Are words understood the same way in Belgrade as in Prishtina?

1.
Serbia must be Kosovo's strategic partner in the future. There are several reasons for this, beginning from the simple geographic ones and all the way to the special nature of the Kosovo-Serbia relations. The special nature is dramatic: citizens of Kosovo have been persecuted by the Serb state up to the war that aimed the destruction of the Albanian identity in Kosovo. Today Kosovo is not only trying to overcome this pain of the past but trying to finally put a cover on its head so that never the pains of the past are repeated. And for this, Kosovo has as starting point the notion that the conflict of the past can be overtaken only if a new paradigm is set in the relations between us, and this is that of the partnership. Two states which cooperate for a joint European future will be able to find a way away from the legacy of conflict. Partnership, obviously, denotes equality. Only equals can be partners, and conceptually, so far from Serbia we have not seen the readiness to recognize us as equals. From Serbia, likewise today in New York, we hear about the concept of subordination, about the concept according to which Kosovo must subordinate to the Serb institutions.  The concept of subordination has been demolished, finally, with the liberation of Kosovo in 1999. Serbia may not be ready for partnership today, but maybe she will be so in a year. If not in a year, in five, seven or ten years. From the Kosovar side, there will exist a permanent offer for partnership. About subordination it is not even worth discussing.

2.
New relations between Kosovo and Serbia must be based on shared values as well, respectively, on the same interpretation of words. Do we understand the words we declare similarly?

Prime Minister Kostunica mentions that unilateral solutions must not be accepted. President Tadic mentions three concept-words on which the solution to the future must be based, which I will discuss later. A unilateral solution, says Prime Minister Kostunica, will damage Kosovo's status process and will create a security crisis, and such. But at the same time, Prime Minister specifies that the solution to the case of Kosovo must be found based on the constitution of Serbia. This too is a unilateral solution; Serbia with the adoption of her constitution, which makes Kosovo part of herself, has created a unilateral act with which she has denied the whole negotiating process with the potential of creating a security crisis.

3.
President Tadic on the other hand has said that the new relations must be found within the concepts of reconciliation, peace and partnership under a single sovereign roof. These are very important concepts, but do we understand them the same way?

Let us consider reconciliation. Our peoples must reconcile, without any doubt.  But, it was the Serb state that practiced terror, waged war on the civilian population, and is responsible for genocidal intent.
Last year in the Vienna meeting I requested the return of all the missing bodies. Today in Serbia there are still more than 1.500 bodies of the missing Kosovars. How is reconciliation possible when at the same time the remains of the missing are being held?

Or, let us consider peace. How can Belgrade strive for peace and at the same time request the attack of one of the strongest instruments with which democracy and peace can be built? Can one strive for peace and at the same time tell Kosovo Serbs not to participate in elections?

4.
And at the end, sovereignty, or that which President Tadic calls partnership under a sovereign roof.
We must define what we understand by roof and what we understand by sovereignty. Kosovo needs sovereignty also because of a larger historic process, that of the unification of Europe. For us in the 21st century, sovereignty is the right to give a piece of that sovereignty to the common interest, that European. So, for us, independence means the right to give a part of our sovereign rights to the common European institutions in the future.

That is how we see our common roof, like a European roof. Thus we invite you to work together with us, to help each other by establishing a partnership between our equal countries to speed up our integrative Euro-Atlantic processes.

This essay is based on the the Kosovo status talks held on September 28 of this year in New York. Veton Surroi is a publicist, leader of a Kosovar political party and member of the Prishtina delegation to the status talks.

 

From Albanian for New Kosova Report: Arianit Dobruna

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