Comments on: Cold Hard Truth

By: Damir

Damir — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:54:23 +0000

Savo, I agree that it will be hard to prevent it, but not because a precedent was set. It will be hard to prevent because the West doesn't seem to have the stomach for a physical confrontation with Serbia and Russia over this.

I'm not sure why people are so hung up over the precedent thing. The United States invaded Iraq in an unprecedented manner--does this mean that the world will now start to condone invasions? Does the U.S. support for Kosovo mean that they implicitly support Kurdistan's right to self-determination in Iraq? Russia itself actively helps foment instability in Abkhazia and South Ossetia--and we're supposed to believe their concern about precedents being set?

I hope you're right about Bosnia. Being of Croatian origin (from Zadar), my main reason for qualms over Kosovo's independence is Bosnia's stability. Bosnia on the road to EU integration is the only sensible way forward for the entire region.

By: Savo Heleta

Savo Heleta — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:45:44 +0000

Damir, I’m not saying that Serbs should secede from Kosovo, but that if they attempt, it will be hard to prevent them as a precedent was set.

Why would they? Well, politics, history, manipulation by the leaders, propaganda, people not thinking with their heads but with their blood (Nelson Mandela said this about the people from the Balkans) - these are the reasons for conflict, wars, and rebellion in the Balkans and around the world.

When it comes to Bosnia, I don’t think anyone will seriously think about secession. In my opinion, all these calls for referendums and secession are just attempts by politicians to increase their popularity among the confused and angry voters who were told this (Kosovo independence)would never happen.

I personally would love to see Bosnia joining the EU. I hope the politicians in Bosnia on all sides -and people who elect them- will soon start thinking about the future, the economy, and less about divisions and differences.

SAVO HELETA Author of “Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia” http://savoheleta.livejournal.com

By: Damir

Damir — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:19:15 +0000

Savo,

Why would they or why should they? I don't think they will be stopped, but I think they probably should be.

As a Bosnian Serb, do you think Republika Sprska should be allowed to secede from Bosnia?

By: Savo Heleta

Savo Heleta — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:42:14 +0000

Damir,

Albanians wanted to cut off all ties with Serbs and Serbia and they succeeded. Now, if Serbs who still live in Kosovo want to cut off all ties with Albanians and Kosovo, why would they be stopped?

It’s interesting that they are splitting now and putting up borders but hoping to join the EU, take the borders down, and live in one big community again.

SAVO HELETA Author of “Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia” http://savoheleta.livejournal.com

By: Damir

Damir — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:58:54 +0000

The point of my post is that the only way to achieve your goals in international relations is to ensure that facts on the ground match your stated territorial goals. Once you have demographic facts on your side, there's no power in the world that will contest your claim to land.

I reject your argument from reciprocity, though. Who cares about consistency in international relations? IR has always been a question of what you can get away with. Serbian politicians understand this very well.

By: Josip

Josip — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:29:46 +0000

I don't understand this posting? What do you mean by demographic facts of Serbia in Kosovo and it's objectives. They are a 10% minority in that area.

The bottom line with the Kosovo/Kosova mess is, if you partition a sovereign state, and create a new smaller state out of it, the state being partitioned has to agree to it.

Since Serbia hasn't and a new state has been partitioned of of it's territory. Then obviously a new state can also be partitioned out of Kosova without Kosova having to agree to it.