2021 Balkan non-papers

The 2021 Balkan non-papers were two documents of unknown origin, with several sources claiming that they had been drafted by the government of Slovenia,^[1][2][3] which carried proposals for the redrawing of borders in Southeastern Europe. The first non-paper called for the "peaceful dissolution" of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the annexation of Republika Srpska and great parts of Herzegovina and Central Bosnia into a Greater Serbia and Greater Croatia, leaving a small Bosniak state in what is central and western Bosnia,^[4][5] as well as the unification of Albania and Kosovo. The story about the first non-paper was first published by Bosnian web portal politicki.ba on 12 April 2021.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} The existence of the first non-paper was initially disputed, with Albanian prime minister Edi Rama being one of the few to claim to have been shown it.^[11][12][13] The Slovenian website Necenzurirano published the alleged non-paper on 15 April 2021.^[14]

The first non-paper's plans and ideas were heavily criticized and reacted to by many political leaders from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, North Macedonia, as well as by politicians from the European Union and Russia. A second non-paper, which first appeared in Kosovo's Albanian-language media in April 2021, proposed that Serbia recognize Kosovo's independence by February 2022 and that Serb-majority North Kosovo be granted autonomy in return for Serbia's recognition.^[15]