The European Tribune is a forum for thoughtful dialogue of European and international issues. You are invited to post comments and your own articles.
Please REGISTER to post.
This reminds me of a comment one of my teachers made a few years ago about how the Vietnam War was really just another battle in a thousand-year-long war between China and Vietnam, and that we had basically barged in without fully understanding what was going on.
I can't state an opinion about Kosovo's independence either way. There's too much history and emotion behind it, and both sides are guilty of bloodshed and mayhem. No one can really claim "innocent" status. Vbo is right, maybe in the long run this will turn out to be for the best, but for now every country supporting Kosovo's claim is setting a precedent, which I think they don't quite understand, for anyone to secede. Whether a particular area's secession is good or bad depends on the area/country it wants to leave, but supporting countries have just given the go-ahead for everyone to try.
They have no claim for stopping Republika Srpska now, and that will be a real mess both politically and geographically (RS is divided in two, surrounds two little Federation enclaves, and then there's Brčko, a city that technically belongs to both RS and the Federation, map here, RS in red, Federation in blue, Brčko in minty green). RS's government has claimed they won't seek independence, but there are movements within RS that given time have the potential to gather energy.
</rant>
by Frank Schnittger - May 31
by Oui - May 30 44 comments
by Frank Schnittger - May 23 3 comments
by Frank Schnittger - May 27 3 comments
by Oui - May 13 66 comments
by Oui - Jun 91 comment
by Oui - Jun 55 comments
by Oui - Jun 256 comments
by Oui - Jun 112 comments
by Oui - May 3193 comments
by Oui - May 3044 comments
by Frank Schnittger - May 273 comments
by Oui - May 2742 comments
by Oui - May 24
by Frank Schnittger - May 233 comments
by Oui - May 1366 comments
by Oui - May 928 comments
by Oui - May 450 comments
by Oui - May 312 comments
by Oui - Apr 30273 comments
by Oui - Apr 2666 comments
by Oui - Apr 8108 comments
by Oui - Mar 19145 comments