In an interview, Serbian politician Cedomir Jovanovic revealed details about a possible offer that Serbia is being made – presumably by Western forces who demand that Belgrade formally recognizes the independence of Kosovo. According to Jovanovic, in exchange, Serbia would receive a portion of Macedonia, of Bosnia and of Montenegro.

Serbia is supposed to be deprived of Kosovo. They don’t know what next to do so they are dropping on us a little of Macedonia, the north of Kosovo, then there go Montenegro and Republika Srpska. We will resolve the problem of Macedonia in a way that it won’t exist any more – that is going on for three years. There is no more Zaev, he was cheated, and not by anybody, he was cheated by the European Union. He was told to resolve the dispute with Greece, which is a very difficult issue in Macedonia. We deny them their faith, Albanians deny them their land, the Greeks their identity and the Bulgarians everything. So Zaev made a deal and instead of receiving EU accession talks, they were postponed by six months. In the meantime, the Bulgarians came up, and now their latest demand is that the Bulgarian language is raised to the same level as the Macedonian and the Albanian, that Macedonia is the state of the Bulgarian nation as well as the Macedonian – things that the Macedonians can’t give them, Jovanovic says in the interview.

The comment reflects a process of creating an economic union of Serbia and Albania – called Open Balkan – that would include Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Montenegro. Politicians in Kosovo, Bosnia and Bulgaria have warned that this is an option that leads toward delineation of Albanians and Serbs, and will result in Serbia dominating the non-Albanian parts of Macedonia and Montenegro, and the Serbian majority half of Bosnia – the Republika Srpska.