Wouldn't any of us do the same thing?

Take a look at this opinion-polls on Kosovan independence in Corriere della Sera -

Will the independence of Kosovo threaten stability in the Balkans? (14th Feb.)
Yes: 66.4%
No:  33.6%

So the only rational explanation I can find for Italy pursuing a national policy so out of line with both national brain-knowledge and national gut-instinct is that this "alignment" performance on its part is 1) a sop consisting of "showing a face of unity" to counterbalance Western(TM) disapproval of Italian thin-ice ranks-breaking re non-hostile relations with Iran, Hizbollah and Hamas ... plus 2) some form of unmentionable behind-the-scenes calculation regarding preservation of Italy's weird n' scraggy lil' "special relationship" with pet ugly-duckling Albania?  

Yech! :-(

"Ignoring moralities is always undesirable, but doing so systematically is really worrisome." Mohammed Khatami

What is also stinky is the European Union recognizing this "independence" which actually cheapens European values and what they are supposed to mean!

The more I think about this the angrier I become, because if we are not going to honor this UN resolution, why should anyone honor any other UN resolution? What the hell was the point of all the work that went into the resolution and negotiations? Serbia and Kosovo may have to be continually sent to separate corners of the ring, and Kosovo may have eventually ended up independent anyway, but dear god today's decision was really screwed up. This has really set a difficult precedent.

Now I'm thinking of all the secessionist movements in the U.S. Does anyone else think that as small and on-the-fringe as they are, recognizing Kosovo's independence today has just given them more legitimacy?

I declare the independence of my back yard!

No, I am serious. That's at the end of that road. No territorial claim is without ambiguous borders.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

The albanian-macedonian conflict in Macedonia was a top foreign news story in august-september 2001, but then all the press left for hotter conflict zones.

Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se

Not only Serbia but also the neighboring states are under the threat. The Albanian nationalists are also eyeing the land of Macedonia, willing to create the Great Albania with the capital in Skopje.
---------
Interesting how everybody is talking about "Great Serbia" that couldn't be smaller and nobody cares about Great Albania that is bigger then ever having in mind what happened...

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind...Albert Einstein

The effect of "recognizing Kosovo independence" means recognizing a human rights violator and rogue nation within Europe...

the way the EU allowed the secession of Montenegro was bad enough

Serbia didn't put up a fight after Montenegro voted to secede (there were citizen protests but after the vote, everyone pretty much shrugged their shoulders and said, "Meh"). It was as close to mutually agreed dissolution as you'll find in the Balkans, I think. Why was the EU's handling of it so bad?

The main players in the EU argue that you can't expect Albanians to live inside Serbia after what Milosevic pulled in 1999. Yet in the next breath the players argue that you can expect them to live alongside Serbs in Kosovo. If the Albanians are so aggrieved (and I'm sure they are) this doesn't speak to multiethnic harmony inside Kosovo at all. Essentially, the players are somehow sticking to a formula which, by their own admission, is doomed to fail.

Can someone explain this willful blindness to me?

Calling it "illegal," Russia and Serbia stepped up their efforts to annul Kosovo's independence Monday, Feb. 18 with both countries calling emergency sessions of parliament to discuss their next moves.

Russian deputies gathered to finalize a text on the "consequences" of Kosovo's declaration while preparing an official condemnation of the act and urging UN chief Ban Ki-moon to take a tougher stance.

 

"The Kosovo example could plunge the world into chaos," senior parliamentarian Mikhail Margelov was quoted by ITAR-TASS as saying. The independence declaration goes against "international law and morality.... This is a dangerous precedent," he said.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesia said Monday it does not recognize Kosovo's declaration of independence, a move that reflects Jakarta's concern that the pronouncement could energize its own separatist movements.

Indonesia, a sprawling country of some 18,000 islands, saw East Timor break away in 1999 and is battling widespread secessionist sentiment in the Papua region and a smaller nonviolent movement in the Maluku islands.

The government said in a statement it regretted Kosovo's unilateral declaration and hoped it would not bring about fresh tension and conflict in the Balkan region. It said U.N.-backed principles of upholding the territorial integrity of developing nations must be supported.

"The government of Indonesia will follow closely developments in Kosovo, but it is not yet in a position to recognize this unilateral declaration of independence," the statement said.

Russia and Serbia have declared Sunday's declaration by the Kosovo parliament illegal and said it could spur independence movements in the region and the world. But most of the 27 nations in the European Union are expected to quickly endorse the pronouncement.

PARIS - Australia on Monday became the lastest nation to welcome Kosovo's declaration of independence, joining the United States and several European powers, despite fierce objections from Serbia and Russia.

But China was among countries unhappy with Kosovo's breakaway from Serbia, declaring it was "deeply concerned" about the future of peace in the region.

"The unilateral approach by Kosovo may cause a series of consequences and lead to severe negative influences on the peace and stability of the Balkan region," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement.

"China expresses deep concern about this."

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said diplomatic recognition of the new state would be offered soon.

European Union foreign ministers have failed to forge a joint position on Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia.

While France confirmed that it would recognise independence, as expected, several member states led by Spain made clear their legal concerns.

US President George W Bush said Kosovo's people were "independent" but stopped short of formal recognition.

Russia has backed Serbia in its refusal to recognise Kosovo's secession.

About 10,000 students protested in Belgrade on Monday, and thousands of the city's taxi-drivers went on strike in protest at the declaration of independence, while thousands of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo's enclaves also rallied.

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The question of whether the 27-nation European Union will be able to come up with a unified reaction to the self-proclaimed independence of Kosovo currently rests with Spain, as the country is refusing to sign up to a common position drafted by the Slovenian EU presidency.

According to a draft document discussed by EU foreign ministers, "the council noted that member states can decide, in accordance with national practice and legal norms, to establish their relations with Kosovo as an independent state under international supervision."

However, Spain has refused to agree to the text and has instead tabled its own proposal. Cyprus also strongly opposes the current text proposed by the Slovenian EU presidency.

"The council notes that member states will decide, in accordance with national practice and international law, on their relations with Kosovo," reads the Madrid-sponsored paper.

Prime Minister Thaci made some very important gestures yesterday towards reconciliation with Serbs in Kosovo.

Meh. Of course he did. So did, towards their own minorities, all the nation states born out of the Paris Peace Conferences after WWI.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

Stefan Wolff: Kosovo has most of the important institutions of statehood and democratic governance in place

Kosovo or Kosova, it's still our problem

The three Kosovos. Declaration of independence and flag under the aegis of the "geopolitically-correct". Political dependency on the West but infrastructures dependent on Serbia.  The many hotheads. The organised-crime trafficking. Kosova will become more and more a problem of ours.

(...) It's certain that from now on Kosova will become more and more a problem of ours. A European problem, an Italian problem. Our soldiers are in the front line, in the NATO framework.  And the notorious criminal traffickings that from Asia reach into our country crossing through that Balkanic territory will become even less controllable than before, in the new geopolitical and institutional context. But as usual, we turn up at the appointment-date unprepared, with no  real idea what to do. We shall recognise Kosova so as to maintain our little niche in the Contact Group, pretending we count as much as the other Euroatlantic partners. To do what?

The Problems of Independent Kosovo

An independent Kosovo immediately brings two issues into the field, one at local level and the other in the international sphere.  

At the local level, the problem is the fate of the approximately 120 thousand Serbs who decided to remain in the Albanian-majority province after the Kosovo war. They are concentrated above all in northern Kosovo along the border with  Serbia and in the area of the city of Mitrovica, divided between Serbians and Albanians along the Ibar river, which is readying itself to become a new Berlin.

But one must not overlook the Serbian enclaves around the many orthodox monasteries, often located along strategic routes for the illegal traffickings that constitute the main item in Kosovo's economy. One of these cases is that of the monastery of Decani.

In Kosovo the armed groups linked to the various clans are still active, and on both sides various paramilitary militias are in training.

Another crucial point is the situation in the Presevo valley, which is outside Kosovo, in Serbia, but is populated by Albanians who have close ties both with the Kosovars and with the Albanian minority in Macedonia. The Albanians of Albania are more detatched, although Northern Albania, being inhabited by the same Kosovar-Albanian  ethnic group, could come into the orbit of more-advanced Kosovo.

In the international sphere Serbia can count on the support of  Russia, which on the one hand is taking advantage of the issue to extend its influence into the former-Yugoslavia area and on the other is threatening to recognise the self-proclaimed independence of the Russian enclaves in the former Soviet space, headed by Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

On the other front, Kosovo can count on the support of the United States and of the European countries that host large Kosovar communities (Great Britain, Austria, Switzerland, Germany). The four "big powers" Italy, France, Germany and Great Britain intend to recognise the new State, unlike other European countries such as Spain and Greece, worried about their own independence movements. Kosovo's independence would in fact set a precedent favorable to independence movements all over the world.

HUH!? What you say was ten years ago. Since then, Milo has been toppled.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}