PREDRAG MARKOVIĆ WRITES FOR KURIR ON KOSOVO:'Today's generation of Serbian statesmen facing unprecedented challenges in peacetime'
The EU and the international community (read: The West) have disgraced themselves in Kosovo more than anywhere else, starting from abandoning's one's own principles – initially, it was "standards before status".
Eight standards were envisaged to be met before proceeding to the discussion on the status, with the standards themselves being quite loose and tipped in favour of the Priština authorities.
After the 2004 pogrom against the Serbs, the policy changed. Albanians were rewarded for the violence that was unprecedented at a time of peace. Most EU member states recognized the independence of Kosovo.
Many of these countries are now blackmailing Serbia. They claim that our path to Europe is only possible if we have good neighbourly relations, including with Kosovo. By "good relations," they mean giving up on a part of our country that had been taken away from us by force. That is a request that has never been made to anyone. It has never occurred to anyone to demand of Cyprus to recognize the breakaway Northern Cyprus.
The international community has prevented the secession of parts of states across the world. A Nobel Prize laureate and peacemaker convinced the Aceh province to remain in Indonesia, while supporting Kosovo's breaking away from Serbia.
Even if we leave aside the trampling of Serbia's sovereignty, the so-called state of Kosovo is an insult to any international standards, especially those relating to human rights and the rule of law. Why the Western powers violate their own standards in the case of Kosovo has a long history behind it.
Narcotics excluded, the economic value of Kosovo is non-existent.
As for its geopolitical significance, all the neighbours of Kosovo – a territory that no major international road passes through – have a better position.
Perhaps hiding shame is one of the reasons. The US, the UK, Germany, and other powers bombed and destroyed the Serbian nation – a nation which had been on the better side of all the great world wars. Why? In order to form one of the most criminal creations in the world. Apart from some areas in Africa engulfed in civil wars and parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan, which live off of producing drugs, it's difficult to find a society on the planet in which crime plays such a big role as it does in Kosovo.
The political elite there, composed partly of highwaymen like Thaçi and Haradinaj, and partly of irresponsible fanatics and demagogues like Kurti, is likely the worst in Europe. The Priština leaders can make unreasonable requests because they have nothing to lose. The EU's apparent support for Priština is a big illusion. Kosovo Albanians are being kept in a "cage" for the time being, without visa liberalization.
Nonetheless, the Serbian state is forced to negotiation even with such Priština politicians and the hypocritical Euro-bureaucracy, which is devoid of any sort of vision. Irresponsible fault-finders are attacking the Serbian state authorities and the head of state from two sides.
One column of the attackers demands harsh measures and irresponsible promises. The other demands total surrender and pandering to every whim of both Brussels and Priština. The harsh measures against the Kosovo Albanians achieved nothing even when Serbia and/or Yugoslavia had a stronger presence in Kosovo, with greater international support.
Total capitulation will not speed up European integration by a single day, as evidenced with North Macedonia. Today's generation of Serbian statesmen is facing an unprecedented challenge at a time of peace.
The Kosovo knot cannot be untied with a single move. It must be carefully undone, while being fully aware that someone out there is constantly tying up even the threads that we have already untied.