I’ve been asked why it is we should not wish an independent state for Kosovo Albanians. After all, Czechs and Slovaks were only too happy to bid farewell to Vienna Imperial Court in 1918 and to start to live on their own. Why not let others have the same thing?

A naive idea is making rounds: each ethnic group should automatically be getting a nation state. Nevertheless, out of thousands various language, cultural and national communities in the history, only a small fragment was able to build its own statehood.

A well-known chapter in T. G. Masaryk memoirs describes how, before 1918, he would often ponder a question whether Czechs would be able for their own state, whether they would be able to run and administer it, whether they are ready to govern themselves. It’s quite easy to carry out a revolution in the streets; it’s only later one can see whether you are strong enough from the point of view of culture, values and civilization. To build a state is a very difficult task.

Should the Czech Republic recognize Kosovo independence, then? Let’s leave aside International Law arguments for a moment, the fact that one would tear off 15 per cent of a state’s territory just because another ethnic group is living there. Let’s leave aside the question of how dangerous a precedent it would set for Abkhazia, Kurds, Basks and many other ethnic groups. I would like to ask a different question:
“Do we have enough confidence in this particular state and its representatives? Are we satisfied Kosovo Albanians deserve such a state?”

Current leaders in Kosovo are being recruited from the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army formed in the second half of the ‘nineties. It was disbanded in 1999 by the UN Security Council Resolution No 1244. Former UÇK (Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës) fighters then entered politics as well as the new Kosovo military and police forces. It was never very simple to distinguish between the alleged political aims of these paramilitary organisations and organised crime. Everything is permeated by the well-established structures of Albanian mafia. The purported fight for liberation of Albanian people from Serbian oppression, as well as the fight for Greater Albania or Greater Kosovo, is often just a front masking activities of organized crime groups trying to profiteer. Kosovo shows signs of a collapsed society. There is a high rate of unemployment, limited possibilities of earning adequate income, and, on the other side, open arms of Albanian mafia. In such an environment, politics easily become just a tool for the underworld.

This direct link to organized crime accounts for big quantities of arms still to be found in Kosovo. It is noticeable that one of the arguments for declaring independence is the threat that if such a declaration does not happen, further escalation of ethnic Albanian violence cannot be ruled out.

Who are, then, current representatives in Kosovo? They are victors in general elections in which just about 45% of electorate took part. They have to go a long way yet to prove their competence to administer and manage Kosovo. 40% of Kosovo GDP is formed by grants and loans coming from international financial help. Those representing Kosovo Albanians nowadays, be it Hashim Thaçi, Cheka or the ex-PM Ramush Haradinaj, might provoke outrage. There is evidence of their brutality and their links to organized crime. Some years ago, their names were on the US lists of wanted terrorists. The current PM Hashim Thaçi is known to have personally shot officers refusing to obey his orders. Now, these people are to become our political partners.

I don’t believe one can hire adventurers and killer mercenaries linked to crime, and then begin to build a civilized state with their help. A different type of people is needed for this – people who so far were not able to assert themselves while we still have not found a way to support them.

That’s another strong reason showing that declaration of independent Kosovo at this very moment is both premature and irresponsible.