Paralysis in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia’s problematic name change, and fraught land-swap proposals between Serbia and Kosovo have increased political uncertainty and potential discord in the Western Balkans. Meaningful change will be difficult to effect and long-standing issues may continue to fester.
Developments in the Western Balkans in the summer of 2018 hinted that regional stagnation could give way to dramatic change in 2019. In June, the leaders of Greece and Macedonia struck a potentially historic deal to end the 27-year quarrel over Macedonia’s name. In August, the presidents of Kosovo and Serbia revealed that they had been discussing a territorial exchange as part of a package to end the dispute between their countries. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, huge crowds demonstrated against Milorad Dodik, the Bosnian Serb leader prone to taking selfies with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite these promising signs, change will prove difficult to effect and long-standing issues may continue to fester.
See at: http://strati.az/news/1111.html#stasis_in_the_balkans
