Russia’s president has been especially focused on NATO’s 1999 bombardment of Serbia and the West’s 2008 acceptance of Kosovo’s independence declaration. Both created an illegal precedent, he claims. This gave him the excuse to invade Ukraine.
Putin’s arguments have been repeated many times since Russia annexed Crimea. They seem to follow the following line: If ex-Yugoslav republics or the former Serbian provincial of Kosovo can become independent with Western support and wars, then why can’t Ukraine’s strategic Black Sea Peninsula and rebel-controlled, majority Russian regions in the east split with their mother countries — with Russian assistance?
The strong U.S. support allowed the ethnically-dominated Kosovo to secede over strong opposition from Serbia. Russia, an historic ally of Serbs, claimed then that this set a precedent which could be used to trigger a series other statehood claims around the globe.
The U.N.’s top court ruled in July 2010 that Kosovo’s declaration to independence was legal, but it did not endorse Kosovo’s claim for statehood.
There are many differences in the Russian attack on Ukraine that was seen by the West as one the worst events since World War II. This is in contrast to the Balkan wars that left over 120,000 people homeless and more than 120,000 dead. There are also similarities.
What are the MAIN DIFFERENCES?
After driving Serbian forces from the former Serbian territory, NATO did not occupy Kosovo. However, it sent peacekeepers. Russian troops took control of Crimea before the referendum to join Russia.
NATO only intervened in Kosovo after substantial evidence of Serb abuses against ethnic Albanians. This included mass killings and deportations. Russian forces intervened to Ukraine without any major abuses or violence against ethnic Russians.
The Kosovars declared their independence, but they did not join their ethnic brothers in Albania to form a single state. Two days after the West deemed the referendum flawed and undemocratic, Crimea signed a deal with Russia to join it.
What are the MAIN SIMILARITIES
Both interventions began with false accusations that ethnic minorities were being persecuted by neighboring countries. In 1991, the Serb-led military launched a massive barrage of artillery on Croatian villages and towns. This was similar to the Russian attacks against Ukraine.
Ethnic Russians were afraid of Ukrainian nationalists just as Croats, Bosnians, and Kosovo Albanians fear Serbian repression under the autocratic rule by Slobodan Milosevic.
WHAT SAYED PUTIN?
After talks with Scholz in Moscow, Putin stated that “(German Chancellor Olaf Scholz] has just said that people of his generation — which I certainly belong to that Generation — find it difficult to envision any war in Europe.”
Putin stated, “But all of our witnesses were to the war in Europe NATO unleashed on Yugoslavia.” He said that the operation involved bombing strikes on Belgrade, a European capital.
It did occur. It happened without any sanctions from the U.N. Security Council. It’s a sad example, but it’s a hard truth,” Putin stated.
He argued that the West set a precedent by intervening in Kosovo.
What is the WEST’S VIEW ON THIS?
At the press conference, Scholz rebutted the Russian president’s arguments about NATO’s actions on Kosovo. He said that this was done in order to prevent genocide. This refers to the persecution of Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanians, by Serbian forces.
Putin’s arguments have been repeatedly refuted by Western leaders, who claim that Kosovo is a singular case because of the large number victims of the Balkan wars and the violent breakup Yugoslavia. Angela Merkel, former German Chancellor, had claimed that Putin’s analogies in Kosovo with Russia’s intervention into Crimea were “shameful.”
What could be the consequences?
The pro-Russian Serbian leadership is being feared to try to use international attention on Ukraine to further destabilize its neighbours, especially Bosnia, where minor Serbs have been threatening Serbian membership.
The European Union has announced that 500 more troops will be deployed to Bosnia to support peacekeepers. They cited “the deterioration in security internationally (which) has potential to spread instability”
The leadership of Kosovo fears that Russia could encourage Serbia to intervene in its former region to end the harassment of minorities Serbs. In the wake of Ukraine’s crisis, Kosovo asked NATO to expedite its membership. Russia and Serbia would not likely agree peacefully.
Officials from Kosovo have dismissed Putin’s claims that there are parallels between NATO intervention in Kosovo, and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. They called them “totally baseless” and “ridiculous.”
