THE end of the Yugoslav wars 20 years ago left hundreds of thousands of people in states they did not regard as their own. Tough, said the peacemakers: redrawing borders would only lead to more conflict. As a result, some 120,000 Serbs remain in ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo; some 60,000 ethnic Albanians live in the Presevo valley in Serbia.

Some local leaders have long been keen on a swap, but until recently the EU and America have discouraged the idea. That has changed. Federica Mogherini is said to want an agreement on Serbian recognition of Kosovo by the end of her term as the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs next year, and a land swap could be one way of getting one. America no longer opposes the idea, according to a remark by John Bolton, the national security adviser, on August 24th. Perhaps that is thanks to Trumpian enthuiasm for doing deals, and for nationalism. Serb and Kosovar officials are also keen to hurry things along before European parliamentary elections next May, because they may herald a more populist, anti-enlargement Commission.

For more than a month, Hashim Thaci, Kosovo’s president, and Aleksandar Vucic, his Serbian opposite number, have been making ambiguous statements about a possible deal. The obvious swap is of Kosovo’s Serbian-inhabited north for Serbia’s Presevo valley, but locals are divided about whether it should, or will, happen.