The Kosovo talks

According to commentator Norbert Mappes-Niediek, the Kosovo negotiations are "clearly heading towards independence," despite the fact that the opponents of independence for Kosovo can rightly argue that the United Nations has never sanctioned the splitting-off of part of a member nation's territory against the will of that member up to now. Mappes-Niediek points out that "that argument can also be turned round. Just because Bosnia was saddled with a ridiculous state type doesn't mean the same mistake should be made with other states. With a little creativity, the contradictions in this situation can be overcome. In ten years' time, all the new small states are to become EU members, which means they'll be giving up a large part of the sovereignty they're so fervently battling for now anyway. So in fact, the negotiations are dealing with an issue which will become a problem of internal politics for the EU. Therefore, the EU would also gain if it could pluck up the courage to find innovative solutions now."

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