Inauguration of Kosovo War Crimes Institute

PRISTINA, Kosovo — The Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Hajredin Kuci today inaugurated the Kosovo War Crimes Institute. The establishment of a war crimes institute was announced about 6 weeks ago on 1st. of May. The proclaimed aim of the institute is the research, documentation and publication of war crimes in Kosovo. As to Minister Kuci the concerning activities shell be conducted professionally without political influence. According to the former announcement the war crimes institute will have the status of a public agency under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kosovo. 

Serbian Officials encourage Destabilization in Northern Kosovo

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Reportedly several officials from the Serbian Government crossed the border to Kosovo illegally. On Friday 3rd June, Serbia’s Minister for Kosovo, Goran Bogdanovic, entered the mainly Serb populated northern Kosovo territory without permission from the Kosovo Government. In the Serb controlled northern Mitrovica Bogdanovic then officially presented a Serbian government donation of 350,000 Euro cash for Kosovo-Serb owned enterprises. Already a day before, on 2nd. June – the head of the Serbian delegation for the Dialogue with Kosovo, Broko Stefanovic paid an illegal visit to the same region. Bypassing the official border controls, Stefanovic obviously used the smuggler routes from Serbia to Kosovo. 

A Rocky Road – Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic Illusions

BRUSSELS / PRISTINA, Kosovo — Poor governance and slow economic growth continue to be major obstacles in the process of the Euro-Atlantic integration of western Balkan countries. This is the outcome of a report, which the British politician John Sewel, in his function of the Rapporteur for the Committee on Economics and Security, recently presented to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly: "The road … is rocky, and only Croatia seems close to achieving the basic qualifications … The others face daunting challenges … These include the debt crisis, problems of governance and corruption … and enlargement fatigue among some EU governments and their publics." 

Ashton’s U-Turn – MEP Lunacek won’t be EU Representative in Kosovo

BRUSSELS / PRISTINA, Kosovo — The member of the European Parliament (MEP) and parliament rapporteur for Kosovo, Ulrike Lunacek, was expelled from the application procedure for the position of the EU representative in Kosovo. Prior to this decision, the Austrian  Lunacek was said to be the preferred candidate of EU foreign affairs commissioner Catherine Ashton and EU extension commissioner Stefan Fule. Reportedly Ashton even personally encouraged the Green Party’s member Lunacek to submit her application.  As to Austrian media, the EU foreign affairs administration claims formal reasons for the sudden rejection: 

Kosovo: 100 days failure

PRISTINA, Kosovo — The Kosovo daily Koha Ditore commen- ted on the first 100 days of the 2nd. Thaci government: Compared to the first 100 days of Thaci’s first mandate the current government drafted less laws and took fewer decisions. The Prime Minister’s official visits abroad were less and fewer official guests visited Kosovo. During these 100 days the Government couldn’t ensure new recognitions for Kosovo’s independence. The main increase refers to the number of government officials: An additional ministry, four additional deputy prime ministers and 20 more deputy ministers. Finally a wage increase for government employees and further budget expenses resulted in a decrease of available funds due to the breach of agreements with the IMF. The miscalcu lation concerning the privatization of the publicly owned Post Telecom Kosovo (PTK) moreover contributes to Kosovo’s financial crisis: "100-poor days of Thaci Government", the daily titles. KON/NK

Kosovo heads for ruin

PRISTINA, Kosovo — In a contribution for the guardian, the former Head of the ICO Economics unit in Kosovo, Andrea Capussela, reports that the Government of Kosovo acts "fiscally irresponsible" and is on the way to "mess up its IMF programme".  According to Capussela "the IMF is expected to make an announcement later today in which it declares Kosovo’s programme to be off-track. This would be a rare event," Capussela states: "Both money and credibility look to be lost. … The irresponsibility of its government is leading Kosovo towards a fiscal crisis", which is said to be due to its extensively increased budget spending. Kosovo’s "incompetent … elite is free from accoun- tability", Capussela writes. Read the full article of Andrea Capussela. / KON/NK 

Kosovo President at CEE Summit – EU Rapporteur condemned Serbia’s absence

PRISTINA, Kosovo — The past weekend’s participation of Kosovo’s President Atifete Jahjaga at the summit of central- and south-eastern European countries was widely seen as a progress in achieving international acceptance for the youngest European state. The clear statement of the Polish host, not to see a problem in inviting the Kosovar President – due to the recognition of the Republic of Kosovo by Poland and the majority of the European countries – was fueling self-confidence of the Kosovo government. 

MacShane: Will Serbia use Mladic detention to end Kosovo impasse and join EU?

LONDON / PRISTINA  — The British MP and former UK Europe Minister Denis MacShane recently posted an opinion piece at the NewStatesman blog, stating that "the capture of Ratko Mladic is not just an opportunity for justice, but a chance for diplomacy …". MP MacShane wonders if Belgrade can "use this achievement to face down its nationalist past and finally bring closure on the Kosovo question which blocks Serbia’s EU future?" Critically he remarks that "Like some wretched SS general hiding away after 1945, Mladic had a network of supporters … Too many Serbs have been in denial about his role, too ready to forgive".  

Coincidence? War crime suspect Mladic arrested in Serbia on the day of Aston’s visit to Belgrade

BELGRADE / PRISTINA — As to international media today the President of Serbia, Boris Tadic announced the arrest of war crime suspect Ratko Mladic, who was the military leader of the Serb forces in Bosnia. Mladic will be brought to the ‘International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia" (ICTY), located in The Hague, Netherlands. He is accused to have committed war crimes with thousands of killings in Srebrenica and Sarajevo. In Serbia Mladic is said to have lived with false documents under the name Milorad Komadic. His sudden arrest appears to be surprising. Since long Serbia faced accusations, not to be willing to show appropriate efforts on this regard. 

Kosovo remembers Dubrava prison massacre

[ ... prisoners were told to line up on the sports field ... police started firing from the guard tower and the jail walls, using hand grenades, bazookas and automatic weapons ... about 20 officers opened fire ... total chaos with prisoners falling down all over the place. It all stopped some 20 minutes later, allegedly for the guards to reload ... ] — ISTOG, PRISTINA, Kosovo — The last Sunday was used by parts of the Kosovo-Albanian population to remember the 12th year of the Dubrava prision massacre in Kosovo. On 22nd. May 1999 reportedly 160 mainly Kosovo-Albanian political prisoners were murdered by Serbian paramilitary forces, police and military. Another 300 prisoners were wounded.