Showing posts with label Balkan Witness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Balkan Witness. Show all posts

Monday, March 03, 2008

Latest Article from Peter Lippman

I mentioned the recent article by Peter Lippman, posted at Balkan Witness, in a post intended to alert readers to the spate of new articles at that website.

Given that Lippman touches on one aspect of this mostly uplifting story I haven't addressed yet, it is worth giving his article a bit more attention:

KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE

Specifically this paragraph:

" Albanians have been protesting what they see as the sellout of their self-determination by their leaders and by international officials. They see the negotiations and the international plan for "supervised independence" as trickery that will leave Kosovo partitioned. Indeed, a northern section of Kosovo never came under the UN's control; it is most likely that that area, never disconnected from Serbia administratively, will now remain under Belgrade's rule."

It is worth remembering that Kosova's independence is still somewhat "managed" by the international community. There is nothing wrong or sinister about this; given the circumstances, I cannot imagine any other process by which the region could move to full independence. But Lippman is correct to note that this arrangement--which has given grist to knee-jerk defenders of Serbian "sovereignty"--could also rankle ethnic Albanian sentiment.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Recent Coverage on Kosova

I have a couple of books I plan to cover in the next few days, but in the meantime Roger Lippman's excellent website Balkan Witness has gathered several new stories on Kosova's independence, as well as some other articles from recent months and years for context:

Articles on the Kosovo Conflict: Kosova Independence

Ian Williams contributes a good article, and Peter Lippman's contribution is succinct and fair.