The New York Times

September 1, 1999

Mr. Holbrooke's Return to Kosovo

Richard Holbrooke chose wisely in starting his new job as America's delegate to the United Nations with a three-day trip to Kosovo. Peace and democracy will take root in the province only if Washington and the U.N. closely coordinate their efforts. Mr. Holbrooke, an experienced Balkan hand, is well suited to help make that happen. He enjoys President Clinton's full confidence and is also on good terms with the U.N. Secretary General, Kofi Annan, and the organization's chief administrator in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner.

Mr. Holbrooke met with local leaders and international officials and got a closer view of the violence against Kosovo's Serbian and Gypsy minorities. His visit to a mass grave of Kosovar Albanians near Stara Cikatova, where 129 bodies have so far been exhumed, called attention to the terrible Serbian atrocities that led to international intervention. But Mr. Holbrooke also made clear that the new Kosovo must move beyond an endless cycle of ethnic retribution. He pointedly and properly reminded Hashim Thaci, the political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, that Washington intends to hold the K.L.A. to its commitment to demilitarize its forces by Sept. 19 and turn to peaceful competition with other political parties.

Only 25,000 Serbs remain in Kosovo out of a prewar population of 180,000. NATO and the U.N. must protect those who have stayed, and eventually encourage others to return. Mr. Holbrooke recognized that this will take time, since Serbs and ethnic Albanians cannot yet easily live alongside each other. Unlike Bosnia, Kosovo is going to have a single dominant ethnic group, the Albanians. But Serbs and Gypsies, who have also lived in the province for generations, must also have a right to reside there in peace.

That can happen if the U.N. moves strongly to establish democratic institutions and impartial rule of law. The international war crimes tribunal can also help by bringing more prosecutions against Serbs responsible for this spring's atrocities. Punishment of those directly guilty might discourage collective retribution against all remaining Serbs.

Recognizing that a reluctance to act boldly hindered U.N. missions in Bosnia and elsewhere, Mr. Holbrooke encouraged international representatives in Kosovo to make decisions on their own, without referring everything back to lawyers and officials in New York. The U.N. operation in Kosovo has gotten off to a shaky start. Mr. Holbrooke has pointed it in a more promising direction.