Rehn warns of “chaos” in the Balkans

Europe's enlargement chief warned that a UN split over the status of Kosovo would lead to “chaos” in the Balkans.

Izvor: Bloomberg

Wednesday, 21.03.2007.

18:04

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Rehn warns of “chaos” in the Balkans

“It would be Europe that would have to pay the price, not Russia, not the United States.”

“One cannot rule out the possibility of a veto but one has to keep all possible scenarios on the table,'' U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Kramer told a Brussels news conference today. “We obviously would not want to see a Russian veto.”

Rehn said Europe cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the early 1990s when it failed to take a united stance on how quickly to recognize the breakaway Yugoslav republics and on the use of military power to stop the bloodshed.

While the EU officially endorses the Ahtisaari proposal, countries such as Spain and Cyprus are concerned that a formal redrawing of Serbia's borders would kindle separatist sentiments on their own soil.

Rehn called on the EU to stay unified, saying “the Europeans should not lull ourselves into thinking that we could somehow just muddle through.''

Bringing peace to the Balkans is “an important litmus test for the European Union,” he said.

Initially buoyed by an influx of international aid personnel after the 1999 cease-fire, Kosovo's economy has since stumbled. It shrank in 2002, 2003 and 2005, and Rehn said the official unemployment rate is now over 50 percent.

“Kosovo has been in legal limbo for the past eight years and economically Kosovo is in dire straits,'' Rehn said. “There is no benefit from prolonging the agony.''

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