Clinton arrives in the Balkans

Secretary Clinton flew into Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, yesterday, and today she has a many meetings in both that city and in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. In the photo below, she meets with Serbian President Boris Tadic to discuss the beginning of EU-sponsored talks between Serbia and Kosovo, which broke away from Serbia in 2008. (And for a bit more on what’s been happening in Serbia lately, read the recent FP article “Battle in Belgrade,” about this past Sunday’s anti-gay rioting in the capital.)

The overall purpose of Clinton’s visit to the Balkans, according to an Oct. 8 briefing by Assistant Secretary to State Philip Gordan, is to “underscore the continued commitment of the United States to supporting all the Balkan states as they build prosperous, peaceful, and democratic societies and move to take their rightful places as full members of the European and Euro-Atlantic community.”

Tomorrow, Clinton will be in Kosovo, which based on the welcome billboard above, eagerly awaits America’s top diplomat. (Kosovo also loves Bill Clinton, who as U.S. president backed the NATO air campaign that drove Serbian forces out of Kosovo in 1999. When he visited the Kosovar capital, Pristina, for the unveiling of a larger-than-life statue of himself last year, he was welcomed with a giant cake. And, he’s already had his own billboard in Pristina.)

In Kosovo, Secretary Clinton will meet with the acting president, the prime minister, and the foreign minister. She’ll also visit Gracanica, a Serb-majority municipality, and meet with community leaders there. Once she returns to Pristina, she will meet with leaders of women’s groups as well as other civil society leaders.

Finally, on Thursday the 14th, Clinton will leave the Balkans and head to Brussels, where she’ll meet with various EU officials and join U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a NATO ministerial meeting between the foreign and defense ministers of the various NATO countries. At the meeting, the ministers will discuss progress in the war in Afghanistan. On the evening of the 14th, Clinton will fly out of Europe and head back over the Atlantic to Washington.