Home About Services Partners Fellows Blogs Resources Take Action

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice.

Resources > Global Issues > Serbia - Fighting... > Kosovo – Serbia...

Kosovo – Serbia in the Aftermath of the Proclamation of Independence

Independent Kosovo has been a reality ever since 1999

Following the NATO military intervention and the signing of the Kumanovo treaty in June 1999, Kosovo virtually gained independence from Serbia, which pledged to withdraw its military and police forces from there. Negotiations between the Albanian and Serbian delegation concerning the final status of Kosovo began in February 2006 and ended unsuccessfully in late 2007, the Albanian side having accepted the Ahtisari Plan and Serbia having rejected it.

The independence of Kosovo is a fact that has to be accepted for several reasons:

• Over a long period of time, particularly since the time S. Milosevic took power in 1987, the Albanian people was exposed to organized state terror, apartheid, persecution and systematic humiliation;
• After the introduction of the protectorate in Kosovo, certain elements on the Albanian side undertook  retribution measures against the non-Albanian population, especially against Serbs, thus putting cohabitation in jeopardy and further deteriorating security in Kosovo;
• Following the downfall of the S. Milosevic regime (October 2000), the situation has not substantially changed, as the new authorities have not done anything to encourage dialogue with the Kosovo Albanians.
• Because two million Albanians in Kosovo did not wish to live within the state of Serbia, which is a fact that must be accepted.

What is the purpose of the present propaganda campaign launched by the Serbian authorities?

After the expected proclamation of independence of Kosovo on February 17th 2008, the Belgrade authorities augmented the tensions, fomenting organized violence: attacks against embassies of western countries, foreign companies’ agencies, street unrests, etc.
The aims of such propaganda launched by the Serbian authorities are:

• Maintaining power based on the Kosovo myth: appealing to national awareness in order to achieve ethnic mobilization and homogenization;
• Scoring political points:  by creating chaos before the elections, threatening the security of political opponents and national minorities, in brief, by introducing  a type of state of emergency under the pretext of protecting the constitutional order and sovereignty;
• Averting public attention from the real problems in Serbia: from economic and social problems, from the issues of accountability for war crimes, cooperation with the Hague War Crimes Tribunal, lustration and other institutional reforms;
• Stifling the civil pro-European orientation in Serbia: the isolation from Europe and return to the 1990’s, marked by the regime of S. Milosevic, suits the retrograde forces in Serbia, enabling them to plunder the country and to legalize the war mongers’ amassed wealth;
• Repression aimed against ‘internal enemies’: especially against human rights defenders and all those who are outside the national consensus regarding the issue of the Kosovo independence, the issue of accountability for war and war crimes, etc.

What is the role of the civil society in Serbia concerning the independence of Kosovo?

The civil society, to which the Women in Black network belongs, should strive for the following:

• Creating a climate in Serbia favorable for bringing to consciousness the fact that Kosovo is independent and accepting the reality that two million Albanians do not wish to live within the legal system of Serbia;
• Drawing the public’s attention to the political motives and manipulations of the present government regarding the issue of Kosovo independence;
• Free, public expression of viewpoints regarding the independence of Kosovo;
• Continuation of  cooperation and solidarity with the Kosovo civil society, keeping the public informed and making visible good practical examples;
• Joining efforts with Kosovo civil society in building peace, respecting human rights, security, minority rights, etc.

How will Kosovo independence affect the relations between the civil society in Serbia and in Kosovo?

Relations between the civil society organizations and the political parties of civic orientation of the two countries have existed over a considerable period of time, although less intensive than desirable. It is the prevailing opinion of Women in Black activists that these relations will not only be continued, but also that the proclamation of independence of Kosovo will lead to:

• More relaxed, open, and less burdened relations, in view of the fact that the civil society in Kosovo invested a great deal of energy into the resolution of Kosovo’s status; it can therefore be expected that from now on, we will join our efforts working on the issues of human security, human rights and minority rights, which need to be given priority over issues of national and state sovereignty;
• These relations must not be conditioned by “project networking”, i.e. obtaining donations or depending on the whims of the doors, but rather by the need to overcome antagonisms between the two peoples, rapprochement leading to reconciliation and building of a just peace – all this requires great deal of joint field activities.

How will Kosovo independence influence the relations between the Women in Black Network – Serbia and the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), i.e.,  the relations within the Women’s Peace Coalition?

The Women’s Peace Coalition was created in early 2006, after more than a decade of mutual support, solidarity and fruitful cooperation between Women in Black Network– Serbia and the Kosovo Women’s Network. Women in Black Network – Serbia activists will strive for the following:

• Not merely the continuation, but the enrichment of cooperation through new joint actions, with many more concrete activities related to women’s human rights, women’s autonomy and feminism, as opposed to the dominant traditionalism and ethno-nationalism;
• The overcoming of the nationalistic and militaristic climate in both communities, demanding accountability for the war crimes that were committed in our name, instead of impunity, glorification and denial of crimes – for a civil society instead of ethnic homogenization, etc.
• Long-standing relations of friendship, solidarity and trust compel us to express our most sincere satisfaction with the fact that our friends, the Kosovo activists of the Kosovo Women’s Network have seen their dream come true: an independent Kosovo. Always bearing in mind that we come from a state that is responsible for countless crimes committed against their people, as well as the fact that we are always disobedient towards our own, that we always remain outside the ethnic, national and state consensus, we wish to convey to them a message containing our feminist and ethnic imperative:
• We shall not be deceived by our own camp! This means that first opposing our own, and then all others, we build independence against the ethnic principles and authorities, and we work together to develop non-violent resistance towards nationalists and militarists. Together we develop feminist solidarity and sorority across all ethnic divides, state boundaries and obstacles!

Women in Black Network – Serbia
Belgrade, March 2008


(Prepared by Stasa Zajovic, based on the informal               exchanges and public discussions of the WiB activists)

Back

The Advocacy Project
1326 14th Street NW
Washington DC 20005
phone: +1 202-332-3900
fax: +1 202-332-4600