The Guardian Javier Solana, the affable Spaniard who rejoices in the title of high representative of the European Union for common foreign and security policy, has really been clocking up the air miles recently. Having bombed Serbia in 1999 when he was Nato secretary-general, he is now donning the mantle of Balkan peacemaker, cajoling the Macedonian government into making their disgruntled Albanians feel more at home. The idea is that a closer relationship with Europe will sooth away all that inter-ethnic nastiness.
Success is far from guaranteed.
Yet there is no doubt that a decade after the start of the wars of the Yugoslav succession, the EU is starting to be the major player in the south-eastern corner of the continent. Brussels, not Washington, calls the shots. Colin Powell, glad to be away from the Toxic Texan, is going to Skopje himself this week - on Solana's advice. Try his mobile, though, as he's rarely to be found in Brussels. If the Bush administration knew what it wanted, it would be happy that Europeans are starting to do their bit.