Paddy Ashdown goes back the the Balkans?

Article: Paddy Ashdown Proposed as European Special Envoy for Balkans 

Paddy Ashdown is going back to the Balkans? If they send him back, the European Union would be sending quite a powerful message. It would certainly look like they're taking the region seriously and putting their money where their mouth is. He could work out if they really are going to do that. Perhaps the Europeans wish to push relations in the region along- in recent months there has been some notable progress. There have been numerous meetings and visits between the region's leaders. The Croatian president visited Bosnia's Republika Srpska for the first time (the previous Croatian president had threatened to invade the region should it declare independence). Meanwhile the Serbian president met with Bosnia's Bosniak president in Turkey recently as well.

Despite improvements in the relationships at the top, there are still dangers in the region. Is Ashdown's "muscle" what's needed at this time?

Paddy Ashdown has quite a long history in the Balkans- and Bosnia in particular, where he led the international state building effort from 2002 to 2006. He was the longest serving High Representative and was by far the most controversial. During his time he was liberal (but not necessarily democratic) in his use of his office's powers to pass laws and fire reticent officials.

Regardless of any controversy surrounding Ashdown's  prospective role- a regional approach is the right one for the Europeans to take. People, economies and problems all cross borders in the Balkans, and the countries are not large in either population or geography. The goal in the long run is to reintegrate the region under the mantle of the EU- a map for getting there has been lacking however. As someone who spent a great deal of time reading Paddy Ashdown's speeches, I do think he can push progress in the region in the short term at least. This would have to be backed up with a clearer plan and a process for the region- which has been in somewhat of a drift for the last several years.