Kosova Can't Wait

Suggestions that a vote on the U.N. resolution on Kosovo's independence will be postponed are deeply troubling. There are two million Kosovar Albanians who demand delivery on the West's promise of freedom and self-determination. They have patiently waited on that promise since June 1999, when NATO air strikes ended then Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic's genocidal war, and that is more than long enough.

The international community should recognize the independence of Kosovo now, if for no other reason than its promise to the Kosovar Albanian.

There is, however, another reason that is equally compelling: Recognition is the only way to bring lasting peace and stability to the Balkans.

For seven years, Kosovo's political, social, and economic progress has been held hostage by a lack of final status. Kosovar Albanians, who are predominantly pro-Western and democratic, are also largely entrepreneurial and hardworking. Yet, they are trapped in a welfare state. Kosovo's unemployment rate is nearly 70 percent, in a population in which 70 percent are also under the age of 30. Privatization and access to World Bank funds, which would bring jobs and investments to Kosovo, are repeatedly stalled by lack of final status and the international community's concern for Serbia.

Albanians, who make up 92 percent of Kosovo's population, along with the minority communities of Serbs, Turks, Roma, and Ashkalli, grow desperate as assistance from international donors and the Albanian diaspora dwindles. As winter sets in, severe daily hardships and power shortages will make for a volatile environment.

Kosovo's Serbs, fewer than five percent of Kosovo's population, need the matter settled once and for all, too. Their lives are stolen daily by Belgrade, which blocks all their attempts to be full partners in the new Kosovo. Their inability to integrate into Kosovo's political and economic life prolongs the suffering of Serbia's citizens, as well, for as long as Belgrade can use Kosovo's Serbs as pawns, it can hide behind a failed nationalism to avoid dealing with an economy in collapse.

The notion presented by both U.S. and European officials in recent weeks, that delaying Kosovo's final status will somehow prevent the parties of indicted war criminals Milosevic and Vojislav Seselj from gaining a majority in December, is naïve. The Radicals and the Socialists already hold 40 percent of the seats in Serbia's parliament and regional polls show them gaining even more in December. They are making these gains because their message is clear: They will never "sell Kosovo."

In other words, whether the U.N. votes on the resolution to grant Kosovo independence before or after the December vote is irrelevant; Serbia is already acting as if that decision has been taken. That being the case, take the decision now. Delaying the resolution any longer will only make it that much harder for Kosovar Albanians to heal the wounds of Serbian occupation and war.

Indeed, delaying the decision actually could have a negative effect in Serbia. It would be a suggestion to the Serbs that resisting Kosovo's independence is not paying off, thereby further boosting the cause of the Radicals and the Socialists. Granting Kosovo independence now, on the other hand, might have the opposite effect: It could help diminish their march towards an absolute parliamentary majority by demonstrating to the Serbs that no one in the outside world cares much for what the Radicals and Socialists want.

On October 19, Martin Ahtisaari, the U.N. Envoy mediating the final status talks, announced "2006 is still my target date," dismissing suggestions by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and others that status resolution might be delayed until Serbia holds elections. Ahtisaari is not the only decision-maker, however, and despite what happens, debate about postponement has already caused considerable damage. Belgrade has been encouraged to believe it has power over final status decision-making, and Kosovar Albanians, whose dissatisfaction with their government is on the rise, are beginning to seriously question their historic and vigorous faith in the West, especially the United States. If the erosion of confidence continues, things will go from bad to worse.

For the United States, especially, now is the time for a foreign policy success, not another foreign policy failure. Granting Kosovo its independence now, with the U.S. leading that charge, can be that success.

Bring it to a vote.

* Former Congressman Joseph DioGuardi contributed to this article.