End of my Era ...

With the upcoming elections, I think it's time for me to end this blogging endeavor. I do not seem to be into it anymore. Kosovan(r)s only have their destinies in their own hands now. What they do with it is left for history to judge. I think my life and efforts are needed more at home in the US.

Unless someone proposes taking over blogging for this site, this might be my "amazing last post" for this blog.

Be blessed all and vote for Obama ... Zod knows the world needs that change (and that is a not an arrogant American statement).

Thank you all for the support thus far. Thank you Kosovo/a for providing me with a home until now.

Peace and love y'all.

I have always wondered whatever happened with this matter ...

... I feel closer to Albania after reading Kadare's " The General of the Dead Army (1963)".

The final mystery

Oct 9th 2008 | TIRANA
From The Economist print edition

Finding the perpetrators of a lethal explosion could polish Albania’s image

Get article background

A MUDDY crater marks the spot near Tirana airport where a stockpile of artillery shells blew up last March. The blast killed 26 people, including several children, and injured more than 250 others. Dozens of houses in the next-door village were ruined beyond repair.

Sali Berisha, Albania’s prime minister, responded by removing from office Fatmir Mediu, the defence minister. Damaged homes are being rebuilt with government handouts. But people are still angry. “This”, says Fiqiri Ismaili, the mayor, “was the worst disaster since communism ended.”

Finding out who caused the explosion, and bringing the culprits to justice, is a test of Albania’s credibility as a future member of NATO. It would also help Mr Berisha achieve his goal of making Albania a formal candidate to join the European Union. That is because the EU’s sharpest criticisms of Albania are directed at the country’s judicial system. All too often, prosecutors and judges are bribed or bullied by politicians.

Most of the bomb’s victims were employees of Albademil, a local contractor working for an American firm selling ammunition to the new Afghan army. When the dump exploded, some workers were repackaging 40-year-old Chinese-made shells to disguise their origin (American military contractors are banned from dealing in Chinese equipment). Others were removing gunpowder and detonators from supposedly dud shells so that the metal casings could be sold for scrap.

Reuters

Picking up the pieces after the blast

Ina Rama, the chief prosecutor, who heads the investigation, says that four Albanians may soon face charges. She says that there were “no safety precautions at all” at the site. America’s Justice Department has launched its own investigation and is providing valuable help, she says. Even so, many Albanians fear that there will be a cover-up. In mid-September Kosta Trebicka, a businessman turned whistle-blower in the case, was killed when his jeep crashed on a remote mountain road. Opposition politicians claimed that the death of Mr Trebicka, who was a witness for the prosecution, was not accidental.

Mr Berisha hopes that joining NATO will help him change Albania’s reputation for corruption and lawlessness. He has already notched up successes. The economy has been growing by some 6% a year, agriculture is reviving and foreign investment is starting to flow in. A Canadian company is refurbishing neglected oilfields; a Turkish group is setting up a new mobile-phone network. A new highway to Kosovo is due to be finished next summer, boosting regional trade and encouraging tourists. Albania has also scored better in two influential reports: the World Bank’s “Doing Business” and Transparency International’s index on corruption. If justice is done over the munitions explosion, next year’s marks should be even better.

In the spirit of status quo and considering the UNSC dissed his Kosovo-related work ...

I would like to congratulate Mr. Ahtisaari for all his work and efforts at promoting international peace and the Nobel Peace award he just received. The people of Namibia congratulate you also, sir. Like they say, a prophet is never appreciated on her continent ;)

help me...

Cafes, clubs and restaurants are opening and closing so fast in Kosovo that I cannot keep up or go to them all. Please, if you have anything to say about any cafe, club or restaurant you have been to lately, send to me at Kosovo2007@gmail.com.

ciao

Big or little sister?

Getting on with big brother

Oct 9th 2008 | PRISTINA
From The Economist print edition

“Independent” Kosovo is in limbo, but ties with Serbia are quietly improving

A BLUE flag emblazoned with a golden map of Kosovo and six white stars flutters over the Merdare border crossing. Signs welcome visitors to the independent “Republic of Kosovo”—but that is not how much of the world sees it.

Ever since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17th, after nine years of custodianship by the United Nations, it has struggled to gain international acceptance. America and 22 of 27 European Union members have recognised it, along with 26 other states. But Russia, China and most of the UN’s 192 members have shunned it. This leaves Kosovo in limbo, its legitimacy still questioned. Some 90% of its 2m people are ethnic Albanians, but several Serbian-dominated enclaves are still beyond the control of Kosovo’s government.

The UN General Assembly this week approved a Serbian motion asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to rule on the legality of Kosovo’s independence. The court could take one or two years to issue a non-binding ruling, but the move could dim Kosovo’s hopes of gaining wider acceptance. Its leaders took time to wake up to the threat. “They are still in the mindset of the EU and the Americans being strong and who cares about the rest?” says Ilir Deda of KIPRED, a think-tank in Pristina.

More worrying is that the EU’s police and justice mission for Kosovo, called EULEX, has been so slow to arrive. It was supposed to be up and running four months ago, but has been hobbled by both politics and logistics. Only 350 of the 1,900 international policemen, judges and other personnel due to be deployed across the country have arrived so far. And they are unable to operate in the Serbian north of Kosovo. The absence of any new UN Security Council resolutions on Kosovo’s status has left the country with a plethora of international missions, none of which knows who is supposed to do what. One Kosovar official despairs of the “organised anarchy” of the international presence.

In the absence of strong international supervision, standards of governance in Kosovo are slipping. Opposition leaders are being bought off and boards of state companies packed with cronies. A briefing paper for Pieter Feith, the EU’s representative in Kosovo, complains that recent appointees “have direct political affiliations and fail to meet minimum professional qualifications requirements”.

The overall picture is not wholly negative, however. A new school seems to open every week. Despite the estrangement of Serbs and Albanians, diplomacy is proceeding. For the first time, Kosovo Albanian ministers and top Serbian officials are talking directly, with no foreign mediators, to solve practical problems. This began in July when the new Serbian government of President Boris Tadic put new people in the ministry dealing with Kosovo. The main officials are now Kosovar Serbs who have good relations with their counterparts. Serbia’s new minister in charge served in the pre-independence government of Kosovo led by Bajram Rexhepi. Another top official, Oliver Ivanovic, speaks fluent Albanian and was once a deputy in Kosovo’s Albanian-dominated parliament.

Mr Rexhepi, now mayor of the Albanian half of the divided city of Mitrovica, says that although such contacts may not on their own be enough to normalise Kosovo’s status and its relationship with Serbia, they can make a big difference. Like his Serbian counterparts he says he cannot hold meetings or discussions officially, but that unofficial contacts continue. “In this way you can solve problems,” he says, “but without too much publicity.”

M&M

Kosovo is recognized by 2 of its immediate neighbours : Macedonia and Montenegro.

That brings the number of recognitions to 50. We have been told to expect more recognitions in October. Does this mean better power supply? Can I get a witness up in here?!?

I am not quite sure it can be taken back but let's see ....

As if the early winter and constant power cuts were not enough to make an "international" whine, the ICJ has decided to sour the moods of Kosovars with its decision to issue an advisory opinion on Kosovo's UDI.

Let the games begin?

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Hola to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates of the USA. Say hi to mum for me when you get home ...