By Jim Green
Green parties and politicians in Europe have taken varying positions on the NATO intervention in the Balkans and the future of Kosova.
The European Greens adopted a resolution on the Balkans conflict at a March 27-29 council meeting. The resolution condemns the Serbian regime's attacks on Kosova: "Already many people have been killed and are reported to be injured in continuous security sweeps against Albanian militants and disarmed civilians. The burning conflict risks involving the whole region. The European Greens condemn all the repressive actions of the Belgrade authorities that have de facto created an apartheid-like situation for the Albanian community."
The resolution also says: "The European Greens refuse any military intervention. They emphasise that all possibilities to come to peaceful solutions have to be taken by the international community. The European Greens want a non-military common security solution for the whole area, guaranteeing democratic and sustainable development as well as human and minority rights. The European Greens call for full respect of the fundamental rights of the Kosovo population in a new institutional framework and ask to give Kosovo back its autonomy. Talks with the Albanian population have to start immediately."
"Refuse any military intervention" apparently means opposition to the NATO attacks. But the resolution also implies that the European Greens do not support the Kosova Liberation Army's armed struggle for independence ("give Kosovo back its autonomy"), which was made necessary by the Serbian army's intervention in Kosova to stop implementation of the independence vote in 1990 by the Kosova provincial assembly.
National Greens parties in governments in Germany and France are supporting the NATO attacks. Joschka Fischer, a founding member of the German Greens in the 1980s, is now foreign minister in the governing coalition with the Social Democrats and has taken a prominent role in defending the NATO air strikes.
According to the April 6 Sydney Morning Herald, Fischer said, in a recent interview, "When you are confronted by genocide and mass human suffering, you cannot sit passively with your hands folded and ignore the killing of innocent civilians ... I believe there are certain human values that are more important than pacifism, and those are rooted deeply in my conscience."
The British Guardian (April 8) reports that the German government, having previously indicated at a NATO meeting that it would accept 40,000 refugees, scaled that offer down to 10,000 on April 7.
The French "Socialist" Jospin government, which includes members of the French Greens, has also participated in NATO's attacks in the Balkans and has been strongly criticised in the National Assembly for refusing to state a figure for the numbers of refugees France will accept.
A spokeswoman for the French government said, "It is not a question of who will accept how many people, but of getting control of the crisis on the ground around Kosovo, housing and feeding people and finding out what the needs are. This is not a time for posturing."
As of April 9, the Australian Greens had not taken a clear stance on the Balkans conflict. In parliament on March 31, Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown asked the government what steps it had taken to ensure that NATO bombs do not hit civilians and refugee camps.
Brown also asked, "Given the chilling rumours that people are being herded into sports stadia in Pristina and other almost unthinkable barbarities flowing from such events occurring in Kosovo, what is the government's view about the use of land operations in Kosovo by NATO?"
Brown's questions suggest that he supports NATO's air attacks and possibly even ground attacks. Thus far there is no indication from the Australian Greens whether they support independence for Kosova.