A century ago the Balkans was the flashpoint that ignited world war. Today it is in danger of becoming the graveyard of European unity once more. Country after country on the route from Greece to northern Europe has put national self-interest above solidarity with its neighbours, and above all, solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of human beings, desperate and determined, who have fled to Europe from the Middle East. This winter whole families have been left stranded in muddy fields without food, water or shelter as border after border has been closed to them. Men, women and children have been dispersed with water cannon and tear gas. As the weather warms up and the flow of refugees is likely to increase, there is once more a humanitarian catastrophe in the making. Meanwhile politic