KEK To Cut Power

An announcement has come out from KFOR that the Kosovo Electric Company (KEK) is planning on cutting the power to Gracanica from 0600 – 2359 hours every day.  The timing of the electricity cut to one of the largest Serbian enclaves comes right before the Vidovdan (St. Vitus) celebrations and the anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo Polje.  KEK is hoping to settle the issue of outstanding bills not paid since 1999 and a possible collective settlement of 26 Euros/month per household but given the timing one can’t help but wonder if someone needs a “KEK in the @$$” for taking a decision to cut off the power right before such significant celebrations!

Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon of the UN has addressed the UN Security Council on the situation in Kosovo.  The report was complimentary to the EULEX mission and their reaching operational capacity in April.  The Kosovo government on the other hand did not seem to be presented in a very positive light with the divisions still remaining between the communities.  The full report can be read online through the UN Security Council reports.

MTCowgirl’s Kosovo News

• Serbia convicts four Serb police of war crimes in Kosovo
• Serbia complains to UN about property rights in Kosovo
• Kosovo to hold municipal elections on 15 November
• NATO approves downsizing of KFOR
• Kosovo not doing enough to prevent human traficking
• Czech Republic donates equipment to Kosovo police

MTCowgirl’s Interesting News/Articles

• Amnesty International blasts human rights in Kosovo following war
• Five reasons why Arab countries should recognize Kosovo
• Death threats published against Kosovo BIRN staff
• Abused, driven out, and poisioned: plight of Kosovo’s Romas

KFOR Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary

KFOR (Kosovo Force) marked 10 years in Kosovo today with a celebration in the Pristina camp of Film City.  The KFOR commander pledged to continue supporting Kosovo despite the talks of troop reductions and the suggestion of pull-out (which was decided against).

UNMIK continues to downsize with approximately 300 staff leaving at the end of June bringing the total number of staff to approximately 500 by 1 July 2009.  The UN Security Council is set to discuss Kosovo on 17 July as the 1244 resolution still remains in place requiring the UN to maintain a mission, albeit much smaller, in Kosovo.

MTCowgirl’s Kosovo News

• Kosovo joins three international organizations
• Kosovo president to soon pick senior KSF (Army) commanders
• Municipal elections likely in November
• KSF to be operational in September

MTCowgirl’s Interesting News/Articles

• Unemployment a major problem in Kosovo
• Flight of Kosovo minorities
• Free press threatened in Kosovo
• Survey: Kosovo has lowest level of corruption in Balkans
• Challenges and Unexpectedness: EULEX in Kosovo

Good Eats

While it has been around for a while, I recently discovered Liburnia Restaurant behind Procredit Bank off UCK Street.  Rumored to have the best pizza in town, the menu was fairly impressive and I thoroughly enjoyed the broccoli and cheese dish!  Open just for a couple of months, Geba Bar is a new sushi and sashimi bar in Dardania.  The interior is modern and swanky with a two large aquariums embedded in the front of the bar.  Unfortunately for those that don’t like raw fish, Geba currently does not offer any cooked items.

The nightlife in Pristina is grand as always.  Karaoke has seemed to go mainstream now with several new locations to belt out your favorite tunes.  Both new sushi bars (Geba & Sushi Bar) offer karaoke whenever a customer has an urge and 212 Club in Pejton is hosting karaoke nights on Thursdays starting at 11pm.  Unfortunately rumor has it that the former place to go for karaoke, Tokyo, no longer has a system and is trying to cater to a more upscale dinner crowd.  I haven’t been for a while but there was always a good crowd up there on the weekends so hopefully the party crowd will move on to the new places!  There is usually a group that gather up at Pacific Rim in Dragodan on Wednesday evenings for cocktails and karaoke which is often good fun   In addition to the new karaoke options, a few other recently discovered places to hang out include Dubliner Irish Bar (near the Grand Hotel) and Why Not Bar (Pejton near Bill Clinton).  Why Not Bar features a fantastic live band on the weekends and Dubliner has an authentic dark pub-ish feel to it.

But alas, Kosovo is not all fun and games so on to the news!!!

MTCowgirl’s Kosovo News

• Kosovo invited to join IMF
• Kosovo Ministry of Education evacuated over bomb threat, not the same as last week!
• Kosovo Serbs sign deal on electricity
• Kosovo opposition demands election date

Wide Awake in the Middle of the Night

The weather has finally warmed up enough to open the doors and windows in the night to let the fresh Pristina air (did I just say that?!) in at night.  But with the fresh air comes the noises of the city, like Jeff Dunham’s Walter so succinctly put it Pristina is a city that “needs a frickin’ nap”.  First there was the neighbor’s car alarm which intermittently was going off , then a concert up until midnight somewhere in the city that allowed the noise to flow up the hill of Dragodan and provide me with what seemed to be a front-row seat to some sort of Albanian rap music (I can die happy now!), and then finally the street dogs of Dragodan started up with a chorus of barking, fighting, and howling.  Armed with a half-empty bottle of water I went out on the balcony to look for the offending dogs but alas, they were too far away to scare off, so I gave them a stern look and said “Shut Up!”  Now finally at 0200 the city has quieted down and perhaps I will be able to crawl back into my bed and attempt sleeping again!

There has been quite a bit of news since I last updated.  Work and having an active social life has made updating a little bit harder but things are starting to slow down now that UNMIK had done the initial downsizing so hopefully I will be able to keep everyone updated a bit more regularly again

One of the more recent and interesting news tidbits comes in the form of the former Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku being expelled from Columbia following a request to execute an Interpol warrant stemming from Serbia where Ceku is accused of war crimes against Serbs and non-Albanians during the 1998-1999 war.  In response to the expulsion, Kosovo has requested Interpol to dismiss warrants originating in Serbia against Kosovo citizens.

Violent protests continue over electricity cut-offs in villages and the reconstruction efforts of Albanians in the north of Kosovo.  Last Sunday some 26 people were injured when a clash over electricity in 14 Serbian villages which are requesting Serbia to provide them with power as they do not wish to pay their Kosovo electric bills.  In the north, nearly every day protestors clash with the police and are tear gassed by EULEX police, who have been praised for the handling of the situation.

And finally, two bits of news about the Kosovo government and police, last Wednesday a call from a “Western country” was placed to the Kosovo government threatening that several bombs had been placed in the Kosovo government building prompting police condones and evacuation of staff.  The week before that some 47 kilos of heroin and thousands of Euros disappeared from the secured KPS evidence room and now two KPS officers have been suspended pending an investigation.

Global Economic Crisis Starts Hitting Kosovo

When, not if, the effects of the global economic meltdown would hit Kosovo has been a topic for discussion since headlining across the rest of Europe and the US.  Many believed that the summertime was when the real effects would show when migrant workers started returned from abroad and possibly fail to secure visas to return abroad for work due to demand for jobs.  However, it seems that already Kosovo is beginning to feel the economic pinch with remittances from abroad starting to drop.

When first arriving in Kosovo some eight years ago I joined the group that wondered why there were so many Western Union offices in such a poor place.  The answer was found in that the mass exodus from Kosovo during the fighting left many people in Western Europe who were able to secure work and support their non-working families in Kosovo.  Just like migrant workers from Mexico in the US, Kosovars go abroad in Europe and send a good portion of their wages back to Kosovo to their families accounting for a substantial portion of Kosovo’s income.  With unemployment still at approximately 40-50%, hard times are likely to soon fall upon Kosovo unless the government finds a way to pull a white rabbit out of its hat.

Alive & Kicking :)

Despite the fact that I haven’t been able to update that much lately, I am still alive and kicking in Kosovo   Life has been hectic and coupled with recent events in UNMIK, work is a bit crazy.

Last week, UNMIK send letters of termination to some 450 staff members, mostly national.  The sudden termination, letters issued on Thursday with a last working day of Friday, was due to a deadline set by NY for the last payment of termination indemnity which the national staff previously went on strike about last month.  Despite calls for the withdrawal of UNMIK from Kosovo, the mission is currently just scaling back to approximately 500 staff members by the end of June 2009 as per UN Security Resolution 1244, the UN is required to maintain a presence in Kosovo until such time that the resolution is changed or discharged by the Security Council.

Last week EULEX announced that it had achieved 100% operational capacity.  What operational capacity exactly means is still up for debate with a few letters of criticism over logistics and other difficulties faced by police officers coming out and circulated to the international EULEX staff.  In other EU news, a delegation from the European Parliament has told Kosovo that they no longer need UNMIK as EULEX is now operational.

UNMIK National Staff go on strike

The national staff of UNMIK went on strike today at 0930 hours CET to protest against decisions taken by NY HQ in regards to contracts and termination indemnity for staff who have chosen to remain working with UNMIK rather than leave for other jobs.  The idea is to protest until NY rescinds its decision and agrees to grant longer contracts with an option for indemnity should UNMIK decide to terminate the contract earlier than expected.

I nearly forgot to mention the opening of a new restaurant in downtown Pristina – Sushi Bar (044 218 998, Old Cactus Bar, near the Grand Hotel).  Due to differences, the cook from Tokyo and one of the waiters have moved on and opened their own restaurant downtown which is quickly becoming a favorite place for sushi.  During the weekends, there is open mic karaoke.  The food is excellent (try the salmon!) and we are keeping our fingers crossed that their sake supply will come in soon!  I have updated my Restaurant Guide with the new information and some additional phone numbers I’ve picked up.