Pandora’s box The leaders of Kosovo and Serbia talk about swapping land Their real plan may be to swap Serbian recognition of Kosovo for Serbian autonomy within it Print edition | Europe Aug 30th 2018 | PRESEVO AND MITROVICA THE end of the Yugoslav wars 20 years ago left hundreds of thousands of people in states they did not regard as their own. Tough, said the peacemakers: redrawing borders would only lead to more conflict. As a result, some 120,000 Serbs remain in ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo; some 60,000 ethnic Albanians live in the Presevo valley in Serbia. Some local leaders have long been keen on a swap, but until recently the EU and America have discouraged the idea. That has changed. Federica Mogherini is said to want an agreement on Serbian recognition of Kosovo by the end of her term as the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs next year, and a land swap could be one way of getting one. America no longer opposes the idea, according to a remark by John Bolton, the national security adviser, on August 24th. Perhaps that is thanks to Trumpian enthuiasm for doing deals, and for nationalism. Serb and Kosovar officials are also keen to hurry things along before European parliamentary elections next May, because they may herald a more populist, anti-enlargement Commission. Get our daily newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our Daily Dispatch and Editor's Picks. Many analysts believe that Mr Thaci and Mr Vucic actually have no intention of changing borders, but are preparing for a deal on a form of Serbian autonomy within Kosovo in exchange for recognition. Though both sides will hate the deal, at least their leaders will be able to say that they preserved precious territory. But if the borders are indeed redrawn here, what about those of Macedonia, a few miles away, where a quarter of the population is Albanian? And what about Bosnia, where Milorad Dodik, the local Serb leader who wants independence from Bosnia, says—using deliberately ambiguous language—that the region’s Serbs should mark out what is theirs and what is their neighbours’? Asked about the risk of conflict, Shaip Kamberi, the Albanian mayor of Bujanovac in the Presevo valley says: “It is not us opening Pandora’s Box. We are the box!” This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline "Pandora’s box" <https://www.economist.com/europe/2018/09/01/the-leaders-of-kosovo-and-serbia-talk-about-swapping-land> https://www.economist.com/europe/2018/09/01/the-leaders-of-kosovo-and-serbia-talk-about-swapping-land -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "serbia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/serbia. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
