Exorcising the Last Balkan Ghosts
The next few weeks will see the resolution of the last territorial issues remaining in the Balkans, where the wars of the 1990’s ended with NATO interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo. To achieve a satisfactory outcome in both places, the US and the EU must ensure that Serbia is blocked from making trouble, Kosovo becomes independent, and Bosnia stays united.
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The next few weeks will see the resolution, one way or another, of the last territorial issues remaining in the Balkans, where the wars of the 1990’s ended with NATO interventions in Bosnia (1995) and Kosovo (1999).
Even with peace, major problems were left unresolved. Bosnia was divided between a Muslim-Croat federation and a Serb republic, with little authority vested in the central government and a large international military – and eventually civilian – presence needed to hold it together. Kosovo was left as a United Nations protectorate whose “final status” was uncertain.
These unresolved issues are now returning: prompted by Serbia’s government, Bosnia’s Serb leadership is contemplating secession, even as its Muslim leadership tries to increase central control. And Kosovo’s Albanian population is clamoring for independence, while Serbia tries to postpone a decision by blocking action in the Security Council.
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