(written Sunday, Feb. 17)
So now it is official. Kosovo has declared its independence from Serbia. Not that it was unexpected. It came at a difficult time for Boris Tadić, newly elected and trying to balance his pro-Western stance with that of maintaining a unified Serbia. Serbs I talked to are opposed to the independence, but have resigned to the inevitable – what the West wants, the West gets. Issues such as a growing disparity between wages and costs (housing has particularly gone up in recent years), unemployment (currently around 20%), etc. are much more pressing on their minds. Echoed by many a Serb though (including young adults) is a sentiment for the “good ‘ol days of Yugoslavia” when standards of living were high, educational systems were excellent, its citizens enjoyed freedom of travel, and the country held an elevated political status.
It will be interesting to see what, if any repercussions there are for other countries that have “breakaway” regions or groups seeking their own nation. Not surprisingly, many of these countries (including several in the EU) were against the ratification of Kosovo’s independence. Will the Baltic region maintain its stability – Bosnia, Romania and former Russian states? Will Albania, now emboldened by its acquisition of Serbian territory, expand its quest for a “greater Albania” and seek to also add land from Macedonia?
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