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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 07/04
Peace in Presevo: Quick Fix or Long Term Solution?
August 10, 2001
Abstract
The past decade in the Western Balkans has seen very few peacefully negotiated transfers of territorial control. The most recent example albeit one not involving any change of sovereignty - was also the only one achieved by NATOs direct mediation. In May 2001, the Presevo Valley was brought back under Serbian government control, ending an ethnic Albanian insurgency that had lasted some seventeen months.
This report traces the political process that achieved this transfer of authority over 1,200 square kilometres of territory, focusing on two issues. First, it considers the reforms that are still needed to achieve lasting peace in the Presevo area. Second, it considers the hopeful claim from some quarters that this transfer of authority, based on unprecedented cooperation between NATO and the new regime in Belgrade, may offer a model for tackling other disputes in the wider neighbourhood.
