Below The Beltway

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 [...]

Nicolas Sakozy was elected President of France today, and it could have interesting implications for Franco-American relations:
PARIS, May 6 — Nicolas Sarkozy, the hard-charging former interior minister who vowed a “rupture” with the past, was elected president of France on Sunday by voters demanding sweeping changes to revitalize the economy and staunch a sense of [...]

Is Europe finally starting to react to the rising tide of Islam ? It certainly seems so:
MUNICH, Dec. 5 ? Helga Schandl says she has nothing against Muslims. For three decades, she worked in Munich?s wholesale food market, where many of her colleagues were immigrants from Turkey. ?I have experienced integration firsthand,? she said.
Yet Mrs. [...]

As he has on many, many occasions in the past, Mark Steyn has a well-written column out today covering the conflict between the West and Islam and what he sees as the consequences of a Muslim demographic tide in Europe.
In one short sentence, Steyn puts the lie to those in the West (epitomized in his [...]