“The Serbs and Albanians have proved that they
themselves are unable to start and sustain a process towards
conflict-resolution and reconciliation. International
attempts, lacking analysis as well as strategy, have failed,
too. The overall situation has deteriorated and violence is
escalating, slowly but surely. It simply cannot go on like
that in the future and go well,” says Jan Oberg,
director of the Transnational Foundation which has been
engaged in the conflict in the Kosovo region of Serbia,
Yugoslavia since 1991. “New thinking should be applied
sooner rather than later,” he urges.
“With the breakdown in Albania, Serbia has lost the
argument – never very credible – that the Kosovars want to
unite with Albania. President Milosevic recently visited the
region with no new proposals. The pragmatic non-violent
policies of the Kosovar leadership is being undermined. The
Kosovars have failed to prove that Serbs as people are their
friends, for instance when they protested the temporary
settlement of refugee Serbs from Croatia and Bosnia in
Kosovo.
With its anti-Serbian diagnosis of ex-Yugoslavia’s
conflicts, the international community in general and the
United States – both under president George Bush and Bill
Clinton – in particular gave the Kosovars reason to believe
that an independent state was around the corner. In
addition, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova was received everywhere as a
statesman while, for years, few governments would receive
any Serb government representative. However, with the Dayton
Agreement and the international recognition of Yugoslavia,
the Kosovars seem at a loss what to do. The United States
now states no support for an independent republic of
Kosova.
Symbolically they have long ago declared Kosova an
independent state, a statement of position – rather than of
interest, perhaps – from which they will have to back down
when a serious negotiation process begins,” Jan Oberg
continues. “But how can we help them do that, given the
sacrifice by ordinary Albanians in consequence of that
declaration?”
“Serbian repression continues unabated, feeding so well
into the sentiments of Albanian nationalism, secessionism
and terrorism that one would almost think hardliners on both
sides had coordinated it – as we’ve seen elsewhere in former
Yugoslavia. This state of affairs has a high moral, economic
and political price for Belgrade. In addition it must be
deplored that neither the student movement nor opposition
parties in Serbia have anything to offer that could convince
Kosovo-Albanians to change their course. Paradoxically – or
perhaps logically – the Kosovo-Albanian leaders seem to
think that the more hardline the message in Belgrade, the
better for them. But that is a self-defeating attitude,”
says Jan Oberg.
“It is time to seek constructive solutions to this
potentially very dangerous situation.
The international so-called community’s and media’s
attention to Bosnia and a few, selected indicted war
criminals is pathetic given the problems in neighbouring
republics, including those mounting in Macedonia where the
Albanian minority is also in focus.
The Serbian leaders refuse any international governmental
involvement in what they consider their internal affairs.
But that is no longer a viable argument. One, the problems
in the Kosovo region threaten potentially, inter-national
stability. Second, the parties have made no progress toward
a solution. Third, Serbia/Yugoslavia is now eager to become
an integral part of the international community and seeks
much needed aid, investment, loans, and recognition; to
obtain that it has to accept economic interference by
international finance and business interests. So, it can
hardly have it both ways.
To break the deadlock, the best option is a combination
of non-governmental mediation and involvement of the least
biased and most conflict-resolution competent organization
we have, namely the United Nations. A UN presence should be
entirely non-military.
This is why the Transnational Foundation proposes the
establishment of a civilian United Nations, or other
international, Temporary Authority for a Negotiated
Settlement, UNTANS, Serbia’s Kosovo province.
It aims to facilitate, in a context of order, safety and
respect for human rights, a peaceful and longterm negotiated
settlement of all conflict issues between Serbia and the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on the one hand and the
Albanian population in the region of Kosovo on the
other.
The Authority shall take over parts of the administration
of the Territory, Serbian as well as Albanian, for a period
of up to three years and provide a Professional Negotiation
Facility.
All military and paramilitary forces not deemed necessary
for self-defence shall be replaced with Civil Police and
monitors in the territory. Skilled multi-ethnic and
multi-cultural Civil Affairs Officers are deployed together
with qualified civilian volunteers from non-governmental
organisations to monitor the UNTANS’s support among the
inhabitants, serve as neutral “Third Party” mediators and
instil trust. Peacebuilding, such as teaching conflict
understanding, negotiations and reconciliation, is an
integral part of the Authority.
This new type of international conflict management is not
a protectorate. By refraining from stipulating what the
final settlement should look like, it respects the rights of
conflicting parties to search for their own solutions..
Thus, it is violence-prevention and principled, professional
negotiation in one.
The proposal consists of a draft treaty text with
comments by the parties and the TFF and, thus, presents an
indirect dialogue between the highest authorities on both
sides &emdash the first of its kind.
We appeal to actors in the international society to act
creatively and in time. We are convinced that the parties do
not want an escalation of uncontrolled violence but that it
could anyhow happen. This proposal can provide the parties
and the international society with an opportunity to avoid
the worst and aspire to achieve the best.
The UNTANS concept is generally applicable to other
conflicts, as an alternative to military or otherwise
externally-imposed solutions.
——– Acquaint yourself with the full proposal ———
UNTANS. Conflict Mitigation for
Kosovo
Memorandum of Understanding between the UN and
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia concerning a United
Nations Temporary Authority for a Negotiated Settlement in
Kosovo.
TFF, Lund Sweden 1996, 36 pages, 75 Swedish kronor or US$ 12 plus postage.
Payment with your order.
August, 1997
