Kosovo declared independence on Sunday as anticipated. Amongst the Western media’s general euphoria, this op-ed in the Sydney Morning Herald redefines triumph and justice:
Serb houses, often still with charred timbers or caved-in roofs, most covered in graffiti, rot behind razor wire, in the hope that one day their former residents will return to make good the damage.
Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci, has invited them so to do, but frankly, I’ll believe it when I see it. And while for most residents of this newborn Balkan state the most important measures of its success will ultimately be economic – wages, jobs, investment – the international community must be judged by higher standards.
Its intervention in Kosovo was made on moral grounds, and morality dictates that the Kosovo project cannot be deemed a real triumph until the razor wire comes down and Serbs are able to return to their homes, wander freely beyond the confines of their enclaves and worship safely in their churches.
Hat tip to the SWJ blog.
I disagree. I was in Kosovo a few weeks ago and I can tell you that Serb villages are alive and well. And they still fly the Serbian flag, purposefully irking the majority of the region’s population.
They continue to impose the Serbian in official Kosovar documents, government offices, street signs – and staunchly refuse to learn albanian, forcing the 92% of their co-citizens to deal with the language of the people who tried to annihilate them.
True, there are Serbs selling their houses and moving to Serbia, but these are a minority. The rest seem quite set to hold on to their positions and are making a very nice living of international aid provided to them, as the ‘oppressed minority’ in the country. It’s a joke.
Frankly, I think everyone would be better off if the Serbs of Kosovo just moved out. They won’t, though.
(and, btw, I am not Albanian, Kosovar, Serb, or have any remote relations to the Balkans.)