Rupert Guest

Richard Holbrooke, the Clinton Administration s Balkans envoy, once framed Serbia s choice as Europe or Kosovo? And if you choose Kosovo, you lose both. Ten years after NATO s Operation: Allied Force, the validity of this statement remains unproven. Seen from Washington as a vehicle to suppress the violence of the 1990s, integration of the Former Yugoslavia into the EU has been slow, inconsistent and ineffective in answering outstanding questions of sovereignty. This research aims to understand how policymakers in Washington, Brussels and Belgrade construct the relationship between acceptance of Kosovo s independence and Serbia s progression into Euro-Atlantic structures. Europe s lack of political will and coherence has ensured that conditionality has not formally addressed Serbia s attitude towards Kosovo s independence. Such a bargain has been rendered impossible by the intransigence of key power-brokers such as Spain towards recognition. The USA s frustration with the EU s efforts has come into sharper focus with the new Democratic Administration. This has been at the foundation of discussions over the creation of a US Envoy for the Balkans and Biden s May2009 visit to the region. It is thus an appropriate time to analyze the likelihood of European integration resolving this frozen conflict.