Fifteen Years of Peace-building Activities in the Western Balkans: Lessons Learned and Current Challenges

The question is of imminent interest, since the potential deployment of Kosovar (and, perhaps, Serbian?) troops out of area would be realistic. * Can the international community insist on opening a labor market between Serbia and Kosovo as a condition for negotiations and an incentive for increased support? (SRSG Steiner' s refrain of "Standards before Status" was nice wording, but pragmatically inappropriate, since the governance of the state was dominant in many sectors that did not need the legitimacy of status, except for ideological and identity reasons.) While some of the formal institutions with which I was involved - especially legislation on schooling and higher education - could be seen as a success, I was dissatisfied because it was impossible to negotiate beyond very insignificant issues that regional privileges (such as the cross-boundary labor markets, or accords on the recognition of former titles and rights) would be established prior to political agreements at a higher level.