IS THE OSCE MINSK GROUP AFRAID TO IMPLEMENT THE KOSOVO MODEL IN KARABAKH ISSUE?

PanARMENIAN.Net
Analytical Department
16.07.2007 GMT+04:00

Already by the time Vladimir Putin spoke of the possibility of
implementing "the Kosovo model" in post-Soviet area, Balkan sample
became an object of not simply consideration but also imitation in
the Nagorno-Karabakh.

The resolution of the Kosovo problem becomes even more complicated
due to Russia’s uncompromising attitude towards the issue of granting
independence to the part of Serbia (Serbian Province) populated by the
Albanians. Yet, Russia’s attitude may be somehow explained with the
truth that if it agrees upon the independence of Kosovo from Serbia,
first of all it will lose its already weakened positions in the Balkans
and secondly, which is even more important, will give reason for new
internal wars on its territory, and moreover in post-Soviet area.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In fact, last week EU and the USA proposed amendments
in UN Resolution draft on the status of Kosovo. As it is known, in
the previous version of the draft there was a call to both parties
upon conducting four-month negotiations, as well as there was the
plan of granting independence to Kosovo.

Belgrade excluded such version of the solution of the issue. The US
representative to UN Zalmai Khalilzad announced that the new version
of the Resolution draft is still in the stage of its final discussion.

According to his words, it will be submitted to the UN Security
Council after the negotiations with the Russian representatives. In
his turn, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned against the
delay of the solution of the issue about the status of Kosovo. It
should be mentioned that in the new draft there will be calls to the
parties upon conducting four-month negotiations. However, in case the
negotiations fail, the question will be not about granting independence
to the province, but in "further consideration of the issue".

The US and EU’s strong urge towards granting independence to
Kosovo, meanwhile denying other self-proclaimed republics in the
same right gets contradictory responses not only by Armenia, but
by the whole Christendom. The Kosovo Albanians practicing Islam,
getting assistance from Albania, Turkey and the very USA, for some
reason are considered more democratic than, for instance, Nagorno-
Karabakh or Transnistria. Elections in Kosovo are recognized by the
international community, something which can’t be said about Karabakh’s
elections. The obscure stir from OSCE, EU, PACE, which announce that
"the elections in Nagorno-Karabakh will impede the negotiation process"
speaks of the fact that the world community has simply got used to the
idea that in the negotiations over the status only the Presidents of
Armenia and Azerbaijan participate, who as it seems to the European
officials are easier to come to an agreement with.

In the announcement made by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs on July
13, it is emphasized that "the Co-Chairs observe some developments,
which do not prepare the nations to get ready for the peace. Among
them are the bellicose statements, threats of using force and creating
dangerous illusion of the conviction that war is one of the variants
of the conflict resolution". An ignorant person may think that both
parties are for war. And for some unknown reasons Minsk Group doesn’t
want to do anything to make things more clear. Yet as for the upcoming
Presidential Elections in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Co-Chairs talk in
a completely different way, "The upcoming Presidential Elections in
Nagorno-Karabakh have already caused more tension in the region.

Referring to the statements about the previous elections in Karabakh,
the Co-Chairs repeat that like all the other members of the world
community, their countries don’t recognize Nagorno-Karabakh an
independent State. Such "elections" mustn’t have any impact on the
peaceful regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict".

However, most likely the OSCE Minsk Group is afraid to implement the
Kosovo model in Karabakh issue. "During the Parliamentary Elections
in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2005 the Kosovo principle was announced to
be one of the basic demands to the Karabakh policy. Thus already by
the time Vladimir Putin spoke of the possibility of implementing
"the Kosovo model" in post-Soviet area, in Nagorno-Karabakh the
Balkan sample became an object of not simply consideration but
also imitation. This makes the Karabakh elite avoid the summits of
"Parallel CIS", as well as the leaders of Abkhazia, South Ossetia,
and diversification in the foreign policy," says the Head of the
Department of International Relations at the Institute of Political
and Military Studies Sergey Markedonov.