Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/12 March 2012/

Where is the dispute?
The dispute is at Talk:Kosovo.

Who is involved?
The list of the users involved. For example:
 * User:Bazonka
 * User:biblbroks
 * User:Bobrayner
 * User:WhiteWriter
 * User:Prodego

What is the dispute?
Users are in dispute as to whether the article Kosovo should be merged with Republic of Kosovo. This is an extremely contentious issue because of the Albanian-Serb ethnic conflict in Kosovo and xenophobia existing in the relations between the Albanian and Serb communities. Albanian users generally favour the redirect to Republic of Kosovo because they claim that the Republic of Kosovo is a legitimate sovereign state encompassing Kosovo sicne 2008 when the Republic declared its independence from Serbia. Serb users generally oppose the redirect to Republic of Kosovo, and state that the Republic of Kosovo is partially recognized and that Serb-populated North Kosovo wishes to remain with Serbia. The users User:Bobrayner, User:Prodego and User:ZjarriRrethues have spent time arguing that it should be merged into to Republic of Kosovo. The users User:Bazonka, User:biblbroks and User:WhiteWriter oppose the redirect.

What steps have you already taken to try and resolve the dispute?
I have posted my opinion on the matter, opposing the merge because I believe the merge will result in an edit war. However I believe that the situation has already reached a severely deteriorated point. There are accusations of users being involved in canvassing and sockpuppetry, and there have been multiple aggressive and xenophobic remarks made regarding users' ethnicities. Other users have mentioned the need for an administrator to review the issue.

What issues needs to be addressed to help resolve the dispute
The Albanian and Serb users have strong hostility to each other and are generally unwilling to engage in civil and constructive discussion with each other. The vote to merge the Kosovo article with the Republic of Kosovo article has become an ethnic showdown between patriotic users of Albanian and Serb descent, the yes vote is supported by Albanian users, the no vote is supported by Serb users.

What can we do to help resolve this issue?
There are three options:

(1): the mediator(s) in charge of this should neither be of Albanian nor Serb descent, nor of descent from the Balkans or the former Yugoslavia, because of the ethnic tension element of this dispute, in order to avoid accusations by Albanian or Serb users of a mediator being against them because of being affiliated with an ethnic group or country that they believe is hostile to them. The mediator(s) upon taking on this task should review the history of the reasons why the Kosovo article has been separate from the Republic of Kosovo article up to this point of discussion on reincorporating the two articles together.

(2): Bring up the discussion at Village pump to invite other users to take part in the discussion, this will help bring in users who are not personally involved in the politics of Kosovo, and do not have a POV in favour of one side or another.

(3): Should the situation look as if no consensus can be gained between the two sides, the mediator(s) in charge of this informal mediation should request formal mediation or an administrator to arbitrate a solution.

Discussion

 * Comment This debate is not as polarised between Serbs and Albanians as User:R-41 seems to imply - there are plenty of neutrals involved. The main thrust of the pro-merge argument is that the article should represent the reality on the ground, regardless of whether it is Serb or Albanian controlled. The main thrust of the opposing argument is that any merge would be a POV minefield and best avoided. Whilst most Albanians may favour the merge, and many Serbs oppose it, the neutrals are split between both arguments. The mediator should also read the discussions referenced in the FAQ section at the top of the Talk page for further background. Bazonka (talk) 07:39, 12 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Comment I second that- has nothing to do with 'animosity between Serbs and Albanians.' Such orientalist and outdated stereotypes about the people from Southeast Europe are merely being used to hide a very simple and logical point: Whenever anyone speaks of Kosovo, they are speaking of the modern-day Republic, which is disputed, off course-- that's the reason that makes any discussion about 'Kosovo' really about the modern-day Republic. Ottomanist (talk) 10:41, 17 May 2012 (UTC)