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
COMMENT: Time to Mobilise Kosovo Behind Ahtisaari’s Resolution
29 May 2007
Instead of passively following events in New York, we should show the world our support for the UN envoy’s proposals.
By Berat Buzhala in Pristina
People may think the negotiations on Kosovo’s final status started long time ago but in fact the real negotiations have only just begun.
Two sides with completely opposite attitudes on the future of Kosovo, the US and Russia, are right now sitting on Martti Ahtisaari’s draft, discussing the proposals drawn up by the UN Secretary General’s envoy.
If the existing draft is endorsed by a UN resolution, Kosovo will quickly win its statehood. But, don’t hold your breath. I fear that what is actually happening is negotiations leading to a new “compromise” resolution, which will leave Kosovo more or less stuck in its existing transitional phase.
This would offer Kosovo yet more of the status quo, delaying independence to who knows when.
What it means for practical life in Kosovo is further stagnation of every aspect of life and continuation of the confusing power share between local and international factors.
It also means the cloning of the present UN mission in Kosovo, UNIMK, with a new, more powerful, mission run by the EU.
At the moment, the risk is high that America and Russia find a common language regarding the reformulation of the next resolution, and that this new formula will not empower Kosovo to move on from the state that it is in today.
Certainly, it would not be the first time in UN history that a resolution is watered down with the language of compromise.
What can Kosovars do to affect this process? It seems clear that our ability to affect events in New York is marginal.
So, should we stand aside and watch this process unfold, as if the negotiations concerned another conflict, like the Middle East, and have nothing to do with us?
Or should we take on a more pro-active role and if so, what would that be?
Reading the messages coming out from European and US diplomats as well as the forecasts from different analysts, it is evident that the Kosovo Albanians’ only useful arena of activity is in Kosovo itself, not New York, Brussels or Moscow.
The strongest argument made so far for Kosovo’s independence has been that any other solution would destabilise the region. Indeed, most analysts have stressed that not letting Kosovo become independent means further chaos on Europe’s edge.
So, should we wait until an unfavourable choice is offered to us and only then react by setting the region on fire? Or should we find another way to shake international public opinion and make the diplomats accept there is no alternative to the Ahtisaari plan?
We have never been in a better position to do that as we have in our hands the proposal of the UN envoy, which tells the Security Council that “the only viable option for Kosovo is independence”.
For the first time in our history, the highest world institution supports the ambitions of the great majority of people who live in Kosovo. Why then should we withdraw into our shells at this moment when the world is dealing with our case, waiting with our heads down until the decision is made?
One good alternative would be to channel people’s protests and accumulated dissatisfactions in a peaceful and organized way.
If I was Kosovo’s President, I would invite my colleagues from the Unity Team to stop their various political activities and concentrate on one point – obtaining UN Security Council approval for the resolution on Kosovo.
I would not be much concerned about the symbols and emblems of Kosovo, or about plans to increase teachers’ salaries.
Hundreds and thousands of copies of the part of Ahtsaari’s proposal that recommends independence for Kosovo should be distributed and all citizens invited to demonstrate on Kosovo’s streets, symbolically waving the package. Our motto would be: “Awaiting Independence – according to Ahtisaari’s proposal”.
If the Unity Team hesitates to lead peaceful protests in support of Ahtisaari’s plan and against the delay of the process and a watered-down resolution, someone else like Albin Kurti, leader of the extremist Vetevendosje (Self-determination) movement, will do it for them, and in a very different manner.
This is a decision concerning whether our population will be free or not. Any hesitation over making the right choice will speedily multiply the number of Albin Kurtis in Kosovo.
It is surely not melodramatic to stress how destructive the consequences of a wrong decision for Kosovo could be. It is not melodramatic either to stress the fragility of the political situation in neighbouring countries that depend in part on the stability of Kosovo.
No Albanians have an interest in seeing the situation escalate out of control. But it is worth drawing attention to the fact that it would be unwise to expect rational behaviour from a desperate and disillusioned society. And that it what we will have if the existing UN resolution is further delayed and in the end, turned into a bad resolution.
Berat Buzhala is editor of the Kosovo daily newspaper Express. Balkan Insight is BIRN’s online publication.
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.