Ljubomir Kljakić


THE STATE OF FACTS AND THE FUTURE STATUS OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA*




Dear Ms. Chairperson Jane Cordy,
Ladies and gentlemen,

1. It is my pleasure to share some ideas, in the form of basic points, about the state of facts and future status of Kosovo and Metohija, within the set agenda of this seminar and of this session.

2. Clearly, this is no easy task, particularly given the context in which I am to to fulfill it. As you know, the central issue of talks that have been going on lately in international political, diplomatic, military, and intelligence circles, but also in the general public, related to ongoing negotiations over the future status of Kosovo and Metohija, is what the Republic of Serbia will do in the case scenario that has been signalled virtually every day for the last few months.

As you can guess, I am referring to the threatening and blackmailing predictions of a unilateral, illegitimate and secessionist proclamation of "independent Kosovo" as a second mono-ethnic Albanian state in Europe. Specifically, such an "independent state" is what Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders have vowed to declare following December 10, as a state of their own, on some 15 % of the state territory of the sovereign and democratic Republic of Serbia.

3. It goes without saying that such an outcome is not certain, but is highly probable. Not because of earlier declarations of "independent Kosovo" by ethnic Albanian leaders, as was the case in 1992 in Kačanik, and certainly not on the grounds of legitimate historical and current reasons, but simply because the probability of such an outcome is endorsed, energized and definitely enabled by the policy pursued since mid-1998 by the U.S. over the Kosovo tangle – concretely by one of the leading factions inside the U.S. administration.

In his recent statement to Radio-Television Serbia, which I believe has not escaped your attention, the former U.S. Ambassador in Belgrade, William Montgomery, said that the decision that Kosovo and Metohija will become independent was definitely taken in 1999, if not before, that is at the time of the 78-day low intensity nuclear war by U.S. and NATO against then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, or namely against Serbia.

4. True as it is that definite conclusions cannot be drawn from one statement alone, be it a statement by Ambassador Montgomery, the fact remains that its credibility is confirmed by the present U.S. President, George Bush Jr., who, during his spectacular and brief visit to Tirana, euphorically and cheerfully declared that the U.S. will do its utmost to ensure Kosovo's "independence".

Adding further to the credibility of Ambassador Montgomery's statement, and in particular to promises made by President Bush himself, are some recent statements made by high-ranking U.S. administration officials and by members of one of the most influential factions in the country's political life.

As has been widely known, Ms. Albright and Messrs. Fried, Burns, Lantos, Holbrooke, Abramowitz, Bugaisky, gentlemen of the International Crisis Group and others, do not only enthusiastically advocate for an "independent Kosovo" as the second Albanian state in Europe, but they also promise that this illegal creation will be recognized, immediately or at least very shortly, by the U.S. and by such a "coalition of willing" that the U.S. could pool world wide.

5. And finally, perhaps the major argument granting credibility to Ambassador Montgomery's statement, as well as President Bush's promise, was provided by Martti Ahtisaari himself. As you recall, Ahtisaari is the man who wrote an illuminating book entitled: Mission in Belgrade about his role in the low intensity nuclear war lead by the US and NATO against FR Yugoslavia, or Serbia, in 1999. Likewise, he is the man who, in 2006, basked in a stellar moment of global glory as the creator and chief author of the Kosovo Project envisaging, ideally, "supervised independence" under NATO's supreme and absolute power.

Although the project was not taken into consideration and, consequently, could not be adopted thus losing its operability and becoming irrelevant, it is this very concept, dubbed "the Ahtisaari Plan", that is synonimous with the proclaimed "independent Kosovo". In fact, all key actors in favour of "independent Kosovo" on both sides of the Atlantic reiterate that it will be an ideal state built upon each respective provision and annex of the Ahtisaari plan. Most recently, even the laws which the Ahtisaari Plan lists and outlines are being passed in Priština.
The Ahtisaari Plan is a political manifesto of an international alliance professing the declaration of "independent Kosovo" and claiming that, as such, it will be recognized by the U.S. and the "coalition of willing". In other words, the project of "independent Kosovo" envisages, ideally, "supervised independence" in which supreme and absolute power rests with the single military-political alliance in today's world. Military dictatorship, or, put in milder terms, military state, is just another name for such a system.

6. The project on declaring such an "independent Kosovo" thus represents crucial evidence which goes to prove the failure of the so-called "new liberal imperialism", or "new liberal colonialism", with its scholastic witticisms about the "breaking" and "making" of nations, with its doctrine of the so-called "humanitarian interventions" and "preventive wars" and, especially, with its basic principle – principle of double standards.

It is to Robert Cooper, Director-General for External and Politico-Military Affairs of the EU, directly responsible to Javier Solana, that we have to thank for an open description and coherent interpretation of the "new liberal imperialism", or the "new liberal colonialism".

According to Cooper, the current moment in world history is distinctly marked by turbulence, conflict and chaos. World chaos stems from the alledged division into "postmodern states" (U.S.A., Great Britain, European Union, Japan), "modern" and "premodern" or "failed states". An orderly system, the "new world order", according to Cooper, should and must be introduced by "postmodern states" – by consent or by force. To reach this high ideal of bringing order into chaos, "postmodern states" have to apply "the idea of double standards", Cooper says. For him, the aim fully justifying such principal lack of principles is self-evident.

"Among themselves, the postmodern states operate on the basis of laws and open co-operative security. But when dealing with more old-fashioned kinds of state outside the postmodern limits, Europeans need to revert to the rougher methods of an earlier era – force, pre-emptive atack, deception, whatever is necessary for those who still live in the nineteenth-century world of every state for itself./ In the jungle, one must use the laws of the jungle." This quotation from Cooper's book: The Breaking of Nations (2003), illustrates the core of the ideology of "new liberal imperialism".

As most explicit evidence justifying his thesis that "in the jungle, one must use the laws of jungle", Cooper specifically mentions the main "episodes" from the decade-long war for Yugoslav succession, war in Croatia, war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the case of Serbia and, especially, the war for Kosovo in 1999.

7. However, nothing is further from the truth than the propaganda statement that "new liberal imperialism" represents not only an ideological novelty, but also an innovative theoretical concept of international affairs. The very opposite is the case. Thus it is a doctrine of subjucation, which is as old as recorded history.

For example, Cooper's "premodern" or "failed states", as a "jungle" which, allegedly, compels "postmodern states" to use "laws of the jungle" to arrange planetary chaos on the principles of the "postmodern" world order, is just a modern variation of the 18th century doctrine of "disorganized territories" or "barbarian" countries which are res nullis, or nobody's. For this reason, they are highly suitable for a "just" division and colonization by two or more organized Christian states, according to applicable international law and the high ideals of "Christianity" and "civilization".

Today, this res nullis, or nobody's is the Republic of Serbia, a sovereign and democratic state which, in the name of the present-day ideals of "Christianity" and "civilization" should be "justly" divided and colonized by two or more orderly "postmodern" states.

8. Yet, if we follow the logic of events which, thanks to Cooper's frank and acribic writing we can see and understand clearly, it will not be difficult for us to place the case of Kosovo and Metohija, in its post-1998 or even earlier phase, where it belongs. This is, in fact, a gigantic "postmodern" political, military, economic and every other experiment of deconstruction and reconstruction in vivo, the experiment of "creative destrution" as Schumpeter would say. This experiment of "creative destrution", i.e. "flexible recycling" has nearly got out of control. Its only real, tangible and measurable result is that it has multiplied human suffering and pain to inconceivable proportions.

9. This is substantiated by all available data covering the period of the last eight years, in which Kosovo and Metohija has been governed under the framework, often interpreted in a so-called "creative and flexible" manner, of the UNSC Resolution 1244, namely since June 10, 1999 and up to this day, October 26, 2007. And these facts are implacable. Here are some examples.

Until June 1999, there were 372,444 Serbs and members of other discriminated ethnic communities in Kosovo and Metohija. Since June 1999, as a result of the Albanian campaign of systematic ethnic violence and ethnic cleansing, more than 250,000 Serbs and members of other discriminated ethnic communities have been expelled from Kosovo and Metohija. More than 50,000 Serb employees lost their jobs, with some 8,000 engineers, technicians, managers and other Serb workers dismissed from the energy sector alone. In the campaign of ethnic cleansing, Serbs were driven out of no fewer than 312 settlements. In the period from June 10, 1999 to December 31, 2006, 7,108 ethnically motivated attacks against Serbs and other ethnically discriminated groups were committed. Of these, 4,769 attacks were categorized as terrorist acts; 662 people were killed (558 Serbs, 104 members of other discriminated ethnic groups); 1,091 people were abducted (861 Serbs, 230 members of other discriminated groups), 960 were seriously injured; 17,736 housing and other facilities were destroyed or otherwise damaged; 18,557 houses were looted; 119 churches and monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church were destroyed, desecrated and plundered; 122 Orthodox cemeteries were destroyed or ravaged; 24 cultural heritage sites were ruined or wrecked and 30,000 houses and flats owned by Serbs and other discriminated communities were illegally seized and occupied. Acording to information available, only 18 perpetrators were tried and convicted for these crimes. In a fresh wave of Albanian anti-Serb violence, during the purge of 17 March 2007, 3,870 people were driven out of their homes, 18 Serbs were killed, 143 were wounded, 6 towns and 9 vilages were completely ethnically cleansed, 935 houses and 10 public facilities were destroyed, 35 Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries were torched and 3 Serbian Orthodox cemeteries were desecrated. In 2004, expelled Serbs and other discriminated community members filed 17,000 legal claims for property damages with the courts in Kosovo-Metohija (provisional judicial institutions), but not a single case against offenders has been launched to date.

From the beginning of the current cycle of the crisis and from June 1999, up to June 2004, 226,147 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Kosovo-Metohija residing in the Republic of Serbia and in Montenegro for over 6 years were registered. Out of this number, 68% are Serbs, 12% Romas and 8 % Montenegrins. According to UNHCR data, of more than 250,000 IDPs, only 16,452 persons, or hardly 7%, have returned. At the moment, there are 146,297 Serbs and members of other discriminated ethnic groups living in Kosovo and Metohija. These people are living in apartheid-like conditions. This is one aspect of the dramatically bleak Kosmet reality.

10. By the same token, eight years after the implementation of the "postmodern" "breaking of nation - making of nation" concept under international administration in Kosovo and Metohija, other aspects of the bleak Kosmet reality have not moved forward, either. On the contrary, they have gotten worse. This notorious fact could not be ignored even in the latest, October 2007 version, of the otherwise highly optimistic and enthusiastic report of Mr. Joachim Rücker, current High Representatative of the UN Secretary-General in Kosovo and Metohija.

For example, under the heading: Economy, # 15, on page 5, the report mentions "interruptions of electricity supply", "lack of capacity of public institutions" and the lack of "adequate skills in the labour market". These statements, or if I may add, understatements, acknowledge, if reluctantly, the fact that UNMIK administration and its provisional institutions of local self-governance have not only failed to move things forward, but helped to make them dramatically worse since 1999, including in the three-month period covered by the report to the UNSC.
Despite this, under the title: Governance, the same report states, with much unfounded optimism and doctrinary complacency, that "progress continues in the area of governance at the central level". This assertion is altogether unfounded. Namely, any progress is impossible if the so-called "central level" of governance, meaning: highest authority, is unable to stabilize the electricity production and supply in eight years, if it is acknowledged that after eight years in power, the same authority is faced with a "lack of capacity of public institutions" and a lack of "adequate skills on the labour market".

The fact that, some 50,000 educated and experienced professionals in various fields, mostly Serbs but also members of other discriminated ethnic communities, have been expelled from Kosovo and Metohija since 1999, is completely overlooked and omitted from this report. In view of this huge loss in human resource due to radical ethnic violence, any prospect for the economic recovery of Kosovo and Metohija is dubious, to say the least.

11. The overall result of violence is the forced change of the ethnic structure in Kosovo and Metohija. Neither this nor any earlier UNMIK report makes any mention whatsoever of this phenomenon. However, this is a demographic offensive or demographic aggression which boomed after June 10, 1999. The present impact of this demographic aggression is such that, for example, in Priština there were an estimated 225,000 residents in 1989 (last census of entire Kosovo and Metohija population was carried out in 1981; Albanian ethnic community boycotted the census conducted in 1991), of whom some 45,000 Serbs and members of other ethnic communities that have been discriminated in the last few years. Today, Priština has some 550,000 residents, nearly all Albanian. It is estimated (according to UNMIK and provisional local institutions) that, out of the 550,000 Priština residents, Albanians form an apsolute majority of over 98%. Serb, Roma, Jewish and other discriminated ethnic communities have been completely uprooted from the Kosovo and Metohija capital.

12. This artificial population boom (in eight years, the number of residents in Priština has grown by 325,000, i.e. from 225,000 to approximately 550,000) represents an eccentric phenomenon in the modern world. It occured in Priština, the capital of the Province with chronic problems in the production and supply of potable water and food, with a "low level of capacity of public institutions", a lack of "adequate skills in the labour market", with a virtually non-existent economy, an educational system in chaos, and with an unemployment rate above 60%.

Where have all these people come from?

This leads to the issue of the so-called "illegal migration" and non-citizenship. The question of illegal migration remains unanswered to this day. Today, nobody knows how many people actually live in Kosovo and Metohija. Nor where they all came from. Liberal estimations by UNMIK and by different provisional authorities range between 2,5 million to 1,7, showing a discrepancy of 800,000!

13. The full picture of the de facto state in Kosovo and Metohija is complemented by numerous credible reports from different international institutions, organizations and individuals. Let me mention the report on the state of human rights in Kosovo and Metohija by Marek Nowicki, confidential NATO reports about the structure and proportions of the crime industry and corruption in Kosovo, the report prepared by the Berlin Institute for European Policy and commissioned by the German Ministry of Defence in January 2007, which describes Kosovo and Metohija as Europe's "black hole", "crime state" and "captive state". In addition, a recent report by IMF explicitly states that Kosovo cannot be regarded as sustainable economy, nor will it become one for many years to come. The latest EUPT report talks about the spreading of islamic extremism and the lack of capacity in Kosovo and Metohija to counteract this phenomenon.

Noteworthy are also memoires of General Fabio Minni, articles by Michael Mecher, a UK Labour Cabinet Minister with the longest term in office (1997 - 2003) and by Gregory Clark, Australian diplomat, politician and university professor who published a highly rated article entitled Serbia Owed Justice in Kosovo in the distinguished Japan Times, criticizing the policy of the UN, U.S. and international actors in Kosovo and Metohija... etc.

14. All of the available reports on the state of affairs in Kosovo and Metohija, particularly on the situation within the Albanian ethnic community, unanimously agree that the society's key feature is a deep structural crisis: collapsed economy that is vitally dependent on international donations and family remittances, unemployment rate in excess of 60%, endemic non-observance of the law and the legal system, crime industry and corruption, repressive and militarized social space, the culture of fear, intolerance, agression and ethnic hatred, ghetoization of discriminated minority groups, primarily Serbs and systematic violence against them, absolute lack of perspective especially for the younger generations.

15. In other words, the facts clearly confirm that this giant "postmodern" social experiment has, over the last eight years, transformed the space of Kosovo and Metohija into a "black hole", "crime state" and "captive state" within the territory of the Republic of Serbia and in the very heart of Europe. The plan to declare "independent Kosovo" aims to gain international and legal legitimacy for such a creation and for its architects and advocates on both sides of the Atlantic. With all its security, political, moral and other grave implications for the region, the whole continent, other parts of the world, international order and international relations in general.

16. This situation requires a complex solution. Only socially inventive and responible approach can lead to an effective and long-term, sustainable solution. Such a solution has been put forward and supported by the Republic of Serbia to the maximum of its capacity. The concept is that of substantial autonomy, the best offer that the Albanian ethnic community in Kosovo and Metohija has and will ever receive.

Unfortunately, despite notorious facts, the "independent Kosovo" programme propaganda is deafening. And this programme is based on a "simple" fundamentalist principle – "independence or war". As already mentioned, this socially uninventive, irresponsible, and morally untenable programme of blackmail and volence, is supported by all advocates of "independent Kosovo".

Europe and the world have already experienced a structually identical situation – the so-called Munich Agreement of September 1938. Therefore, of vital importance for the future status of Kosovo and Metohija are decisions which will be taken by the EU, U.S., Russia and all other actors on the international stage, including NATO, of course. Serbia has stated its position publicly, openly, in a principled manner and with no hidden agenda. If this position is ignored in favour of "independent Kosovo", deep crisis will become a permanent feature of the international system, the whole world will be affected by its chaotic force, the acceleration of adverse trends will continue and gain momentum, the EU will face a profound crisis of its own identity and institutions, relations between the U.S. and Russia will deteriorate, the institutes of the international system will be seriously, even irreversibly jeopardized, Serbia will, indeed, be forced to undertake all those measures which lie at the disposal of any sovereign and democratic state in the modern world and the "independent Kosovo" will become another crisis spot which will take decades, if not an entire century, to recover.

17. Although this outcome, as we saw, is probable it definitely is not certain. Whether the vectors behind events will change their course and whether the whole dynamic of the process will swerve in the direction which Serbia, but not only Serbia, supports, remains to be seen. That possibility is after all, just as probable but not certain. In any case, it is on decisions already taken, or being taken or about to be taken that our common, short and long term perspective and our broader human prospects depend.

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* Ljubomir Kljakić's address delivered at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly 67th Rose-Roth Seminar, Serbia and Europe: Challenges of Integration, organized by NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, National Assembly House, 25 - 27 October 2007; Session II, Kosovo and Metohia: Towards the Final Status, Friday, 26 October 2007. Speakers in this session (by order of address) were: Stephen P. Schook, U.S. Army general (retired) and Chief Deputy SRSG in Kosovo, Jonas Jonsson, Head of the ICR/EUSR Planning Team and Ljubomir Kljakić, Аssistant Minister for Kоsovo and Metohija of the Republic of Serbia; the session was chaired by Ms. Jane Cordy, Canada, the Liberal Party, member of NATO PA. Participating in the debate following the address by Ljubomir Kljakić were: Nicolay Kondratenko and Victor Alksnis (Russian Federation), Jonas Jonsson, Bruce George (UK, Vice President of NATO PA), Andrea Cellino (Deputy NATO SG for Partnership and External Affairs), Steffen Elgersma (NATO), Stephen P. Schook and Giancarlo Giorgetti (Italy, League for the North, NATO PA member).