“I am sure that the Russians are very happy and encouraging Serbia to take the stance that it is at the moment because clearly it is in its interests to try and make trouble in another part of the continent and distract Western attention from Ukraine. But this issue and the frequent flare-ups of tension long predate the Ukraine war so there is no reason to assume what we have seen recently would not be happening regardless. The only difference is that Ukraine has given an added impetus to the EU and US to try and resolve the Serbia-Kosovo issue, which is why we have seen so much diplomatic activity over the last few months.”

by: Tim Judah