A couple weeks ago, the Kosovo parliament passed new legislation in regards to traffic laws which prohibited cell phone usage without hands-free headsets, required headlights at all times, requires seat-belt usage, prohibits stopping on pedestrian walkways or failing to stop for pedestrians, and finally prohibited heavy trucks from using the roads with muddy tires. But after a couple of weeks of being in effect, MTCowgirl is wondering what good is passing laws if there is no one around who is willing to enforce them?! I still see vehicles zipping by pedestrians (or nearly running them over) daily, kids bouncing around the backseats of vehicles with no car-seats or belts, and honestly it's hard to find a driver in Kosovo that doesn't have a mobile phone glued to their ear. In fact, a common sight is seeing a guy smoking with one hand and holding a cell phone with the other while driving down the road :o) If the Kosovo government is looking for a bit of pick-up in the budget, they should think about getting the police to start writing tickets for traffic offenses rather than drinking macchiato (or jaywalking in front of the police station...if the police can't obey the laws how can they except the ordinary citizens to have any respect for them or the police???)
The question still remains about what's going on with UNMIK. The EU has announced that it will
close down Pillar IV of UNMIK by the end of June. UNMIK staff have been invited to attend a meeting with the SRSG on Wednesday to discuss the political developments (Nada!) and the "reconfiguration" of the mission. The UN Secretary-General has stated that UN Security Council Resolution 1244 is
still in force in Kosovo. And there are also some rumors floating around that both SRSG Ruecker and PDSRSG Rossin have
threatened to resign over NY's refusal of Mitrovica regional administrator Gerard Galluci.
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