The German newspaper Die Welt has published an interesting article about the final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, saying that the correction of the border between the two countries still remains one of the options at the Brussels negotiating table.
The European Union has now managed to avoid the idea of Serbian President Aleksander Vucic and Kosovo’s Hashim Thaci on the exchange of territories. But the US apparently does not oppose this idea if it would bring long-term stability, writes Die Welt.
According to the newspaper, this means that the topic of exchange of territories has not yet been completely removed from the table and remains an option.
The Western Balkan countries have entered an arms race, the German daily Die Welt writes stressing that Russia-backed Serbia is leading the race. Serbs spend 904 million Euros, slightly more than Croats that spend 889 million Euros.
According to Die Welt, Albania spends 180 million Euros, a 25 percent increase over 2017, while Kosovo spends just 63.3 million Euros.
“Members of the Kosovo Assembly voted last December to form the Kosovo Army,” it is noted further in the text. “This new arms race is being followed by unresolved conflicts so far. Albania and Kosovo have opted for a customs union and are growing together economically. In Serbia, this is seen as an attempt to create a Greater Albania – a term with which the Albanian government likes to provoke.”
The newspaper further stresses that “the idea of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and the Kosovo President Hashim Thaci is to resolve the political conflict between the two countries with an agreement on the exchange of territories, where the Serb-inhabited North of Kosovo would be exchanged with the Presevo Valley.
This idea has been rejected because of the “domino” effect it may cause, writes Die Welt, and points out that “by this model, Bosnia and Macedonia, where many Albanians live, could be also divided.”
“As these ideas carry with them a potential for conflict, the EU is trying to avoid the territorial exchange debate at all. Currently this topic is no longer on the agenda.
However, it appears that the U.S. do not oppose the idea of exchange of territories if this would bring long-term stability,” writes Die Welt.
“So, the topic has not yet been completely removed from the table and remains an option,” the German newspaper writes.
One thing, according to Die Welt, is certain: “the more the parties are armed, the sharper and more dangerous the conflicts in the Balkan region will become.”