Full length articles April 2008
A PAINFUL DIVORCE FOR BELGIUM
KOSOVO: AN EXAMPLE FOR COUNTRIES THAT WANT TO SPLIT UP?
By: Marloes ten Dam
Groningen – The failure of the negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo lead to the independence of Kosovo. The part of the international community that recognizes Kosovo as a sovereign state, claims Kosovo to be unique and therefore denies it is a precedent for other regions with a wish for independence. In the meantime Belgium tried to negotiate herself to a new cabinet. For months they have been trying to come to a coalition agreement. The ultra-right wing party, the Vlaams Belang, strives for a sovereign Flanders. If advisors cannot succeed in their mission to form a new federal cabinet than the split-up of Belgium becomes a realistic image for the future. Vlaams Belang could find arguments for her goal in the recently self proclaimed independence of Kosovo.
The Flemish christen-democratic party won the elections on the 10th of June 2007. The liberal Didier Reynders was appointed to start off the informal coalition talks to form a new federal government. Reynders, just like his successors, could not create an agreement between the parties. Since that moment Belgium has been rudderless and finds itself in a permanent impasse.
The current situation isn’t unexpected. Since the nation is a sovereign state it experiences philosophical contradictions. These express themselves mostly in language. Language laws are necessary to prevent chaos. There are three official language communities: Dutch, French and German (see figure to left). The Dutch- and the French speaking communities are dominant and claim their own culture. Especially the French are afraid that they will lose their culture if their Source: www.belgie.be language looses ground. Language is thereby a major underlying issue. This fight translates itself to other areas. Mainly the Flemish and the Walloon regions want to gain more power and recognition of their own culture identity.
At the moment tensions are high and the existence of a state is on the line; an ongoing debate the Belgium government is well aware of. Since 1970 Belgium has implemented five state reforms that must prevent the state from splitting up. These reforms have decentralized the power of the government to the communities and to the regions. Next to the three language communities there now also are three regions; Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital region (See figure above). The Flanders region combines its strength with the Dutch community. Since 1993 there is a federal government with five local governments. They all have their own government and their own parliament. The idea to save the state has therefore not succeeded. The local districts strive for more autonomy, which they get more and more with each state reform.
Local governments fight for there own interests, but the local interests are not always aligned with the interests of the state. The federal government is no more than an empty shell; the only things that are taken care of on federal level are taxes, social benefits and pensions. State issues are too much in tangle with the local ones. Over time the battle for self-government has grown like a tumour for the Leterme government, which was installed on the 23rd of March 2007. After nine moths of negotiating to come to this agreement the first thing prime minister Yves Leterme said was: “Be careful, before you know it I’m gone”.
Although there finally is a new government, this does not mean the problem is solved. Yves Letereme signed his own ‘death sentence’ for his cabinet. It is yet to be seen whether he can complete his four years. Most people expect the cabinet to fall and then the game will begin all over again. The asymmetric way of ruling isn’t gone. Parties in the new cabinet request new state reforms, but these aren’t mentioned in the final coalition agreement. The request for further de-federalization of the government makes the problem even bigger. Furthermore, it increases the risk of enlarging the frustrations between the people with the consequence that ultra-right parties, like the Vlaams Belang, win votes. Thus, Vlaams Belang could be a step closer to a sovereign Flanders.
A call they can strengthen by the sovereignty of Kosovo. The new state declared its independence after the failure of the negotiations between Serbia and itself. A lengthy debate about the future of Kosovo and which status the province would get preceded the declaration. Kosovo did not want anything less than sovereignty, but that was the one thing Serbia did not want to give. What they wanted to give was a far-reaching self-sufficiency, even with a Kosovar flag. Kosovo did not see the need to accept, largely because the USA prematurely declared it would recognize a sovereign Kosovo. This supported the claim of Kosovo and undermined the attempt of Serbia. A fight for autonomy, the same as in Belgium; the communities and regions there demand more self-control. The federal government may exist, but is nothing more than a facade.
Geographically and historically, Vlaams Belang can find another argument in the sovereignty of Kosovo. In a simplistic way Kosovo can be seen as a further disintegration of Yugoslavia. The gigantic federal state dissolved in small sovereign states. The independence of Kosovo can be seen as a last step in this process. Vlaams Belang can question itself if the same goes for Belgium. For a while, Belgium was part of the Netherlands. The Belgians resented this and seceded themselves from The Netherlands; the state Belgium was born. The state that arose had difficulties with the diversity of identities, the same goes for Serbia and her old province Kosovo. In that perspective the splitting up of Belgium is the same as the divorce of Serbia and Kosovo.
Every outcry for self-governance is unique, each situation is different. Nevertheless, can it be said that Kosovo isn’t a precedent for other regions with a wish for sovereignty? A long time ago Kosovo was pushed into a bad marriage. On February the 17th it found a way out and filed for divorce. Flanders wanted the marriage, but that does not mean that, because it was voluntarily, it can’t file for divorce.
MtD
PUTIN’S EASTER EGG
KOSOVO, EUROPEANS LATEST PRESENT OR TROJAN HORSE?
By: Servaas van der Laan
Verona (It) – Wednesday March 19th, Japan and Canada join the list of countries that have recognized the state of Kosovo. Even Serbia’s neighbours Bulgaria, Hungary and Croatia declared to recognize the new republic, risking their relations with Serbia. Around 30 European countries plus the United States have already accepted the self-proclaimed independence by the former Serbian province, provoking huge protests by the Serbians who are not willing to lose Kosovo. The temporary government of the UN (UNMIK) immediately responded to the protests by using military force and Europe kindly reminded Serbia that their planned European Union membership is at stake. Problem solved one might say? The reality is a little more complex. Both the UN and the EU seem to forget about one big Serbian trump that could raise a huge international conflict: Russia.
Sunday the 23th of March 2008, Easter Day in Vatican City, Rome. Thousands of pilgrims and tourists packed together in the pouring rain at the St. Peter’s Square hear Pope Benedict XVI speaking out his ‘Urbi et Orbi’ calling against injustice, war and local conflicts tormenting this world. The former German Bishop hopes that ‘the light that streams forth from this solemn day may shine forth in every part of the world’. Maybe the endless rain that came down on the heads of the pilgrims (his Holiness self was covered by a tent) is the answer of God, that those ‘local conflicts’ aren’t as easily solved as the Pope hopes they are.
Pope Ratzinger’s words are surely well meant and satisfying for many people, but sadly enough it’s the same religion that is causing so many conflicts in this modern world. The Serbian Orthodox Church proclaims to possess historical rights over Kosovo, while the Albanians put forward their numerical superiority; 90 percent of the population is Albanian. Martthi Ahtisaari, Retiring Special Representative for the UN, recently received the prestigious Dutch Geuzen Medal of Honour as recognition for his effort as mediator in Kosovo’s road to independence. Nonetheless, despite his efforts he could not convince the Serbian government to support the UN Resolution which would lead to a legal independence of Kosovo. This has led to the (factually illegal) self-proclamation of independence by the Albanian Kosovars. The Serbian government does not accept this illegally achieved independence and puts pressure on countries that accept Kosovo as a sovereign state. The European Union reacted to this pressure by declaring: ‘It is Serbia who’s knocking at the door of the EU and not the other way around. If they want us to open the door for them, they’d better listen to us’. This leaves Serbia no other choice than to accept the independent state of Kosovo one would say, but in fact they do have another possibility.
Serbia does not stand alone in rejecting Kosovo’s proclamation; the Albanians did violate UN-Resolution 1244, therefore there is a very obvious argument against their independence. The reality is that there are nations such as Belgium, Spain and Greece that have their own independence-conflicts. They fear that the minorities in their own country will consider Kosovo as a precedent and will, at their turn, declare independence as well. One of those countries is not to be underestimated: Putin’s Russia. The Russians fear that the sovereignty of Kosovo will yield a precedent for the settlement of conflicts on former Soviet territory and are therefore unwilling to accept the Albanian-Kosovar independence. Serbia has found itself a very powerful ally; the two countries already share the same religion because it was the Russians who liberated Serbia from the Turks in 1878. If the European Union decides to keep slamming the door in the face of the Serbians there is a likely chance that Belgrade decides to join Russia at the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). If so, the EU and the NATO will not only loose Kosovo, at the same time they will light up the fire of issues regarding Russia again.
Jaap De Hoop Scheffer, NATO’s Secretary General, already called for a more intensive cooperation with the Russians but he believes ‘TheNATO needs Russia as Russia needs the NATO’. Russian minister Sergei Kisljak asked for more recognition regarding the Russian issues with the Ukraine and Georgia. NATO is considering those two nations as future members, but if they do accept those former Soviet States, the statement of Russia will be loud and clear: ‘The NATO might win one or two states, but they will loose Russia’. That would be a very unpleasant situation for everyone in this world. Serbia will ask for Russian forces to invade Kosovo and the trouble in the Balkan region will start all over again. Therefore it would be wise for both The UN and the EU to reconsider their attitude against Serbia and Russia; otherwise even bigger problems will arise. If they don’t, they will loose their grip on Russia and if so, the Pope could speak out his ‘Urbi et Orbi’ everyday, but the local conflicts will get only larger and it will keep on raining on the St. Peter’s Square for a while.
SvdL
