MTCowgirl's Kosovo Blog

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Kosovo authorities have begun an investigation into a suspected mass grave near the northern Kosovo town of Vushtrri.  The site, an abandoned coal mine, is thought to contain the bodies of Serb citizens allegedly killed by ethnic Albanians in 1998.  This is reportedly the second attempt at exhuming the grave as the work in the first attempt was halted due to a landslide.  Kosovo authorities also plan on investigating another suspected grave but it must first be cleared of landmines before work begins.

Typically close neighbors with good political cooperation, Kosovo and Albania appear to be headed to their first disagreement over plans to build a hydro-electric powerplant in the south of Kosovo.  Reportedly, Albania is concerned that the Kosovo plant will divert needed water from Albania’s hydro-electric plants and affect their power production.

There are many hopes in Kosovo following the International Court of Justice decision on the declaration of independence.  One such hope is that the decision will boost tourism and economic development in Kosovo.  I can only hope that tourist who are interested in Kosovo wait until all the road construction is done!!!  I can only imagine the first impression of a person traveling to Peja/Pec would have if they left the airport and suddenly find themselves traveling halfway to Peja/Pec down a dusty non-paved road or even more fun, getting stuck in traffic at the monster roundabout at the Mitrovica bridge and Bill Clinton!  Kosovo has a LOT of tourism potential but as I have said before, the people here still need to realize the potential and start taking care for their wonderful nature (so that means no more graffiti and throwing trash anywhere you want!!!)

MTCowgirl’s Interesting News Articles/Commentary

• Kosovo begins to find its independent identity
• State of Hope
• Kosovo is Everywhere
• Kosovars forget the taste of the past
• Hurdles in Kosovo for repatriated Romas
• A long road to reconciliation for Kosov

Well, technically she didn’t have any cats but while driving home for lunch today, Troy and I were attacked by a woman of questionable mental health who has been on a stone throwing rampage against EULEX vehicles in Pristina.  Quite cunningly, the woman placed several large stones in the roadway causing a backup of traffic as normal vehicles had to swerve around them.  Then it appeared that she laid in wait for an EULEX vehicle to pass and bam, she throws a rock at your window!  So far she has managed to break the windows of 3-4 EULEX vehicles this week and allegedly smashed the windows of a KPS vehicle last month. 

Troy was able to detain the woman until EULEX Security and KPS showed up but as usual in Kosovo, it seemed like KPS was reluctant to do anything (you know, paperwork is such a headache!) and from appearances, the woman will probably be smashing out more windows from EULEX vehicles in the near future.  An interesting side note is that the woman had a pile of stones pre-selected for her attacks on top of a cardboard UCK sign and had note attached to some of the rocks…

The recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on Kosovo’s declaration of independence seems to have lead to more questions than answers in the aftermath of the court’s non-binding opinion.  There have been both humorous takes such as If Kosovo can secede, what stops Mexifornia from declaring independence from the US and more serious articles such as “New Politicial Situation” according to Karabakh President. Whether the international court and players like it, people are seriously looking at the court’s opinion and asking “how does this relate to me” or “how can I use this to my advantage?”

Of course, depending on who you ask,  the ICJ ruling can and cannot be applied to other frozen conflicts around the world from Indonesia to the Russian Federation republics.  Here is a collection of various articles from both sides on the issue:

• Anaylsis:  What are the disadvantages of applying the Kosovo example to Karabakh
• Tatarstan nationalist leader encouraged by Kosovo ruling
• ICJ Ruling Passes the Rubicon for New States
• ICJ Ruling could inspire Indonesian separatists
• Germany assured Greek Cypriots about ICJ ruling
• Kosovo statehood a special case:  No parallel to Tamil-Tigers

The months of July & August have been deemed “Wedding Season” due to the large influx of Kosovo expats who flood back in their shiny BMW, Audi, and Mercedes and evenings punctuated with automatic “happy fire” from weddings.  Celebratory gunfire is just one of those things that probably will never be considered against the norm in Kosovo.  Occassionally people do get injured by stray bullets but I imagine that until a child is tragically killed there won’t be much public outcry against the AK-47 “happy fire”.  Despite the negative aspect of celebratory gunfire, a neat thing about Kosovo weddings is the vehicle procession. 

It is hard to give true justice to a Kosovo wedding vehicle procession in describing it but I’ll try…basically, you gather all your relatives and friends who have vehicles.  You decorate the lead vehicle with the biggest (and I mean BIG!) Albanian flag you can find and some plastic flowers/streamers if you can find some.  All the other vehicles that will follow the lead vehicle will put bath or dish towels under their windsheild wiper to signify that they are part of the wedding party.  If your guests have a sunroof, someone must be poking out of the sunroof, dancing to the traditional Albanian music blaring from everyone’s car stereos.  If you don’t have a sunroof, you are obligated to either sit on the windowsill of the moving vehicle, put your arms out the windows, or dance in place in the car.  Don’t forget to honk and flash your lights at oncoming traffic…  Like I said, it’s hard to give the experience justice for those who have seen a wedding procession here!

The International Court of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations, has issued a non-binding opinion on the declaration of independence by Kosovo stating that international law does not prohibit declarations of independence and therefore Kosovo did not violate international lawwhen unilaterally declaring independence from Serbia in 2008.  Kosovo is expecting a rash of new recognitions following the ruling which has bolstered its stance that there is no further need for status negotiations with Serbia.  Serbia on the other hand has warned that the ruling will lead to a dangerous precedent of unilateral declarations of independence and destabilization of troubled areas.  Almost immediately following the announcement of the decision, there were a few bursts of fireworks (at 4:20pm it was a little hard to see them but I am sure there will be more tonight as the celebration in Pristina starts to kick in!)

In other very important news, the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) has ruled that Ramush Haradinaj and Idriz Balaj must re-stand trial for war crimes following their acquittal.  Judges dismissed the charges against Haradinaj and Balaj for lack of evidence and prosecution cited witness intimidation.  In the appeal, the Tribunal President said that the trial judges failed to see the significance of intimidation which lead to a “miscarriage of justice“.  It is still unclear if the alleged intimidated witnesses will testify during the new trial which will take place in front of a new panel which still has yet been chosen and date set.  Haradinaj was taken into custody following the announcement but Balaj was not present in court and so far has not been taken into custody.  Both the Kosovo government and KLA Veterans Association issued statements of support for Haradinaj and concern that the retrial harms the political process in Kosovo.

As a follow-up to the news about the arrest and release of suspected terrorist Bajram Asllani, a panel of EULEX judges has upheld the decision not to extraditehim to the US stating that the Kosovo legal code does not permit extradition to other countries when the alleged crime has been committed in Kosovo.  The case is now being referred to the Kosovo Supreme Court.  It is not yet known if Asllani will face a similar situation regarding the 2009 court conviction for terrorism by Serbian courts as that information appears to be just given as a side note in most news rather than a disturbing fact to be corrected.

EULEX has continued its fight against corruption in Kosovo by putting focus on the Post and Telecom Company(PTK).  EULEX and the anti-corruption task force conducted raids in Pristina and Peja last week in various locations including the company’s top official, Shyqyri Haxha.  In addition to accusations of embezzlement, the company is under scrutiny for fraudulently issuing a contract to the Dardaphone Company “Z Mobile” for a multi-million Euro contract.

The fight against corruption by EULEX continues with the morning arrest of the former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and current advisor, Ilir Tolaj, for tax evasion.  A joint task-force of EULEX and the Kosovo Police anti-corruption force are reported to have searched three different locations including the University Clinic of Pristina.

A blast ripped through a crowd of Serb demonstators in the North of Mitrovica on Friday killing one and injuring 11 others.  The protestors gathered to demonstrate against the opening of a civil registry office in the North by the Kosovo government.  Blame for the incident has been laid at both doors with “carelessly armed Serbs” being blamed by the Kosovo Interior Minister, Bajram Rexhepi, and the Serbian National Council calling it a terrorist action by “Albanian separatists”.

Traffic in Pristina is always a popular subject to blog about even more so after the declaration of independence when the Kosovo government promptly ripped up all major roads and brought traffic to a grinding, bumpy halt in all directions.  The newest WTF moment occurred on the Monday morning commute to work for most people. 

The two-lane bridge to Mitrovica has been closed and is due to be tore down.  With Bill Clinton Boulevard ripped up and down to two lanes and all the traffic being diverted into that mess, most people who travel the 5-7kms to work were stuck in traffic for nearly two hours on Monday morning leading to a collective WTF moment for most of the international community.  Evidentally traffic planning does not exist or is not a particularly strong suit for the Ministry of Transportation.  In addition to the closure of the Mitrovica highway bridge, roadblocks have been placed on one of the roads forcing all traffic from downtown to divert into the road construction on Bill Clinton Boulevard and all traffic coming from FKP (Fushe Kosova/o Polje) to also divert into the nightmare! 

Besides the impossible traffic situation, I had a WTF moment today when I read that the “Brotherhood and Unity” Monument near the Kosovo Government Building has been selected to be destroyed and replaced with a moment and square dedicated to Kosovo Albanian hero Adem Jashari!  The “Brotherhood and Unity” monument was dedicated in 1961 and is commonly referred to by the internationals as the “Fork Monument” as the three pillars representing Serb, Albanian, and Montenegrian peoples.  It seems that history or cultural preservation is not a consideration for the Kosovo government which has also approved a move to tear down the historic Union Hotel to pave way for a square dedicated to Ibrahim Rugova…a mere two-three blocks from the “Brotherhood and Unity” monument.

Four unidentifed men (Albanians from Kosovo & Macedonia) were shot and killed near Vitina/Viti on 21 June under unknown circumstances.  Five people arrived at the Vitina police station in a vehicle that was bullet-ridden.  Three people were declared dead-on-arrival and a fourth died after being sent to the hospital.  As the shooting occurred in a village near the border with Macedonia there is speculation that the incident may be related to the recent crack-down on arms traficking in the area by ethnic Albanians.

The Kosovo Albanian man, Bajram Asllani, arrested last week for extradiction to the US to face terrorism charges has been released by an EULEX judge who ruled that Kosovo did not have a valid treaty for extradiction to the US.  While the prosecutor examines the judge’s decision and decided to appeal or not, Asllani will be required to report to the police twice a week.

MTCowgirl’s Interesting News/Commentary

• Kosovo’s Autistic Children Suffer in Silence
• World Cup:  Deciding What Country to Represent Not Always Easy
• World Cup:  Politics & Football
• Kosovo – 11 Years After, an Anniversary Remembered
• EU Leaders confuse Serbian Leaders who confuse Serbian people