Understanding Asean through Unesco's vote on Kosovo

On Kosovo, Unesco members were divided mainly among those who backed or went against its admission and those in between, which also reflected the positions adopted by each Asean member. The final tally showed that Kosovo received 92 votes – short by 3 – of the required two-thirds majority of the 142 voting, with 50 opposing and 29 abstaining members.

Those supporting Kosovo’s membership were Western states and their friends, including the US, which joined nine other members who did not have a voting right – after the US suspended its finan?cial contribution following the Unesco decision to admit Palestine as a member in 2012.

Russia, China and India were the key countries refusing to admit Kosovo, formerly a province within Serbia, which won independence in 2008. During the first round to decide whether membership for Kosovo should be postponed for another two years, as requested by Serbia, over half the chamber voted to decide on membership at this general conference.

Among Asean members in this round, only Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Laos voted for the postponement. Malaysia and Brunei objected to such a move while Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore chose to abstain. Only Cambodia was absent during the voting.

However, when Asean members had to vote on Kosovo becoming a member, in the second round, their votes were different. Brunei, Thailand and Malaysia backed Kosovo while the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Laos opposed it getting membership now. Singapore abstained and Cambodia was absent for the second time.

What does this voting mean to Asean and its centrality? First of all, it shows that each Asean member still very much votes in its own national interest and perceived fears. In this case, Indonesia was the most adamant in opposing Kosovo getting membership. Jakarta’s Unesco representative stated clearly that Kosovo in its current form could not join the organisation. Indonesia was the only Asean country that made an oral intervention. A total of 111 countries recognised Kosovo when it gained its independence. In Asean, only Malaysia and Thailand recognised Kosovo in 2009 and in 2013, respectively.

Indonesia currently faces a struggle for independence in West Papua and other restive provinces. It did not want to give the wrong signal, and neither did the Philippines, which also blocked Kosovo’s bid. Manila has to cope with a growing insurgency and an independence movement in the south.

Secondly, it showed the lack of coordination and consultation on such a sensitive issue. Strange but true, a total of eight Asean countries supported Palestine to become a member of Unesco in November 2012, with only Thailand and Singapore abstaining. (For a technical reason, Bangkok was unable to get Cabinet approval in time for the vote, even though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommended a yes).

Thailand’s support for Kosovo becoming a member of Unesco shows the country’s bolder foreign policy approach under the Prayut government, which seized power last May. 

Its decision was based on the perception that people of the world should have access to the organisation’s cultural values, educational knowledge and support.

In September, Thailand also took over as chair of the Group of 77 at the United Nations for the first time, serving as a bridge between developing and developed UN members. Bangkok has already dispatched a special team to the UN headquarters to facilitate its chairmanship’s role. And the country is pushing for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council from 2017-18.

It is interesting to note that there were many members including Serbia, Cyprus and Spain, which voted in favour of Palestine back in 2012 – but they did not vote for Kosovo. The most notable was Palestine’s similar objection due to Serbia’s great past efforts in pushing its Unesco membership.

To strengthen Asean centrality and its international profile, it is pivotal that Asean members should consult each other more, even though in the end each member would still maintain its position. Frequent consultation among sen?ior officials from Asean states in UN-related organisations would increase their level of comfort in exchanging views and initiate actions that would reflect Asean-shared norms and values.

In the past two years, Thailand has been pushing Asean to increase its consultation and coordination on relations with major powers as well as global issues. 

The strengthening of Asean’s centrality will not be possible without broader common stands and views from the group, both at the top and at ground level.