"Peace in Balkans requires European framework"

A really good article. It is worthy reading it and Europe must take a note.

Princip since I have tried to tell you this countless times, you heard none (b92 deleted them all) here is a HIGHLIGHT,

"Once the Kosovo question has been settled,
for which independence is the only solution as far as I can see, the EU needs to offer the whole region – and we’re only talking about a few million inhabitants here – candidate status,” he explained.

There someone else said it, b92 can't claim now that I am openly insulting another member.

At the same meeting in Vienna, promoting his new book “Tito’s Interpreter”, Ivan Ivanji said that it was not just a matter of Kosovo, but of the Albanian question which even the Berlin Congress had failed to completely settle.


It was not a failure because they never tryied to settle anything,it was just one of the first attempts to reward their balcan allies by dismembering the albanian land.
On that occasion they had their first slice of albania,followed from the second during the 1913 treaty of london,with kosova in it.

Why there are "no comments" here from the Serbian team? Comme on guy don't be shy?

He believes that the Kosovo issue will have consequences also for Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and even Greece.
We have been saying this all along that the above mentioned countries would be greatly affected in the future, since all of them hold a great numbers of Albanians.
He forgot to mentioned Turkey as well.

EA

I also agree that the EU would remedy the nationalism and ethnic division that poisons the Balkans and bring the living standards up to neighbouring countries, like Greece, Slovenia and even Italy. I hope one day to see the whole of the Balkan states in the EU, just one thing:

""Once the Kosovo question has been settled, for which independence is the only solution as far as I can see, the EU needs to offer the whole region – and we’re only talking about a few million inhabitants here – candidate status,” he explained. "

The issue here is that if Kosovo does go the unilateral independence way, one cannot be certain that the Serbs will react the way everybody will want them to react, if this issue does cause turmoil in the Balkans again, it will be long time before either of these two states join the EU, because two items in the Copenhagen Criteria state that:

1) any country aspiring to the EU needs to have a stable, free market economy (which a war could destroy very easily)

2) minority rights need to be respected (we've all seen what wars in the Balkans can do to minorities)

This is why unilateral independence (which will probably happen) will probably not ease the transition into statehood for Kosovo and delay EU ascension for both states.

Whilst ideally I think autonomy would be the safest, I think that if it must be independence (which in all honesty I cannot blame the Albanians for), it should probably be supervized so that we have a relatively stable transition.

At the same meeting in Vienna, promoting his new book “Tito’s Interpreter”, Ivan Ivanji said that it was not just a matter of Kosovo, but of the Albanian question which even the Berlin Congress had failed to completely settle.


It was not a failure because they never tryied to settle anything,it was just one of the first attempts to reward their balcan allies by dismembering the albanian land.
On that occasion they had their first slice of albania,followed from the second during the 1913 treaty of london,with kosova in it.

A really good article. It is worthy reading it and Europe must take a note.

Princip since I have tried to tell you this countless times, you heard none (b92 deleted them all) here is a HIGHLIGHT,

"Once the Kosovo question has been settled,
for which independence is the only solution as far as I can see, the EU needs to offer the whole region – and we’re only talking about a few million inhabitants here – candidate status,” he explained.

There someone else said it, b92 can't claim now that I am openly insulting another member.

Why there are "no comments" here from the Serbian team? Comme on guy don't be shy?

He believes that the Kosovo issue will have consequences also for Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and even Greece.
We have been saying this all along that the above mentioned countries would be greatly affected in the future, since all of them hold a great numbers of Albanians.
He forgot to mentioned Turkey as well.

EA

I also agree that the EU would remedy the nationalism and ethnic division that poisons the Balkans and bring the living standards up to neighbouring countries, like Greece, Slovenia and even Italy. I hope one day to see the whole of the Balkan states in the EU, just one thing:

""Once the Kosovo question has been settled, for which independence is the only solution as far as I can see, the EU needs to offer the whole region – and we’re only talking about a few million inhabitants here – candidate status,” he explained. "

The issue here is that if Kosovo does go the unilateral independence way, one cannot be certain that the Serbs will react the way everybody will want them to react, if this issue does cause turmoil in the Balkans again, it will be long time before either of these two states join the EU, because two items in the Copenhagen Criteria state that:

1) any country aspiring to the EU needs to have a stable, free market economy (which a war could destroy very easily)

2) minority rights need to be respected (we've all seen what wars in the Balkans can do to minorities)

This is why unilateral independence (which will probably happen) will probably not ease the transition into statehood for Kosovo and delay EU ascension for both states.

Whilst ideally I think autonomy would be the safest, I think that if it must be independence (which in all honesty I cannot blame the Albanians for), it should probably be supervized so that we have a relatively stable transition.