Kosovo
Supports Syria
Opposition,
Says Jeremic
as PGA Can't
Stop
Them
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 14 --
While the
Kosovo debates
in the UN
Security
Council have
gotten more
and more
routine,
Monday there
were at least
two new
issues:
Serbia's Vuk
Jeremic's run
for President
of the UN
General
Assembly, and
the conflict
in Syria.
Inner
City Press
asked Jeremic
again about
the race, and
if he'd
campaigned at
the Non
Aligned
Movement's
ministerial
meeting in
Sharm el
Sheik. He said
with a smile,
"Would I miss
it?" He
knocked three
times on
the wooden
banister of
the stairs up
to street
level from the
Council.
Minutes
later
Inner City
Press asked
Kosovo
minister Enver
Hoxhaj, who
did an
on-camera
stakeout
unlike
Jeremic, if
the President
of the General
Assembly
position being
held by
Jeremic would
impact on
Kosovo.
Hoxhaj
said nothing
can reverse
Kosovo's
independence.
He said that
90 countries
have
already
recognized
Kosovo, with
more
forthcoming --
he predicted
an
additional
African
country this
week, saying
the decision
was already
made but now
will be made
public.
Still,
seeing how
the current
Qatari
President of
the General
Assembly uses
the post to
advance his
country's
foreign
policy, for
example
against the
Assad
government of
Syria, one
can't help but
wonder what
Jeremic could
or
would do as
PGA.
On
the Syrian
question,
Russia has
implied or
cited reports
that Syrian
opposition
fighters are
being trained
in Kosovo.
Inner City
Press asked
Hoxhaj
about it, and
more generally
what his
government's
position is on
Syria.
Hoxhaj
replied
that his
government has
supported the
opposition in
Libya early
on,
and in other
Arab Spring
countries; it
takes the same
position in
Syria and has
had contacts
with the
opposition.
Pressed, he
denied
any training.
Inner
City Press
asked a
previous
Kosovo
representative
if his
government
supported
the struggles
of other
people's and
regions
struggling for
independence
and
recognition,
like Western
Sahara or the
Tamils in
Sri Lanka, to
which one
might now add
Azawad in the
Sahel.
At the
time, the
Kosovar answer
was that they
had to focus
on their own
issues,
seeking
recognition.
Does
the switch to
open support
for opposition
fighters in
Libya and now
Syria reflect
that Kosovo is
more
confident,
less
vulnerable? Is
it a smart
political or
religious
move?
These
questions have
yet to be
answered. But
we having last
time
criticized
Hoxhaj for
refusing to
do a stakeout,
we now have to
acknowledge he
did one, just
as he
acknowledged
that the
critique
played a role.
There is
stasis, but
there is also
change. Watch
this site.
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