EU and NATO should stay in Kosovo

PanARMENIAN.Net - "EU and NATO should retain a robust monitoring presence in Kosovo to ensure that no violence breaks out after the declaration of independence," said Jason Lyall, an expert of the Princeton University.



"I would ensure that the EU position monitors among Serbian minorities, especially in Kosovo's northern region, to ensure their safety. This would help keep the lid on conflict and would prevent the kind of abuses that might make Serbia intervene on behalf of Serb minorities. I also believe that the EU and the US should tie their economic relations with Kosovo to its continued observance of minority rights. In short, we should be thinking about managing the consequences of Kosovo's declaration of independence since there clearly is no diplomatic solution to preventing it that would be acceptable to all parties," the expert said, Trend reports.



The latest UN discussion on Kosovo was blocked by Russia.



Technically, Kosovo - populated by mostly ethnic Albanians - is still a province of Serbia. But since 1999, Kosovo has been under the administration of the United Nations and NATO. That followed a more than two-month long NATO-led bombing campaign that ended a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanians.



Kosovo is expected to proclaim independence in early February.