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By: Roderick Glossop on Wed Mar 19, 2008

Despite warnings by Dusan Batakovic, the Serbian ambassador to Canada, that it set a “dangerous precedent” that would be used by Quebec to declare its own unilateral independence, the Canadian government this week recognized the former Serbian state of Kosovo as an independent nation.

Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier disagreed with the analysis. Citing Canada’s commitment to as members of both the UN and Nato to protect Kosovo, “in this context, … Canada acknowledges the new international reality and will recognize Kosovo as an independent state,” and stated “You cannot compare this with Quebec,” citing the recent history of ethnic cleansing and war following the break-up of the Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

On the other side of the House, Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae agreed with the Harper government. “There is absolutely no parallel between the situation in Kosovo and the situation in Canada.”

Daniel Turp, international relations critic for the Parti Quebecois, disagreed. “We are happy because in recognizing the political independence of Kosova, Canada is recognizing the entry, legally and democratically, of this new independent state into the international community.”

Prior to Ambassador Batakovic’s being recalled to Belgrade, he noted that "the Canadian Clarity Act, which defines how Quebec can become independent, has its counterpart documents in both Serbian and international law."

"The clarity act for Kosovo is the Serbian constitution and UN Security Council Resolution 1244 which defines Kosovo solely as an integral part of Serbia with the right to enhanced autonomy and nothing more,” the ambassador said, noting that “I will convey the strong protest note by my government and will be recalled for consultation afterward.”

Following closely on the Canadian announcements was a joint statement of official recognition of the independence of Kosovo by Serbian neighbours Croatia, Bulgaria and Hungary made today. Despite earlier insistence by Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev that “Bulgaria will certainly not recognize Kosovo on Wednesday,” the nations stated that their decision was based both on “thorough consideration” as well as EU conclusions, and expressed an intention to develop ties with Serbia, a move which was rebuffed by Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, who maintained the illegality of Kosovo in the eyes of the Serbian government.

The UN has been in charge of Kosovo since the 1999 NATO bombing campaign which forced Serbia to withdraw from the region, and ended a repression campaign by then-Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic on Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority. The majority had long rejected UN plans to broker “supervised independence” for the province.

Many countries who have yet to recognize the independence of Kosovo face secessionist movements within their own borders: China, which has nationalist movements in Taiwan and Tibet; Spain, which has the Basque independence movement; and Indonesia, which has Aceh and Papua regional separatists.