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 The Case for Kosovo's IndependenceOp-Ed by Chargé d'Affaires Scott F. KilnerWiener ZeitungApril 1, 2008The United States applauds the major step Austria and much of Europe took in recent days toward the goal of a continent whole, free and at peace. Recognition of Kosovo's independence frees both the people of Kosovo and their neighbors to move beyond the conflicts of the 1990s. At last, they may all pursue a wider vision of integration with an undivided Euro-Atlantic community. Peace and prosperity in Europe has long been a fundamental goal of United States foreign policy. Over the last century, the United States has repeatedly shown its commitment to Europe's security and well-being. Beginning in 1989, ethnic Albanians, who constitute over 90 percent of Kosovo's population, suffered brutal repression and ethnic cleansing at the hands of the regime of Slobodan Milosevic. After NATO's intervention halted the violence in 1999, UN Security Council Resolution 1244 ended Belgrade's rule over Kosovo and established a temporary UN administration. Since then, UN, OSCE, EU and NATO efforts on the ground all underpinned attempts to find a solution to the problem of Kosovo's status. Europe and the U.S. supported negotiations to find a mutually-acceptable solution to the problem of Kosovo's status. For two full years, talks were held in Vienna with the generous support of the Austrian government - led first by the UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari and then by a troika made up of the EU, Russia, and the United States. Despite these enormous efforts, the two sides remained irreconcilable on the basic question of whether Kosovo should be independent. Acknowledging this deadlock, Special Envoy Ahtisaari developed a comprehensive proposal for Kosovo's status, including a recommendation that Kosovo become independent subject to a period of international supervision. The United States, Europe and a majority of UN Security Council members all agreed that independence is the only viable outcome for Kosovo. Due to the legacy of conflict and deep mutual mistrust, there was no way in which the people of Serbia and Kosovo could remain together in one functional, democratic state. Allowing Kosovo to drift indefinitely in a state of limbo would have turned it into an incubator for instability, with woeful consequences for all of Europe. Neither could we allow continued uncertainty to darken Kosovo's economic prospects, for example by depriving it of badly needed IMF and World Bank loans. Kosovo is now independent. Our task is to help the country's leadership and people develop their new state into a self-sustaining, multi-ethnic country that is no longer a ward of the international community. In their declaration of independence, Kosovo's leaders committed themselves to achieve the highest standards of democracy, including freedom and tolerance for citizens of all ethnic backgrounds. As President Bush has remarked, "these are principles that honor human dignity; they are values America looks for in a friend." No country in Europe will benefit more from Kosovo's independence than Serbia itself. Further delay in the outcome would have encouraged false hopes, distracting Serbia's leaders from addressing the concerns of their citizens and Serbia's own European future. Serbia needs to take up its rightful place in Europe, the Transatlantic Community, and the world. Like Austria and its European partners, the United States stands ready to welcome it. e-mail: embassy@usembassy.at |
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