Madam, - I was distressed by the views of Zivko Jaksic (April 10th), who suggests the partitioning of Kosovo as the only viable solution.
Firstly he is contradicting himself by, on the one hand, suggesting that "to cut off 15 per cent of [Serbia's] territory" would be against the UN Charter, but then going on to suggest the partition of Kosovo.
Secondly, to suggest partitioning Kosovo along ethnic lines is, in the context of the Western Balkans, to run an acute risk of opening a Pandora's box of ethnic claim and counter-claim. For instance, if 100,000 Serbs in North Kosovo are given a right to join the rest of Serbia, the 300,000 Albanians in the South of Serbia should be given the same rights to join Kosovo. The same dangerous logic could then be applied to the Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia, the Albanians in Montenegro, the Serbs in Krajina, etc.
I cannot understand why some people in Serbia cannot come to grips with reality. There will be one single country, Kosovo, a constituent part of the former Yugoslavia, with its own history and territorial integrity. And the destiny of an independent Kosovo will include membership of the EU, along with the other states of the former Yugoslavia.
The logic of ethnic partition, as opposed to the territorial integrity of the constituent elements of the former Yugoslavia, has been a recipe for disaster. It is especially pointless at a time when boundaries across Europe are peacefully eroding anyway as a result of EU membership.
- Yours, etc,
NASER SHILLOVA, Egham, Surrey, England.