Patrick Moore

Also by Patrick Moore

• November 22, 2004

  Analysis: Serbian Army Scandal Raises Questions

  The killing of two conscripts has raised questions about the possible role of Serbia and Montenegro's military in protecting war crimes indictees. The scandal has also served to further unsettle an already volatile political situation.

• November 13, 2004

  Analysis: Serbia's President Calls For Realism

  Serbian President Boris Tadic (file photo) Serbian President Boris Tadic told RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service in Belgrade recently that his country must observe its international obligations and meet the expectations of the most developed countries if it wants to escape its chronic poverty and improve its standard of living. He added that this in no way means that Serbs must renounce their traditions or national goals (see http://www.danas.org/article/2004/11/05/a842dedd-76dc-4482-a92e-ba51d5667a97.html).

• October 17, 2004

  Analysis: Bosnia-Herzegovina -- The Dayton Debate Revisited

  Many people inside and outside Bosnia believe that the 1995 Dayton peace agreement has outlived its usefulness. There is, however, no consensus on what to put in its place, or on whether fundamental changes in Bosnia would have a negative impact on the rest of the Balkans (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 5 September and 19 December 2003, and 16 April and 8 October 2004).

• October 14, 2004

  Interview: Bosnian Wartime Leader Says Refugees Are Still Bosnians

  Haris Silajdzic in RFE/RL's Sarajevo bureau In an exclusive online interview with users of the RFE/RL South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service website on 12 October, Haris Silajdzic, who was Bosnia-Herzegovina's foreign minister and prime minister at different times during the 1992-95 conflict, said that any new Bosnian census should include people "who were forced to flee their homes" during the war.

• October 08, 2004

  Analysis: The Imam's New Clothes

  Reisu-l-ulema Mustafa Ceric (file photo) The Sarajevo political weekly "BH Dani" has published a stinging and probably unprecedented attack on the leader of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Islamic Community. This is unlikely to be the end of the matter in what appears to be the latest chapter in the conflict between that country's clerical and secular forces in a sometimes ill-defined postcommunist media environment.

• October 07, 2004

  Interview: Bosnian Serb Leader Goes Online With RFE/RL

  In an exclusive online interview with users of RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service website on 7 October, former Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Milorad Dodik, who heads the nonnationalist Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), said that Kosovo's Serbs should take part in the 23 October parliamentary elections. He argued that the Bosnian Serbs have learned the hard way that boycotting elections is a "crude mistake" that only harms the interests of those conducting the boycott.

• October 06, 2004

  Analysis: Elections Raise Questions In Bosnia, Serbia, And Slovenia

  A man casts his ballot in Banja Luka on 2 October Voters in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, and Slovenia went to the polls recently and reaffirmed some developing trends, not all of which are necessarily to the liking of their Western partners.

• September 22, 2004

  Analysis: Croatia's President Goes Online With RFE/RL

  In an online interview --> http://www.danas.org/article/2004/09/20/f6ab65dd-5c21-4aae-b816-81e2ed0a6179.html with users of RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service website on 20 September, Croatian President Stipe Mesic dismissed the argument that possible independence for Kosova will lead to fragmentation of Croatia or other states in the region. Mesic argued that the Croatian authorities will "accept any legal and legitimate decision" on Kosova's final status, adding that his advice to other Balkan countries is to accept European standards and look toward the future rather than the past.

• September 20, 2004

  Analysis: Clerics Get Out The Vote For The Nationalist Parties In Bosnia

  A recent RFE/RL broadcast calls attention to the questionable political role of clerics in the run-up to the 2 October local elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The problem is likely to get worse before it gets better.

• September 12, 2004

  The Fall Political Season Begins In The Western Balkans

  How quickly will Croatia be able to move toward further Euro-Atlantic integration? News from the countries of the western Balkans has largely moved out of the headlines this summer, but several political developments and processes are under way there with a potentially long term effect on the peace and stability of that part of Europe.

• September 08, 2004

  Analysis: Stirrings Over Kosova

  8 September 2004 -- German Defense Minister Peter Struck told his parliament's defense committee on 7 September that the time has come for the West to reconsider its policy toward Kosova. He is not alone in his views.

• August 21, 2004

  Analysis: Montenegro Seeks Talks On Dissolving Joint State With Serbia

  Montenegro's government is about to take a big step toward dissolving the joint state of Serbia and Montenegro and moving toward independence. Where matters will end is nonetheless anybody's guess.

• August 13, 2004

  Analysis: An Election Gamble In Kosova?

  Kosova's Central Election Commission is slated to announce on 12 August the order in which parties and coalitions will appear on the ballot in the 23 October parliamentary elections. The problem is that most Serbian parties and coalitions have either said that they will not participate or have not yet made a final decision (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6, 9, and 10 August 2004, and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 19 December 2003, and 16 April and 6 August 2004).

• August 06, 2004

  Analysis: Kosovo's Decentralization Debate

  UN peacekeepers were called upon to quell the violence in March Many observers inside and outside Kosovo have long felt that the communist-era internal administrative units should be broken up into more manageable ones, but there the agreement ends. A recent broadcast by RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service made clear that the Albanian and Serbian approaches to the issue seem hard to reconcile.

• July 21, 2004

  Analysis: Bosnia-Herzegovina And The Legacy Of Gavrilo Princip

  The 90th anniversary of the assassination of Habsburg Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo by a Bosnian Serb student, Gavrilo Princip, was marked on 28 June. A series of seminars and symposia took place in Central and Southeastern Europe to mark the anniversary and draw a balance sheet for what has always been a controversial event. RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service featured a program in Omer Karabeg's Radio Most (Bridge) series, which brought together Professor Zijad Sehic of Sarajevo University's History Department and Predrag Markovic of Belgrade's Institute for Contemporary History.

• July 18, 2004

  EU Peacekeeping In Bosnia: What's In A Name?

  (file photo) EU foreign ministers agreed in Brussels on 12 July to step up "planning and preparations in consultation with Bosnia-Herzegovina authorities and with NATO" to take over Bosnian peacekeeping responsibilities from the Atlantic alliance at the end of 2004 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 and 29 June 2004).

• July 08, 2004

  Kosovo's Parliament Set To Challenge UN's Authority

  UN peacekeepers in Kosovo (file photo) Kosovo's parliament voted on 8 July to adopt several constitutional changes, including one establishing the right to hold a referendum on independence. Other measures call for switching responsibility for international relations and public security from the UN civilian administration (UNMIK) to Kosovo's own officials.

• June 28, 2004

  Analysis: Tadic Wins The Serbian Presidency

  Boris Tadic (file photo) A minority of Serbia's registered voters has given a slight victory to the presidential candidate favoring European integration over his ultranationalist opponent. It is perhaps too early to tell what long-term effect the vote will have on Serbian politics, if any.

• June 25, 2004

  Analysis: Which Direction For The Balkans?

  The possibility of eventual EU membership has had a tonic effect on promoting reforms in the formerly communist countries in the Balkans. For now, at any rate, it remains the best option for them.

• June 23, 2004

  Analysis: Croatia's Leaders Speak About EU Membership

  On 18 June, the EU formally gave Croatia membership-candidate status with negotiations set to begin in early 2005. This was welcome news in Croatia because both the current center-right government and its center-left predecessor had made obtaining EU membership their top overall priority.

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