Tadiq abotu Kosova - Bosnian Daily

Kosovo partition

[Pecanin] Have you read Dobrica Cosic's latest book about Kosovo?

[Tadic] Unfortunately, no. But I have read several excerpts that Dobrica Cosic gave to me in person.

[Pecanin] And do you agree with his proposals for a partition -

[Tadic] - Of Kosovo-Metohija?

[Pecanin] Yes.

[Tadic] I share many of his views on Kosovo-Metohija, but I am not certain that a partition of Kosovo-Metohija is a feasible, realistic solution.

[Pecanin] Do you make a connection between a final solution for the status of Kosovo and the stability of other borders in the region? Do you link it to Bosnia-Hercegovina?

[Tadic] It is extremely important that any solution for Kosovo-Metohija not be a chain reaction that could threaten the stability of the entire region. When I reflect on Serbia, and that means reflecting on Kosovo-Metohija, I am reflecting on the entire region. It is impossible to find a valid solution for one country in the region without that having a regional connotation. This is an extremely important issue. I want to point out the importance of this issue to your readers and to your political public and to your public at large. Thus, sometimes in politics people fail to see what a destructive, delayed effect certain political solutions have, especially those involving borders. Unfortunately, that is realized only after the fact. That is why it is very important that a solution be found for Kosovo-Metohija that contributes to stability. Political stability is the panacea for our problems. In order to ensure that, we must work very attentively to find a final solution for Kosovo-Metohija, and I am convinced that it lies in greater autonomy than what existed during the Milosevic era, but short of independence for Kosovo-Metohija. Because independence for Kosovo-Metohija is absolutely unacceptable to Serbia, but to Bosnia-Hercegovina too, I am convinced. Indeed, that is the view that I have heard here in Sarajevo.

[Pecanin] So I must ask you straight out: Do you think that Bosnia-Hercegovina's borders could be called into question if Kosovo becomes independent?

[Tadic] An independent Kosovo starts a chain reaction, as a legal precedent, in many European countries. Not Bosnia-Hercegovina, but many European countries. You have many European countries that have - how to put it - many divergent processes, such as France, for example, with Corsica, such as Italy even. You have political processes in northern Italy that have moved in the direction of separation. You have Belgium, to say nothing of Northern Ireland. Thus, a very dangerous moment, a highly dangerous moment for the mutability of national borders. I personally think that at this point the European Union must take on a certain aspect and a certain legal overlay of Kosovo-Metohija. I think that that might be the only solution, that that is one framework and political structure that we all want to join. On the other hand, that very fact gives the European Union a special authority and opportunity to overlay its legal solutions on all critical regions of the western Balkans.