Putin’s Balkan Mischief

At every turn, Russia has challenged Western efforts to facilitate Kosovo’s independence. While the US and the EU do not want to worsen relations with Russia, they cannot retreat in the face of Russian obduracy, because Europe's security is at stake.

Russia is again on a tear. This time, the Kremlin has stuck its finger in the West’s eye over the long and painful effort to bring Kosovo to formal independence. Unlike the fracas over an American missile shield in Europe, this conflict shows no signs of blowing over, and threatens to damage further the rocky relationship between Russia and the West.    

At every turn, Russia has challenged Western efforts to facilitate Kosovo’s independence.  After a year of negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo, President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin rejected the UN mediator’s report recommending supervised independence, prevented the Security Council from accepting that report, and insisted on three additional months of negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo – even after compromise became impossible.

Three weeks ago in the UN Security Council, Russia again insisted that any agreement required the approval of both Serbia and Kosovo, and that further negotiations were necessary. Russia knows that such negotiations will be fruitless, but believes that another seemingly innocent appeal for more talks would strain EU unity, which appears to be a vital goal for Putin. Further delay might also generate violence in Kosovo and undermine international support for independence.

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