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    Azerbaijan dismisses claims of involvement in Israel-Iran conflict

    Elite Purges: Internal Conflict or External Design?

    Trump’s Threat of U.S. Intervention in Iran Exposes Roots of Critics’ Fears

    Crisis-Born, Purpose-Seeking: Can the EPC Define Europe’s Strategic Future?

    Serbia’s Request to the ICJ Turned Resolution 1244 into a Closed Chapter and Kosovo’s Independence into an Internationally Recognized Reality

    Unpredictable world

    Promoting Arab Culture and Language in the Framework of Cultural Diversity and Dialogue.

    ‘A Tragic Circus’: Albanian PD Figures Lash Out After LaCivita-Backed Campaign Collapses

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    A Century of Diplomatic Relations Between Albania and Russia: Exclusive Interview with the Russian Ambassador to Albania, H.E. Alexey Zaytsev

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    The first anniversary of the appointment as Archbishop at the head of the Catholic Church/ Mons. Arjan Dodaj: Only God can be the author of our walk!

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    A top phone call as disappointment! Exit from Brexit! Germany at the helm! End this political shame up!

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    Europe riarmed! Germany’s epochal shift! Spoiled soup! EU Commissioner Kos demands reforms!

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    WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.  Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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    When bridges divide more than rivers…

    Skopje Growth Plan Summit: Western Balkans Six Urged to Accelerate Reforms

    Summit G 6+1! The historic Summit and Trump show! Zelensky loses 0:2! Winners and losers of the 12 day war!

    The NATO Summit in 2027 will be held in Tirana.

    Exclusive: “Even After Tito – Tito”/ Ambassador Zlatko Kramarić on Authoritarian Legacies and Democracy’s Future in the Balkans

    Geneva meeting begins in bid to halt escalating Israel-Iran conflict

    From Donetsk to Northern Kosovo: Geopolitical Games with the Kosovo Precedent

    G7 leaders fail to reach ambitious joint agreements on key issues after Trump’s exit

    Where does Donald Trump stand on the Israel-Iran conflict?

  • Top News

    The NATO Summit in 2027 will be held in Tirana.

    NATO allies agree to allocate 5% of GDP to defense by 2035

    Reza Pahlavi: “This Is Our Berlin Wall Moment” — Exiled Prince Calls for Global Support as Iran Nears Regime Collapse

    Where does Donald Trump stand on the Israel-Iran conflict?

    Russia Proposes Second Round of Ukraine Peace Talks in Istanbul on June 2

    International leaders congratulate Prime Minister Rama after his victory in the parliamentary elections, securing a fourth term.

    Albania’s parliamentary elections competitive and well run but lacked level playing field, international observers say

    Top Ukrainian delegation arrives in Paris for talks with Western officials

    Marta Kos: Albania Making Rapid Progress Toward EU Integration

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  • Home
  • OP/ED

    Azerbaijan dismisses claims of involvement in Israel-Iran conflict

    Elite Purges: Internal Conflict or External Design?

    Trump’s Threat of U.S. Intervention in Iran Exposes Roots of Critics’ Fears

    Crisis-Born, Purpose-Seeking: Can the EPC Define Europe’s Strategic Future?

    Serbia’s Request to the ICJ Turned Resolution 1244 into a Closed Chapter and Kosovo’s Independence into an Internationally Recognized Reality

    Unpredictable world

    Promoting Arab Culture and Language in the Framework of Cultural Diversity and Dialogue.

    ‘A Tragic Circus’: Albanian PD Figures Lash Out After LaCivita-Backed Campaign Collapses

    Erosion of Liberal Democracy in Europe Complicates Canada’s Search for Like-Minded Allies

  • Interview

    Exclusive: “Even After Tito – Tito”/ Ambassador Zlatko Kramarić on Authoritarian Legacies and Democracy’s Future in the Balkans

    The Conclusion of the Diplomatic Mission / Ambassador Dancho Markovski: Strengthening Albania-North Macedonia Relations for a Shared European Future

    A Century of Diplomatic Relations Between Albania and Russia: Exclusive Interview with the Russian Ambassador to Albania, H.E. Alexey Zaytsev

    Exclusive/ The chairman of the Freedom Party, Ilir Meta: “The will of the citizens will triumph in Albania, as it did in North Macedonia”

    Exclusive/ The Russian Ambassador to Albania Mr. Mikhail Afanasiev: Russia only aims to end that war started by the West in Ukraine

    Exclusive/ Skopje’s top diplomat to Tirana, Dancho Markovski: OSCE Chairmanship a Project of National Importance for North Macedonia

    Exclusive interview of Croatian Ambassador Zlatko Kramaric: ‘There is progress in Croatian-Albanian relations, but it is still not enough’  

    The first anniversary of the appointment as Archbishop at the head of the Catholic Church/ Mons. Arjan Dodaj: Only God can be the author of our walk!

    Azerbaijan’s Ambassador Anar Huseynov: President Aliyev’s visit to Albania opened a new page in our relations through the specific accords reached

  • Realpolitik

    Summit G 6+1! The historic Summit and Trump show! Zelensky loses 0:2! Winners and losers of the 12 day war!

    Chancellor Merz passed “the exam”! Political stupidity! 5 per cent or study Russian! The Firing East!      

    A top phone call as disappointment! Exit from Brexit! Germany at the helm! End this political shame up!

    That’s it! The quartet of hope! Shame on Kosovo! The Summit of a Community without Identity!

    Only praises and prolises for Meloni! Facts versus untruths! Immediate ceasefire and genuine peace, no deal for new occupation! Back after 60 years !

    US nuclear tariff bomb!! Europa fires back! NATO ok, but with or without Article 5? Kallas urges reforms!

    Europe riarmed! Germany’s epochal shift! Spoiled soup! EU Commissioner Kos demands reforms!

    Europe tightens the ranks! The Euro-Atlantic Alliance in danger! USA-1945!! A true Peace, not new occupation!

    WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.  Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

    The law of force over the force of law! Multilateral diplomacy is the victim! Euro-Atlantism in danger! Munchen split the West!

  • Current Events

    When bridges divide more than rivers…

    Skopje Growth Plan Summit: Western Balkans Six Urged to Accelerate Reforms

    Summit G 6+1! The historic Summit and Trump show! Zelensky loses 0:2! Winners and losers of the 12 day war!

    The NATO Summit in 2027 will be held in Tirana.

    Exclusive: “Even After Tito – Tito”/ Ambassador Zlatko Kramarić on Authoritarian Legacies and Democracy’s Future in the Balkans

    Geneva meeting begins in bid to halt escalating Israel-Iran conflict

    From Donetsk to Northern Kosovo: Geopolitical Games with the Kosovo Precedent

    G7 leaders fail to reach ambitious joint agreements on key issues after Trump’s exit

    Where does Donald Trump stand on the Israel-Iran conflict?

  • Top News

    The NATO Summit in 2027 will be held in Tirana.

    NATO allies agree to allocate 5% of GDP to defense by 2035

    Reza Pahlavi: “This Is Our Berlin Wall Moment” — Exiled Prince Calls for Global Support as Iran Nears Regime Collapse

    Where does Donald Trump stand on the Israel-Iran conflict?

    Russia Proposes Second Round of Ukraine Peace Talks in Istanbul on June 2

    International leaders congratulate Prime Minister Rama after his victory in the parliamentary elections, securing a fourth term.

    Albania’s parliamentary elections competitive and well run but lacked level playing field, international observers say

    Top Ukrainian delegation arrives in Paris for talks with Western officials

    Marta Kos: Albania Making Rapid Progress Toward EU Integration

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Home ENGLISH

My non-paper will delight none and restrain all

1 May, 2021
in ENGLISH, English OP/ED
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By Daniel Serwer

This nonpaper presents a proposal for a joint US/EU/UK effort to resolve the last remaining war and peace issues in the the Western Balkans: normalization of relations between Pristina and Belgrade centered on mutual recognition and constitutional reform to create a more functional state in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Both require adherence to four fundamental principles:

  1. Statehood: the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the current independent states in the Western Balkans.
  2. Minority rights: state sovereignty rooted in respect for the rights of all citizens, regardless of ethnicity.
  3. Reciprocity: whatever one state asks for itself it should be willing to give the equivalent to the other.
  4. Subsidiarity: social and political issues should be dealt with at the lowest level consistent with their resolution.

It is important for the West to act now, because Russian trouble-making and Chinese financing are undermining Serbia’s democracy, reigniting Belgrade’s regional ambitions, weakening Montenegro and Bosnia’s statehood, and unraveling the post-war settlements in Bosnia and Kosovo. If the region is left on autopilot, we can expect growing instability, ethnic strife, state weakness, increased migration, and authoritarian restorations. There is no better place on earth to demonstrate the viability and benefits of democratic governance than in the Western Balkans, where most of the countries have already accomplished much of the required transition, the citizens want open and democratic societies, and their problems need relatively low, often diplomatic, investments to complete the process.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

There is no hope of making Bosnia a more functional state without constitutional change to weaken if not eliminate the stranglehold on governance of the ethnically defined parties, granted to them at Dayton. The way forward is indicated in the Sejdic-Finci decision of the European Chamber for Human Rights and other court judgments. All individuals should be eligible for any position in the state without regard to ethnicity, and all citizens should be able to vote for whom they want regardless of ethnicity. Power-sharing arrangements that ensure the hold of ethnically defined political parties should be eliminated, along with the unnecessary and burdensome levels of governance that exist mainly to provide those political parties with patronage and opportunities for corruption. Redistribution of their functions should follow the priniciple of subsidiarity, which will mean enhanced local as well as central governance.

None of this can be accomplished by international fiat, but a strong guiding hand is required. That should in large part come from the High Representative, who will need clear goals and unequivocal support from the US, EU, and UK. Their support should come not only in the form of “carrots” but also in willingness to cut off financial and political assistance, sanction and prosecute individuals, and name and shame those who are preventing the necessary constitutional reforms. The internationals should also be prepared to support a broad popular effort to discuss and propose constitutional reforms based on the above principles and counter anti-democratic interventions by neighbors, illiberal EU governments, and authoritarian powers.

2. Kosovo

The existing EU-sponsored dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina has made virtually no progress for eight years, during four of which it was distracted by apparent divisions between Washington and Brussels. There is no need to rush to revive it. President Vucic has made clear that he will not recognize Kosovo as an independent and sovereign state before the next Serbian presidential election in the spring of 2022.

The year until then is needed to prepare the ground in the EU as well as in Serbia and Kosovo for normalization based on mutual recognition. The US, UK, and the EU member states that recognize Kosovo need to increase the pressure on the five non-recognizers and at least ensure that the visa waiver is extended to Kosovo, as well as additional recognitions. In Serbia the year should entail a far more serious discussion than has occurred so far on how and why sovereignty over Kosovo was lost under Milosevic and why it can’t be restored now. In Kosovo, the year should be used for a far more serious discussion about ensuring the rights and respect of its Serb population as well as the Serbian Orthodox Church and why union with Albania is not just a bad idea but a ruinous one. The EU-sponsored dialogue should continue once both capitals are ready, but only if both are prepared to be mutually supportive instead of undermining each other at every turn, as they do today.

In the end, Serbia will need to arrange for Kosovo membership in the UN and establish formal diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. Nothing less should be acceptable to the US, EU, and UK.

3. The region

Whether in CEFTA or mini-Schengen or bilaterally, there is a compelling need to lower barriers to trade, people, services, and investment throughout the Western Balkans. A regional single market is no subststitute for EU accession, but it will improve competitiveness, increase incomes, and enhance mutual interdependence while awaiting improved conditions for EU enlargement. That day will come: once COVID-19 and the associated recession pass, Europe will be looking for cheaper labor and increased competitivity, as it did in eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Balkans are an obvious source. The non-EU members in the Balkans should get ready now.

The Western Balkans have come a long way in the past two decades. Far less time than that lies ahead before all its sovereign states can hope to become members of the EU. Now is the time to redouble Western commitment, not let it flag.https:/peacefare.net/

Tags: daniel serwerkosovonon-paperSerbia

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