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If European leaders were hoping that the Balkans would not burst into flames once again, it seems they are in for a disappointment. Only days ago the situation was different. The pro-west Tadic had won the Serbian presidency and there was hope all around that Serbia would be coaxed into accepting Kosovan independence, which is due any time now.
But the hardliner Serbian Prime Minister Kostunica has thrown a spanner into the works. He refused permission to Serbian delegates to go ahead for meeting with the EU to finalize plans for closer links between Serbia and the EU. The EU had dangled the carrot before Serbia to get it to accept the upcoming declaration of independence by Kosovo. The EU does not want history repeating itself in the Balkans. Every time a part of Serbia has detached itself, a bloodbath has inevitably followed. The EU does not want renewed instability at its doorstep again.
Kostunica’s antics of breaking away from the alliance with Tadic’s party and allying with the Serbian Radical party bodes ill for Serbia. It shows Serbia will not let go of Kosovo without violence. There is going to be instability within Serbia too between Tadic and Kostunica (and Nikolic). It seems the internal struggle between the pro-west elements and the pro-Russia groups in Serbia has not been settled by the verdict of the presidential elections. The Balkans are in for trouble again.
