or maybe the right thread eluded me entirely

but what to do with hot stuff like this when in doubt

lifted from
http://un-truth.com/un-security-council/unsc-meets-on-kosovo-without-results-to-be-continued#comments

Kosovo: Is the United Nations Ignoring Russia?
February 28, 2008 | 1645 GMT

Summary
The U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is drafting a plan to hand over power to the local government and the European Union’s planned mission for Kosovo, UNMIK Press Secretary Alexander Ivanko announced late Feb. 27. If true, this means that not only is the European Union ignoring Russia’s wishes regarding Kosovo, but the United Nations is bypassing one of its most important members.

Analysis
Related Special Topic Page
Kosovo, Russia and the West
The U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is drafting a plan to hand over power to the European Union’s planned mission for Kosovo and the local government, UNMIK Press Secretary Alexander Ivanko said late Feb. 27.

The European Union force for Kosovo (called EULux) is supposed to comprise 1,800 police and judicial professionals who will help reassert the rule of law in the new country in the short term, and build judicial and law enforcement institutions in the long term so the Kosovars can run things themselves. Most members of the EU force already have experience with such operations, having done similar work in Macedonia and Bosnia.

The plan is highly controversial, as it has been condemned by Serbia and Russia, who do not accept Kosovar independence. Both Belgrade and Moscow see the EU force as an effort to remove the issue from the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) — where Russia wields a veto and still is pushing for the United Nations to reject Kosovar independence. There is some truth to this view of EULux, since the force basically means the Europeans will take control in Kosovo without U.N. approval, bypassing Russia’s objections.

But if it is true that UNMIK has plans to pass the torch to EULux, then it is not just the Europeans bypassing the Russians; there is the larger issue of the United Nations ignoring one of its pivotal members. It must be noted that UNMIK is specifically made up of Europeans and thus works more like an unofficial EU force without considering the dynamics of the United Nations.

But the Russians have already taken note of the shift and have condemned UNMIK’s statement and the EULux mission, calling the mission “illegitimate” and insisting that the United Nations must keep its hand in any mission in Kosovo. The Russians will not take being ignored within the UNSC lightly. Russia has already started to direct its anger over Kosovo toward Europe, and Moscow will not tolerate being pushed aside or humiliated on an even larger scale.

Boris Tadic, President of Serbia, said the illegal declaration of independence by the Kosovo Albanians constituted a flagrant violation of resolution 1244 (1999), which had reaffirmed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia, including Kosovo and Metohija. “After this act, the world will no longer be the same … The question before you is this: Are we all aware of the precedent that is being set and are we aware of the catastrophic consequences that it may lead to?”

Tadic argued that independence was granted to an ethnic community in the province WHICH HAD BEEN ADMINISTERED BY THE UNITED NATIONS and the Kosovo Provisional Institutions of Self-Government for eight years … [and] whoever might support Kosovo’s independence must realize that the act legalized the threat of violence as a means of creating new States.

He requested that the Secretary-General issue a clear and unequivocal instruction to his Special Representative to declare the unilateral and illegal act of the secession of Kosovo from Serbia null and void. He also requested the Special Representative to dissolve the Kosovo Assembly.

Russia s Ambassador Vitaly Churkin demanded that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Kosovo declare the unilateral declaration of independence null and void.

China agreed that the future of both Serbia and Kosovo lay in their eventual integration into Europe and appreciated the European Union’s desire to play an active role on the Kosovo issue …The Council and the international community should encourage Serbia and Kosovo to continue their pursuit of a mutually acceptable solution through political and diplomatic means.

The United States Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said that the interim status was unsustainable. Kosovo’s leadership had acted in a mature, non-violent and responsible manner. The declaration of independence by Kosovo was fully consistent with resolution 1244 (1999) and recognized that the resolution would remain in force. The recognition of Kosovo’s sovereignty by a substantial number of Governments in the first day since the declaration of independence ensured that the fact was irreversible.

AP reports “NATO troops later closed down the roads leading to the checkpoints, cutting off the only link between northern Kosovo and Serbia, said Besim Hoti, a UN spokesman. The move appeared to be due to fears that the reduction of UN control of the border could allow Serbian militants to return to fight in Kosovo…flames engulfed several UN vehicles … The top UN official in Kosovo, Joachim Ruecker, condemned the attacks. He said he and the chief of NATO-led peacekeepers decided to close down the two crossings. ‘Any violence is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated’, the German diplomat said…”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080219/ap_on_re_eu/kosovo_independence

The same AP report added that “Mitrovica’s Serb authorities called on Belgrade to ‘urgently take step’” to protect Serbia’s territorial integrity and protect its citizens — a covert way of inviting Serbia’s military intervention … ‘We cannot allow the institutions of a nonexistent state to be imposed on us and to pay taxes to some independent Kosovo’, said Slavisa Ristic, head of the local Serb municipality. ‘That is impossible’…

Kosovo, Serbia: The Partitioning?
February 19, 2008 | 1617 GMT

Summary
Violence has broken out in the northern portion of the now-former Serbian province of Kosovo, which declared independence Feb. 17. As a result, NATO and the European Union probably will be forced to accept that partitioning of Kosovo.

Analysis
Mobs of angry Serbian Kosovars — who with Kosovo’s independence are now on the wrong side of the border from Belgrade — attacked a pair of border crossings that separate Kosovo from Serbia on Feb. 19. NATO forces responsible for Kosovar security have sent forces to evacuate the overwhelmed Kosovar Albanian police from the border area. Moderate violence also was reported in Serb sections of Mitrovica. At least 1,000 people were involved in the attacks on the border posts.

The Serbs of Kosovo feel that they have nothing to lose. Kosovo’s independence has left them as a minority of only about 5 percent of the country’s roughly 2 million people. Even were they willing to integrate, their political voice easily would be overwhelmed by the Kosovar Albanian population, which outnumbers them by an 18-to-1 ratio. The Kosovo Serbs’ solution is to annul Kosovar independence, or barring that, to partition Kosovo and merge their enclave with Serbia proper.

Most of the province’s Serbs are located northwestern half of the city of Mitrovica and the surrounding territory. This is a region that is clearly separated from the rest of Kosovo by the Iber River, and it directly abuts Serbia. Geographically, such a split would be simple. Politically, the only thing standing in its way is the NATO/EU desire to keep Kosovo in one piece and the desire by Kosovar Albanians to gain control of the mines that currently are the new country’s only reliable source of non-foreign-aid income.

The combination of the river separating the Serbian enclave from Kosovo and the lack of barriers between the enclave and Serbia makes partition the only logical outcome. The only way that NATO and the European Union could prevent it from breaking off would be to enact strict security policies as in Iraq, something no one is interested in doing. And while the Kosovar Albanians might be willing to bleed a little to keep the territory, bear in mind that their police — despite months of preparation — still had to call for evacuation helicopters when the going got tough. They simply lack the skill to manage the enclave themselves.

The next step will likely be closing of the bridge over the River Iber. Similar official closings of other river crossings are likely to follow.

And then the real sparks will fly. What happens to a tiny enclave of Serbs numbering only about 70,000 in northern Kosovo is just the start. If these Serbs succeed in de facto seceding from Kosovo, then the Serbs of Bosnia — who number about 2 million — will similarly seek to throw off NATO control and merge with Serbia as well. NATO and the EU probably will accept the first, even if not officially, but the second has the makings of a shooting war.

For Russia, which has opposed Kosovo’s independence from day one, this is a bit of sweet revenge. While the Russians may have no tools for directly influencing events, the events well unfold precisely along the lines that a vengeful Kremlin would have scripted.