Does Canada have a Kosovo problem?

CARSTEN KOALL/Getty Images

Last week, I noted the irony that Kosovo’s bid for independence from Serbia has finally given Russia and Georgia an issue they can agree on. Both are wary of the precedent that an independent Kosovo would set for their own separatist movements.

The prospect of a “Kosovo precedent” is creating more strange bedfellows this week. Ethnically divided Cyprus is the one holdout preventing the EU from reaching consensus on recognizing Kosovo’s independence. Spain, Slovakia, and Greece, all of whom contend with ongoing separatist movements themselves, were also wary about Kosovo but have apparently come around.

Perhaps most unexpectedly, an independent Kosovo may put Canada in something of a bind. In a column for the Toronto Star, political analyst Richard Gwyn worries that the 1995 “Clarity Act,” enacted in response to Quebec’s near-secession, will put Canada in the dubious company of Georgia and Russia:

This legislation proclaims that a pro-separation majority in any future referendum would not give a Parti Québécois government the right to declare independence unilaterally.

Instead, and as confirmed by the Supreme Court, any separation-bound PQ government would have to negotiate first with the Canadian federal government of the day.

Accepting Kosovo’s right to declare independence unilaterally would ensnare us into accepting Quebec’s right to do the same. […]

Given a free choice, there’s no doubt Canada would support Kosovo’s independence.

Instead, we’re going to stand among the naysayers, while looking embarrassed.

Especially embarrassing, considering Canada’s generosity to Kosovan refugees after the 1999 war and its ongoing, significant role in Balkan peacekeeping.