Whew...I just finished going back and correcting the old posts that showed up blank. Hopefully I got all of them :)
In the news, with the upcoming elections, Thaci has been called out by the European Parliament for Kosovo representative, Ulrike Lunacek, over his promise that Kosovo would have visa liberalization within 15 months of his re-election. Thaci has also promised to raise salaries which directly violates Kosovo's agreement with the IMF over the amount of Kosovo's GDP that goes towards salaries. Of course, this wouldn't be the first time that a politician has made false promises but I'm not sure if they have been so publicly refuted!
28 November marks Flag Day in Kosovo. Several Vetevendosje activists were arrested in Lipjan during the celebrations for replacing the state flags of Kosovo with Albanian flags. Vetevendosje activists in Gjakova prevented other members from being arrested and said that the police of "insulted the activists, the whole movement and leader Albin Kurti, calling him a pro-Serb element." Ummm, yeah, isn't this the same guy that's running on a platform of Albanian unification and Greater Albania???
After news emerged about Enver Sekiraqa living free in Ireland, he reportedly has been arrested and is being held by Irish police. However, Kosovo may face difficulty over extraditing him to stand trial for crimes committed in Kosovo as there currently is no extradition treaty between Ireland and Kosovo. Does this all sound a bit familiar?
Al-Jazeera has published an interesting article about how Kosovars tolerate fake marriages to obtain residency and citizenship abroad. According to the article, Kosovar men often divorce their Kosovar wives, go abroad and marry Westerners until they get residency. Then they divorce their second wives and bring their Kosovar families abroad with them.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Oops!
Well, it looks like something went wrong when I was adding my historical posts and many of the older ones showed up blank. I'll have to go back and try to update them again...
Friday, November 26, 2010
Done Re-Posting Historical Posts!
Whew, it took awhile but I am officially finished posting all my historical posts dating back to 2002!!! I'd like to welcome any new visitors to the blog and hope that I can continue updating on a regular basis!!! As I said a few days ago, with the upcoming elections and talks with Serbia...these are exciting times for Kosovo and the future is wide open!!! Now that the historical posts are done, I will be adding my Kosovo Photo Albums to share :)
A representative from Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will be conducting a fact-finding mission in Kosovo at the end of November. The focus will be on the political situation and the positions of the communities in Kosovo (if you remember, Serbia is encouraging all Serbs to boycott the election in December).
The results of the vote in Rahovac has been certified by the Election Commission. As a result of the AAK complaint about missing votes, a re-count was held and the results corrected to show LDK and AAK leading in the number of votes with PDK in third place. A run-off election between LDK and AAK will be held now in the coming weeks.
More than 150 election experts from Europe have arrived in Kosovo to monitor both the campaign and voting process for the 12 December snap elections. In other election news, LDK head Isa Mustafa has joined in criticism of Acting Kosovo President Jakup Krasniqi regarding Krasniqi's involvement in campaigning for PDK while holding office. Mustafa has stated that Krasniqi is breaching the Kosovo constitution and called for PM Haschim Thaci's resignation in wake of the Rahovac election. Also in the news, AAK has announced that they expect leader Ramush Haradinaj to return to Kosovo before the selection of the post of Prime Minister. Haradinaj is currently awaiting retrial in the Hague for war crimes although he was previously acquitted of the same charges. It was added that AAK expects the Haradinaj trial to be concluded by March if not earlier.
MTCowgirl's Kosovo News
A representative from Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will be conducting a fact-finding mission in Kosovo at the end of November. The focus will be on the political situation and the positions of the communities in Kosovo (if you remember, Serbia is encouraging all Serbs to boycott the election in December).
The results of the vote in Rahovac has been certified by the Election Commission. As a result of the AAK complaint about missing votes, a re-count was held and the results corrected to show LDK and AAK leading in the number of votes with PDK in third place. A run-off election between LDK and AAK will be held now in the coming weeks.
More than 150 election experts from Europe have arrived in Kosovo to monitor both the campaign and voting process for the 12 December snap elections. In other election news, LDK head Isa Mustafa has joined in criticism of Acting Kosovo President Jakup Krasniqi regarding Krasniqi's involvement in campaigning for PDK while holding office. Mustafa has stated that Krasniqi is breaching the Kosovo constitution and called for PM Haschim Thaci's resignation in wake of the Rahovac election. Also in the news, AAK has announced that they expect leader Ramush Haradinaj to return to Kosovo before the selection of the post of Prime Minister. Haradinaj is currently awaiting retrial in the Hague for war crimes although he was previously acquitted of the same charges. It was added that AAK expects the Haradinaj trial to be concluded by March if not earlier.
MTCowgirl's Kosovo News
- Leading figure in Kosovo organized crime living in Ireland
- 20 displaced families receive keys to new homes in Kosovo
- Kosovo Supreme Court upholds war crimes sentence
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
The Updating Continues!!!
Well, today I was able to finish uploading posts from 2006. I have included a few posts from earlier years but am still not finished with 2004-2005 yet...but hopefully soon!!!
Bajram Asllani, a convicted terrorist wanted in the US, has hit the news again. For those that don't remember, EU judges rejected a request from the US to extradite Asllani for trial in the US as Kosovo does not have any extradition treaty with the US.
MTCowgirl's Kosovo News
Bajram Asllani, a convicted terrorist wanted in the US, has hit the news again. For those that don't remember, EU judges rejected a request from the US to extradite Asllani for trial in the US as Kosovo does not have any extradition treaty with the US.
MTCowgirl's Kosovo News
- Serbia shifting West, Away from Russia
- Study predicts PDK victory in snap-elections
- Thaci increases salaries for teachers
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Shots Fired at EULEX Vehicle in Downtown Pristina
This morning, a window in an EULEX vehicle was reportedly shot out not far from the downtown Police headquarters. The possibility that the window was damaged by a rock is also being explored. It is not yet known if the vehicle or the senior police official in the vehicle were specifically targeted. No one was injured in the attack.
In other Kosovo news, extraordinary mayoral elections following the resignation of the mayor in July for personal reasons in the town of Rahovec/Orahovac did not result in a clear winner and run-offs are expected. LDK beat both PDK and AAK out by a small margin. AAK has presented documents which they claim prove that they had a larger percentage of the votes cast than what was reported and are stating that they should be participating in the run-off instead of PDK.
Also in election news, Acting President Jakup Krasniqi has been asked to stop campaigning ahead of the 12 December snap elections by a Kosovo NGO which believes his involvement in a political party could be a violation of the Kosovo constitution. While being under investigation is not an indication of guilt, senior international officials and Kosovo-based groups have criticized the number of candidates appearing on the election rolls that have pending court cases. A group of Serbian political parties have jointly published a list of candidates for the east of Kosovo. While Serbia has encouraged a boycott of the elections, the Kosovo government and some Kosovo-Serbian political parties are urging participation lest the community be left without full representation in the new government.
After being arrested back in July on charges of corruption, Kosovo's Central Bank governer Haschim Rexhepi has been released on bail of 20,000 Euros. The trial for Rexhepi is expected to start within the next six months to a year.
After leading a revolt against the Serbian Orthodox Church, the ultra-nationalist and renegade Arch-Bishop Artemije has been stripped of his ranks by the church and escorted by police out of the monastery that he and his supporters broke into to hold mass.
In other Kosovo news, extraordinary mayoral elections following the resignation of the mayor in July for personal reasons in the town of Rahovec/Orahovac did not result in a clear winner and run-offs are expected. LDK beat both PDK and AAK out by a small margin. AAK has presented documents which they claim prove that they had a larger percentage of the votes cast than what was reported and are stating that they should be participating in the run-off instead of PDK.
Also in election news, Acting President Jakup Krasniqi has been asked to stop campaigning ahead of the 12 December snap elections by a Kosovo NGO which believes his involvement in a political party could be a violation of the Kosovo constitution. While being under investigation is not an indication of guilt, senior international officials and Kosovo-based groups have criticized the number of candidates appearing on the election rolls that have pending court cases. A group of Serbian political parties have jointly published a list of candidates for the east of Kosovo. While Serbia has encouraged a boycott of the elections, the Kosovo government and some Kosovo-Serbian political parties are urging participation lest the community be left without full representation in the new government.
After being arrested back in July on charges of corruption, Kosovo's Central Bank governer Haschim Rexhepi has been released on bail of 20,000 Euros. The trial for Rexhepi is expected to start within the next six months to a year.
After leading a revolt against the Serbian Orthodox Church, the ultra-nationalist and renegade Arch-Bishop Artemije has been stripped of his ranks by the church and escorted by police out of the monastery that he and his supporters broke into to hold mass.
Moving Time...
It seems like it is time for transition again. Thanks to my dad, I found that I could continue blogging about Kosovo without having to pay for web-hosting and a domain name each year (yea, Dad!) I am sure that regular followers have noticed that I have not been blogging quite as frequently as I once did and that can be attributed with life interfering with the "quality" time I spend on the internet :) So far I have managed to add all my blog posts from 2008-Present and I will continue to add previous year posts over the next weeks (they go back quite a ways...this blog was started in 2001, my first year living in Kosovo!!!)
There have been quite a few major events since I last blogged including but not limited to the melt-down of the Kosovo government and upcoming snap elections on 12 December 2010 (which will be the first since the 2008 declaration of independence!!!) These are interesting and exciting times in Kosovo and for regular followers I promise to try to do better at updating the information here :)
MTCowgirl's Kosovo News
MTCowgirl's Interesting News Articles/Commentary
There have been quite a few major events since I last blogged including but not limited to the melt-down of the Kosovo government and upcoming snap elections on 12 December 2010 (which will be the first since the 2008 declaration of independence!!!) These are interesting and exciting times in Kosovo and for regular followers I promise to try to do better at updating the information here :)
MTCowgirl's Kosovo News
- Seven arrested in connection with Kosovo organ trafficking ring
- Kosovo faces first major political test as government collapses
- Kosovo Government Falls
MTCowgirl's Interesting News Articles/Commentary
- Kosovo News Agency abandons reporter to threats
- Kosovo politics could see a shift
- How James Blunt prevented World War 3 in Kosovo
- Greater Albania idea enjoys massive support in Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia
- Kosovo PM Thaci faces slander lawsuit from Vetevendosje activist
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