The European Union and the United States expressed their deep concern Sunday after Kosovo banned the use of the Serbian currency and police raided the premises of organizations working with the Serb minority in the north of the country.
In the past week, Kosovo police searched the premises of Serbia-administered institutions and of an ethnic Serb non-governmental organization, confiscating papers and computers believed to hold documentation contrary to the country’s laws.
Some of the documents bore the emblem of the Serbian government in Belgrade, police said, while others referred to illegal parallel structures of government set up by ethnic Serbs but not accepted by Kosovo.
Police closed some of those offices.
The centerpoints of major waterways and roads are often the places with the most conflict, especially when it’s good fertile land that someone might want to live in. Different religious sects have had major presences in the region, some even established there - the first Christian Roman Emperor was born nearby. They’re also positioned directly in the path of many cultures, both ancient and modern, attempting to increase the size of their own Empires.
The land was built on conflict.
While humans continue to choose competition instead of collaboration with other slightly different humans, it will remain in conflict - much like other strategic arable accessible locations we see in the headlines.
Climate change will slowly increase the amount of land affected by conflict, when resource shortages become more severe from natural disasters; but the flashpoints are places like the Balkans.
I’m pleasantly surprised they didn’t start up again sooner. But, like, in the tiniest glimmer of silver lining kind of way.
Edit: tl;dr We all live in a shitty Civilization game but with less predictable players.