Pandora's Box:"The independence of Kosovo is a precedent that all EU countries with an ethnic minority should pursue"

Serb protesters march in sixth day of demonstrations against Kosovo's independence. | PHOTOS | VIDEO

Six EU member states oppose recognizing Kosovo's independence for good reason. And not for the obvious I have been hammering for years. Citing Kosovo as a "breakaway role model", the native are restless and stoked.   It cannot be lost on anyone that the outbreak of World War I began in this very part of the world.

It's not just the "Palestinian" Islamic jhadis that are emboldened by this move ..................

Separatist Movements Seek Inspiration in Kosovo Speigel

Kosovo is turning out to be a huge source of conflict, both in the Balkans and across Europe. Six EU member states are against recognizing Kosovo's independence, because they fear it could lead to problems with their own ethnic minorities.

AFP

Ethnic Hungarians in Romania have long been interested independence from Romania. Kosovo's declaration of independence has whetted their appetite.

 

Spain: The Basques and the Catalans Cyprus: The Turkish Cypriots

Part 2: 'A Cancer in the Body of the Slovak Nation'

Romania: The Magyars in Székely Land

Bulgaria: The Muslim Pomaks

Greece: The Turks of Western Thrace

Slovakia: The Hungarian Minority

SPIEGEL ONLINE profiles six countries that are refusing to toe the EU line. Read the whole thing here

Comments

[Vince]

ugh

that's all i can get the strength to say

[Beagle]

That was quick, wasn't it? Christopher Hitchens' op-ed on Kosovo has been proven wrong before it's archived.

But hey, don't listen to us Serb lovers or whatever.

[daryl]

Looks like there are exactly six nations within the EU whose politicians aren't suicidially STOOPID.

Remember where and how WWI started?

It is almost unbelievable, but the European Union and the United States endorsing the unilateral Kosovo declaration of independence actually has even WORSE implications than merely creating another potentially Islamist state, and one in the heart of Europe at that.

Poking the Russian Bear in the eye is pretty stupid, especially when the gangsters in the Kremlin can cut off Europe's natural gas supply in mid winter, freeze everybody, and collapse industries and economies.

But this action has still worse implications.

The entire post-war International System is based on two foundations: treaty relations between sovereign nation-states, and the integrity and primacy of nation-states in international law.

Accepting Kosavar unilateralism threatens the latter foundation of the world order.

There are literally hundreds of ethnic groups in dozens of nations that could cite this episode as a precedent for their separatist and irredentist claims. Think Chicanos, Quebecois, Scotsmen, Welshmen,the Cornish, Maoris, and Native Americans.

The historic imperial states of the Old World, Russia, Iran, Turkey, China, India, Pakistan, and most of sub-Saharan Africa, could join the Balkans in the flames of wars of independence fanned by resurrected tribal aspirations.

As we can see in Waziristan, not everybody wants to have the consumer comforts of modern life, especially if it means giving up on illiteracy, hunger, poverty, female bondage, infant mortality, vendetta, gun running, and drug smuggling.

You know, all those good things that make for a happy savage.

A major feature of the historical surge of Modernity was modern states suppressing and subjugating ancient tribalities and setting up rational legal order and effective civil institutions. As Modernity commits suicide and fades out as the driving force for Progress in the world, we can expect the Timeless Chaos, Darkness, and Stagnation of tribal primitivism to reemerge.