Today, Kosovo and Serbia are in discussions to swap lands and end all the conflict that has tormented their countries since the 90’s.

Kosovo and Serbia are located in Eastern Europe, considered The Balkans. Kosovo gained independence from Serbia 10 years ago on February 17, 2008. The war started because Yugoslavia broke up and Serbia gained control of Kosovo. Kosovo was an Albanian majority country.

The Albanians didn’t want to be under control by another ethnicity. So Kosovo wanted to become independent from Serbia, but Serbia refused. That is when the conflict started.

Serbian soldiers went into Kosovo and raided the country and went to peoples houses. Although, today Serbia still has a hard time getting over the fact that Kosovo is not part of their country anymore.

To this day this conflict continues to plague the two. It was 10 years ago and people still hold grudges about the war.

The Serbian President Aleksander Vucic and Kosovo President Hashim Thaci are in talks that will Satisfy both Serbians and Albanians. They want to do a land swap. The Albanians will take control of Presevo Valley, where a majority of ethnic Albanians live, and Serbia would take Mitrovica, which is north of Kosovo.

Mitrovica is split up into two parts and there is a bridge dividing it. Serbians would take the Serbian side of Mitrovice.

People believe that after all the conflict between Serbians and Albanians this would bring peace to both.

On a BBC source it said, “If there were a consensual agreement between two sides, it would open the way for a full normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina and allow Kosovo finally to become a member of the United Nations.”

This was said by a proponent.

If the conflict with Serbia and Kosovo come to an end, Kosovo has a higher chance of becoming part of the United Nations, which President Hashim Thaci wants.

The nations will receive an equal amount of land to control. At this time, Serbia doesn’t know how much of Presevo Valley they are going to give to Kosovo.

According to the  New York Times, “Serbia’s Presevo Valley is reportedly home to some 60,000 ethnic Albanians and is comparable in size to Northern Kosovo. How much of this area Serbia might transfer to Kosovo is unclear.”

Albanians and Serbians that are against the land swap fear that this will bring up another conflict or war than bring the Albanians and Serbians together. However, the European Union did make it clear that if Kosovo and Serbia want to join the Union they need to normalize stuff with each other. President Vucic and President Thaci have to work through all the obstacles together so they can both get what they want at the end of the day, peace, for both their countries and people.