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Her Excellency Federica Mogherini
High Representative of the Union for
Foreign Affairs and Security Policy;
cc: Secretariat of the Foreign Affairs
Council of the European Union
August 29, 2018
An Open Letter to Federica Mogherini and the
Foreign Ministers of EU Member States on the Correction of Borders
between Serbia and Kosovo.
As former High Representatives for Bosnia and
Herzegovina, we are deeply concerned by announcements made recently
by high level officials of the European Union, suggesting that the
EU may be willing to support an agreement between Presidents Vucic
and Thaci that involves the transfer of territory between Serbia and
Kosovo through “border corrections”.
We know the region well enough to know that moving
borders like this will not solve divisions, it will deepen them;
And although there can be no comparison between
the case of Kosovo and the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we
know the western Balkans well enough to know that such a policy
would be misused by nationalist politicians to further challenge
borders and destabilize other countries in the region.
We know Bosnia and Herzegovina well enough to know
that this will give comfort and support to those who would break up
the country, who are already calling for a return to the status quo
ante in Dayton, unraveling all we and our Bosnian partners have
worked for over more than two decades;
We know the EU and Europe well enough to know that
our principles and our bloody history teach us that sustainable
peace can only come when we learn to live in multi-ethnic
communities, rather than re-drawing borders to create mono-ethnic
ones;
We can in short, think of no policy more likely to
lead us back to division and conflict in the Balkans than the one
which some are apparently now supporting.
We have little doubt that this risks destabilising
current agreements, such as in Macedonia, undermining the unity of
states such as Bosnia, encouraging to those who wish to see exchange
of territory elsewhere, such as in Ukraine and is likely to lead to
the exodus of minorities from their existing communities.
We therefore urge you to ensure that these
proposals are dropped without delay.
Yours,
Carl Bildt, High Representative for
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1995-1997
Paddy Ashdown, High Representative for
Bosnia and Herzegovina 2002-2006
Christian Schwarz-Schilling, High
Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2006-2007
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