Celic: The right time to redefine guarantees for preserving the rights of Serbs through territorial autonomy

Čelić
Source: Kosovo Online

A temporary solution for security in northern Kosovo, according to Dusko Celic, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of North Mitrovica, could be an increased presence of KFOR units. However, he also points out that developments over the past two years, marked by systematic discrimination against the Serbian people, demonstrate that existing mechanisms are insufficient to protect the basic human rights of Serbs and to uphold the multiethnic nature of Kosovo, which, as he says, the international community "professes to value."

Recent events, he believes, indicate the need to consider new mechanisms for safeguarding both collective and individual rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, as a means of preserving the fragile multiethnicity of the territory. Existing mechanisms, he emphasizes, have proven inadequate because Pristina either failed to implement them or applied them in a discriminatory manner against Serbs.

"Therefore, we should think about redefining collective guarantees regarding Serbian rights in the context of the new administration in Washington and the European Union. I believe this should take the form of some type of territorial autonomy combined with personal autonomy for Serbs. There are examples of such arrangements in European comparative law. Belgium, for instance, provides a good model with regard to the rights of the German-speaking population, where a combination of territorial and personal (so-called cultural) autonomy exists. I believe now is the time to seriously consider developing new mechanisms, as the old ones have been rendered meaningless by Kurti and his administration in Pristina through systematic violence and discriminatory actions against Serbs," Celic stated.

At this moment, Celic believes, it is unrealistic to expect the administration in Pristina to allow a return to the previous state of affairs, such as the reinstatement of hundreds of Serbian police officers in northern Kosovo or the return of Serbian judges and prosecutors to Kosovo’s judicial system.

"On the other hand, I fear that returning to the old arrangement would not provide sufficient institutional guarantees for Serbs, as we have seen that at any moment Kurti can deploy armed forces to northern Kosovo and Metohija, effectively establishing a kind of paramilitary rule over Serbs based on ethnic principles. Politically, I also think it would not be effective to focus all demands on reinstating a certain number of police officers and judges. First, it is unrealistic; second, Pristina likely would not allow it; and third, there remain mechanisms within the central authorities in Pristina to discredit and obstruct such efforts," Celic explained.