"Change of borders would contribute to lasting peace"

Source: B92

BELGRADE -- Former British Ambassador to Yugoslavia Sir Ivor Roberts believes that "a correction of borders in the Balkans would contribute to a lasting peace".

Ivor Roberts is seen at the Belgrade Book Fair (Tanjug)

This "correction" would also include Kosovo, the now retired British diplomat told B92 in Belgrade on Wednesday.
Roberts, who currently serves as president of Oxford's Trinity College, is in Serbia to promote his book "Conversations with Milosevic", which was presented during the ongoing International Belgrade Book Fair.

He added that it was his personal opinion that insistence on unchangeable borders was "absurd":

"We always had these mantras about Yugoslavia. For instance, after the NATO bombing, the Security Council adopted a resolution containing the mantra about the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia. After that Serbia and Montenegro separated, and later Kosovo. The idea that such positions are carved in stone is absurd, just as is insistence that a country with unsolved territorial issues cannot join the EU. In that case Great Britain would have to leave immediately because we have territorial disputes with three countries."

The former ambassador also noted that instead of debating whether a change of existing borders would be good or bad, more focus should be put on the interest of the citizens.

"What will stability bring? We have a saying that 'good fences make good neighbors'. If people are still unable to live in peace and tolerance - and incidents in Kosovo show that the situation is not good, and that's not my impression, those are facts on the ground - then perhaps it's best to redefine some of those borders," Roberts concluded.