The primary problem in Kosovo remains political: The overwhelming majority of the region's 90 percent ethnic Albanian population want independence from Serbia; Milosevic on Tuesday insisted that despite granting greater autonomy, he plans to hang on to the territory. "There's certainly some disappointment in Kosovo over this outcome," says Calabresi. And as much as they suffer through the bitter Balkan winter, Kosovars will likely dread the onset of the season in which armies don't stand idle.
Kosovo Stand-Down
BELGRADE: Slobodan Milosevic is off the hook. While the peace deal he
signed with NATO to avert air strikes will keep Kosovo quiet through the
winter, it may not last through the spring: NATO remains poised to strike
should the Serbs fail to withdraw their forces or otherwise misbehave. But the last-minute accord struck with Richard Holbrooke
late Monday makes an
attack increasingly unlikely during the next few months. "There probably
won't be
much fighting in the winter, but then there rarely is in the Balkans," says
TIME Central Europe bureau chief Massimo Calabresi. "Don't be surprised
though if it starts up again in the spring."