Tuesday, March 18

More on Kosovo

An excellent article here. And says loads about where all the problems emanating from Kosovo's independence are landing. I quote:

  1. Two governments fell apart last week in neighbouring states: first in Serbia, the country from which the Kosovar Albanians broke away, and then in Macedonia, where the Albanian minority party walked out of the coalition government.
  2. Vladimir Putin is adamant self-determination in the style of Kosovo is a dreadful precedent: it is what Chechnya attempted in the 1990s, resulting in two devastating wars. Moscow's nightmare is that there might be further attempts at secession by other groups in the north Caucasus.
  3. Yet Russian politicians seem to be positively flirting with the idea of recognising Abkhazia's break with Georgia, as well as that of South Ossetia, another tiny rebellious part of the former Soviet republic that is practically on the Chechen border.
  4. For both Russia and the Nato allies, that should be a nightmare prospect. Nato members do not want to invite Georgia into the alliance with an unresolved conflict involving Russia. Abkhazia is also close to the hearts of many top Russians who have dachas on the coast. But Russia would not want a war just down the road from its Winter Olympics venue - intended to be a showcase of the new Russian economy. Reason suggests they should do a deal. The danger is they will blunder into a confrontation.

What stupidity, now the world has to pay and pay more for that extremely stupid decision to recognise Kosovo.

No comments: