Editorial
On
the Independence of Kosovo
On
February 17, 2008 the Assembly of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence
from Serbia. Both before and after this declaration massive amounts of
misinformation and disinformation have been circulated on the issue. On the one
hand there are the absurd claims of the U.S. and European imperialists that
they stand for the right to self-determination of small nations. On the other
hand the Russians and their Serb allies are busy defending the principle of the
territorial integrity of countries. In fact, the truth is that neither side cares in the least about either principle and
both sides are using the tragedy of the people of the Balkans to push their own
imperialist interests in the region. Further complicating matters is the fact
that many progressive analysts seem to have difficulty distinguishing between
the machinations of the imperialists and the legitimate aspirations of peoples.
The
source of the problem is the tension between two competing rights that were
recognized by the victorious powers at the end of the Second World War when
they established the United Nations. On the one hand, the UN recognized the
right of states to territorial integrity as a means to prevent further wars
over territorial disputes between states. (This principle has been routinely
violated by the big powers ever since.) The second principle is the right of
oppressed nations to self-determination, a right that, on occasion, may
contradict the right of states to territorial integrity. In other words, this
is a tension between the rights of states and the rights of peoples. Of course,
in reality the right to self-determination has also never actually been
recognized by the big powers. Rather, they have routinely opposed the right to
self-determination of nations within their sphere of influence, while
“supporting” that right within their competitors’ spheres of
influence.
Do
the Albanians in Kosovo deserve the right to self-determination? Of course they
do. Can the Serbs claim that their right to territorial integrity trumps the
right of Albanians to self-determination? Absolutely not.
It has always been a basic principle of democracy that the rights of the people
take precedence over the rights of the state. In this case, Kosovo has been
part of the homeland of the Albanian people for thousands of years. This is not
a case of a settler population serving as a beachhead for the colonial schemes
of a great power. The fact that there are conflicting claims to this piece of
land is a reflection of the complex history of the region and an argument in
favour of a multi-ethnic state based on equality and fraternity. It cannot be
used to support the claims of a larger state to dominate the peoples of a small
nation.
Historically,
Serbia has been both an oppressed nation and an oppressor nation, while the
Albanian nation has almost always been an oppressed nation and has never been
an oppressor nation. The principles of proletarian internationalism dictate
that in these circumstances the Serbian nation must respect the right to
self-determination of the smaller Albanian nation. For its part, the Albanian
nation has a duty to respect the rights of the Serb and other national
minorities within Kosovo and Albania. Both sides have a duty to promote peace
and fraternity between their respective peoples. Of course, because neither the
Serbs nor the Albanians are presently being guided by the principles of
proletarian internationalism, both sides have been violating the rights of the
other on a routine basis.
Do
the Albanians of Kosovo and Albania have a right to reunite their nation? Yes,
just as all divided nations have the right to reunite within one state, if they
so desire. This again is a basic democratic principle. Those who accuse the Albanians
of wanting to establish a Greater Albania neither understand
the basic rights of nations nor the concept of a “Greater Nation”.
Historically, this concept has been a device used by big powers to seize
territories from their neighbours after exporting
settlers into their neighbours’ land. The U.S.,
Britain, Germany, France and many other states, including Serbia, can
legitimately be accused of using such tactics. However, it is completely
illegitimate to accuse a small nation of such tactics when all it seeks is
reunification of the nation. Albanians have historically never occupied the
lands of other nations. Rather, it has been their lands that have been occupied
and annexed by others.
Based
on the principles of proletarian internationalism, it cannot be said that the Kosovar Albanians do not have the right to
self-determination, nor can it be said that their declaration of independence
is illegitimate. At the same time, it cannot be said that they have actually
achieved independence. They may have achieved independence from Serbia, but in
reality that was accomplished with the military defeat of Yugoslavia by NATO in
1999 and, since then, there has never really been any possibility that Kosovo
would return to Serbian control. However, Kosovo has been converted into a
dependency and a military outpost of U.S. imperialism. Like all of the other
countries of the region, an “independent” Kosovo, whether it remains separate
or joins Albania, will be independent in name only and a colony of U.S.
imperialism for all intents and purposes.
All
of the smaller nations of the Balkans, including both the Albanians and the
Serbs, have spent virtually their entire history as the vassals of bigger
powers. The only possibility for them to achieve real and lasting independence
is to put aside their ancient feuds and ethnic differences and agree to share
the region as fraternal peoples, united against the big powers. The Yugoslav
communists, under the leadership of Broz Tito, had an opportunity to do just
this, but they chose instead to abandon proletarian internationalism in favour
of narrow nationalism and collaboration with imperialism. The ongoing tragedies
of the peoples of the Balkans are rooted in that historical betrayal and can
only be ended with the overthrow of imperialism and the adoption of the
principles of proletarian internationalism.