Europe and the Balkans

Another contemporary question emanating from the Balkan Wars concerns Kosovo. Serbian troops occupied this predominantly Albanian-inhabited region early in the First Balkan War. Except for 1915-18, when it was under Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian occupation, and 1941-44, when it was annexed to first Italian-ruled and then German-ruled Albania, Kosovo remained under Serbian domination until the 1997 revolt and the subsequent imposition of United Nations rule in 1999. In February 2008 Kosovo declared its independence. Serbia continues to claim it.

Closely related to the problem of Kosovo is that of the Albanians in all of south-eastern Europe. Albanian nationalists had proclaimed independence in Vlorë (Valona) as far back as November 28th, 1912, an act recognised by the Great Powers in London that year. But Albania failed to achieve political stability until the 1920s. Indeed after years of Italian, German, Yugoslav, Soviet and even Chinese predominance, Albania was only to join the greater European community after the demise of its Communist regime in 1992. At present there are two Albanian states, Albania and Kosovo, with capitals at Tirana and Pristina, respectively. As long as nationalism retains its potency and as Albania continues to grow economically while Kosovo stagnates, Albania and Kosovo will have a strong incentive to establish a Greater Albania. Should this happen the Albanians who constitute over a quarter of the population of Macedonia would certainly seek their own inclusion in this Greater Albania. At the same time the Serbs of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia would be likely to seek their own inclusion in Serbia and the Croats would pull out of the Bosniak-Croat federation, leaving Bosnia with just a rump Bosniak state around Sarajevo. We might then see the remainder of Macedonia, already alienated from Greece and Serbia, attempting some kind of accommodation with Bulgaria. Further afield, Moldova might strengthen its cultural, economic and political ties to fellow Latin-speaking Romania.

The outbreak of the Balkan Wars of 1912-13 initiated a period of conflict in Europe that has endured off and on for almost a century. Now, one hundred years after the outbreak of the conflicts, the states of this region all seek integration into the European Union. Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Romania have managed this. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia still await inclusion. It appears that only a wider European perspective can overcome the nationalist divisions of the Balkans.