Opinion: Europe is to Blame For Balkan Asylum Crisis

October 14 - 27, 2011 Issue No. 73 www.prishtinainsight.com Price € 1

NEWS No Justice Kosovo Hails for Kosovo Promise of Woman EU Visa Talks Forced to > page 3 NEWS Abort Baby Dino the Painter – The Man Who Sold Six years after her parents-in-law allegedly Kosovo forced her to abort her first baby, and then took her second one from her, M B blames police, the courts and social workers for ignoring her plight. See Page 5 Kosovo Factory Sale > page 7 NEIGHBOURHOOD Albania Struggles Broke Privatization Law To Curb Sex- A once flourishing car parts factory in Prishtina appears to have been sold at a bargain price to people under a fraud Selective Abortions investigation – violating the country’s law on privatization. > page 11 September 2010 took place three on whether to hold a full trial or - nearly three months after EULEX By Prishtina Insight months after police from the EU drop the case until October 27. police opened its investigation into INSIDE PRISHTINA rule of law mission, EULEX, raided Real estate experts meanwhile Devolli and its owners. osovo’s Privatization Devolli Group offices as part of one have told Prishtina Insight that the EU police raided Devolli offices Indian Spices Up Agency, PAK, broke two key of the highest profile anti-corrup- site alone of the factory - which on July 15, 2010, with an authoriza- Krules in the sale of the state- tion investigation staged in Kosovo. was sold for 2 million euro - was tion provided by a EULEX judge Prishtina owned Suspension Factory to The raid formed part of a probe worth more than twice that and under the supervision of the Devolli Group, one of Kosovo’s into an allegedly corrupt mobile amount. Kosovo Special Prosecutor. biggest and most influential firms, > page 19 Prishtina Insight can reveal. phone contract between the Devolli The privatised company was reg- The Devolli Group’s owners and According to PAK rules, the Group and Post Telecommunic- istered under the Devolli Group at the director, Bojku, are suspected agency cannot sell state assets to ations of Kosovo, PTK. the Business Registration Agency of negotiating “harmful con- individuals under criminal investi- Devolli’s owners, brothers at the Ministry of Trade and tracts” with the PTK, which led to gation - and a minimum of three Blerim and Shkelqim Devolli, and Industry in May 2011, after PAK the launch of Kosovo’s third Kosovo’s only English-language bidders must take part in the the company director, Ismet Bojku, gave the group the go-ahead to buy mobile phone operator, Z Mobile, newspaper is available: process. were due to appear in court on the firm in October 2010. which Devolli owns. But the sale of the factory on the Thursday on fraud charges. The PAK accepted an offer of 2 mil- Delivered to outskirts of Prishtina in judge has now postponed a decision lion euro - the only offer submitted continues page 2 Your Door

Mineral Looters Destroying Toxic Toys on Sale From Newsstands Kosovo’s Rivers in Kosovo across Kosovo

The Drini i Bardhe, Kosovo’s longest Importers and shop owners in Kosovo Sent To river, is being destroyed through the wide- are mostly ignorant of the EU’s warning Your Inbox spread, illegal exploitation of its bed for system for dangerous products and some quartz and gravel. are even unworried that they are selling While this activity has not been licensed dangerous toys to children. From by the authorities, the operators continue Prishtina Insight tested a number of our partners to act with virtual... children’s toys bought... news page 6 feature page 15 see page 16 for more info

is supported by: 2 October 14 - 27 news Kosovo Factory Sale Broke Privatization Law from page 1 chase of the factory, or on whether PAK should have stopped In July a EULEX prosecutor the sale as a result of the ongoing filed an indictment against the investigation. “You should con- Devolli brothers, Bojku and the tact the company lawyer,” Bojku PTK head, Shyqyri Haxhaj, seek- said. ing 20 years’ imprisonment. We were not able to contact the This is one of the highest pro- company’s legal representative, file corruption cases to have Valon Basha. reached the courts in Kosovo. However, the Devolli Group’s Former Kosovo MP Driton Tali, lawyers did send Prishtina who sat as an independent until Insight a letter this week main- last December’s general election, taining that PAK rules ban only estimates that the contract that individuals under investigation the PTK signed with Devolli from taking part in a privatisa- Group has lost the PTK and the tion – not companies, and that the taxpayer revenue worth 250 mil- factory in question was pur- The Devolli brothers leaving court yesterday. lion euros. chased by the Devolli Group. Prishtina Insight that the final The 920 remaining employees officer, Valon Basha, marketing This week, Croatia Telecom, According to a close reading of sale price for the firm was well insist that the land alone is worth manager Fjolla Rexha, Burim one of the potential bidders for the rules, however, PAK defines a below what might have been far more than the 2 million euro Alija and Nita Krasniqi - also the purchase of the PTK, said person to include “natural per- expected. price tag. They are claiming own- employees of the telephone com- they were reviewing their partici- sons, unincorporated associa- Based on the factory’s location ership of more than seven pany - as the “authorised per- pation in the sale as result of the tions or corporate bodies”. at the crossroads of a series of hectares of land, the last part of sons” for the Headquarters. court case. The company lawyers also said major roads, and on its size, the the former factory that has not Official business records, In the document describing the the firm had not broken the law, a site alone could have fetched 5.1 been privatised. which we again consulted this rules of the tender for the sale of claim which Prishtina Insight is million euro on the open market, Bojku of the Devolli Group week, showed that just Basha the New Enterprise Suspension not making at Devolli. Halil Sulejmani, owner of the says he has met the workers sev- remained as an “authorised per- Factory, obtained by Prishtina Ylli Kaloshi, PAK spokesper- Visi real estate agency, estimated. eral times. “Their arguments son” for the Headquarters firm. Insight, Article 3 “prohibits par- son, said the Interior Ministry “The buyer bought it [the site] about the value of the company Milot Gjikollli, Z-Mobile’s man- ticipation in a bid to acquire a vets the backgrounds of all bid- at a very low price because the are mere nostalgia,” he said. “It's ager, told Prishtina Insight that social enterprise of any persons ders in privatizations and if the real price [of such a site] in the much better to invest as little as he did not believe his four col- convicted of a crime committed data do not reveal criminal proce- market is much higher,” he said. two euro and revitalize an enter- leagues had bought the since June 1990 or who are subject dures that are ongoing, they give Albulena Azemi, from Zogu real prise than for it to remain in Headquarters. He did not offer to criminal proceedings”. the sale a green light. estate, also said the land ruins,” he said. any additional explanation as to It adds: “Any bid submitted by a “In this case it was not proven appeared to have been sold for However, it is not yet clear what why they were listed as managers. person not eligible to bid will be that there were criminal proceed- well below its true value. Devolli intends to do with the Concern over the sale of the disqualified automatically, ings against the bidder, so PAK In its heyday in the 197s and site. factory is not new. In June 2010 a regardless of whether such a bid continued with the sale,” Kaloshi 1980s, the suspension parts facto- At the same the factory was pri- report by Kosovo’s Auditor is in accordance with the set said. ry produced 3 million items a vatised, PAK also sold the facto- General uncovered irregularities terms and conditions specified in Kaloshi added that even after a month for blue chip automobile ry’s adjacent Administration in relation to the sale of the facto- these Rules of Tendering.” bidder is declared successful, firms such as VW and Peugeot. Headquarters for 5.1 million ry in terms of how the sale was PAK rules on privatisation were PAK may not authorize the sale if The factory was the only one in euro. advertised. issued following adoption of a any court decision is pending the Balkans to produce suspen- The Administration The report noticed a difference Law on the Privatisation Agency against him or them. “In this sion for cars such as Golfs, Headquarters, which is regis- in the size of the land on offer in of Kosovo in 2008. case, there was no prohibition by Peugeots and Zastavas. tered as a separate business, is the public announcement and the Under this legislation, the the court,” he added. It then employed about 1,700 now owned, according to official amount listed in brochures pro- board of PAK is required to “set He declined to address the workers and - unusually for records, by Euro-Nex, owned by vided to bidders. out transparent and uniformly question of why PAK had not Kosovo - did not rely state subsi- Elvis Goga, who appears to have “Different land surfaces for applied rules governing the bid- stopped the sale when only one dies. no links to Devolli. these enterprises were presented ding procedures” that “ensure firm had entered a bid, instead of Ramush Berisha, a workers’ But others listed as “autho- in newspaper advertisements and fair competition of bidders”. the three required by the representative, says the sale of rised persons” for the business, a memos of information,” the audi- The law further stipulates that agency’s rules. the company has been an term which refers to senior man- tors’ report said. PAK’s Board is legally account- PAK’s decision to go ahead with “unprecedented scandal. agers, are high-ranking officials “The noticed deficiencies relat- able for the agency’s compliance the sale even though only one bid- “We thought our institutions in the Z-Mobile mobile operator, ed to the privatisation process in to these rules. der submitted an offer may also would protect the country’s which Devolli Group owns. general are very serious and Devolli Group director Bojku have led to it receiving less than wealth but this factory has not When this newspaper inspected drove us to a conclusion that told Prishtina Insight said he the market value for the asset. been sold, it’s been given away,” the business register earlier this there is a weak control within would not comment on the pur- Real estate experts told Berisha said. month, it listed Z-mobile’s legal PAK,” the auditors concluded. Kosovo Medicus Case Suspects Plead Not Guilty Four Kosovo doctors and an economist, implicated in an alleged organ trafficking ring, have pleaded not guilty at the beginning of the Medicus trial. Urologist Lufti Dervishi, According to the indictment, The man allegedly told the Another surgeon, originally accused of being the ring-leader of 30 operations involving illegal police that his kidney had been from Turkey, was charged with a the alleged activities, called on the kidney transplants were alleged- stolen. When law enforcement role in the alleged trafficking of Fatmir Aliu Pristina District Court of Prishtina to ly conducted at the Medicus clin- raided the Medicus clinic they human organs. He has been allow him to re-open his Medicus ic, which has been closed since discovered an elderly Israeli man arrested and bailed in his native clinic in Prishtina during his first the start of the investigation. who had allegedly received the Turkey. Yusuf Sonmez was appearance. Kosovo and UNMIK police offi- younger man’s kidney. arrested in Istanbul after he was he case began this week and His lawyer, Linn Slattengren cers began their investigation at According to the indictment, charged along with eight others charged seven defendants Twith one or more counts of said: “The electricity bill is 5,300 the clinic in 2008. In November of the defendents are accused of by EU prosecutors in Kosovo late trafficking in persons, organised euro. My client is not able to pay that year, the alleged criminal luring people from slums in last year. He is said tohave previ- crime, unlawful exercise of med- for the electricity he spent. activity was broken after a Istanbul, Moscow, Moldova and ously denied organ trafficking ical activity and abusing official Therefore we request that the young Turkish man was found Kazakhstan with promises of up and cannot be extradited to position or authority. Medicus Clinic is granted per- weak and frail at Pristina air- to 15,000 euro for their organs Kosovo due to Turkey's policy on mission to re-open.” port. but many never received a cent. extradition.

Y M C +381 38 602042, +377 44 243367, +386 49 243367 K news October 14 - 27 3 Kosovo Hails Promise of EU Visa Talks Editor’s Word Minister admits many shortcomings presented in the report but describes promised start of a dialogue on visa liberalization as the greatest achievement since independence. Te jashtit logue on liberalization of the intensify reforms with a view visa regime with Europe was to obtaining eventual member- good news. ship of the European Union. By Fatmir Aliu The start of such a dialogue The report was “an essential By Lawrence Marzouk would be "one of the greatest roadmap in orienting policies achievements since the decla- to strengthen the rule of law, osovo’s government has ration of the independence of economic growth and the well- ave you ever considered the irony of welcomed the European Kosovo [in 2008],” she said. being of the citizens of the black market sale of cigarettes in KCommission's findings Kosovo was left isolated after Kosovo,” Citaku said, adding HKosovo? I’m not talking about those in its annual Progress Report, Europe scrapped visas for that the report “represents a cartons piled high at Prishtina market or on describing the assessment as Serbia, Macedonia and realistic picture of factual sale from tables outside a shopping centre. I an incentive to continue Montenegro in December 2009 developments on the ground”. refer to the sale of cigarettes which were des- reforms. and Bosnia and Albania in The report did not underesti- tined for sale in Western Europe and are Europe minister Vlora 2010. mate the serious challenges fac- actually more expensive than the official, Citaku said although many The Minister for European ing the former Serbian legal ones you purchase in shops. shortcomings were identified, Integration said the report province. Concern about the origin and authenticity the announced start of a dia- would encourage Kosovo to It highlights a weak public of those little cancer sticks is so strong that it administration and numerous Khaldoun Sinno, Acting has produced its own extraordinary shadow EU Progress in the Region problems with the judiciary, head of the European industry. It is an honour to offer “cigare te freedom of expression, human Commission in Kosovo, said: jashtit”, a delicacy brought from a far off he European Commission has officially recommended rights, corruption, drug traf- “This year was marked with land. that Serbia gets EU candidate status but a final decision ficking, money laundering and lengthy electoral processes. Let’s just pause on that thought for a Ton whether it receives this status will be decided when EU economic crimes. Overall, because of that, the moment: cigarettes are illegally brought members meet in December. In all those areas, the docu- progress achieved in the from Western Europe and sold on the black Montenegro’s EU membership bid has received encourage- ment says the government of reform agenda, was limit- market in Kosovo for more than the legal ment with the European Commission’s confirmation that the Kosovo has achieved only limit- ed...The weak rule of law, alternative, because consumers don’t believe country is reaching the benchmarks necessary for launching ed progress. organized crime and corrup- that the official ones available in your aver- accession talks. But the minister said the tion remain major chal- age shop are either very good or authentic. It Albania has failed to receive a recommendation from the findings would serve as a basis lenges. is a truly bizarre state of affairs. European Commission for it to be considered as a candidate for for the development of a con- “In our opinion Kosovo is So, if the consumer is so savvy about ciga- EU accession in the latest progress report from Brussels. structive dialogue, building not a failed state,” Sinno rettes, there must also be parallel markets in For the third year in a row the Commission is urging a start towards an overall consensus replied when asked if all the all sorts of other areas where the shopper is to membership talks with Macedonia at the end of a generally on “deep political, economic shortcomings in the report concerned about quality, I hear you say. Well, positive progress report on the country. and social reforms”. did signal that. and correct me if I am wrong, I do not think that’s the case. I’ve never seen a grubby faced teenager wandering the streets with cooler boxes KFOR Takes Control of Illegal Bypass in stuffed full of authentic, German-sourced steaks. And the guys whose shop consists of Northern Kosovo a square metre of radioactive concrete paving on the Mother Teresa Boulevard NATO peacekeeping troops and EULEX offcers have re-established traffic control on a makeshift bypass road haven’t yet branched out into toys originally destined for British children. But while I’m erected near the Kosovo-Serbia border in Jarinje. supping on my beer in the Little Cafe District operation that lead to the taking of control “KFOR reserves the right to remove the I can chose from a wide variety of cigarettes, of the bypass. barricades when appropriate and will not ranging from red-topped locally sourced to blue ones which were supposed to be in a An identical operation, conducted two tolerate them endlessly. People should stay Czech’s top pocket. By Fatmir Aliu weeks ago, resulted in a very different situ- away from roadblocks and barricades and So why is there so little interest in every- ation. Local Kosovo Serbs clashed with not participate in illegal protests and activ- thing but cigarettes? Surely what is destined KFOR soldiers and nine peacekeepers and n a joint operation conducted yesterday, ities”. for your digestive system and for your chil- seven Kosovo Serbs were injured. peacekeeping troops, known as KFOR, Elsewhere, in Serbia, some media agen- dren’s hands is at least equally important as The Jarinje border-crossing is technical- Iand EULEX officers, set up a vehicle cies have claimed that KFOR and EULEX that accompaniment to a coffee or that morn- ly open, but for weeks it has been unreach- check-point on the bypass road in Jarinje. have drawn up a joint plan to remove the ing pick-me-up? able and inaccessible to traffic, due to an Lieutenant Commander Frank Martin barricades. And here’s some more news for you to illegally erected roadblock manned by told Prishtina Insight: EULEX spokesperson Nick Hawton told chew on: our investigation into the safety of “We now control an illegal border cross- Kosovo Serbs a couple of meters away from Balkan Insight today that “all options toys on sale in Kosovo has shown that goods ing. We are now on the bypass, checking for the gate. remain open. Let us see what happens in a which are banned in the EU, because they vehicles coming and leaving Kosovo. At the For the past two months, local Serbs have can poison or badly injure your child, are few days.” bypass we have build-up a VCP [Vehicle maintained an additional 15 illegal road- available in your local shop. Northern Kosovo, which borders Serbia, Check Point]. The VCP is controlled by blocks so as to block the main access roads The manager of Maxi supermarkets sar- EULEX”. to the border crossings. has long been susceptible to violent inci- castically pointed out that “Kosovo is a long He added: “The last information I got, In response to the continued presence of dents. Its predominantly Serb population way from the European Union”, so he was was that, at least 40 cars have passed the road obstructions, Major General does not recognise Kosovo's declaration of not going to worry himself about the EC’s through our VCP at the bypass”. Erhard Drews, the commander of KFOR, independence nor the Albanian-led govern- warning system. No incidents were recorded during the stated in a press release issued today: ment in Prishtina. Perhaps, in the cut-throat world of busi- ness he is right not to encumber himself with extra, unnecessary red tape when profit PRISTINA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT “ADEM JASHARI” is king. Perhaps, it is inevitable that Kosovo’s state inspectors, underfunded as they are, cannot prevent the shelves of stores groaning under the weight of crap but cheap Chinese prod- ucts, many of which would be turned away by the Slovenes or Slovaks. But perhaps, just perhaps, if the consumer demanded more and was better informed, by using websites like RAPEX, EU rapid alert system for all dangerous consumer products, then supermarkets wouldn’t be able to just shrug their shoulders and continue selling goods which would be banned in the EU. We’re going to help out a little with this by featuring more stories for consumers. So if you’ve got a story, or a product that needs investigating, let us know. After all, smokers shouldn’t be the only WE ARE OPEN FOR ALL DEPARTING FLIGHTS • CALL US ON 038 594422 ones with standards. 4 October 14 - 27 news

Kosovo Ombudsman: School Hijab Ban Should The Extraordinary Diary be Respected ami Kurteshi, Kosovo’s ombuds- man, has said the public should Saccept a recent Constitutional Court decision ruling that the Muslim of Witness X in brief News headscarf should not be worn in Agim Zogaj’s diary of alleged war crimes committed by KLA members, including Fatmir Limaj, made him an schools. His comments come just days after ideal witness in the EU-led investigation into murder and torture at Klecka prison, but also condemned him to a Kosovo’s Constitutional Court, ruled life of persecution and intimidation and, ultimately, suicide. against 19-year- old Arjeta Halimi being allowed to wear a Muslim headscarf to the “Kuvendi i Lezhes” high school in Vitina. The court’s decision sparked numer- By Genc Nimoni ous protests in Prishtina. Some Muslim leaders consider the verdict a breach of human rights and have said they will itness X, a prison guard at take the government to the European the now infamous Klecka Court of Human Rights if it is not Wprison, committed sui- revoked. cide earlier this month in Germany as the trial against 10 “The Constitutional court has former KLA men was set to start. received the plea of the young lady. It has It is not clear what drove him to analyzed it, and ruled it as inadmissible. take his own life, but evidence sub- So, it has taken a decision that the mitted to the court as part of the [Muslim] headscarf should not be worn war crimes case, discloses that he at schools,” Kosovo’s Ombudsman Sami had been repeatedly threatened Kurteshi told Prishtina Insight. and an attempt was made on his He added that “Kosovo is a secular life. state, therefore its decisions are based Agim Zogaj’s journey started in within that concept.” 1998 when he took up arms and The constitutional court’s ruling came joined the KLA. From the start he at a delicate point for religion in decided to keep a screat diary, tak- Kosovo’s capital. In recent months, there ing fastidious notes of the surreal has been public controversy over reli- but true events of life inside the A book of condolences for Agim Zogaj gious instructions in public schools and KLA. the construction of a new mosque in He was also no ordinary soldier, When the wounds of the war The former prison guard pro- After The Hague’s arrest of downtown Prishtina. he was much praised by the healed with time, these notes vided the investigators with Fatmir Limaj, his people Brigade Commander, Fatmir took a new life and formed the official documents originating accompanied Witness X to EULEX Judge Places Limaj, then better known as his basis of his confession to pros- from KLAs military court judg- Albania, and told him never to Kosovo Official Under nom de guerre, Steel. ecutors. Its author became ments, disciplinary decisions, return to Kosovo. However, Zogaj was trustworthy, and was known as Witness X. lists of prisoners, dates of despite this, X returned to House Arrest therefore appointed as the prison His confession began with a incarceration and release, as Kosovo and keept his where- guard at the improvised Klecka description of the murders of well as the number of prison- abouts secret, avoiding contact nterior minister inspector Kadrush Prison. From this position, he wit- Nebojsa Djurcic and Veljko ers detained in the Klecka with Limaj’s group. Koliqi was ordered to remain under Markovic, two Serbian police prison. There were attempted assas- Ihouse arrest by a judge at Pristina nessed everything that went on. District Court after a pre-trial hearing The prison guard kept a secret officers who were held in the In his last special note, X sinations against Witness X, earlier this week. diary where he wrote the details of prison for a long period of time says that he had issues with evidence shows. In June 2009 he Two businessmen arrested in connec- the prisoners: names, personal and who were executed by him Fatmir Limaj and his men after was shot and wounded in his tion with alleged corruption and pro- information, reason of imprison- under the orders of, he says, the war. He says that Limaj house in Prizren. He also found curement fraud were also given one ment, date of imprisonment, Fatmir Limaj on either April 4 forced him to be admitted to a a grenade in his car in July month of detention on remand by the release or execution. or 5, 1999. psychiatric hospital in order to 2007. After this incident X gave The witness told EULEX falsify an incriminating state- an overall statement regarding EULEX judge in Prishtina. about the location of the execu- ment that witness X had made his relationship with Fatmir The EU rule-of-law mission to Kosovo tion – the grave of the two bod- against him to KFOR. Limaj, his group and all the conducted inspections yesterday at ies, were found at this exact During April 2010, a raid con- threats he received. offices of the Kosovo Police and govern- location described by him. ducted on Limaj’s property, in In front of the Prosecutor, X ment of Kosovo, arresting an employee www.prishtinainsight.com Their identities were verified the context of another special testified that Fatmir Limaj’s of the Interior Ministry, two senior by DNA tests that confirmed investigation, led to the discov- brother, Demir, had threatened Kosovo Police officers, and three busi- Publisher: X’s description. ery of medical records of wit- his life, and that of his family, nessmen. BIRN The autopsy revealed the ness X in Limaj’s bedroom. should he testify in regards to After being interviewed by EULEX police, two senior Kosovo Police officers, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network cause of death of the two vic- Besides the cooperative the war, he would “blast him tims, several gunshot wounds, Zogaj’s testimony, the indict- and his family up”. Such the Head of the Police Administration, Ragip Bunjaku and his colleague Mensa e Studenteve, first floor again, in line with the testimo- ment is based on the testi- threats were received also from ny of Witness X. monies of other witnesses, as Limaj’s other people. Xhevahire Vatovci, the head of the 10000, Prishtina Evidence also showed that X witness Y, anonymous witness In August, this year, the Procurement Department, were released Kosovo had murdered another Serb I, Witness A, anonymous wit- indictment on Limaj and his from police custody. One individual still Phone: +381 (0) 38 24 33 58 with a scythe, for which he ness H, which according to the nine comrades was confirmed. remains in police custody. In total, twelve locations were Fax: +381 (0) 38 22 44 98 showed two possible locations indictment all back X's evi- Almost all of this based on wit- of this execution and burial. dence. ness X’s statements to the pros- searched all over Kosovo, including pri- [email protected] Investigators discovered a X's diaries were kept secret ecution which are considered vate houses, business premises and pub- mass grave containing five bod- even after the war. Apart from reliable and detailed. lic offices. As part of this investigation, Editor-in-Chief: ies. In the same grave, a blade one other man - Witness Y – to According to the indictment, German Police also searched one busi- Lawrence Marzouk was also found. An autopsy of which X had confided, and Fatmir Limaj along with other ness premise and one private house in Germany. [email protected] two human remains, found as asked him to hand over these co-defendants had "violated the cause of death “cut in the logs to the judicial authorities the bodily integrity and health The EULEX organized crimes unit Editorial Team: neck with a sharp instrument”. in case something happened. of an unspecified number of confiscated computers, documents and Ana Petruseva, Gordana Igric, The evidence provided to Witness Y also confirmed all Serb and Albanian civilians, servers from the office of the Koliqi. Jeta Xharra, Marcus Tanner, Prishtina Insight shows how the evidence to the prosecutor, Serb military prisoners, The two detained businessmen, own the companies “Friends” and “Jolix” Petrit Collaku, Shengjyl Osmani, witness X, had also said that while the notebooks were detained in a detention center the other victims had been shot stored inside his mattress and in the village of Klecka, which are both licensed by the Interior Artan Mustafa and Kanarina Shehu. in the head with AK 47s. X underneath several pillows. Lipljan municipality. These Ministry for importing weapons for the wrote down the names and According to the indictment, Serb and Albanian civilians need of the Kosovo Police. Marketing, Sales & Distribution: birth dates of the dead. witness X’s relationship with and Serb military prisoners, The investigation on alleged procure- [email protected] The bodies were found at the Limaj and his group had according to the indictment, ment fraud has started in 2009, at the exact location he described, changed after the war, after the were held in inhumane condi- time when Zenun Pajaziti was the minis- Design & Layout: “Rrjeti” whilst their identities were investigation of the Hague tions (which includes keeping ter of Interior. Y confirmed through DNA tests. Tribunal for war crimes in the prisoners in chains, in extreme Pajaziti told Prishtina Insight, that the The autopsy shows that three prison of Llapushnik against cold, lack of sanitary, food “procurement for the Kosovo Police, was M Printing: Lindi Printing Center C of them were killed by gun- Fatmir Limaj, Isak Musliu and shortage and frequent beat- a process lead by the police itself, and the Copyright © BIRN ministry had nothing to do with it”. K shots to the head. Haradin Balaj. ings.” news October 14 - 27 5 No Justice for Kosovo Woman Forced to Abort Baby

Six years after her parents-in-law allegedly forced her to abort her first baby, and then took her second one from her, M B blames police, the courts and social workers for ignor- ing her plight.

husband because, she says, she the case. Once they understood was young and did not know the purpose of the conversation, By Leonora Aliu where else to turn. “I went back they left Gjilan police station. with the hope that everything Meanwhile the police spokesman would get resolved,” she says. for the region, Ismet Hashani, hen M B, now 25, married After a year-and-a-half she was has denied M B’s accusations Afrim Hajdari from pregnant again but this time she against his officers. “I absolutely WGnjilane in 2003, she did not dare to tell anyone except cannot believe that this is true. never thought her love story would her husband, fearing that she The police did their job in the turn so soon into a nightmare. would have to abort her child best way possible,” he said. M B, whose identity is being again. Gjilan’s District Attorney, Fahri guarded by this newspaper, was “Besides my husband, no one Nuhiu, filed criminal charges only 17 when her boyfriend put a knew I was pregnant. I tied in my against Haydar Metush for caus- ring on her finger. She was stomach to conceal the fact that I ing bodily injuries to M B on May already pregnant. “We got mar- was pregnant,” she says. 24, 2005. ried because love bonded us,” she But somehow news got out. One of But while the District Court in recalls. “I was also pregnant at the neighbours noticed the bulge Gjilan received the charges, the the time.” in her stomach and spread the case was never completed But the bonds of love did not word. Once again, her in-laws because it ran out of time. extend to her prospective mother tried to stop the birth. Emine Salihu, former District and father-in-law. “When my mother-in-law noticed Judge in Gjilan, did not summon Metush and Sevdije Hajdari were I’d got pregnant again she reacted either party involved in this case less worried about the fact that with violence,” M B says. for years. she was pregnant than by her lack She says her father-in-law even Prosecutor Nuhiu confirms this. of documents entitling her to live ripped out her hair and the beat- “We have never received an invi- in a wealthy Western country like ings continued after she had her tation to this case and we under- Switzerland. daughter. “Even after I gave birth, stand that the case is aban- “My mother and father-in-law they did not stop their violence,” doned,” he said. never loved me; they wanted a M B says. “They never watched In 2009, Judge Drane Simani, bride with Swiss documents who over our daughter. They did not Salihu’s successor, then dis- could send them money,” she says. like either of us.” missed the case as it had long “I didn’t have money, I was just a exceeded the period by which plain girl. Forced to flee: time cases must close. “I often asked them, ‘Why don’t you want me, what have I done to On April 26, 2006, she finally left No one is responsible: you, why do you beat me?’ But home. That day, she says she they simply told me that they did- bathed her daughter in a bucket Neither the Police nor the n’t love me - full stop.” of lukewarm water in the living Prosecution has accepted respon- M B was in her third month of room because it was too cold to sibility for the effective collapse pregnancy and still a minor when wash her in her room. of the case. her mother-in-law told her to But her in-laws were angry and Gjilan police spokesman Hashani abort the child because she had tion list of abortions. child. attacked her, she says. “My said the police had done their job, allegedly swallowed some pills However, Dr Maliqi had already M B’s child now lives far away. On father-in-law slapped me and while the prosecution blames the that would result in the child hav- told police he did not keep such October 15 last year Judge yelled... I told him I had no alter- court for not following up the ing deficiencies. lists of clients. “The doctor told Miodrag Pavic awarded custody native because it was cold, but he case. She did not agree to abort her us he does not register patients,” of the girl to her father, Afrim, did not listen and grabbed a chair Former Judge Salihu has child, whom she says she and her police spokesman Hashani said. who now lives in Switzerland to hit me with,” she says. declined to give a statement about husband could not wait for. Visiting Dr Maliqi’s Nataliteti with a new wife. M B says she left her daughter in the case. However, during the It seemed like any other routine clinic, Prishtina Insight asked M B only learned about this judg- the bucket and fled the house time when this case was on the morning when Sevdije Hajdari him whether he had this woman ment this summer. She says she is barefoot, never to return. “I ran books, she worked on and com- took M B to Dr Ramadan Maliqi’s in his register, but he said he did- amazed that the courts ignored until I came out on the street and pleted other new cases. clinic in Gjilan. n’t know. He also said that he her own request for custody. “It was around noon when we met a police patrol. They took me Lawyer Kole Ramaj, who is repre- to the station where they took my senting MB, says if true, this could not remember what might But Judge Pavic said the court went to that clinic. We went in, have happened back in 2003. was never even informed that the there was a nurse who was preg- statement.” would amount to abuse of her This was not the first time that M official position. Today, six years on, disappointed biological mother had asked for nant, and they said they were with the official indifference to the child. going to give me a check-up,” she B had told her story to the author- “If she closed other new cases ities. Police had been several and let this one enter the period her plight, M B is vainly trying to Metush Hajdari, M B’s former recalls. regain custody of her lost daugh- father in-law, denies the accusa- “But then they began to kill my times to her home, probing of statutory limitation, there is reported domestic violence. room for speculating that she ter, having had little luck with the tions made against him. Speaking baby with their instruments.” welfare department in Gjilan in by phone, he says the courts have M B says she started screaming Arbnore Leka and Shaban purposely left the case unfin- Hajdari, two police officers from ished,” Ramaj said. 2009. now dealt with everything. when the doctor told her that the Reshat Zeqiri, the social worker “I finished with her [M B] seven child was already dead and need- the department of domestic vio- This was not the only bungle. responsible for her case, appears years ago and I have my people in ed to be removed from the womb. lence, took her statement that While the prosecution was to left her request for custody on the court,” Hajdari said. Today, M B accuses her in-laws of day, claiming her father-in-law informed about the forced abor- the shelves of the Centre as the Today, M B lives in Cyprus. She arranging the abortion without had torn her hair from its roots. tion claim, no one went to the case was never taken into consid- has also remarried, to a Turkish her consent or knowledge - and But M B says her statement did clinic of Dr Maliqi to verify if the eration. man with whom she has a son. she says Dr Maliqi was clearly not satisfy them. According to alleged victim had undergone an Zeqiri also did not want to com- But she continues to mourn her paid to perform a forced abortion. her, they told her that she had to abortion. ment on the case. However, his two lost children – the first vio- M B says she filed a statement to put up with her in-laws because Prosecutor Nuhiu says it was superior, the head of social serv- lently aborted against her will, Y this effect in 2005 to the police in they were senior family mem- more logical to speak with the M Gjilan. bers. Regional Hospital of Gjilan, ices in Gjilan, Mehar Berisha, and her living daughter, now C But then she went back to her Neither officer has agreed to which told him that no person admitted the centre had received growing up with her father in speak to Prishtina Insight about called M B was on the registra- a request from M B about her Switzerland. K 6 October 14 - 27 News Mineral Looters Destroying Kosovo’s Rivers Kosovo’s rivers are being plundered for quartz and gravel on an industrial scale, leading to widespread destruction of ecosystems and rapid changes to the rivers’ courses. the rivers,” he said. “The river tries to maintain its equilibrium and this increases the speed of its By Leonora Aliu flow, which, in turn, causes riverbed erosion and its devia- tion,” explained Gjonbalaj. He said that a good example of he Drini i Bardhe, Kosovo’s this phenomenon is the Drini i longest river, is being Bardhë riverbed at Pirane. From Tdestroyed through the wide- that point towards the Prizren – spread, illegal exploitation of its Gjakova road, it can clearly be bed for quartz and gravel. seen that the river is about to While this activity has not been destroy the road beside it, because licensed by the authorities, the of its new course due to illegal Diggers at work illegally exploiting the Drini river. operators continue to act with vir- extraction. tual impunity. food and the destruction of suit- river exploitation is allowed. He up a decision on the confiscation A report in 2010 on the state of The 122-kilometers-long river is able nesting areas. said he has nowhere else to work. of excavators around Drini i waters in Kosovo, published by the not just of important esthetic Azem Rexhaj, director of the “Then, let them find me another Bardhë. Ministry of Environment and value to the Dukagjini Plain, but is Independent Commission for place where I can work. I have Gazmend Avdiu, political advi- Spatial Planning, noted the uncon- also essential to the region’s Mines and Minerals, ICMM, said requested the municipality’s per- sor in MESP, confirmed to trolled river and riverbank degra- ecosystem and agriculture. that sand and gravel exploitation mit many times and it’s not right Prishtina Insight that an initial dation. “The rivers most affected The accelerated destruction of operations in rivers are prohibited that I was not provided one. As a draft of this decision is being pre- by this phenomenon are river the its riverbed is leading to changes by law. The commission he leads result, I will not stop.” pared and that it is hoped that it Drini i Bardhë (with the most in the rivers course, adversely has issued 29 orders to halt such The Coordinator for will be issued and applicable severe damage), Ereniku and a affecting its ecosystem, depriving works and filed 170 cases of failure Environment in Prizren, Ramadan before winter. The Ministry is also part of the Peja Lumbardh. The fertile lands in its vicinity of to adhere to such orders with the Tafallari, said that no licence can planning to conduct an awareness- most degraded area continues to water and raising the risk of State Prosecutor. be granted for Elshani to operate raising campaign, which will be the Drini i Bardhë sector floods. However, regardless of this, ille- in the river Drini i Bardhë, underline the sanctions to be between Kramovik and Gjonaj. As Quartz from the river is sold to gal operators continue to exploit because it is being totally imposed in case of non-adherence. far as the damage on river Ereniku variety of industries, from glass- riverbeds with impunity. destroyed. According to Avdiu, MESP also is concerned, the most affected makers to computer builders, Skender Elshani, owner of The MESP inspector Mustafe held a meeting with representa- part is the section between while gravel is used in construc- ‘Egzoni’ Company, from Pirane, Hyseni was not able to say how tives of the Ministry of Internal Korenica and Ura e Tabakut,” the tion. Prizren, sells minerals he extracts many times his ministry’s inspec- Affairs and Ministry of Justice, report states. The scale of the post-war con- from the river and opposes any tors have left their officers to the Independent Commission for The report underlines that the struction boom in Kosovo, specifi- preventative measures by institu- inspect the state of rivers and to Mines and Minerals (ICMM) and degradation of “water is per- cally the construction of roads, tions. “There can be no talk of con- stop the operations of illegal dig- Kosovo Police, in an effort to coor- formed without adhering to any has made the exploitation particu- fiscating my digger. I bought it for gers. He insisted that those activi- dinate the activities. criteria in respect to water regime larly attractive. This illegally 50 thousand euro. I feed my family ties were inherited from the pre- Gjonbalaj remains unconvinced. preservation or use of mineral mined gravel has mostly been pur- with the income it generates.” war period, that they were serious He says that the Ministry has not resources”. “As a consequence, chased to build the country’s road He says that he is willing to do and emphasized the lack of “polit- proven to be committed to the safe- entire surfaces of fertile lands with public money. whatever is required to prevent ical will”. guarding the country’s rivers. “It were lost,” said the report. Environmentalist Avdi the confiscation of his excavator. But perhaps the noise of the dig- is terrible. I can say very responsi- “Deregulated riverbeds and Gjonbalaj says that the interven- “If the ministry officials want to gers will no longer be heard in the bly that as far as institutional their devastation, through unregu- tion of authorities to protect this take me along with the digger as Drini i Bardhë riverbed in the responsibility is concerned, lated sand and gravel exploitation, river would only be the first step in well – so be it,” says Elshani. near future as the state’s appara- Kosovo is in a catastrophic state. represent some of the most signif- overcoming the “pre-apocalyptic Elshani submitted a request for tus is preparing action against River Drini i Bardhë is severely icant factors in flooding.” state faced by Kosovo waters”. the relevant licence at the Prizren such heavy machinery users. damaged and it’s is not the only Gjonbalaj also emphasizes that “The extraction of sand and municipality, however, it was The Ministry of Environment one.” the river’s ecosystem was under gravel decreases the water level of rejected on the grounds that no and Spatial Planning is drawing threat because of disappearing Ferronikeli Fined for Pollution Senior Kosovo Official Killed in His Office A senior official of the local government in Kosovo was murdered in Prishtina as he sat at his desk.

By Fatmir Aliu

the director’s office by force. out in the courtyard and no one “He pushed away the secretary, stopped him. In fact, he stopped a e was shot from close range, entered the office and shot five police car and then got arrested! with five bullets in his times the director, who was sitting It’s a real shock,” said a woman Hchests, while sitting in his in his chair. The murderer then who works as an office clerk at the office. walked away from the office, with municipality. Police said that the victim Remzi the gun in his hands. We were all According to police sources, the ne of Kosovo’s most pow- ny had already purchased the Salihu, was the Director of the so terrified, because we thought suspect’s name is Gani Sahiti, a erful companies, necessary equipment from a Education Directorate that he might shot us too,” a lady biology-teacher at the school of OFerronikeli, was fined Macedonian firm and expected Department of the Pristina that was inside the building Dabishec, a small village some 30 this week 40,000 euro for failing it to be operational by Municipality. explained at the scene. kilometers west of the capital to monitor pollution. November. “At approximately 10 am, police According to the local security Prishtina. The privatised state firm, which “We have not left this out of neg- received a phone call, that shots guards, the suspect entered the The suspect had applied earlier for processes Ferronickel in central ligence, nor because of the cost, were heard inside the municipali- municipality building saying that the school director post, which Kosovo, admitted in court that it but because we could not find ty building of Prishtina. We later he had an appointment with the was vacant. had failed to install pollution companies that would deal with found out that the director of edu- director. The spokesperson of the munici- monitoring equipment, as the installations,” he said. cation, Remzi Salihu was shot The municipality as such has no pality of Prishtina, Muhamet required by law. The Ministry of Environment dead,” Agron Borovci, police “metal-detector” and the individ- Gashi told reporters that “this Y Its manager Johanos Gajtanos and Spatial Planning (MESP), spokesperson said. ual entered inside the building may well be the motive of the mur- M was also fined 1,500 euro, which had brought the action, Eyewitnesses told Prishtina armed and undetected. der, but the police investigation C despite arguing that the compa- welcomed the court’s decision. Insight that the murderer entered “We were horrified. The guy will prove whether this is right or K walked out with a gun in his hand, not.” business October 14 - 27 7 Dino the Painter – The Man Who Sold Kosovo The man who was at the wheel of Kosovo’s flurry of privatisation for the past three years, Dino Asanaj, is to stand down, with questions marks still over the legacy he leaves Kosovo. vatisations occurred while Asanaj for more than two decades, two was in charge of PAK’s Board, but brothers happened to be governors no important investor came in the at the same time, while their By Lavdim Hamidi country, except some Turkish and father was a President of USA, English ones - often with question- George Bush Senior. able backgrounds. Asanaj emigrated to the US in ino Asanaj has decided to All privatizations took place in 1985, where he was initially raise the white flag on his the municipalities with Albanian engaged as a worker in some con- Dcareer leading the Board of majority, but enterprises in Serb struction companies, and in 1990 the Privatization Agency of residents proved to be an impossi- opened a company named "DD Kosovo, PAK, a month before his ble mission for PAK. Interiors" in New York. contract expires. The head of the He also says that the privatisa- This company, according to most powerful agency in the coun- tion process has been painful, and Asanaj does interior decor of try has announced his resignation, difficult during this political and buildings and, he continues, in as he says, for personal reasons. diplomatic period for Kosovo. some cases its annual turnover He says that when he was elect- “This process occurred during the exceeded 15 million dollars. ed to this position, his other com- time when we had many political Precisely because of the work mitments were less weighty. Years problems with Serbia and, in his business is in, he got the nick- have passed, as have many privati- diplomatic terms, when many name “Dino the Painter”. zations, and the powerful Dino states still have not recognised feels tired. Kosovo's independence,” argues The Friendship with Thaci As he lights cigarette after ciga- Asanaj. rette at the posh Puro restaurant He deflects many criticisms of In the USA, Asanaj was also the on the outskirts of Prishtina, the PAK to its predecessor, the Kosovo representative of the Provisional 54-year-old from Peja, who for two Trust Agency. Government of Kosovo, which had Dinon Asanaj, former head of the Privatisation Agency of Kosovo decades has lived and worked in But, according to him, those established regular contacts with the United States of America, most satisfied with this process former political director of KLA social enterprises in the country. Thaci’s first Government. talks in superlatives about the should be the workers, since there and the current Prime Minister, “In his CV he brought to the “This appointment, which was independence of the board he has been a remarkable accelera- Hashim Thaci. Parliament during the selection of among the first promised reforms directed, even though most mem- tion going on with the disburse- He says that there were contacts PAK Board election, he had only by the government, was totally bers were delegated by political ment of the 20 per cent which before and after the Kosovo war, three lines written on it. It stated corrupt and criminal,” Gashi parties. should be handed to them once a but, according to him, Thaci did that he had completed the military wrote in an editorial. “Although there were political state-owned enterprise is priva- not elect him as board chairman. school and nothing more than Dino Asanaj has invested mil- representatives on the board, the tised. “The government proposed me, that,” said Rrustemi, adding that lions in Kosovo, where he built the latest board has been 100 per cent “There are no labour strikes in while the Assembly elected me as MPs had found the lack of effort Pristina International Village, independent and politically unaf- front of PAK’s gate, while before board chairman. However, I do not offensive. which is otherwise known as the fected,” he told Prishtina Insight. workers have died waiting to deny that the Prime Minister is a However, Asanaj denies the “American Village”. Asanaj, however, accepts that receive their due,” claimed good friend of mine,” said Asanaj, statements of the former deputy He not only sold dozens of some things have not gone well Asanaj. adding that he is a friend even of Rrustemi, explaining that in 1983 social enterprise for PAK, but also with the old PAK Board, which, He denies the fact that because the former Prime Minister, Agim he graduated from the Faculty of sold all the 110 houses built in this according to him, was charac- another board member, the head of Ceku. Defence in Belgrade. This answer village, which were bought by terised by conflict. The Union of Independent Trade Naim Rrustemi, former MP, says did not convince Rrustemi. high-ranking officials, various “PAK’s Managing Director was Unions of Kosovo, BSPK, Haji that Asanaj is not honest in his “At that time when he was elect- businessmen, famous artists and a board member and also eligible Arifi, is his relative this consti- public statements. ed as a board chairman, Dino had more. to vote. He had prepared the pri- tutes nepotism. “The Prime Minister brought finished only infantry high This project cost 25 million. vatisation of social enterprises, “The BSPK head is my relative, him into PAK, otherwise a man school, now, if he paid for a “The idea was to show that even managed the process and was able but this is not nepotism, because I like Dino Asanaj would never have degree, that’s another story,” adds here you can build America in to vote on the Board. This in a way did not elect him – he was already been put in charge of PAK,” said former deputy Rrustemi. miniature,” says Asanaj. was a recipe for conflict,” said on the board. Kosovo is one family Rrustemi. According to Astrit Gashi, edi- It was believed that Dino’s vil- Asanaj. and there are many cases when According to Rrustemi, Asanaj tor of the daily Zeri, the appoint- lage would become a hub for diplo- The long experience in the busi- people are related,” said Asanaj. does not have even the necessary ment of Dino Asanaj as head of mats. Instead, it became a power- ness sector in USA did not help, he According to him, in the United education to lead PAK, which is the Privatization Agency in 2008, ful centre for the elite of the cur- said. Hundreds of enterprise pri- States, where he lived and worked responsible for privatisation of all was one of the worst acts of rent government. KosovoKosovo HasHas NoNo PlanPlan BB forfor EuroEuro CrisisCrisis Kosovo’s has not yet drawn up alternative proposals for a currency if the Euro collapses

plans for an alternative curren- erates into the deepest econom- cy in case of the zone’s collapse. ic crisis in Europe, it is likely By Lulzim Ahmeti The “euro remains one of the that Kosovo will be affected strongest [currencies] in the through reduction of remit- world,” he said. tances, Kosovo exports and The governor told the news- reducing foreign direct invest- osovo Central Bank does paper that he is following ment ,” he said. not believe the financial developments in financial mar- Deputy Minister of Finance, Kcrisis hitting the kets and that despite the prob- Avdiu Ramadan, said: “We cur- Eurozone will lead to the fail- lems it is still early to talk rently do not think that the ure of the common currency. about the possibility of its fail- euro will fail, but if this hap- Its governor Gani Gerguri ure. pens, Kosovo will consider us said that it had not drawn up “But if the debt crisis degen- issuing another currency."

Y M C K 8 October 14 - 27 Neighbourhood News New Tide of Redundancies Threatens Serbia Worse lies ahead for the stricken economy if cash-strapped firms start laying off staff. sion is looming over much of prises are likely go bankrupt, Europe. causing 30,000 job losses. “Even Serbia currently has the highest this figure is huge,” he says. By Gordana Andric unemployment in southern and The more modest figure of eastern Europe, after Bosnia and 30,000 fresh unemployed by the Macedonia. Unions say the jobless end of 2011 was also confirmed by total is about to rise further. an international official who mon- ens of thousands of Serbs The direst prediction comes itors the Serbian economy, and are set to lose their jobs from the Association of Free and who asked to remain anonymous. Tbefore the end of the year in Independent Unions, an umbrella Dragoljub Rajic, a spokesman a fresh wave of private-sector lay- body for workers in small indus- for the Association of Employers, offs, according to union officials. tries. It says some 110,000 people refused to comment on these fig- An estimated 30,000 people could are set to lose work in the next few ures, saying only that the labour be driven out of work because months as a result of the bank- market would suffer further if the companies have difficulty paying ruptcy of around 20,000 firms. state failed to stimulate it. their bills or go out of business The figure is based on an esti- Meanwhile, economy minister altogether. mate of five employees for each Nebojsa Ciric has said he is “wor- If the warnings prove to be true, firm. Many Serbian firms are on ried” by the rise in redundancies, the latest redundancies would cre- the brink of bankruptcy and a new and has pointed to government job ate a significant addition to law says firms whose accounts creation schemes as a partial solu- A worker's protest in Novi Sad, Serbia Serbia’s jobless total, which is cur- have been frozen for the last two tion. Over the next year, the govern- “Creating sustainable jobs is not rently estimated to be at nearly 23 years must automatically be Jurij Bajec, economic advisor to ment was hoping to ease the crisis easy,” said Bogdan Lissovolik, a per cent of the population. Some declared insolvent. Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, by extending low-interest loans to representative of the IMF in 250,000 people have been swept out However, the figure of 110,000 is said the government had managed businesses, he added. The state is Belgrade. He argued that Serbia of work in the last three years disputed by several bodies who say to boost employment through a also planning to start repaying should try to transform itself into alone. it is based on an exaggeration of programme that encouraged debts to private contractors on an export-oriented economy, The government has described the number of firms facing insol- investment in deprived parts of time, increasing the amount of rather than relying so heavily on the growing ranks of the unem- vency. They argue that fewer firms the country, and another that had cash available to them. imports. ployed as the biggest problem fac- will be declared bankrupt as the given firms fiscal incentives for Bajec cautioned however that Vladimir Grigorov, an econo- ing the domestic economy, and most vulnerable have already gone hiring new staff. serious structural reforms to the mist of the Vienna Institute for says it has launched several out of business. However, he conceded that such economy would have to wait until International Economic Studies, schemes that aim to create jobs. Ljubisav Orbovic, the president schemes had limited impact on after the election next year. meanwhile said Serbia could only However, analysts believe that of one of Serbia’s largest union crises of the current scale. “These According to analysts, Serbia’s create more jobs if the economy Belgrade has limited means to aid groups, the Association of are only fire-fighting measures job market will only eventually grew at four to five per cent every the jobless at a point when its cof- Independent Unions, says some which do not resolve the problem recover through reform and sus- year – roughly double the current fers are nearly empty and reces- 10,000 small and medium enter- systematically,” he said. tained growth. rate. Nokia Shocks Romania by Albania Banks Closing Plant Register Spike Finnish company's decision to close its unit in Romania only a few years after it opened has stunned officials. in Bad Loans “We’re talking about globaliza- tion here. We’re happy when foreign investors come, we’re By Marian Chiriac upset when they go,” By Besar Likmeta Communications Minister Valerian Vreme said. he telecommunications He added that Nokia was giant last Thursday likely to move production from ata published on Tuesday by Albania’s Tannounced plans to close Romania to neighbouring Association of Banks say bad loans down its unit in Jucu, near Cluj Moldova, where the price of Dreached 18 per cent of the total credit in central Transylvania, by the labour is cheaper. portfolio in August, the highest level to date. end of the year. Ironically enough, Romania Compared with same period in 2010, non- The planned closure will benefited from the same performing loans increased by 33.5 per cent, leave out of work the compa- remorseless economic logic from 13.5 per cent to 18 per cent of the total ny's approximately 2,200 only a few years ago. loan portfolio. employees in the Cluj area, In January 2008 Nokia Meanwhile total bank assets increased by Nokia said in a press release, announced it was closing its but they will be offered “com- 12.9 per cent, from 961 billion lek (6.8 billion plant at Bochum, in Germany, prehensive support programs” euro) in August 2010, to 1.078 trillion lek (7.64 with 2,300 employees, and mov- to make the transition less billion euro) in August 2011. ing production to Romania, painful. Albanian banks weathered the global finan- where costs were lower. The Nokia’s decision took cial crisis in 2009 well, due to their low expo- plant in Jucu, where the 1200 Romania by surprise. An sure to international markets. However, the series of mobile phone was extraordinary meeting of local aftershocks of the crisis in the local economy produced, opened in officials from the Cluj area have slowed GDP growth rates, creating diffi- September that year. took place on Thursday in culties for local companies in repaying their The move created anger in order to evaluate the social loans. Germany, while the European and economic impact of the From August 2010 until August 2011, retail Union asked Romania to pro- move. vide details of any subsidies it deposit in Albanian banks grew by 16.62 per “We are extremely disap- had granted to Nokia as part of cent while corporate deposits grew by only pointed. First, the local budget the deal to open a plant in the 2.69 per cent, indicating a propensity among will be affected, as the compa- Balkan country. consumers to save, and accounting for weak ny was paying around 4 mil- Now Romania is facing the demand for products and services in the local lion lei [1 million euro] per same risk of multinational market. year in different taxes. companies withdrawing their Albania enjoyed strong economic growth Furthermore, many people investments from the country averaging at close to 6 per cent per year in the will lose their jobs,” Dorel as the crisis increases global past decade, before the global economic down- Pojar, the mayor of Jucu, said. competition. Nokia on its way out of Romania. turn hit the local economy in 2009. Romania's centre-right gov- “We have to be ready to face The IMF downgraded Albania's GDP growth ernment tried to calm nerves Wednesday, just one day before the Romanian Centre for the Y this risk, we must be prepared forecast for 2011 last Wednesday from 3.4 per following Nokia’s announce- Nokia announced its closure Promotion of Trade and to attract new investments to cent to 2.5 per cent, amid concerns about the M ment, saying it was based on plans. Foreign Investments, a govern- the country,” the Prime impact of the euro debt crisis and sluggish C strictly economic reasons. In this regard, Boc said he mental body tasked with woo- K Minister, Emil Boc, said on would assume direct control of ing foreign investors. demand for goods and services. neighbourhood news October 14 - 27 9

Grenades worth €25 million Macedonia Scraps 'Failed' Census Fished Out of Adriatic Sea housands of former Yugoslav army Authorities are postponing a (JNA) grenades and several dozens new head count for at least six Tair bombs have been "fished out" from the seas surrounding the Croatian months after the ethnically-split Istrian peninsula dating back to the early commission in charge collectively in brief News 1990s. Around 20 members of the Independent quit on Tuesday. Squad for Underwater Action in Pula spent the early 90s diving for weapons that lined the bottom of the Adriatic Sea. Miodrag Buzurovic was one of the sports divers who were part of the unit By Sinisa Jakov Marusic under the Maritime Command of the Northern Adriatic. "No one knew whether the disposed he nationwide operation had already grenades were linked together or whether begun on October 1 and was scheduled they would explode when we moved them. Tto wrap up on October 15. Within four years, we pulled out more than The government of Nikola Gruevski 25 million worth of devices," Buzurovic declared the census annulled on late Inter-ethnic spats led to the census being scrapped said. The grenades – thrown into the sea by Wednesday proposing to the parliament to the criteria with a view to lowering the tion was a way to demonstrate collective do the same. the former Yugoslav Army (JNA) as sol- true number of Albanians in the country. responsibility for the failed process. diers left the army barracks in Istria at the “On the ground we have seen technical Ethnic Macedonian organizations and The statistical operation has already flaws and a lack of readiness to conduct a beginning of the 1990s – were later parties responded by claiming that cost some 14 million euros. The govern- restored for use. census within 15 days,” Vice-prime minis- Albanians wanted to artificially increase ment did not say how much of this money ter Musa Xhaferi said, maintaining that a Buzurovic warns that there are still the size of their community by including was already spent but estimates are that unexploded devices from World War II at postponement “should not be seen as a cat- people who had long since left the country. most of it was already used up. astrophic failure”. the bottom of the sea in Kvarner bay that “This was the best way to relax the situ- The opposition Social Democrats sometimes end up in fishermen’s nets. The commission resigned citing dis- ation on the ground,” said Artan Grubi, accused the government of recklessness agreements on basic rules for collecting one of the members of the commission. and of spending public money in vain. data. Ethnic Albanian members of the “The entire process was highly politi- EUROSTAT, which monitors the census, Dozens of Criminal Gangs commission wanted to count people who cized,” he added. on Wednesday told Deutsche Welle that it Active in Montenegro had been living abroad for more than a Grubi said muddles inside the commis- will prepare a report and hand its recom- year and accept photocopies of ID cards as sion confused the census takers who did mendations to the government regarding leaked Montenegrin police docu- a basis for data. not know what rules to follow. the next head count. ment reportedly confirms the exis- The others were against this, citing the Four days before the census was due to Meanwhile, observers say all pariti- Atence of 35 organised crime groups rules of the European Statistical Agency, end, “a large number of the census-taking pants in the census are to blame for the in Montenegro, most of which are alleged- EUROSTAT. These say that people who teams was not yet formed and in several fiasco. ly actively involved in narcotics traffick- ing. have lived abroad for more than a year large towns like Prilep, Bitola and Tetovo “The parliament is to blame for passing The police document includes an evalua- should not be included in a national cen- only about ten per cent of the census was a law on census that was susceptible to dif- tion and mapping of the threat of organ- sus but should be accounted for in the carried out”, Grubi added. ferent readings, and the government is ised crime, in accordance with EU stan- countries where they now live. Speaking to Germany's Deutsche Welle responsible for organizing the entire oper- dards, according to Tanjug. The process was marred by ethnic rows on Wednesday, the head of the now defunct ation. But we must not forget all the oteher According to Podgorica-based daily from the start. Ethnic Albanian parties commission, Slobodanka Gievska, agreed political factors that formed the [census] Vijesti, the police document – reportedly and NGO’s claimed the Macedonian that postponement of the census was the commission” says local political science compiled together with Austrian experts – majority on the commission had arranged only option. She said collective resigna- professor and analyst Albert Musliu. identifies narcotics trafficking, money laundering and arms trafficking as key threats and notes that Montenegro is a pop- ular transit area for illegal trade due to its Pride Organisers take Govt’ access to the sea and proximity to the so- called ‘Balkan route’. Police believe that money earned from the narcotics trade is later channelled Ban to Strasbourg through legal banking transactions and used by crime bosses and gang members to The legal basis for cancelling this year’s Pride Parade will be put under the microscope by organizers as they buy valuable real estate, like hotels and seek to prove their case in the European Court of Human Rights. nightclubs, or to build luxurious buildings. The document reportedly identifies the country’s main centres of organised crime as the northern town of Rozaje, the capital By Siri Sollie Podgorica and the popular southern sea- side resorts of Bar and Kotor. Bulgarian Minister Vows oran Miletic , one of the organizers of Pride Parade, told Prishtina to End Public Sector GInsight on Monday that the organiz- ing committee is preparing a case for the Xmas Bonuses European Court of Human Rights in ulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister and Strasbourg. Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov, “Now we are gathering all the necessary Bhas voiced his opposition to the prac- documents and material for the applica- tice of dolling out end of the year bonuses tion” said Miletic on Monday. for State servants, known as "the 13th Before a case can be submitted to the salary." European Court of Human Rights, pro- Djankov spoke on Tuesday for the morn- ceedings before the national court must ing show of the TV channel bTV, where he take place. vowed that while he is at the post, the The organizers have therefore submit- employees of the State administration ted an application to the Constitutional would not get the bonus. Court of Serbia to make a constitutional "Even if there is money in the budget, complaint. Religious protesters at last year's Pride in Belgrade there would not be a 13th salary – they In this way the Republic of Serbia is work 12 months; they get 12-month pay," he first given an opportunity to provide Strasbourg”, stated Miletic. for private and family life, freedom of declared. redress for the alleged violation at the Serbia became the 45th Member State of expression, freedom of thought, con- Djankov reiterated what he said several national level. the Council of Europe on 3 April 2003. As a science and religion and the protection of days ago – no Christmas bonuses, but a pos- Miletic doubts however that the Court consequence Serbia committed itself to property. sibility to give something to the retirees will answer to their complaint as he adopt the Charter on Human Rights and The European Court of Justice applies with the lowest pensions. He explained explained that it has too many cases to Minorities at state and union level. the European Convention on Human that it would all depend on how the reces- deal with and will probably not have the The rights and freedoms secured by the Rights and its task is to ensure that States sion of European economies is going to capacity. Convention include the right to life, the respect the rights and guarantees set out affect Bulgaria in October and November. “Then we will insist on legal remedy in right to a fair hearing, the right to respect in the Convention. 10 October 14 - 27 neighbourhood Census Boycott Falls Flat in Serbia’s Muslim Heartland Most people in the southwest Sandzak region seem to be giving the local imam’s call to ignore the national head count a wide berth. one had refused to take part. “And half of those [the 55] did “They all greeted me in the not refuse to take part categorical- kindest possible way and I did my ly, they just sought more time to By Zoran Maksimovic, job as planned,” he said. “But this think about it or consult some- Novi Pazar is only the beginning, and we have one,” Nicevic added. two more weeks to go”. Nicevic said this showed that no His colleague, Mirza Kalic, had a one could manipulate the commu- What they failed to do with similar experience and said people nity, going to describe Zukorlic’s genocide, they’re trying to do in Novi Pazar treated the census boycott as a fiasco. “by falsifying the number of takers as their guests. Government minister Rasim Bosniaks. The response is to boy- “The people we’ve processed so Ljajic, a Bosniak from Sandzak, Mufti Muamer Zukorlic, who has called on Bosniaks not to take part in the census. cott of census.” far were fine and answered all the made a similar optimistic assess- This is the stark message broad- Sacirovic, one of Zukoric’s associ- familiar. Bosniaks, like Croats and questions,” Kalic said. “We didn’t ment. cast on local privately owned TV ates, said that all “true Bosniak Albanians, use the Latin alphabet. have any problems.” Based on the first four hours’ stations in Serbia’s mainly patriots” were boycotting the cen- Sacirovic said the exclusive use Sefo Plojovic, a Bosniak, told work on the census, during which Bosniak [Muslim] Sandzak region, sus. of Cyrillic showed that the author- Prishtina Insight that his family only one boycott was registered, it calling on locals to boycott the Sacirovic said the true scale of ities in Belgrade wanted to down- was going to take part in the head appeared that the overwhelming national census. the boycott would become clear in play the number of Bosniaks in count. majority of Bosniaks intended to For days, local TV in the south- a few days. He predicted that in Serbia. “The census takers don’t take take part in the census, he said. west region on the border of accordance with the call of the They wanted to “rig the number much time, although there are “Citizens have showed their politi- Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia Bosniak National Council, which of Bosniaks and Muslims, reduc- many questions, and it’s my duty cal maturity,” he added. has been dominated by arguments Belgrade does not recognise, a ing their numbers”, he said. The [to take part] and it should be the But Sandzak’s pro-boycott camp on whether to participate in the large number of Sanzdak resi- census aimed to “confuse them duty of all of us,” he said. has not hoisted the white flag of census, which started on October dents had boycotted the count. about their national, religious and According to the local census surrender just yet. 1. “The census won’t have any linguistic identity”. commission in Novi Pazar, very The Bosniak National Council, On Sandzak and Jedinstvo TV, legitimacy regardless of the Local NGOs have described the few people in the area had heeded a local community body that is stations under the direct control of response,” Sacirovic predicted. boycott call as counterproductive, the boycott call so far. close to Zukorlic, insists that many a charismatic local mufti, Muamer The Bosniak National Council saying it could provide an alibi for Turning to figures, the deputy people have in fact refused to take Zukorlic, the message is: don’t said it was against the census Belgrade to marginalise their com- president of the census commis- part in the census. take part. mainly because the forms were munity. sion in Novi Pazar, Sulejman Sead The opinions are the exact oppo- written exclusively in Cyrillic, a “Those who call on Bosniaks not Nicevic, said only 55 of the 7,500 site on the regional TV run by the script that Bosniaks do not use to take part in the census are work- persons who took part on day city of Novi Pazar, the largest and with ing against the community,” the one had refused town in the area. which president of the Sandzak to answer In Novi Pazar and other they are Committee for Protection of the ques- Sandzak towns, graffiti plastering not all Human Rights and Freedoms, tions. the walls and posters calling for a Semiha Kacar, said. boycott make it look as if the coun- “The smaller the number of try is heading into a general elec- minorities, the more it suits the tion. state, because that way it will Local clergy have added to the have less obligations to furore. A day before the census them,” Kacar added. started, many imams told their The number of local flocks at Sunday prayers not to schools, hospitals, take part in the count. homes, and roads that Census takers are worried. the government is Rahim Dzankovic, one of obliged to supply the 360 local census staff, said region depends he initially felt anxious on establishing about his reception, not the exact size knowing how he would of the popula- be received on the tion, she con- doorstep. tinued. In the event, every- Officials in thing went smoothly Brussels when he started off in have made Novi Pazar’s Boska similar Buhe street where he warnings. met the Lukic The head of (Bosniaks) and the EU dele- Stupljanin (Serbs) gation in families. Serbia, Both families told Vincent Prishtina Insight Degert, they saw it was their said that civic duty to take “without part. precise In his first two data, the days, when European Dzankovic Union can- processed the not help forms of about a underdevel- dozen families, oped areas”. not

Y M C K A strange hotel in Novi Pazar, the 'capital', of the Sandzak region, home to most of Serbia's muslims, who have been urged not to take part in the census by clerics. neighbourhood October 14 - 27 11 Albania Struggles To Curb Sex-Selective Abortions Doctors say they can do little to stop women from aborting baby girls while the dominant culture still places such a premium on having male heirs. gate the causes and reasons behind skewed sex ratios at birth”. With a resolution adopted based on a By Elira Çanga report by Swiss MP Doris Stump, the CoE calls on Albania to “support training for medical staff on prenatal sex selection and its harmful consequences” and “step up ajmonda a 34-year-old mother of two their efforts to raise the status of women in young girls, is expecting another society”. Rchild. Anxious to know the sex of her The resolution calls for the collection of baby she waits in line in a corridor of the reliable data about sex ratios at birth, maternity ward of Tirana’s Koço Glozheni hospital. including in different areas the country. “My husband and I are desperately hop- The Assembly called on Tirana to outlaw ing for a boy because we have two girls sex selection in the context of assisted already,” Rajmonda says. If the baby is a girl reproduction technologies and legal abor- she has already made up her mind to have tion, except when it is justified to avoid a an abortion. “I wish we could find a solu- serious hereditary disease. tion, but we can’t keep her [a girl],” But the resolution stopped short of Rajmonda says. adopting a directive that would have called Since Albania legalized abortion two for a ban on the disclosure by doctors of the decades ago, aborting female fetuses has baby’s sex during pregnancy, as a previous A scan of a 21-week-old baby become commonplace, distorting the natu- draft had suggested. ple want male heirs,” Dr Kallajxhi said. the same hospital, agrees, arguing that doc- ral sex ratio at birth. According to Albania’s 2002 law on for “For us it’s is a problem because the sex of tors can do little to convince women, partic- Boys now outnumber girls by 112 to 100, a reproductive health, the use of reproduc- the baby is only known after 16 or 17 weeks ularly from rural areas where patriarchal gap that was not present before abortions tive technology to provide for sex-selective became lawful in 1991. abortions is not permitted. of the pregnancy, after which abortion is structures are the rule, to opt against sex- According to a 2005 UNDP National However, despite the law, doctors say gen- illegal,” he added. selective abortions. Human Development report, some der selective abortions are commonplace in According to Dr Kallajxhi, even if hospi- “We advise mothers to think hard about Albanian gynecological clinics estimated Albanian hospitals, and the number of tal doctors refuse to disclose the sex of their decision, and some change their that up to 60 per cent of abortions were gen- such abortions performed in private clinics fetuses to parents during pregnancy it mind,” Kryekurti said. “ But others are der-selective. could be even larger. won’t make a difference because it won’t under such pressure from their families to “Albanian families traditionally have Feodor Kallajxhi, a gynecologist and stop them from finding out the results in have a baby boy that their decisions are favoured boys over girls for two main rea- deputy director of the Koço Glozheni one of the many private clinics in Tirana forced,” Kryekurti added. sons: the inheritance of the family name maternity hospital in Tirana, said two sex- and elsewhere. According to Kryekurti, abortion itself, and the prospect of boys growing up to selective abortions are performed in his “It’s very difficult to hide the sex of the for whatever reason, is a traumatic experi- become breadwinners,” the report notes. ward every month on average. baby when the parents are keen to know it,” ence for mothers – and is even worse in the Highlighting a concern that prenatal sex Kallajxhi underlines that the number of Dr Kallajxhi said. “At the same time it’s case of sex-selective abortions. selection had reached “worrying propor- sex-selective abortions in Tirana could be equally difficult to change the mind of But, she continued, “Women often arrive tions”, the Parliamentary Assembly of the much larger because the bulk of these pro- mothers who want an abortion because of with their minds made up, and surrounded Council of Europe, PACE, on Monday cedures take place in private clinics. the baby’s sex,” he added. by relatives who do not allow a psychologist asked the Tirana authorities to “investi- “In a conservative society like ours, peo- Aida Kryekurti, a clinical psychologist at to be present.” 12 October 14 - 27 culture Old Yugoslavia Rediscovers

Yugoslavia may be dead and gone as a political construct - but as a cultural space it has never been more alive.

with excessive delicacy, examples won’t be a co-production between explains. of this being the plays of Dusan at least two former Yugoslav “In these mini-markets every- Jovanovic. republics,” he says. one is big and everyone can easily By Andrej Klemencic In his trilogy from mid 1990’s , “Music, films and TV series get awards. That’s not quality.” the then still ongoing war merely have taught us that a common Theatre scholar and Bitef pro- sneaked into Greek tragedy, market makes sense. Today you gramme manager Jovan Cirilov reminding only the most sensitive can’t make a film or series count- agrees heartily. nly a decade ago the theatre audience members of what was ing only on viewers from one coun- “Right-wingers will always ensembles of the former going on just miles away. try.” oppose such friendships and cre- OYugoslavia were scarcely This year’s Bitef theatre festival Mladenovic’s own theatre has ativity … [but] such opponents on speaking terms – the legacy of in Belgrade brought together hun- been in the forefront of the new care little about culture as such,” grim years of warfare between dreds of actors, directors, writers wave of productions tackling he maintains. “What they don’t Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Kokan Mladenovic and producers from throughout Yugoslav themes head-on. want to do is relinquish their Kosovo. the former Yugoslavia, raising Its 2010/2011 programme fea- feuds.” Chair”]. Fast forward to today and actors hopes of a renaissance of a com- tures a season provocatively enti- Cirilov believes passionately in Prior to Bitef the show received and directors from once war- mon Yugoslav cultural space and tled “NEXT YU”. the continued necessity of a “not a single written review in estranged countries not only talk of a marked rise in joint, cross- “Everyone can say ‘Ex-Yu’, but shared theatre “space” between Serbia,” the director notes. “Until to one another but hug and cry at border productions. Many say it is very few dare say ‘Next-Yu’,” the nations of former Yugoslavia, Bitef, our production was not theatre festivals. the only way theatre and film can Mladenovic jests. noting that a “continuity of the- invited to a single festival in There is a newfound confidence hope to survive. “But the feedback we got from atre expression has survived in Serbia. This was the first time.” about tackling the issue of the Kokan Mladenovic, director of the season shows that the idea of these countries despite the harsh- Elijah's Chair is about a man region’s wars - together. Belgrade’s Atelje 212 theatre, Yugoslavia is very much alive,” he est conditions imaginable.” from Vienna who on his 50th birth- In the 1990s, the conflict was not believes productions made within continues. He takes pride in the fact that day discovers that his father was ignored. But it was either a single country have no future. “People in the theatre world feel seven of the nine regional shows not a Nazi officer, as he had addressed in highly brutal terms “I’m convinced that in years to claustrophobic, stuck in these cul- at this year’s Bitef were co-produc- thought, but a Jew from Sarajevo. in films such as Srdjan come there won’t be a single signif- tural provinces created by the tions between at least two former He goes to Sarajevo at the height Dragojevic’s Pretty Village, Pretty icant theatre production that break-apart [of the old state],” he Yugoslav republics. of the siege in 1992, looking for his Flame or Wounds, or addressed “Yugoslavia exists, not as a nos- father. The show features a mono- talgic term, but in terms of cultur- logue by female lead Alma, played al cooperation between the South by Maja Izetbegovic, who speaks Slavic nations,” Cirilov adds. directly to the audience about the Dramatist Borka Pavicevic of city’s suffering under the Bosnian the Belgrade Centre for Cultural Serb siege. Decontamination, which has held “When we see how people in many events on Yugoslav topics, Serbia react to this, it is clear that says these issues need to be this piece is addressing a topic addressed openly. that hasn’t been tackled in the “First, there is no such thing as country for 20 years,” Lijesevic Ex-Yugoslavia, just as there is no says. “But one of the key condi- Ex-Austria-Hungary,” she opines. tions for regional re-integration to Pavicevic says theatre must mir- happen is to speak about these ror reality and work hand in hand things.” with democratic processes in the A 2006 Bosnian film, Grbavica, region. about raped women from the Serb- “Critical thought is something held sector of Sarajevo, saw no that can bring democracy to these regular theatre distribution in lands,” she maintains. “First to Serbia, he continues. each country individually, then to “Some people don’t want other all of us together.” people to see it. That kind of thing But not everyone is ready to just makes me want to deal even hear the new message, according more with regional, Yugoslav top- to Boris Lijesevic, director of ics,” Lijesevic concludes. Bitef's Grand Prix winner, the Serbia is not alone in stopping Sarajevo-Belgrade co-production its ears to uncomfortable, disturb- Inside the Bitef theatre. Elijahova stolica [“Elijah's ing reminders of the recent past. ‘Yugoslavia still exists as a common culture’ Jovan Cirilov, the director of Bitef, on how talk of Yugoslavia is not mere nostalgia for a former political entity but recognition of a vibrant cultural reality. nostalgia but as need for cultural coopera- little about culture as such. What they do tion between the Southern Slavic nations. not want to do is to relinquish their feuds. Q: Is this merely a trend or is it some If we look at things from an outsider’s kind of generic need among people that perspective, I would say that the top EU By Andrej Klemencic theatre builds on? politicians would want all the Balkan coun- A: It is the latter. This need goes very deep tries in the EU and with good cooperation indeed. Many things took place in the recent between them. Europe is based on integra- : A lot of the shows at this year’s history of the region but this need for com- tion. Bitef involved artists from two or mon culture remained and is currently run- Everyone loses part of their sovereignty, Jovan Cirilov Qmore former Yugoslav republics. ning very strong. but they gain enormously. The most signifi- What made you focus on Yugoslav Q: Bitef in the 1960s and 1970s always cant gain is the guarantee that there will be deeper than material benefits and needs. issues? had to balance carefully between a no more wars. What we had until now is that There is a continuity of theatre expression A: We did not want to focus on the region desire to be open and the reality of every generation in Yugoslavia experienced that has survived in these countries despite just to show that that such a focus is neces- Yugoslavia. The current political cli- at least two wars. I believe this generation the harshest of conditions imaginable. That sary but to present quality shows to the mate does not favour re-integration ten- will not experience war. is its strength. audience. dencies, even in culture. Might the gen- Q: You observed Yugoslav theatre People will defend culture, and fight for it Of nine regional shows at this year's eral climate in future negatively affect when it was taking place within one from prisons. We have strength and we can Bitef, only two are made within only one for- these processes, as it did during the country and now, when it is represented make an impact. We should not be ashamed Y mer Yugoslav republic. Balkan wars? by several countries. What do you see to show that. M All the others are co-operations between A: Right-wingers will always oppose when you compare the two? This article is funded under the BICCED C two or more republics. Those seven produc- friendships and creativity between the A: I would like to say something opti- project, supported by the Swiss Cultural K tions show that Yugoslavia exists, not as nations of the region. Such opponents care mistic. Culture and art are stronger and Programme. culture October 14 - 27 13 Itself on Stage

According to Atelje 212’s Mladenovic, the Balkan conflicts of the past centuries. Croatian embassy in Belgrade first said it Slovene director Dusan Jovanovic, one of would help with - but then pulled out of - a the key theatre figures of former production of Gospoda Glembajevi [“The Yugoslavia, agrees that Slovenia’s culture Glembays[Family]”] by the famous Croatian scene sees Yugoslav matters through differ- writer Miroslav Krleza. ent lenses, and so sees renewed cultural “That production was the highlight of the cooperation outside of any political context. NEXT YU season. The embassy initially “Slovenia's story was somewhat different said it would contribute but then dropped to that of [the rest of] Yugoslavia,” he the project once they learned that it was recalls. “That’s why it was perhaps easier going to be part of a season with a title like for Slovenia to break ties to the other former that,” he says. Novelist Igor Stiks republics. In the old Yugoslavia, there was an unspo- the war in Sarajevo and not just a novel “But things have changed now. I do not see ken arrangement between the theatres of about the consequences of the Yugoslav this as some kind of re-Yugoslav-ization, Belgrade, Zagreb and Ljubljana whereby the wars,” he explains. because that expression would have politi- capital dealt with avant-garde and large pro- “What I wanted to achieve is for a German cal connotations and such connotations are ductions, Zagreb handled more classical or a French reader to understand that this absurd now. topics and Ljubljana staged experimental war happened to them, too, not just to some “From the wreckage of the former coun- theatre. exotic tribes of the Balkans.” try we have now many new countries, each Today those dividing lines have gone, as Sarajevo actor Maja Izetbegovic, the lead of which has its own perspective. each country has had to develop these paral- in Elijah's Chair, is aware of the risk of “For a long time Slovenia refused to lels within its own theatre space. being typecast in war-related pieces but make tight cultural bonds to the rest of the While most of the region's significant believes such plays are still needed for heal- region but in the last ten years, this has actors and directors still come from those ing processes to take place. changed.” The Bitef theatre, home to the festival. three cities, writers from Bosnia have come He dates the beginning of this new era of “I’m emotionally drained after playing “It felt wrong that someone was narrow- to the fore because of their direct experi- cooperation back to the 2000 visit to these shows. I often say to myself: ing down our creative and living space. At ence of the war - that being the most rele- Belgrade of the Drama Ljubljana, which ‘Enough,’” she says. that time I lost my faith in theatre and I vant topic that Yugoslav theatre can offer to then continued in a series of exchanges. “When will we stop talking about the war, wanted to end my career,” she recalls. a foreign viewer. “Intellectual and theatre bonds have the break-up and the transition?” she asks. She is not the only Slovene actor yearn- Igor Stiks, Sarajevo-born author of become very vibrant, which stimulates “But such are the times we still live in, and ing for a broader stage. Primoz Bezjak, who Elijah's Chair, on which the play is based, Slovenian theatre,” he concludes. we have to address the issues of our time.” acts in the same play, says he wishes he says regional authors sometimes face a chal- Actor Dragica Potocnjak, from the While Sarajevo stood on the margins of could emulate colleagues from days of lenge of being locked into writing about war Slovensko mladinsko gledalisce [Slovene the Yugoslav theatre world, lacking an Yugoslavia “who’ve shot films and had an themes alone. Youth theatre] of Ljubljana, which present- established tradition of its own, Slovenia opportunity to perform on a regular basis “Some authors have chosen to deal with ed “Damned Be the Traitor of his was on another kind of margin, culturally on stage in all the republics of Yugoslavia”. that single topic,” he notes, “but I hope it at a distance from the rest of Yugoslavia. Homeland” [a verse from the old Yugoslav will be possible for me to include topics from This was not only because of its Austro- national anthem) at this year’s Bitef, says This article is funded under the BICCED my ten years of life spent abroad. Hungarian heritage – shared with Croatia – she contemplated leaving the stage for good project, supported by the Swiss Cultural “Elijah’s Chair is not just a novel about but because Slovenes played little part in the when the country fell apart. Programme. marketing

Y M C K 14 October 14 - 27 feature Kosovo at Heart of Growing Chinese-Serbia Ties Fears of breakaway “provinces” and harsh “lessons learned” from the Kosovo conflict are two areas that have brought Beijing and Belgrade closer together, and led to growing mil- itary cooperation.

eral declaration of independence sincerely believe we can share that in 2008, meanwhile, finds in China experience with China.” a loyal diplomatic partner, which Chinese officials showed off By Milena Miletic regularly votes in favour of Serbia their J-10 fighter jetS, voicing at UN Security Council meetings. interest in becoming a possible China restarted military dona- supplier to Serbia once it was tions to Serbia in 2005 when the ready to buy new planes. Chinese army delegation first agreement was signed Military expert Aleksandar led by General Xu Caihou between the defence ministries of Radic believes the Chinese would Avisited Belgrade on the two countries. rather sell Serbia an alternative, September 8, 9 and 10, donating 2.4 Since then training and educa- the JF-17, their, improved, version million US dollars’ worth of equip- tion of the officers has been ongo- of the Russian MiG 21, which is Tadic meets a Chinese official. ment for military hospitals. ing - mostly Serbs going to Chinese cheaper than the J-10. China’s latest donation to the try’s territory,” Antoaneta Bezlova, maintain such a policy in the long military schools, although recently Serbia had planned to open a Serbian military, the fourth in a political analyst, wrote several term,” he warns. a few Chinese officers started tender for the purchase of new recent years, has highlighted years ago. “Our limits should be the EU attending Serbian highest military fighter jets this year, but the eco- Beijing’s strategic interest in a The conflict in Kosovo was yet and neighbouring countries, and schools. nomic crisis has delayed the plan. country that it sees as a future EU another reason for China to be special relations with the regions Colonel Predrag Kraljevic, of the What concerns Serbia is how lit- member state. interested in Serbian war experi- of countries like Italy, Austria, Defence Ministry’s Department for tle it can offer in return. Referring Dragan Sutanovac, Serbia’s ence and speed up development of Germany,” he added. International Military to China, “Their economic defence minister, and the Chinese new defence strategies and invest But Pribicevic says a strategic Cooperation, says 24 Serbian offi- progress is such that it’s a big ques- general, signed a protocol indicat- more in military capacities. partnership with China does not cers have now attended courses in tion what we can sell to them,” ing their interest in future long- According the January 18th, 2011 conflict with Serbia’s EU goals: China’s highest military schools. Predrag Simic, political science term cooperation. The donation, issue of Stratfor, the Geopolitical “Our accession to the EU and build- One Chinese officer has complet- professor and specialist, says. meanwhile, makes China one of Institute, in its special report on ing partnership with China are not ed his army education in Serbia Philip Ejdus, from Belgrade’s Serbia’s top military donors, head China’s military power: “The in opposition to one another.” and two are currently being educat- School for Security Studies, says to head with the US and Norway. Chinese fear a potential US block- Philip Ejdus sees potential prob- ed there. Another five Serbian offi- there is always a nagging concern Serbian diplomats and military ade of their coast. While this may lems in burgeoning military ties. cers went to China for schooling in relations between small coun- officials hope closer ties with the not seem a likely scenario, the “Some are speaking about exports last month, he explained. tries that don’t have much to offer Far Eastern giant can bring about a Chinese look at their strategic vul- of guns and military equipment Turning to earlier Chinese mili- and big powers: what strings are revival of the kind of joint initia- nerability, at their rising power and but we should remember that the tary donations, Col Kraljevic said attached? tives in weapons and military at the US history of thwarting EU put an embargo on the export of there had been three in recent Politics and economics are what equipment that halted in the regional powers, and they see weapons to China after the 1989 years, worth around half a million are pushing the two countries Nineties, when Yugoslavia col- themselves as clearly at risk.” Tienanmen Square massacre,” he euros each. towards each other, Simic says, lapsed. Aleksandar Radic say such per- said. “Finally, there is this last one, mainly concerning questions Closer ties will also enable ceived threats have prompted the “Although there are reports that amounting to 1.8 million euros for about territorial integrity and the Serbia to get hold of new technolo- Chinese to make huge changes and this policy is being reconsidered, it medical equipment,” he said. EU. gy and know how, train its military increase the capacity of their army. is still official EU policy,” Ejdus In another sign of warming rela- Both China and Serbia have ter- staff in China and improve its “Although China always had a added. tions, a strategic partnership ritorial “issues”, Serbia with its capacities for peacekeeping opera- strong force to respond to internal agreement was signed in 2009 by breakaway former province of tions. threats, the war in Kosovo, in 1999 A history of ups and downs the Serbian and Chinese Kosovo and China with its own Serbia knows it cannot offer pushed them toward further Presidents, Boris Tadic and Hu restive provinces. “Tibet and much to China in return and improvements,” he said. Serbia’s relations with China Jintao, making Serbia one of only Xinjiang are their words for accepts that China’s interests in “The experience of using air have fluctuated over the decades, five strategic country-partners of ‘Kosovo’,” Simic says. increasing its access to Europe lies power in conflicts such as Kosovo, reflecting wider changes in rela- China in the world. Since NATO forced Serbia out of in the background of the ongoing and the way it was used, made tions between the then Yugoslavia Last August, a Serbian defence Kosovo in 1999, and since most EU cooperation. them develop their airforce and and Beijing. delegation, led by Sutanovac, visit- countries then recognized its inde- China is casting ambitious eyes build new fighter aircrafts much Following Yugoslavia’s break ed China for further talks on mili- pendence, China has been more at the EU market to which it has faster.” with the Soviet Union in 1948, the tary economic cooperation. During alert to potential threats to its own had difficulties entering. It hopes Meanwhile, Predrag Simic says Chinese leader, Zhou Enlai, pro- the visit he described China as a provinces. that if and when Serbia joins the Chinese want to open up the posed that the two countries form country with “huge experience in The Kosovo issue “threatens to EU, it will have a new portal into European market, and, because a new Communist block without training and educating”, adding: set a precedent for China’s 56 recog- the continent. they see Serbia as a future part of Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact. “But our military hospitals are nised national minorities that Serbia, which has unsolved EU, “we have certain importance, But warming ties in the 1950s among the best in the world and we occupy more than half of the coun- issues with Kosovo over its unilat- but only in political way. plummeted in the turbulence of “They believe that the EU does- the mid-1960s, when China under- n’t want them [the Chinese] close, went the so-called Cultural even more, that they want them Revolution. Yugoslav embassy totally out,” he added. staff were physically abused by Building ties to China dovetails Maoist demonstrators at the time. with Serbia’s chosen foreign policy By the Seventies, matters had of relying on four so-called “pil- improved once again and lars”, namely Russia, China, the Yugoslavia’s military industry EU and the US, rather than relying was producing parts for China’s T- exclusively on an alliance with the 50 tanks. EU and NATO. In the 1980s the two countries Ognjen Pribicevic, a diplomat established a joint company in and political analyst, defends the China to develop to produce four-pillar policy. weapons and equipment, selling “Each small country needs and them on to third countries. The searches for as many strong part- dissolution of Yugoslavia termi- ners as it can get,” he says. nated this cooperation. “Building partnerships with pow- In the Nineties Serbia opened ers like China and Russia while two branches of the state compa- maintaining as good relations as nies Jugoimport and Hemofarm in possible with the US and heading China. These failed, however, Y toward the EU, is a good idea.” Predrag Simic said, because the M Pribicevic prefers a more realis- Chinese learned quickly and took C tic approach to foreign policy. “It is over Serbian technology, making K very hard for any small country to the companies redundant. feature October 14 - 27 15 Toxic Toys on Sale in Kosovo Toys banned by the European Union because they are a danger to children are widely on sale in Kosovo, an investigation by Prishtina Insight can reveal.

By Trinka Kurti

mporters and shop owners in Kosovo are mostly ignorant of Ithe EU’s warning system for dangerous products and some are even undisturbed that they are selling dangerous toys to children. Prishtina Insight tested a num- ber of children’s toys bought from stores in Kosovo against the EU’s online warning system. In a short survey of shops, the newspaper discovered four toys which were banned from entering the European Union but on sale in Kosovo. While Kosovo is not part of the EU, its law on the protection of consumers stipulates that goods should comply with all European Union directives and obliges the seller to cooperate with associa- tions abroad to protect the con- sumers. A scan of a 21-week-old baby But interviews with importers and major retailers have revealed posed by their products. would not have gone through easi- that they are unaware of the Ibrahim Sekiraqa, director of ly.” European Commission’s Rapid MAXI supermarkets, one of the Despite the fact that the Alert System for Non-Food country’s biggest chains, said he importers do not feel obliged to Products, RAPEX, and sometimes had never heard of the RAPEX respect the principles of the disinterested in the safety of their system. European Union, Kosovo law products. “I can tell you that we are very should still protect the consumer. The Ministry of Trade and far away from Europe in many The Ministry of Trade and Industry admitted that their burning the child because a faulty importers of toys, the owner of ways, so I do not expect to begin Industry reject the idea that they inspectors were too stretched to battery heats the handle to a tem- the company 'Vardem' agrees that applying the laws that are not are not doing enough to inspect ensure proper checks, but said perature of 99.3 degrees within 4 more controls are needed. “It's ours, especially regarding toys,” the quality of products. they did regularly consult RAPEX. minutes. They are sold in the shop simple - checks are done based on said Sekiraqa. Izer Arifi, the chairman of the “Beautiful Girl”, made in China, "Idea-A” in the Lesna shopping the declarations of the produc- He added that no one from the Council for Consumer Protection, which comes with a doll and a toy centre, Prishtina. ers,” owner Eroll Jusufi added. authorities had stopped him from admits that harmful products can mobile phone, is banned in the EU The president of Kosovo In Vardem company’s ware- importing products, therefore he be found on the market. “This because the toy makes sounds Consumer Association, houses there are products from does not see why he should remove office regularly consults with which exceed the legal limit of 80 Konsumator, Selatin Kacaniku, companies which have produced dangerous products from the mar- RAPEX, the European decibels and also contains the said there were inadequate con- harmful toys according to the ket. Commission's warning system for chemical dactyl hexyls, DHHP, trols on products. “In Kosovo not RAPEX list, but Jusufi insists that “Even so, I think that none of non-food products; therefore to a which affects hormone produc- even baby dummies are controlled. all his products fulfil EU stan- the products that can be bought in large extent the protection of tion. Toys should be subject to extra dards. MAXI supermarkets are harmful,” harmful products is covered,” he The bookstore “Sara” in checks as they could have long- "I have never heard of RAPEX, he said. said. Prishtina sells figurines from the lasting effects,” he said. but all the products I import meet Gafurr Blakqori from Batex But they do admit that their 'Gormiti' series, although they are “Customs controls on these European standards,” he said, importing company says that cus- resources are limited. “These banned in the EU due to their products are carried out only on pointing to the imported docu- toms are doing enough to prevent resources are currently quite lim- harmful content. the basis of the documents that ments. hazardous goods entering. ited, but we have prioritised to Pens that are sold under the the manufacturers show,” Other importers contacted by “All goods are controlled by cus- progress with the service and name “Ben 10” are capable of Kaçaniku added. Prishtina Insight were dismissive toms,” he said. “If they were equipments for inspection," he One of Kosovo’s largest of concerns raised on the dangers banned or contained poisons they said. marketing

Y M C K 16 October 14 - 27 Prishtina Insight

Where to pick up Prishtina Insight? Hotel AFA Located in a quiet neighbourhood Prishtina Insight has teamed up with these excellent venues to offer a limited number of complimentary copies of Kosovo’s only just outside the city centre, Hotel Afa can guarantee guests a peaceful English-language newspaper. Grab a copy of the publication and settle down with a drink or a meal to read it. night while being within walking distance of all the action. The venue Jinglebells A taste of Napoli in Prishtina. has won a host of awards for its Cavallero Mexican Restaurant excellent service to customers and If your soul is affected by the grey sea- After ten years of making pizza in Napoli, and offers a good range of facilities, You can almost transport yourself to the son then pay a visit to Jinglebells, where only with love to blame, Fatmir the chef from an exclusive restaurant and Mexican coast, with soaring palm trees and an you will find all the colours that you’ve returned to Prishtina. His pizzas, made in a VIP bar to pretty, tranquil garden. immaculate five star resort, while dining at been missing. woodburn stove, are definitely genuine napoli- Rooms start at 45 euro for a single, Cavallero Mexican Cantina. Mouth-watering Jinglebells is a perfect one-stop-shop tanas. For those who consider pizza to be bor- and luxury rooms and apartments appetizers and savoury main dishes are nicely for internationals offering a selection of ing, Fatmir has several pastas on offer, also a are available. The hotel’s rooms are washed down with countless cocktail options books in various languages and the true joy for the taste buds. Napoli has an excel- well appoint- and even imported Mexican beer. Skopje-based quickest supply of international newspa- lent selection of red and white wines or, for the ed and com- ‘Los Ritmos’ entertain diners every Friday pers in town. It also offers souvenirs and more ambitious, one of the region's best Quint's fortable. and Saturday with their latin beats. For more gifts, such as raki. Napoli makes for 15, Rr Ali information, visit local handicrafts. delicious lunch, dinner Kelmendi, their facebook page, or even after-theatre Sunny or contact them. Jinglebells. time out in the centre Hill, Cavallero, Bookstore and of Prishtina. Prishtina Located next to the ex- more. +381 UNMIK building Ernest Koliqi Pizzeria Napoli 38/225 226 Prishtina 12, opposite off Luan Haradinaj, www. hote- +386 49 619 375 EULEX HQ opposite Newborn lafa. com Facebook page +386(0)49 741 170 044/409-402402

Cantina am-pm Restaurant Hotel Prishtina Hotel Victory Te Komiteti

Cantina AM-PM, formerly known as Hotel Prishtina’s 43 charm- But Victory is more than a place to meet and do Te Komiteti’s large trees and a beauti- Mexican Cantina, recently went ing guest rooms and suites are business. Its doors are always open for guests to fully garden, which surround the small through a transfer to new management, reminiscent of a small hotel in enjoy the tranquility of our guest rooms and lob- outdoor terrace, give you an impression and although hardly noticeable from a the European tradition. You'll bies, and the finest cuisine in the region. The only of an exclusive place for ordinary peo- distance, the new owners have trans- immediately feel at home in hotel in the region where real plants, original art ple. And this is exactly what it is. From formed the venue into a more grown-up our living room, sipping a glass and fine solid furniture decorate the space and brunch to lunch-time snacks and special affair with good, cheap food. Cantina of wine in our fine restaurant turn it into a homelike environment. Hotel evening meals, this restaurant offers offers Mexican dishes at reasonable surrounded by a gallery of Victory is established to offer travelers the most dishes comprising quality, varied ingre- prices, starting from less than 5 euro. paintings complete, comfortable accommodation available dients, combined to perfection. Although the majority of the food is by local in Kosovo and the region. Our professional staff Alongside one Mexican-influenced, Cesar salad and artists. will offer guests the highest standard of service of Prishtina’s pizza have been included too. Mexican The hotel and support, and we will use our resources to best ‘modern favourites served up at Cantina include offers free, greater lengths to make your stay as complete as European’ style tortilla, thicker fast wifi possible. menus, you’ll pan-friend tortilla, internet, Hotel Victory also find a good nacho chips and complimen- Mother Teresa selection of burrito. Cantina’s tary break- Prishtina, Kosovo wine, and great also offers a very fast, confer- Tel: +381 38 543 277 sangria and pleasant area for al ence room, +381 38 543 267 cocktails . fresco dining. swimming Email: Te Komiteti Cantina AM-PM pool, sauna info@hotel-victo- Qamil Hoxha Rr Qamil Hoxha and laun- ry.com Street Prishtina dry service. http://www.hotel- Prishtina +377 49 710 710 victory.com/ +381 38 24 96 63

Friends Bar Odyssea Bistro Paddy O’Brien’s Olive Tapas Bar

Friends Bar is owned by a Swiss- Odyssea Bistro Bar is a beautiful The staff at Paddy O’Brien’s have a saying: After many tears running tapas Albanian couple. The modern interi- bistro located in the heart of Prishtina, “It’s easy to walk in, but very hard to leave.” bars in England and Germany, as or and the calm terrace behind the offering a combination of a quality And with its warm atmosphere, fantastic range well as opening the first of its bar will make your stay comfortable. menu with inspiring dishes and a mod- of drinks and excellent food, it is easy to see why. kind in Prishtina, these guys no They offer a wide range of beers, ern bar with a large variety of drinks There have been many attempts to establish a their trade.Try to delicious tapas including Dark Lasko and Murphy’s and exotic cocktails. proper Irish pub in Prishtina, but this is the only and while away on afternoon on Irish Red, which can rarely be found Odyssea Bistro Bar's unique design is one to hit the spot. the moorish sangria.Tapas and in Kosovo. You can also try eight dif- a mixture of classic French influence From classic coffees to cocktails, via, of course, main courses include rocket ferent tastes and colours of vodka. and a modern touch. Guinness, you really wont find it difficult to salad, mixed cheese, Spanish tor- Starting from May 14 there will be Busy during lunch breaks, romantic select the perfect drink. tilla, omelet with vegetables and barbeques every Saturday from 5pm for dinners and classy for evening A mouth-watering menu of Irish specialties is potatoes and deep fried calamari. to 9pm, and brunch every Sunday drinks, Bistro is a great place to visit at also on offer, spanning from all-day breakfasts to from 9am to any time of the day. Irish stews at night. Open Monday to Saturday 1pm. BBQ and Sample Bistro’s brunch on Sundays, or Options include shepherd’s pie, bangers and 7 am until 12 pm brunch will be enjoy live music on Wednesday, Fridays mash, fish ‘n chips, Olive Tapas Bar offered with a and Saturdays and whopping great St.Fehmi Agani 48/1 wide choice of Bistro, burgers. Tel. +381 38 321 132 local and Sejdi Kryeziu, Pejton, Prishtina Thursday is pub quiz Cell +377 44 620 414 international 045402095 and 049333959 night, but there is [email protected] food. always something going on at the pub, whether it 17, Rr.Fehmi is sport screenings or Agani just a good shindig. 045244 498 Paddy O’Brien’s Y Facebook Tringe Smajli Street, M Page: Friends by the Illyria Hotel C Bar - Prishtine Prishtina: 045-420900 K By Yllka Hoxha October 14 - 27 17 in Prishtina Timeout Contact Prishtina Insight if you would like your event to feature or to advertise your venue. Email [email protected] National Theatre of Kosovo

Friday, October 14, 2011 8 pm Every day at 6, 8 and 10 pm, ABC Cinema “Zjarri Miqësor” [Friendly Fire] screens the Albania movie “Fjala e gjakut” A Balley play,with a choreography from Arthur produced by the American producer Joshua Kiggeleyn, composer Christian Meyer. Marston. The same play will be repeated on Thursday, October starts of general and historical, and diverts into Nick is a 17-year-old boy in his last year of high 20, 2011 8 pm absurdist power games between the elder woman school in northern Albania. He begins his first romance with a girl from his class and and the young boy, eventually narrowing down its Saturday, October 15, 2011 8 pm plans to open an Internet cafe after school. His focus to give us an individual end to two stories. It “Përgjuesi” [The Listener] sister, Rudina, a smart girl, 15-year-old wants to is a tight, dark play with no room for wooliness or Stand-up Comedy with Adem Mikullovci,Skena e go to college. When a local dispute over a emotional bulldozing. Vogël [Small Scene] piece of land resulting in them charg- The same Play will be repeated on Saturday, October ing Mark’s father for murder, the family reached a lethal blood Sunday, October 23, 2011 8 pm 22, 2011 8 pm feuds. Canon laws, legal codes ofancient Balkan, forcing ” Zhurma Show Awards 2011” Nick, his brother and 7-year-old male other members of the family, Traditional musical spectacle, 7th Edition Monday, October 17, 2011 8 pm to close at home almost as if under house arrest. Mark hiding in the- ”Duke pritur Godonë” [Waiting For Godot] mountains and forced Nick to stay at home, the family should be sup- ported toRudina, which should leave school and take over the busi- Drama,writer- Samuel Beckett, director- Drita Monday, October 24, 2011 8 pm ness of Mark in order to ensure family. Begolli ”Fizikanët” [Physicists] From Fruederich Durrenmatt, director- Isë Qosja While Rudina flourishes in her new responsibilities, frustration and The same play will be repeated on Tuesday, October The same Play will be repeated on Tuesday, October anger of Nick from the isolation of forcing him to try to fin- 18, 2011 8 pm 25, 2011 8 pm ish bloody hostility, although the cost may be. Soon ABC Cinema will start screeing the movie “What’s your num- Two tramps are waiting by a sickly looking tree for The Physicists, is a satirical drama often recog- ber? “ directed by Mark Mylod. the arrival of Godot. They quarrel, make up, contem- nised as the most impressive yet most easily under- For any further questions or reservations call at 038 243 238 or visit plate suicide, try to sleep, eat a carrot and gnaw on stood work of the Swiss writer Friedrich them at www.kinoabc.com some chicken bones. Two other characters appear, a Dürrenmatt. Informed by the Second World War and master and a slave, who perform a grotesque scene the many recent advances in science and nuclear in the middle of the play. A young boy arrives to say technology, the play deals with questions of scientif- Prishtina Diary that Godot will not come today, but that he will come ic ethics and mankind’s ability to handle its intellec- Friday, October 14, 2011 raised in Sweden, his mother- tomorrow. But will he? tual responsibilities. Filikaqa Sports Bar land, but has been living and The story is set in the drawing room of the oldest Karaoke night from 9 pm, for all working in NYC for some time. Friday, October 21, 2011 8 pm building in the Les Cerisiers sanatorium, an idyllic singing lovers. He has a Turkish father and has “Nata e Helverit” [Helver’s Night] home for the mentally ill, run by famed psychiatrist Play, writer- Ingmar Villqist, director- Altin Basha For reservations call at 044 788 748 always had strong ties to Mathilde von Zahnd. This drawing room connects to Friday, October 14, 2011 Istanbul and Turkey as a whole. three sick rooms each of which is inhabited by a sin- Hamam Jazz Bar, starting from The concept of the band is a com- Ingmar Villqist’s play starts with the sounds of gle mentally ill patient. These three men, all physi- 10 pm bination of Ilhan’s NYC/Nublu jackboots marching, windows are being broken, a cists by trade, are permitted the use of the drawing Oscar Sales and Tony Kitanovski sound mixed with the sounds mob is baying. Although details are left deliberate- room, where they are periodically monitored by the Saturday, October 15, 2011 and spirits of young Istanbul. ly imprecise, we are clearly deep in the nightmare female nurses that are charged with their care. Hamam Jazz Bar, starting from It’s a band that mixes Turkish of the twentieth century. When young Helver 10pm, free entry scales, clubby beats and jazz bursts in at dinnertime, Carla - the mother who is Wednesday, October 26, 2011 8 pm No Name- Electro Acoustic improvisations. not a mother - is disturbed to see that he has ”Harmonia” exibition to be held at the American Night For reservations call Hamam Jazz entered into the hysteria of the streets. He University in Kosovo With Avni Krasniqi-Keyboard Bar at 044 222 289 or 038 222 289 describes with boyish enthusiasm what they did to [Harmony] Electro Astrit Stafai-Etno Saturday, October 15, 2011 ‘that little shop’ and the ‘filthy scum’ who worked Exhibition on cultural heritage, AUK Instrument Meriton Ferizi- Theatre ODA, Dave Seaman in it. He proudly shows off his banner, his beret Accordion-Harmonic Xhemil concert and badge. Villqist, one of Poland’s leading play- Thursday,October 27, 2011 8 pm Gjini-Percussion Starting from 11 pm wrights, must know that this is familiar territory, ” Balloja e Diplomes” [the Degree Ball] Saturday, October 15, 2011 For the first time in Prishtina, and he leads us on an ingenious route through his Ballet, choreograph- Ilir Kerni, composer- Johann Creme de la Creme, from 9 pm the famous ex member of the Blur discography together with DMC Publishing is appearing. themes of brutality, intolerance and despair. What Strauss ‘Lasko’ beer for only 1 euro Dave Seaman has performed in fe For reservations call: +386 (0)49 stivals and in large clubs in more 220 008, +386 (0)49 201 100 than 70 countries during his Theatre ODA http://www.cremeprishtina.com carear, creating the beat‘s for pop Wednesday, October 19, 2011 singers likeKylie Minogue, Take Hamam Jazz Bar, from 10 pm That, the Pet Shop Boys, U2, Friday October 28, 2011 Bei the Fish Michael Jackson, AlanisMorisse Bei the Fish has been making tte, David Bowie etc.. Have you heard about “Jam per [me ble] Lopen” contemporary steps since 2001. http://www.djdaveseaman.com/ (“Jam for the cow”)? It is the story of a bunch of The musical expression of the Friday, October 14, 2011 young people who wanted to help a family in need, group represents a unique fusion “Qemal Stafa” Stadium in and they succeeded. One night of varied artists per- Radio 4 interview with Elizabeth Gowing of the of acoustic instruments, electron- Tirana, Armin Van Buuren forming free of charge gathered more than enough Kosovo NGO The Ideas Partnership. She has offered ics and modern, with a pop music Concert money to buy a cow and make a one family in Kosovo to donate her late husband’s photographs to the flavour. All that is combined in Starting from 10 pm very happy. Since then, it became a tradition, and it Ethnological Museum. their four released studio albums For the first time in Albania, the will also take place this year, October 30, 2010 in (“Listen”, 2004; “Look Up”, 2007; number 1 DJ in the world, Armin Theater Oda. The exhibition will be opened by Judith Robinson “Time to Make Things Right”, Van Buuren will performing. and H.E. Ian Cliff, British Ambassador to Kosovo, on double album, 2009; “Just an Tickets info: From Sunday, October 15, 2011 Saturday 15 October at 7pm. Idea!?”, double album, 2011), and Standard Tickets –avaliable at two released theatre soundtracks Digitalb and Adidas stores The photographer, Neil Arthur Robinson was born (“Marat/Sade”, 2009; “The Boat In Kosovo at Western Union and Ethnological museum - Photography exhibition in the north-east of England and studied science at for Dolls”, 2010) as well as a great Union net stores. The British Embassy, in conjunction with The Ideas Cambridge University, specialising in botany. He vis- deal of unreleased material. For VIP Tickets reservations call Partnership and the Ethnological Museum in ited Kosovo in 1956, spending a month with five other The band launched a brand new at +355 67 4041985 Prishtina, is pleased to host an exhibition of photo- botany students camping in the Decanska Valley and single in February “Ideal Armin van Buuren has been graphs taken by a British student visiting Kosovo in studying vegetation on Mount Kurvala, close to the Woman” as a second single from named number one in the presti- 1956. Albanian border. the new Album “Just an gious DJ MAG Top 100 poll four Idea?!”.The first part of the times in a row, as the first DJ in King’s College Cambridge student Neil Robinson vis- Neil mostly used his own camera to take mono- album is released on May 21 2011 the history of the DJ Magazine ited Kosovo on a study trip more than half a century chrome photographs but also used an early colour as a free download through MTV and an indication of his prolific ago and the photographs he took are stunning camera, which he had been leant by Kodak. In addi- sites (http://www.mtv.rs/) output over the more than 14 glimpses of life in Kosovo as it then was. They repre- tion to the plants, he photographed scenes of local Friday, October 21, 2011 years he’s been dj-ing and pro- sent an extraordinary story of British-Kosovo con- people, farming, limeburning and woodcutting. On Hamam Jazz Bar, from 10 pm ducing. Being the official world’s nections. his return, he wrote a short account of the Albanian Ilhan Ersahin’s Istanbul Sessions most popular DJ is just one of people, illustrated with his photographs. A tran- Istanbul Sessions is a unit con- his many achievements, but the The 35 photographs found their way back to Kosovo script of this account has now been given to the sisting of four versatile musi- driving force behind his success Prishtina Ethnological Museum, together with cians - Ilhan Ersahin, Alp is an overriding passion for Y when Neil’s widow, Judith, heard about the M Ethnological Museum in Pristina through a BBC copies of the photographs. Ersonmez, Turgut Bekoglu and dance music. Izzet Kizil. Ilhan was born and http://www.arminvanbuuren.com C K 18 October 14 - 27 Inside Prishtina Institute of History HQ Has History of its Own Nine years after the ground was first broken for the construction of the Institute of History, the building remains unfinished.

history,” Bajraktari told Prishtina Bajraktari notes that this was National Library. Institute has too few staff for this Insight. “an arbitrary decision because “Those who have taken such building and in 2008 it was pro- At that time, Kosovo’s govern- the government had no plan in its changes have political power,” posed that the building be shared By Petrit Çollaku ment had allocated funds for con- agenda” to do this. Bajraktari told Prishtina Insight. between the institute and struction and work led by the then “We were not consulted before He added that a compromise library.” Ministry of Education. The first hand at all,” said Bajraktari. At has been found with the National Bajraktari, who leads a staff of he director of the Institute tender totaled 1.2 million euro. the time, Minister Enver Hoxhaj Library. It is proposed that 33 per- 28 people, said that they will not of history, Jusuf Bajraktari But with the arrival of a new was running education in cent of the space of 2,700 m2 is give up on the whole property but Tsaid that work started on the government in 2007, plans change. Kosovo. given to the institute. noted that, if they must, the insti- bizarre building in central In June 2008, Kosovo’s govern- The government of Kosovo, in “The space is great for the insti- tute should have another room- Prishtina in 2002. ment decided to transform the its meeting dated July 31, 2008, tute,” said Ragip Gjoshi, political mate. “I want to show you all letters ownership from the institute to took a decision to pass the owner- advisor to the Minister of He says that he has asked the because this building has its own the University Library of Kosovo. ship of the building to the Education, Rame Buja. “The government for it to be shared with the Institute of Genocide, which was recently created. Endless Work Continues “We need to share the building osi Company, from Peja, company is carrying out the con- with a similar institution,” says signed the contract in structions based on the money Bajraktari. TDecember 2009 to start the allocated by the ministry’s budg- Gjoshi states that the proposed structural work, to the value of et. share between the institute and nearly 1.5 million euro. In 2010, Tosi was paid more library is the most reasonable During 2010, the company fin- then 300,000 euro while for 2011, way forward. ished external works and contin- the ministry gave more then “As I said, knowing the capacity ued with the inside the building. 421,000 euro. of the institute and how much Head of infrastructure depart- “We expect the works to be fin- space they need, this is the right ment, within the ministry of edu- ished in the coming year,” Sofija solution,” Gjoshi told Prishtina cation, Besim Sofija said that the told Prishtina Insight. Insight.

Prishtina’s Traffic Chaos Prishtina’s usual traffic chaos was cranked up a gear on October 7 when the lights at this key junction failed. Our team has been out taking photos of Kosovo’s capital this week for our new web- site gazetajnk.com. We would you love to share some of your best snaps of the city with us. Please email them in to

Y [email protected] M m. C K 19 Inside Prishtina October 14 - 27 Food Review: Zarrin Yummy to your Munusamy Regional Strategic Sales doorstep Manager for Europe and ple enough. Just ring them up and voila. Africa, for Air Charter There are dozens of options. International, based in Dubai By Gravlax I’m a fan of the Yummy box, which range in price from 3.8 to 5.70 euro. You get a main dish, with a mixed green salad, nnovation is not exactly bread, and a mysterious choco- something you see a lot of late pudding, all delivered in a Ias an eater in Prishtina. customized vessel akin to a Consequently, skepticism bento box. ensued when I learned about Having tried their

Yummy Food. It’s exclusively of: the Eyes through Prishtina “Tradtional Dish of the Day,” delivery, free of charge to the which happened to be beef city centre with a 5 euro per with green beans over rice on order minimum. It offers a litany of grub from Albanian that day, as well as the Thai pite to Thai curry, all in slickly fish curry, also over rice, I’m designed packaging. quite impressed. Tasty, fresh Not only is it convenient and healthy food delivered in about reasonably priced, the food is 25 minutes. That’s called a win- quite good. The website, ner. http://www.yummy-food.info, is slightly confusing. The cate- Yummy Food gories are essentially in 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. What surprised you most about Albanian, but the online menu 045-703-702 Prishtina? is in English. Sandwiches, pas- 049-494-888 Plenty of delightful surprises, but the tas, salads, etc. Order is sim- http://www.yummy-food.info one thing that continues to surprise me is to see the growing number of pharma- cies, vegetable shops and hair dressers right next to each other. When one shop Restaurant Review opens, the competitors chose to open right across the other or next to it and Curry’s inferno: Indian, the restaurant, they all keep going somehow. This ongo- ing scenario surprised me the day I arrived and still does. tortures to perfection What's your favourite hangout? In the homes of our friends especially first visit to the rather anony- mous space, the waiter pre- the Albanian friends and their warm hos- sented an enormous hardcover pitality with nice hot sweet tea served By Gravlax menu, much of which was with lemon in turkish cups and little devoted to essays about the sweets to go with it. subcontinent’s cuisine. Many of the items weren’t available. What is the best thing about ire. Lots and lots of fire. After some back and forth, I Prishtina? It’s the best way to settled on chicken tikka (2.90 Every time I go out for a walk I bump Fdescribe, Indian, which euro) as a starter to be fol- into at least four or five friends. This does happens to be both the name lowed by dal makhanni (3.50 not happen in any other city I know. Also and genre of a new restaurant euro). the Kosovar hospitality is on the top of in Dragodan. Some hapless The bitesized pieces of my list. American diner at another table chicken arrived piping hot couldn’t handle the spice and from the tandoor oven, with What is the most annoying thing sent his food back. I, however, some lemon and raw union. about Prishtina? couldn’t get enough of my fish The brown muddy snow and the slip- curry’s inferno. It was that per- They also were aggressively pery roads during winter. fect kind of spicy that makes rubbed and marinated, a you beg for mercy — and more. slightly charred on the outside If you were mayor of Prishtina for And best of all, it didn’t mask but juicy on the inside. The the white fish’s delicate flavour. waiter did a spice check before the day what would you change? Depending on how you slice the dal arrived. “Was the I would review the current city plan it, the name Indian is either chicken too spicy.” he asked. I and make amendments to it, for e.g to cre- brilliant or brilliantly lazy for told him it was perfect, but in ate urban parks or a man-made lake a restaurant name. Or perhaps all honesty could use more somewhere in the heart of the city. I there’s a sinister air to it. It’s heat. “Are you sure?” he asked. would create more footpaths and bike perhaps 100 or 200 metres from Very sure. The kitchen lis- lanes. I would stop every development, Mumtaz Mahal, on the road to tened, and the dal came brim- low-rise or high-rise that does not meet Mitrovica. I can just imagine ming with chilies. I went building standards especially when they someone who hasn’t been to through most of a large bottle do not respect reasonable space for com- either being instructed to go to of water and nearly two orders mon areas between buildings. Mumtaz, and seeing Indian’s of roti (1 euro) — beautifully patties — the aforementioned start. That struck me as rather giant sign with a chili-pepper baked but sadly not whole How many macchiatos do you drink fish curry (4.50 euro) and amateurish, but I’ll give Indian smiley face and assuming it’s wheat — in order to finish the a day? spinach-stuffed roti (1.90 the benefit of the doubt as it the intended destination. In dal. I left a very happy man. None, but I take at least two cups of euro). gets its house in order. any case, Indian is the correct When I returned the next latte every day Great things are happening destination. It’s simply better, week, a much more manage- in the kitchen at Indian. But cheaper and hotter than able brochure had replaced the What's your favourite Albanian they’re still struggling with Mumtaz, which has a delicious hardcover menu. Its 32 items word and why? efficiency. Dealing without Indian but suspiciously identical include many of the stalwarts "E rendesishme" which means "impor- about 15 diners on my second Ahmet Krasniqi Street no. 25 menu to Qafa’s Himalayan of Indian cuisine, with plenty tant". It took me so long to say it properly visit, the kitchen had trouble Dragodan, Prishtina Gorka. of mutton. It also has some and now that got it right I don't stop using it. keeping up. The waiter apolo- Indian isn’t without its offerings I haven’t seen else- Y gized and suggested I call 044 69 46 15 growing pains, having just where in Prishtina like hara What landmark do you use to tell M before coming next time, basi- 044 69 46 11 opened in September. On my bhara kabab (2.90 euro) — taxi drivers where you live? C which are grilled vegetarian cally to give the cooks a head Free delivery Te Mensa Studenteve. K If you would like your NGO to appear in 20 October 14 - 27 our Making a Difference feature, please Opinion email [email protected] Europe is to Blame For Balkan Asylum Crisis It would be hypocritical to punish Balkan countries for the spike in numbers of asylum seekers by rescinding visa liberalisation because responsibility for this unwelcome phenomenon rests in Europe. asylum systems under strain, had every reason to be concerned. Three things are important By Gerald Knaus and about this development. First, the Alexandra Stiglmayer asylum seekers are almost exclu- sively Roma. Second, almost none of their applications has been suc- uring the first half of this cessful. Although the situation of year, an average of 25 the Roma in the Balkans is a cause Bosnian citizens requested D for concern due to their poverty asylum in Belgium every month. and discrimination [as it is in EU In August, their number increased member states such as Slovakia, to 81. The number for September is likely to be even a bit higher. This Hungary or Romania], this is not a is still a small share of the more sufficient condition for asylum. than 2,000 asylum requests that Only 2.2 per cent of all Belgium receives every month. claimants from Serbia and However, it led the Belgian Macedonia received protection in embassy in Sarajevo to warn the EU in 2010, and this was in about a “sharp” and “alarming” many cases on humanitarian increase, which is a “worrying and grounds, usually to receive spe- a serious issue.” cialised medical treatment Ahead of a meeting with the unavailable in their home coun- interior ministers of all Western tries.. Balkan countries this week in Third, 85 per cent of the asylum Ohrid, EU Commissioner Cecilia claims were submitted in just The EU should not pull up the drawbridge on the Balkans. Malmstrom echoed Belgian anxi- three EU countries, Germany, eties when she mentioned in a let- Sweden and Belgium. This was have little chance of success. guards not do what they are sup- EU members at the time – as safe ter to them “a tangible increase in understandable: they have Although they have run extensive posed to do anyway? countries of origin. The same the overall number of asylum advanced asylum systems, are rel- information campaigns, such What the EU has demanded directive also allowed member applications” and demanded that atively wealthy and host sizeable campaigns have missed the point. amounts to profound hypocrisy. states to compose their own lists they undertake “additional meas- Balkan communities. However, If the real motivation is not to After all, one of the conditions for of safe countries. ures to address the situation Austria, France and the obtain asylum [although one can lifting the visa barrier was for the Austria and France have done promptly and effectively”. Netherlands, which have exactly always hope] but to enjoy the ben- Balkan countries to provide just that. By including all the There is now talk among some the same characteristics, recorded efits during the procedure, people access to travel and identity docu- Balkan countries on their lists, member states that unless Balkan no significant increase in asylum will continue to file claims. ments for all citizens, and another they have been able to expedite the leaders find ways to “solve” the requests. The ever-convenient culprit of one to implement Roma policies. procedure for the region’s citi- asylum problem, the EU might There is an explanation. The “Balkan organised crime” also The solution to the crisis is zens. While not all member states reverse its decision to allow asylum procedure for Balkan entered the picture. Serbia and obvious. The length of the asylum using the concept provide the nec- Balkan citizens visa-free travel to nationals in the first three coun- Macedonia were asked to investi- procedure must be radically essary procedural safeguards, it is the Schengen zone. tries lasts two to five months. In gate whether bus companies, trav- reduced – not only for claimants possible to do so, and some do. It is Reversing the most significant Austria, France or the el agents or “organised networks” from the Western Balkans, but also possible to receive protection decision taken in the past decade Netherlands, it lasts only up to peddled false promises of asylum, from all countries that receive even though one is from a safe to further the Balkans’ European two weeks. luring ignorant Balkan citizens visa-free travel after a visa liberal- country: Austria’s recognition integration would be a disastrous While they await the decision of into going to the EU. However, isation process based on condi- rate of Serbian and Macedonian blow to the EU’s credibility in the the asylum authorities, claimants where are the lucrative profits tionality. If the procedure and the claims was 5.8 per cent last year, region. Such a move, founded on a receive accommodation, food, that would make this a matter of benefits remain attractive, every and France’s 6.2 per cent. profound misreading of the asy- clothes, medical care and free interest to bus companies or visa-free travel agreement risks The Asylum Procedures lum issue, would also be unfair. schooling of their kids. For some “organised networks”? Bus tickets breeding a wave of asylum claims. Directive is currently being European member states are all Roma, this is an attractive to Brussels or Berlin are cheap, Even today, every EU member amended. It would make sense if too willing to blame Balkan coun- prospect. Even if their asylum and the information about asylum state can prioritise claims or the Parliament or the Council put tries, it appears, even when the claim is rejected in the end, the systems is available through the channel them through an acceler- forward an amendment declaring responsibility for a crisis rests costs – a bus ticket to northern diasporas. Not surprisingly, ated procedure. Since last year, countries that have undergone a with themselves. Europe for 60-80 euro – might well Serbia and Macedonia did not find Germany and Belgium have done visa liberalisation process “safe But how did we get here? be worth it. evidence of any criminal conspir- so for claims from Balkan nation- countries of origin.” Between December 2009 and “It is a paid holiday in the EU,” acies. als. [They have also cut return If adopted, this would go a long December 2010, the EU lifted the one asylum worker told us. The Serbia and Macedonia have also assistance for them last autumn.] way towards preventing a new Schengen visa requirement for length of stay can also be extend- been asked to improve conditions Sweden has been trying to reduce influx of claimants following Albania, Bosnia, Macedonia, ed. An appeals procedure in for Roma. Although this is a sensi- the waiting period for all every visa liberalisation agree- Serbia and Montenegro. This fol- Germany added as many as six ble request, it is a long-term objec- claimants including Balkan ment. Just as importantly, it lowed a rigorous visa-liberalisa- months to the process last year. tive that will not solve the problem nationals. Since June of this year, would restore the credibility of a tion process during which the five This is not what the asylum sys- at hand. the number of Serbian and very successful policy. The visa countries had to implement far- tem was created for and it crowds More insidiously, Serbia and Macedonian asylum claims has liberalisation process turns reaching reforms in the areas of out genuine asylum seekers – but Macedonia have been asked to dropped significantly in all three neighbouring countries into part- passport security, border control, it is not illegal to try. control people at the border. As member states. The problem is not ners that help protect the EU from the fight against illegal migration, Initially, there were even more almost all the asylum seekers are intractable, it seems. external threats. The removal of organised crime and corruption, benefits to applying in Germany Roma, it is hard to avoid ethnic Simultaneously, the EU should visa barriers improves the EU’s and human rights. It was a win- and Belgium. Until October 2010, profiling and open discrimina- declare all countries benefiting image, fosters economic develop- win situation in terms of the two countries offered assis- tion. The EU has found a bureau- from visa-free travel following a ment and leads to more commerce increased security for everyone tance to rejected asylum seekers cratic disguise for this, requesting formal liberalisation process and people-to-people contacts. It and a perfect illustration of the from the Balkans who returned that Serbia and Macedonia help “safe countries of origin.” Under would be a great mistake to power of strict and fair EU condi- home voluntarily. In addition to implement the Schengen EU asylum legislation, claims replace strict and fair conditional- tionality. having their return trip paid for, a Convention. Under the from citizens from safe countries ity with a populist appeal to coun- Following the removal of the family of four could receive 1,800 Convention, EU border police are of origin can be prioritised and tries to violate the very principles visa barrier, thousands of euro in Germany and 750 euro in obliged to prevent persons lacking dealt with under an accelerated that the EU had asked them to Serbians and Macedonians - but Belgium. “documents justifying the pur- procedure. There are precedents. respect. not Bosnians, Montenegrins or pose and conditions of the intend- In 1997, EU member states negoti- Albanians - travelled to the EU to From the beginning, the EU has submit asylum claims. With 17,715 placed the blame on Serbia and ed stay” or “sufficient means of ated a protocol to the Amsterdam Gerald Knaus and Alexandra applications, Serbia became the Macedonia, demanding that their subsistence” from entering the Treaty under which they agreed Stiglmayer founded and run the country with the third-largest governments fix the problem and Schengen zone. However, this is a to treat each other as safe coun- European Stability Initiative, a Y number of claims in the EU in prescribing a series of measures. duty upon entry, not upon exit, tries of origin. The Asylum think-tank that has closely fol- M 2010; Macedonians filed 7,550 Serbia and Macedonia have been and Serbians and Macedonians Procedures Directive, which was lowed the visa liberalisation C claims. EU member states, their asked to let all their citizens know are not EU border guards. Why do adopted in late 2005, mentioned process for the Western Balkans. K that their asylum claims would Hungarian and Slovenian border Romania and Bulgaria – not yet www.esiweb.org/whitelistproject. October 14 - 27 21 Opinion If you would like your NGO to appear in our Making a Difference feature, please email [email protected] Outside In Kosovo’s Mickey Mouse Universities

By Kreshnik Hoxha

osovo’s Prime Minister's, Hashim Thaci, admiration for Tony Blair appears to go beyond rounding up some amus- Kingly named urchins who share the same name as the for- mer British PM. Thaci also seems to have stolen Blair’s best know manifesto pledge: “Education, Education, Education.” Many will remember that a few months back he insisted on increasing salaries for teachers with non-existent funds from Kosovo’s budget. And nowadays, he seems to have got into the habit of opening state-run Universities for every hamlet in Kosovo. Yellow - Their skin was yellow As a result, the state-run University of Peja has followed in Prizren’s footsteps to become the latest taxpayer-funded centre for “They laid in a tangle of limbs under a blue tarp in a trailer that, only weeks before probably higher education. The Education Minister Rame Buja showed the carried peppers and corn to the market in Malisevo.” government’s commitment to education by proudly announcing that next year Gjakova would also be blessed with a university too. Red Cross treated her wounds in a it was on the edge of Berisha But would Kosovo be better off if Thaci and his government con- small house in the village. Eleven Mountain, a Kosovo Liberation centrated time and resources to improving the current education women and a 72-year-old man, all Army stronghold. Serbian policy facilities, quality of tuition and the spread of graduates in terms By Ronn Capps wounded from the attack, all was to attack villages that supported of subjects? I think you probably don’t need a degree from the patiently waiting for the doctor, sat the KLA. We never really knew if University of Mamusha to guess the answer to that one. on the floor leaning against the the villagers supported the KLA A quick glance through the Yugoslav era graduates would sug- walls in same room. before the attack, but afterwards gest that Kosovo has faced a drastic change in its graduate compo- ellow. Their skin was yellow. In Kosovo, my teammates and I they certainly did, after they buried They had dirt under their fin- sition since the end of the war. Many will recall that the 1970s and were supposed to provide a sense of six of their women and watched Red 1980s brought a glut in science-based degrees such as engineering, Ygernails and their feet were security to the Serbian and Cross doctors treat eleven more. medicine, and metallurgy, while the then-province suffered from a dirty. There were six of them, all Albanian civilians and to keep the We stood at the edge of a trail a women, under the tarpaulin. Some lack of politicians, and to a certain extent economists and lawyers. two military forces from shooting at couple kilometers up the road from of them lived long enough to have However, the end of the war in Kosovo resulted in a complete each other as much as possible. the house where the doctors tended their wounds bandaged before they change in graduate trends. Political sciences, international rela- Unsaid in our brief was the implied the wounded. Fifteen or so men and died. Some died more or less instant- tions, economics and law became the popular subjects, while facul- mission to stop the killing. women from the village walked ly as shrapnel or 7.62-mm rounds ties such as Faculty of Sciences in the University of Prishtina (UP) entered their bodies. I was seven people too late in slowly behind a tractor pulling the started to become desperate for undergraduates. Such change in They had been dead for about 24 Senik. Standing in that house on the bodies on a trailer into the valley. As the composition of graduates is understandable in countries that hours. We came to witness their day after the attack, with the sticky the tractor reached the floor of the go through transitional phases. But, nevertheless, these trends funeral, to witness and to stand a smell of sweat and blood and valley, we could still see Serbian should be tackled if they are replicated over subsequent years. type of guard. If we were present, wounds mingling with the cotton- snipers atop the ridgeline. We It is evident that the emergence of qualified and competent grad- the Serb snipers would not shoot at mouthed smell of fear in the air, I glanced at each other; nervously on uates in humanities is paramount to Kosovo’s consolidation; how- the family members as they buried knew I was in the middle of some- my part. ever, the data from the 2010 education statistics of the Kosovo their dead. thing I didn't—and maybe couldn't— The dead women had lived and Statistical Office points towards some worrying conclusions. It was the first time I had ever understand, and that people's lives died in this valley. They had spent According to the data collected in the state-run University of seen war dead. I remember being depended on my doing the right their lives raising crops in its fields Prishtina, the Faculty of Economics had 2,427 students enrolled in surprised that their skin was yellow. thing. But I had no idea what that and giving birth to their children in Year 1, whereas this number for Faculty of Sciences (physics, My experiences with death before was. I knew little of the regional his- the small houses that made up the chemistry, mathematics and biology) was 880. Similarly, while the that day were limited to a few funer- tory, spoke none of the languages, spare little town. Their families 2010 enrolment in Year 1 for law was 1,866, there were 384 students als: a friend's older brother, my and at that moment found myself wanted to bury them at the center of enrolled in mechanical engineering. grandmother. None of them had standing in small house surrounded the valley, in plain sight of the ridge- The decline in enrolment to science degrees can be also ratio- been yellow. So I was surprised at by wounded civilians and with line. nalised with the government’s continuous focus in funding the color. It was the first time I ever Serbian infantry a couple kilome- We parked our vehicles in full degrees in humanities – including generous scholarships for pur- saw dead people without embalm- ters away. view of the ridgeline as a deterrent suing studies in universities abroad. Affiliation with Western uni- ing, without make-up and a nice suit I looked at the wounded 72-year- to further shooting. Certainly, we versities has been associated with better educational values [due to of clothes. They laid in a tangle of old man. His eyes filled with some- believed, the Serbs wouldn't shoot at the respect these universities have in Kosovo, regardless of the limbs under a blue tarp in a trailer thing between hate and incompre- EU and U.S. observers or the white grade classification of the graduate], and granting scholarships to that, only weeks before probably hension: hatred for the Serbs and and blue UN vehicle. The ground study abroad should definitely remain a key focus of the govern- carried peppers and corn to the mar- incomprehension that an American was hard and it took some time to ment. ket in Malisevo. and a Brit were standing in his liv- bury the dead. The men worked with However, the issue becomes problematic when funds that could I could only see parts of their bod- ing room doing nothing about the shovels and picks for about an hour be utilised for scientific research and science degrees within ies under the tarp. I couldn't see all Serbian infantry who killed six to dig the graves. We stood around Kosovo are allocated to the opening of new universities with ques- of their faces. One had an arm rest- women and an infant, and wounded watching, glancing back and forth tionable credibility, across the country. Instead, the utilisation of ing across her brow. One had a band- him and all these others. between the ridgeline and the grave these funds in science could serve as a brilliant source for revital- age covering most of her head. One Senik was a village of 500 or so diggers. ising scientific research by modernising and reforming the whole of the dead, an 18-month-old child, people. Not more than a few houses Finally, the graves were finished. concept of doing science in Kosovo. Implementation of such radi- was missing. We had seen some dogs at a three-way intersection on a dirt One by one the dead women were cal changes would be an incentive for undergraduates to pursue on the way up the trail. road, really. With only one small wrapped in cloth and gently lowered these degrees and would resolve Kosovo’s deficit of scientists. The British UN officer who led me store, everyone shopped at the big into the ground. Someone said a few Focusing on producing well-rounded and analytical scientists to the scene said what all of us market in Malisevo. The elementary words over each of them and the would also be pivotal for Kosovo in addressing its environmental thought, "The dogs probably got the school sat at the base of the hill a men began covering their bodies problems ranging from waste disposal to seeking alternative eco- body." She was right, of course, but couple kilometers away; the kids with the rocky soil. Once the shovel- friendly sources of energy. The benefits of investing in the nobody wanted to say it. The child's could walk that far, even in the win- ing stopped, the valley was quiet. advancement of science in Kosovo evidently outweigh the costs mother rested in a house in the vil- ter. The famers used to grow grapes, There was no wind to speak of. No incurred with the opening of new universities in the country. lage a couple kilometers away with but the vines were bare from the cars or planes off in the distance. We This is why the government should concentrate its efforts in the a bullet lodged in her upper arm. drought and a fire. The gravel road stood there for a moment unsure of creation of a National Science Endowment within the University The bullet had passed through her was dusty and rutted from the daily what to do. The men decided for us. of Prishtina, such as the one created by the British government in baby, then through her breast before flow of tractors up and down the The clatter of their picks and shov- 1998 which aims at fostering innovation and deliver radical new lodging in her arm. The father said hill, out to the paved road and the els dropping onto the trailer broke ideas. the baby had been killed instantly. fields and markets beyond the isolat- the silence and we said our good- Such endowment would certainly be more useful than opening "The bullet tore the child in half," he ed clutch of houses. byes. another Mickey Mouse university in Suhareka, Jarinje, Mamusha said. He had dragged the mother The trouble with Senik, in the or Barileva. away to safety. A doctor from the eyes of the Serbian police, was that continues page 22 22 October 14 - 27 Community Focus NGO Focus: “Rrezet e Arta të Ashkalive” children in this municipality. ods, ensuring that the pupils were Halil Qerimi, the founder of the motivated to learn more and organization, told Prishtina secure good grades at school. By Egzon Avdullahi Insight that they concentrate lim- “We have many children who ited resources into making the have shown great results in school educational system more attrac- after joining these interactive les- It was the first time I had tive and interesting to a certain sons by our organisation, using stood before an audience, and group of Ashali childen from games to serious lessons,” said “I enjoyed acting during The Fushe Kosove. Qerimi. On top of the interactive Forest Hut play,” says Merjeme Through interactive, after lessons, the organisation, in coop- Qyqalla, a seventeen-year-old girl school lessons, and learning work- eration with “Iniciativa e from Fushe Kosove. shops, more than 70 Ashkali chil- Prizrenit”, another NGO, has been Merjeme is just one of many dren for a year have been given a working on a pre-school pro- Ashkali children to have benefited different slant on education. gramme for children to socialize A trip to Gadime caves organised by the NGO. from the work of Rrezet e Arta të “All children have been very sat- and become familiar with the audience listening to me,” for one year, twice a week to attend Ashkalive, Golden Rays of isfied with the progress they made schooling system since 2007, explained Merjeme. the classes organised in our Ashkalis, since it was established with their grades in school, thanks preparing them for regular class- Mirsad Qerimi, a fifteen-year- school, thanks to this organisa- in 2004. to the interactive programme,” es. old Ashkali boy from Fushe tion. I wish we can continue hav- It is a small local nongovern- added Halil. “The Forest Hut,” a theatre play, Kosove, added that the summer ing these classes as we enjoy being mental organisation from Fushe By targeting children from age 9 directed by Qerimi, organised camps, organized by ‘Rrezet e Arta there,” said Egzon Lahu, a fifteen Kosove, operating with limited to 16, the organisation provided back in 2008, was another great, te Ashaklive,’ during July, each year-old boy from Fushe Kosove. funds, and supported by two big lessons on reading and writing extra-curricular experience for summer, where 200 children, from international organizations, skills, arts and sports, as well as young Ashkali and Albanian chil- mixed ethnical background get If you are a donor or volunteer, Terres des Hommes and Save the Albanian and English language dren from Fushe Kosove. together for 5 days, allowed them please contact Halil Qerimi at 049 Children, which is slowly but sure- courses. Moreover, the lessons “I was the sly fox in the play, and to share great experiences and 634 193, 049 840 401 or at halilqeri- ly improving educational and were held in interactive way, I still recall the great feeling of learn a lot from each other. [email protected] for more informa- social activities of young Ashkali through games, and creative meth- being on stage, and having the “I am glad I had the opportunity, tion. Yellow - Their skin was yellow from page 21 crying and the death. I felt outraged and sion, anger—I cannot remember the faces horrified that soldiers would fire mortars at because I have subconsciously suppressed Ron Capps served as a member of the Afterwards, we stopped on the way out of women and children. I couldn't make myself the images. Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission and in the draw and used our satellite telephone to look at her. I looked at the other women Or maybe they have become spectral, sym- the U.S. Office Prishtina between 1998 and call Washington and tell the State slowly rocking, their bright headscarves a bols representing events that are, in my 2000. He is a writer and researcher whose Department's Operations Center what we had stark and awful reminder that their sister or mind, larger than life. Like actors in a play works focus on human rights, genocide and seen. They seemed very far away from that daughter or friend's head was blown off as seen but only remembered in fits and starts, crimes against humanity, and U.S. foreign and hillside. she tried to bring some succor to others. I they come back to remind me of my failures defense policy. Contact: [email protected] My side of the conversation went like made notes about what her father said as my and of my weakness and of my cowardice. This article was published on this: "Eleven wounded: ten women and one partner photographed her corpse. I learned They are the central characters in these acts of http://roncapps.blogspot.com/2011/ 72-year-old man. Seven dead: six women and the smell and the sound. Eight dead. war. one child. Yes, I counted myself. Yes, we're We drove down to the intersection mark- sure they were dead. I verified it personally." ing Senik proper, where a small crowd marketing I left out the part about the dogs and the swarmed our vehicle. I pushed open the missing child. No histrionics, no personal door and stood, pinned against the side of opinion. Nothing about the smell or the dust my truck by the crowd, as my translator or the look on the old man's face. Nothing echoed staccato pleas for help at me. about being scared to stand about at the "She wants you to take her child out of base of the draw. Nothing about the color of here so the Serbs won't kill him," Mimi said. their skin or how their families tenderly I looked at the woman, she held her infant wrapped their bodies, the women crying as son out to me in entreaty. they slowly and gently lowered the dead I said to Mimi: "Tell her that we are women to the dirt. observers, we can't relocate her or the gov- We made one more stop on the way off of ernment in Belgrade will order us out of the the hill. An old man flagged us down as we country," I felt impotent and feckless as the were leaving the draw for the village. He told words spilled out, thinking of the sheer folly our interpreter he wanted to show us some- of being in this war zone only to observe, a thing the Serbs had done. I glanced through tourist among these victims. the window of the house and saw seven or It was hot and, with the sun bearing down eight women sitting on the floor and rocking on me, I felt cowardly, yellow, hiding behind slowly, comforting each other. They sur- my sunglasses. I waved my notebook at the rounded the body of another woman. She Red Cross panel truck and said that was the was laid out on her back and wrapped in a vehicle that would take them away, hoping blanket. Her face and most of her head were they would swarm that vehicle and leave me CITS missing. The man said a mortar round had alone. I thought the Red Cross would proba- exploded within a foot of her head. He held bly say no, but I was unable to marshal the Conference Interpretation and Translation Services his hands out in front of his body to demon- strength to tell the woman that there was lit- strate the distance. He was the dead tle hope that she would get out that day with woman's father and he looked, justifiably, an International. I learned later that I had Want quality, professionalism and dedication – give us a like part of him had died. As he spoke, the been wrong. Several UN officers came to women wailed, their voices a declaration of Senik late in the day, and one of them took it chance and you won’t regret it mourning and exhausted resignation. upon herself to evacuate some of the chil- Amid the crying and the smell and the dren to a safer village. - Simultaneous and consecutive interpreting; flies, we listened to the story. Her father said "We're observers," our bosses told us. "We she had wanted to take food to her friends, to can't take sides or the whole team will be - Written translations; talk with them, to drink coffee with them. thrown out of the country; we are no good - Revision, editing and proofreading; She reached the small valley just as the then," they said. I said it, too. I said it a lot. attack had started. Every morning I went to the field, and most - Certified translations for court; The mortar shells probably came in days I came home with reports of houses - Simultaneous interpreting equipment and sound systems; groups of three. Poonk, poonk, poonk as burned, or police stations attacked, or peo- they left the tubes, then the breathless, ago- ple killed. Every afternoon I wrote reports - Media monitoring; nizing five- or six-second wait while they about what we saw. I wrote crisp, dry - Language consultancy. flew, and finally then the brittle kuhrump, accounts of messy, horrible acts of cruelty. kuhrump, kuhrump barking and echoing off That day, fighting the urge to flee, the of the walls of the canyon as they exploded. smells and the sounds became part of my The gunners probably set the fuses to go off memory. But I have lost the faces of the E-mail: [email protected] Y about one and a half or two meters above grieving father, of the 72-year-old man, of M the ground—about head high. the woman pushing her child at me. I won- Tel: 038/ 22 98 99 C It was an awful story. I couldn't wait to get der today if, having pushed away so much of + 377 (0) 44 137 976 K out of there, away from the smell and the what I felt back then—confusion, fear, revul- October 14 - 27 23 Classified Contact Prishtina Insight if you would like to advertise Email [email protected]

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