Kosovo: And where will it end?

The unraveling may be starting:

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA (AFP) - UN police were forced to withdraw Monday [March 17] from the Serb-populated part of this flashpoint Kosovo town after coming under attack as they stormed a court occupied by Serbs opposed to independence.

More than 100 people, including 63 international security force members, were hurt amid gunfire and a suspected grenade blast after they moved in to regain control of the UN-run tribunal in the northern town of Kosovska Mitrovica, police officials said.

[...]

"The police are pulling out of northern Mitrovica," said an official from the Kosovo police mission of the United Nations [supposed to be replaced by EU police; I wonder if they'll arrive as scheduled - MC], who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

But Kosovo's NATO-led KFOR peacekeepers have remained in the tense town.

The French army chief of staff said in Paris that 20 French soldiers serving with KFOR were among the wounded, eight of them seriously, but none of them were in critical condition.

"NATO condemns, in the strongest terms, violence that we have seen today. NATO will respond firmly to ensure a safe and secure environment," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said in Brussels.

The use of weapons makes the violence the worst to have flared in Kosovo since its ethnic Albanian-dominated parliament unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on February 17.

[...]

Northern Kosovo has a 40,000-strong Serb population who are divided from the mainly ethnic Albanian south by the Ibar River, which passes through Mitrovica.

The clashes came on the four-year anniversary of the March 2004 anti-Serb riots by ethnic Albanians in which 19 people were killed and dozens of medieval Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries were destroyed or damaged.

Kosovo's independence has been recognised by many Western countries but Serbia and Kosovo Serbs -- backed by Russia -- have vehemently rejected the move as illegal.

Serbian President Boris Tadic warned UN and NATO forces against any "excessive reaction" that could spark a further "escalation."

Outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica condemned the "use of force" and said Serbia had "begun consultations with Russia over necessary mutual reaction in order to halt all violence against the Serbs."..

If Kosovo can separate from Serbia, why cannot the remaining Serb part secede itself and rejoin Serbia (not to mention the Serb part of Bosnia-Herzegovina doing the same thing)? Can anyone give a good reason in principle or logic? More on the Kosovar UDI here.

Mark C.

Update: We jump on the bandwagon:

Canada recognizes independent Kosovo

Appropriate I guess as our Air Force, under the Chrétien government, took a fairly significant part in bombing Serbia out of Kosovo in 1999--"10 percent of all air-to-ground strikes performed by NATO aircraft" (see near end at preceding link)--without UN Security Council authorization.

Upperdate: Why is Jack Layton not decrying this oppressive action by NATO? Surely the UN should be put in charge?

Military law imposed on divided Kosovo town after Serb rioting

Posted by markc at March 18, 2008 12:48 PM