PEACE & SECURITY | Creating a more stable world
14 March 2008
Kosovo Independence Significant in Muslim World, Envoy Says
Balkan diplomatic process is positive example for Palestinian state
Washington -- Kosovo may be Europe’s newest nation, but its significance extends well beyond the region, especially to the Muslim world.
“To be able to secure a Muslim-majority state inside the European whole is a terrific signal that the Muslim world and the non-Muslim world can live side by side in peace and cooperation, one with the other,” says Ambassador Frank Wisner, U.S. special envoy for Kosovo.
As the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) met in Dakar, Senegal, Wisner told America.gov that its member nations should consider building on the group's statement of support following Kosovo’s February 17 declaration of independence with political and economic support to help the new state move forward.
“I think the Kosovars are ready for that and want it,” Wisner said. “That’s a political signal that Kosovo has a home in a larger spiritual community.”
Before joining EU and Russian representatives in talks to help Serbian and Kosovar leaders resolve Kosovo’s final status, Wisner served as U.S. ambassador to OIC member Egypt, as well as ambassador to India, the Philippines and Zambia during a diplomatic career that spanned more than 30 years.
While the Muslim world faces numerous regional challenges, the Balkans share historical ties to the Middle East and should not be overlooked, Wisner said.
“I believe that for most of the Muslim world, it’s very important that one looks at [Kosovo as] a matter of justice, what is right,” Wisner said. “A people sought to practice its faith, the country is largely Muslim, inside a European context. To make certain that happens is in the interest of the entire world, notably in the Muslim world.”
The U.N.-driven process for reaching an agreement on Kosovo’s future was rooted in international legitimacy, Wisner said, and even after Kosovo’s decision to declare independence, its leaders have committed to the plan developed by U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. (See “Kosovo’s Independence a Just Solution, Says Burns.”)
Wisner strongly rejected critics’ arguments that Kosovo should be viewed as a “precedent” for redrawing the world map. Instead, he said, it should be viewed as an example of how the international community can come together for peace. He drew a connection between Kosovo and the prospects of a future Palestinian state, a goal strongly supported by the United States. (See “Bush Hails Kosovo Independence.”)
Kosovo, he said, is a “signal that the international community can make a difference, can settle sovereignty as a signal inside the region, about Palestine. We need to see … many positive examples to support that quest for statehood.”
Kosovo will need a great deal of help as it moves forward, Wisner said, and OIC member states should consider ways they could extend their political and economic support, such as participating in an international fund being formed by the European Community and World Bank aimed at rebuilding key infrastructure that will tie Kosovo to the Balkans, and the Balkans to Europe.
“It’s a good investment in the future,” Wisner said. “It’s a profitable investment in terms of the eventual economic evolution of Southeastern Europe, and I hope a strong economic signal will accompany a political signal.”
