Balkans Quotations

There are some common problems in the Balkans in the settlement of which Bulgaria should also participate.

Let's make a deal with the Serbs. Neither history nor emotion in the Balkans will permit multinationalism. We have to give up on the illusion of the last eight years... Dayton isn't working. Nobody - except diplomats and petty officials - believes in a sovereign Bosnia and the Dayton accords.

Guidebooks used to write the name of my city in two ways: Gjirokaster in Albanian, and Argyrokastron for foreigners. The classical-sounding name somehow gave it better credentials, because people in the Balkans famously exaggerate and often call their villages cities.

Ulster (Northern Ireland) and the Balkans have already shown how difficult it is to split cities, and with Iraq's centralized and failing infrastructure, and impoverished economy, violence and economics cannot be separated.

I distrust all multiculturalism, liberal or conservative. The Balkans amply demonstrate the perils of Balkanization.

leadership experience using these type of communications tools in his past experiences in state and federal government and as a community commander at both the city of West Point, N.Y. and overseas in the Kosovo theater in the Balkans where he provided support to several countries.

My father, a Russian translator, wanted to distinguish me by calling me Misha, the Russian diminutive of his name, Michael. My name and work as a writer specialising in the Balkans has created a myth that I have Slavic connections, but actually I am British.

On the four biggest challenges he faced -- putting Russia on a course toward a pluralistic democracy, integrating Russia with the rest of the international community, respecting the independence of the other CIS countries, and bringing peace to the Balkans -- he demonstrated foresight, fortitude, and courage. Russia and the world were lucky to have this man in the Kremlin during that crucial period.

I believe we are at a crossroads in the history of the Balkans as well as NATO, ... The decisions we make in the days ahead will be crucial for us all.

I also said that we wanted to learn the lesson of the Balkans to win not the just the military campaign about Kosovo, but to win the peace as well.

I think the first priority in the Balkans is to remove Milosevic. The first priority is not to rethink or to change the constitution. We can resolve all of these problems after removing Milosevic from power.

It is indeed, ... But to get the oil from the Caspian Sea into the hands of the West you can't use buckets. You need pipelines and those pipelines have to be installed and protected. The oil reserves in the Caspian Sea are vast. The pipelines mean that security in the Balkans is of concrete economic and strategic importance.

Our goal is the western Balkans' membership of the EU. Stability in the Balkans is part of our own security.

Our meeting today sends a clear signal that we remain determined to bring peace and stability to the entire Balkans region.

We need to start the process quickly on the dollar numbers, ... The number that I am reading in the newspapers, in my opinion will be totally inadequate to carry even the Balkans issue to the end of the fiscal year.

The present Europe is unfinished business unless the Balkans are a part of it,

The death of Slobodan Milosevic sealed a tragic era of tensions, crises and wars which plagued the Balkans for almost a decade.

The crisis in the Balkans demands not emotional evaluations, but well-balanced and decisive actions,

When (Christopher) travels to the Balkans late next week and into the following week, he'll be making his point personally. And by then we expect that all prisoners will have been released.

Both Russia and the U.S. understand now what's really going on at the Balkans and what needs to be done. We were searching for ways of settling the conflict, but it's a difficult task.

Enlargement must not stop at the Balkans but must include the Balkans,

The stakes are very high, not only for the Balkans and Europe, but for the whole world,

A major figure of Croatia and the Balkans has disappeared. We have to hope that the elections that will now take place in Croatia ... will help Croatia in the direction of a democratic country.

Above all...intervention from abroad holds the danger that the conflict could spread beyond the borders, ... This would lead to destabilization in the Balkans with unpredictable consequences for Europe.

Everyone realizes full well that if a military conflict breaks out in Kosovo, it would willy-nilly spread over the neighboring states as well as to the Balkans as a whole,

The Balkans and the north shore of the Adriatic will be drying out slowly throughout the day and an area of high pressure will move in,

I want to point out in the clearest possible terms that long-term peace and stability in the Balkans will not be possible as long as the current leadership in Belgrade is in power. And those people who have been indicted also should be brought to justice.

I'm not saying the problems aren't serious, ... But this is not a humanitarian crisis in the sense that you have in Rwanda and the Balkans and Macedonia.

I hope the U.S. government has finally realized there is no long-lasting stability in the Balkans with Milosevic staying in power.

I know that the French people will understand that we had to act, ... Before the unjustified and incomprehensible obstinacy of President Milosevic, the allies unanimously agreed that there was no other choice than to intervene militarily against targeted Serbian objectives. This in order to contain a tragedy which endangers the stability of the Balkans more and more.

If you look at our deployments today, under 5,000 people in Bosnia and about 5,000 people, under 6,000 people in Kosovo, it adds up to about 11,000 people, 10,000 or 11,000 people deployed in the Balkans out of an Army that's, what, 480,000, 485,000 people. It's a relatively small percentage

Let us turn to the future and not deal with the past,

I can't think of a single incidence ... where anything has moved positively in the Balkans without a show of force and resolve,

Diplomacy has been exhausted .. Continued instability in the Balkans threatens important U.S. national interests,.

Of course, in no case would we allow the creation of a regional union in the Balkans, directed against the Soviet Union and Bulgaria.

Although he has reaffirmed his readiness to work with European leaders in the Balkans --

The Balkans arent worth the life of a single Pomeranian grenadier.

[The Balkans] produce more history than they can consume.