The Serbs will continue to see themselves as part of Serbia with no necessity to accommodate towards the Kosovan Albanians, while many Albanians will continue to regard the Kosovan Serbs as a Belgrade fifth column. Risks arise from the nationalistic stance of the present government. Because this is a time of democratic transition, the Serbian position will be heard with much greater sympathy than before and the ambiguity of Kosovo's position could grow. Both Kostunica and Zoran Djindjic, the leader of the opposition alliance, have talked about bringing Serbia and Kosovo closer together and implementing Res olution 1244, including the paragraph about sending Yugoslav and Serbian troops to Kosovo. Albanian leaders fear that the argument for independence will seem less pressing since Milosevic is no longer in power.
Opportunities arise from the democratic character of the new regime.
Dialogue is all the more important to open up Serbia and to change the ingrained attitudes of the last decade. There is a real possibility now to start those negotiations. Baton Haxhiu, editor of Koha Ditore, a moderate newspaper in Kosovo, says there can be no dialogue with Belgrade until the Serb government acknowledges its responsibility for the genocide. But Kosovan Albanians also need to acknowledge their ethnic cleansing of Serbs in Kosovo. Mary Kaldor is a member of the International Independent Commission to Investigate the Kosovo Crisis.