Moving borders between Kosovo and Servia : opening up the Balkans Pandora’s Box?

Abstract

The article analyses the possibility of Pristina and Belgrade accepting to change Kosovo’s borders and its likely consequences for peace in the Balkans. It argues that such a possibility raises worries of further instability – including war – returning to the region as other minorities feel discriminated against and the will for independence or integration in a neighbouring country grows and turns into a chain reaction. The logic of exchanging some of North Kosovo municipalities with a Serb majority for some eastern Serbian ones of Albanian majority is one of separation of ethnic groups. This goes against the prevailing consensus although the opinion of part of the international community seems to be shifting. However, Kosovo is not just a territory of Albanian majority where many Serbs live. It is also the melting pot where the Serbian orthodoxy and culture come together with its churches and monasteries dating back to the Middle Ages. The reality is that since the end of the war nearly twenty years ago and several attempts to pacify Kosovo the region remains very unstable. The UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the Ahtsaari plan in 2007 for a multi-ethnic and democratic Kosovo were insufficient to generate a mutually accepted solution although it conceded several rights to the Serb minority and protection of their religious monasteries under international supervision. Furthermore, most of the negotiations that occurred since the 2011 clashes led to agreements hardly ever implemented and part of the region, notably North Kosovo, still remains very unstable.