Moving Past the Last Balkan War The conflict, which pitted Serbia against its former province of Kosovo, and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority against its ethnic Serbian minority, burst into war between NATO and Serbia in 1999 and remains a potential flash point. The compromise solution skillfully and patiently negotiated by the European Union's top diplomat, Catherine Ashton, makes it possible for both countries to move forward economically and, not incidentally, pursue their bids for European Union membership. One feature gives Kosovo's Serbs limited autonomy over health care and education and representation in top police posts and courts in areas where they predominate while preserving the Kosovo government's overall legal authority. Another is an understanding that neither government will stand in the way of the other's admission to the European Union. Serbia has not yet agreed to officially recognize Kosovo, but it has now taken important first steps. The United States played no direct role in these negotiations, but it should be very pleased with the outcome. No country has done more over the years - first to organize NATO's protection of Kosovars from Serbian atrocities, and then to sponsor Kosovo's emergence as an independent state, now recognized by more than 90 countries. Last week's agreement, if fully carried out, promises a more constructive future for both the winners and losers of the 1999 war.