosovo is quite different. Across Pristina, Prizren, Pej, Gjakova, and almost the entire country - including historic religious sites maintained by the Serbian Orthodox Church - there is no indication of violence. Only the Serb-run areas of Kosovo, including northern Mitrovica, reported rioting and brutality. This stark contrast is a credit to the Kosovar Albanians and should reassure those concerned about Kosovo's capacity for self-rule.

For Serbs the best possible future is a strong, stable economy, fully pledged to the European Union. But as the New York Times concludes, "Serbian leaders have a clear choice: stoke this xenophobia and self-pity, and further isolate themselves, or tamp down these passions and accept Europe’s offer of economic and political integration."