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Bosnia and Kosovo The game of the name Dec 6th 2007 | BRUSSELS >From The Economist print edition Balkan diplomacy at NATO and the EU WESTERN institutions may look frayed and indecisive to their own members, but to those wanting to join them they can seem mighty effective. Just look at the impact of the European Union (EU) on Bosnia. Since April 2006 the fragile state stitched together by outside powers more than a decade ago has seemed to be accelerating towards disaster. Amid media reports of disintegration and renewed conflict, gloomy Bosnians began stockpiling oil and sugar. Not any more. On December 4th, the EU initialled a stabilisation and association agreement with Bosnia after setting aside a row over police reform. This first step on the long road to EU membership was the cause of general rejoicing. “The mood has changed completely, people are much more optimistic,” says Osman Topcagic, the Bosnian official in charge of EU integration. The turnaround has been swift. On October 19th Miroslav Lajcak, the tough-minded Slovak who serves as the outside world's governor-general in Bosnia, said that unless politicians changed the rules to stop government members boycotting meetings, he would impose the change anyway. That nonplussed Bosnia's Serbs, masters of the no-show tactic, who have been stroppily hinting they might seek independence on the same lines as nearby Kosovo. That mainly Albanian province is preparing to declare independence from Serbia next year, after negotiations on its future are formally declared dead next week. Given the nervousness across the region—Russia opposes independence but much of the West supports it—one would have hoped that NATO could also pour some soothing balm. Kosovo's southern neighbours, Albania and Macedonia (which has a large Albanian minority), are strong candidates to gain invitations to join the alliance at its Bucharest summit in April. But Greek objections to its northern neighbour's “monopoly” of the Macedonian name, which is shared by a large chunk of northern Greece, must be met first. Greece says it wants a final resolution of the dispute that has lain dormant for years, or it will veto the NATO invitation. The fact that Macedonia plans to introduce new licence plates emblazoned with “Macedonia” has not helped. Greece has suggested its neighbour call itself something like “New Macedonia”. The government in Skopje offers to join as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), a mouthful it uses in some international forums. Not enough, says the Greek foreign minister, Dora Bakoyiannis, “FYROM is not a serious name”. Quite so. But stirring the warm coals of the Balkans is hardly serious either.
