Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
I agree with you that it's not "stolen land" Albanians have been working the land there for generations and have made up the majority for long time, however the situation is more complicated than that.
As I mentioned earlier, Kosovo is the cradle of Serbian civilization. It was Serbia long before Albanians made up the majority. It's a slippery slope to determine at what point the ethnicity make up of a territory trumps historical, moral and legal soverignty. For example, what if in 500 years, Chinese make up 90% of Vancouver Island.... would they have a right to secede from Canada?
As you can see by my avatar, I am not unbiased in perspective of Balkan politics. I tend to sympathize with the Kosovar cause, but at the same time, Serbia has a valid argument as well. Then again, they made their bed in this situation...  |
Yeah, I think that's a good summary of some of the complications here... I don't think one can think too much in terms of who 'deserves' to have their own independent state or who deserves the land, but rather which solution is going to be better for the ongoing peace in the region. My main concern with Kosovo is that if at some point, support for the provisional government collapses in the UN and Kosovo is thrown into a power-void, there's a good chance of violence erupting again. Transitioning from provisional government to a independent state is good for the region. Which is the exact opposite of the Kurds: I think they're probably more deserving of an independent state than most people, but how do you make it happen in a way that doesn't start violence with Turkey and Iran?