What is certain is that the cost of returning and rehabilitating the 850,000 Kosovars refugees of Albanian origin will be enormous. It seems that the US has planned for the EU to foot most of the bill and is trying to pressure the Arab oil-exporting nations to put up some cash as well. This, in turn, will put pressure on the Euro at a time when the European economy had just begun to emerge from a difficult phase. It has also been discovered that many of the refugees seeking to return are Kosovars of Serbian origin. It is sometimes hard to understand the difficulty the international peacekeeping forces will face in their task of preventing the Serbians and Albanians from going to war.
Bitterness runs deep, and mutual hatred is deeper than ever.
Clinton, who pledged to put an end to ethnic discrimination in Kosovo, may not fully grasp the situation in that country and the history of the peoples of the region. Nor should we ignore the significance of the Russian forces arrival in Kosovo ahead of NATO troops. I cannot imagine that the Russians will be able to withdraw, leaving the Serbs at NATO s mercy and relinquishing Russian influence in an area so vital to European security. It will also be essential in the coming months to watch the effects of the war on relations between the US and Europe. It is clear, however, that Europe, and the UK in particular, emerged from the war with considerable doubts about the efficacy of the US military leadership, but also its ability to reformulate Europe on the basis of its poor understanding of history and cultural sensitivities.