Everything about this: An informal document (the so-called informal paper), which was already delivered to the European Union in February as a basis for discussion, deals with the new demarcation of the border in the Balkans. According to this proposal, Albania and Kosovo would be unified, and Bosnia and Herzegovina would be divided to some extent between Croatia and Serbia and turn into a residual Muslim state. According to the Reuters news agency, the newspaper sees obstacles to a faster integration of the Balkans into the European Union in the unresolved citizenship issue. According to the proposal, this matter would be resolved with Greater Serbia, Greater Albania and Greater Croatia.
Are the new borders in the Balkans realistic? Walter Muller is a freelance employee at SRF in Belgrade. He deals with the proposal and says: “I think it is unrealistic to re-demarcate the borders in the Western Balkans.” This was already demonstrated by many negative reactions to the proposal. “The European Union does not comment on the paper. The idea of ethnic division runs counter to every basic principle of the European Union. ”According to Mueller, the idea of dividing the region along ethnic lines led to the Balkan wars in the 1990s. This resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of victims and displaced persons.
Who is the originator of the proposal? The document first appeared in the Slovenian media. The letter was reportedly sent by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. According to news agencies, Jansa denies this.
“The thing about the newspaper is that the public doesn’t know who wrote it. It’s totally informal. It looks like a kind of balloon wants to test reactions. It’s believed that part of the document was written in Budapest because Hungarian Prime Minister Orban and the Slovenian Prime Minister were brothers in spirit. Both are patriotic conservative autocrats.
Who will benefit from drawing new boundaries: Many pointed an accusing finger at Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic because the Serbian part of Bosnia and Herzegovina would be allowed to join Serbia. With this pledge, Serbia will recognize Kosovo as a state, the unofficial newspaper speculates, Mueller says. “But Vucic insists to this day that he did not see the newspaper,” the reporter said. Vucic recently said on a Bosnian TV show that he wants peace, not war.
A problem for Slovenia? In the opinion of reporter Walter Mueller, the unofficial newspaper is a solo effort by the head of the conservative right-wing government Jansa. However, this is a bit explosive, as Slovenia takes over the Presidency of the European Union Council in July. Slovenian President Borut Pahor and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said immediately after the appearance of the non-paper that nothing will change in Slovenia’s policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina and that Slovenia is committed to the safety of the country and supports the accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union.
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