Hilary Clinton discovered in retrospect, how dangerous it was going to Bosnia in 1996... sounds like in five years, she will also remember that she fought of Radovan Karadzic single-handedly after the landing and chased after a horde of assorted war criminals. Describing Bosnia in March 1996 as a war-zone is surely a bit silly (esp. if you are an American). I'd say visiting the US embassy in Belgrade today might be more risky...

As part of the British Academy Project which I am working on with Gulnur Aybet and Neven Andjelic, we just launched the project website: http://integratingbosnia.org.uk/.

The fall of a government...

The recent government crisis in Macedonia runs the risk of breaking with the tradition of Albanian party inclusion in goverment since 1990. The technical government in office since the government crisis triggered by the DPA leaving the governing coalition does not include Albanians, as the party refused to rejoin the government, even if only temporary. This reflects a general crisis in the Macedonian-Albanian political relations. Gruevski’s pledge to ignore ethnic politics when coming to office with the VMRO in 2006 has less meant tackling the other challenges Macedonia is facing, but rather ignoring the concerns of the Albanian community and engaging in constant campaigning, which has given him an edge over his main opponent, the SDSM, but alienated him from his coalition partner. New elections run the risk that his party might gain a strong position to form government, but will not facilitate compromise seeking with Albanian political parties. The failure of DPA to deliver during its time in government means that DUI will remain and probably strengthen its role as the strongest party among the Albanian community, resulting in a more difficult coalition forming process than after the last elections in 2006.

Thus, there are serious government and political crises in Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo and now Macedonia.

How to make a threat...
Confronted with pressure from some EU states to handle banking secrecy more restrictively, Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, said "I look forward to many years of fascinating, fundamental, discussion." Now here's a way to make a threat. Velja, Kostunica and co., take note.

Headline of the day: Montenegro mobile penetration reaches 175.6 percent. I am not sure how mobile penetration can be more than a 100 percent, but I am not surprised that Montenegro succeeded. I guess everybody has a mobile and three quarters of a second one...