Happy Birthday, Kosovo!

Balkanization: to break up (as a region or group) into smaller and often hostile units.

Today a new country is born, and an old one, like an injured animal, becomes more dangerous:

"Britain, France and Germany [and the United States] are likely to support the fledgling state but some fear it will set a dangerous precedent.

Kosovo's parliament unanimously backed independence on Sunday but Serbia's PM denounced it as a "false state".

A split emerged at the UN Security Council when Russia said Kosovo's declaration should be null and void." (article here)



With Serbia claiming a 600-year old religious and cultural connection to Kosovo, it's easy to understand why Serbians are upset. You see, many, many years ago, during the first Battle of Kosovo (1389), a young Serbian noble called Stefan Lazar was given a choice from God. Appearing to Lazar as the prophet Elijah in the form of a grey falcon, God said Lazar could defeat the invading Ottomans on the battlefield and receive earthly glories, or he could build a cathedral (being an Eastern Orthodox Christian) to God and capitulate on the battlefield, losing his men, his life, and his territory, but gaining the heavenly kingdom. Of course, he chose the latter, instantly becoming a martyr and burning cultural and religious connections to the region of Kosovo into the fabric of Serbia's identity. 1



Fast forward a few hundred years. Albanians, Serbians, Ottomans and sundry members of the Austro-Hungarian empire have lived in, died in, moved into and out of, and occupied Kosovo. It seems like everyone has a claim to the region, although it's been part of Serbia (and for a while there, Yugoslavia) since WWI (more or less). The atrocities committed by Serbia against Kosovars in the late 1990s resulted in UN intervention. The ethnic cleansing at the command of then-President Slobodan Milošević incited further nationalistic tendencies in Serbia to re-claim Kosovo as it's own, despite the fact that the vast majority of it's citizens are in fact ethnic Albanians. The ethnic Albanians aren't interested in rejoining the Serbian fold, nor should they be. Would you want to forcibly re-marry an abusive spouse?



Which brings us back to today - Sunday 17 February, 2008. Kosovo declares it's independence, upsets the balance of power within the UN Security Council, the G-8, and the EU. Russia, a staunch Serbian ally, is currently refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of Kosovo's statehood, saying such recognition creates a dangerous precedent for other potential breakaway provinces (probably true). That's in sharp contrast to US, and most of western Europe. Outstanding. Think about this, though. How would you feel as an American if people X (fill in religious/political/national affiliation here) had been slowly moving into a American state where we claimed great national and historic pride, such as Valley Forge, New York City, or Roanoke, and after years of occupation under American rule and law, decided that they were going to declare their independence? That happened once already, it was called the Civil War, and it wasn't pretty. Of course, that's not a perfect parallel, but it helps you to understand how the Serbs feel.

"In the ethnically divided northern city of Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbs vowed never to let Kosovo go.

"The Albanians can celebrate all they want, but this stillborn baby of theirs will never be an independent country as long as we Serbs are here and alive," said Djordje Jovanovic." (2)

Happy Birthday, indeed. This could be a bumpy ride.

if you're interested in some overarching history of the region, look into Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, by Rebecca West. It's a general overview of Yugoslavia.

For a more pointed view of the war in Bosnia from 1991-1995 and many first-hand accounts of the war in Kosovo, read Madness Visible by Janine Di Giovanni. It's a fast read but it will break your heart.