Albania On The Verge
While senior figures both inside government and in the opposition continue to squabble like village politicians, Albania verges closer towards a direct involvement in the war.
While senior figures both inside government and in the opposition continue to squabble like village politicians, Albania verges closer towards a direct involvement in the war.
While the West prepares for air strikes, people in Macedonia fear that Yugoslavia will attack it in revenge for serving as a NATO base.
Unlike the strikes in Bosnia in 1995, NATO does not have UN authorisation to proceed with the bombing of Serbia and Montenegro. It is also unlikely to be able to avoid the use of ground troops. Whatever the events, NATO is in the Balkans to stay.
The real nightmare scenario began when the bombing started and chaos broke out across Kosovo. One way or another, it is likely that the West will be dragged in on the ground. As for Milosevic, his only goal is probably to remain in control of Serbia, even
Waiters are taking on drunken NATO troops, and Macedonian and Albanian youth are having it out on the streets. The question is whether anyone will try to exploit these incidents for political advantage.
As the Paris talks ended, both delegations did what had been expected of them. The question then turned to what, after weeks of threats, the West would do.
Not for the first time is the West humiliated at the court of Slobodan Milosevic.
For the people of the Republika Srpska, the international dismissal of Nikola Poplasen and the Brcko decision smacks of more than just bad timing.
As the high-stakes effort to get agreement from Belgrade and the KLA continued, so did the war.
NATO's bombing campaign represents the failure of Western policy. The real solution in the Balkans is democracy, but with one night's bombing, ten years’ work developing civil society has been all but wiped out.