What is a "right," Mark? What gives us the "right" to determine what is right and what is wrong? If ethnicity is not good enough for an ethnically divided Balkans, and history is not good enough for a historically endowed Balkans, what is the criterion for drawing the borders after they have ben redrawn in violation of the Helsinki Agreement with our own blessing?
Is it the "free" world to keep people imprisoned in countries they don't consider their own? Under regimes they consider foreign? What determined our own borders, Mark? Was it ehtnicity? Was it history? Was it perhpass some belief in "Destiny" imparted by the Almighty? Or was it just sheer force? We took what we wanted when we could?
What is the measure of this world as to who gets a state and who doesn't, where the borders lie, and when does history constitute a "right" to anything?
Kosta, the problem is not drawing borders--that has already been done. The problems come with re-drawing them; almost impossible to do without conflict.
I believe the ultimate solution lies in two measures. The first is maximum devolution of powers from central governments to local authorities. Centralization of power & budget & taxing & spending means that people will naturally look to the central government both as the source of their problems and as the solution to their problems. Add in ethnic minorities who believe they are being discriminated against or even just ignored by an ethnic majority run government and you have the necessary ingredients for combustion. Decentralize to where government services, taxes, and spending are primarily based locally and decided on by people closest and most affected by the problem. You thereby neutralize the idea that faraway bureaucrats of a differnt ethnicity are hostile or just don't care--if you want a fire truck or to fix the pot-holes or Albanian speaking teachers or less taxes, then vote on it and do it at the town or district or prefect level. Don't appeal to the central government and then blame the lack of results on real or perceived discrimination. Devolve powers and eliminate huge categories of complaints. Both my Macedonian & Albanian translators were astounded when I showed them my absentee ballot. We were voting on taxing ourselves for a new township fire engine, a bond issue to expand the county library, and a proposal to sell part of a park to a developer. In Kosovo, FYROM, and Albania proper, none of those decisions are made at the local level. Instead they must apply to the central government. Anyway, you get the picture.
The second measure is broadly defined and extensively protected individual rights--not group rights. Rights based on ethnic or group identity are always fraught with the potential or realization of trouble. Social, civic, and legal equality for all citizens makes rocky soil for the seeds of dissension.
If and when devolutiion of powers is complete and individual rights are protected, all these border issues just will not seem that important any more. And any solutions we look for in the near future ought to support those two goals in the long term.