The West Can’t Afford to Let Kosovo Unravel
More assertive diplomacy is needed to prevent another Balkan war.
With ethnic tensions rising in Kosovo, NATO’s troops are caught in the middle.
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
More than two decades since NATO went to war to stop ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, the Balkan region is on edge again. Escalating tensions between Kosovo’s government and the country’s ethnic Serbian minority have raised the prospect of renewed fighting that could draw in neighboring Serbia and put at risk the 3,700 NATO troops still stationed in Kosovo.
With Western governments focused on Ukraine, the long-festering Kosovo-Serbia dispute may seem like a distraction, but ignoring the problem would be a mistake. The US and Europe should apply greater pressure on both sides to return to the negotiating table and avert another Balkan war before it begins.