Kosovo - still in limbo

There is much uncertainty when it comes to defining the origin of the native population of Kosovo, but the area was populated long time before the Slavic tribes entered the Balkan in 6^th and 7^th century. In the 9^th century the Bulgarian Empire introduced the region to Christianity and Eastern Orthodox belief. In the 12^th century this area came under Serbian rule by the principality of Rascia, later to be followed by the Serbian Empire established in 1346, and during this period Kosovo became the political and spiritual centre of the Serbs.

In 1389 Bosnian, Albanian and Serbian forces lead by Tsar Lazar were defeated by the Ottomans and by 1455 the Muslim rule were fully established. In the Western parts of the Ottoman Empire the Sultan established the Eyalet (province) of Rumelia, which stretched all over the Balkans with the Western outskirt where we find today’s border between Bosnia and Croatia. In 1877 The Vilayet (which also means province) of Kosovo were established. This was a smaller part of the Eyalet, which stretched from today’s Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia, to the Eastern border of current Bosnia. The part which consisted of current South-Western Serbia and Northern Montenegro is spoken about as Sandzak by the Bosniak Muslims and Raska by the Serbs.

Many Serbs didn’t accept the Muslim rule and there were many uprisings. In 1690 30-40 000 Serbs should have emigrated in what has become known as “The Great Migration”, but this is disputed. As so much concerning Kosovo is. There should anyhow be no doubt about the fact that demographics in Kosovo have tilted in the favor of ethnic Albanians. There is one detailed article to be found at Wikipedia, but it is mostly based on Serbian sources. Considering how politicized the issue of Kosovo is - those numbers must be read in a very critical manner. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Kosovo  It’s an interesting article, if it’s not all bogus, because it lacks a lot of references to the numbers presented.

Going beyond the discussion of who was inhibiting the area first and how the demographical composition has developed, Kosovo is a part of the Serbian nation – both by geography and consciousness. For it to legally become an independent nation it has to achieve this in dialogue with Belgrade, which has over-stretched the mandate given by the Serbs. Today’s development where the opposition-parties Liberal Democratic Party, New Serbia and Tomislav Nikolic’s Serbian Progressive Party have demanded the resignation of Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic might be an indication of such. Those 3 political parties counts for 42 of the 250 seats in the National Assembly; the Skupstina, but many of the deputies of the Serbian Radical Party (57 seats) should also be added to those - as Nikolic was the leader of the party when the votes for it was casted.  When considering the political strength of Nikolic it should also be mentioned that he lost the Presidential Election in 2008 to Boris Tadic. This with the smallest possible margin – and after winning the first round, but not with the necessary 50,1% needed to get the mandate.

Jeremic has been the one negotiating for Serbia with the EU for achieving a joint resolution where these two parties could present a mutual statement in front of the UN General Assembly. He had to back down on opposing the unilateral secession of Kosovo and the call for dialogue on the status of the province, or country. (Use of terms is usually depending on whether you are Serbian or Albanian.)

Nikolic expresses most likely a general disgruntle among the Serbs which feel that national sovereignty is way too much under pressure. If Tadic won’t listen to this sentiment I am afraid his fragile popularity will get another blow.

To make situation even worse the governing council of Kosovo Albanians announced yesterday that the Kosovo Security Force (KFS/KBS) could become the Kosovo Army after 2012. What a terrible timing! While the future status of Kosovo hasn’t been decided yet, this force might be perceived as a continuation of the former UCK/KLA; a force with the purpose to serve only Albanian interest. UCK/KLA was the forerunner to the Kosovo Protection Corps which had Sylejman Selimi as the Lieutenant General. He’s today Chief of Staff of KFS.  The well documented fear of attacks on both Serbian community and sacred places might grow larger and the resistance to any Albanian-run entity will grow equally.

If there shall be any reconciliation between the Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo – they both have existed there for approximately 1400-1500 years - this is not a good way to build mutual trust. If there ever will be any. In the same fashion the future status of Kosovo must be achieved through some kind of consensus. The last days development has not contributed to a safe and predictable future for the people of Kosovo.