Sunday, December 28, 2008

Happy Holidays

With Serbia refusing to accept goods with a Republic of Kosovo customs stamp, the Kosovo government has announced that they may start barring goods from Serbia. Honestly in times of troubled economy I don’t see how the tit-for-tat restrictions on goods will benefit Serbia or Kosovo but that’s what’s new :) Well, that and Kosovo has said that it may bar Serbian officials from coming into Kosovo.

Allegations of corruption in the United Nations are nothing new however reports have emerged that UN and local officials squandered and stole some 400 million Euros destined for the energy sector. Another scathing article featuring information from former UNMIK employee Jim Wasserstrom states that the UN is not serious about cleaning up its act regarding misconduct and corruption.

Meanwhile, the roles of UNMIK and EULEX continue to be defined amid the confusion as to who does what. News sources report that UNMIK will continue to represent Kosovo abroad while Kosovo government officials say “Ni” and that Kosovo government officials will be representing Kosovo. Serbia has stated that it will intervene in the UN if EULEX fails to properly carry out its mandate. In the meantime, EULEX has taken over its first two organized crime cases in the municipal courts. The transition of the court in North Mitrovica has resulted in demonstrations on Christmas morning with Serbian justice workers protesting their inability to return to work.

MTCowgirl’s Interesting Articles/Commentary
As usual, a small disclaimer :) These articles do not necessarily reflect my personal opinion but are posted for informational purposes only as I found them “interesting”.