If one were to use the old clich� "patience is a virtue" in the Balkans they might sound like a broken record. With the Serbian elections just finished, press statements are flowing from all the international news agencies about how Serbia must quickly form a pro-EU/Western government, Kosovo Albanians are demanding immediate release of the proposal and stating that conditional independence is not what they were promised seven years ago (I beg to question, what exactly did they think they were promised and who did they think promised them anything?), and even Serbia's current President Tadic is saying that the pro-EU parties must put aside their differences and quickly form a government to shut out the "ultranationalist".
With threats of violence (even the term "war" has popped up) if Albanians are not granted some sort of independence this spring and the rumor of a mass exodus of Serbs if Kosovo is granted independence, it will be interesting to see what happens in the coming months. Rumor still is that Ahtisaari will release some sort of document to the Contact Group on 26 January during a scheduled meeting and then the document will be officially released on 2 February to all.
