Dusting off the Blog - KLA Takes Police Hostage in Macedonia

It has been awhile since I posted anything regarding Kosovo.  My family and I moved back to the US in 2013 but I've never stopped watching the news and have kept in contact with my extended family in Kosovo.  The old adage about "the more things change, the more they stay the same" is so true when applied to Kosovo.  Like the continued allegations of corruption of the EULEX mission or anti-government protests over corruption.

But there was one piece of news caught my eye today and I couldn't help but dust off this blog to share.  Early this morning, people wearing KLA uniforms took a police station in Macedonia and held the police officers hostage for a few hours.  The men reportedly called for unification of an Albanian state before releasing the hostages.  Kosovo police say there is no evidence of illegal border crossings and government opposition in Macedonia has accused the government of fabricating the story to take attention away from growing criticism of illegal wiretapping and corruption.

Supervised Independence of Kosovo to End in September 2012

Yesterday, the International Steering Group for Kosovo agreed to end the supervised independence of Kosovo in September.  The steering group is made up of 23 European countries, the United States, and Turkey.  The Steering Group said that Kosovo had made significant steps to implementing the Comprehensive Settlement Proposal (CSP) which included laws for cultural and religion heritage protections and community rights. 

What does the end of Supervised Independence mean for Kosovo?  Well, the International Civilian Office (ICO), headed by Peter Feith, which hold executive authority to oversee independence will be closed down in September.  The European Rule of Law Mission (EULEX), KFOR (NATO's Kosovo Force) and UNMIK will still remain in Kosovo. 

In other news, Italian Member of Parliament Pino Arlacchi has sent a series of questions to the European Commission on the progress of EULEX investigations who stated that UNMIK and EULEX "has something to hide".  Arlacchi has been requesting status reports on 11 cases handed over to EULEX from UNMIK which cited criminal conduct involving more than 60 million Euros related to the privatization of Kosovo's electricity. 

Also, the sale of Post & Telcomm Kosovo (PTK) has restarted after it was stopped last year amid allegations of corruption and harmful contracts.  The sale is in the pre-qualification stage where companies can express interest in purchasing the company.  The Kosovo budget greatly relies on the sale of PTK which is expected to bring in between 300-600 million Euros.

Many Injuries as Serbs clash with Kosovo Police - Fist Fight in Kosovo Parliament

Yesterday marked St. Vitus (Vivodan) celebration for Serbians and it was estimated that more than 50 people were injured between clashes between Serbian celebrants and Kosovo Police.  The Kosovo Police reportedly deported several buses of young, drunk Serbians traveling to Gazimenstan for the celebrations.  After crossing the border, the youths began to throw stones at the Kosovo Police and reportedly also fired shots.  32 Kosovo Police were treated for injuries and 20 Serbs were seen for injuries.

In a separate incident, a bus carrying Serbians was stoned and a Molotov cocktail was thrown at it as it passed on the highway through Pristina.  I actually got to see the still smoking Molotov cocktail as it smoldered in the road near Hotel Victory on the Pristina-Skopje highway.  My inital reaction was "why is that beer bottle burning?" and the next thought was "holy crap, that's what a Molotov cocktail looks like!"

In a totally unrelated incident, Vetevendosje and PDK members of parliament engaged in two separate fistfights in the Kosovo Parliament Building yesterday over SHIK.  At this time no charges have been filed but if medical reports are provided, criminal charges can be filed according to the Pristina Municipal Prosecutor.

Yesterday, the Kosovo Police denied the entry of the Serbian Kosovo Minister, Bodganovic, due to his support for parallel structures in the North of Kosovo.

Head of Kosovo Privatization Agency Commits Violent Suicide - UNMIK to close UAM Office in North

The head of the Kosovo Privatization Agency, Dino Asanaj, violently stabbed himself to death according to local and European Union officials.  Following the death of Asanaj, there was speculation of murder and then suicide after reports of a note being left accusing the Zeri newspaper and two Kosovo businessmen of ruining his and his families lives over allegations of corruption.  The autopsy reports confirming death by suicide were met with much disbelief and accusations of a cover-up due to the violent nature of the death, at least 11 different stab wounds. 

In other news, after the announcement that the Kosovo government would open an office in the North of Kosovo and subsequently requested UNMIK to close its office, UNMIK has agreed to close down the office but not in the two week time-frame suggested by the Kosovo government.  UNMIK will gradually close down the office over a three month period and work on turning over documents to the Kosovo government.

Tensions High in Kosovo

Tensions continue to escalate in Kosovo following the explosion that killed an Albanian man, the beating of a Serbian man, and then the shooting of a Serbian in the North. 

Albanians reportedly began arming themselves for protection while the Kosovo government and international organizations called for calm.  Deputy PM Hajredin Kuci called for an intervention in the North similar to that of July 2011 which led to blockades of EULEX and KFOR in the North but Serbia criticized the statement as inflammatory and warned that it would just further tensions.  KFOR is said to be monitoring the Kosovo Police's special riot unit (ROSU) in anticipation that there would be a police action Thursday or Friday.

Footnotes, Diaries, and Politicial Mudslinging

Some of the biggest news coming out of Kosovo recently has been the agreement reached between Serbia and Kosovo on how Kosovo will be represented in international organizations.  The compromise reaches removes the phrase "Republic of" before Kosovo and puts an asterisk following with a footnote stating ""This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence."  And with that, UNMIK has stated that it shall only attend regional conferences "if necessary".

However, the footnote is not the only focus lately in the local media.  Two big issues that the international coverage has failed to pick up on has been the continuation of the Klecka war crimes trial and the political mudslinging between the Kosovo political parties that I thought I would get to miss this election year!  The articles I will link to are from local news sources in Albanian but Google Translate does the job if you need a translation :)

So the Klecka Trial...it's basically in the news almost every day here.  I have mentioned it a few times before but here is a bit of an update.  The defense attorneys continue to question the admissibility of the diary of Witness X, Agim Zogaj.  Questions have been raised over the fact that Zogaj only signed statements in English, a language he reportedly did not master, and no Albanian translation of the statements was provided to him.  Further to the requests regarding the prosecutor, Salustro, it has been reported that the defense has sent a request to the Head of EULEX to request the lifting of his immunity to answer questions about allegations in Witness X's diary that he was threatened by Salustro.

Ah political mudslinging!!!  You would almost think that you were in the US during election season but let's not forget that Kosovo should soon be gearing up for presidential elections in the next year or so!  It seems to have started with political disagreements about accepting the footnote which was seen by many Kosovo politicians to diminish the Declaration of Independence.  Following very public disagreements in parliament and the media, it is reported that the US Ambassador, Christopher Dell, called two of the largest parties, LDK and Vetevendosje, anti-American and anti-European.  Then Thaci gave a speech in Lipjan where he said that if Ibrahim Rugova saw LDK he would weep and if Ramush Haradinaj saw AAK he would laugh at the current leadership.  Naturally the parties have came back and called Thaci everything from irresponsible to a poor leader.

What's Important in Kosovo - Local News

Often there is a disparity between what the local newspapers write about and what appears in the international media.  Of course, the situation in the North of Kosovo is a hot topic but there is a lot of other issues of importance being discussed in Kosovo that don't even appear or only appear as a brief blip on the international radar.

Take for instance, news today about 27 different request for Kosovo PM Haschim Thaci to travel to Europe have been refused due to allegations of corruption (blip) or Fatmir Limaj's war crimes trial is scheduled to begin on 9 November (not reported).  Or maybe even more interesting, there are new allegations of corruption in the tendering process with a completely new Ministry of Transportation for road construction .

Another item appearing only as a blip in the international media has been the cancellation of planned privatization of PTK, Kosovo's Post and Telecomms, due to allegations of corruption.  The cancellation of the privatization has a very big impact on the economic situation of Kosovo as the proceeds from the sale were expected to fill budgetary gaps in the Kosovo government.  Now without the funds from the sale going into the government budget, it will be interesting to see how Kosovo will finance the planned budget which relied heavily on the sale of PTK. 

Witness in War Crimes Trial Found Dead

Agim Zogaj, aka Witness X, in the war crimes trial against Fatmir Limaj was found dead this morning in Germany.  Initial reports indicate that Zoga committed suicide but so far German authorities have not released a cause of death.

After yesterday's clash between Serbs and KFOR, the Serbian delegation has walked out of European Union sponosored talks in Belgium.  KFOR states that they fired tear gas and rubber bullets and that they came under fire and had pipe bombs thrown at them.  However Serbian witnesses and authorities say that KFOR provoked and used live ammunition against the demonstrators. 

Kosovo Prepares for Establishing Border Checkpoints in the North

Kosovo is preparing to establish border checkpoints in the North of Kosov tomorrow to implement the customs agreement brokered by the European Union.  Many roadblocks have been set-up in the north including a mound of gravel dumped on the main bridge in Mitrovica to block traffic.  Serbia is stating that the establishment of the border checkpoints will bring instability while Kosovo says that it has the right to establish rule of law in all of Kosovo.  NATO and other organizations are repeatedly urging everyone to stay calm as the tensions build.

The recognition of Kosovo has been in the news lately with Kosovo Foreign Minister Enver Hoxaj touring the Middle East and Deputy Prime Minister Pacolli in Africa.  Hoxaj states that Egypt will likely recognize Kosovo soon and that Arab countries are starting to warm up to the idea of recognizing Kosovo independence.  Meanwhile, Pacolli has announced that Nigeria recognized Kosovo two days ago and that he expects a recognition soon from South Africa.  Serbia has also been in the news saying that countries have begun to revoke their recognitions of Kosovo, including Oman and Guinea Bissu.  Serbia also says that another two countries have initiated the process to revoke Kosovo recognition but have not provided any names so far.  Lastly, an article in South East Asian News Agency explores the reasons why Pakistan should recognize Kosovo. 

Two Kosovo Leaders Answer to War Crimes Charges

The long awaited re-trial of Ramush Haradinaj has begun in the Hague in late August.  Haradinaj and two other defendants are charged with six counts of war crimes.  The retrial is the first in the court's history and stems from the last minute appeal of the prosecution who were denied an extension in the last trial for more time to interview two witnesses. 

The case seems to mainly hinge on the testimony of Sevcet Kabashi and another witness designated only as "Witness X".  Kabashi appeared in Netherlands the day before the trial started and was arrested.  He is being held in the Hague and has separately plead guilty to contempt of court for refusing to testify.  When put on the stand Kabashi has repeatedly responded to the prosecutors that he cannot rememeber the details of previous statements or begins anti-tribunal rants.  With the prosecution failing to obtain testimony from Kabashi, one commentator wonders if the Haradinaj trial was over before it begun?

The other Kosovo leader facing renewed war crimes charges is Fatmir Limaj, who also is still under investigation by EULEX for corruption during his time as the Minister of Post, Telcomms, and Transport.  The charges are separate from the charges brought by the Hague for which he was acquitted in 2005.  Ten other defendants were arrested in early 2011 however Limaj has remained free due to questions about his immunity that stems from being a member of the Parliament.  The question for immunity has been forwarded to the Constitutional Court by Prime Minister Haschim Thaci who has been accussed of trying to eliminate potential political rivals as time nears for the presidential elections.  As SETimes explores, the indictment of Limaj has many political impacts for Kosovo.

Northern Kosovo Explodes

Last Wednesday (20 July), the Kosovo government introduced a reciprocity ban on goods from Serbia as Serbia does not recognize goods with the Kosovo customs stamp.  Kosovo also implemented a 10% tax on goods from Bosnia & Herzegovina who has not yet recognized Kosovo's declaration of independence.  Serbia and B&H have complained to CEFTA and the European Union on the Kosovo ban saying that it is illegal.

Kosovo Police went into the North of Kosovo to begin enforcing the ban on Tuesday (26 July) and one Albanian police officer was fatally shot.  Ethnic Serbs set fire to the border checkpoints after EULEX police surrendered the borders to the mobs prompting harsh criticism of the mission for failure to establish rule of law in the North.  Serbs continue to protest the Kosovo government's actions by blocking the roads and preventing NATO troops from moving around in the North resulting in the use of helicopters to transport police and troops.  However NATO has taken over control of the two border checkpoints and established a military zone with the warning that the troops have authorization to fire upon anyone threatening property or persons.  European Union, EULEX, and US officials have expressed concern that Pristina acted unilaterally and did not consult them before taking action in the North which has been a flashpoint since the end of the war in 1999.

As KFOR has been withdrawing and reducing troop size due to "increased stability/security" in Kosovo recently, one wonders if KFOR will be able to enforce peace in Kosovo as the renewed violence threatens the stability of Kosovo.  Also, as the sparks fly, people are questioning who stands to gain something by the renewed tensions?  Another article explores how the European Union making a historic mistake is to blame for the continued problems in Kosovo.

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.

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

•  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

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.

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?). 

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

• 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

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.

PDK & AKR to form coalition

After weeks of wish-washing in the press about forming coalitions between PDK and other political parties, it appears that the coalition has finally been formed although the appointment of who will be president has still not been decided.  According to the latest news, PDK will form a coalition with Pacolli's AKR with the post of president going to Pacolli, although as leader of his party I can't help but wonder if he won't run into the same constitutional violation that Fatmir Sedijui had last year!  But I imagine that all that will be hashed out before he takes office...or at least you hope that they've paid attention and know that the constitution doesn't allow the leader of a political party to be the president.

The Marty report and political problems have cast a shadow over the third anniversary of Kosovo's declaration of independence which comes up tomorrow.  Some say that the situation in Kosovo is worse than it was when the declaration of independence was made as the political elite continue to get richer while the poor get poorer and little progress seems to have been made in the areas of education and economic growth.  In fact, two Vetevendosje activists were so unhappy with the state of the University of Pristina that they threw red paint on the director during a speech.  Consequently they were arrested and sentenced to 30 days in jail.

Leaks Allege that Kosovo PM Thaci is "big fish" in organized crime

It seems that the US government isn't the only body troubled with cable leaks lately.  Leaked NATO cables from Kosovo allege that outgoing (and probably incoming) Kosovo Prime Minister Haschim Thaci and the person described as the power behind him, Xhavit Haliti, have close ties with the Albanian mafia.  The leaked cables, referenced in an article by the UK's Guardian, come as the Council of Europe Parliament has begun its debates into the Dick Marty report regarding some of the same allegations of Thaci's involvement in organized crime and organ trafficking.  NATO/KFOR will reportedly look into how the cables were leaked to the newspaper.

In other NATO news, KFOR is expected to reduce its troop size by half by 1 March 2011 as security and stability in Kosovo has warranted a drawdown according to the NATO Secretary-General Rasmussen.

The election re-runs have finished and Thaci's PDK party has won the largest percentage of votes at 32.4% followed by Mustafa's LDK at 24.67%.  The re-election in Mitrovica resulted in an 11% lower voter turnout than in the December elections and only 10 Serbs voted in the mobile polling stations.

Back in the Saddle

It has been a while since I updated...so here is the latest and greatest from Kosovo.

EULEX & The North - After deploying to the north of Kosovo at the beginning of January, EULEX has now declared the north of Kosovo a danger zone for their staff following the beating of some of its staff.  Outgoing Kosovo Interior Minister, Bajram Rexhepi, has in turn requested EULEX to withdraw from the north and allow KFOR and KPS to provide security if the EU mission cannot.

The "Marty" Report - Issued by Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty, the report digs into the accusations of human organ trafficking by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during and immediately after the war in Kosovo.  Outgoing Kosovo PM Haschim Thaci, who reportedly was named in the report, has called the report "monstrous slander" and threatened to sue.  According to local media, Thaci also stated that he would publish the names of so-called collaborators who provided evidence to the Council of Europe.  The Council of Europe Parliament is scheduled to debate the report on 24-25 January.  According to UNMIK SRSG Lamberto Zannier, ICTY had previously investigated the matter but was unable to come up with enough evidence to open the case.  Now the matter falls to EULEX to investigate the matter but so far requests for evidence from the Council of Europe and Marty have not produced any results.

Elections - Problems with fraud and corruption marred the Kosovo elections on 12 December resulting the re-voting in several different places.  The re-voting will wrap up this weekend in Mitrovica where Vetevendosje made a complaint of fraud.  Currently the vote tallies place the political parties in the following order:  Thaci's PDK, Mustafa's LDK, Kurti's Vetevendosje, and Haradinaj's AAK.  Talks about a coalition government continue as no political party has secured a majority vote alone.  The most talk has been about a PDK-AAK coalition although initial reports following the elections were that none of the other political parties except Pacolli's AKR were interested in forming any kind of coalition with PDK.