I really have mixed opinions about "Kosovo independence." I really have no taste for a declaration of "independence" when the minority population of Kosovar Serbs continue to be denied free movement, cultural rights and equality that the majority Albanian population enjoy. There is some nasty smell about this kind of "independence" when the minority population continue to be oppressed and under threat.

What is also disturbing is that the European Union intends to "recognize" the "new state of Kosovo." It seems to me that the Kosovar Albanian majority have not learned what European values are and the they have a long way to go before they can, legitimately, be recognized for anything "European." It is un-European to drive your neighbors out of their homes, burn their churches, and then deny them freedom of movement so they are confined to guarded enclaves. The Kosovar Albanians do not make good Europeans yet, and we should hold recognition of "Kosovo" until some measure of human rights and human dignity is restored to the Serbian minority, otherwise "European values" mean nothing.  

The treatment of Serbia reminds me of the treatment of Germany after World War One. The reparations to France and the conditions of the Versailles Treaty were viewed as unfair. This perception of unfairness by Germans was never addressed and we ended up with the slaughter of millions in WWII.  Likewise, the ultra nationalists in Serbian wax and wane according to how the rest of Europe views Serbia and how much Serbia is integrated into Europe. This  "Kosovo independence" will, no doubt, cause the ultra nationalists in Serbia to once again rise to power.

Last, those in Serbia that risk their lives to create "European Serbia" have been left out in the cold because of constant demands to produce indited war criminals that cannot be located or might even be dead. Zoran Djindjic was murdered in 2003 in the name of the European Serbia dream. There is a European Serbia and Serbia must not be left in the "EU losers club." The only answer to "Kosovo independence" is fast track Union membership for Serbia. There is no other peaceful solution but acquis communautaire in steroids for European Serbia.

The memory of brave Europeans like Zoran Djindjic demands nothing less...