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Interview
Kosova Should Set a Date for Independence Next Spring
17 July 2007 Balkan expert David Phillips, former senior adviser to the US State Department’s Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs, tells Jeta Xharra that Kosovars need to spell out that they will go for statehood after a 120-day grace period for fresh talks has expired.
Xharra:
What is the right step that Kosovo should take at this moment to make its point?
Phillips:
Everyone’s talked about a 120-day period but we don’t know when
that’s going to begin? So what we need is to have the assembly in
Kosova adopt a resolution that affirms its commitment to the
principles of the Ahtisaari plan, recognises the positive
contribution of [French President Nicolas] Sarkozy’s timetable and
makes it clear that the 120-day period begins on the day that
statement is adopted. Let the events at the Security Council in New
York play out. Apparently Russia is studying the resolution, which is
more positive than they have been in the past… Let’s see what
happens in New York and between the outcome of that Security Council
debate and the visit to Washington by the so-called Unity Team.
Xharra:
The meeting with Secretary of State Rice is on 23
July.
Are you saying that between now and then Kosovars should adopt a new
resolution?
Phillips:
Just before they go to Washington they should adopt a statement -
just a couple of sentences that makes clear that they’re
participating with the international community, that they’re
preparing to talk and to negotiate and that they’re not going to
jump the gun and unilaterally declare independence tomorrow. But
there has to be … an end point, which is a timetable for the
Kosovars to realise their national aspirations. US officials have
made clear now for months that the endgame of this process is going
to be Kosova’s independence…The US is Kosova’s best friend.
It’s leading the initiative among the international community to
bring the discussion towards the ultimate combination of
independence.
Xharra:
But what if that doesn’t happen, if that is impossible?
Phillips:
That’s the ten-million-dollar question! What if that’s not
possible? Moscow has made clear it is not going to do anything that
contravenes the wishes of Belgrade, so what does the Kosovar
leadership do? They
need to be proactive in working with Washington and reaching out to
other capitals and developing a series of steps and a timetable
combining in an unilateral declaration of independence, which will be
met and responded to by the international community, by key states
like the US positively, so that 15 or 20 EU member states and the
United States together react to that declaration of Independence by
welcoming it.
| David Phillips |
Xharra:
So, after the 120 days, the Kosovars should start setting a date for
the declaration of independence and work through the international
capitals to convince them to accept it, even without a UN Security
Council resolution?
Phillips:
They shouldn’t start to set the date; they should announce the date
at the end of this 120-day period, when they will declare
independence, and then they should use the interim period between the
announcement of that date and when the date finally arrives to get
Kosova’s house in order, to make sure that the legislation is
passed and to send envoys to set up missions in key capitals in
western countries, so that … the declaration of independence is
warmly received…. This isn’t NATO’s country, this land belongs
to the Kosovars and people expect their political leaders to be
proactive and not passive in setting a timetable and identifying a
series of steps.
Xharra:
If the Kosovar leaders go to the US on the 23rd
with
the clear timeline and public support from the parliament, do you
think they will be brushed off?
Phillips: I
think US officials will welcome it. They want to hear from the
Kosovar leadership about a coherent plan and to know that the Unity
Team is together and that the legislators in the assembly are
committed to creating the conditions in terms of governance and
rights. So that when the US works with other capitals to organise
recognition they can point to the fact that the Ahtisaari principles
have actually become Kosova principles – that Kosovars have assumed
ownership.
Xharra:
What sort of concrete timeline would you suggest that Kosovars could
take on that is realistic in the next months?
Phillips:
Adopt a resolution here in Pristina, as we have discussed, allow for
120-day period… for talks… running approximately to 23
November…and then… use some period of time after that, maybe a
couple of months, maybe up until March 24, which is an important
symbolic anniversary because it marks NATO’s action here to get
Kosova’s house in order: to draft legislation, to send envoys out
to capitals, to open up missions, to start the diplomatic process so
that the world sees that the Kosovars are ready for prime time. At
the end of that 120-day period the Kosovar leadership, after
consulting with Washington, and teeing up different allies should set
a date that is certain, when they will announce their declaration of
independence. And that day should be a day of celebration! Heads of
states should come, delegations should come and on that day a whole
slew of countries should recognise Kosova and open up former
diplomatic missions here as embassies.
Xharra:
If
there isn’t any UN Security Council resolution Kosova will not be
unanimously recognized as a state? What should Kosovars do then?
Phillips:
It would be best if the UN laid out the terms and the timetable for
countries to recognise. I just don’t think that that’s going to
happen. If it’s not going to happen, it’s clear that what then is
needed [is for Kosova] to be able to set a date on its own and to do
that in preparation with Washington. I don’t think the European
Union as a group is going to recognise Kosova but I would bet 15 or
20 countries would recognise Kosova in concord with America.
Xharra:
What does that actually mean for the Ahtisaari package? What if
Kosovars say that without the UN Security Council resolution we are
not obliged to implement Ahtisaari package, which was a compromise?
Phillips:
The Ahtisaari package needs to become the Kosova package… The fact
of the matter is that what was negotiated with Martti Ahtisaari is in
the interest of everyone living in Kosova and the leadership here
should go forward with all of the elements of the Ahtisaari package,
because it’s part of state building.
Xharra:
In Pristina there is talk of elections at the end of November. Do you
think elections could detract attention from the status issue in the
international arena?
Phillips:
Organising those elections and the outcome of those elections could
create some confusion not only here in Kosova but in the
international community. Either way, it’s important that the core
elements of the Unity Team stay in place. Democratic practices in
Kosova are good; if elections are called for – they should proceed,
but right now the most important priority isn’t reconfiguring the
local leadership - it’s mobilising international leadership in
support of the vision that all Kosovar political leaders share, which
is independence.
Xharra:
You started coming here in 1988, and you may remember the last
referendum in 1992. What would happen if Kosova has another
[independence] referendum?
Phillips:
That seems to me a theatrical gesture; everybody knows what Kosovar
Albanians aspire to. You don’t need to conduct a referendum on that
matter.
Xharra:
But the Kosovo population is frustrated and doesn’t have any other
way of showing where it stands at this moment. What can they do to
show their interest?
Phillips:
The fact of the matter is that if the Kosovar leadership stepped up
between now and November and showed people that it had a coherent
plan and a timetable for realising their national aspirations it
wouldn’t be so important for people to express their voice through
a referendum. Their voice would be expressed through the diplomatic
process, which … is moving forward meaningfully. The 24th
March
is a notional date; what the assembly and the leadership needs to do
is to move forward with its constitution to adopt laws that complies
with the principles of the Ahtisaari package; to deal with questions
like national symbols, that are important and relevant to all of the
communities in Kosova. There is a window of opportunity right now to
show the world that the Kosova leadership is ready to step up and
demonstrate that it’s capable of good governance. If it does that,
it will be able to persuade those capitals to recognise Kosova as an
independent country much more easily.
Xharra:
When was the last time when you heard anything coming from Kosova
regarding Kosova’s standing in Washington?
Phillips:
[I have heard] very little. Part of the problem is that…there is no
embassy in Washington, there is no Kosova house in New York there, no
special envoy working the street in order to represent the Kosova
position – all this needs to happen.
Xharra:
Kosovars have not been proactive enough?
Phillips:
They’re proactive in their aspirations but not as proactive as I
think they could be in their actions. Now is not the time to be
passive. Now is the time to be proactive. Make the case! Walk the
Talk! Kosovars will be judged by their actions, not their words.
There are lots of ways of convincing the international community that
the Kosovar leadership and the people of Kosova are ready for self
rule.
Jeta
Xharra is BIRN Kosovo director. Balkan Insight is BIRN`s online
publication.
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The opinions expressed in Balkan Insight are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.
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