Europe’s War on Kosovo’s Democracy

The EU rewards fascist Serbia while punishing democratic Kosovo. Appeasement is not policy, it’s cowardice dressed in diplomacy, and it is fuelling future bloodshed.

LONDON — The recently appointed President of the European Council, António Costa, concluded his diplomatic tour of the Western Balkans with proclamations of "trust" and "consistency." He posed for the cameras, dined with Balkan leaders, and delivered well-rehearsed platitudes that betrayed neither understanding nor courage. His words, though elegantly constructed, fell flat in Kosovo, where democracy is not a slogan to be tweeted but a trial to be endured. For us, it is not a theory but a bloodied, lived experience.

Costa’s remarks about Kosovo’s need to “build consensus” and “strengthen democracy” are as hollow as they are hypocritical. He offers no assurance that the very democracy he demands of us will be safeguarded when it is attacked by Serbia’s covert operations, its weaponised proxies, and its systematic campaign to undermine Kosovo’s sovereignty. No. Instead, the EU, like a spineless maître d' in a restaurant of appeasement, insists Kosovo should "de-escalate" even as we bury …