Life in Kosovo discusses about emergency situations
Tonight, Life in Kosovo will broadcast a debate on the emergency situations in our country.
Read more
Every Thursday starting from 20:30, Radio Television Kosovo, RTK, broadcasts the TV debate show "Life in Kosovo", a joint production of BIRN and RTK.
Read more
Kosovo: One Year On
12 February 2009 This week Life in Kosovo debated what Kosovo had accomplished and achieved in the first year of its existence as a state.
To debate these issues were:
Hajredin Kuci, deputy prime minister of
Kosovo ;
Xhavit Haliti, of Kosovo’s parliament ;
Blreim Shala, deputy head, Alliance for Kosovo’s Future ;
Teuta Sahatqia, head of the Reformist Party,
ORA
Albin Kruti, Vetevendosje ;
A report prepared by Jeta Abazi contained
interviews with the head of the Alliance
for Kosovo’s Future Ramush Haradinaj , Agim Ceku, head of Kosovo’s Social
Democratic Party, Memli Krasniqi,
spokesman of the government, and Ilir Deda, from the KIPRED institute.
They discussed government delays in appointing
heads to key institutions such as the Ombudsman, Central Election Committee and
Intelligence Agency as well as delays to the setting up the Kosovo Protection
Force.
Haradinaj, Ceku and Deda said the postponements
reflected the government’s wish to impose its own candidates onto these key
institutions.
Krasniqi denied this, however, and said the
government had taken its time to appoint the right people and so create
well-established and sustainable institutions.
Hajredin Kuci said the postponements reflected
the fact that a new state was being formed.
“Institutions couldn’t be set up before we had
proper legislation, which came in on June 15 with the constitution of Kosovo,”
Kuci said. He added that in the end, everyone was would be pleased with the
choices.
Turning to the issue of Kosovo’s overall
achievements, he added: “There have been enormous developments throughout the
first year in which Kosovo also maintained good relations with its
international partners.”
On the other hand, Shala said the process of
recognitions had not gone as expected.
Kosovo had also not obtained membership of key
international mechanisms, the situation in the north remained tense and there
was no clarity in relations with international institutions operating in
Kosovo.
“The events of March 17, with all the turmoil
among the Serbs, could have been used as a turning point but were not used by
the government to regain control in the north,” Shala said.
“The government could have sent its own men
into the north to prevent an escalation, but it was busying itself with
celebrations.”
According to Kurti, there had been no “state
formation”. He said: “There have been attempts to make do with issuing new
flags and symbols but there is no military – there is no state.” In response,
Kuci said Kosovo did not need armed forces while KFOR was present.
“There should have been a more proper reaction
from the government to ensure its control in the north after February 17 [i.e.,
when Kosovo declared independence]”, said Sahatqia.
Kosovo’s parliament was then criticized for not
taking an initiative to debate the security issue. But Haliti responded,
saying: “There has not been any request to debate on security.”
He added: “We all know that MUP [the Serbian
Interior Ministry] is quite active in the north… but there’s nothing we can do
about it because the mandate of Kosovo’s Security Force doesn’t permit it to
cross the bridge in Mitrovica without KFOR’s permission.”
Turning to privatization, Kurti said the
government had pursued the wrong strategy. “Kosovo’s citizens should now be
asked to vote in a referendum on whether they wish to privatize KEK [the power
company], the airport and other public resources”, he said.
Sahatqia said Kosovo’s request for the return of the 400 million euro obtained
from privatization shouldn’t be translated into a breach of relations with the
international community. “We should know how to look after our own interests”.
Life in Kosovo is a co-production between Kosovo Public Television,
RTK and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN. It is
broadcast every Thursday, starting at 20:20.
THE PROCESS OF JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS AND REAPPOINTMENTS OF JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS
The report on the process of judicial appointments and reappointments analysis the flow of this process, specifically focusing on the bright and dark sides that have marred the process to its final stages.
COURT MONITORING ANNUAL REPORT APRIL 2010 - FEBRUARY 2011
Court monitoring report is published as a result of a continuous monitoring of all municipal and districts courts of Kosovo. The findings of this report are based on the monitoring of 2,147 court hearings, by BIRN monitors.
THE PROCESS OF JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS
This report presents the results of part of BIRN's court monitoring project, specifically on the process for the appointment and reappointment of judges and prosecutors.
Follow the Paper Trail
\"Follow the Paper Trail\", a guide to document-based journalism in Kosovo, explains relevant laws, access to public documents, how to publish safely, where to find databases on investigative journalism, and how to locate documents online through various search engines.
Courts Monitoring Report 2010
A detailed analytical report about the work and administration of the courts in Prishtina, Peja, Prizren, Gjilan, Mitrovica, Ferizaj, Gjakova, Decan, Vushtrri, Poduleva, Lipjan, Klina and Istog. The report contains important information, collected by the network of monitors, placed in the major municipalities of Kosovo and aims to identify the key problems and issues that the justice system in Kosovo is facing.
REPORT: Monitoring the Courts 2009
Monitoring the work and administration of courts in Prishtina, Peja, Mitrovica, Gjilan, Ferizaj, Vushtrri and Skenderaj.
DIRECTLY ELECTED MAYOR SYSTEM IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE
The report on Directly Elected mayor System in Local Governance aims to provide a critical overview of the rationale and feasibility of the implementation of a municipal governance system that places the mayor as the central executive figure, during the third year of its application. The efficiency of this system was assessed based on the following pillars: the relationship between local government bodies, accountability of the municipal executive, respect for the law, the link between the mayor and the citizens, provision of public services (water supply and waste management, capital investments (in school and road projects)), level of transparency, public consultation and citizen participation in decision-making.
BIRN Report on Monitoring the Education System
Report on monitoring the elementary and high schools in Prishtina: Mitrovica, Ferizaj, Peja and Gjilan
Analytical report of the situation and the problems in the University of Prishtina
Report on Kosovo`s Healthcare System
Monitoring report on all primary, secondary and tertiary (University Clinical Center of Kosovo, UCCK) healthcare institutions in Pristina, Prizren, Peja, Mitrovica, Gjilan, Ferizaj, Gjakova, Klina, Decan, Istog and Vushtrri.
Situation and the Problems at the University of Prishtina
Analytical report of research into the standards and problems at the University of Prishtina. Ten years since the end of the war in Kosovo, the University of Prishtina (UP) continues to suffer from a variety of problems, resulting in persistently low quality courses being offered. For this reason, BIRN conducted research into the problems faced by UP students. The data gathered suggests that, out of the many issues reported, the most significant are: the non-implementation of contemporary teaching and assessment methods, the lack of practical work for students, the lack of appropriate academic literature, arbitrary assessments by
professors and generally poor relationships between students and their professors.
Download Here
Buy DVD
Click here to buy a copy of 'Does Anyone Have a Plan?,' BIRN's feature-length documentary on Kosovo's final status.
"Life in Kosovo" debates also available on DVDs now!
Read more
Post Your Comments
Write your comment on BIRN debates and other activities.With the new web-site BIRN looks forward to receive direct opinions from our readers via comment section.
Read more
Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
The opinions expressed in Balkan Insight are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.
Comments:
No comments have been posted.