EU's Solana Addresses Lingering Balkan Tensions

 

By Roger Wilkison

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, was in the Balkans Tuesday, urging Kosovo Serbs to take part in next month's elections and exhorting¹ Slovenia and Croatia to settle a border dispute through dialogue.

Amid signs that Kosovo's beleaguered² Serb minority will stay away from the polls during general elections on October 23, Mr. Solana indicated that he still believes that a multiethnic society is feasible in the bitterly divided province.

Kosovo's ethnic³ Albanian majority is seeking independence for the region, which is officially part of Serbia-Montenegro, the successor state to Yugoslavia. Serbs in Kosovo want it to remain a province of Serbia-Montenegro. Kosovo is now, in effect, an international protectorate.

The major Serb political parties in Kosovo have heeded⁴ a call by Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica to boycott⁵ the polls. But Mr. Solana told reporters in Brussels before departing on his trip, that would be wrong.

"I would very much like for the Kosovo Serbs to participate in the elections," he said. "Still, we're in time. And I think it will be -- to my mind -- a mistake if they do not participate in the elections."

Mr. Solana and other international officials say talks aimed at settling Kosovo's final status depend on progress in firmly establishing the rule of law and guaranteeing minority rights. Twenty of the 120 seats in the legislature to be elected next month are reserved for Serbs and other minorities.

Mr. Solana arrived in Kosovo after a brief trip to Slovenia, where he called on leaders of the new EU member state to try to find a way out of a border dispute with neighboring Croatia, which hopes to join the EU in 2007.

Relations between the two former Yugoslav republics soured last week after Croatian police detained several of Slovenian politicians who crossed into a disputed strip of land between the two countries. The incident escalated⁶ into a bitter diplomatic exchange, and the Slovene government threatened to oppose Croatia's efforts to join the EU.

Mr. Solana urged both sides to moderate their tone and talk things over. And he offered to help mediate⁷ the dispute.

"The European Union is a place where conflicts and disagreements are solved through dialogue," he said. "There is no other way. I am ready and willing to help catalyze⁸ that dialogue to solve the problem."

Slovenia holds general elections on Sunday, and even though only a tiny fraction of its border with Croatia is in dispute, nationalist politicians in both countries have tried to exploit the problem for political gain.

Roger Wilkison, VOA news, Brussels.
注释：
Balkan 巴尔干半岛
Kosovo 科索沃
Serb 塞尔维亚人
exhort 劝诫
Slovenia 斯洛文尼亚
Croatia 克罗地亚
minority 少数民族
multiethnic 涉及不同种族的
Albanian 阿尔巴尼亚的
Serbia-Montenegro 塞黑共和国
protectorate 保护国
boycott 联合抵制
detain 拘留

1 exhorting   

v.劝告，劝说( exhort的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Joe Pationi's stocky figure was moving constantly, instructing and exhorting. 乔·佩特罗尼结实的身影不断地来回走动，又发指示，又替他们打气。 来自辞典例句
• He is always exhorting us to work harder for a lower salary. （（讽刺））他总是劝我们为了再低的薪水也得更卖力地工作。 来自辞典例句

2 beleaguered   

adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰

参考例句：

• The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign. 那位饱受指责的政党领导人被迫辞职。
• We are beleaguered by problems. 我们被许多困难所困扰。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 heeded   

v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 )；变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She countered that her advice had not been heeded. 她反驳说她的建议未被重视。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I heeded my doctor's advice and stopped smoking. 我听从医生的劝告，把烟戒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

6 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

7 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

8 catalyze   

v.催化

参考例句：

• They are highly specific for the reactions that they catalyze.它们对被它们催化的反应有很强的专一性。
• They are highly specific for the reactions that they catalyze.它们对被它们催化的反应有很强的专一性。