科索沃总统提议与邻国塞尔维亚“调整”边界

Kosovo's president on Thursday reiterated his idea of "a correction" of the border with Serbia, which is widely seen as essentially a territorial swap as part of a strategy to stabilize relations between both EU-aspirant nations.

Thaci was responding to an idea floated by some Serbian government officials that Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority but also a Serb minority, should be divided as a possible solution to settle a long-running dispute that is hindering both sides' ambitions to join the European Union.

Ostensibly dismissing the idea of a divided Kosovo along ethnic lines as unacceptable, Thaci instead proposed the concept of a "redefined" or "corrected" border with its Serbian neighbor to the north.

Thaci said: "We will work together with the international community to define the Kosovo-Serbia border." "I want to emphasize that Kosovo will not be divided; I want to forcefully stress it: Belgrade cannot bring to the table the division of Kosovo," he said.

Thaci is due to meet Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Brussels after the summer break under an EU-sponsored dialogue.

Experts and former diplomats have warned that rethinking borders in the Balkans would pose a risk to the stability in a region still struggling to come to terms with the wars of the 1990s, which tore apart Yugoslavia in Europe’s deadliest post-World War II conflict.

科索沃总统塔奇星期四重申了与邻国塞尔维亚“调整”边界的想法。广泛认为这个想法有关置换领土，是稳定这两个都希望加入欧盟的国家之间关系的努力。

科索沃和塞尔维亚的边界问题长期以来阻碍这两个国家加入欧盟。一些塞尔维亚政府官员提出阿尔巴尼亚族占多数、塞尔维亚族占少数的科索沃应该按照民族一分为二。塔奇总统“调整”边界的想法是对这种建议的回应。

塔奇总统坚决拒绝了把国家一分为二的说法，表示绝不接受。他随后提出与他的北部邻国“修定”或“调整”边界的建议。

塔奇表示，愿意在国际社会的帮助下与塞尔维亚对话，确定科索沃和塞尔维亚之间的边界。他说：“我要强调，科索沃绝不会分割。我要坚决强调，贝尔格莱德不能把分割科索沃的想法带到谈判桌上。”

欧盟安排塔奇总统和塞尔维亚总统武契奇夏天过后在布鲁塞尔会面。

一些专家和前外交官警告说，在巴尔干地区考虑重新划定边界会给这一地区带来不稳定的风险。巴尔干地区1990年代的战争是第二次世界大战以来欧洲最血腥的冲突，其影响人们还记忆犹新。冲突后南斯拉夫解体。