Confronting the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991, former EU Council President Jacques Poos made his famous but now derided statement: “This is the hour of Europe… not the hour of the Americans.” What the EU learned from the subsequent four years of Balkan disasters under its management is now being tested by another major turning point and potential crisis – when and how Kosovo is to become independent.
欧盟委员会前任主席珀斯在1991年面临南斯拉夫解体的时候曾经发表现在受到嘲笑的著名声明。他说：“这是欧洲的时刻，而不是美国人的时刻。”现在，另一重大转折点和潜在的危机正在考验欧盟从随后四年管理巴尔干灾难中所学到的东西。这也就是科索沃在何时以何种方式独立。欧洲的作用将再一次被证明是决定性的。