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Albania & Kosovo



I fully support the addition of eAlbania. Yay! Absolutely no reason why this country should not be added to the game. And if its going to be another EDEN/Terra member then yay for us too!

But eKosovo... er...



Can of worms

Firstly a reply to http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/serbian-official-statement-regarding-new-countries-1871922/1/20

1) The borders of a state [Serbia] cannot be changed unilaterally.
True. Here we have extreme double standards on both sides. If certain countries recognise Kosovo why don't they recognise other break-away republics like South Ossetia or Palestine? And visa versa? That is a whole mess of geo-political worms. Several states refuse to recognise it because it would damage their own territorial ambitions (like Argentina and the Falkland Islands or Cyprus and Turkish Northern Cyprus).
What I would say is that I and many others support the ability of people to be self-determining. Personally I would have no issues with the UK (my RL home) breaking up into independent states if that's what the people want. Without trying to blame side one or the other, the Serbs and Kosovans in Kosovo blatantly could not live together in harmony. A future apart would not only save lives but provide some peace in a region that sorely needs and deserves it after 500 years of simmering conflict.

2) Kosovo is not a member of the UN.
Well... it is. It is a member of several UN agencies. similar to Vatican City and probably what Palestine will be in the short term.
Oh and if we're going to exclude countries because they are not full UN-members then say goodbye to eTaiwan. That was chucked out of the UN at the insistence of China in 1971.

3) Don't take a different view on Kosovo as the UN or Serbia
See above. I know that Serbia will not accept Kosovo as an independent state as long as it provides an outlet for preceived international mistreatment (see report below). Despite not having full recognition Kosovo does have broad recognition throughout much of Europe, NATO states and other international organisations. It is not a perfect situation for either side.
And the whole 'you'll get sued' thing? By who? Yes Romania does not currently recognise Kosovo but how many Kosovo related law suits would it be willing to put through its courts?

http://www.iss.europa.eu/uploads/media/kosovo.pdf

That said, its only a game. And those Admin will no doubt be banking on Serbian players not to quit but actually to turn up in ever greater numbers and pay through the nose to conquer 'their' province.

My gut feeling? eKosovo will not be implemented. It is a cynical announcement. Admin have stirred up feeling that will translate into more players and website hits but that will be enough for them. Instead we'll get one or two other European countries in its place. Here's hoping for eMalta, eIceland or eLuxembourg.

(I wrote a long article about FYROM/Macedonia back when that was implemented and was sorely disappointed by the lack of trolling I received. I look forward to seeing your best efforts below).