The Dangers of Drift.(Kosovo)

The township of Suva Reka, in southern Kosovo, is a picturesque landscape of oak forests and vineyards, their leaves yellowing in the hazy sun of a Balkan autumn. Tile-roofed modern houses dot the hillsides and crowd the valleys, looking much as they would anywhere in rural Continental Europe.

The scene is both inspiring and oddly disconcerting. Three years ago these were mostly burned-out shells. Nearly 500 people died in the 1999 war that ravaged this place. At the center of town stands a shattered storefront, windows broken and walls pockmarked by automatic rifle fire. Serb forces executed half a dozen men across the street. When 40 women and children sought refuge here, the Serbs came and killed them, too. The youngest victim was 7 months old, the oldest more than 70.

Today this mute memorial is the only outward evidence of that ugly past. Finishing touches are being put on the town's mosque, whose minaret was toppled by a tank shell. Workers tell of finding a body moldering in a corner when they began the restoration: "Here, see the bloodstains under this carpet." An old man recounts how his family fled through the surrounding hills, villages burning behind them, as they made their way to Albania. Now they are back, rebuilding their houses and lives and finding a surprising measure of prosperity.

As a model for nation-building, Kosovo must be counted a success--but it is by no means assured. In late October, Kosovars voted for the third consecutive year in an election run by the United Nations mission, choosing local leaders to tend to municipal affairs--roads, sewers, health and education. Turnout was low--about 55 percent of registered voters--but even that was a sign of returning normalcy. The next day the leader of the victorious party--Suva Reka's mayor--was gunned down by a political rival.

Clearly, Kosovo has far to go. Yes, democracy has taken hold. The ethnic violence among Serbs and Albanians that once seemed epidemic has all but disappeared. Yet a shadow hangs over Kosovo, as it does over much of the Balkans. It has little to do with the challenges of reconstruction, substantial as those may be. It grows instead from the fact that the region's future lies increasingly in the hands of Europe- -and that the EU may not be up to the task.

Blerim Shala, publisher of a leading Kosovo newspaper, sketches out a worrisome scenario. Iraq, Afghanistan, the war on terror: with ...