{"id":826,"date":"2023-06-19T09:48:56","date_gmt":"2023-06-19T09:48:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/?p=826"},"modified":"2024-12-09T11:24:29","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T09:24:29","slug":"nje-shqyrtim-kritik-i-idese-se-shkembimit-te-territoreve-nje-pergjigje-per-james-ker-lindsay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/opinion\/nje-shqyrtim-kritik-i-idese-se-shkembimit-te-territoreve-nje-pergjigje-per-james-ker-lindsay\/","title":{"rendered":"A Critical Examination of the Land Swap Idea: A Response to James Ker-Lindsay"},"content":{"rendered":"

The recent unrest in northern Kosovo has led to a renewed interest in the idea of a land swap between Kosovo and Serbia. The idea has been touted at various times, most notably during the negotiations between\u00a0\u00a0Thaci and Vucic in 2018,<\/a>as a quick way to finalize a deal between Kosovo and Serbia.<\/p>\n

While most suggest it would be a\u00a0disaster<\/a>, others have argued\u201cpeaceful ethnic cleansing<\/a>, would solve the long-running dispute. James Ker-Lindsay recently\u00a0resurrected the idea<\/a>\u00a0and proposed swapping Kosovo\u2019s four northern municipalities for several Albanian villages in the southern part of Serbia.<\/p>\n

Ker-Lindsay\u2019s\u00a0expertise<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0in this specific dispute, and territorial disputes in general, mark him out as significantly more qualified than most others who have advanced this idea; nonetheless, his proposal comprises many of the same problematic features.<\/p>\n

Challenging the \u201cBoth sides\u201d perspective<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his analysis, Ker-Lindsay fails to acknowledge the violence perpetrated by Serbia in Kosovo. He summarises the events in the late 1990s as follows:\u201cthe Kosovo Albanians launched an armed independence campaign. Amidst growing violence peace talks were convened in early 1999\u201d.<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, a comprehensive understanding of the current dispute between Kosovo and Serbia requires an appreciation of the historical context. Specifically, the fact that between 1989 and 1999, Serbian nationalists in power in Belgrade revoked Kosovo\u2019s autonomous status, systematically oppressed the Kosovo Albanian population, and ultimately initiated an ethnic cleansing campaign that culminated in war.<\/p>\n

By ignoring the state-sponsored violence inflicted upon the Albanian community, Ker-Lindsay presents a misleading picture where uninformed readers might conclude that this conflict was simply a case of violent separatists clashing with the government.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Ker Lindsay\u2019s analysis omits crucial details about Vucic\u2019s past, including his disregard for human rights and press freedom in Serbia, his links with organised crime and\u00a0\u00a0his rejection<\/a>\u00a0of the recent EU-brokered peace plans.<\/p>\n

After Vucic\u2019s Serbian Progressive Party came to power in 2012, Serbian nationalists increased their sabre-rattling and\u00a0sectarian provocation.<\/a>Vucic\u2019s links with\u00a0organized crime<\/a>\u00a0and his assault on press freedom, human rights and democracy have all been\u00a0well documented<\/a>.He has also repeatedly\u00a0\u00a0denied that atrocities<\/a>occurred in Kosovo whilst branding Kosovo\u2019s democratically elected Prime Minister Albin Kurti as, \"terrorist scum\".<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kurti, by contrast, is branded as\"an uncompromising nationalist hardliner<\/em>and there no mention is made of his\u00a0\u00a0expressed desire to sign the EU-brokered peace plan<\/a>\u00a0or the progress his government has made in the area of press freedom and human rights.<\/p>\n

Albin Kurti has never endorsed sectarian violence or served in an administration engaged in crimes against humanity. Since his party came to power, Kosovo \u2013 in stark contrast to Vucic\u2019s Serbia \u2013 has made significant progress in\u00a0tackling corruption<\/a>, improving\u00a0press freedom<\/a>\u00a0and increasing\u00a0respect for human rights.<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, commenting on the most recent violence in the north of Kosovo, Ker-Lindsay describes the situation as follows: \u201cAs local Serbs protested, NATO peacekeepers stepped in leading to clashes\u201d.Nd\u00ebrsa serb\u00ebt vendas protestuan, paqeruajt\u00ebsit e NATO-s nd\u00ebrhyn\u00eb dhe provokuan p\u00ebrleshjen.<\/em>\u201d slogans<\/p>\n

This depiction is at the very least incomplete. It was not only \u201clocal Serbs\u201d involved and \u201cclashes\u201d fails to do justice to the fact that the violence against KFOR was perpetrated by what KFOR spokesperson Colonel Andrea Gallieni, described as\"criminal groups\"<\/a>who came to the protests armed with grenades and guns.<\/p>\n

Omitting these pertinent details \u2013 whether consciously or not \u2013 creates a false impression of the events. Ultimately, it fails to situate the violence in the context of the Serbian nationalist long-running struggle to reclaim Kosovo and rid it of its Albanian inhabitants as part of a broader project to create a\"Serbian world\".<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Discussing a land swap without acknowledging this latter point and whilst framing \u201cboth sides\u201d as needing to compromise, extricates the issue from its all-important context.<\/p>\n

A Victory for Serbian Nationalism that Offers no Sustainable Solution for Peace<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ker-Lindsay argues that a land swap would constitute, \u201ca clean break\u201d,<\/em>,\"would mark the end of any question about Kosovo\u2019s status<\/em>, and would\u201callow Serbia to move on<\/em>However, the idea that Serbia wouldKer-Lindsay argues that a land swap would constitute \u201ca clean break\u201d, \u201cmark the end of any question about Kosovo\u2019s status\u201d and \u201callow Serbia to move on\u201d. However, the idea that Serbia would \u201cmove on\u201d after a land swap is highly unlikely.<\/em>, after a land swap is highly unlikely.<\/p>\n

Vucic believes Kosovo is, \"cradle of Serbia<\/a>, and has admitted to being\u201cobsessed with Kosovo\u201d<\/a>. He has built his powerbase by perpetuating the notion that Serbia is besieged by enemies, historically subjected to unjust foreign interference, and ultimately destined to reclaim its stolen lands.<\/p>\n

Should a land swap occur, he and his supporters would not settle for the four northern municipalities.<\/p>\n

It is important to note that the majority of Serbs in Kosovo live south of the river Ibar. Therefore, their challenges and concerns \u2013 whether real or contrived \u2013 would continue to serve as an emotive totem and an excuse for interfering in Kosovo\u2019s affairs.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the majority of the Serbian Orthodox Church sites in Kosovo lie outside the four northern municipalities, such as the\u00a0UNESCO World Heritage sites\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u2013 Decani, the Patriarchate of Pec, Gracanica and the Church of the Virgin of Levisa \u2013 as well as many other historic religious sites.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the \u201cField of Blackbirds\u201d where the 1389 battle against the Ottomans occurred, lies close to Pristina; the Gazimestan Monument to the battle is a site of major significance for Serb nationalists. These various sites outside the four northern municipalities will invariably fuel the aspirations of those who covet Kosovo.<\/p>\n

For decades, the idea of partitioning Kosovo along ethnic lines was repeatedly rejected by Kosovo\u2019s Western allies who argued that Kosovo\u2019s territorial integrity was non-negotiable. A land swap now would effectively reward Serbia for its persistent intransigence and suggest that what the West says is non-negotiable today will become negotiable in the future.<\/p>\n

Having established the principle that Kosovo\u2019s territorial integrity is not sacrosanct, would Serb nationalists give up their campaign to regain all of Kosovo? It is highly unlikely.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trazirat e fundit n\u00eb veri t\u00eb Kosov\u00ebs kan\u00eb zgjuar iden\u00eb p\u00ebr shk\u00ebmbim territoresh midis Kosov\u00ebs dhe Serbis\u00eb. Kjo ide \u00ebsht\u00eb p\u00ebrfolur disa her\u00eb, ve\u00e7an\u00ebrisht gjat\u00eb negociatave midis\u00a0Tha\u00e7it dhe Vu\u00e7iqit m\u00eb 2018, si nj\u00eb rrug\u00eb e shpejt\u00eb p\u00ebr t\u00eb finalizuar nj\u00eb marr\u00ebveshje midis Kosov\u00ebs dhe Serbis\u00eb. Derisa shumica sugjerojn\u00eb se kjo do t\u00eb ishte nj\u00eb\u00a0katastrof\u00eb, t\u00eb […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":10596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[668,664,12],"ppma_author":[18],"class_list":["post-826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-conflict","tag-kosovo","tag-serbia"],"authors":[{"term_id":18,"user_id":8,"is_guest":0,"slug":"aidan-hehir","display_name":"Aidan Hehir","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/aidan.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/aidan.jpg"},"user_url":"","last_name":"Hehir","first_name":"Aidan","description":"Dr. Aidan Hehir is a Reader in International Relations at the University of Westminster. His research interests include transitional justice, humanitarian intervention, and statebuilding in Kosovo. He is the author\/editor of eleven books; his most recent monograph \u2013 Hollow Norms and The Responsibility to Protect (Palgrave Macmillan) \u2013 won the 2019 British International Studies Association \u2018Working Group on Intervention and R2P\u2019 book prize. He has published over fifty academic book chapters and journal articles, is co-editor of the Routledge Intervention and Statebuilding book series and is a regular contributor to national and international television and radio."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=826"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10788,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826\/revisions\/10788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=826"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}