The Geopolitical Dispute Causing European Kitchen Clocks to Fall Six Minutes Behind
- Serbia-Kosovo dispute lowered frequency across European Union
- Disruption caused clocks to fall behind by six minutes
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Why should a Portuguese teacher or a German baker care about a political scuffle in the Balkans? It could make them late for work.
The longstanding dispute between the two ex-Yugoslav remnants Serbia and Kosovo usually centers around ethnic tension and the former’s refusal to recognize the latter’s sovereignty. But their inability to get along is wreaking havoc in European power grids: Kosovo’s unauthorized use of Serbian electricity has squeezed the frequency in networks across the continent, causing electric clocks -- including the kinds found on many microwaves and ovens -- to fall as much as six minutes behind.