The weather has finally warmed up enough to open the doors and windows in the night to let the fresh Pristina air (did I just say that?!) in at night. But with the fresh air comes the noises of the city, like Jeff Dunham’s Walter so succinctly put it Pristina is a city that “needs a frickin’ nap”. First there was the neighbor’s car alarm which intermittently was going off , then a concert up until midnight somewhere in the city that allowed the noise to flow up the hill of Dragodan and provide me with what seemed to be a front-row seat to some sort of Albanian rap music (I can die happy now!), and then finally the street dogs of Dragodan started up with a chorus of barking, fighting, and howling. Armed with a half-empty bottle of water I went out on the balcony to look for the offending dogs but alas, they were too far away to scare off, so I gave them a stern look and said “Shut Up!” Now finally at 0200 the city has quieted down and perhaps I will be able to crawl back into my bed and attempt sleeping again!
There has been quite a bit of news since I last updated. Work and having an active social life has made updating a little bit harder but things are starting to slow down now that UNMIK had done the initial downsizing so hopefully I will be able to keep everyone updated a bit more regularly again
One of the more recent and interesting news tidbits comes in the form of the former Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku being expelled from Columbia following a request to execute an Interpol warrant stemming from Serbia where Ceku is accused of war crimes against Serbs and non-Albanians during the 1998-1999 war. In response to the expulsion, Kosovo has requested Interpol to dismiss warrants originating in Serbia against Kosovo citizens.
Violent protests continue over electricity cut-offs in villages and the reconstruction efforts of Albanians in the north of Kosovo. Last Sunday some 26 people were injured when a clash over electricity in 14 Serbian villages which are requesting Serbia to provide them with power as they do not wish to pay their Kosovo electric bills. In the north, nearly every day protestors clash with the police and are tear gassed by EULEX police, who have been praised for the handling of the situation.
And finally, two bits of news about the Kosovo government and police, last Wednesday a call from a “Western country” was placed to the Kosovo government threatening that several bombs had been placed in the Kosovo government building prompting police condones and evacuation of staff. The week before that some 47 kilos of heroin and thousands of Euros disappeared from the secured KPS evidence room and now two KPS officers have been suspended pending an investigation.
There has been quite a bit of news since I last updated. Work and having an active social life has made updating a little bit harder but things are starting to slow down now that UNMIK had done the initial downsizing so hopefully I will be able to keep everyone updated a bit more regularly again
One of the more recent and interesting news tidbits comes in the form of the former Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku being expelled from Columbia following a request to execute an Interpol warrant stemming from Serbia where Ceku is accused of war crimes against Serbs and non-Albanians during the 1998-1999 war. In response to the expulsion, Kosovo has requested Interpol to dismiss warrants originating in Serbia against Kosovo citizens.
Violent protests continue over electricity cut-offs in villages and the reconstruction efforts of Albanians in the north of Kosovo. Last Sunday some 26 people were injured when a clash over electricity in 14 Serbian villages which are requesting Serbia to provide them with power as they do not wish to pay their Kosovo electric bills. In the north, nearly every day protestors clash with the police and are tear gassed by EULEX police, who have been praised for the handling of the situation.
And finally, two bits of news about the Kosovo government and police, last Wednesday a call from a “Western country” was placed to the Kosovo government threatening that several bombs had been placed in the Kosovo government building prompting police condones and evacuation of staff. The week before that some 47 kilos of heroin and thousands of Euros disappeared from the secured KPS evidence room and now two KPS officers have been suspended pending an investigation.
