Keep an eye on that 'damned silly thing' in Kosovo - by James Bissett
James Bissett was the former Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia
"Serbian voters have approved a new constitution that, among other things, reaffirms sovereignty over Kosovo which, since the bombing of Serbia in 1999, has been administrated by the United Nations with the help of NATO troops. The weekend referendum result will further complicate efforts of Western policy- makers to grant independence to Kosovo since, to do so without Serbia’s consent, would violate the U N Charter on territorial integrity and inviolability of borders. Nevertheless, there have been indications that the UN special envoy, Marrti Ahtisaari, will soon recommend that Kosovo be separated from Serbia and become an independent country. This would be a mistake.
For the past seven years Kosovo has become one of the most dangerous places on Earth. It is the center of heroin, weapons and human trafficking into Western Europe. Murder and abduction of non –Albanians are a daily occurrence. Civil society is non-existent and living standards are equivalent to those of Haiti. There is evidence that Islamic extremists with Al Qaeda connections are a growing presence. In short, Kosovo has all the characteristics of a failed state.
Bismarck, once said that the Balkans were not worth the bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier. Yet, he also predicted that, if there were to be another war in Europe, it would be because of some “damned silly thing” in the Balkans. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914, sparking off the First World War, proved him right. Ominously, there is again a strong possibility that another “damned silly thing” is taking place in the Balkans: the seeming determination of Western policy makers to grant the Serbian province of Kosovo its independence. In foreign policy, as in other human endeavours, you can’t get good results if you do dumb things."
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