Comparison of Kosovo with Bosnia and Serbia is flawed

Last week’s article, ‘Kosovo’s independence, the wrong solution for Europe’, begins by castigating Kosovo’s Albanians for offering “no sign of flexibility”, but where is the flexibility in stating categorically that independence for Kosovo is “dangerous, obsolete and anti-European”?

The comparison then drawn between Bosnia and Serbia is deeply flawed.

Contrary to the article’s claims, the process of resolving Kosovo’s status is embedded in the 1999 resolution of the UN Security Council that removed the province from Belgrade’s rule. On the other hand, Bosnia’s Republika Srpska is subject to the constitution of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and indeed its leaders are committed to the European integration process within the context of the Bosnian state.

The article criticises the International Crisis Group’s proposals for Kosovo independence as some sort of risky exception for the Balkans, but those who follow the region closely know that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to building lasting peace there. As our reports have detailed through extensive fieldwork over the years, the situations in both Bosnia and Kosovo are completely different, as indeed are the situations in the Sandzak and Presevo Valley regions of Serbia. Little surprise then, that the solutions will be different as well.