News: EULEX Garners Mixed Reviews on First Birthday December 11 - 23, 2009 Issue No. 29 www.prishtinainsight.com Free copy Prishtina Insight’s FEATURE Kosovo’s Skiing Guide Promising 2009/2010 Wine After a mild start to the winter, Industry ski slopes in the Balkans have Caught Over been looking distinctly green a Barrel recently. But with snow sched- uled for this week, the skiing sea- > page 7 son is about to begin. Here ARTE Prishtina Insight brings you a guide to the best resorts in The ABC of Human Kosovo, Serbia, Macedonia and Rights’ Abuses Montenegro. page 8 - 9 > page 10 OPINION Exclusive: Another Eight Stations Singing the Hits of ‘99 Cancelled in Kosovo Poll > page 13 Prishtina Insight has analysed the results of the November 15 local elections, revealing that almost one in ten votes for the municipal assembly were ruled invalid, that almost one in four conditional ballots were cancelled, that more than half of com- FOOD & DRINK plaints about the election were rejected on technicalities, and that while Kosovo’s biggest party, PDK, gained votes in the may- Fish Restaurant oral election, it lost out in the ballot for assembly members. > page 10 documentation at one polling station. Analysis of the results for the to vote. By Lawrence Marzouk The revelation increases the num- municipal assembly, released on This was highest in Gllogovc and ber of polling stations where results Wednesday, reveals that 54,444 votes Skenderaj where 51.3 per cent and NGO FOCUS he results of a further eight have not been counted by more than cast in this poll were ruled invalid. 53.5 per cent were cancelled respec- polling stations were cancelled 50 per cent. Prishtina Insight has also This represents 8.5 per cent or almost tively. Speaking up Tby Kosovo’s Central Election discovered that 77 polling stations in one in ten of all ballots cast. According to the official results Commission, CEC, on top of the 15 Serb areas did not open and were Ferizaj had the highest number of released by the CEC, there is one on Corruption annulled by the Election Complaints therefore not counted. invalid municipal assembly ballots at polling centre in Skenderaj where 100 and Appeals Commission, ECAC, This means that almost 4.5 per cent 13.5 per cent with Fushe Kosove sec- per cent of voters gave their support – FOL ‘08 Prishtina Insight has discovered. of the total 2,256 polling stations were ond at 12.8 per cent. to the PDK. In Prekaz i Ulte, Skenderaj A CEC spokesman said on not included in the final election Some 23.3 per cent of conditional municipality, all 1,230 voters in the > page 14 Wednesday that the results had been results from 15 November. ballots, where voters cast their ballots mayoral poll, and all 1,161 voters in the cancelled by the Counting and Four of the affected polling stations at a different polling station to the one municipal assembly poll, voted for the Results Centre for a variety of techni- are in Vushtrri, one in Skenderaj, one they were registered at, were can- PDK. CITY cal reasons, including that coffee had in Peja, one in Malisheve and one in celled as a result of the voter having been spilt on some of the necessary Prishtina. already voted or not being registered continues page 3 ‘Cash for Votes’ News Business Protests Planned in Political ‘Marriages of Convenience’ KEK Pledges Crackdown on Prishtina Dominate Kosovo Poll Power Theft > page 6 In the run-up to Sunday’s second round The Kosovo Energy Corporation, KEK, of local elections in Kosovo, parties have lost 37 million euro as a result of elec- formed a dizzying array of coalitions at tricity theft in the first six months of municipal level, displaying little pattern 2009, prompting calls for the publicly along ideologically lines and often ignor- owned firm to speed up its revenue pro- ing deals made at national level. tection plans. Some senior politicians have described Last year, the company collected these partnerships as political marriages around 130 million euro from customers, of conveniences but ... page 4 but lost another... page 5 is supported by: 2 • December 11 - 23, 2009 marketing news • December 11 - 23, 2009 3 EULEX Garners Mixed Reviews on Editor’s word First Birthday Urime The mission released a series of and Prime Minister Thaci, strongly EULEX’s progress in the north Ditëlindja documents outlining their other objected on the grounds that it was has been stunted by protests from By Lawrence Marzouk, successes. These ranged from up to Kosovo’s institutions to sign local Serbs who feel the mission is Shengjyl Osmani and arresting “several suspected war international agreements. insufficiently neutral on the issue of Ivana Stevanovic criminals” to prosecutors dealing The issue was rarely off the front Kosovo’s independence. But, Oliver By Lawrence Marzouk with more than 1,000 cases. pages during August and September, Ivanovic, State Secretary of Serbia’s At a meeting between De when Vetevendosje held a series of Ministry for Kosovo, said he believed he EU rule of law mission in Kermabon and Prime Minister protests and actions, including over- EULEX had not taken sides. But he Kosovo, EULEX, marked its Hashim Thaci to mark the anniver- turning almost 30 EULEX vehicles. added: “EULEX hasn’t had the appy birthday, EULEX, or Tfirst year in Kosovo by releas- sary,Thaci said government institu- EULEX pressed on and signed the opportunity to work on the main Urime Ditëlindja in ing a series of documents noting its tions and EULEX officials had deal but the episode damaged its points of their mandate. They are HAlbanian. key successes. worked well together in past 12 credibility in Kosovo and strained just starting to take over.” It’s been one year since the EU But the mission’s first 12 months months. the relationship with the govern- Meanwhile, as summer turned to mission launched in Kosovo and, I haven’t been without incident, and But not everyone is keen to cele- ment. autumn, there were growing calls think it is fair to say, it has been a some analysts complain that the brate EULEX’s birthday. Ilir Deda, Tensions between the government from civil society groups for EULEX mixed 12 months with some good 3,000-strong team has not lived up to director of the Kosovar Institute for and EULEX were also raised over to tackle corruption. points, some bad but nothing in expectations, failing to tackle cor- Policy Research and Development, plans to rebuild Albanian homes in In November, a EULEX official least bit remarkable. ruption or help the government KIPRED, said he hadn’t seen much the Serb-run northern part of the was quoted as saying the mission This is epitomised by Yves de exert control over the troubled evidence of EULEX’s successes. town of Mitrovica. Attempts to start was preparing to net “big fish”, Kermabon’s comment that one of north. “There isn’t any improvement in government-funded construction of apparently referring to the arrest of the biggest successes of the year As EULEX marked it first birth- the borders or customs, and the sit- the homes encountered large and senior figures. EULEX later denied was the issuing of a report. day on Wednesday, its head of mis- uation in the judiciary is chaotic,” sometimes violent protests from using the term “big fish” but con- No matter how good this report sion, Yves de Kermbon, announced Deda said. local Serbs. firmed it was working on major cor- was, and it wasn’t bad at all, a that his team had “begun well”. Kosovo had fallen out of love with While the international communi- ruption cases. No arrests have been 3000-strong mission should have a The EU’s largest ever civilian the UN mission, UNMIK, long ty praised EULEX for ensuring the made to date. lot more to shout about than a mission, costing 250 million euro, before the EU sent its civilian mis- protests did not descend into blood- Later in November, the mission hundred or so pages of the print- began operations on December 9, sion to Prishtina. So, it was with shed, the government complained of found itself again at the centre of a ed word. 2008, with the aim of “mentoring, some optimism that EULEX was EULEX’s indecisiveness. storm when it emerged that EULEX If there is one thing that monitoring and advising” Kosovo’s welcomed to the recently independ- Thaci was angered when Serbian had failed for seven months to arrest EULEX has proved this year, it is justice, police and customs services ent country on December 9, 2008. members of the Kosovo police serv- a man who had admitted involve- and investigating and prosecuting The terms of its deployment were ice in the town failed to respect the ment in a string of politically moti- that it is not very good at reading serious crimes, ranging from war the source of much angst for chain of command in the Kosovo vated murders, attempted murders the political scene in Kosovo. crimes to political corruption. Kosovo’s government and people, police, following UNMIK directives and beatings allegedly carried out It failed to see any problem with One year on, De Kermabon triggering street protests and fever- instead. Yet, EULEX cited its man- under the orders of members of the the signing of the protocol with described EULEX’s first 12 months ish negotiations at the United agement of the incident in its list of ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo, Serbia’s Ministry of Interior.