Serbia Toughens Its Stand on Kosovo

Associated Press:
Tuesday, September 12, 2006 10:12 PM

BELGRADE, Serbia-Serbia toughened its stand on Kosovo Tuesday as parliament decided that a planned new constitution would refer to the disputed province as an "integral" part of Serbia, regardless of U.N.-led negotiations on whether to grant it independence.

The parliamentary vote effectively ruled out Belgrade's consent if the international talks decide in favor of the majority ethnic Albanians who want the province to be independent.

The talks began this year to try to resolve the future of Kosovo, a province about the size of Connecticut that has been run by the United Nations since NATO launched a bombing campaign to end a Serb crackdown on independence-minded ethnic Albanian rebels in 1999.

The Serbian lawmakers voted 219-5 in favor of declaring Kosovo a "historic and integral part of Serbia" in a planned new constitution. They also overwhelmingly adopted a report by Serbia's negotiators in the talks, who warned that independence for Kosovo would risk creating a precedent that would encourage separatist movements beyond the Balkans.

Serbia's government has offered Kosovo a broad autonomy, instead of independence.

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica told the assembly "we are requested to give up Kosovo ... we are being asked to humiliate ourselves as a state." He did not name countries pressing for Kosovo's independence.

Tomislav Nikolic, leader of the extreme nationalist Serbian Radical Party, urged Kostunica to prepare Serbia's army for a war over Kosovo.

"I want to know what our armed forces will do," Nikolic said in the parliament. "If we don't have enough motivation and weapons (to go to war), then don't tell us that Kosovo is part of Serbia."

Both Kostunica and pro-Western President Boris Tadic have ruled out new armed conflicts over Kosovo, pledging to defend it only by legal means.

Most Serbs consider Kosovo their heartland and the cradle of their history and culture. About 100,000 Serbs still live in Kosovo. Twice as many have fled from the ethnic Albanian-dominated province since 1999.

Also Tuesday, the government announced it would invest $41.4 million in Serb enclaves in Kosovo over the next 15 months to help the embattled minority living among the ethnic Albanians.

The funds are to create jobs for the dwindling Serb community, build roads and other infrastructure, and to improve their education and health care.

The Heritage Foundation Lecture by His Excellency President of Serbia Boris Tadic

September 7, 2006
Washington DC

Excellencies,
My Dear Friends,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
Thank you, Mr. Holmes, for that kind introduction.
 
I am very grateful to you for giving me this opportunity to speak at such a distinguished institution about my country. We in Serbia know how much Heritage has contributed to the global discourse on freedom and democracy and we thank you for it.
 
Today, for the first time, a President of Serbia gives a public speech on American soil. Serbia used to be a monarchy, then it became a part of Yugoslavia, and, most recently, part of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. Now we are the Republic of Serbia, a free and democratic country. I am moved by the symbolism of this event. I am also pleased that I am in the United States of America, a nation with which I have always believed a special partnership must be built.
 
I want to share with you my vision of how we must build the quality of our young democracy; about the on-going transformation of our armed forces and how Serbia can contribute to a new Europe - a Europe that can finally become whole, as well as free.
 
In my view, these are the foundations upon which one builds a nation that is prosperous and entirely at peace with its neighbors.  A nation which contributes to regional stability and promotes freedom.
 
I also want to talk with you about the challenge we all must face together: finding a mutually-acceptable solution to the future status of Kosovo.
 
If we get this right, then I have no doubt that Serbia will become an irreversible success story in a democracy building exercise. I feel very strongly that it will only be with America's help that we can achieve this success. I believe that the relationship between Serbia and the United States must grow and continue to be one of great trust and mutual benefit. 
 
For my part:
 
I am committed to return Serbia as quickly as possible to the historic fold of nations that were allied in the cause of liberty and who have sought prosperity for their citizens.
 
I am committed to take my fellow citizens as quickly as possible away from that political psychology which confuses nostalgia with real historical knowledge.
 
And I am committed  to drag us away as quickly as possible from those who believe that democracy is another tool for their own petty interests.
 
Do not forget that we were forced to live for over fifty years under communism. To be equal, even if we are poor, they told us, was to be happy. Milosevic adapted this and told us that to be a nation, even if the elite could steal and use our name to commit murder, we should be happy at least to be a nation. He perverted our patriotism and he stole our democracy.
 
In October 2000 we snatched back our freedom from the jaws of tyranny. And for the last six years we have slowly built the practice of parliamentary democracy. Our citizens have become accustomed to elections, coalition governments and a press that is open and unrestricted. Our citizens are learning the responsibility of living with the choices they make.
 
But we are seeing something very disturbing and dangerous in the post-communist world. Many of the ex-totalitarians have learned how to use democracy in order to abuse it. They take the techniques of democracies to advance their own interests.
 
Let me be very clear. Democracy is a tool. But in the last century we have seen how easily that valiant tool has been abused. We must be vigilant. For in the coming years there will be many who will again try to allege reverence to this ideal, only to poison it in practice.
 
As for myself, the choice is clear. Democracy is about civilized people choosing to be governed by civilized people. I consider it my foremost duty, as a political leader and as President, to promote and protect this simple proposition.
 
In our specific case, I believe we face a clear-cut choice between those who wish to collaborate to sustain the corrupted spirit of the past, and those who want to look to a future of openness and prosperity.
 
The time is once again approaching in Serbia to put that choice immediately before the people. We are still too young a democracy to withhold choices from our fellow citizens in the name of political machination. The more we practice that choice, the more we mature in our ability to choose.
 
But a healthy democracy will only sustain itself when it ensures that it has security. This is the challenge for our entire region. People must trust their system of justice, their police and, ultimately, their armed forces. For this is the ultimate role of a free democracy - to protect its citizens.
 
Three years ago, as Minister of Defense, I initiated a process of reform that would prepare our nation for full integration into NATO. It is now my sincere hope that Serbia will shortly be invited to join the Partnership for Peace. And then, to move quickly to full membership.
 
My philosophy has been very clear. Serbia's new place in the world centers on being the pivotal point of NATO's Balkan collective security architecture.
 
In order to expedite that process, the institution of our Armed Forces must be restored to do its proper duty in today's world. This means protecting not only our nation, but also advancing the cause of peace and freedom, both in our region and globally.
 
In the last week, I worked hard so that our government approves the dispatch of a contingent to the NATO's ISAF operation in Afghanistan. We have also announced that we are ready to contribute to the peace-keeping forces in Lebanon. Serbia will also work with our regional and global allies to ensure that the scourge of terror never again gains a foothold in the Western Balkans. We must strengthen the rule of law and the cross-border fight against human and drugs trafficking.  In October, we will formalize these principles during the summit of regional heads of states which I will host in Belgrade.

When we see the challenges to international security, Serbia can no longer stand by as a spectator. We are ready to contribute to making the Trans-Atlantic community of values stronger, more capable, and more complete. 

Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
The eventual home of Serbia and of the whole Balkan region is in the European Union. Our nations must put a divisive past behind us and embrace our common European future - a future where the region's countries are fully democratic, fully free, fully secure, and fully prosperous. This is the unfinished business of Europe - the business of making it whole, as well as free. It is also my fundamental objective.
 
Confronting the legacy created by Slobodan Milosevic - a man who perverted our patriotism and abused the principles of democracy - is a difficult but necessary process. Some in my country still find it hard to come to full terms with the awful things he did to his own people and the entire neighborhood. But I am doing everything in my power to lead in the healing and reconciliation process.
 
That is why I traveled to Srebrenica on the 10th anniversary of the awful events that took place there, to show that Serbs must mourn for all the victims of ethnic cleansing. And that is why I have staunchly and vocally supported the extradition of Ratko Mladic to the Hague. I have always argued this is not only our legal, but also our moral obligation - to the region and the world, but most of all to ourselves. Mladic must be found, and he must be arrested - immediately. 
 
Serbia, however, has been told that its European future is on hold until Kosovo is resolved and Ratko Mladic is arrested. Our negotiations with Europe have been interrupted because of the question of Mladic. Our political attention, in spite of our priority to make reforms, is preoccupied by Kosovo.
 
I worry about the wisdom of this eternal conditionality even if I have to accept its reality. As such, our democracy and our road to Europe must weather the crisis engendered by a policy that holds back those who have the will and vision to move decisively forward.
 
On the issue of Mladic, I hope I was crystal clear. The second challenge Serbia faces, as we seek to join the European and Euro-Atlantic communities of nations, is the Kosovo issue. We have repeatedly said that we are willing to grant not only the widest possible political, but also financial autonomy to Kosovo institutions. For example, I believe that Pristina should be allowed to secure international loans. It is in our vital interest that Kosovo's economy becomes healthy. To that end, Serbia has just offered to guarantee electricity supplies to Kosovo this winter and stands ready to engage in further measures of the kind.
 
There are many in the international community who believe that negotiations on the future status on Kosovo cannot succeed. And they believe that imposing a solution -the independence of Kosovo - is the best way forward.
 
It is true that the process of negotiations so far has not created great confidence. But I tell you - that would be a severe mistake, for an imposed solution is a clear and present danger to democratic consolidation throughout the region. It could result in a fundamental challenge to the values we embraced as a country the very day we overthrew Milosevic. It will also call into question the viability of multiethnic states in the region and throughout the world.   We have seen too many times how imposed solutions to territorial conflicts merely result in bloodshed and strife.
 
Yet in my recent address to the citizens of Serbia, I took great care to emphasize that Serbia's margin for maneuver on this issue has been dramatically limited because of the past policies of Slobodan Milosevic - policies that I and my colleagues spent a decade fighting against. But on the other hand - think only of Iraq and ask yourselves - can the war crimes of Saddam Hussein be cause for the breakup of the country he once led?
 
I propose to you, in conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, that we work together to create a roadmap founded on a vision in which democracy is first consolidated in Serbia, and in which we, together with the rest of the Western Balkans, enter with full steam ahead into the European integration process. I believe that the only path to a secure and lasting solution to Kosovo passes through Brussels. Only thus can we arrive at a mutually-acceptable solution to the status of Kosovo.
 
In short, my friends, I believe that with patience, wisdom and sophistication it is possible to move to a settlement that will strengthen my country, make the region more stable and prosperous, and allow us to become important contributors to the European Union and the family of democratic nations.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
The resolve of both Serbia and the United States to move towards a sustainable peace in the Balkans may be severely tested over the next few months.
 
But we must never lose sight of the strategic importance of the partnership our two countries are developing - a partnership based on common values whose importance has become so much greater in a post 9/11 world.
 
That is why Belgrade and Washington must work together to offer a realistic beacon for a better future of the region. This future must be forged with the knowledge of the common destiny we share and in the trust that comes with the friendship we must deepen.
 
Let us apply a constancy of mind and a persistency of purpose to our conduct and the momentous decisions we make. Let us combine our capabilities and grow stronger and more secure together.
 
There is no alternative. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go forward. We must do it together. There is no time left to lose. And let us draw the right measure of the things to come - of the regional security we can create and of the values we can spread - from the words spoken by the 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush: "Strength in the pursuit of peace is no vice; isolation in the pursuit of security is no virtue."
 
I thank you for your attention and stand ready to take your questions.