Word: kosovo
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...that's not enough, Kosovo already faces its own separatist movement: Serbs in northern Kosovo, many of whom were evicted from their homes in revenge attacks by ethnic Albanians, don't accept being dominated by Pristina for exactly the same reasons Pristina refuses to be dominated by Belgrade. With the backing of the Serbian government, they are resolved to keep their territory - some 15% of Kosovo - within Serbia...
...instead of stabilizing the Balkans, the creation of Europe's youngest state could be paving the way for future troubles. How things turn out largely depends on the European Union, which just decided to dispatch some 2,000 police officers, prosecutors and judges to Kosovo. Their goal, in essence, is to establish the rule of law in Kosovo so that the 15,000 NATO peacekeepers currently deployed there can go home. The E.U. must also keep an angry and frustrated Serbia on the path toward European membership, because that prospect is just about its only inducement to good behavior toward...
...dearly hope that E.U. officials know what they're doing, and that they're up to this challenge. Declaring Kosovo's independence was easy, but making it a decent place to live will be a long haul. The price of failure will be paid in the lost lives and torched homes that have become a tragic pedal note to recent Balkan history. And this time, it would not be quite as easy to blame the Serbs...
...hard to keep track of the Balkans, with all those disputed borders, ethnic hatreds and separatist movements. But the Feb. 17 declaration of independence by Kosovo--an impoverished province smaller than Connecticut--has become a global Rorschach test...
...bipolar reaction to Kosovo's break from Serbia had a bit of a cold war feel. President George W. Bush declared a victory for freedom and most of the West recognized the new nation, while Russia exploded in outrage and China expressed "grave concern." But this wasn't a new clash of civilizations. Russia and China were just rejecting the legitimacy of independence movements before anyone got ideas about Chechnya or Taiwan...