INDONESIA, AUSTRALIA, AND KOSOVO

Indonesia shows its careful stance on Kosovo’s independence declaration. Its position is different from that of its middle power neighbor, Australia. If Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has hinted his strong support for the independence that the Kosovan Parliament had declared on February 17, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono remains careful with an argument that the United Nations Security Council has yet to take the final solution to the Kosovan matter. In my point of view, the careful stance of Indonesia is understandable because the country is also prone to disintegration. Its current position as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council has also contributed to the careful stance.

Indonesia has indeed been undergoing threats of secessionist movements in some parts of its territory for tens of years. Thanks to the 2004 tsunami disaster and 2005 peace agreement of the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the years of deadly conflict in Aceh, the westernmost province which is rich in natural resources, has ended. But, the threats of disintegration remain alive in West Papua, the archipelago's easternmost part.

For this realistic reason, Jakarta's careful stance on the people of Kosovo's want to free from Serbia's rule is understandable despite Australia’s quick response. Indonesia does learn from its past bitterness when it loses East Timor as a result of the 1999 UN-supervised plebiscite. For Australia, which has never experienced any separatist movement, it can react more independently.