The clashes on the border of Kosovo Serbs are just a reflection of the strong differences and tensions that remain in the region as European Union pressure to allow the addition to the countries of the former Yugoslavia.
The arrest of Goran Hadzic, who was arrested Wednesday and appeared as a court of war crimes in The Hague, accused of crimes against humanity dating back to the period when it was the military leader of ethnic Serbs in eastern Croatia, is the latest step taken by Serbia on its way to integration into the European Union (EU).
And although access to the EU of Serbia really depends on important factors such as Brussels put constraints, such as the need for internal reform, the country will join the Union before 2015. In fact, it is recognized as a candidate, as only a “potential candidate”. For some analysts, there is much reluctance on the part of Europeans and several pending.
They argue that when then U.S. President Bill Clinton and then-German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder rejected the Russian proposal to end the war in Yugoslavia, leaving bare the true purpose of NATO operations there. They say that the agreement reached between Prime Minister Boris Yeltsin’s government and the Yugoslav President, Slobodan Milosevic, foresaw the withdrawal of Serbian troops from Kosovo and the location in the territory of a military force composed of troops from Russia and other countries even NATO itself.
However, the exclusion of the major powers of the Alliance in the force, meant that Washington refused to leave the country and instead of rushing to try to impose on the negotiations in Rambouillet, France, the final installation of NATO in theBalkans. In Bosnia and Macedonia under the control of the Allies, now just need the political and military occupation of Yugoslavia itself, implying a strategic scope.
On the one hand, the Kosovo Serb territory enshrine the dominance of any force in the Balkans. Other, pressures to incorporate European Serbia, which are already evident with the political and military strengthening of Turkey, would put Brussels in a position to manage the confrontation with the rebels in Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey and the Palestinian crisis.The NATO presence would allow the restoration of capitalism in Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, tensions grow along the border between Kosovo and Serbia, despite consensus on a trade agreement to open borders and resolve conflicts that have caused even killed.These are the same tensions that erupted in 1991 and had been building for over a century and the international community seeks to freeze at least until September 15 when it should resume the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, covered by the EU.
Example is that while Serbian officials confirmed the agreement with Brussels regarding the Kosovo-Serb border conflict, the local mayor claimed that Kosovo Zvecan not dismantle the barricades at the request of citizens who have seen at other times Belgrade simply evade the agreements with very bloody consequences.
Extremism seems no longer be just an “attribution” of the Serbian military, because they already warned that several groups are determined to allow Kosovo’s national self-determination only when both parties are on the same side, either as members of the Alliance or as partners under the Russian sphere of influence.