SA should acknowledge Kosovo's independence

By Hannine Drake

My recent announcement that I was planning to spend my upcoming vacation in Kosovo was mostly met with curiosity as well as some enthusiasm from the “developed countries are for the weak” crowd. One of the popular responses, apart from “why”, was: “Is it even a country?” But what may initially seem to be an ignorant question actually requires further scrutiny:

The South African government does not think it is a country either.

Formerly an autonomous province of Serbia, and now the second youngest country in the world after newborn Southern Sudan, the Republic of Kosovo declared independence on February 17 2008 and has since been recognised by 85 out of 193 UN member states.*

As the poorest country in Europe, with an unemployment rate comparable to South Africa’s and a recent violent history, one can draw many parallels between the ethnic conflict in Kosovo and South Africa’s recent past. Kosovo’s population consists of more than 90% ethnic Albanians and only about 5% Serbians, but has been subject to Serbian rule for most of its recent history. This small landlocked country had, similarly to South Africa, seen the majority violently oppressed by the minority government. Albanian culture and its people were systematically oppressed and the use of Albanian in schools was forbidden in favour of the minority’s mother tongue, Serbian. Sound familiar?

A state of emergency was declared in 1990, which later escalated into a full-blown war often referred to as ethnic cleansing, ending only in 1999 with the help of foreign intervention, a wholly controversial topic in itself. The UN administered Kosovo until it unilaterally declared independence in 2008.

Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence was considered by a number of countries to be legally (and politically) controversial at the time. But the International Court of Justice (ICJ), at Serbia’s insistence — which they surely now regret — issued a non-binding advisory opinion in July 2010 essentially stating that Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence does not violate international law.

The right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of human rights law and is acknowledged in our Constitution. Considering, in addition to our constitutional values and the added impetus of the ICJ opinion, the similarities between Kosovo’s and South Africa’s histories, one would expect us to be firmly in favour of Kosovo’s independence. But despite being one of the countries that voted in favour of receiving the ICJ opinion in the first place, we promptly proceeded to ignore it:

About a month after the ICJ opinion was handed down, International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane met with Serbian officials and confirmed that South Africa will not change its stance on Kosovo and would continue to support Serbia on this matter. (Serbia, of course, has vowed to never acknowledge Kosovo’s independence.) Up to this date, our position on this issue has been consistently pro-Serbia. Then, in a sudden but not entirely unsurprising turnaround, it appears that President Jacob Zuma started making pro-independence promises to Kosovo just a month ago. Whether this will result in any concrete position, remains to be seen. South Africa’s unfortunate trend in foreign policy incoherence seems set to continue.

Desmond Tutu’s now famous comments on the Dalai Lama visa saga, that is, that the South African government should not side with oppressive regimes and should act in accordance with our human-rights commitments, ring equally true here. The conflict in Kosovo may well be over, but the history of oppression remains apparent in Pristina’s run-down streets and racial tensions remain high. For as long as we side with Serbia in the Kosovo independence matter, much as we side with China when it comes to Tibet’s autonomy, we are choosing against the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom enshrined in our Constitution.

As a transitional democracy ourselves, the South African government can at least pretend to take more than a passing interest in Kosovo. I am sure that the Pristina International Airport will welcome both minister Nkoana-Mashabane and her handbag.

Hannine Drake is a lawyer and freedom of expression advocate.

* Nigeria, Gabon and Cote d’Ivoire recently joined the group of African countries that recognise Kosovo’s independence after a recruitment drive by Kosovo officials in September 2011.