Europe’s Volatile Flank Finds Itself Focus of Global Attention
The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo will discuss a potential land swap and the idea has sparked warnings of a return to conflict.
A Serbian protester waves the Serbian national flag at the Merdare border point with Serbia, in 2008.
Photographer: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images
If history is anything to go by, Europe’s most volatile region is headed into another precarious period, and the repercussions could again be felt around the world.
Serbia and Kosovo are seeking to mend ties after years of failed efforts and animosity stemming from the Yugoslav wars and their ultimate split a decade ago as the Kosovars declared independence. A key component of a proposed deal involves swapping chunks of territory to allow people of the same ethnicity to live together.
Yet as Serb President Aleksandar Vucic and his Kosovar counterpart, Hashim Thaci, prepare for talks in Brussels on Friday, the very notion of the land deal is causing diplomatic tremors from Moscow to Washington, Berlin and Beijing. Where some claim to see an opportunity for permanent peace, others regard the proposal of swapping territory as an unacceptable risk to take in the Balkan region, where Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II raged on and off throughout the 1990s.