Kosovo border talks threaten Balkans’ fragile peace
in Mitrovica, Kosovo in New York
TUCKED in an alley, away from the streets lined with Serbian flags and shops plastered with old campaign posters for Serbian politicians and Vladimir Putin, the latest political debate rattling this pocket of Kosovo has taken over the Oasis café: partition.
It is 10 years since Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia and almost 20 years since the end of the brutal war between Kosovo and Serbia that left 10,000 people dead.
However, the region is now slipping into potentially dangerous territory as the countries’ two presidents debate redrawing the borders of their nations and swapping land, which could set a precedent for other Balkan nations.
For Kosovo Serbs living north of the Iber River in Kosovo – Albanians live south of it – partition would mean losing an integral part of their identity. Most of the important Serbian churches are in the south.
“We will lose heritage, history and nationality,” said Milica Radenkovic, 58, owner of the Oasis café in North Mitrovica, as she serves Zaječarsko beers. The town of Mitrovica is emblematic of the ethnic split in Kosovo, with Serbs living in the north and Albanians in the south – the only thing standing between them is the Iber.
Ms Radenkovic said that the land swap would mean that Serbia acknowledges Kosovo’s independence, something that she and most Serbs here will not accept even if it would lead to Serbian accession to the European Union.
A possible border change runs the risk of uprooting communities on both sides – Albanian and Serbian – for the first time since the end of the Cold War.
Hashim Thaci, the president of Kosovo, last night dismissed fears that the division would be along ethnic lines.
In a post on social media, Mr Thaci said: “Kosovo will remain a multi-ethnic society and will continue to uphold the highest standards in terms of the protection of community rights.”
A shifting international climate raises fears that any changes could upset the region’s precarious and hardwon peace at a time many see the US weakening its support for existing borders in the region. On Friday, John Bol- ton, Donald Trump’s national security adviser, said Washington would not weigh in on the controversial idea. “The US policy is that if the two parties can work it out between themselves and reach agreement, we don’t exclude territorial adjustments,” he said.
Bosnian-Serb nationalists and Serbian leaders have also travelled to SERBIA Washington during the past month for meetings with former Trump campaign aides as they push their plans for a greater Serbia, incorporating breakaway elements of Kosovo. Ivica Dačić, the Serbian foreign minister, said he had discussed partition with Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, during a meeting last month. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has rejected any changes to the borders.
While Serbia formally recognising Kosovo would be a boon for both countries’ bids for EU membership, partition is the “worst thing that could happen”, said Isidora Stakic, a researcher at the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy.
“It’s not good for Serbia, it’s not good for Kosovo and it’s not good for the region. I do not see the chance to do the partition without new violent conflicts,” she said. “If the partition takes place, it will definitely have a domino effect in the region because none of the western Balkan states are ethnically homogenous.”
The mooted plan includes a “correction” of Kosovo’s border with southern Serbia, the Presevo Valley. The vast majority of the valley’s 100,000-strong population is Albanian. They are within spitting distance of Kosovo and Macedonia, and would be brought into Kosovo as part of the potential deal. But it’s an unpopular idea.
“We are against exchanging territories,” said Shqiprim Arifi, the Albanian mayor of Presevo. He said his people were the most neglected and marginalised from Serbian society and politics.
Merita Jahiji, 28, an Albanian living in Presevo, said locals were extremely wary, with memories of ethnic cleansing and fighting still fresh in their minds.
“Those who will suffer the most are those on the border,” she said, including the Presevo Valley and even in Mitrovica and the rest of North Kosovo.
Figures from the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo also weighed in on the topic, showing a strong disdain towards ethnic partition.
“Border changes in the Balkans will inevitably trigger the creation of ethnic clean territories,” said Father Sava Janjic, archdeacon of the Dečani Monastery in Kosovo. “The Serbian president used a term, ‘delineation between Serbs and Albanians’, a term which was a blueprint for the ethnic partitions and wars in the Balkans in Nineties.
“Instead of building societies based firmly on rule of law and respect of all ethnic communities, the current leaders seek a quick fix, which would disturb the entire region where peace is still so fragile”.