By: Robert Cooper

Opinions cost nothing, but it is not our opinions that matter - let's not take sides before we know what has been proposed.

“An intellectual hatred is the worst”, says W B Yeats, “So let her think opinions are accursed.” That’s what I used to think when I was involved in diplomacy myself, in a small way. It’s easier to have an opinion than to make a decision, or to take responsibility for proposing something new. Opinions cost nothing, but if you are a political leader who is making a proposal, then you are in some way betting your future on it.

The commentariat – and, I guess, I have to confess to being a commentator now (also in a small way) – seems to have taken to the Serbia-Kosovo question in a very polarising fashion: everyone is taking sides. In Pristina last week on a study trip led by ECFR, I found that everyone identifies with one side or the other. Pluralism is the essence of democracy – but so is unity when it comes to big national issues.

See at: https://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_breaking_old_habits_in_the_balkans#