EU divided over Kosovo
The European Union struggled to put up a show of unity over Kosovo, even as majority of the members agreed to recognize the breakaway province’s declaration of independence, Spain and Romania rubbished its action as illegal. France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner announced President Nicolas Sarkozy’s decision that the time has come to end the Balkan troubles and the need of the hour is reconciliation. About 20 of the 27 member states in the EU including Italy, Germany and the UK were ready to recognize the Kosovars as independent. EU’s efforts to at least put up a show of unity failed as Spain made it clear from the start that it has no intention of recognizing Kosovo’s independence. The reason stated is that Kosovo “did not respect international law”. The statement brutally exposed the divide within the EU over legal basis of Kosovo’s secession. Spain, wary of the impact on its Basque and Catalan nationalist movements, is thought to be unhappy that Kosovo’s ethnic Alban leaders declined to postpone independence until after Spain’s March 9 general election.
EU foreign minister later agreed on a joint statement that Kosovo’s independence set no precedent for other disputes in Europe or beyond. In an attempt to appease Belgrade’s anger, they repeated an offer of eventual Union membership for Serbia – and all other Balkan countries. EU hopes that the lure of membership will calm searing passions in Serbia and other Balkan states. The Kosovo crisis has yet again exposed the glaring differences of national interest within the EU, as they did during the wars of the Yugoslav succession back in the 1990’s. Russia, a prime opponent of Kosovo’s secession and Serbia’s strongest diplomatic ally, says it violates international law as it was not agreed on with Serbia and also lacked approval of the United Nations Security Council. Within the EU, Spain’s stance is shared by Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Slovakia. However, some are concerned about the impact on their own minorities. The Greek Cypriot government fears that the recognition of Kosovo may bolster the cause of Turkish Cypriot separatists. In spite of the internal turmoil, EU is still trying to put up at least a phony show of unity by planning to send a law and order mission to Kosovo over the next four months and replace the UN operation that has administered it since 1999.
Berlin is expected to recognize Kosovo at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday; this was stated by Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Although, Dimitrij Rupel, foreign minister of Slovenia and who also holds the EU’s rotating presidency bravely claimed that “The EU once again survived this test of unity”, it’s pretty clear that things are far from calm within the union. As each state tries to protect its own individualistic interests the matter seems far from getting resolved anytime soon.
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