Kosovo Guidelines for Independence

Martti Ahtisaari.

FIIA's seminar was in the Parliament building in Helsinki.

Pictures by Kristiina Koivunen

Xebat published this text the 13th March 2008. It is in Kurdish here. (It is at the bottom of the page.)

Kosovo declared independence the 17th February this year. Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland, negotiated the peace process. Kosovo crisis is just one episode in the Balkan crisis which has lasted already two decades.

The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) arranged in Helsinki the 7th March a seminar about the Kosovo situation. Mr Ahtisaari was the keynote speaker. He told his experiences about the birth process of a new state. Dr Tanja Tamminen had returned from Kosovo three days before the seminar. She told about the feelings in Kosovo: the happiness caused by the independence could still be seen there. People were smiling in the streets of Pristina.

As United Nations Special Envoy for the Kosovo status process. Mr Ahtisaari led the negotiations. He has done a paper called "Guiding principles of the Contact Group for a settlement of the status of Kosovo" (here is a link to it). This paper consists of ten principles which should be followed when the administration of independent Kosovo is created.

Ahtisaari described the Kosovo situation to be a sui general:

"I do not know any other crisis situation with a similar history. Belgrad (the government of Serbia) knew already 2006 what would be the conclusion of the negotiations", he explained. "United Nations should have given an order to the Serbian authorities that you have some years time to arrange a functioning administration in Kosovo."

The Guiding principles of the Contact group demands that in Kosovo "a negotiated solution should be an international priority. Once the process has started, it cannot be blocked and must be brought to a conclusion."

THE IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

The Guiding principles for a settlement of the status of Kosovo consists of ten important aspects which should be followed when creating the constitution and other laws in the independent state of Kosovo.

First, the settlement of the Kosovo issue should be compatible with international standards of human rights and international law.

Secondly, as Kosovo is an European country, it's system of law should conform with democratic values and European standards.

Thirdly, the settlement should ensure multi ethnicity. It should provide effective constitutional guarantees and appropriate mechanisms to ensure human rights for all citizens in Kosovo, including the right of refugees and displaced persons to return to their homes in safety.

Also, the settlement should provide mechanisms to ensure the participation of all Kosovo communities in government, both on the central and on the local level. Effective structures of local self government should be established through decentralization keeping in mind the coexistence of different communities.

The settlement should safeguard the protection of the cultural and religious heritage in Kosovo.

And the settlement of Kosovo’s status should strengthen regional security and stability. There should be no changes in the current area of Kosovo.

The seventh principle is the security of Kosovo. The new country should not pose a military or security threat to its neighbours.

And, the settlement of Kosovo’s status should promote effective mechanisms to strengthen Kosovo’s ability to enforce the rule of law, to fight organized crime and terrorism and safeguard the multiethnic character of the police and the judiciary.

It is also important that Kosovo can develop in a sustainable way both economically and politically and that it can cooperate effectively with international organizations and international financial institutions.

The last principle states that for some time Kosovo needs international civilian and military presence to ensure security and especially protection for minorities. There is also a need to monitor and support the administration.

KOSOVOAN PEOPLE CELEBRATE STILL INDEPENDENCE

The other speakers in the seminar were Professor Judy Batt and Dr Tanja Tamminen.

Like Ahtisaari also Batt claimed that Serbian authorities knew that Kosovo’s separation would happen but they did not prepare themselves to adjust for that. Batt gave a good description for the word “self determination”. It is people’s right to live under a government which represents them.

Tamminen had arrived from Kosovo three days before the seminar. She said the atmosphere there was still quite unbelievable and independence celebrations continued. In the Albanian part of the country people did not seem to worry about the reactions in the Serbian parts of Kosovo. People were just happy that the independence was finally achieved.

Anyway, the future problems are big. Kosovo is a poor country. It has the youngest population in Europe: 70 per cent of the people are under 35 years old.

“The biggest problems of Kosovo are corruption and organized crime. Now the most important things are to create a functioning administration and economical growth”, she said.

“People believe that law is the source for peace. But it is politics,” explained Judy Batt. She believes that Serbia will continue to finance some parallel administration in Kosovo but they should not finance parallel police forces.

All the speakers believed that there is need for donor money from abroad as Kosovo is a post war society. Ahtisaari said that custom duties are very important and they should be established quickly.

UN COULD NOT SOLVE KOSOVO CRISIS

Martti Ahtisaari was president of Finland 1994-2000. After that he has been the chairman in Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) which is dealing with international crisis and conflict resolution. 2005 Ahtisaari led peace negotiations between the Free Aceh Movement and the Indonesian government.

At the beginning of September 2007 CMI arranged a seminar in Helsinki for representatives of various Iraqi groups. Ahtisaari was the chairman of this meeting but all details of it were kept secret.

Martti Ahtisaari is a respected person but there is also criticism against his decisions. Some people claim that Kosovo's independence declaration was done in too big hurry. It would have been better to let United Nations to solve the crisis. If the rights of the Serbian minority in Kosovo are not quarantined now there will be new ethnic problems in the future. Russia does not accept the independence of Kosovo. Ahtisaari answered this criticism in Helsinki:

“The war in Kosovo ended already 1999. UN and Security Council have been unable to deal with the issue.” He added that Kosovo has developed these years towards independency. This is a fact which international community must accept now.

Daily newspaper Xebat published in Hewler The Guiding principles for a settlement of the status of Kosovo, they are in Kurdish here.