Kostunica's Quixote-sque task

With even the President of Serbia, Boris Tadic acknowledging that Kosova could gain independence, it seems like, as has been obvious for quite some time, the task of returning Kosova (Kosovo) back under Belgrade's control remains solely on the shoulders of Serbia's Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica. Or, more precisely, on his persuasion (arguing) skills. From a speech that he just gave at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, I can tell you that the chances of him completing that task successfully are very slim. Kostunica definitely doesn't impress me with his public speaking/persuasion skills. May be it is because he has ran out of idea's or because he knows that his proposals are not so serious. In any case, in that speech when he tried to lay down why he thinks Kosova (Kosovo) shouldn't be independent, he was very confusing.

This speech was a good opportunity to actually hear him personally speak about Kosova (Kosovo), and to convince myself that he is really saying those things, because honestly some of his statements are appalling. For example, replying to an answer about why No one in Serbia has apologized to the Kosovars about the war (after Croatia and Bosnia got an apology), he said that "Reconciliation should be based on truth, and not in untruths or half-truths", implying that he doesn't believe that those atrocities (Ethnic cleansing, Deportation, State terror, etc) happened in Kosova (Kosovo).

Anyway, in his article on today's Washington Post, "Justice for Serbia: Kosovo Independence Imperils Our Democracy", he pretty much elaborated why he doesn't think Kosova (Kosovo) should be indepedent. Those who expect that there is more substantive arguments behind those claims will be disappointed.

In that article among other things, he writes:

"In attempting to preserve the province of Kosovo within its borders, Serbia has acted in the most reasonable and constructive way possible."

This statement, if noting else, proves that the official Serbian stance toward Kosova (Kosovo) hasn't changed much since 1987 when Slobodan Milosevic began his quest for domination and Serbian expansion.

In the mean time, the President of Kosova (Kosovo), Fatmir Sejdiu, will be speaking at the UN Security Council where he will reiterate the Kosovar stance that independence is "non-negotiable." While, the UN expects top leaders of Kosova (Kosovo) and Serbia to meet end-July.

Other news from the region include:

Bulgaria Vows to Meet EU Demands On Time

NATO hopefuls meet to speed process of joining alliance

Slovenia brought into euro-zone

UN tribunal again rejects Boskovski's appeal for release

Montenegro to hold first post-independence elections in September

Croatia to knot world's biggest tie

Pioneer Sofia Enjoys 1st on the Balkans IMAX Cinema