BIRN features an article about KLA fighters who are growing restless and threatening to take up arms for Kosovo. But one would wonder, who exactly do they plan to take arms up against? Since there are no Serbian military units left, would the KLA target Serbian civilians? Or would the KLA try to take on NATO, a fight they'd surely lose? Hmmmm...
An opinion article in Russia's RIA Novosti criticizes recent statements by EU officials and discusses the perceived threat to international law in Kosovo. The article seems to be a response to recent statements by the spokesperson for Javier Solano who stated that if the UN cannot find a solution the EU may take matters into their own hands.
It appears that there were no conclusive results on Kosovo during the meetings between Bush and Putin. The presidency of the Security Council has also changed to China at the beginning of July and it looks like decisions on status are going to be put off until September at the earliest. There is still hope that the US and Russia will be able to reach some sort of agreement but in the meantime leaders are urging Pristina and Belgrade to engage in negotiations.
In a strange snippet in the news, Kosovo police have stepped up security and detained a man who allegedly made threats against US interests in Kosovo. The man reported that masked men with guns approached him and forced him to act out against the "interests of a foreign state" but the police believe that the report is false and are holding the man pending an investigation.
Another odd item to report is that during yesterday's US contingent medal parade, those giving speeches were instructed that they could not use the word "independence" due to the current tensions. Ummm, but the holiday is called Independence Day! So I guess in the age of political correctness, we will no longer be able to refer to our national holiday as Independence Day because it might offend someone's delicate sensibilities in Kosovo.
It is disappointing to report that Kosovo is going ahead with plans to exterminate dogs in Pristina by shooting them. The government has set aside 10,000 Euros for the program that involves two companies. One vet interviewed said the best option would be to open a shelter...but duh, there's already a shelter! Listening to gunshots in the middle of the night is not really therapeutic to citizens who have recently gone through a war. Plus there are the fact that it is always the friendly dogs that are killed first because the aggressive dogs are less likely to come near humans and more difficult to shoot. Then if you wound an aggressive dog, the problem is exuberated because now the dog knows that humans will hurt him. Why the Kosovo government couldn't take the money and invest it in a program to capture and humanely take care of the problem is beyond me.
