A quote from Harry de Quetteville in The Daily Telegraph, 19 February 2008

Kosovo's new national flag, in thinly disguised tribute to the EU, is blue and yellow and festooned with stars. But few Kosovans seem very enthusiastic about brandishing the symbol of their new state. Perhaps their affection will come with time, once they get over the dreary inoffensiveness of the new emblem. But perhaps not.

For Kosovans, whatever their ethnicity, already have a flag, whether the tricolour of Serbia or the red and black of Albania. Kosovo's new flag must now do battle for the affections of locals with these fetishistically popular colours. It seems unlikely to win any time soon. This mismatched fight of the flags sums up the size of the task facing Europe in its stewardship of Kosovo.

The new flag advertises the following: Kosovo, as an independent, tolerant, multi-ethnic state, quickly wants to join the European Union, which has bent over backwards to remind everyone that the new country creates no "precedent" for other separatist movements.

The problem is that is just not true. Those who encouraged Kosovo's independence have an interpretation of nationhood that is fundamentally at odds with that of those who are now independent. For Kosovo's backers in London, Brussels and Washington, a nation is defined by "values": by how people behave. But in Kosovo, what counts is "identity": who you are, what you speak and look like, how you worship.