Across the Balkans, there is talk of a non-paper that seems to have a non-author, but that has brought to the surface all the contradictions and complexities of the region.
It was a media outlet in Sarajevo that first disclosed a Slovenian government paper that discussed the radical ideas of breaking up Bosnia and of a region centred around a ‘Greater Albania’, a ‘Greater Serbia’, and a ‘Greater Croatia’. Since then, everyone has tried to distance themselves from the paper, knowing that talk of such ideas is often for show.
But the paper has served to illustrate that, if Plan A for the region – integration with the European Union – doesn’t work, then we are heading towards a Plan B involving new conflicts and borders.
Rita s grandfather Besim Sahatçiu, who passed away in 2005, was a film, TV and theatre director
Dua s grandfather Seit Lipa, who died in 1999, was head of the Kosovan Institute of History and intellectual
Rita was born in Pristina, Yugoslavia (present-day Kosovo), to Albanian parents Besnik Ora and Vera Sahatçiu
Dua was born in London and is the eldest child of Kosovo Albanian parents Anesa, née Rexha, and Dukagjin from Pristina, FR Yugoslavia
Notorious Non-Paper s Implications On Bosnia
The looming conflict between the powers with global reach and ability to project power – cold or by proxy – may rekindle the violence in the Balkans much the same way once again. Three nationalist projects seem to be aligned in what looks like a determined effort to force a new reality in the Balkans. A new territorial arrangement would allow Greater Albania, Greater Croatia, and Greater Serbia to right-size and right-people their respective states all at the same time. The two most obvious targets are North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). One could add Montenegro to that list, but that ship seems to have sailed and the country is now ever more firmly under Serbia s sway.