The plan for having territory exchanges in Kosovo, supported by the EU, is receiving critics from all sides, analyzes the British newspaper “The Guardian”.
The newspaper reminds that the American administration pushed the idea by having the National Security Adviser at the White House, John Bolton, declaring that the USA would not stand in the way of Belgrade and Prishtina in case they reached an agreement.
The Guardian quotes two sources who have good knowledge about Trump’s administration’s stance. They say the new US policy is “no red lines, no blank cheques”. This means that Washington is ready to discuss any solution, including border exchange. But it doesn’t mean that they will immediately support it.
On the other hand, some EU officials insinuated that the border exchange idea might suit them as well. But many experts say there is a potential chain reaction in the Balkan region, where there are many other disputable borders.
One of them is the Serbian Republic in Bosnia Herzegovina, Republica Srbska. Its president is constantly demanding independence, and the European Block might favor this plan, because it is simpler for them, according to Lejla Ramic-Mersihovic from the “Foreign Policy Initiative BH” think tank.
With what logic would the international community oppose a referendum of the Serbian Republic in BH? Is it really time to give up from the creation of multi-ethnic states in Europe? Such exchanges would bring concerns to politicians in Macedonia as well.
According to the Macedonian Minister of Defense, such ideas have circulated during all Balkanic wars. “We need to remind ourselves that the biggest massacres in the region were caused for this purpose, or with this justification”, she adds.
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