Below The Beltway

President Bush spoke in Croatia today about what he thinks a 21st Century NATO should do:
ZAGREB, Croatia — Addressing new NATO allies in a medieval town square here, President Bush on Saturday championed the alliance’s expansion across all of Europe and compared the liberation of Eastern European nations from communism to the American-led wars in […]

From Mark Krikorian at The Corner:
Croatia and Albania are going to join NATO. So now an attack on Albania will be an act of war against the United States. Can someone explain to me how this is in our national interest? I have three sons myself, and I can’t spare any of them to die […]

President Bush is in Ukraine today and endorsed the idea of expanding NATO to include both Ukraine and the former Soviet Republic of Georgia:
KIEV, Ukraine, April 1 — President Bush championed expansion of NATO further into the former Soviet Union on Tuesday and declared that Russia “will not have a veto” over the alliance’s decision […]

For the Macedonia, once part of Yugoslavia, membership in NATO could be blocked by Greeks who don’t like the country’s name:
ATHENS — NATO’s secretary general said Monday that Macedonia’s bid to join the military alliance could be blocked if it failed to resolve a long-standing name dispute with Greece, a longtime NATO member.
Macedonia, the former […]

Over at Slate Christopher Hitchens writes that the independence of Kosovo means the death of a one of the final legacies of World War One:
 Someone with a good memory of the conversation once told me how Lord Carrington, then one of the “mediators” of the incipient post-Yugoslavia war, came to the conclusion that Slobodan Milosevic […]

Serbs in Kosovo protested that nation’s declaration of independence by setting two border posts on fire:
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Kosovo, Feb. 19 — Serbs protesting Kosovo’s declaration of independence torched two border posts manned by the United Nations along the northern border with Serbia on Tuesday as up to 2,000 protesters, some driving bulldozers, destroyed customs posts.
No […]

The United States, along with several European countries, has recognized Kosovo’s independence from Serbia:
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Kosovo, Feb. 19 — The United States and the European Union’s largest countries recognized the independence of Kosovo on Monday, a major boost for the fledgling state, which still faces intense opposition from Russia, Serbia and even some Western European […]

Not surprisingly, the Russians are siding with the Serbians over Kosovo’s declaration of independence:
Russia denounced Kosovo’s independence declaration Sunday, warning that the move threatened to ignite a new conflict in the Balkans and calling on NATO and U.N. officials in the territory to nix the decision.
Russia requested a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, which […]

Well, they’re back in the news again:
PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo declared itself a nation on Sunday, mounting a historic bid to become an “independent and democratic state” backed by the U.S. and key European allies but bitterly contested by Serbia and Russia.
“Kosovo is a republic _ an independent, democratic and sovereign state,” parliament speaker Jakup […]

Signs that the wounds of World War II still have an impact in Europe 62 years after V-E Day:
The Polish PM has stunned European leaders today with an astonishing attack on Germany for starting the Second World War.
In a spectacularly undiplomatic outburst, he said his country was losing out in today’s European Union as a […]