Kosovo’s Happy Surprise

The victory of a party led by a moderate ethnic Albanian, Ibrahim Rugova, in Kosovo’s elections Saturday was heartening. But so was the fact that Kosovo’s Serbs voted in much greater numbers than expected, thereby validating the election for a 120-seat provincial assembly. Only a year ago, Serbs refused to vote in municipal elections. Now, the troubled region may be headed toward real peace.

Ever since NATO bombing eventually forced Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic out of the Serbian republic of Kosovo and from power altogether last year, the republic, with its ethnic Albanian Muslim majority, has been a kind of international protectorate.

NATO peacekeepers have prevented more mass bloodletting. But the elections, run by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, marked a different step forward. They indicate that perhaps Kosovo can become a democratic and tolerant multiethnic province.

The Kosovo example suggests that Western military power and international organizations can work effectively to end bloodshed and halt ethnic violence. In Afghanistan and other countries, the United States and its allies will be pursuing similar goals.

The Western role in Kosovo is hardly over. In the first heady flush of victory, Rugova, who was written off at war’s end as an old, out-of-touch compromiser, declared that Kosovo was ready for independence from Serbia “today or tomorrow.” But any moves toward independence would risk reigniting warfare, and Europe is firmly opposed to such steps.

Rugova’s real task will be to put together a coalition government, since his Democratic League party is five percentage points short of a majority in the legislature. The more parties that have a share in government--including the party of the Serbs, who came in third--the better the chances for a viable democracy.

The elections are something that not only Kosovars but also the Western powers that have struggled to restore civil society can take pride in.