America’s better angels reside in Kosovo

I thought President Osmani’s talk at Hudson last week was first rate. But it was also unusual, so a comment is in order.

Rather than the now common pandering to President Trump, she mostly took a different tack. She appealed mainly to America’s better angels: liberty, democracy, rule of law, the rules-based international order. That’s an America I prefer, but I can’t say Washington is moving in that direction today. Instead, the Trump administration is jailing asylum seekers, denying citizenship to people born in the US, and intimidating news media. It is also violating the well-established rules of international trade. And the President is kowtowing to Russia’s autocrat and war criminal.

Even his threat to impose tariffs on Russia is vacuous, since Russian exports to the US are minimal. He also mumbled something about secondary sanctions on countries that trade with Russia. But I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for those.

NATO is the crux

I don’t expect people in the Trump Administration to find Osmani’s clarion call for American leadership entirely appealing. Many of the MAGAtes want to retreat from global responsibilities, not discharge them. She belongs to a cohort that is more in tune with American values than the Washington incumbents. But I do hope that they will take seriously her appeal for NATO membership.

The merits are clear. Kosovo will do pretty much anything NATO wants, within its limited capacities. Instead of only receiving US troops, Kosovo will then be contributing to Alliance missions. That is what Americans should want. The Kosovo Security Force (KSF) is arming itself with Blackhawk helicopters, Javelin anti-tank weapons, anti-aircraft missiles, and Turkish Bajraktar drones. Theirs won’t be a huge force–5000 or so, with a few thousand in reserve.

Once Pristina joins, Belgrade and Sarajevo will then be the only Balkan capitals outside the Alliance. The pressure on them to come to terms will be high, but it really doesn’t matter whether they join. If they prefer to occupy the hole in the doughnut, so be it.

The hurdles

The four NATO members that don’t recognize Kosovo (Romania, Slovakia, Spain, and Greece) are the biggest hurdle. All of them would need to agree to its membership. That’s a diplomatic challenge, but not an insurmountable one. Greece has been friendly to Kosovo for years. It is a de facto but not a de jure recognizer. Spain is opting out of NATO’s latest military expenditure pledge. It would do well to lie low on the Kosovo issue. The United States would need to squeeze Romania and Slovakia hard.

KSF troops have already deployed with the US to Kuwait and with the UK to the Falklands. They have also participated in UK training for Ukrainian troops. A combat deployment with NATO forces should be high on its priorities. Demonstrating combat capability was vital to North Macedonia’s NATO bid and will be also for Kosovo. Among other roles, Macedonia’s troops fought integrated with the Vermont National Guard in Afghanistan.

Serbia’s objections

Serbia of course will cry foul as Kosovo approaches NATO membership. But Belgrade’s rhetoric and behavior have given most of the people of Kosovo reason to want a strong defense. Before the 1999 war it deprived them of their governing institutions. During the war, Belgrade’s forces committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. And after the war Serbia has continued its irredentist rhetoric as well as provocative behavior.

The KSF as presently conceived poses no threat to Serbia and cannot be used inside Kosovo, except in emergencies. The fastest way for Serbia to guarantee that it remains that way is mutual recognition with Kosovo.

Even short of that, establishing a military to military relationship would be a fine idea. All friendly neighbors make sure that their armies understand each other well. The time has come for the army commanders in Serbia and Kosovo to meet and exchange views and data. That might even hasten the day of mutual recognition.