Albanians in Canada say Kosovo's independence shouldn't raise fears about Quebec

By Merita Ilo, The Canadian Press

TORONTO - Undeterred by the freezing rain and low temperatures, thousands of jubilant Albanian-Canadians gathered Sunday in Toronto to celebrate the newly-declared independence of Kosovo, eagerly waiting to hear if Ottawa would recognize their homeland's changed status.
But there was no word from the Conservative government Sunday and a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs repeated a comment from the previous day that "the government is still discussing the decision."
Kosovo's parliament declared the territory's independence from Serbia on Sunday. The historic move was backed by the United States and a number of European countries, but Serbia immediately denounced the declaration as illegal. Russia also rejected it, demanding an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
"The best thing for Kosovo and the region was to have a United Nations Security Council resolution," said Robert Austin, a University of Toronto professor who teaches the history and politics of southeastern Europe at the Munk Centre for International Studies.
"That would have given everybody, even those opposed to Kosovo's independence, a more or less easy out," said Austin, who was in Kosovo's capital of Pristina Sunday with a group of U of T undergraduate students doing field research.
"The atmosphere is one of tremendous excitement," Austin told The Canadian Press by telephone, as hundreds of thousands of people celebrated in the streets holding pro-US and pro-European signs and flags.
"It's mostly Albanian flags ...but also a tremendous amount of U.S. flags with a scatter here and there of the odd Canadian flag and the odd European Union flag," said Austin.
The similarities between Kosovo's drive for independence and Quebec's separatist aspirations are believed to be behind Ottawa's reluctance to join its traditional Western allies in supporting the independence of Europe's youngest state, speculate some political experts.
But Austin argued the Kosovo situation is not comparable to the situation in Quebec and ethnic Albanian community leaders in Canada expressed their frustration with the analogy.
Albert Xhaferri, one of the organizer of the Toronto rally said he understands that "it might be an issue within the Canadian government."
"But here we are talking about two different things - Kosovo and Quebec - they're completely two different issues, nobody in Quebec has been prosecuted from the Canadian government, nobody has been beaten or killed for that matter. In Kosovo it happened," he said.
But a retired Canadian general who commanded UN troops during the Bosnian war of 1992 warned that the message Kosovo is sending to a number of independent minded movements around the world is troubling.
"It's a wrong decision," Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie told The Canadian Press.
"The potential ripple effect is quite staggering, " said MacKenzie, who's been a long-time opponent of NATO's intervention in Kosovo.
MacKenzie said some countries' willingness to recognize Kosovo's independence stemmed from their willingness to have NATO intervene there militarily in 1999.
"I think people are trying to perhaps right a historical wrong and get it off the table but this thing ain't going away any time soon," MacKenzie warned .
"This is going to cause some serious, serious repercussions internationally, in my opinion."
It's because of those repercussions that a number of countries with separatist minded ethnic groups like Spain, Greece, Georgia and Cyprus have said they will not recognize an independent Kosovo.
The ethnic Albanian community is worried Canada may decide to join the company of those countries, but so far has refrained from publicly criticizing the government. They say they'll always be grateful to Canada for participating in the NATO military campaign and for taking in thousands of refugees after the war ended.
However, thousands of people wrapped in Albanian and Canadian flags, singing traditional songs and displaying national symbols, thousands of people gathered in front of Ontario's legislature building in Toronto, urging Canada to act fast.
"This is a great day of celebration and hope, but also an occasion for reflection and determination," read the letter that a group of Albanian community leaders sent to Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Sunday.
"As proud citizens of this country, with strong roots to our homeland, we ask that the Canadian government ... reflect on this new development by not delaying what is deemed as a coherent step: the recognition of the Republic of Kosova," said the letter, calling the new country by the name ethnic Albanians call it.