Will the United States Abandon Kosovo?
By Dean B. Pineles
Balkan Insight
June 7, 2023
In laying the blame squarely on Kosovo, the US response
to recent violence in the north marks a major departure
from longstanding policy. It’s neither fair nor wise.
As an American former judge with the European Union’s rule of
law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, I’ve been following closely the
media reports regarding the recent turmoil in the Serb-dominated
north of Kosovo.
The United States and the EU have placed the blame for violent
Serb protests squarely on Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who
authorised the use of police officers at the end of May to
escort recently-elected ethnic Albanian mayors into municipal
buildings in four Serb-majority municipalities, using force if
necessary.
The move was made without prior consultation with US and EU
officials, and despite the advice given on May 18 by the Quint
countries -- the US, France, Italy, Germany, and the UK -- not
to enter the buildings for fear of trouble.
Kurti’s decision has been seen as an act of provocation, as well
as a setback for the EU-led, US-supported dialogue between
Belgrade and Pristina. The international community is furious.
The Serb violence that ensued resulted in injuries to 30 members
of the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force, which had been called
in to quell the violence, and about 50 civilians.
The situation has been covered widely in the American press. US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was quoted on June 2 in the
Wall Street Journal as saying: “These actions [by Kosovo]
have sharply and unnecessarily escalated tensions, undermining
our efforts to help normalise relations between Kosovo and
Serbia and will have consequences for our bilateral relations
with Kosovo.”
In an article on Balkan Insight, the US ambassador to Kosovo,
Jeffrey Hovenier, was quoted as saying that the US “will cease
all efforts to assist Kosovo in gaining recognition from states
that have not recognised Kosovo and in the process of
integration into international organisations”.
I was stunned by this verbal bombshell.
- Serbian ‘carte blanche’ -
While Kurti may indeed share part of the blame by venturing into
a predictable Serb maelstrom, it is unfathomable that Hovenier
would essentially delegitimise Kosovo in the eyes of the world
after over 20 years of strong support from the US.
Perhaps some tough love was in order, but Hovenier has played
right into the hands of Serbia and Russia, and presented them
with a political victory they never could have achieved on their
own, even in their wildest dreams.
Serbia has engaged in a campaign of de-recognition and de-internationalisation
for years, across the globe. It now has carte blanche to
continue its efforts.
Another US sanction was to retract an invitation to Kosovo to
participate in ‘Defender 23’, joint military exercises involving
the US, NATO countries and its partners. This represents a huge
blow to Kosovo’s aspirations to join the EU and NATO.
How did Kosovo arrive at this perilous place where the US, its
major supporter and benefactor, is reluctant to rebuke Serbia,
while at the same time, as Americans say, throwing Kosovo under
the bus?
- Sticking point in negotiations -
During my 28 months in Kosovo between 2011 and 2013, I was
always aware of the ethnic tension between the Albanians and
Serbs, particularly in the north.
On one occasion in 2012, I was assigned to a case in North
Mitrovica, where the US had funded the rebuilding of the UN
courthouse after Serb riots in 2008 immediately following
Kosovo’s declaration of independence.
Two other international judges and I mobilised on the south side
of the Ibar River where we gathered up our helmets, bullet proof
vests and gas masks, then piled into an armored vehicle for our
circuitous trip to the courthouse on the north side of the
river.
The trial progressed smoothly, and there were no security
incidents, but the tension in the air was palpable. Clearly,
there was enmity between the Albanians living south of the river
and the Serbs living north, a little more than a decade after
the 1998-99 war. I wondered what the future held.
Since then there have been repeated efforts to normalise
relations between Kosovo and Serbia through the Dialogue,
starting in 2013 with the Brussels agreement, which among other
provisions, called for the creation of an Association of Serb
Municipalities, ASM.
Subsequent efforts until recently have largely failed for one
reason or another [often because of Serbian provocation],
despite a constant parade of heads of state, diplomats,
ambassadors, ministers, special envoys, rapporteurs,
negotiators, foreign delegations, and assorted other officials,
all trying to bring the two sides together.
The predominant sticking point has always been the creation of
the ASM and the proper extent of its authority. For Serbia and
the Serbs in the North, the ASM is the sine qua non which dwarfs
all other issues between the two countries. They want the ASM to
be vested with broad authority and executive powers.
Kosovo has steadfastly refused to agree to an Association with
sweeping powers as a clear infringement on its sovereignty and
territorial integrity, like the trouble-making Republika Srpska
in Bosnia.
- Trouble brewing -
Recently, the Dialogue had begun to show some promise with
bilateral meetings and agreements between Kurti and Serbian
President Aleksandar Vucic in Brussels in February and Ohrid,
North Macedonia, in March. Point 7 of the agreement struck in
Ohrid provides for an ASM, but as always the devil is in the
detail and Kosovo and Serbia remain far apart.
Serious trouble had already been brewing well before these
meetings. There was the licence plate flare-up last November,
when Kosovo insisted that Serb residents in the north switch
licence plates from those issued by Serbia to those issued by
Kosovo, consistent with Kosovo sovereignty.
But this caused massive civil unrest among the Serbs, as well as
the resignation of all Serb municipal officials in the north,
such as mayors, police and others. This left the municipalities
in the north without governance.
During the unrest, Vucic placed the Serbian military on high
alert, exacerbating the problem as is his normal protocol.
But under intense international pressure, Kosovo backed down and
postponed implementation of the new licence plate regime. The
Serbs were somehow absolved of any responsibility, even though
it was obvious that they acted under the encouragement or orders
of Belgrade.
So what was Kurti supposed to do? Despite ongoing Serb
resistance to every effort by Kosovo to assert its lawful
authority in their municipalities, these municipalities are part
of Kosovo, and Kosovo had to fill the void.
So Kosovo then scheduled elections in the north on April 24 to
fill the vacant positions pursuant to legal requirements, even
as acknowledged by the Quint statement referenced above. But
again, under likely orders from Belgrade, the Serbs boycotted
the elections and less than four per cent of eligible voters
cast ballots.
Those who did turn out cast their votes for three Kosovo
Albanian mayors and one Bosniak, creating an obviously untenable
situation. The Serbs were barely criticised for their failure to
participate.
The situation then exploded. After being sworn in, the mayors
attempted to enter the municipal buildings to begin work,
requiring the assistance of Kosovo police, sometimes using
force. Apparently, the mayors were supposed to work elsewhere
instead of the municipal buildings, which somehow took on
mythical significance.
This set off the violent protests by Serb nationalists and
alleged criminal gangs as we’ve just witnessed, some with the
letter ‘Z’ written on their clothes as a gesture of support for
Russia’s war in Ukraine. The KFOR peacekeepers and civilians
were injured and Vucic, always adept at making a bad situation
worse, placed his military on high alert.
- Times may be changing -
This is the state of affairs now being blamed exclusively on
Kurti. Obviously, he should have taken the Quint’s advice, since
that advice was a clear warning that the Serbs would find a way
to exploit the situation and foment trouble, as happened.
But should Kosovo now be ostracised by the US as implied by
Hovenier, while the Serbs get a free pass?
During my time in Kosovo and since then, I have always had the
strong feeling that my country, the US, was an unwavering
supporter of Kosovo through thick and thin.
After all, this small country is a maturing democracy in the
Western Balkans with a developing respect for the rule of law
following the carnage perpetrated by Serbia during the war. This
left over 10,000 dead, countless women raped as a weapon of war,
and nearly a million refugees as a result of ethnic cleansing.
The US took the lead in the NATO air strikes to end the war and
helped rebuild the country thereafter. It has always provided
significant financial, developmental and diplomatic resources.
And it has always supported Kosovo in earning recognition from
other countries, now over 100, and supported Kosovo’s efforts to
gain entry into international organisations, all despite
Serbia’s unrelenting efforts to the contrary.
And Kosovo has always shown its extreme gratitude for America’s
assistance and support, both in word and deed.
For example, Kosovo continues to host the huge US military base
Bondsteel in Ferizaj/Urosevac. And Kosovo volunteered to house
hundreds of Afghan refugees while they are being vetted for
security purposes, a programme that is still in progress.
Kosovo has opened an embassy in Jerusalem as requested by the
US. It has imposed sanctions on Russia for its unprovoked war
with Ukraine, while Serbia has not.
Streets in Pristina are named after several Americans heroes,
such as former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and former
NATO commander Wesley Clark, and there is a huge statute of
ex-President Bill Clinton near downtown. American flags can be
seen flying throughout the country.
And during this time, many Serbs in the north, with allegiance
only to Belgrade, as well as various gangs of organised
criminals, have repeatedly caused trouble, being able to act
with virtual impunity.
This overall sequence of recent events, including demeaning
statements by the US, suggests that times may be changing. It
may be that the US is now more inclined to placate Serbia, so as
to encourage it not to fall further into Russia’s constantly
destabilising embrace. Time will tell.
In the meantime, the Kosovo government has now agreed to call
new elections in the north, probably sometime this summer. This
is a positive sign, and perhaps the US will review the
historical context of the dealings between Serbia and Kosovo,
and welcome Kosovo back into the fold.
Judge Dean B. Pineles is a graduate of Brown University,
Boston University Law School and the Kennedy School of
Government at Harvard University. He served as an
international judge with EULEX from 2011-13. In addition to
Kosovo, he has extensive rule-of-law experience in other
countries, and wrote about his experiences in ‘A Judicial
Odyssey, From Vermont to Russia, Kazakhstan and Georgia,
then on to War Crimes and Organ Trafficking in Kosovo’,
published in July 2022 by Rootstock Publishers in
Montpelier, Vermont.
Originally published at
https://balkaninsight.com/2023/06/07/will-the-united-states-abandon-kosovo/