Serbia's new human-rights role questioned
Serbia takes the lead of a European rights council Friday, even as ultranationalism deepens.
from the May 11, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Kosovo: a trigger for nationalism
Kosovo has long been the trigger point for Serbian nationalism, even after the 1999 NATO bombing campaign ended Belgrade's control of what nationalists call "the sacred soil" of Kosovo, and even though few Serbs still live in a region now overwhelmingly dominated by ethnic Albanians.
Mr. Burns announced this week that he expected a vote in the UN Security Council later this month on a version of a Kosovo independence plan drawn up by Martti Ahtisaari, former Finnish president.
Burns told reporters that Russia would for the first time begin to work with the rest of the Security Council on a new draft that would not openly declare the independence of Kosovo – but would end the current UN authority adopted after the 1999 war and allow the EU and NATO to take administrative and security control. That would set the stage for later independence, once political, social, and civil standards were met for the Serb minority.
"We are in favor of the Russian proposals," Burns said this week. "Russia should be part of the process of building a peaceful Balkans."
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