"Serbia-Kosovo train row escalates to military threat" Topic

"President Tomislav Nikolic accused Kosovo of seeking a war, after a train painted in Serbian colours and the words "Kosovo is Serbia" was prevented from crossing the Kosovan border.

Kosovo saw the train as a deliberate provocation.

As tensions grew, Mr Nikolic said that he would be willing to send the army to defend Serbs in Kosovo, if necessary…"
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Amicalement
Armand

'Serbia said the slogan "Kosovo is Serbia" in many languages was a celebration of its cultural heritage, as were the Serbian Orthodox religious symbols adorning the inside, and the liberal use of the Serbian national colours.'

Completely innocent, not provocative in any way, shape or form.

It might be more appropriate to post this on the Blue Fez.

Works fine here, for me.

Any excuse for a fight, I guess.

Akin to sending the 'Fuhrer train' to Tel Aviv.
Serbs are sabre rattling…..wonder if Putin is testing the waters and EU resolve to keep Kosovo independent?

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

It's hard to believe the Serbs are willing to go to war (again) over Kosovo when they caved in under pressure in 1999 when they held a much more advantageous position. Plus they'd have to deal with the peacekeeping force there now, a tripwire to outside intervention again.

Tempers run high and memories run long in the Balkans. I can't help but feel sorry for Serbia, though, in this. Kosovo is the historic heartland of their nation and faith. How would any nation react to something like this being wrenched away from them? And if we have to get into a tit-for-tat debate, as bad as the Serbs treated the Albanians in Kosovo, left to their own devices the Albanians have treated the Serbs there just as badly, what few who remain (most were compelled to abandon their homes and communities after 1999 and seek refuge in the few remaining Serb-majority enclaves or Serbia proper).

Situation is the same in Macedonia – there's a lot of tension between Macedonians and Kosovars.

Bare in mind these aren't multi-ethnic communities. Instead they're cultural homogenous communities with little interaction with the other.

The area needs another redrawing of maps. Northern Kosovo to Serbia and a large chunk of Western Macedonia to Albania.

Kosovo itself needs to become part of Albania. It is completely unviable as a nation state and requires NATO/EU to prop it up.

At the same time it's slowly becoming a dictatorship whose leadership is involved in international crime ala people and drug smugglings and Serbs are being persecuted.

As such Kosovo provides a large number of illegal migrants to Western Europe.

Considering that many Albanian Kosovars (and probably Albanian Macedonians well) were refugees from the Hroxha regime, handing over significant chunks of their host countries to Albania doesn't quite feel right.

And if you are going to split Kosovo and Macedonia on ethnic lines then you have to consider doing the same for Bosnia…

I know the US and IIRC, many other NATO members still have forces in the former Yugoslavia region. Seems their mission will continue …

As such Kosovo provides a large number of illegal migrants to Western Europe.

That seems to be the norm with many places in the West. Failed and failing states have a large exodus heading for Western Europe. And to a less extent to the US.