The Territory and the Respect for Borders, as a Condition for the Peace and Stability in the Balkans

States cannot be considered as such, if lacking these two elements: their population and their territory. The territory of a state consists of what is called the opportunity for development, advancement, and well-being of its citizens. But territories cannot be considered occupied or not, unless people live in them. Thus, people, not territories, are the object and subject of conquests and rulers, of governance and self-governance. All Balkan conflicts are caused by disputes over territories. They are often referred to as ethnic or religious conflicts, but, in fact, they were and they still remain conflicts over territories. These conflicts neither were nor appeared as civil wars for social or religious reasons, but they were ethnic wars. Therefore, the establishment and continuation of the peace process depends both on mutual respect of the Balkan states for their territorial integrity, as well as on respect for minorities. The current discussion on the modification of the Kosovo borders, as well as the tendency that Serbia gains territories from Kosovo in exchange for resolving the Albanian-Serbian conflict, is a precedent for a new chain of conflicts in the Balkans. The reasons why there can be no such solution to the conflict between Kosovo and Serbia are numerous. But the main one is that all states would gain the right to change borders in favor of creating ethnically purified societies. Any change of borders in Europe, but also elsewhere sets a precedent for further changes. The aim of this paper is to lay the argument why the modification of borders between Kosovo and Serbia has no ground in the international law and, to make clear the danger that such modification produces for the peace, stability, and security in the Balkans and beyond.