Word: serbian
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...what can Serbia really do if and when Kosovo declares independence and gets recognized by the bulk of the Western world? Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on Dec. 4 that Belgrade's diplomatic response to the recognition of the breakaway province would be within a wide spectrum from "the very mild to the very tough, the toughest one being cutting off diplomatic relations with countries which violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia." Other measures may include imposing an economic embargo on Kosovo, stirring trouble in Bosnia-Herzegovina and other neighboring states, and turning to Russia...
...Serbia itself and Kosovo's Serb minority remain implacably opposed to the idea. On the eve of the final round of talks this week between Kosovo Albanians and Serbs aimed at negotiating a solution to Kosovo's status (legally, it is now no more than a province of Serbia), Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica vowed that Belgrade would "never let an inch of its territory be taken away." Kosovo Serbs warned of "permanent instability" if Kosovo is granted independence. And Russia, a key ally, continued to back Belgrade to the letter...
...make up just under 10% of the province's population. Their leaders in northern Kosovo are threatening to secede themselves if Kosovo breaks away. "Albanians don't want to be ruled from Belgrade; we don't want to be ruled from Pristina," Milan Ivanovic, head of the hard-line Serbian National Council in the northern town of Mitrovice, told TIME. "There is an impression," he added ominously, "that Serbia will not make any radical moves if Kosovo declares independence. That is wrong. If they try to kick us out by force, Serbia will try to get back what was taken...
...that Serbia may well reconsider its "betrothal" to the E.U. if the E.U. recognizes Kosovo. Djelic, the Deputy Premier, agrees: E.U. support for a unilateral declaration, he said, "would throw the European orientation of Serbia - and certainly the speed of reform - into question." In one recent poll by New Serbian Political Thought, a nationalist journal, 80% of respondents said that they would seek closer ties with Russia if Kosovo were granted independence before the U.N. had sanctioned...
Dani's father had been forced to stay behind to care for his own bed-ridden father. Rumors swirled in the camp about NATO bombs falling on Ferizaj and Serbian troops rounding up all of its men. When he finally spoke of his father, Dani turned away as he started to cry. I tried to comfort him, but we both realized the best course was to get back to visiting the tents - and the hardships - of others. When it was time to leave the camp for the final time, I told Dani to keep studying English, and I promised...