The EU and the USA: Common Visions for the Future of Interethnic Relations in the Western Balkans?
The EU and the USA: Common Visions for the Future of Interethnic Relations in the Western Balkans?

Summary/Abstract: The author dwells on basic differences in the concept of multi-ethnicity between the predominant views in the U.S. and Europe. According to the U.S. concepts, individuals of any ethnic group have the same rights. The predominant European view is that minorities need special protection and that rights depend on the group to which you belong. In the Balkans, this view is taken to an extreme: it is extended from educational and cultural rights to political rights, leading to parallel institutions that prevent integration. Despite of these differences, good cooperation between the U.S. and Europe is not and does not need to be based on a common vision but instead on joint enterprises. The Dayton agreement was the first common US-European project followed by other joint enterprises: The NATO war against Yugoslavia, the Stability Pact, the Ohrid Agreement, and the Serbia-Montenegro agreement. The question of Kosovo’s final status, according to Serwer, constitutes the major remaining threat to stability in the Balkans. With interests between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo being contrary to each other, with too many responsibilities still lying with UNMIK, Serwer has few expectations concerning the result of the ongoing Belgrade-Pristina talks. He considers the lack of U.S.- EU cooperation in the Kosovo issue to be the main obstacle. Only if the talks are made a common U.S.–EU enterprise they can result in a substantial success.

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