Little problem in Serbia - government dissolved

[Bill]

Serbia's prime minister dissolved the government Saturday and called for new elections after clashing with his pro-Western coalition partners over Kosovo and EU membership.

Vojislav Kostunica said that he will convene a government session Monday that will propose to parliament that new elections be held May 11.

"The government will function in a reduced capacity until the elections are held," Kostunica said.

He accused pro-Western ministers of failing to support his efforts to preserve Kosovo as part of Serbia.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on Feb. 17. The predominantly ethnic Albanian province had been under U.N. control since 1999, when NATO launched an air war to stop a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

But Serbia, which considers the territory its historic and religious heartland, has rejected Kosovo's move as illegal under international law.

Kostunica insists that EU governments that recognized Kosovo must rescind their decisions before Serbia resumes pre-membership talks with the 27-nation bloc.



http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1720705,00.html?xid=feed-rss-netzero

[Smurf-Herder]

This is a more dangerous game than most realize.

The ethic Albanians that constitute 90% of Kosovo's population are very secular, from what I've read so far. So allowing independence would help them transition to a stable pro-western state, like Turkey is today.

Al-Qaeda is dying to get in there and set up shop; to have easier access to Europe. If this heats up too much because of Serbian opposition, it could lead to extended violence. Which could easily be a foothold for Al-Qaeda operatives to gain a following in Kosovo; under the guise of gaining independence from Serbia, for their pupose of establishing a base of operations on Europe's doorstep.

[Bill]

Balkanization is likely to be a big problem this century.

This is one of the problems with current forms of government, including majority rule democracy, or, more accurately, mean-spirited majority rule democracy.

Some minority, or disenfranchised majority (like the shia in lebonan) always seems to get the shitty end of the stick.

People who get a bad deal have powerful incentives to screw things up for the whole system, and to break away and take their wealth with them, if they gain enough population or power.

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So, whattya figure, the serbs shoulda shelled the crap out of the albanians, maybe starved them a bit, to keep them them weak and force them into line?

Or maybe nato and the EU could have forced the albanians to kneel?

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I blame my high school history and civics classes - they instilled in me sympathy for the rebels. And a wariness for the powers that try to force them to kneel.