In a large interview with the leading Kosovo-Albanian
weekly “ZËRI” on December 22, TFF director Jan Oberg
challenges the international community’s whole approach to
conflict-resolution and peace. He also believes that the
policy of positioning and the focus on formal status pursued
by the parties is counterproductive.
It’s time, he maintains, to listen to the needs of
citizens, to address real issues of daily life and to
introduce some new ideas and actors.
Governments have failed on all sides. Their diplomats
may be great lawyers but they lack professional knowledge
and training in conflict analysis, conflict psychology,
social issues and mediation techniques. This is simply not
the way to proceed if you want to help people to live in
peace.”
interview in its entirety
Here follow excerpts:
“Modern history is full of conflicts at least as bad as
that in Kosovo that have been overcome by nonviolence.”
“What I have said here applies also to the international
community’s “conflict managers”. Neither the US nor the EU
did anything systematic, based on analysis, about the Kosovo
conflict. They waited for a decade until the “only way” was
to threaten NATO bombings…”
“Some of you may think that the US/NATO would do
something here to support you – forget it.”
“The Milosevic-Holbrooke agreement is a ‘deal’ about
power and, like in Dayton, nobody will ask the people living
in the region whether they like it or not. Nobody who works
professionally with conflict-resolution, mediation and peace
would call this anything but a deal.”
“Whatever political solution will one day be found – the
citizens of Kosovo/a will need help to recover,
reconciliate, build trust. In the best of cases, peace can
be built from the ground-up.”
“So far in this ‘peace’ process, there is no negotiation
institution, only an American ambassador from Skopje who
cannot be neutral because he is American and Americans have
foreign policy interests here. OSCE is a government
organisation; no NGOs have been asked to help in this
situation – although there are hundreds like TFF around the
world who happens to know a bit. You see, governments think
they know best – but look at the world…”
“If I look at what the “international community” – in
reality some handful of ministers and presidents – has done
in Croatia and Bosnia and now in Kosovo since 1991, I would
prefer to talk about preventING diplomacy.”
“I am not a lawyer and would never perform in that role.
But lawyers, diplomats and military people never seem to
hesitate to perform a role in a field they have no
professional training in: that of mediation, peace proposal
production and conflict-resolution. You know, no
international organizations employ or train such people. So,
some modesty would be in place as it is a science and an art
to help people solve their conflicts. It’s an academic
subject at universities around the world.”
“If I was a mediator I would, after a ceasefire, have
started in the other end of the spectrum and asked: what are
the needs of the citizens who live in Kosovo? So, go out in
the streets of Pristina and the villages of Kosovo and ask:
what do you need, what do you want? I think people will
answer: good health care, better kindergartens and education
at all levels, a higher level of material wellbeing,
cultural expression, freedom of movement, freedom to think
and speak openly, safety, being treated with respect, a
clean environment, and they will ask for media they can
trust, etc.Then: Imagine that the parties sat down with
international expertise discussing all these substantial
issues and negotiated about them.”
“Somebody must have noticed that we are never going to
get to a result by stating positions: WE want a sovereign
Serbia! We want an independent Kosova! My question is: what
is good about this positioning if both alternatives means a
life in misery, repression, hate and fear for generations
ahead?”
“Trust can lead to negotiations in good faith about
formalities such as status of the province. Without that,
negotiations cannot lead to trust. Nothing can be achieved
before there is a minimum of trust. And trust comes from
listening, understanding and exploring better future
possibilities – together.”
“If people such as Milosevic, Rugova, Holbrooke, Hill,
Demaqi etc. had to listen and were forced to follow what
citizens told them – they would not find the whole game such
great fun and they would no longer belong to the immensely
powerful jet-set…”
“By letting the “international community” meddle in your
affairs you reduce yourselves to those who just react, your
conflict is stolen from you and the “solution” will be
theirs and none of the people of Kosovo/a will be
consulted.”
“Let is be the free market the Americans love and have
many competing, attrative plans for peace and a better
future – all the leagal stuff in Ambassaor Hill’s plans is
important – but secondary and far too limited to create
peace among human beings.”
“However, in the eyes of the big guys, the mighty policy
makers in Washington, London, Bonn, Moscow etc – you are
just a little piece in a jigsaw puzzle. I don’t want to be
cynical, but I don’t think they care much for your future,
my future or that of our children.”
“You would be better served by helping yourselves and not
keep on running stubborn position-policies which invites the
big internationals to intervene and look like saviours and
protectors of your rights and lives.
Only you can save yourselves – and my first advice is
always: Lay down the arms, stop using all kinds of violence.
Attack your problems, not the people on the other side.”
” If I sat in Belgrade I would say to myself: well, the
repression and police violence we used did not work, Serbia
is now put under administration by OSCE, NATO, the West
European Union – which is what we wanted to avoid. We must
change our strategy! If I sat in Pristina I would say: well,
passive violence didn’t work and the war conducted by KLA
was no good either. So, we must change our strategy! You
see, I am convinced that human beings can learn, can
change…”
© TFF 1999
interesting peace stuff – also on Kosovo
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