The Albin Kurti Comedy Tour

Despite re-opening the case for the February 2007 riots against Vetevendosje leader, Albin Kurti, EULEX has failed to hold a court hearing due to the defense lawyers refusing to cooperate and the failure of the Kosovo Police to execute an arrest warrant for Kurti.  The announcement of the trial’s postponement have become more of a normal occurence rather than a surprise.  The trial against Albin Kurti looks more to be turning into a drawn out demonstration of a lack of willingness of Kosovo officials (both police and justice) for stepping outside their personal politicial beliefs and opinions and getting down to doing their job.
Yes, there is a petition with 175,000 signatures against the EULEX case against Albin Kurti but in refusing to cooperate or recognize the legitimacy of the court proceedings is quite like the stand taken by both Slobodan Milosevic and Karadic against ICTY.  So does that mean that because we don’t like the case being prosecuted we can just refuse to show up at court and throw eggs at the appointed defense lawyers who are just trying to do the job they’ve been given?  I somehow don’t think that this attitude would fly in a normal functioning society!  Albin Kurti is missing an opportunity to show the international community that as proclaimed by the masses he is innocent of wrong-doing but refusing to show up in court does not go far in conveying that message.

The Joy of Being an International in Kosovo

The weather has quite sucked today with pouring rain.  Naturally traffic backed up because quite simply with all the pollution in Kosovo, the roads become quite slick when the water hits the fine coal dust from Obilic and the local population often fails to adjust their driving speed and skills to the changing weather conditions.  Even more interesting, there often is an attitude of “this is my world, you are just living in it”

A good example of this is the accident that my husband Troy had today while sitting at a red light.  Normally when you are third in line at a red light you don’t have to worry about any traffic hitting you but alas, someone managed today which probably should be recorded in some record book somewhere in the category “Seriously?  I mean seriously?!”

So sitting third back in a line of traffic, Troy got hit in the front passenger panel by a vehicle trying to cut in from the side.  With a median in the way and the huge blue EULEX patrol sitting in line, the man driving didn’t have anywhere to go and evidently was too impatient to wait for traffic to pull up so he proceeded to drive into the side of the EULEX car.  Now the story interestingly enough does not end there!
After proceeding to scratch the side of the Patrol, the offender made eye contact with Troy, backed up, and then left acceleration marks as he took off the opposite direction!  Probably the first time I’ve heard of a person leaving tire tracks away from the scene of the accident.  Oh yeah, and the story continues from there.  EULEX Security shows up and so does KPS.

KPS tells the three international police officers that they do not believe the accident happened the way that they have been told, oh yeah except the guy who caused the accident fled the scene.  Naturally telling a carful of police officers that they are lying went over well.  So continuing in the accident report, Troy and his colleagues managed to get the license plate of the vehicle that hit them.  But of course, KPS has an answer for that too and says that their vehicle registration database is inaccurate so they probably won’t be able to find out who caused the accident.  So basically, hit & run accident, KPS doesn’t feel like doing any work and there probably will be no outcome for the report.  In short, if you want to drive like a kamikazi and play bumper cars in traffic, do it in a KS-plated vehicle and flee the scene of the accident because KPS won’t believe the person reporting the accident and won’t investigate the license plate because their database is supposedly so outdated that all the information must be wrong :P

Kosovo Government Reshuffles

Rumored to be in response to recent criticisms over corruption, on 31 March six (6) Kosovo ministers were sacked and replaced within the Kosovo government by the Kosovo PM Haschim Thaci (the Kosovo President, Fatmir Sejdiu denies involvement in the reshuffle).  Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprising, is that the minister alleged to be the most corrupt, Fatmir Limaj, remains in place with no changes.  The ministers of culture, health, justice, and the general director of the Kosovo Police Service were all fired with little official explanation although it is rumored to be for low performance.

Corruption in Kosovo

For a while now, corruption has been big in the headlines of Kosovo news.  An unnamed minister is accussed of stealing millions of Euros and when Kosovo PM Haschim Thaci was presented with the evidence, it is reported that he was “unconvinced“.  This has resulted in opposition leader, Ramush Haridinaj, to cry foul and lead to speculation that the high level government corruption starts with Thaci himself.

The sudden focus on tackling corruption can stem from several sources.  One is the reluctance of foreign investors in Kosovo who are scared away by the high level of corruption not just in business but also the top levels of the Kosovo government.  Another reason is that it has been two years since Kosovo declared independence.  The main focus of politics before now was the declaration of independence itself and creation of a consitution.  Now the Kosovo people have their independence and are looking to focus their attention on other pressing political matters that affect their daily lives.

For years, watch groups have issued report after report on the rampant corruption in Kosovo but now it seems people are finally starting to pay attention and demand action.  It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Kosovo politics.

Minor Earthquake Rattles Kosovo

A minor 4.8 magnitude earthquake centered near Istog/Zubin Potok (depending on the source) occurred yesterday at approximately 1435 hours.  Minor building damage has been reported at schools and the Mitrovica Districit Court and Police Station prompting the closure of the buildings until a safety inspection can be carried out.  Both UNMIK and EULEX evacuated staff from buildings for some time after the quake.

NATO and KSF have reported that the temporary freeze on cooperation has ended following a disagreement on KSF display of weapons at a KLA Commemoration ceremony.  According to a statement released by KFOR, KSF will continue to be able to carry weapons at ceremonial occassions with the agreement of the KFOR commander.  KFOR also reiterated that KSF does not have a military or defensive role as that task is being handled by NATO at this time.

MTCowgirl’s Kosovo News

• World Bank gives Kosovo its first loan
• US pulls 570 troops out of Kosovo as NATO restructures
• Kosovo, Belgium sign investment protection agreement
• New wave of threats against journalists in Kosovo
• UNMIK SRSG wants to tackle simple problems first
• Kosovo’s first census coming in 2011
• Haradinaj points finger at Thaci for corruption

MTCowgirl’s Interesting Articles/Commentary

• Albin Kurti, Guardian of Flame of Kosovo Nationalism
• Tension between recognizing and relativising war crimes
• Kosovo, the “Forgotten” Conflict
• Curtain yet to rise on Kosovo’s Stand-up Comedy
• Balkans:  Operation Sledgehammer busted

NATO Withdraws Support for KSF

Following the involvement of armed KSF members in the 5-7 March Nights of Fire, a commemoration of the Kosovo Liberation Army, NATO has announced that it has suspended its support of the Kosovo Security Forces.  Reportedly, KSF had agreed with NATO to participate without weapons but later violated the agreement when members of a honor guard appeared armed in violation of the agreement and the non-military status that KSF was founded upon last year.  NATO also protested the usage of its flag during the commemoration as the organization has taken a neutral stance towards Kosovo’s declaration of independence.  Kosovo leaders have reacted to the announcement calling for clarification and chiding NATO in saying “nobody should expect Kosovo not to behave like a sovereign state“.

On the lighter side, I’m happy to welcome London Taxi Service to the streets of Pristina.  Now officially my favorite taxi service, London Taxi Service has taken the streets of Pristina by storm, drawing both praise and criticism.  Taxi drivers from established companies have complained because the municipality has done little to curb illegal taxis and they accussed the municaplity of giving preferential treatment because of the alleged company ownership by the President’s son.  But all the politics aside, I have found London Taxi Service to be both very prompt and just as affordable as all the other legitimate taxi services.  Plus there’s something special about pulling up to your house or dinner in the stylish London cabs!  Give them a call at 044 300 300

French FM Calls VOA Reporter “Insane”

The Society for Families of Kidnapped and Missing Persons in Kosovo have accussed former UNMIK SRSG and current French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, of insulting Serb victims after he called a Voice of America reporter “insane” following questions on alleged organ trafficking.  According to news on the incident, Kouchner responded to a question on alleged organ traficking in Kosovo by laughing at the reporter and telling the reporter he was “sick” and that “People who talk about things like that are bums and murderers“.  The incident has been reported to the International Federation of Journalist and the Serbian association of journalists have requested an explanation from France concerning Kouchner’s unprofessionalism.  Perhaps most shockingly in Kouchner’s response, he appeared to have little knowledge of the case of human organ traficking at the infamous “Yellow House” which is reported to have happened while Kouchner was SRSG in Kosovo.

MTCowgirl’s Kosovo News

• Kosovo rules out status talks with Serbia
• Gallup poll registers optimism and challenges in Kosovo
• UNMIK SRSG meets with Serb Minister for Kosovo
• Kosovo appoints Ambassador to Macedonia
• Kosovo and Bulgaria sign energy deal