Historian Noel Malcolm: Condition of Kosovo membership in KiE with Association is an unfair approach

A day earlier in the Kosovo Consulate in New York, the documentary film “was shown gratitude” dedicated to the contribution of British historian Noel Malcolm to the world's awareness of the truth of Kosovo's history.

Author of the book published in 1998 “Kosovo: A brief account” was present at this gathering. The noted British historian commented on the process of normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia, establishing the Association of Serb majority municipalities and the new conditions of some Western countries for Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe.

The noted British historian Sir Noel Malcolm criticised European Union representatives for pressure on Kosovo and, as he put it, continued concessions to Serbia in the process of normalising relations between the two countries.

The key responsibility falls on Belgrade, which I think has consistently shown bad intentions. The second responsibility is the European Union, its representatives and mediators, who have consistently made concessions to the Serb side in an unprecedented way, which sometimes I think raises serious questions about not only the impartiality of this process but also its validity based on international law”, Malcolm says of the Voice of America.

According to Malcolm, conditioning Kosovo membership in the Council of Europe with the Association of Serb majority municipalities is an unfair approach that complicates even more reconciliation between Pristina and Belgrade.

“The way EU representatives have tried to change their conditions, accepting Serbia's rising conditions, is not a success story of international diplomacy, by the way they tried to misuse this issue. The Kosovo government, from the start, from the Ahtisaari Plan, which is the foundation of Kosovo's independence, has agreed to have an association of Serb majority municipalities. But there are conditions that have increased over the years that have made this issue increasingly problematic”, Malcolm says.

The issue of association is one of the hottest points in talks on normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

Representatives of Western countries have consistently criticised the Kosovo government for failing to meet the legal obligations emerging from the negotiation process.

An agreement reached last year among the parties was to have Pristina begin work on establishing association, while Serbia did not oppose Kosovo's membership in international organisations.

Belgrade has campaigned actively to undermine Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe by emphasising the Association.

Several European countries, such as France and Germany, urged the Kosovo government to take concrete steps to establish association before membership.

But Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti described such dedication as unacceptable.

Historian Malcolm says this stalemate provides opportunities for Moscow to destabilise the Balkans, in particular after the Russian attack on Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine has exacerbated Europe's geopolitical aspect and affected Kosovo negatively. I am sure people are more concerned that Serbia may be some kind of Troy horse in the Balkans working for Moscow. That's understandable. But in the long term, I think the war in Ukraine will influence the West to understand who its true friends are. And we know that Kosovo and Albania are the most pro-Western countries, pro - NATO, for American society throughout the region. These are true friends, while Serbia is constantly showing that it is no friend at all”, says British historian.

Serbia aspires to membership in the European Union but maintains strong ties with Russia and China. According to historian Malcolm, Belgrade's actions are an indication that this country is closer to joining the group BR ICS) made up of Russia, China, India, Brazil and South Africa rather than the European Union.

“would be easy to say that (Serbian President Aleksandar) Vucic is playing a wise game. He knows what's bothering Berlin, Paris, Washington, and thus other concessions will become to him. But it is not just a tactic. See poll results in Serbia. There is a broad public feeling that they want Putin more than any Western politician. Putin's support in Serbian polls is tolerating”, he says.

These comments, Mr. Malcolm, made during an event in the Kosovo Consulate in New York, where the documentary “recognition showed, ” dedicated to his contribution to Kosovo, a three-part film performed by former Albanian Ambassador to Britain Mal Berisha.

Sir Noel Malcolm is author of the book “Kosovo: A brief history of”, which was published in 1998 and was one of the few books that told Kosovo's history at a time when it was not recognised by other countries.

I thought to do it here even as a very important sign of what Kosovo is. A Kosovo, which was almost unknown before the war so many years ago, and today is a country that has representation in the United States of America and to do an activity with Sir Noel here, which has played a very big role in the awareness of the international factor for intervention in Kosovo, to save Kosovars from the Srebrenica hoofs, for me it is something very meaningful“, says author Berisha.

Kosovo consul in New York, Blerim Reka, says historian Malcolm's book helped awareness of world diplomacy on the Kosovo issue even after the country's liberation and independence.

“In the year he published it, Kosovo's liberation war had begun, and this book changed history completely until then Serbia's speculation and propaganda, because it actually stripped Serbia's false myths about Kosovo. From his book, for those 24-25 years, a quarter of a century, not only world history but also world diplomacy found references, abundant arguments to prove why liberation war was necessary in 1998”, says Ambassador Reka.

Author Berisha says the Kosovo issue is not a closed chapter and that the commitment of all Albanian activists worldwide is needed.

“Work together to keep Kosovo strong as we want it. Because it in fact, the decline of Kosovo is a decline for every Albanian. It is not a decline for Kosovo citizens. It is a failure for the entire Albanian world”, says Mr. Berisha.

In 2016, Sir Noel Malcolm has been honoured by the state of Kosovo with the” Golden Medal of the Prizren League”. / VoA/