Tag

EU

Kosovo – Quint brinksmanship

By refusing to act within their UN peacekeeping mandate, but instead trying to change the facts on the ground through the use of force, EULEX and KFOR are pushing north Kosovo to the brink.

Kosovo – sharing a conundrum

Beset with enormous - perhaps insurmountable - economic and political problems of their own, the Europeans seem uninterested and/or unable to support real solutions in the central Balkans.

Kosovo – time for a new approach

TransConflict hereby presents the testimony of Gerard M. Gallucci, the former UN Regional Representative in Mitrovica, for a hearing on the Balkans by the Sub-committee on Europe and Eurasia, part of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the US House of Representatives.

The Ahtisaari Plan and North Kosovo

TransConflict is pleased to present a new policy paper, entitled ‘The Ahtisaari Plan and North Kosovo’, authored by Gerard Gallucci, the former UN Regional Representative in Mitrovica.

Kosovo – separate tracks

It is increasingly apparent that the respective parties - including the Quint - are talking past each other and reacting more to what has happened, rather than what might be done to move away from conflict.

Leveraging weakness

Faced with outstanding conflicts over sovereignty in the Western Balkans, the EU's most efficacious strategy depends upon acknowledging and leveraging its own considerable limitations as an international actor.

Kosovo – barricades considered

Having eschewed violence and successfully prevented the one-sided outcome in the north pushed by Pristina and its international supporters, the Serbs should now consider removing the barricades at the two main Gates in order to allow a practical test of KFOR and EULEX's status neutrality.

Kosovo – peace not self-enforcing

If KFOR's request - for complete freedom of movement for everyone - is to be taken seriously, it must go on record that it will prevent unilateral and provocative actions by both sides, and act strictly within its UN mandate.

Kosovo – some progress

The decision to allow freedom of movement for KFOR suggests a readiness among the northern Kosovo Serbs to find a way to defuse the threat of violence created by Pristina's efforts to unilaterally change the situation on the ground.

Kosovo – compromise over customs now

With the situation in the north having reached a dangerous stalemate, the need for a compromise - one that would help defuse tensions, and allow Belgrade and Pristina to resume negotiations on practical matters - grows ever more apparent.

Kosovo – whose reality?

Though Kosovo Serbs have been called upon to accept the ‘reality’ of an independent Kosovo, it is the reality of past and present experience that continues to motivate their peaceful resistance.

About blood and honey

Almost twenty years on from the beginning of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, two Dutch journalists are travelling the country seeking answers to the question, does Bosnia and Herzegovina really exist?

More Europe in the Southeast is the answer?

Whilst imploring aspiring members to embrace its own system and values, the EU's selectiveimplementation of standards - depending on the case and context - means that countries of the region, particularly the Republic of Macedonia, should be cautious about accession.

Kosovo – Quint policy bankruptcy

With support for EU membership in Serbia dropping, the Kosovo Albanians refusing to compromise and no sign that Serbs in the north are ready to surrender, it remains far from clear what the Quint's Plan B may be.

Brinkmanship in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Negotiations to form a state-level government in Bosnia-Herzegovina have seen the creation of two new constitutional conventions - the notion of ‘legitimate representation’ and the principle of ‘ethnic rotation’ - which will continue to exert a profound influence on the country's politics.

Kosovo – the EU demands surrender

By accepting Berlin's 'Kosovo conditions' for further progress by Serbia towards EU membership, the EU is in effect acting to impose Pristina's rule in the north and pressuring Belgrade to simply surrender.

Kosovo – will the EU demand surrender?

The EU appears to be under pressure from Germany to only grant Serbia candidate status - without a date to start accession negotiations - and only under specific conditions that would push Belgrade to surrender the north on Pristina's terms.

Greece – Balkan dissonance and the creation myth of “Europe”

Reeling European governments and the Brussels bureaucracy will become even less patient than before in dealing with a region where their serial failures to enforce their myth of civic identity and multi-ethnic integration have undermined the narrative of Europe as a united, just, effective and relevant international actor.
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