“Changing the boundaries means opening the Pandora’s box,” says Valentin Inzko. As High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, his task is to maintain the peace that has existed since the Dayton Peace Accords ended the conflict in 1995, after nearly four years of fighting that cost some 100,000 lives.
The cause of his shock was a pair of unofficial documents suggesting that some of the borders in the Balkans should be revised. The so-called “non-paper” made the rounds of diplomatic circles, before being taken by the media in the Western Balkans, writes BBC, reported Bota on Sunday.
As for Bosnia, its High Representative will not take suggestions that the answer to its continued dysfunction would be to review its national borders.
“If one likes to think about changing the borders, one must first visit all the military graves from France to Stalingrad,” he warns.
After meeting with Vucic in Slovenia, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani told the BBC she was convinced Belgrade was behind the papers.
“I had no doubts from the beginning – just read the content and see what these letters are trying to push forward the idea of reviewing the borders as something that can achieve peace in the region, when in fact it is the opposite,” said President Osmani.
“If there is one thing that the entire political spectrum in Kosovo agrees on, it is that the restoration of borders is completely unacceptable,” Osmani said.
Of course, Serbia denies all knowledge and Professor James Ker-Lindsay notes that there are “all kinds of theories of confusion and conspiracy”.
Valentin Inzko, on the other hand, simply wants everyone to accept the borders as they are and focus on eventually coming together into the European Union.
“The best idea would be to follow the example of Tyrol – one part is in Italy, another in Austria. But it is a region with four liberties and one currency,” Inzko said. / argumentum.al
