Absent an autonomous implementation mechanism and due to various procedural reasons, the UN General Assembly resolutions are purely advisory documents. A UN General Assembly resolution is passed when more countries vote for it than against it, regardless of the number of abstainers. As a result, occasionally the UN passes resolutions carrying views neither shared nor opposed by the majority of countries. This was the case when the UN decided whether to submit to the international court of justice Serbia's bid against the self-proclaimed Kosovo independence. The UN General Assembly can also resort to the mechanism of consolidated approval, i.e. pass resolutions based on consensus among the key participants of a particular process or conflict. This mechanism was put to work on September 9 when the UN General Assembly passed a joint Serbia-EU resolution on Kosovo. The document calls for peaceful dialog over the Kosovo problem Between Belgrade and Pristina in the name of peace and stability in the region. Clearly, the resolution does not count as an equal diplomatic success of the two partners: over the past several days Serbia has been trapped in a process of step by step capitulation and the UN debate over the Kosovo problem – degenerating into a theater of absurd.
The September 9 UN resolution on Kosovo has been watered down to the point of somehow suiting both Belgrade and the Western architects of the Kosovo independence, and the paradoxical arrangement largely rendered the document meaningless. Yet, the West once again managed to get the UN resolution reflect its position while concessions to the Serbs were limited to a new portion of verbiage.
In its original form the document called for negotiations over all open issues which obviously include the Kosovo status. Moreover, it contained statements that the Kosovo independence is unacceptable and, importantly, should not be allowed to emerge as a precedent affecting other conflict zones in the Balkan region and generally in Eurasia. At that stage of the process, the UN was at least presented with an opportunity to express a legible opinion.
Changes were caused by the pressure exerted by the West in concert with the Organization of the Islamic Conference which jointly urged Serbia to carve out of the resolution draft all formulations the Albanian administration in Kosovo felt bad about. German and British foreign Ministers Guido Westerwelle and William Hague
visited Belgrade, andHigh Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union Catherine Ashton received Serbian president B. Tadic in Brussels to influence Serbia over the matter. Eventually the resolution came out so diluted that it imposes no obligations of any kind on anyone and abstractly stresses the importance of peaceful dialog.
Of course, the wording of the UN document is not the actual problem – what has to be taken into account is the resolution's potential repercussions across the Balkans. The persisting uncertainty of the Kosovo status leads Serbs to move on with their own self-determination. Prime minister of the Serbian Republic in Bosnia Milorad Dodik has indicated that the Kosovo-style self-determination of the Serbs in Bosnia is due within some four years from now. A lot will depend on the elections which will be held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 3. If the elections confirm the leadership of Dodik's Alliance of Independent Social Democrats in the Serbian Republic, a replay of the Kosovo scenario in Bosnia will become likely. In fact, other Serbian parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina similarly favor independence. Leader of the Democratic People's Alliance Marko Pavic says Serbs in Bosnia should invoke not only the precedent set by Kosovo but also the pro-independence verdict recently issued by the International Court of Justice.
Tadic's controversial compromises with the EU can also echo with tensions in Serbia proper where the opposition is slamming the administration over the handling of the Kosovo crisis. The opposition suspects quite reasonably that the administration is secretly planning to consent to the independence of the province.
Discontent is constantly growing among the Serb community in Kosovo. On the eve of the UN General Assembly meeting,President of the Serbian National Council for Kosovo and Metohija in North Kosovo) Milan Ivanovic said that if Belgrade's deals with the EU infringe upon the rights of the Kosovo Serbs or are implemented without Russia's sanction the Serbian community in Kosovo will request Russian citizenship for the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.In a clear reference to the August, 2008 Caucasian conflict and the subsequent recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Moscow, Ivanovic noted that Russia surely knows how to protect the rights of its citizens no matter where they reside. He also cited the declaration on the protection of Kosovo as an integral part of Serbia passed by the delegates of the communities of Kosovo and Metohija in Zvechan on September 7. According to the declaration, nobody has the right to put together documents directly or indirectly calling into question the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia.
As for Belgrade's hope to boost Serbia's chances to gain admission to the EU, it can hardly be credited with any success. Brussels still has a long wish list – from the deportation of Ratko Mladic to Serbia's regionalization and abdication from the agreements with Russia. Considering that for the West the tactic proves efficient, Serbia's administration will face further rounds of diplomatic arm- twisting.
