More evenhandedness needed

It is odd to me that those who are knocking Kosovo for unsubstantiated allegations against the Kosovo Liberation Army and current Prime Minister Hashim Thaci spare nary a sentence for Serbia’s continued failure to arrest and turn over to The Hague Ratko Mladic, indicted for well-established war crimes in Bosnia.  Even for Belgrade’s supporters, this should be a serious embarrassment, never mind those who pretend to even-handedness.

In the meanwhile, it has emerged that Dick Marty, the Council of Europe rapporteur who made the allegations against Thaci and the KLA, was a vigorous opponent of Kosovo independence. His arguments, and others, have now been thoroughly and completely rejected by the International Court of Justice in its advisory opinion.

Clearly Marty’s allegations require a more even-handed and professional investigation.  Thaci has agreed to cooperate–he can hardly do otherwise.  In the meanwhile, it behooves us all to leave the Kosovars to sort out the political consequences on their own.  Those who advocate using this moment to ram through solutions to serious problems–like the status of Kosovo’s Serb-controlled north–are only showing their own biases against Pristina and sowing the seeds of future resentment.