Difference of Opinions

I mainly started this site to keep my family and friends up-to-date with what was happening around Kosovo and what it was like for an American to come overseas for the first time and jump head-first into an international working environment.  Now, besides giving personal information about living in Kosovo, I've started posting more links to news sources about the politics of Kosovo in addition to incorporating some guide-like material for some of my favorite restaurants and tips on what you should bring if you are coming on mission for the first time.
Most feedback that I get from the site is from people looking to see what it is like living in Kosovo or seeking advice on bringing visitors/family to Kosovo.  I do get the occasional "hate" email from someone who doesn't like my viewpoints but everyone is entitled to their opinion!  This website represents how I see living in Kosovo and some of my personal experiences in the past five and half years of working/living in the Pristina area. So for those that don't like what is written here, go ahead and email me but don't expect a response as I don't reply or waste my time with rudeness or attacks on my person.  I would be thrilled to hear from those that find the information useful and those that might know a place or two around Kosovo that I may have forgotten :)

The Three Seasons of Kosovo

There are three distinct seasons in Kosovo...ones that probably do not occur anywhere else in the world.  The seasons of Kosovo are dusty, muddy, and frozen.  There is no in between season...it just goes from one to the other.  Currently we are experiencing a long muddy season instead of the normal frozen season (where all the mud and water on the streets turns to ice).  The streets are covered with what I would like to dub as slime...in fact I think whoever made the Ghostbusters movies got their inspiration for Slimer by walking on the streets of Pristina :o)  After the muddy season, everything will dry out and we will enter the dusty season.  During this season there is no escaping the debris and dust that seems to constantly cover the streets of Kosovo.  No matter how many times the street sweepers (actually people not machines!) come by and pile up the dirt on the roads the roads are forever covered in a fine film of dust.  There's nothing you can do about it...it's just a way of life :)  In Kosovo those mud streaks up the back of your pants aren't an embarrassment, it's a fashion statement declaring "I walked outside today!  What did you do?"  Embrace it! Live it! Kosovo's Three Seasons! (I'm in a goofy mood today, can you tell?!)
I've added some new Kosovo photos to my album in the "Only in Kosovo" and "General" sections :)  For other pictures from around Kosovo, visit my pal's website Kosovo in Pictures.

Vala Mobile Service Adds Multimedia Capabilities

The Great Debate Continues

With increasing speculation of what special representative Ahtisaari will propose for the status of Kosovo in coming weeks, the rhetoric of what the world should do is raining down in the editorial sections of international new sources. 
The exact date of Ahtisaari's recommendation has not yet been decided but Kosovo PM Ceku is "confident" that the proposal will go before the Security Council at the end of February or beginning of March.  More and more, there seems to be agreement that Ahtisaari will propose some sort of conditional or supervised independence.  Meanwhile, Undersecretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns has stated that he believes that the entire status process will be concluded in April.

Former congressman and president of the Albanian American Civic League (which already indicates the position), Joe DioGuardi, writes that the new Secretary-General needs to be strong and that conditional independence is not acceptable.  An article by US presidential hopeful Joseph Biden in the Jan 2nd Financial Times garnered attention from the website antiwar.com.  Biden had stated that "Opponents to a new Kosovo must be stopped" and Balkan Express goes through his arguments to refute the claims borrowing lines from Macbeth that "It is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/Signifying nothing".
Axis Information & Analysis breaks down the upcoming Serbian elections, citing polls that give a good indication of what the results may be following 21 Jan.  The analysis begs the question of whether Serbia will turn to Kosovo or towards Europe following the elections.  From the Financial Times, MSN states "Radical tide could spell disaster for Serbia" and goes on to examine just how radical the radicals are in Serbia.  You might be surprised at what is found :)

Should Kosovo be granted independence, neighboring countries with Serbian populations are welcoming those that may want to leave.  Bosnian lawmaker Sadik Ahmetovic said that a number of Serbs could be moved from Kosovo to Bosnia following a deal between Belgrade and Banja Luka.

Police Seize Huge Haul of Cocaine

Macedonian customs officials seized a record 483kg of cocaine at the Blace Macedonia-Kosovo border. The haul is estimated to be worth some 46 million Euros but if it were processed by dealers on the streets, the value could have reached nearly 90million.  This record seizure is double the previous record of 220kgs in 2004 but follows much the same pattern.  The 2004 bust also came from Venezuela via Bar.  Macedonian TV channel A1 reported that the operation was conducted by ethnic Albanian, Cavilj Sabani, who is serving a 40-year sentence in Kosovo prison for smuggling cocaine.  Another possible suspect named was Stanislava Cocorvska-Poletan who is the owner of two front companies.  One that participated in the transfer of the drugs and another that was the designated purchaser of the "paint".

Reportedly, the Montenegrin police notified the Kosovo customs officials that the truck was suspicious.  Kosovo customs did not find anything but they alerted the Macedonian customs officials as the truck passed the Blace border and the cocaine was discovered in containers labeled as acrylic paint.  There were 882 such containers containing packets of cocaine in the truck.  Police tracking the source of the drugs have found that the cocaine shipped from Venezuela to Montenegro's port city of Bar.  From there it was loaded in a truck bearing Macedonian registration and driven by a Macedonian citizen through Kosovo.

Every year I try to go back and look through my Kosovo Tips for Newbies to see if anything is changed or needs updating.  As usual, some things have changed so I've updated the page with various information about living in Kosovo (particularly Pristina) and what one can expect and some tips on where you can shop or get a haircut :o)

Serbia Requests Postponement of Status

Serbian President Boris Tadic has requested the UN postpone it's revelation of special representative Ahtisaari's proposal for the status of Kosovo until a government is formed following the elections. Tadic stated that proposal may not be "very favorible for the Serb side" and that the formation of the governemnt should only take a couple of weeks. The elections are scheduled for the 21st and Ahtisaari is expected to make his announcement as early as the 26th. The revelation of Ahtisaari's plan was already postponed from the end of 2006 to after the Serbian elections in fears that a non-favorable solution for the Serbs would cause a rise in the popularity of ultra-nationalism in Serbia. Although the "radical" nationalist party in Serbia is already expected to win approximately 31% of the vote where other parties would take significantly smaller percentages of the vote. I seriously doubt that the month long delay has any real impact on the elections as there already has been plenty of talk by UN, EU, and contract group representatives stating basically that Kosovo should have some sort of conditional independence. Ahtisaari caused a great deal of anger in Serbia when he stated that Serbs were guilty as a nation for the occurences in Kosovo.
Following the elections, Ahtisaari will present the proposal to the Serbian and Kosovo authorities and I believe the Contact Group. After both sides have time to submit their input, Ahtisaari will take the proposal the Secretary General and then to the Security Council sometime in March. The road to finalizing the status will not be easy once the proposal is announced. A win-lose situation will not be acceptable and a win-win situation is very difficult to foresee. The UN has been hoping to complete liquidation of the mission by the end of 2007 and turn over authority in Kosovo to the local and EU representatives. We will see how things progress over the next few months!

In other news, the former director of the Pristina airport has been charged in a "bribes for jobs" scandal. One might recall that UNMIK was criticized by UN auditors, the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), of failing to halt widespread fraud and corruption at the airport. SRSG at the time, Soren Jessen-Petersen, denied the claims stating that he did not have the authority to investigate the dealings at the airport. Back to the scandal though, Ian Woollett, the director between 2003-2005 is accused of accepting bribes from local businessmen in exchange for employment at the airport. Two employees were let go in May 2006 in connection with the scandal. The charges come at the conclusion of the two-year investigation following the criticism from OIOS.

Serb Family Attacked in Apparent Housing Dispute

A Kosovo Serb family trying to reclaim a building allegedly illegally occupied by an Albanian in Klina was attacked. KPS reports that they found 23 bullets and the attack appeared to be carried out using an AK-47 while the family was asleep. The family is trying to reclaim property in Klina that they claim is theirs and never was sold to the current Albanian residing in the location. The bottom floor of the property in question has been turned into a restaurant in addition to housing an office of the Self-Determination group. The Albanian occupying the property claims that he legally purchased the property in Montenegro, while the Serbian family claims that they never sold the building after fleeing Kosovo in 1999 in fear of attack.

The illegal occupation of minority homes is a large problem in Kosovo that both the UN agencies and local government continue to battle. Many refugees return to Kosovo to find that their homes or businesses are occupied by another individual that claims to have legal ownership. Approximately 60 Serbian families have returned to Klina to find their properties occupied by Albanians who claim to have legal paperwork for the ownership of the property. When one finds their property illegally occupied, they must file a report with the Kosovo Housing and Property Directorate in order to have the property returned. The Serbian family in Klina had just filed the needed paperwork the day of the attack which begs the question, what was the motivation for the attack?