Kosovo, South Serbia Politicians Slate 'Dangerous' Border Changes

A roundtable organised on Wednesday in Kosovo by BIRN Kosovo's show "Jeta ne Kosove" heard local politicians warn that a territorial swap between Serbia and Kosovo could worsen regional instability.

Albin Kurti, leader of the opposition Vetevendosje party in Kosovo, told "Border Games: War or Solution in the Balkans" that Serbia had been waiting for an opportunity to correct the borders all along. Kurti said Serbia was only waiting for Kosovo to make the first move.

"Serbia always wanted territorial exchange, but whoever asks for territorial exchange first gives up the territorial integrity of his state," he said, adding that "some exponents of power here gave up the [mainly Serbian] north [of Kosovo], but they're not getting the valley of Presevo [in southern Serbia."

"There's a German expression in chess, 'zugzwang,' I believe, which is a unique situation where you want your opponent to have his turn," he said.

"This is also the situation with territorial exchange; whoever takes the first step is in the lower position," Kurti explained.

Kurti compared Kosovo's and Serbia's presidents to autocrats, accusing them of treating territories as their own private lands.

"Now all we need is for Thaci's son to marry Vucic's daughter and we're back to how it was a few hundred years ago," Kurti stated.

The opposition parties initiated by the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, said they were willing to vote for a resolution which has only one point - that "nobody has the mandate to negotiate about territories".

The head of LDK's parliamentary group, Avdullah Hoti, said Kosovo President Hashim Thaci had no authority to put "border corrections" on the negotiating table with Serbia.

 "We all agree that Thaci's actions are...