Brilliant Amateur

Someone whose ambition is to decide the fates of whole nations needs at the very least to be competent in the specific ethnic group’s history and geography. UN special envoy for Kosovo Marti Ahtisaari does not seem to have heard of this axiom.

This might not be entirely correct, but it looks like the Albanian separatists in Pristina and the Serb government now have something in common. It is the shared opinion of UN special envoy Marti Ahtisaari and his total incompetence in mediating the peace process in their region. Otherwise, how can one explain both conflicting sides’ leaders’ reluctance to deal with the former president of Finland who has recently taken on the international peacekeeper‘s role? The Serb government headed by legitimate President Boris Tadic as well as the “bunch of ambitious Kosovo politicians” led by “unrecognized” president Fatmir Sejdiu very similarly criticized Ahtisaari’s Kosovo plan in which he tried to resolve the autonomous province’s age-long problems in one stroke – just another awkward attempt to position himself as a global-scale politician.

The failed Vienna talks were an eloquent example of that inadvertent unanimity, too. The Kosovo Albanians predictably rejected the limited sovereignty offer, while Belgrade refused to cede even a part of its native lands.

A few days ago in Vienna, Ahtisaari appeared wronged and misunderstood, insisting he had meant well and wanted to please both parties as best he could. It had taken the UN official a full four months (!) to develop the Kosovo plan, but his efforts appeared fruitless. On the last day of the Vienna consultations, the former Finnish president even agreed to recede, acknowledging certain “flaws” in his plan which could still be corrected. Then, after Belgrade and Pristina refused to correct his “test paper” for him, the “F student” accused everyone else of being incompetent (!) and hardline. Russia was not spared his bad temper. The UN envoy said in a flurry of emotions that Moscow simply “must” agree to his plan, when the document was considered in the UN Security Council. Otherwise, Ahtisaari warned, Russia along with other nations having the right of veto will be held responsible for the escalation of tensions in Kosovo.

However, the UN berserker did not stop there, but rushed on with a hectic persistence. He sent his failed plan on to international institutions announcing that it was impossible to devise a new strategy in this time-trouble. That is, if his ideas are not accepted fully and immediately, Kosovo is sure to slide into an abyss of chaos and anarchy.

Isn’t this an odd statement for someone who has been working on the Kosovo problem for more than five years? Isn’t he aware that chaos and anarchy are already there? Has he not ever come across a report that 250,000 Serbs have been forced to leave the northern parts of Kosovo since 1999? And finally, how can one develop in only four months a feasible settlement plan for a region plagued with ethnic problems since 1398?

I might add that Mr. Ahtisaari is not only ignorant of Kosovo history. He has trouble with its geography as well. In one of his interviews he said Presevska Dolina was located in the south of Kosovo, while Gračanica was a Serb enclave. Can it be that someone involved in international politics for over 30 years still confuses north and south? As for Gračanica, it is an old Orthodox region linked to Presevo and Smederevo by a “Serb corridor.” Call it an “enclave”?

If he had not been a UN envoy, but a layman eager to help Serbs and Albanians stabilize Kosovo, his mistakes would have been forgiven due to his concern. The problem is, Ahtisaari is not just an analyst expressing his personal views, likes and dislikes. Being the UN Secretary General’s special envoy implies at the very least an awareness of all the beliefs and wishes of the conflicting parties. Incidentally, Ahtisaari speaks neither Serb, nor Albanian. His vocabulary is limited to “dobar dan” and “ni shqiptare.” For more detail, he switches into English or Finnish or relies on translators.

A decent peacekeeping strategy simply cannot be based on that.

We were told in Ahtisaari’s press office that his central idea was to bring peace to both Belgrade and Pristina. Mr. Ahtisaari, his spokesman Remi Durlo added, still hopes to see Kosovo a prospering Balkan region. Could Durlo possibly believe what he was saying?

However, few doubt that today that Ahtisaari is a “brilliant amateur.” That is, someone who knows a little of everything about Kosovo, but is not really competent…