KOSOVO DID not declare its independence too early, as you suggested in your Feb. 20 editorial "Kosovo's just, but rash, escape." The opposite is true. Had Kosovo declared its independence two years ago, when the Russians barely cared about what was going on in the Balkans, the process would have been easier.
While the move was not supported by a UN mandate, it came only after several desperate calls from the UN mission in Kosovo and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon himself said that the situation in Kosovo was untenable.
Your proposal to offer Serbia EU membership in exchange for an agreement on Kosovo is unjust to other countries who have worked hard to become members. However, the offer has always been on the table, and it is still there for the taking. Serbia's refusal is another proof of the futility of any further negotiation between Belgrade and Pristina.
RUBEN AVXHIU
New York
The writer is editor of the newspaper Illyria.
PERHAPS PRESIDENT Bush and his secretary of state may not have studied modern European history, especially that of the Balkan Peninsula, but their own history should serve as a guide. It was 147 years ago, in 1861, that the United States started a bloody Civil War to stop certain states from seceding from the union. Why should Serbia act differently about Kosovo?
ELENI ZAOUSSI
Athens
