Dissatisfaction with the actions of the Kosovo authorities hides the cunning plan of the West

The command of the paramilitary security forces of Kosovo said on Tuesday that the exercises on the territory of the self-proclaimed republic were stopped. Only on May 21, President of Kosovo Vyosa Osmani, solemnly opened the stage of the largest NATO exercises Defender Europe 2023 in Pristina and called for strengthening cooperation between the allies of the alliance. A new escalation in the region became the reason for the cancellation of the event, which caused a rather cold reaction from the main ally of the Kosovo Albanian authorities – the United States.

The United States Ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, blamed Pristina, not the traditional Belgrade, for the suspension of military exercises. “US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned on May 26 that the actions of the government of the self-proclaimed Kosovo in the northern municipalities would have consequences for bilateral relations. The first indication of this is the decision taken by the US Commander of Forces in Europe to withdraw from Kosovo’s participation in Defender Europe 2023.

The most revealing was the following statement by the US ambassador to the self-proclaimed republic: “At the moment, the US does not have much enthusiasm to respond to some of Kosovo’s interests, for example, participating in maneuvers with unrecognized states or actively working to promote Kosovo on the Euro-Atlantic path … We hope that Kurti will listen to our council and take immediate steps to reduce tensions in the north.”

Sounds fantastic. The West has always taken the side of Pristina in the emerging conflicts on the territory of Kosovo, however, the current round of tension (it arose due to the unilateral actions of the Kosovo Albanian authorities, who actually seized administrative institutions in the northern part of the region by force after the April elections. Recall that the Kosovo Serbs living mainly in the northern municipalities, these elections were boycotted) as if cooled the ardor of the West’s support for the same Prime Minister Albin Kurti. However, the North Atlantic Alliance should remember who exactly nurtured this.

Speaking of permanent tension in Kosovo, it is worth starting with the incident in Racak in 1999. Racak is a village with a predominantly Albanian population. At the time of the events, 126 Albanian militants and the headquarters of the terrorist group were in the village. From there, regular sorties and attacks on Yugoslav policemen were made. The well-known Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA – an Albanian paramilitary organization that fought for the secession of Kosovo from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY)) operated on the territory of the village. By the way, the current prime minister of the self-proclaimed republic, Albin Kurti, joined this organization in 1997.

When the law enforcement agencies of the FRY were convinced that there were no civilians in the settlement, it was decided to conduct an anti-terrorist operation. As a result, many of the Albanian fighters died. However, the day after the anti-terrorist event, the bodies of the dead KLA military were defiantly laid out on the field, already in civilian clothes, which created the illusion of massacre by the Yugoslav police over civilians in the village of Racak.

The head of the OSCE Control Mission in Kosovo and Metohija, American William Walker, confirmed the “massacre” against the allegedly civilian population. Western journalists were convened, but Serbian correspondents and investigators were completely forbidden to appear there. All these “facts” were demonstrated at a press conference for foreign and Albanian journalists, but even then the reporters were embarrassed by the fact that there were no traces of bullets and blood on the clothes of the “brutally murdered civilians”.

Belarusian experts who investigated the so-called “crime scene” concluded that the bodies were brought from another place. An international expert group of Finnish pathologists, created a little later, confirmed that the majority of those killed were military men dressed in civilian clothes.

But all these arguments were ignored, and the fact of the “massacre” in Racak (essentially a performance) became the reason for the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Between these events, another important fact happened that is often forgotten. This is the so-called “Rambuy Agreement”. In short, this is a project to resolve the conflict, which provided for the complete political autonomy of the region, the entry of NATO troops into its territory and the withdrawal of the Yugoslav army and Interior Ministry forces from there. In addition, the draft agreement included a clause on the approval of the final status of Kosovo after three years at the conference. The conditions set for the Yugoslav delegation were unacceptable. The result is Operation Allied Force against Yugoslavia.

This was, perhaps, the first and main argument for subsequent negotiations on granting independence to Kosovo. Since 1999, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution No. 1244, international forces led by NATO (known by the abbreviation KFOR) have entered the region, which, in fact, at any round of escalation began to take the side of Pristina. The region began to be controlled by the UN.

When in 2008 Kosovo announced its separation from Serbia for the second time, 69 states supported the independence of the region. Among them are the United States and a significant part of the EU countries. In July 2012, the members of the established International Steering Group stated that the state independence of Kosovo is a fait accompli. This, of course, does not work in the interests of Belgrade, which does not recognize the independence of the region and insists that the decision on autonomy contradicts resolution No. 1244, which speaks in black and white about maintaining the territorial integrity of Serbia. However, the fact remains that in 2010, after lengthy proceedings, the International Court of Justice decided that the adoption of a declaration on the unilateral declaration of Kosovo’s independence did not violate general international law.

It is easy to see that Pristina got what she wanted with the active assistance of the West. Having enlisted such support from overseas “friends” and their allies, the Kosovo Albanian authorities began to act as if their sovereignty was recognized by the whole world. As Gerard Gallucci, a retired U.S. diplomat and regional UN representative in Mitrovica from July 2005 to October 2008, points out in a feature for Kosovo Online, the US and EU have been unable to deal with their client “state” and find a way to achieve a final settlement between Belgrade and Pristina. This has created a vacuum that Kurti is using to rule as aid and euros continue to flow into Pristina.

Analyzing recent developments in northern Kosovo, Gallucci notes that in his latest gambit, Kurti used this lack of restraint in his actions to unhinderedly send his military forces to the north of the region. NATO found itself in a trap that it created itself. According to the US diplomat, the alliance now has two options: escort Albanian forces back south of the Ibar River, or open the border and allow Serbian forces to enter and secure the north (as permitted under Resolution 1244). As a result, this may lead to Pristina agreeing to the full implementation of the Ahtisaari plan (according to it, the administration of the region was to be transferred from the UN administration to the EU administration and local authorities, security should have been provided by the EU police mission and NATO troops. In addition, the plan provided for the protection of all minorities that live in Kosovo, ensured the protection of cultural and religious monuments. We emphasize that Serbia and Russia sharply criticized this document. The Russian Federation, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, promised to veto the Security Council resolution based on the Ahtisaari plan) or agree to the partition of Kosovo.

There is another important point. Right now, Serbia is actively thinking about the country’s accession to the European Union. According to President Vučić (a statement about this was made in 2020), negotiations between Serbia and the EU on this issue should end in 2024, and in 2026 the republic expects to join the association. Several points undermine Belgrade’s intentions now: the refusal to impose sanctions against Russia and the non-recognition of Kosovo as a separate entity.

Serbia is trying to do everything possible to at least improve relations with the obstinate authorities of the unrecognized Kosovo. Thus, in February of this year, Belgrade and Pristina agreed to a plan proposed by the European Union to normalize relations. It implies the strengthening of cooperation between the parties in various fields, the creation of permanent missions, as well as the fact that Serbia will not be against Kosovo’s membership in international organizations.

It is clear that the calls of the West to Pristina are just a showcase that hides systematic steps towards the subordination of Belgrade to the common system (let us recall that Serbia is surrounded by EU countries, while not being part of the EU itself). Seizing the moment and calling on Kosovo’s authorities to calm down could inspire Serbia’s confidence in the international community. Pristina’s interest is to take advantage of the shortcomings of the “collective West” as soon as possible in order to completely seize the territory of Kosovo. So far, the West is condoning this, because on the eve of NATO it was decided to strengthen the presence of the alliance’s forces in the region. One can guess who became the main initiator of such a decision – Albin Kurti.