The issue of the status of the Serbian people as a state-forming and constitutive nation on a part of its own territory where it is denied basic rights and freedoms is not negligible and has enormous importance for the local Serb population and its future. However, this issue should not be allowed to have greater political priority than the issue of preservation of state territory and definition of Kosovo and Metohija as an autonomous region within Serbia.

ERP KIM Info Service
July 21, 2004

The Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija expresses its serious concern by the fact that public discussion regarding Kosovo and Metohija in both Serbia and among the international community is gradually focusing completely on the protection of the so-called minority rights of Serbs in the Province while completely neglecting the issue of the future status of Kosovo and Metohija within the Republic of Serbia and the state union of Serbia and Montenegro. 

After presenting its most recent plan for Kosovo, the government of Serbia has failed to come up with a concretely defined proposal of the level autonomy Serbia is offering Kosovo and Metohija as an integral part of its territory. Instead of opening a discussion on the status of the Albanian community within Serbia, public discussion is limited exclusively to the protection of Serbian rights in Kosovo and Metohija. Moreover, discussions at various forums involving certain government and independent experts from Belgrade are openly examining various models of protection for the rights of the Serb community in Kosovo and Metohija as if it was already a completely independent entity. The models of the Aland Islands or South Tyrol considered in this context no longer relate to the model of autonomy for the ethnic Albanian community in Serbia and Serbia and Montenegro, as has been the case thus far, but seek to address the problem of the status of the "Serbian minority" in Kosovo and Metohija.

The fact that Belgrade has not yet presented a clear and concrete proposal for the autonomy of Kosovo and Metohija within the Republic of Serbia and the state union of Serbia and Montenegro, and that this issue is being addressed by rote repetition of Resolution 1244, which formally guarantees the sovereignty of Serbia and Montenegro in Kosovo and Metohija is increasingly creating the general impression among the public that the essence of Belgrade's state strategy lies in finding an appropriate mechanism to protect the "minority rights" of the Serbs instead of coming up with a clear and responsible state concept for the protection of the sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia and the state union of Serbia and Montenegro within its existing borders.

The Serbian government plan for Kosovo focuses primarily on the autonomy of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and only formally mentions the autonomy of Kosovo within Serbia, which is increasingly influencing international factors as well, who are no longer even mentioning the substantial autonomy of Kosovo and Metohija within the Republic of Serbia and Montenegro but solely Serb autonomy and decentralization in Kosovo and Metohija, for all intents and purposes comparable to the protection of the rights of Serbs in Hungary or any other neighboring country. In the same context, the issue of inviolability of Balkan borders is increasingly being discussed in the sense of opposition to the territorial division of Kosovo and Metohija, not in the sense of opposition to the secession of Kosovo and Metohija as a sovereign part of the territory of the Republic of Serbia and the state union of Serbia and Montenegro. When we hear "autonomy" discussed today, it refers primarily to the Serbian government plan for Serb autonomy in Kosovo, not the (substantial) autonomy of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia with possible serious consequences.

Of course, the issue of the status of the Serbian people as a state-forming and constitutive nation on a part of its own territory where it is denied basic rights and freedoms is not negligible and has enormous importance for the local Serb population and its future. However, this issue should not be allowed to have greater political priority than the issue of preservation of state territory and definition of Kosovo and Metohija as an autonomous region within Serbia. As well, it is important to note that a responsible state strategy needs to take into account not only the rights of Serbs but also of all other citizens of Serbia whose rights in Kosovo and Metohija are endangered (Roma, Ashkali, Egyptians, Gorani, etc.)

Unless the Serbian government soon comes up with a concrete proposal of what a democratic and new Serbia is offering Kosovo and Metohija as an integral part of its own territory, future discussion regarding status may be reduced exclusively to methods of resolving the issue of minority rights in the Province, which will gradually and silently become accepted as an independent entity.

Therefore, an appropriate balance must be found immediately in the political strategy of Serbia toward Kosovo and Metohija clearly formulating a plan for the preservation of the territorial integrity of Serbia with Kosovo and Metohija as its integral part prior to the start of discussion regarding final status.