The latest International Crisis Group report lays out steps that Albanians, Serbs and the international community should take to prevent destabilisation.
Albanian politicians, the Serbian government and the international community must act now to ensure the Kosovo status process does not destabilise the neighbouring Presevo Valley, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report released October 16th.
"Serbia: Maintaining Peace in the Presevo Valley", the latest report from the Brussels-based think tank, examines the steps that need to be taken so Kosovo's potential independence does not undo a mostly successful conflict resolution case across the border in southern Serbia.
In May 2001, in part due to strong NATO mediation, the Presevo Valley was brought back under Serbian government control, ending a low-grade ethnic Albanian insurgency that had lasted approximately 17 months in the three municipalities east of the Kosovo boundary line.
The Albanians signed what became known as the "Konculj Agreement" and pledged to "demilitarise, demobilise, disarm and disband" the Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja. In exchange, they received guarantees that their fighters would be amnestied, refugees allowed to return, a multi-ethnic police force formed and Albanians integrated into public institutions from which they had been excluded for decades.
The ICG says there has been a good deal of progress in the valley, with no major incidents for more than three years, but tensions linger due to high unemployment and uncertainty.
"Grievances abound on both sides," said James Lyon, ICG senior Balkans adviser. "Albanians feel peace has not ended tensions with Serb security forces and wish to join the valley to Kosovo, while Serbs feel the Albanians are a disloyal, irredentist minority."
"Kosovo's uncertainty and Belgrade's lack of a clear policy hamper the needed changes," says Sabine Freizer, ICG Europe programme director. "All parties need to work to develop the Presevo economy and ensure Kosovo events do not disrupt progress."
The group recommended a series of steps that should be taken to prevent the destabilisation of the Presevo Valley.
According to the ICG, embassies of the Contact Group countries -- France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Britain and US -- in Belgrade and the OSCE should continually urge all parties in southern Serbia to refrain from violence, no matter what happens in Kosovo.
The report also calls on KFOR to prevent security forces, both formal and informal, from taking revenge on southern Serbia's Albanian population in the event Kosovo declares independence.
Albanian politicians in the Presevo Valley should participate in Serbian political life, particularly national elections, and avoid provocative displays of Albanian national symbols, the ICG says. (SETimes)
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