Going Slow in Kosovo

I had to steal my blog title from an article in the Economist. The article discusses the situation in Kosovo and questions whether or not the Hong Kong model would work and the power struggle between the US & Russia.  But overall, the title seems to best describe the process in Kosovo...sloooooooow!  I have heard countless years of declarations and estimations of when Kosovo's status will be resolved or when Kosovo will be independent yet still things remain the same.  This winter should be interesting and I hope to stay here through the changes :)
The conflict in Kosovo has gone all the way to football (soccer).  Serbia has officially opposed the Kosovo Soccer Association playing international matches as a national team.  The Serbian Football Association plans to lodge a complaint with FIFA and UEFA and wants the Kosovo association first to receive permission to play as a national team.

There has been a series of arrests at the Pristina Airport over false documents.  A few KPS officers along with regular civilians, and an airport employee have been arrested in connection to a ring producing and selling Slovenian travel documents.  In total, six people have been arrested in the past week for involvement in the ring.  A KPS Border Police officer is accused of assisting people using the fake documents to cross the border.

Two of the August Dubrava escapees were re-arrested in Pristina on Friday.  During the search operations, several items of interest were confiscated including sub-machine guns and silences in addition to pistols and several boxes of ammunition.  The sister of one of the escapees, a KPS officer, was also arrested under suspicion of aiding & abetting a fugitive along with two Kosovo-Albanians and an Albanian citizen (errr, how would you politically correct identify a citizen of Albanian in comparison to Kosovo Albanian???  Would it be K-Albanian and normal Albanian???  Somehow that doesn't sound quite right!)

Other Kosovo News...

• Fears of violence in Kosovo tug-of-war, would also make a good blog title, this article discussed the recent TV broadcast of the ANA and recent news that countries are being asked to take in Serbian refugees
• Croatia asked to take in Kosovo Serb refugees and keep them out of EU/NATO territories if Kosovo flares up
• Kosovo leaders warn against extremism
• Albanian National Army (ANA) video gathers much attention and PDSRSG questions authenticity
• US donates $1 million for restoration of historical sites in Kosovo including religious sites and Ottoman baths
• Romanian police acquitted for involvement in deadly Feb 2007 riot

MTCowgirl's Interesting Articles...

• From Military Disaster to Moral High Ground, an opinion-editorial that looks at Kosovo and Iraq
• Kosovo PM Agim Ceku states he is ready to forgive but not forget (reminds me of the song by Garth Brooks where he sings that they "bury the hatchet with the handle sticking out" *grin*)