Kupchan on "land swap, recognition of Kosovo and saving face by keeping dignity"

Charles Kupchan, US Foreign Affairs Council member and Georgetown University Professor has told this to Radio Free Europe.
"If annexing northern Kosovo gives the Serbian government and its people the feeling that they have "saved face" to the extent that they would be willing to recognize Kosovo's independence - then I think it must be done because it is a step forward towards long-term stability and peace in the Balkans", Kupchan has told Radio Free Europe.
When asked how the resumption of dialogue could be achieved, Kupchan, former Director for European Affairs within the National Security Council in the administrations of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, said that the exchange of territories should be on the negotiation table.
"Despite some risk to the region due to the insistence of others to redraw borders along the ethnic lines, this proposal provides at least one additional option for getting out of the deadlock. Of course, this would require the consent of both the citizens of Serbia and Kosovo, and it is not so certain, particularly from the Kosovo side", Kupchan assessed.
When asked if this would cause the tensions in the region in general, he reiterated that the positive effect of normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina urges going forward, regardless of the possible risks that such a solution may pose in Bosnia and Herzegovina and perhaps Macedonia, due to current tensions between Macedonians and Albanians.
He added that he doesn't think that it is politically or morally more embarrassing than separating so-called Kosovo from Serbia, which he considered was also a redrawing of borders along the ethnic lines.
"If it is possible to reach permanent solution for Kosovo-Serbia relations as a consequence of...

Continue reading on: