Cutting or Tightening the Gordian Knot

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The Independence of Kosovo and the Consolidation of Macedonia – A Reason to Worry? Zhidas Daskalovski and Dane Taleski Introduction On 17 February 2008 Kosovo declared independence, for many a sign of the final point of the brake up of Yugoslavia. In the period after, the US and the biggest EU member states, many of the Balkan countries and other countries around the world recognized the independence of Kosovo. As Serbian official position is still “Kosovo je Srbija” [Kosovo is Serbia], the EU has deployed a mission that is deeply involved in the nation and state building of Kosovo. Macedonia until the end of May 2008 had not recognized the independence of Kosovo. Yet the main ethnic Albanian political parties in Macedonia, but also the political leadership in Kosovo, expect that the recognition is a done deal. The relations between Skopje and Priština have been minimal in the early 1990s. More recently, Macedonia has had a history of interaction with Kosovo, during the war in Kosovo and the refugee crisis in 1999 and during the 2001 conflict in the Preševo Valley. As Macedonia has scheduled early parliamentary elections on 1 June 2008, the issue of Kosovo recognition will be undertaken by the upcoming government. After the 2001 conflict, Macedonia implemented the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA), an instrument for managing ethnic diversity, a new and innovative initiative considering the local and regional history. 1 Although the public opinion of the ethnic Macedonian and ethnic Albanians diverged on the OFA issue, both communities showed similar atti- 1 Daskalovski, Zidas: Walking On the Edge: Consolidating Multiethnic Macedonia 1989-2004. Skopje 2005. 29
tudes toward public institutions. 2 The stability and consolidation of Macedonia depends on a viable model for managing inter-ethnic relations. If the model sustains the test of time, it can further be used as a benchmark or best practice for other places, such as Kosovo. The viability of the model is dependent on the development and implementation of policies deriving from OFA and also on the public support for this process. The model is influenced by different internal and external factors. The independence of Kosovo is the most recent external factor that has arisen. This paper has three chapters. The first part unfolds the past Macedonian ethnic politics and the status of Kosovo using instruments from theories of transition and consolidation. The second part is an analysis of the public opinion in Macedonia from May 2007 to May 2008, focusing more particularly on the views of the ethnic communities of Albanians and Macedonians in the Republic of Macedonia. The analysis encompasses the views toward Kosovo in various aspects from personal sentiments toward Kosovo to practical issues like the recognition and border demarcation. As a conclusion, the third and last part of the paper analyses the possible implications in Macedonia from the independence of Kosovo. Macedonia’s Ethnic Politics and the Status of Kosovo What are the implications for Macedonia of an independent status of Kosovo? Among the Eastern European countries Macedonia has had a distinct yet successful transition from authoritarian rule to democracy. Unlike most of the former Communist countries, Macedonia, together 2 Taleski, Dane: Minderheiten und Mehrheiten in Makedonien: Sichtweisen und Auffassungen der Bevölkerung [Minorities and Majorities in Macedonia: Attitudes and Perceptions of the People]. In: Brunbauer, Ulf/Voss, Christian (Ed.): Südosteuropa-Jahrbuch: Inklusion und Exclusion auf dem Westbalkan [Southeast Europe Annual: Inclusion and Exclusion in the Western Balkans]. München 2008, pp. 263- 280. 30
Page 1 and 2: Ernst M. Felberbauer Predrag Jureko
Page 3 and 4: Impressum: Study Group Information
Page 5 and 6: Kosovo’s Independence: The Conseq
Page 7 and 8: This book includes contributions fr
Page 9 and 10: Groups and co-operates with the Swi
Page 11 and 12: the region. Austria wants to make s
Page 14 and 15: Background Speech Judy Batt Regiona
Page 16 and 17: taken as “given”, i.e. psycholo
Page 18: to encourage Serbia to believe it w
Page 22 and 23: The Status Process and Its Implicat
Page 24 and 25: undermine elements within the Serbi
Page 26: the Western Balkans are a common an
Page 32 and 33: with Slovenia, experienced an evolu
Page 34 and 35: Although separated from their Kosov
Page 36 and 37: terial posts. Throughout the years
Page 38 and 39: the participation of the Macedonian
Page 40 and 41: Effectively, the legal changes base
Page 42 and 43: veys on the perception of the Kosov
Page 44 and 45: Regarding citizen’s feelings towa
Page 46 and 47: the final status of Kosovo was a mu
Page 48 and 49: Table 5. Should Macedonia recognize
Page 50 and 51: ings of the CRPM’s phone poll don
Page 52 and 53: called Gostivar flag riots in 1997
Page 54 and 55: nian groups that objected to a well
Page 56 and 57: ovo independence and further on the
Page 58: State Statistical Office of the Rep
Page 61 and 62: State of Southern Serbia The area k
Page 63 and 64: not always readily seen, this may b
Page 65 and 66: ity among the Albanian population.
Page 67 and 68: wever, apparently multi-ethnic comm
Page 69 and 70: firms) are seen in abundance, but r
Page 71 and 72: forceful than initially expected, f
Page 73 and 74: unlikely that the Albanian communit
Page 75 and 76: Conclusion As a region for which co
Page 78 and 79: The Secession of Kosovo - A Precede
Page 80 and 81:
The findings would then allow for a
Page 82 and 83:
This changed with the adoption of t
Page 84 and 85:
While most of the provisions could
Page 86 and 87:
ing up to the demands of granting
Page 88 and 89:
ance, inter alia by settling Serbs
Page 90 and 91:
Kosovo thus served as a catalyst fo
Page 92 and 93:
As a rule, Albanians have been evic
Page 94 and 95:
“facilitating of a political proc
Page 96 and 97:
As a result, none of these argument
Page 98 and 99:
deputies. Other Albanian Parties ex
Page 100 and 101:
volved to the Entities. Key issues
Page 102 and 103:
lack the key criteria for justifiab
Page 104:
PART III: THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATI
Page 107 and 108:
Notwithstanding this clear-sketched
Page 109 and 110:
opean Affairs. Four support staff,
Page 111 and 112:
the institutions, a regular assessm
Page 113 and 114:
tighter. Furthermore, the deploymen
Page 115 and 116:
able to kill two birds with one sto
Page 118 and 119:
Kosovo’s Independence: The Conseq
Page 120 and 121:
pating under its own sovereign term
Page 122 and 123:
companying offer of free visa issue
Page 124:
which would mean the exclusion and
Page 127 and 128:
Bondsteel (“Kosovo’s real capit
Page 129 and 130:
The NATO Toolbox Critique of NATO d
Page 131 and 132:
Allied Divisions Persistent disunit
Page 133 and 134:
Meanwhile, Kosovo has been nearly i
Page 136 and 137:
The Russian “Return” to the Wes
Page 138 and 139:
štunica, and Tomislav Nikolić are
Page 140 and 141:
strong enough to fight NATO troops
Page 142 and 143:
Some Aspects of Russian Economic Ex
Page 144:
people. 17 A sizeable share of it c
Page 148 and 149:
From UNMIK to EULEX: An Outline of
Page 150 and 151:
security for all. They have in fact
Page 152 and 153:
sense this happened in Kosovo in Ma
Page 154 and 155:
European Presence in Kosovo as an A
Page 156 and 157:
Rifts Among Local Partners and Comp
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deal with. This proved to be very d
Page 160 and 161:
International Support to Enhance Co
Page 162 and 163:
in 1975 are human contacts, informa
Page 164 and 165:
ion. It also aims at post-crisis ca
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ety in its functions, in particular
Page 168 and 169:
WUS has also assisted in founding a
Page 170 and 171:
Conclusions Although many roads hav
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Untying the Gordian Knot in the Bal
Page 174 and 175:
his diminutive physical stature, he
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simple recollection; it is a shared
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For our purposes here, the Battle o
Page 180 and 181:
younger generation through its rela
Page 182 and 183:
My God, what awaited us! To see a l
Page 184 and 185:
Examples of conflict-as-symptoms ar
Page 186 and 187:
grassroots levels. They have contac
Page 188 and 189:
In the research literature where PD
Page 190 and 191:
Grassroots Leadership Grassroots tr
Page 192 and 193:
If a trauma victim makes it to leve
Page 194 and 195:
Conclusion The essential point of d
Page 196 and 197:
more to further enhance prospects f
Page 198 and 199:
quires constant attention and engag
Page 200 and 201:
ionists riled by another Belfast pr
Page 202 and 203:
le%20of%20Kosovo%20--%20Britannica%
Page 204 and 205:
Ramsbotham, Oliver, Tom Woodhouse a
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PART V: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 205
Page 209 and 210:
d. optimizing the influence of the
Page 211 and 212:
support for the return of Serbs as
Page 213 and 214:
association process. On the other h
Page 215 and 216:
RHODES Matthew, College of Internat
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Cutting or Tightening the Gordian Knot

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