By: Aidan Hehir
With the West in disarray, Kosovo is finding out that its territorial integrity is up for grabs.
To the surprise of most observers of Balkan politics, the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo have recently floated the idea of a territory exchange. While the details are not yet clear, the idea appears to be to “swap” Albanian-majority areas in Serbia for Serb-majority areas in Kosovo.
Given the many current crises in international politics, two states “consenting” to redraw their borders in a small corner of Eastern Europe may seem like minor news. In fact, the move could have profoundly negative implications for regional security, but more definitively, it would undermine perceptions of the “Western” power, its willingness to abide by its stated principles, and the effectiveness of “humanitarian intervention”.
