Kostunica's eternal struggle

It seems like Serbia is going to have a dream constitution. No, I mean it literally. This doesn't mean that Serbia will be a dramland, it just means that its constitution will incorporate its Prime Ministers dreams.

According to B92 "Serbian prime minister’s advisor Aleksandar Simić said that in case of an imposed solution of the Kosovo status, Vojislav Koštunica will suggest that the new constitution declares Kosovo a part of Serbia, while the constitution itself will be valid in Kosovo when the conditons for that are fulfilled." What do you say to something like that?! What does Mr. Kostunica want? Does he want eternal war and instability in the Balkans?

Mr. Kostunica, obviously, has been following the events in the Middle East. However, he has taken the wrong lessons. The message that we should take from the Middle East is that eternal war is not good! Not just for the citizens of one country, but for the whole region. Many Arab leaders still continue to deny the existence of the state of Israel, and extremist Arab organizations have been working hard to try to eliminate it. But the result of this denial has brought a lot of pain and suffering to the whole region.

Mr. Kostunica, may decide to chose the path of those Arab leaders. And, Serbian extremist radical organizations may even threaten to use force to deny Kosova's right to exist as a state. But, we only need to look across the Mediterranean to see that that's not a good idea.

However, there is no reason to panic. Such a move, would not have any effect on Kosova in reality. It would, however, affect Serbia's EU and NATO aspirations.

Edward III, the king of England claimed the French throne after the death of Charles IV, the king of France , in 1328. English monarchs, and later British monarchs, then called themselves King of France or Queen of France until the 1800. By then France had been a republic for ten years. Edward original claim caused the 100 Years War. However, the title of the later English monarchs did not affect France. And France was a sovereign country throughout that time, as we all know.

Also, even though the Irish Free State became independent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1922, the full name of the United Kingdom and the royal title were changed until the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927. They waited for five years to recognize that in a formal act.

Serbia doesn't have to wait for five years to recognize Kosova's independence. The adoption of the new Serbian constitution is a perfect chance to do that. Which would be followed by good neighbourly relations between Serbia and Kosova. If the Serbian leaders decide to delay that recognition, that just means they will have to do some more explanations before the EU and NATO officials when if they ever hope to join these two clubs. It is all up to them.