Kosovo is an interesting case not just because of the false moral dilemma presented within the framework of statehood to libertarians. With Kosovo finally declared itself as an independent state, Malaysia faces a diplomatic dilemma on whether to recognize Kosovo.
The issue of recognition has split the European Union into two in part due to fear that a recognition may affect the integrity of various states in Europe. Two of these states are Spain and Belgium. To be certain, EU member states are not the only ones facing the question of Kosovo.
Southeast Asia has a recent history of violent separatist movements. The most successful took place in East Timor. Invaded and occupied by Indonesia for about a quarter of a century, East Timor became only truly free in 1999. Aceh was another area which Indonesia had trouble with. Armed conflicts were common there until both sides agreed to a peace deal where Aceh was granted with autonomy power. Irian Jaya is yet another province with notable separatist movement in Indonesia. At one time in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis, the balkanization of Indonesia seemed like a real concern.
Slightly up north lay Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago with active separatist groups. In Pattani, a movement was awaken after being dormant for decades. Other less known and weaker movements exist in Myanmar.
Being situated at the heart of Southeast Asia, Malaysia is physically close to most hot spots. At one time or another, neighboring countries facing armed separatism had accused Malaysia of aiding the rebellions.
Kosovo was a province of Serbia and its situation is quite different from the breakup of Yugoslavian federation where the basic unit of the federation were states such as Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia. In the case of Kosovo, it is part of a unitary state, of Serbia, where the most basic unit itself is Serbia.
Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, like Serbia, are unitary states. And like Serbia, the 3 Southeast Asian countries face real separatism issues. A Malaysian recognition of Kosovo sets a potentially problematic precedent to follow given the scenario in 3 Malaysian neighbors.
Both Indonesia and the Philippines are aware how recognition of Kosovo would affect them. This is why the two countries have decided to postpone decision-making on Kosovo at the moment. I believe the two will remain neutral on the matter. I also believe that the logical step for Thailand is to oppose the Kosovar declaration. Two other countries beside which expressed position are Vietnam and Singapore. The former has decided to not recognize Kosovo while the island state is studying the matter.[1]
Unlike other Southeast Asian countries, Malaysia was fast in recognizing Kosovo.[2] In fact, Malaysia is the only country in Southeast Asia that has done so, so far. The only way to make this not awkward is to have Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines to willingly recognize Kosovo. With recognition from these countries, Malaysia could escape the burden of being consistent. I would imagine the Badawi administration with its incoherent policies would love that.
Perhaps, Malaysian recognition is inevitable. As the chair of the OIC, Malaysia may be under pressure to recognize Kosovo by the Muslim world.
Be as it may, I would have preferred Malaysia to adopt a more calculated move. We should have waited for Indonesia and the Philippines to make a decision first. It is only courteous to both. The question of Kosovo, after all, is not so pressing to Malaysians. Besides, how many Malaysians can find Kosovo on the map, anyway?
Before I end, I have a question. Since we only have a care-taker government at the moment, does the government have the power to recognize a state?
[1] — Read [International reaction to the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence at Wikipedia. Accessed February 20 2008][↩]
[2] — Malaysia said Wednesday it welcomed Kosovo’s independence from Serbia which was unilaterally announced Sunday.
[Malaysia welcomes Kosovo’s independence. Kyodo. February 2008] [↩]
p/s — Apparently, as I found out over 6 months later, the recognition has yet to be granted.
Pristina – Malaysia is still assessing the case of Kosovo’s recognition and has not made up its mind one way or the other. [Malaysia Still Mulling Kosovo Recognition. BalkanInsight.com. August 14 2008
