Translated material
Edge of Discord
Russia and the US are increasingly at loggerheads over Kosovo
The problem of Kosovo's status is rapidly turning into an increasingly acute international crisis . The United States and Russia are exchanging tough statements, and in the region itself a secret plan for winding down the UN Mission has already been developed. It should be replaced by the representation of the European Union.As Albanian sources in Kosovo told Vremya Novostey, the plan was prepared in strict secrecy by EU experts, officials of the UN Mission and the Kosovo government. Under this plan, the UN office would transfer powers to the EU's civilian police mission and local authorities. “One of the goals of the plan is to suppress or end the influence of Serbian state institutions in Kosovo,” a Vremya Novostei source in Pristina, who wished to remain anonymous, told Vremya Novostey. The veil of secrecy is due to the fact that the decision to terminate the work of the UN Mission in Kosovo, according to international law, can only be made by the UN Security Council.
In Russia, attempts to move the Kosovo issue beyond the UN are causing growing concern. “For the first time in post-war history, a state that is a member of the UN was dismembered. This is unacceptable,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday. According to him, the Kosovo precedent is already ready to be used not only in Europe, but also in the Middle East: “There are calls for declaring the independence of a Palestinian state following the example of Kosovo.”
Despite Russian protests, the process of recognition of Kosovo's independence, declared unilaterally on February 17 , continues. The number of countries that have recognized the Republic of Kosovo is close to two dozen. Among the leading countries on this list are the United States, France, Great Britain, Australia, Germany, Italy and Denmark. The not-so-long list gave grounds to the Chairman of the Commonwealth of Serbian Communities and Settlements in Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Jaksic, to declare that Kosovo’s “artificial creation was not recognized by most of the world.”
In Pristina, however, they do not hide that the most important thing for them is the support of the United States and leading countries - members of the European Union. “The Americans initiated the accelerated declaration of Kosovo independence, and they imposed this position on the European Union,” Pavel Kandel, an expert on the Balkans at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Vremya Novostey. In his opinion, the development of the situation around Kosovo “demonstrated that the EU does not exist as an independent foreign policy and military force. Brussels says that Kosovo is a unique case from an international legal point of view. However, the leadership of the European Union could not convince even all members of its organization of this. Some of them, for example Spain, Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, still do not recognize the independence of Kosovo.”
In this situation, Washington decided to launch a diplomatic attack. Russia was chosen as the target. American politicians, one after another, declare that it is Russian opposition that is preventing the newborn state from coming into being. US Deputy Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said the other day that “the Russians are pursuing a rather cynical policy”: “They are not in Kosovo, and they are not doing anything to help the Kosovars.” And the former US representative to the UN, Richard Holbrooke, even accused Moscow of involvement in the massive anti-American riots in Belgrade on February 21 , when the embassies of the US, Turkey and Croatia were attacked. “The declaration of independence did not go as smoothly as people had hoped. And this is the result of incitement to violence by extremist elements in Belgrade who were privately supported by the Russians,” Mr. Holbrooke said.
In Moscow, the statements of American representatives provoked a response. “Not a single sane person will doubt Russia’s contribution to the Kosovo settlement,” said the Department of Information and Press of the Russian Foreign Ministry. According to Smolenskaya Square, it is precisely the actions of the United States that are “cynical in nature”: “Isn’t it outright cynicism to support one Kosovo Albanian side (as in the text - Ed. ), disregard for law for the sake of so-called “political expediency”, indifference in regarding the fate of one hundred thousand Serbs, who in the 21st century are essentially driven into ghettos?”
As for Richard Holbrooke’s statements, even the official representative of the US State Department, Sean McCormack, considered it necessary to react to them: “I don’t see anything that would indicate their (Russians - Ed. ) irresponsible inciting role.”