... unpredictable stance of Washington, Podgorica, suffering from economic difficulties and shaken by political scandals, has been actively trying to smooth its relations with Moscow in recent months, sending it friendly signals.
Re-energized talks on the Kosovo problem also play a role in stabilizing the situation in the Balkans. EU attempts to achieve a rapprochement between Belgrade and Pristina in 2018 failed. However, this development created an important foundation for further endeavours in this direction in the future. In particular, a land swap between Kosovo and ...
... patriarch to the region could bridge the financial void in the Russia–Serbia story.
However, in the short term, all of this default potential may sink into oblivion if Russia does not find a way to become actively involved in the resolution of the Kosovo issue, and in the ethnic issues in the region as a whole. It would be wise for Moscow to include a number of questions on the agenda:
Why do the European Union and NATO tolerate
this kind
of Balkans (stagnating politically and economically, and thus combustible and living exclusively in the past)?
Why does the inclusion of the United States and the United Kingdom in the negotiations on Kosovo does not mean inclusion of Russia?
Why do both ...
.... This will provide the grounds for raising the question of demarcations and territorial exchanges, inclusions and compensations in each part of the world. In this case, taking into account the artificial character of those processes, similar to the Balkans issue, there will be hell to pay.
Pavel Kandel:
The Anniversary of Kosovo’s Independence: Results and Prospects
In this respect, one cannot but agree with Berlin. Indeed, the “Pandora’s Box” should never be opened. The point here is that such an effect could be entailed by any bilateral private agreement on exchanges ...
... participation. The attempts of France and Great Britain to act independently from the EU are also obvious. Within this framework, Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, as well as a participant in all previous negotiations on the Balkans since the 19th century onwards, has obtained the opportunity to get involved in the settlement of the Kosovo issue. At the same time, it was a good chance to ensure its stance and standing in the region, as a minimum, and to restart the stalled engine of European history, as a maximum.
The Reaction of International Actors on Kosovo during September-December ...
... places[xiv]. In Kosovo, “the societal disorientation and weak economic and political conditions provided fruitful grounds for religionization right after the war”[xv]. It’s questionable whether Bosnia or Kosovo is the weakest country in the western Balkans, but since in Kosovo the Albanian community is the biggest ethnic group and is almost totally, Muslim it’s simple to understand why the rate of Kosovar foreign fighters is so high. As for Bosnia, the growing number of Wahhabi and Salafi mosques in the Balkan country ...