Kosovo Winemakers Face Bitter Harvest
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Opinion: Turkey’s Neo-Ottomanism in the Balkans Now 24 pages September 3 - 16, 2010 Issue No. 46 www.prishtinainsight.com Price € 1 Tony Blair: I Built NEWS Consensus for Skopje Sees Politics in Kosovo Mass Kosovo Action Grave Claim In his much awaited > page 3 autobiography, A Journey, former British prime minister Tony Blair reveals how he led the push for military intervention in Kosovo because it was the NEWS ‘moral’ decision in the Kosovo-Serbia Land face of ‘ethnic cleansing’. Swap Gets Official Thumbs Down LIVEPICT.COM See Page 2 > page 4 Kosovo Winemakers Face Bitter Harvest BUSINESS Growers have accumulated the equivalent of 16 million unsold bottles, owing to the Serbian blockade on Kosovo prod- Privatised Kosovo ucts and the overall economic crisis. Firms Face By Petrit Collaku and Albania and Montenegro, where the Central European Free Trade there. Shengjyl Osmani we can send the grapes from Agreement, CEFTA, agreement, Mullaabazi said Kosovo was at a Repossession Rahovec in order to save the fami- which links non-EU countries in further disadvantage because of he harvest is about to start in lies in this business,” Bala told Central and Southeast Europe. the EU’s programmes of subsidies > page 4 Kosovo’s wine-growing region Prishtina Insight. Serbia refuses to accept to its own producers. Tof Rahovec, but farmers there Kosovo’s biggest wine producer, Pristina’s participation in the Muhamet Bugari from Rahovec CITY face being left with thousands of Stonecastle, has decided not to buy agreement as a separate country, owns three hectares of vineyards tonnes of fruit because winemakers any grapes this year from farmers saying it may only be represented and the 2010 harvest is going to be a Prishtina’s have not sold last year’s vintage. in the area because its reserves are by the UN mission in Kosovo, big challenge for him, he said. Nightlife Shuts Rahovec has some 2,240 hectares still full. The company owns 600 UNMIK. “I don’t know what I’m going to of vineyards, which will produce hectares of vineyards from which Serbia and Bosnia and do,” Bugari told Prishtina Insight. Early After Raids 20,000 tons of grapes this autumn. it produces 3.5 to 4 million litres of Herzegovina have also refused to “I don’t know where I’m going to In previous years, around a quarter wine each year. allow in any imports with the hall- sell 50,000 tonnes of Burgundy that > page 8 of that was sold outside of Kosovo, “We’ll produce the same amount mark of the Republic of Kosovo, are planned for this year.” the rest going to mostly to produc- this year, but we regret that we thereby depriving the new country Kosovo’s Ministry of ers of wine and raki, the local won’t be able to buy any grapes of key exports markets. Agriculture said it was in discus- GUIDE brandy. from local farmers,” Shani “We informed the government sion with farmers but, for the time UNESCO Probes But Sulejman Bala, head of the Mullabazi, general manager at about this problem in March this being, had no plan of action. The state-run Institute of Vineyards Stonecastle, told Prishtina Insight. year but there was no response Ministry offered subsidies to farm- Care of Butrint and Wineries, from Rahovec, said “Our tankers are full and we have from them,” Mullaabazi added. ers in 2008 and 2009 to plant new that 12.5 million litres of wine, the millions of litres of wine remain- Not all the problems facing the vines. Heritage Site equivalent of 16 million bottles, are ing in our basement,” he added. wine industry are due to Serbia. “We are looking for ways [to being held in vineyard basements Mullaabazi said the main prob- Mullaabazi said the main market help] but for the time being we > page 12 because of low sales. lem for the wine industry in for the company was Germany. But don’t have anything concrete to “This year, we are trying to find Kosovo was Serbia. Belgrade is due to the financial crisis Europe, say,” Bekim Hoxha, a ministry offi- new markets in the region, like in blocking Kosovo’s participation in sales of Kosovo wine had dropped cial, told Prishtina Insight. Investors Fail to Mine Montenegro Rivals Jockey To Kosovo’s Rich Opportunities Fill Outgoing Leader’s Shoes Tales abound of Kosovo’s bountiful Debates over the timing of the depar- mines, overflowing with gold, silver and ture of Montenegro’s long-term leader other precious metals. But the country’s from political life - and the impact this FEATURE still largely unexplored underground will have on the political scene - are a con- wealth is failing to translate into invest- stant topic in Montenegro’s print media. Kosovars Forget the ment. Recently, the Independent Much of it is fanciful and speculative, Taste of The Past Commission ... as Milo Djukanovic... business page 6 news page 10-11 > page 14 Y M is supported by: C K 2 September 3 - 16, 2010 news Tony Blair: I Built Consensus Blair Meets Rugova for Kosovo Action he leader of the In his much awaited autobiography, A TKosovans, Ibrahim Rugova, Journey, former British prime minister came to see me. He Tony Blair reveals how he led the push for was a thin, unwell man who had had military intervention in Kosovo because it throat cancer. He was the ‘moral’ decision in the face of ‘ethnic begged for help. “They are killing cleansing’. us,” he said. He gave me a present, a small piece of purple- and-white Kosovo crystal. “I have little to give,” he explained. I used to keep it on my desk in the den in Downing Street. He says the pressure he put on the US to get By Lawrence Marzouk involved led to “colossal strains on his person- Blair: I overruled NATO al relationship with Bill Clinton. “Kosovo was a very tough issue for US opin- Commander over Russian air- ion,” he writes, “There was no real appetite in ony Blair has for the first time revealed in detail port Seizure the public or among the politicians for any his leading role in pushing for military inter- action, let alone major military action involv- Tvention in Kosovo in 1999. here was an extraordinary epo- ing ground forces. In the former British prime minister’s logue, which arose in this way: the “In truth, without the US, forget it; nothing idea was for the Serbian forces to autobiography, A Journey, he reveals T would happen. That was the full extent of withdraw, and then NATO would go into his difficulties in convincing both Europe’s impotence. Pristina airport. European and US allies to take mil- “I began to engage with Bill Clinton over the On Friday 11 June, we awoke to news itary action, and later consider a possibility of military action, not just by air, that there was a delay, and suddenly we ground invasion, as well as the but if necessary through the use of ground were told Russian forces intended to failure of NATO’s initial air forces.” occupy the airport. Throughout, of strikes strategy. Blair explains that his motivation for inter- course, the Russians had been strongly Blair says the Kosovo experi- vention in Kosovo was a combination of moral- opposed to the military action, which ence reshaped his approach to for- ity and “enlightened national self-interest”. was one reason why we couldn’t get a UN eign policy, affecting his later “However my primary motivation was out- Security Council Resolution. They were approach to Afghanistan and Iraq. rage at what was happening,” he adds. “Here oviously very closely connected to the Blair writes that the then were ordinary civilians being driven from Serbs. If they then took over the main British Liberal Democrat leader, their homes and turned into refugees, killed, airport, it would turn everything into a Paddy Ashdown, alerted him to raped, beaten up with savagery and often fiasco. the dangers in Kosovo in 1997, as sadism, whole families humiliated or eliminat- Russian planes demanded airspace to fighting began to hot up between ed. fly though Hungary to get to the airport. the Kosovo Liberation Army and “God, had we learned nothing from Europe’s Russian tanks were on their way from Serbian security forces. history. It was shocking. And in one way, even Bosnia. At this point Wes Clark decided He adds that with the mounting more outrageous was the sense in some quar- we had to take the Russians on. He want- casualties and “strong intelli- ter that, yes, well, it was shocking but did we ed to order General Mike Jackson, the gence that [Serbian leader really want to be involved?” British on-the-ground commander, to Slobodan] Milosevic was about to Behind the scenes, Blair writes, world lead- fight for control of the airport if neces- authorize a major Serb assault’ in ers were not convinced the intervention was sary. Wes was Mike’s commanding officer 1998, he resolved to confront mat- the best course, noting that we “very nearly for these purposes. I was, therefore, very ters. abandoned Kosovo.” tricky. Did we really want British forces “There was ethnic cleansing. He writes: “Now we look back and most peo- fighting Russians? I didn’t think so. What’s more, it was happening ple would say: well, of course we couldn’t have Wes was absolutely right to be mad at right on Europe’s border,” he abandoned them; although we very nearly the Russians. It was a total breach of the writes.