Are we talking about a total and complete rewriting of borders across ALL of the former Yugo?
Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, even some parts of Serbia?
Would that satisfy everyone? Or just create more trouble?
Nevermind the fact that 100,000 died in vain.
How can the Serbs argue possession of Kosovo while simultaneously thinking of secession from Bosnia?
The same way that the West can argue independence for Kosovo while insisting on a unitary Bosnia. My understanding is that Serbs have made offers to negotiate a global solution.
Redrawing the maps of Slovenia & Croatia are out of the question - I presume. What IS on the table is the rest. Here are some ideas of possible solutions:
Bosnia - split into 3, with a big problem for the Muslims who would end up with 2 separate states with no land link. Although this seems unworkable at first glance, I would argue that once each ethnic group establishes full sovereignty over its area, the power base of the ultra nationalists will wane and an environment of reconciliation might take root. The whole deal could be made conditional on each side accepting the free movement of people, goods & services between the different entities - and why not between the ex-Yugoslav republics?
Serbia - the areas where there are conflicting claims are Presevo and Bujanovac which are majority Albanian and Sandzak - which is Serbian Muslim (Bosniak if you prefer or Turckicised Slavs - now THAT doesn't exist in any dictionary). Sandzak has no viability as an independent state and can't be attached to other Muslim areas in Bosnia, plus there isn't any repression of Muslims in Sandzak - so I would leave it as part of Serbia. Regarding Presevo and Bujanovac, I would argue that it should remain in Serbia to compensate for all the lost Serb enclaves in Kosovo (see below)
Kosovo - The northern tip is easy to manage - the large majority being Serb. It could, however, create an psychological problem for the Albanians because the Trepca mine is located in the North (worth about 5B€) as are some large freshwater lakes which are source of most of Pristina's water. No easy solution in sight with regards to the Serb enclaves within Kosovo, nor the many hundreds of cultural and religious sites in what Serbs consider their Jerusalem... only viable solution is to hand that over to the Albanians with some sort of UNESCO protection.
Macedonia - split in two: Western Albanian and Eastern Slav Macedonian.
Certainly wouldn't satisfy everyone, but I think that it would satisfy more people than the current situation which doesn't satisfy anyone either.
Those people died in van no matter what ultimate solution is implemented.
I'd say you're probably better off waiting for the EU as currently comprised.
But even if the EU prospect materialises, I unfortunately think that every national minority is just going to be waiting for their day to reclaim. Sort that out now & you'll eliminate potential sources of future cancers.
What I am no so sure of is that the EU diplomats actually understand Bosnia. EU15 diplomats seem to have precious little clue about the rest of the EU, let alone the bits outside it, even 5 years after the expansion to 25. Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
