After the Revolution

Finally, I found an article that mentions what the governments of breakaway provinces in former Soviet republics think of Kosovan independence.

In this article from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, the leaders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia are quoted as saying that they will make appeals for independence to the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

They claim they have a “stronger case” for independence than Kosovo.

This video from Russia Today summarizes the argument:

Georgian officials, on the other hand, have said in the Georgian press that Georgia will not recognize Kosovan independence. 

The RFERL article goes on to give an explanation of why Kosovo is distinct from other breakaway republics.

Sabine Freizer, a program director for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, is quoted as saying:

“I think that it is extremely difficult to compare the former Yugoslavia with any other part of the world. The breakup of the former Yugoslavia was unique in itself.”

The United Nations resolution that resolved the 1998-1999  conflict between Kosovo and Serbia turned Kosovo into an autonomous province administered by the United Nations.

The resolution included language that allowed the status of Kosovo to change, foreseeing the possibility of future independence. 

Freizer said:

“We don’t have any resolution that calls into question the territorial integrity of Georgia, for example. So this makes the case very different.”

 Freizer recommends that breakaway republics seeking independence learn something from the case of Kosovo.

“The one lesson that I would maybe take from the Kosovo experience is that the best that [these territories] can do to get their case understood internationally is to show that they are responsible and to not make any excessive moves. To work on trying to build up their own structures, their own institutions and, most importantly, to defend the rights of minorities that are living on their territories.”