EULEX continues to have rocky relations with the local population and Kosovo citizens are quickly losing faith in the European Union's largest mission. A report by IPOL shows that the mission has been losing its crediblity with the local population and has dropped to its 2008 levels when the mission first deployed to Kosovo. Inactivity and ignorance were words used to describe the mission as Kosovo celebrated Europe Day on 10 May 2011. Even the head of the International Civilian Office, Peter Feith, has expressed his disappointment in EULEX during an interview with Kosovo paper Zeri. The former chief of the Economic and Fiscal Affairs Unit in the International Civilian Office (ICO), Andrea Lorenzo Capussela, published an article in the Guardian titled "Eulex in Kosovo: A shining symbol of incompetence" and then was interviewed by Transitions Online about his criticism of the EULEX mission as being overrun with politicial agenda.
Following the EULEX arrests of ten former KLA fighters for war crimes and the non-arrest of former Minister Fatmir Limaj due to diplomatic immunity, the KLA veterans group has urged its members not to recognize the authority of EULEX. The group further has told its members not to respond to requests for interviews and cooperate as EULEX has been mistreating and violating the human rights of the recent detainees. On the same subject, Fatmir Limaj was summoned to the EULEX prosecutor's office to give a statement as a suspect of war crimes.
EULEX continues to drag its heels in response to the much debated Marty report. Officials from EULEX met with Marty and his team in late May in efforts to start a preliminary investigation. Concerns over evidence and the protection of witnesses have lead to delays in transferring information from Marty to EULEX. Serbia continues to insist that the investigation should happen under the supervision of the United Nations but the European Union has not supported the view.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Still Alive & Kicking - A Quick Political Catch-Up
I know it has been a while since I have blogged but I am still alive and kicking :) In fact, I'm happy to report that the reason it has been so long since I last blogged is because Troy and I have been home in the US since the beginning of April and were blessed with the birth of our first child on 12 May 2011, a beautiful baby girl :) A fairly good excuse for not blogging I suppose! But no more excuses, a lot has been going on in Kosovo since I last wrote so I know there is no possible chance that I will cover it all but here's a go at it :)
After the Constitutional Court ruled that the election of Pacolli was not in accordance with the law, Kosovo elected its first female president on 6 April 2011, the little known Atifete Jahjaga. Jahjaga, who is not aligned with any political parties, comes from the ranks of the Kosovo Police Service where she was one if not the highest ranking female police officers in the Balkans. Jahjaga won the Kosovo parliament presidential election with the highest majority since late leader Ibrahim Rugova and voting only lasted one round, unlike the two failing rounds with Pacolli before his illegitimate election in the third round.
Kosovo and Serbia continue to hold European-sponsored talks on technical issues. So far there seems to be little progress and Serbia insists that it still will not recognize an independent Kosovo. On 12 May 2011, protestors from Vetevendosje clashed with Kosovo Police during a demonstration against the visit of the Serbian chief negotiator. Police used tear gas to disperse the protestors who were throwing rocks and damaged several official vehicles during the demonstration. Talk of partition has raised ire on both sides of the table and both vehemently reject the idea of splitting Kosovo. In the meantime, while ethnic tensions have eased, life for minorities in Kosovo is still challenging.
After the Constitutional Court ruled that the election of Pacolli was not in accordance with the law, Kosovo elected its first female president on 6 April 2011, the little known Atifete Jahjaga. Jahjaga, who is not aligned with any political parties, comes from the ranks of the Kosovo Police Service where she was one if not the highest ranking female police officers in the Balkans. Jahjaga won the Kosovo parliament presidential election with the highest majority since late leader Ibrahim Rugova and voting only lasted one round, unlike the two failing rounds with Pacolli before his illegitimate election in the third round.
Kosovo and Serbia continue to hold European-sponsored talks on technical issues. So far there seems to be little progress and Serbia insists that it still will not recognize an independent Kosovo. On 12 May 2011, protestors from Vetevendosje clashed with Kosovo Police during a demonstration against the visit of the Serbian chief negotiator. Police used tear gas to disperse the protestors who were throwing rocks and damaged several official vehicles during the demonstration. Talk of partition has raised ire on both sides of the table and both vehemently reject the idea of splitting Kosovo. In the meantime, while ethnic tensions have eased, life for minorities in Kosovo is still challenging.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Constitutional Court Rules Pacolli Election Illegal
A mere 35-days after being elected President, the Kosovo Constitutional Court released a ruling yesterday that the election violated the Kosovo Constitution. The official verdict of the case has not been released yet and is expected to come out on Wednesday. Without the verdict, it is not yet know if new elections will take place for the post or if Pacolli will be forced to step down from the post.
In other news, corruption and organized crime has been big in the Kosovo headlines recently. The Global Post published an article about how the international community, particularly the US, has ignored allegations of corruption and involvement in organized crime when it comes to Kosovo politicians, particularly Haschim Thaci. In similar news, it seems that Haschim Thaci also could have difficulties traveling internationally due to the allegations as he must secure diplomatic visas which offer him immunity so that he is not arrested abroad.
And finally, there has been a rash of articles lately about the parallels and/or differences between the intervention in Kosovo in 1999 and the current intervention ongoing in Libya. Here are a few articles for each viewpoint.
Libya & Kosovo
In other news, corruption and organized crime has been big in the Kosovo headlines recently. The Global Post published an article about how the international community, particularly the US, has ignored allegations of corruption and involvement in organized crime when it comes to Kosovo politicians, particularly Haschim Thaci. In similar news, it seems that Haschim Thaci also could have difficulties traveling internationally due to the allegations as he must secure diplomatic visas which offer him immunity so that he is not arrested abroad.
And finally, there has been a rash of articles lately about the parallels and/or differences between the intervention in Kosovo in 1999 and the current intervention ongoing in Libya. Here are a few articles for each viewpoint.
Libya & Kosovo
- Libya is starting to feel like Kosovo all over again
- Clinton cites Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo in Rational behind Libya intervention
- Libya: Not the New Kosovo
- Worse than Kosovo, Worse than Bush
- Myths of Kosovo
Thursday, March 17, 2011
EULEX Makes War Crimes Arrests
Yesterday, EULEX made a series of arrests for alleged war crimes committed by members of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Former Transport Minister Fatmir Limaj is again in the headlines facing new charges of war crimes (he was acquitted by the Hague in 2005 of separate charges due to a lack of evidence). Along with Limaj, the Kosovo Police commander in Prizren was also arrested. Reportedly when EULEX police went to the police station to execute the arrest warrant, members of Kosovo Police prevented them from carrying out the arrest and some members of the EULEX team were "held hostage". Krasniqi later surrendered to EULEX police after consultations with his lawyer. As usual, the arrests have been deemed a "demonization" of the KLA and an attempt to blacken the name of Kosovo.
In other news, Kosovo President Pacolli has been busy during his first weeks in office. He has asked NATO to assist training the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) which is expected someday to become the army of Kosovo. He also is planning on trying to change Kosovo election law to allow the President to be elected by the population rather than the parliament. Pacolli also has made a visit to the northern Kosovo border with the KFOR commander to show support for those working at the border areas.
For some reason, the Kosovo media has been overwhelmingly negative about Pacolli's election and presidency but while talking with people on the ground there is wide support and lots of hope for his presidency. Most seem impressed that he is donating his salary to poor families and using his own funds to pay his staff and make renovations in the President's house. Plus not many people in Kosovo can claim credit to bringing 25 recognitions for Kosovo's independence as Pacolli can. Giving a breath of fresh air to all the negative media, here is a look at the positives that Pacolli's presidency may bring Kosovo.
In other news, Kosovo President Pacolli has been busy during his first weeks in office. He has asked NATO to assist training the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) which is expected someday to become the army of Kosovo. He also is planning on trying to change Kosovo election law to allow the President to be elected by the population rather than the parliament. Pacolli also has made a visit to the northern Kosovo border with the KFOR commander to show support for those working at the border areas.
For some reason, the Kosovo media has been overwhelmingly negative about Pacolli's election and presidency but while talking with people on the ground there is wide support and lots of hope for his presidency. Most seem impressed that he is donating his salary to poor families and using his own funds to pay his staff and make renovations in the President's house. Plus not many people in Kosovo can claim credit to bringing 25 recognitions for Kosovo's independence as Pacolli can. Giving a breath of fresh air to all the negative media, here is a look at the positives that Pacolli's presidency may bring Kosovo.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Kosovo & Serbia Start Technical Talks
Last week, Kosovo and Serbia started yet another round of technical talks, this time facilitated by the European Union. Support for the talks in the Kosovo Assembly is mixed with some opposition parties totally against any kind of talks with Serbia. A vote to support the talks narrowly passed in the Assembly a few days after the talks began. So far news emerging from the talks is basically that Kosovo will not discuss status and Serbia will not recognize independence. The International Crisis Group (ICG) did a cannonball into the Kosovo political pool by releasing a report suggesting autonomy for Northern Kosovo which Kosovo politicians quickly rejected as a violation of the territorial integrity (sound familar?).
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Kosovo Elects Assembly & President
Yesterday the Kosovo assembly elected Bexhet Pacolli to be President of Kosovo. AKR announced that Pacolli had stepped down as party leader and from his party duties following the vote. The voting took two rounds, plus a break requested by PDK, before Pacolli finally gathered enough votes to be elected president. Both the Assembly speaker, Jakup Krasniqi, and Vetevendosje have criticized the PDK request for break to be unconstitutional however it was still allowed. Leaders of AAK and Vetevendosje have vowed to do everything in their power to end the coalition before the four-year term is completed giving even more credence to the speculation that the new shaky coalition may not last through to the end of 2011. There are rumors that another round of elections will be held in September but only time will tell if the PDK-AKR-Minority coalition is strong enough to weather the criticism and strong opposition.
In other Kosovo-related news, a massive brawl between rival Kosovo Albanian gangs broke out on 17 February in London's Trafalgar Square resulting in the stabbing of three persons and the arrest of 19. Fights have been reportedly breaking out over the past three years since Kosovo declared independence.
MTCowgirl's Kosovo News
In other Kosovo-related news, a massive brawl between rival Kosovo Albanian gangs broke out on 17 February in London's Trafalgar Square resulting in the stabbing of three persons and the arrest of 19. Fights have been reportedly breaking out over the past three years since Kosovo declared independence.
MTCowgirl's Kosovo News
- Kosovo to preside over CEFTA in March
- Joint Albanian-Serb police patrol attacked in north of Kosovo
- Search for Kosovo missing stalls
- Kosovo plans to privitize Post & Telecomms by 3rd quarter
Friday, February 18, 2011
Kosovo Celebrates 3rd Anniversary of Independence Declaration
Amid the spectacular firework display at 10:30pm, most of the international media focused on the challenges that face Kosovo as it enters into it's fourth year of declaring independence from Serbia. As mentioned the other day, economic problems still plague Europe's newest country with only one of five people under the age of 25 having employment and 14% of the population living below the extreme poverty line.
There were many articles about how cold reality is setting in or how Kosovo is a state of failed expectations, but still those of us on the ground can't help but hold on to the hope that over time problems with corruption, the economic hardship, lack of higher education, and life itself will improve. After all, like a baby, you have to learn how to crawl before you walk and while many had hoped that Kosovo would take off running after declaring independence, it is not fair to expect that things would miraculously change overnight or in just a couple of years.
There were many articles about how cold reality is setting in or how Kosovo is a state of failed expectations, but still those of us on the ground can't help but hold on to the hope that over time problems with corruption, the economic hardship, lack of higher education, and life itself will improve. After all, like a baby, you have to learn how to crawl before you walk and while many had hoped that Kosovo would take off running after declaring independence, it is not fair to expect that things would miraculously change overnight or in just a couple of years.
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