Opinion: The cleric’s legacy

July 20 - August 30, 2012 Issue No. 93 www.prishtinainsight.com Price € 1 NEWS Serb Threat to Official’s Murders Declaration of Assets Strike Fear > page 3 BUSINESS Into Kosovo Privatisation Chiefs Pocket ‘Illegal’ Village Payouts The murder of a well- > page 6 respected Serbian cou- BUSINESS ple has left their once EU Nudges Kosovo peaceful village in rural to Avoid Energy Kosovo in shock. Monopoly

See Page 4

Prizren Mayor’s Advisor > page 7 NEIGHBOURHOOD Macedonia Murder Suspects Languish Won “Fake” Tenders in Detention A firm owned by an advisor to the mayor of Prizren won 50,000 euro in consultancy contracts in 2011 from the munici- > page 11 pality, although auditors found no proof it ever did any work. FEATURE a number of laws, including the Shpejti, whose AKR party is in In March 2011, a contract for Denial of Memory By Petrit Collaku law on public procurement of 2011 partnership with the mayor’s 9,200 euro was awarded to Dituri and the law on the prevention of Democratic Party of Kosovo, for “consultancy” services. rsim Shpejti, political advi- conflicts of interest also from PDK. In April, a further 9,750 euro sor to Prizren Mayor ARamadan Muja, secured 2011. “I am not being paid for my post was awarded for “education and 50,000 euro in four contracts from According to the public pro- as an advisor,” Shpejti added. “I training” and in July 2011, he won the municipality in 2011 – a tidy curement law “a contracting was not paid as deputy mayor, another “consultancy” contract sum in a country where the aver- authority shall treat economic either, so the aim of this work [the for 9,980 euro. age monthly salary for a civil ser- operators equally”, which would contracts] has been for me to The only contract put out to > page 12-14 vant is around 300 euro. rule out any prior arrangement receive a proper salary.” public tender, for “capacity build- Shpejti, member of the New for a tender to substitute a salary. According to documents ing for civil servants”, in Kosovo Alliance party, AKR, who The law on conflicts of interest obtained by Prishtina Insight, November 2011 was again won by was briefly deputy mayor to Muja, obliges officials to transfer shares Shpejti’s firm won four contracts, Dituri, for 19,200 euro. confirmed to Prishtina Insight in any enterprise they hold to a three of which were worth just This was despite the fact that that his firm, Dituri, had won the trusted party during their “dis- under 10,000 euro and, as a result, only two firms, including his, pre- Kosovo’s only English-language contracts, explaining that the ten- charge of public functions”. were not subject to public tenders. sented bids. At least three offers newspaper is available: ders had been set up in lieu of a “I took this position [of advi- Instead, the municipality invit- are required by law. regular salary. sor] as a compromise between the ed three firms, including Dituri’s, Delivered to The deals appeared to violate of coalitions in Prizren,” said to bid for each contract. continues page 2 Your Door

Kosovo’s ‘Independence’ Stirs Scandal-Hit Firm to Build Both From Newsstands Debate on PM’s Power Kosovo’s Landmark Squares across Kosovo

Kosovo will remain constrained by the A company with a history of overcharg- Sent To international community following the ing is now the main contractor to build two Your Inbox end of its “supervised independence” in prestigious new squares in the capital of September, experts say, responding to fears Kosovo in deals worth more than 10 million that the changes will give too many powers euro. From to Prime Minister Hashim Thaci. Ibrahim Rugova and Zahir Pajaziti our partners According to one political expert, when squares are intended to provide Prishtina news the International Civil... page 5 inside with a central focal point... page 18 see page 16 for more info

is supported by: 2 July 20 - August 30, 2012 news Mayor’s Advisor Fire Damages Kosovo Wins “Fake” Exhumation Site U’s Rule of Tenders Law Mission Eto Kosovo, from page 1 EULEX, has launched an investi- news in brief news Before the payments were disbursed, gation to find out the causes of the the municipality set up a committee to fire which broke out see if the company had met its obliga- over the weekend at tions under the contracts. the exhumation site In each case, the municipality con- in Zhilivoda. cluded that “Dituri had performed serv- EULEX said that ices in a satisfactory manner”. the fire caused When the Office of the Auditor “extensive damage” to the site, at the exact loca- General demanded proof of this, the tion where the exhumation was taking place. municipality could not provide any doc- Arsim Shpejti, advisor to the Prizren Mayor Ramadan Muja “This is a significant set-back for our site umentary evidence that consultancy assessment. There has been considerable dam- work had been carried out. the municipality in November 2011, they ny,” Rexha told Prishtina Insight. age to walls which will now have to be demol- “During 2011 the municipality had all interns said they had never been “We have followed carefully where the ished. The excavation work has been put on contracted four private companies to paid. money went and we concluded that the hold,” said Alan Robinson, Co-Head of the provide professional consulting services “I asked some of the interns but they money was well spent,” he added. Department of Forensic Medicine in a press by providing practitioners[interns] in told me that they were not paid for their According to the Ministry of Trade release on Tuesday. the municipality, in the amount of 48,630 internships,” Florim Maliqi, the auditor, and Industry register of business, Dituri The fire-fighters spent two days fighting the euro. said. closed in May this year, not long before blaze at the exhumation site, before bringing “But, although payment was made for Maliqi added that it was significant the auditor’s report was published. the fire under control on Monday afternoon. the provision of professional consultan- that the municipality did not query the Shpejti, 48, was named vice mayor to According to EULEX, a 12 meter high wall was cy services, we were not offered any evi- finding that no consultancy work had Muja on March 2010, after the local elec- in flames. dence about who was offering these serv- been carried out when presented with a tions in Kosovo in late 2009. The exhumation at Zhilivoda, a small village ices,” the auditor added. draft copy of the audit. But Muja was forced to remove Shpejti in the municipality of Vushtrri/Vucitrn began The documents related to payment to The vice mayor of Prizren, Ruzhdi from his post under pressure from the on August 31, 2010. Since then, the work has interns, obtained by Prishtina Insight, Rexha, and Shpejti denied not having opposition in the city assembly. One twice been interrupted by bad weather condi- show sums ranging from 150 euro to 900 paid the interns. deputy mayor’s post is normally tions. The area is one of the biggest potential euro on documents without headers or But Rexha admitted that Shpejti’s firm reserved for a party representing ethnic exhumation sites discovered in Kosovo in the company names. was specifically set up to receive the con- minority interests. past few years. There were also no signatures from tracts. In June 2010, Shpejti returned to the There are no official figures concerning the the municipality, from Dituri or from the He said that the municipality had out- town hall after being appointed first number of bodies in the mass grave but a interns who were supposed to receive sourced consultancy services to political advisor to the mayor. He still Belgrade delegation said recently that it sus- the funds. In total, 25,200 euro appears to Shpejti’s firm, as they were not able to holds this position. pects that the remains of more than 20 Kosovo have been allocated for interns. offer him any salary as an individual. Prishtina Insight contacted nine of Serbs may be found there. According to the auditor, who looked “So, he opened a firm, in order to par- the interns to verify whether they were into Prizren’s accounts when he visited ticipate in these tenders with his compa- paid but received no reply. Dell, Surroi in War of Words

he outgoing US Belgrade Police Pressurise Serbs, TAmbassador to Kosovo Christopher Dell Kosovo Official Claims and founder of the Koha media group A senior Kosovo official says Serbia has deployed hundreds of police Veton Surroi have in Kosovo, who threaten any Kosovo Serbs who want to integrate. traded verbal blows in the media this Serbia, the diplomat asked Serbia’s week. President, Tomislav Nikolic, to stop Dell gave an inter- financing security forces in the north- view, published last By Fatmir Aliu ern Serb-run part of Kosovo. Wednesday, in the Serbia has never admitted officially newspaper Kosova Sot in which he claimed that that it has security forces in Kosovo. Veton Surroi, who set up the political party Ora But Rexhepi says that the Kosovo as well as newspaper Koha Ditore, had begged erbia has a well established police Police already have proof that Serbia is the Prime Minister Hashim Thaci for the post of network in Kosovo, which it uses to deploying such forces all around the Spressurise Kosovo Serbs not to rec- president in late 2010. ognize the government in Prishtina, a country, not just in the north. The US diplomat went on to suggest that senior Kosovo official told BIRN. “A classical example is the case of the newspaper Koha Ditore’s coverage of politics in Fisnik Rexhepi, an advisor to Interior [Serb] mayor of Partesh, who was threat- the past two years –in particular attacks on him Minister Bajram Rexhepi, says Kosovo ened directly by a MUP [Serbian Interior and presidents Behgjet Pacolli and Atifete Police have information that Belgrade Ministry] official... He and others like Jahjaga – should be seen in the light of Surroi’s has kept hundreds of police in Kosovo him, working for Kosovo’s institutions, political ambitions. have received threats,” he said. “Of course all this [coverage in Koha Ditore] on the payroll for years. MUP material found in Kosovo “They are officials working for the “Kosovo Police has information that is wrapped up with alleged principles, commit- ment to democracy and freedoms and the like, Serbian Interior Ministry, of different Serbia has for years had hundreds of northern municipalities have rejected but really all it has to do with is Veton’s aspira- ranks," he claimed. "Their main role is security people on its payroll. claims that Serbia has any security tion to become the president and his attempts to to obstruct the democratic development "Such information has been shared forces deployed there. ensure support from the LDK for his candida- of our country. They threaten and black- with the international bodies that oper- Radenko Nedeljkovic, who heads the cy,” said Dell. mail Serbs who have integrated into ate in Kosovo, concerning the activity of Serb-run Mitrovica District, told Surroi responded by confirming that he had Kosovo’s institutional life,” Rexhepi Serbia’s illegal structures and their net- Serbia's Tanjug news agency that only attended such a meeting with Dell and Thaci, added. work,” he added. former MUP employees are present in but that it was the US ambassador who had sug- Media in Belgrade reported on German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the north of Kosovo. He also said they gested him for the role of president and that he Tuesday that the Serbian government during her tour of Serbia and Kosovo, have no police function, nor are they in had not begged Thaci. has around 400 employees in Kosovo. also called on Belgrade to stop financing uniform. In a series of articles in Koha Ditore from last Belgrade's “Blic” newspaper said that its structures in Kosovo, though she did- He dismissed the reports as part of Saturday, Surroi also outlined his various meet- during the visit of the US Under- n’t explicitly mention the police. “the psychological and propaganda war ings and conversations with Dell. Secretary of State, Philip Gordon, to However, Kosovo Serb leaders in the against Serbs”.

Y M C +381 38 602042, +377 44 243367, +386 49 243367 K news July 20 - August 30, 2012 3 Threat to Publication of Editor’s Word Official’s Declaration of Assets Feeling the Heat The Anticorruption Agency has been asked to remove its public library of declaration of assets from politicians and civil servants in a bid to protect the privacy of top officials. “As soon as the information is online about your By Lawrence Marzouk wealth then when you are outside [the country] you could be target of some attacks [burglaries].” By Flutura Kusari He added that it is impossible to fulfil the law’s obli- t’s been hot recently, damn hot. In fact, it’s been so scorching that I gation from article 12 and 13 as a result of the publi- have been yearning for my drizzle-drenched homeland, England, cation online, which stipulates that institutions need Iwhich has been enduring some of the wettest conditions on record. to know to whom personal data has been passed. I’d take a damp day in the mid-teens over 40 degree heat at the drop of he move from the Office for the Protection of According to Hoxhaj’s plan, the public would need to Private Data comes over fears that the informa- a sunhat. apply to access the information in person. While I have been complaining of the climatic conditions, most fel- Ttion – which includes details such as the value Investigative journalist Visar Duriqi said: “If the low citizens of smoggy Prishtina have sensibly shuffled off to the of the official’s homes and business interests – could, agency is using this excuse then they can use the theoretically, be used by criminals. delights of the coast or the highland. The streets would be empty if it same one also for the publication of contracts which Journalists and civil society organisations have were not for the hordes of “shacis”. are implemented through public procurement. In the warned that taking this data offline would be a major With August approaching even greater numbers of you will be leav- notification for giving tenders you have the names of blow to transparency and the public’s ability to hold ing the city and Kosovo’s administration will, as it does each year, companies. officials to account. unofficially close down. “If we use the same logic then businessmen are Mentor Hoxhaj, head of the Office for the As a result, Prishtina Insight will be taking a break for one month endangered” Protection of Private Data, admitted that there had too. We will be back on August 30. Agron Demi, head of the thinktank Gap, said: been no attacks on politicians as a result of the publi- In the meantime, you can keep up to date with what’s going on in “Every person who decides to be a representative of ation online, but said the threat nonetheless existed. Europe’s youngest state, and the region, on www.BalkanInsight.com citizens in public institutions decides to give up on He said: “I am the person in charge of overseeing or, if you read Albanian, on www.GazetaJetaneKosove.com . some privacy of his personal and family life. and monitoring the implementation of legislation on August is also a good time for the Prishtina Insight team to take Actually, we think that the published declarations of data protection, including the implementation by the stock of our work, especially as our 100th edition edges into view. the anticorruption agency have not been completed Anti-corruption Agency.” We’ll be looking at making some changes to the format and introduc- enough. Previously Hasan Preteni, head of the Anti-corrup- ing some new ideas to brighten things up. “We should base ourselves on good examples like tion Agency, told Prishtina Insight that his organisa- We would also love to hear from you, our readers, about what you the Republication candidate Mitt Romney, who was tion had published less specific information in 2011 would like to see more of and how we can better serve you. Don’t hes- obliged to declare all his wealth and family incomes and 2012, following the introduction of the privacy itate to email me at [email protected] with your comments and and tax payments. This shows how in a democratic legislation. we’ll do our best to integrate them into future editions. country the public is entitled to know about the per- “We should be honest about the risks that exist While we won’t be publishing a newspaper in August, we will not sonal life of a candidate who requests the trusts of when it comes to the publications of data online,” just be relaxing by the pool, cocktail in hand. people to govern them.” said Hoxhaj. We have a number of particularly tricky investigations to finish off and a brand new campaign to launch in the autumn on making Kosovo Information on institutions more transparent. politicians’ As you can see from news in this edition, the Office for the Protection of Personal Data is looking to remove officials’ declara- wealth, such as tions of assets from the internet. Apparently, burglars, who I am sure are regular visitors to the anti- the one you see corruption website, could use it as intelligence on where to turn over next. The fact that the declarations contain no detailed information on here for Hashim the contents of a home and no address doesn’t seem to have troubled Thac,i could be the Office. Surely burglars would be better served by just looking for posh kept secret in the houses with obvious security flaws? Perhaps the Office for Protection of Personal Data could make the future, if the homes of politicians invisible in order to fully protect their privacy, or Office for the place them all behind high walls so we cannot see them. Given that the current, poor levels of transparency are under Protection of threat, we will need all of your support in ensuring the government embraces the value of opening itself up to the public. Private Data has While the mercury will drop in the autumn, I have a feeling that the its way battle for transparency will be heating up. Shakeup at Top of Kosovo Politics The deputy prime minister and the deputy finance minister resigned last week, facing corruption charges, while the recently resigned ministry of jus- tice returned to his post. Bukoshi and Haraqija are former mem- bers of the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, who joined the “Ibrahim Rugova By Petrit Collaku List Party”, named of the father of Kosovo’s independence, at the last elec- tion under the stewardship of Rugova’s son, Uke. eputy Prime Minister Bujar Bukoshi The party then formed a coalition with and Deputy Finance Minister Astrit Thaci’s Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK. DHaraqija resigned last Monday while “Deputy prime minister Bukoshi and they are investigated for corruption. deputy minister Haraqija have taken this In a further shake-up of the cabinet, the step [i.e. quit] due to their respect for the former Justice Minister, Hajredin Kuci, who legal procedures that are being held also held the position of Deputy Prime against them, to create the necessary Minister, has returned to his post. space for the justice institutions to do He resigned last month after parliament their work,” the Prime Minister’s office voted through two controversial articles said on Monday. in a new criminal code, which journalists Bukoshi is suspected of misusing his said left their sources unprotected. public position during his time as Kuci agreed to return to frontline poli- Minister of Health. tics after 18 days away when the code was Haraqija is accused of misuse of his returned to parliament for a third vote public position during his time as and the disputed points were removed. Minister of Culture, when he agreed that Kuci returned at the request of the his ministry should fund a film, Guest at Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci. the Sofra, which was never completed. 4 July 20 - August 30, 2012 news Serb Murders Strike Fear Into Kosovo Village The murder of a well-respected Serbian couple has left their once peaceful village in rural Kosovo in shock.

preparations for the local parish celebration of the holy day of Petrovdan. By Njomza Salihi and Around 9pm on July 6, she was Ardian Lulaj found lying on the tiled floor of her bathroom, with one lethal shot to the upper part of her back. Her jiljana Jevtic rarely came husband was found nearby. back to the village of Talinoc The tragedy has scarred the L- Muhaxherëve in Albanian - small village that was largely near Ferizaj. When she did, she spared the violence that shook always returned to her three chil- Kosovo in 1999, and again in 2004. dren in the Serbian town of An Albanian neighbour, who Kraljevo before dusk. asked not to be named, found the But on July 6, Jevtic, 55, came bodies of the couple after going to back to the small, ethnically mixed their house with water. village to attend a celebration at “I rang the bell, and when no the local Serbian Orthodox one opened the door, I stepped in church. and saw Sheki [Milovan Jevtic] She planned to help her hus- lying on the ground,” he told band, Milovan, with his beehives Prishtina Insight. “I thought he and enjoy a few evenings in the was sick and called his name once Branislav Jenkovic, 70, doesn’t blame his neighbours for the murders. family home, nestled between the or twice. pine trees. ended. The Jevtics and most other Jenkovic, a cousin and fellow vil- “I saw something was wrong Perpetrator unknown: That night, however, she and her Serbs left the village. More than 50 lager of the deceased, said. and called the police. They arrived husband were shot dead in their Serbian homes were burned to the The EU Special Representative Jenkovic, in his seventies, lives very soon after and surrounded home in an attack that has ground. But the home of the in Kosovo, Samuel Zbogar, has alone and takes care of his the entire village.” strained ethnic relations and Jevtics survived the arson attacks. said it is important to solve the kitchen garden. The murder He added that he had been on gravely embarrassed the Kosovo In 2006, Milovan and 32 other murder as quickly as possible. shocked him. But he does not sus- good terms with Milovan Jevtic. authorities. Serbian families returned to the Agim Gashi, Kosovo Police pect anyone from the village, as “If it was not for Sheki, I would Jevtic had a job in local govern- village after the government of spokesman in Ferizaj, said that “Sheki” had good relations with not have had a house to live in ment in Krusevac, Serbia, working Kosovo rebuilt their homes. many Serbs in the village, fearing everyone. today,” he said. on the production of passports. He was engaged as the local for their safety, now wanted to No murders have been recorded “Sheki was good to everyone,” Since the end of the Kosovo con- Serbian representative and joined move to the larger Serb-majority in village since the end of the he added, referring to a friend he flict she and her children had lived the local “safety action council”. enjoyed drinking tea with each in Kraljevo. Before 1999, she had He worked non-stop for the afternoon. done the same job in Kosovo. return of other Serbs and for the Milovan Jevtic, 56, enjoyed Friends and family knew her as development of the village’s infra- respect from all residents of his a woman who had helped many structure – seeking better sewage village, a few kilometres outside people in need, regardless of their and water supply systems and bet- Ferizaj. ethnicity. ter roads. He had a one-story house, sur- According to her neighbours, “He visited me in my office two rounded by pine trees and fruit she rarely came back to the village days before his murder as part of a trees, and loved his life in the since leaving for Serbia, and when delegation comprising both Serbs multi-ethnic village, his friend she came she wouldn’t stay long. and Albanians,” said Agim Aliu, said. On this occasion, however, she Mayor of Ferizaj, who on hearing He was the leader of the local decided to use her leave from work of the murder immediately visited Serbs in the village and his com- and to stay longer, as she wanted to the crime scene. munity work and commitment enjoy her hometown. “They raised some problems made him many friends. She also wanted to help the final about the water supply and we During the conflict that tore agreed to cooperate with the Kosovo apart in the 1990s, Serbs Minister for Returns to help them The Jevtic’s home, where they were found murdered. and Albanians in the village most- in this matter,” he added. ly maintained good relations with “Neither the deceased, nor any enclaves of Gracanica or Strpce. World War II, he recalled. one another. of the other Serbs, expressed con- However, a delegation compris- “I don’t think that this murder www.prishtinainsight.com At a time when Albanians were cern about freedom of move- ing Kosovo’s ethnic Serb Deputy was committed by people from the under attack from the Serbian gov- ment,” the mayor added. Prime Minister, Slobodan village,” he says. “Until now we’ve Publisher: ernment of Slobodan Milosevic, “He felt very comfortable among Petrovic, who is also Deputy lived a calm life here. BIRN Serbs supported Albanian families Albanians and was kind to them Interior Minister and the Minister “But we’ve asked for a perma- with food and other goods. Balkan Investigative Reporting Network during the war. of Returns, and the regional police nent police point in the village, Some Albanian villagers recol- “We are sorry that someone who commander and the mayor con- which we think will be helpful for Mensa e Studenteve, first floor lect that they were only able to has worked with our institutions, vinced them to stay. all parties,” he added. stay in their homes thanks to the 10000, Prishtina a bridge between the institutions The police have since deployed “The authorities have promised help of local Serbs. Kosovo and the Serbian community, was more frequent patrols and now us that in a matter of days a static “In our village, we had a power- Phone: +381 (0) 38 24 33 58 murdered,” Aliu continued. man the village 24 hours a day. security point and a number of ful Serb with influence,” one vil- “This will not hinder us, howev- Police spokesman Gashi said video cameras will be installed in Fax: +381 (0) 38 22 44 98 lage elder said. “He stopped the er, in our dedication and commit- that no Belgrade-run “parallel the village,” he continued. Serbian forces from expelling [email protected] ment to solve the problems of structures” operated in the area Halit Berisha, an Albanian vil- Albanians from their homes.” Serbian residents,” he concluded. and that most Serbian residents lager working in the wheat fields, Editor-in-Chief: Relations cooled after the war are elderly. said that his family had had close Lawrence Marzouk “We have only one lead for the relations with the Jevtics for 60 [email protected] investigation,” Gashi added, “and years. Editorial Team: that suspect is a Serb, with whom Berisha is from Mirosale, a vil- the victim had problems over lage some 20km from Ferizaj. Ana Petruseva, Gordana Igric, property in the past.” “Both my father and my grandfa- Jeta Xharra, Marcus Tanner, The spokesman was referring to ther had close relations with Petrit Collaku, Shengjyl Osmani, the fact that the victim operated as Sheki’s family,” Berisha recalled. Artan Mustafa and Donjeta Demolli. an intermediary in the sale of “I saw them two or three days Serbian properties in Kosovo. The before the murder. When I heard of police found many documents to Marketing, Sales & Distribution: the murder, I could not believe my substantiate this at his home. ears.” [email protected] The couple were buried on According to Halit, everyone Monday in Kraljevo. “Nineteen vil- who met Jevtic had good words for Design & Layout: “Rrjeti” lagers attended the burial. Kosovo him: “He and his wife helped many Arben Grajqevci institutions provided transport people.” Y for them - while some 500 people in But none of that helped the M Printing: Lindi Printing Center total joined us in our final good- Jevtics on July 6. Now their home C Copyright © BIRN bye to Sheki and Ljilja,” Branislav is closed and a village is in shock. K Police are now monitoring the village following calls by Serb inhabitants news July 20 - August 30, 2012 5 Kosovo’s ‘Independence’ Stirs Debate on PM’s Power The end of so-called ‘supervised independence’ in September is stir- ring debate on whether too much power is shifting in the direction of the Prime Minister. ICO, which guided the country through its difficult first years alongside the elected government. By Besiana Xharra, Meanwhile Kosovo’s disputed status Lavdim Hamidi means it has not been able to join a number of international organisations, including the UN, though it has joined the World Bank osovo will remain constrained by the and International Monetary Fund, IMF. international community following Dutch diplomat Pieter Feith was appoint- the end of its “supervised independ- K ed ICR on February 28, 2008, and has ence” in September, experts say, responding remained at the post since then. to fears that the changes will give too many Feith was tasked with ensuring imple- powers to Prime Minister Hashim Thaci. mentation of the Ahtisaari plan, including According to one political expert, when the creation of new municipalities, decen- the International Civil Office, ICO, closes in tralization of power, building up state insti- September, supervision of Kosovo’s institu- tutions and ensuring the passage of new tion will continue, albeit in “camouflaged” Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci and ICR Pieter Feith before the decision in Vienna to end supervised independence laws covering a range of areas, from protect- form. ing Serbian Orthodox sites to managing EULEX mission will remain committed to and the international members of the Twenty-five countries that supported supporting Kosovo in this area. board of the Privatisation Agency of Kosovo’s declaration of independence in publicly owned enterprises. “EULEX will continue to carry out its Kosovo, PAK. 2008 have since kept a close hand on the Earlier this month, the ISG ruled that the functions according to its mandate, which is His consent is required also for the country through the International Steering ICO had broadly completed its mission, as a backed by all 27 EU Member States,” Group, ISG. result of which it will pack up in Prishtina appointment of the director general of Kocijancic continued. The body was set up in 2008 to implement in September. customs, the director of the tax adminis- However, the Kosovo government has bat- the Comprehensive Proposal for Kosovo’s Despite possessing the authority to over- tration, the director of the Treasury and ted aside an initial approach by the Status Settlement, drawn up by the UN rule the Kosovo government, in practice the governor of the Central Bank. European Union for Kosovo to amend its Special Envoy, Martti Ahtisaari. Feith completed his mission without flexing Once the ICO departs, the Prime constitution so as to ensure EULEX’s pres- The so-called “Ahtissari plan” was his muscles. Minister will assume many of these pow- ence is guaranteed following the end of the designed as a blueprint for Kosovo’s future But the ICO’s departure does not empty ers – a move that has some people worried. following years spent under an increasingly Kosovo of international institutions with supervision. Some opposition parties and civil socie- unpopular UN administration, UNMIK. official roles in the running of the country. Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuci ty groups feel uneasy, wanting Feith's pow- After Serbia’s main ally, Russia, refused to Both the EU rule of law mission, EULEX, said that this would not happen, but prom- ers to be transferred to parliament, not to support Ahtisaari’s proposals for “super- which has authority to investigate serious ised an exchange of letters between the gov- the Prime Minister. vised independence”, the ISG countries crime, and NATO’s mission, KFOR, which is ernment and Ashton, guaranteeing continu- Albana Fetoshi, a deputy in parliament sidestepped the UN Security Council and mandated by the constitution to provide ation of EULEX’s mandate. for the opposition Vetevendosje move- went it alone. security, will remain in place. KFOR, meanwhile, has transferred some ment, said the new set-up was “unaccept- The ISG created the post of the Analysts say Kosovo’s government will of its responsibilities to the KSF and to able” as it concentrates too much power in International Civilian Representative, ICR, also continue to be constrained by its desire Kosovo Police, mostly in terms of maintain- the hands of Hashim Thaci. to head the International Civilian Office, to progress towards visa liberalization with ing border controls. She believes that parliament should be the EU and towards eventual EU member- Behxhet Shala, political analyst, told consulted over key appointments such as ship, as well as by its wish to retain US sup- Prishtina Insightthat Kosovo will remain the head of the treasury. port. under the supervision of international “If parliament isn’t asked, then it does Kosovo’s own constitution, meanwhile, institutions once the period of official not make sense for it to exist,” Fetoshi supervision ends. lays down that the transformation of the said. “And if PAK is an independent With EULEX and KFOR still present, Kosovo Security Force, KSF, into an army, or agency, why should international mem- these institutions will retain executive pow- Kosovo’s potential unification with bers be appointed by the Prime Minister, ers in important areas, including security, Albanian, will remain off the agenda, what- not by parliament?” ever the government wishes. customs, judiciary and others, he noted. Albulena Haxhiu, another Vetevendosje Christian Palme, ICO spokesperson, “As we know, EULEX is trying to legalise MP, agrees; if international members and explained that before supervised independ- a permanent present in Kosovo, by introduc- the chair of the PAK board are selected by ence comes to an end in September 2012, the ing it into the constitution,” he said. the Prime Minister, it will violate article government and assembly of Kosovo are “So we can’t talk about genuine independ- 142 of the constitution, which establishes expected to amend the constitution and the ence. What will happen is that Kosovo will the freedom of “independent agencies”. law, removing the authority of the ICR and remain even more supervised by interna- According to the constitution “indepen- ICO from Kosovo law while enshrining their tionals, but it will be camouflaged.” dent agencies exercise their functions principles. Shala added that the international com- independently from any other body or “Kosovo will remain bound by its consti- munity had already ruled out the possibility authority in the Republic of Kosovo”. tution, which does not allow for union with of Kosovo uniting with Albania through the Fisnik Korenica, from the think-tank any other country,” Palme noted to Ahtisaari Plan and Kosovo’s constitution. Group for Legal and Political Studies, said Prishtina Insight. Shenoll Muharremi, a political analyst, “Any amendments to the constitution agreed that while the supervision process amendments being made to the Law on would need to be proposed, considered and may be over, the country will not be truly Public Financial Management and adopted according to the procedures out- independent. Accountability in preparation for the lined in the constitution,” she added. “It is just a process, and Kosovo has still a departure of the ICO are unconstitutional. “Kosovo would also remain bound by the lot of work to be done in order to be a really The changes, adopted by parliament on international agreements it has ratified,” independent country,” he said. June 14, give the government the right to she continued. “Kosovo has problems with its institu- make changes to the budget – and to so- Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson of EU tions, its economy, security, freedom of called independent organizations – with- high representative for foreign politics, movement and other things, which means out referring those changes back to parlia- Catherine Ashton, told Prishtina that Kosovo will remain under internation- ment. Insightthat the EU will continue to take a al supervision,” he added Thaci, after the last meeting of the ISG, strong interest in Kosovo. Arsim Bajrami, chief of the commission told Kosovo’s national broadcaster, RTK, “In terms of changes of borders our posi- on constitutional changes, said his team is that none of the major institutions under tion is very clear: no more changes in the working on amending the constitution, but discussion had nothing to fear from addi- Balkans,” she said. declined to explain any potential changes. tional powers being handed to him. She added that EU will continue to pro- “At this stage I cannot make public what The Minister of Finance, Bedri Hamza, vide assistance and recommendations, changes are being planned,” he said. told Prishtina Insight that it should be mainly through its Special Representative normal for the Prime Minister’s approval and the head of the EU Office in Prishtina, Too much power in PM’s hands? to be sought over the appointment of the Samuel Zbogar, as well as through its rule of director of the treasury. “The aim is that Y law mission, EULEX. As well as the power to override govern- responsibility shouldn’t only be in the M “Improving the rule of law remains a pri- ment decisions, ICO head Feith also has hands of the [finance] minister,” Hamza C Martti Ahtisaari’s plan was key to independence ority for Kosovo,” she said. “That is why the the power to appoint the Auditor General said. K 6 July 20 - August 30, 2012 business Kosovo Privatisation Chiefs Pocket ‘Illegal’ Payouts A former board member of the Privatisation Agency of Kosovo board told Prishtina Insight that the payments his ex-colleagues were claiming as ‘reimbursements’ were illegal as well as immoral. member Andrea Capussela, who figure,” he said. “Just how exces- also headed the economic depart- sive it is, is shown by a comparison ment of the International Civilian to the compensation for board By Petrit Collaku Office, told Prishtina Insight that members of state-owned utilities.” the payments to Petrovic and four He pointed out that the chairs of other local members of the board Kosovo’s biggest privately owned s Deputy Prime Minister were “illegal and immoral”. companies, such as PTK, were by and Minister of Local Of the eight-member board, law allocated compensation of 750 AGovernment, Slobodan three international members were euro per month. Petrovic earned a little over than entitled to no compensation, while Capussela further claimed that 14,000 euro in 2011. all five members from Kosovo the PAK board members had been But according to his latest decla- were. reimbursed whether or not they ration of assets to the The annual official report of attended meetings. Anticorruption Agency, that was- PAK for 2011 revealed that “reim- “These payments, coming from Deputy PM Petrovic earns a tidy wage from his one-day-a-month PAK role n’t the extent of his income. bursement of costs” for these five public money, have no legal basis, His also took home another local members came to a total of should never have been made and the public interest,” he concluded. tors at PAK, elected by the Kosovo 16,800 euro over the course of the 68,828 euro. should be returned,” he said. Last October, Kosovo assembly Assembly, do not receive a month- same year for working one day a If 12 meetings were held in 2011, He also described the payments voted through a new law govern- ly salary for their work and for month as board member of the as is usually the case, each local as “immoral”. ing PAK which removed the point necessary activities exercising Kosovo Privatisation Agency, PAK. board member took home around He said he had advocated proper stipulating that board members their duty as board members. According to the Law on the 1,300 euro for each seven-hour ses- salaries for members of the board could not be compensated for “But they are compensated on Privatisation Agency, which was sion attended. in order to attract high-quality attending meetings. monthly basis to cover expenses in force until October 2011, direc- This is also above the rates set candidates with real business Ylli Kaloshi, PAK spokesperson, related to their activities”, he tors may not earn a salary for by the board in 2009, which stipu- experience. told Prishtina Insight that com- added. attending board meetings. lated that members would receive But, apart from the former pensation is now based on a PAK Haxhi Gashi, professor of civil But the law did allow “reim- a fee of 960 euro as a monthly chairman of the board, Dino regulation, passed at the same and property rights at the Law bursements for reasonable costs retainer and the chairman of the Asanaj, who was found dead last time. But he declined to detail how Faculty at the University of incurred in connection with board, 1,250 euro. month, all the other members much the board members earn. Pristina, the author of a recent attending the board meetings” and These retainers were agreed by were political appointees, he “Compensation is based on the analysis on PAK, said reform is “reasonable costs incurred in the the PAK board despite Capussela’s added. PAK Regulation for compensation overdue. discharge of their other official complaints at the time that the “These payments are immoral of members of PAK board, “We need a law to regulate the functions on behalf of the amounts did not fairly reflect the because they break the law and approved on October 24, 2011,” compensation of members of Agency”. costs of attending the meeting. because these board members do Kaloshi said. boards for all the agencies in Former international board “This is a grotesquely excessive very little work and do not protect “Members of the board of direc- Kosovo,” he said.

New Dubai? Singapore? Or just plain Kosovo?

osovo's wealthy Deputy and the international community Pacolli said that he had been Albanian and Serb criminal places. We have a very large dias- Prime Minister, Behgjet would benefit, as the money it urging problems in the north to groups work and cooperate in the pora in Europe: every third KPacolli has called for Serb- spends on police could instead be be resolved through economic North and their illicit earnings Kosovar lives abroad. run Northern Kosovo to become a invested in production,” Pacolli means for some years. damage both the Serbian and “We’re very entrepreneurial new Dubai, while the Deputy told the German media. Northern Kosovo, which bor- Kosovo economies. and very outward-looking. Now Foreign Minister says the country According to Pacolli, the free ders Serbia, is almost entirely "I am sure that people are tired we have to grow our economy. should become a new Singapore. economic zone would include the comprised of Serbs, and does not of that life," he noted. Our commodities are still Behgjet Pacolli, Kosovo's Deputy northern part of Kosovo, down to recognise Kosovo's 2008 inde- Asked whether the Kosovo gov- untapped. German companies Prime Minister and a rich busi- and including the southern, pendence or the ethnic Albanian- ernment supports his ambitious are opening call centres in nessman, has declared that best Albanian, part of the town of led government in Prishtina. idea, Pacolli said the government Kosovo because so many solution for the Serb-run north- Mitrovica. The region is under the de- had not discussed it yet. Kosovars have lived in Germany ern part of Kosovo is to become a “Over the next 20 or 30 years it facto control of so-called parallel Deputy FM Selimi, in an inter- and speak German. free economic zone, like Jebel would create thousands of new institutions, funded by Belgrade. view with Dutch newspaper “We only have 1.5 million resi- Ali, the world's largest and jobs annually,” he said explain- These parallel institutions Metro, said Kosovo could become dents, but we have a large propor- Y fastest-growing free zone in ing that while producers in include town councils, health the “New Singapore” when asked tion of young people. Singapore, M Dubai. Germany currently pay up to 50 authorities, post offices and how far Kosovo was from becom- too, is very small but found a C “I would give my best for the per cent tax, tax in the free zone schools. ing a “normal country”. niche. We want to become like K free economic zone to function would be only 5 per cent. According to Pacolli, both He said: “Kosovo is going Singapore.” business July 20 - August 30, 2012 7

Thaci Opens New Kosovo Highway Stretch

EU Nudges Kosovo to

osovo prime minister Hashim Thaci inaugurated a new section Avoid Energy Monopoly of the highway linking Kosovo to Albania on Friday, July 13, K2012. According to the government the highway will cost from 7.5 to 8 mil- Kosovo has dumped its plan to find a single foreign investor to build a new power plant lion euros per kilometre, putting the overall cost to at least 750 million euros, although the Ministry of Finance has estimated the cost will and rejuvenate its aging coal-powered facility, following advice from the EU. surpass 1 billion euro. It will cover more than 100-kilometres from Vermice at the border shortlisted in the bidding process were planning to bid for the tender. with Albania to the crossing point of Merdare on the Kosovo - Serbia At a meeting between a The transaction was expected to be border and should be finished in three years. European Commission delegation finished in 2012. The project, Kosovo’s biggest to date, is being built by US-Turkish and civil society organizations in By separating Kosovo B from By Jeta Xharra joint venture Bechtel-Enka. Prishtina last Thursday, an EU the New Kosovo power plant, the Construction workers work continued to work near the village of official, who asked to remain government could maintain con- Trpeza (below) as the PM unveiled the new stretch from Suhareka to high-ranking EU official anonymous, said: “We would be trol of at least 50 per cent of ener- told Prishtina Insight last Duhël, which is four-KM long. happy if Kosovo B is taken out of gy production needs and so keep Aweek that the Kosovo gov- the tender package for the New its influence o the price of electric- ernment was close to dropping plans to bundle the construction of Kosovo power plant. ity. a new, 600-megawatt power plant – “We have already raised this Agron Demi, who runs the lead- known as “New Kosovo” – and the issue with the government and it ing think-tank, the Institute for renovation of the Kosovo B facili- seems like we are coming to an Advanced Studies GAP, said: “It is ty in one package. understanding that this would be good news that not only the The plan, agreed by parliament best for Kosovo right now.” European Commission but the in April 2010, has been criticized The official added that the World Bank, too, are asking by civil society groups. World Bank, which is set to pro- Kosovo government to redesign They are concerned that one vide funding for the project, is the project. foreign firm would hold a monop- also now keen on splitting the Putting Kosovo B and the New oly on Kosovo’s electricity market package. Kosovo power plant in the same and be able to squeeze higher fees Civil society organisations have package would have put 97 per from customers. opposed the proposal to combine cent of energy sources in Kosovo On Monday, the project’s steer- the new power plant and Kosovo B in the hands of only one private ing committee voted to remove on the grounds that it would give investor, which would create an Kosovo B from the tender pack- the new investor a virtual monop- almost complete monopoly,” he age, meaning that the deal will oly on energy generation. said. need to go back out to bidders. The Kosovo parliament “If this unofficial EU line turns This will, however, need to be put approved the plan despite opposi- out to be true then Kosovars can first to MPs for approval. tion from within the government look forward to lower energy A source told Express newspa- and outside in April 2010. The gov- prices, compared to what we per that this was the request of ernment had pre-selected four would have got if we let one the companies which had been international companies, which investor have it all,” Demi added. Hungary to Take Control of Kosovo Airspace Airtimes and fares are expected to fall on flights to and from Kosovo after NATO decided to hand control of Kosovo airspace to Hungary. flight paths to Prishtina and will Internation Airport. lower the cost of operations, “The upper airspace of Kosovo something that consequently has been a grey area on the By Petrit Collaku might be positively reflected in European map for overflying com- the lowering of prices of tickets” mercial planes,” said Gjonbalaj. said Dritan Gjonbalaj, general HungaroControl is expected to director of the Civil Aviation start work from spring 2013. osovo’s upper airspace Authority in Kosovo. Currently planes flying to and –above 10,000 feet – has been “The shortening of airspace from Prishtina International Kcontrolled by NATO since routes will have positive impact Airport are unable to use Serbian the conflict of 1999, and civilian in protecting the environment too airspace as Belgrade deems that aircrafts banned from it. from the point of view fuel the airport is closed, as it doesn't The Council of NATO ruled last exhaust emission of airplanes.” recognise Kosovo’s independence. month to temporarily delegate the Albania, Macedonia, Italy, The CAA said that it is carry- role of running the airspace to Austria and Serbia applied to run ing out the technical preparations Hungary’s HungaroControl, the the space, but it was to open new corridors in low air- privately owned firm which is HungaroControl which was space entering from Albania and Y responsible for the job in awarded the job. Montenegro as all flights current- M Hungary. Control of lower level airspace ly pass through a corridor con- C “This will shorten further will remain with Prishtina nected with Macedonia. Airfares to and from Prishtina could fall because of opening of Kosovo airspace K 8 July 20 - August 30, 2012 business Post-Election Serbia Seeks More Trade with Russia With nationalists and Socialists politically in the ascendant, champions of closer economic ties to Russia are feeling the wind is behind them. sold. that responsibility for Serbia's “shameful” The privatisation of NIS was one of three level of exports to Russia lies with the segments of a 2008 energy agreement signed Serbian side, which has neglected its indus- between the two countries. try for more than a decade. By Stevan Veljovic The others two were completion of the “The result is that now we don’t have the regional gas storage in Banatski Dvor and products to sell on a market where we a sig- Serbia’s involvement in the South Stream nificant competitive advantage,” he lament- Trade and economic cooperation is on gas pipeline, which will bring Serbia addi- ed. the upswing, major projects are under- tional revenue from transit of gas. “If Serbia used the Free Trade Agreement “way and possibilities of bilateral coop- The two Presidents, Boris Tadic and to its full potential, we would have annual eration between Serbia and Russia are prac- Dmitry Medvedev, in 2009 then agreed a 813 exports to Russia worth 8.13 billion euro and tically limitless.” million euro worth loan to Serbia, a fifth of 813 million euro would come back to us as a These recent words from Aleksandar which was already spent as direct budget present - from the customs that we don’t Konuzin, Russia’s Ambassador to Serbia, support. have to pay to Russia,” Pavicic calculates. came as music to the ears of that part of the New President Nikolic is looking east Use of the remaining 650 million is await- Serbian public who believe that Serbia’s ing ratification in the Serbian parliament, Following Cyprus’ footsteps: and direct investment in infrastructure chances of economic progress lie in closer earmarked for the reconstruction of Serbia’s from Russia. links with Moscow. rail network. Commenting on talk of direct Russian Predrag Simic, professor at the Faculty In the May general election campaign, One of the main features of the two coun- financial assistance, Pavicic believes that of Political Science, agrees that Russia is one opposition nationalist party, the tries’ economic relationship, however, is the Serbia should neither take more loans to an important economic partner for Serbian Democratic Party, DSS, actively free trade agreement signed in August 2000. fix the budget, nor he is convinced that Serbia, especially in the long term. But he advocated much closer economic ties to This gives Serbia privileged access to anyone will want to lend more money to a doesn’t believe that increased trade with Russia as a pillar of future policy. Russian markets for 99 per cent of its prod- government that is not willing to change Russia alone can resolve Serbia’s short- But since then, other parties have joined ucts. its profligate spending habits. term economic imbalances, such as the the same bandwagon. Until now, however, only a small number of “We have to reduce consumption and yawning budget deficit. In the midst of post-election coalition use whatever financial assistance comes “I have no doubt that after buying NIS, talks with the pro-EU Democratic Party, Serbian exporters used this provision to to us to increase production and exports, Russia would be interested in getting Ivica Dacic, leader of the Serbian Socialist secure a place in this highly competitive which are now more important than involved in Telekom and EPS - but it’s the Party - now Prime Minister designate - hur- market. improving infrastructure,” Pavicic says. question of at what price,” he said. ried to Moscow for a number of official meet- But Serbia could benefit from this deal However, Nenad Popovic, vice-president “Let’s not forget that we are dealing ings. much more if its exports to Russia continue of the DSS, says that with increasing with capitalist Russia, not with the Russia Soon after his return, Dacic opted to form to grow in coming years, while the potential problems in the euro-zone, only Russia of [Soviet era leader] Leonid Brezhnev, a coalition government with the more also exists to attract more investors from has the potential to help Serbia out of its who ruined the country by selling energy nationalistic, and pro-Russian, Serbian Russia. financial troubles – and Serbia should not at unrealistic prices,” Simic added. Progressive Party, SNS, whose former leader, Meanwhile, most economists oppose sell- shrink from seeking direct loans. Simic adds that, in principle, no coun- Tomislav Nikolic, is now Serbia's President. ing the most profitable state companies to He notes that Cyprus, despite being an try should hand over a large portion of its The biggest concern of any new govern- Russia in order to finance consumption and EU member, turned to Russia for financial public sector to any one single foreign ment will be securing money for welfare bills welfare bills, insisting that root problems in help and, after borrowing 2.5 billion euro, and debt servicing - at a time when interest Serbia’s economy, such as the widening budg- state, adding that political considerations is now trying to get another 5 billion in rates on Serbian loans are increasing. et deficit, must be tackled with internal also make this scenario unlikely. loans from Russia. The main options are, strict austerity, to reforms, not with one-off sales. “If this sort of privatisation was “Many attacked our ideas [about the which Dacic’s Socialist Party is strongly Some analysts also believe that handing attempted, both the United states and the Russian connection], but now they are opposed, and secondly, securing financial over such a big chunk of the public sector to EU would react,” he predicted. “In that turning to Russia, too,” says Popovic, support from abroad, with Russia being one Russian companies would leave Serbia more case, we wouldn’t just have [Philip] Ricker speaking of his party’s election pledge of the more likely sources. vulnerable to Russian political influence, [US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State], that, if won, would secure 10 billion euro Some projects with Russia have already prompting a hostile reaction from the but the whole State Department coming consisting of loans, joint ventures with been negotiated, such as the construction of United States and EU countries. to Belgrade,” Simic added. the Russian state and private companies, the South Stream gas pipeline and a loan Boris Varga contributed to the article. worth 650 million euro to modernise Serbia’s Missed opportunity: outdated railways. This week the Russian East Media Group In 2011, total trade between Serbia and Macedonia’s Tallest Towers Arise in Skopje bought a 50 per cent of the flagship Politika Russia was valued at 2.81 billion euroo, with newspaper, a deficit of 1.52 billion euro on the Serbian Other possible ventures could include a side. Russian purchase of a minority stake in The deficit was created mostly by imports Serbia’s two most valuable remaining state of oil and gas, which are responsible for companies, the power company around 70 per cent of Serbia's total imports Elektroprivreda Srbije, EPS, and Telekom, from Russia. the telecommunications operator. Of the total sum, Serbian exports were Dusan Bajatovic, vice-president of the worth nearly €650 million in 2011, a strong Socialist Party, insist that the new govern- growth of nearly 50 per cent compared to ment does not intend to sell off either EPS or 2010, but starting from a low basis. Telekom, saying the media have in general Mihailo Vesovic, vice-president of the “overestimated the role of Russia” in shap- Serbian Chamber of Commerce, PKS, ing future government policy. expects that Serbian exports to Russia will Some experts have also greeted reports grow in future, as Serbian companies begun about the sale to Russia of major enterprises to combine their offers to secure better with a grain of salt, noting that past experi- quantity, quality and continuity of supply. ence has shown that “brotherly feelings” “It is the fragmentation of supply that between Christian Orthodox, Slavic Serbs makes it difficult for us to get to the Russian and Russians tend to get pushed aside when market, and our companies have started to it comes to business. realise that,” he said. Serbia, for example, buys Russian gas for “But even our present structure of exports “European” prices, much higher than the shows that we are able to sell more than just former republics of the Soviet Union pay, fresh apples, but also products like copper they point out. tubes, batteries, rubber and floor plates,” There is discontent as well over the price Vesovic added. onstruction of four 42-storey skyscrapers, set to be the tallest buildings in which Russians paid for the advantageous With total Russian investment in Serbia Macedonia, started on Monday in Skopje. . deal for purchasing oil company, NIS. reaching 1.13 billion euro in 2003-2010 peri- CThe Turkish company, Cevahir Holding, plans to invest some 300 million euro in In one year, NIS earned almost the same od, Vesovic adds there is huge untapped the project that should be completed within three years in the Skopje municipality of Y amount in profit for Russian Gazprom, than potential to attract more Russian companies Aerodrom. M Gazprom paid for the majority stake of the to Serbia. The complex will hold a mix of residential, business and retail areas, with some 1,400 C company in 2008 - 400 million euro - leading Nikola Pavicic from Tarkett Sintelon, the flats providing homes for 5,000 people, and a large shopping mall in the base of the towers. K some to suggest that the company was under- biggest domestic exporter to Russia, says neighbourhood news July 20 - August 30, 2012 9 Karadzic Asks Izetbegovic Montenegro Ruling Party to be Defence Witness Plans Early General Election War crimes defendant Radovan Karadzic has written to Bakir Izetbegovic, Governing Democratic Party of Socialists wants early general elections in a member of the Bosnian presidency, asking him to testify for the defence the autumn - and plans to run once again in tandem with the Social at the Hague Tribunal. Democrats.

By Denis Dzidic By Milena Milosevic

he former president of Republika he Presidency of the ruling Srpska has asked Bakir Izetbegovic, Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, Tson of the late Bosnian president Alija Ton Monday said it had decided to ini- Izetbegovic, to testify in order to allow the tiate a shortening of parliament's term in Hague Tribunal, ICTY, to understand the full order to pave the way for early elections. context of the events during the war. The party had also reached a broad agree- Karadzic said he would ask Izetbegovic ment with its Social Democrat coalition Montenegrin president Vujanovic with the Pope about the wartime activities of the Bosnian partners on their joint participation in the polls. Debate is ongoing about whether Presidency in obtaining arms in violation of election, it added. Vujanovic may stand as a candidate for the United Nations arms embargo, as well as Caslav Vesovic, DPS spokesperson, said another term. He is now serving his second allegations that the Bosnian government Karadzic continues to puzzle early elections were needed for the next term as President of Montenegro. staged shelling incidents in Sarajevo as a letter. steps in the EU accession process, which means of expediting international interven- The country regained independence in “I also hope that you do not interject your- must be dealt with by a new government 2006, during his first term, leaving space for tion. self that way in cases pending before the over a full term in office. Karadzic also thanked Izetbegovic for his different legal interpretations about his Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Playing Montenegro started membership talks right to stand for the presidential post once interest in his court case, as evidenced by that kind of role which mixes politics and with the EU at the end of June. his letter to the ICTY Chief Prosecutor again. law makes bad law and even worse politics,” Previously, Filip Vujanovic, President of Serge Brammertz last month. The DPS on Monday said that it had not added Karadzic. Montenegro, said that if Podgorica In the letter Izetbegovic encouraged discussed early presidential elections or the In his letter, Karadzic explains that he is obtained a start date for membership talks, Brammertz to appeal the recent decision of party’s potential candidate as the next head writing to Izetbegovic in English as a “diplo- parliamentary elections should be held in the Trial Chamber to acquit Karadzic of the of the state. matic solution” since he speaks Serbian and the autumn of 2012 and not in spring 2013, charge of genocide in seven municipalities There was some surprise about the agree- Izetbegovic Bosnian. when the government’s and parliament’s ment in principle to form an electoral coali- of Bosnia during 1992. Karadzic, former president of Republika “Frankly, I was surprised by your public mandates expire. tion with the SDP. Srpska and the supreme commander of its According to the constitution, the Although the DPS and SDP have formed expression of dissatisfaction with that deci- army, denies charges of genocide, war sion. It doesn't seem like a productive way to President has the authority to call parlia- every Montenegrin government together crimes and crimes against humanity. mentary elections. since 1998, the latter recently stated that it assist in the reconciliation of our people." In June, Karadzic had attempted to have 11 “Your government spent millions to per- Many want presidential elections to be might run in the next elections independ- charges against him dismissed. The ICTY held simultaneously with parliamentary ently. suade the International Court of Justice ruled that the prosecution had presented that genocide had been committed in the sufficient evidence for ten out of the 11 municipalities and you lost. That court counts of the indictment but it acquitted decided in 2007 that the events did not consti- him on charges for genocide in seven munic- World Leaders Condemn tute genocide. I don't understand why you ipalities in Bosnia. The prosecution has filed would expect the ICTY to decide any differ- an appeal against this decision. ently,” wrote Karadzic. Karadzic's trial started in October 2009, Bulgaria Bus Bombing Karadzic added that he hoped that and the prosecution finished presenting its Izetbegovic had the agreement of other evidence last month. The defence is due to The UN, EU, US, Israel and other countries have condemned the suicide members of the Presidency to write such a begin presenting its evidence in October. bombing in Burgas, Bulgaria, that killed six Israelis and a local driver as well as the bomber whose nationality has yet to be disclosed. News in brief he UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki- first of its kind in the country, and that moon, has condemned the bus bomb Bulgaria was "one of the friendliest Macedonia Battles Fires As Heatwave Continues Tattack in Burgas that killed seven "in nations" to Israelis. He added that if Israelis the strongest possible terms," while EU stopped visiting Bulgaria following the village in central Macedonia was reported. Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton said attack, "this is what the terrorists want to engulfed by flames on Monday night, Skopje fire brigade was also on alert on she was "shocked" and "appalled". achieve." Aas the country struggles to prevent Monday night, preventing a fire that report- "The terrorists who planned and carried Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev several other blazes from spreading. edly broke out on a big grassy plain and out this attack must be brought to justice,” said that the Bulgarian authorities met Almost the entire village of Patetino near threatened nearby residential areas in the Ashton added. with members of Israel's intelligence the central town of Sveti Nikole was In Washington, President Barack Obama municipalities of Kisela Voda and agency, Mossad, a month ago, but had engulfed by flames on Monday night. said in a statement that he strongly con- Aerodrom. The fire is under control, author- received no warning of an expected attack, Some 30 of the 40 houses in the village demned the “barbaric terrorist attack on ities reported on Tuesday. Sofia News Agency reported. have been burned down, authorities report- Israelis in Bulgaria”. Blamed on human negligence and helped The Bulgarian authorities would have ed. Six of the seven victims were Israeli holi- by the scorching summer heat, several other taken more precautions had they received However, there were no reported injuries, daymakers. The other two were the advanced warning of a terror attack, the as the fire burned mostly weekend houses wildfires are threatening urban and rural Bulgarian bus driver and the suicide President added. that were empty. parts of the country. bomber. An Israeli Police forensics team has One outskirt of the central town of Stip A fire near the weekend settlement of Israel has already claimed that arch-foe begun the task of identifying the casualties was also under threat from a nearby fire that Sutlak, near Stip, is still active, authorities Iran lay behind the terror attack. from the bomb attack. spread fast in the dry wind. The interven- say. But one near the village of Smokvica “All signs point to Iran,” Israeli Prime tion of firefighters prevented the spread of near the town of Gevgelija has been con- Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “In the The team, made up of eight members, the blaze, the Crisis Management Centre tained, they add. past few months, we have seen attempts by including field forensic officers and a den- Iran to harm Israelis in Thailand, India, tist, are at the scene of the explosion to Serbia Progressives Slate Sale of Serbia's Oldest Paper Georgia, Kenya, Cyprus and more. This is identify the remains of the victims. an Iranian terror attack that is spreading Earlier, the Bulgarian Interior Minister olitical storm erupts after Germany’s based East Media Group. across the world. Israel will react forcefully said that a suicide bomber appeared to have WAZ Media Group sold a half-share in Politika was founded in the Kingdom of to Iran's terror.” been responsible for the attack. Pthe venerable Politika daily to a Serbia in 1904 by Vladislav Ribnikar. Its cir- Pending more information, most Western “We have established a person who was a Russian company. culation today is about 90,000 in the country countries have declined to point fingers. suicide bomber in this attack. This person Serbia's new ruling Progressive Party where the overall readership is believed to Britain's Foreign Secretary, William Hague, had a fake driving licence from the United reacted sharply after news broke that the be at around 700,000. offered his condolences, adding that "the States,” Interior Minister Tsvetan country's oldest newspaper, Politika, has The Progressive Party, the largest party in full tragedy of the attacks is not yet clear.” Tsvetanov said. The suspect appeared on passed into Russian hands. the incoming government, reacted angrily On a different note, Bulgarian Foreign security camera tape near the bus for near- Germany’s WAZ Media Group sold its 50- to the change in ownership, accusing the for- Minister Nikolay Mladenov on Thursday ly an hour before the attack. per-cent share on Monday. The value of the mer ruling Democratic Party of having mas- urged Israeli tourists to continue holiday- Tsvetanov said the death toll rose to eight share is 15 million euro. terminded the sale without following due ing in Bulgaria, stating that Wednesday's after the Bulgarian driver of the bus died in Politika is now owned 50 per cent by the process. terror attack was a one-off incident. the hospital. The nationality of the suicide Serbian state and 50 per cent by the Moscow- Read more page 8 Mladenov stressed that the attack was the bomber remains unknown. 10 July 20 - August 30, 2012 neighbourhood Killings Highlight Flaws in Serbia’s Witness Protection Two recent mafia-style killings have pinpointed the weaknesses in the witness protection programme, prompting fresh calls for the system to be overhauled. “There is no problem with wit- order to dissuade me from testi- ness protection in trials, but fying further,” Zlatkovic alleged. there is when they are no longer He had testified in 2007 against By Marian Chiriac involved in the legal process,” he members of the 37th Squad of said. “When they leave the court, the Special Police Unit accused of they lack protection,” Jovanovic war crimes in Kosovo in the added. 1990s. wo recent murders of rela- In its latest resolution on According to Zlatkovic, who tives of witnesses testifying Serbia, on March 28,the was in the protection system for Tbefore Serbia’s Special European Parliament noted two years, during that time he Court for Organized Crime and “serious deficiencies in the func- War Crimes have again thrust a routinely received threats. Since tioning of the witness protection spotlight on the failings of that experience, he has felt programme, regarding cases of Serbia’s witness protection pro- deeply insecure in Serbia. Remains of the Radojica Joksovic’s car after the explosion which killed him war crimes which resulted in a gramme. “I would most like to go some- number of witnesses voluntarily The Witness Protection Unit, where else. For me and my family Djindjic in 2003. over to, or be co-ordinated by, the opting out of the programme WPU, was set up in 2006 in the War there is no life here any longer,” The Prosecutor’s Office for Ministry of Justice. after being systematically intimi- Crimes Chamber and is currently Zlatkovic said. War Crimes says it is not to The idea is for the Prosecutor’s dated.” run by the Interior Ministry. Natasa Kandic, Head of the blame for the problems raised by office to be structurally in charge The Council of Europe Two mafia showdowns on the Humanitarian Law Centre, says Kandic and others. of ensuring witness support Rapporteur, Jean-Charles streets of Belgrade in the last two that both the Prosecution and the “We are aware of problems in from the beginning of the inves- Gardetto, said in a report last weeks resulted in two men being WPU share responsibility for the witness protection, but those tigative phase. December that inappropriate killed by bomb blasts. failure of the witness protection most responsible [for solving Witnesses who have experi- behaviour by WPU members The first victim, Bosko scheme, since a number of mem- them] are the Witness Protection enced ill treatment at the hands towards witnesses had resulted Raicevic, a Montenegrin busi- bers of the WPU are themselves Unit, since the law says that the of the WPU also believe the Unit in witnesses changing their testi- nessman, was a close friend to former criminals. prosecution may not interfere in should be moved into the Justice mony or deciding not to testify at Andrija Draskovic, who is on “It is enough to say that some the Unit’s work,” Bruno Vekaric, Ministry. all. trial for murder. of the members of the Unit are deputy prosecutor for war “It is odd that the main carri- “Witness protection pro- The second man, killed on former Serbian fighters [in the crimes, said. ers of the process, the judges and grammes don’t work very well Tuesday, Radojica Joksovic,was a because of a potential conflict of Yugoslav wars], and there are “We can take care of witnesses prosecution, are not in charge of relative of Nebojsa Joksovic, a interest when the police have to serious indications that some of while they are in court, but the witnesses, since, after testify- key witness in the case against protect witnesses that they are them committed war crimes,” before and after that they are the ing, the witness passes into Darko Saric, an alleged drug trying to prosecute,” he said. Kandic claimed. Unit’s responsibility,” Vekaric hands of people who do not know dealer who is now on the run. “Complications have reported- The Council of Europe’s 2011 added. what he is going through,” said He was arrested in 2010 on sus- ly occurred when ‘insider’ wit- report by Gardetto also noted Vekaric, as well as other legal Dejan Demirovic. picion of membership of Saric’s nesses attempt to testify, such as that several members of the WPU experts, see one solution to the He testified in 2006 against his criminal network but reached a witnesses who are part of the are reportedly former members current problems in shifting former colleagues from the so- deal with prosecution to become police,” he added. of the notorious “Red Berets” jurisdiction over the WPU from called “Scorpion” unit, held a witness in the main case “Such witnesses are reluctant special police unit. the police to the Ministry of responsible for grave war crimes against Saric. to come forward and testify They have been held responsi- Justice. in Kosovo. Following his testimony, his against their colleagues, espe- ble for killings in Bosnia, Croatia Gardetto, from the Council of “It would be a lot easier if this family say that they received cially where any protection that and Kosovo, as well as the mur- Europe, also backed calls for the all was handled by the court,” threats while bombs were thrown they may be awarded is supposed der of Prime Minister Zoran WPU either to be transferred Demirovic added. twice at his property. to come from those that they are Experts, prosecutors and wit- attempting to testify against,” nesses themselves say that wit- Gardetto continued. Srebrenica Buries More Dead nesses are compromised in terms Critics have also pinpointed a of security by the unprofession- lack of co-ordination and co- alism of the WPU. operation between the WPU, the They urge its transformation prosecutor’s offices and the and a shift of jurisdiction to the courts. Ministry of Justice. One former protected witness, Marina Antonijevic, from the Zoran Raskovic, said he had been Belgrade NGO Trauma Center, subjected to blatant intimidation says it is routine for criminals to by members of the WPU. target families of witnesses. He said that members of the But she said it is up to the WPU WPU had called him “garbage” to take care of witnesses and and threatened his mother and their families, not only while father. they are in court but also when Raskovic was a former member they leave the court and continue of the notorious military unit their ordinary lives. known as the “Jackals”, which “It is especially worrying [the has been accused of perpetrating lack of protection] with crimes grave crimes in Kosovo. related to organized crime and He was considered a key wit- war crimes, bearing in mind the ness in the case against his for- sensitivity and the scale of these mer comrades who are currently crimes,” Antonijevic noted. on trial. Treatment of witnesses by the In spite of his complaints, WPU has been widely criticized Raskovic said nothing had been by a number of international done to improve his safety. institutions, including the OSCE, Bojan Zlatkovic, former mem- Council of Europe and the ber of the police who took part in European Parliament. the fighting in the wars across The head of the OSCE’s the former Yugoslavia, com- Section for War Crimes and plained of a similar experience. Organized Crimes in Belgrade, “This programme is not about osnian Muslim women cry near the coffin of a relative. Among 520 newly identified Srebrenica vic- Ivan Jovanovic, says that the protection, it is a programme of tims were burried at the Potocari memorial cemetery near Srebrenica, some 160 kilometres east of Y OSCE is familiar with the prob- intimidation of witnesses,” he BSarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on Monday, July 9, 2012. The 520 victims were buried at a memori- M lems facing witnesses, and is con- claimed. al centre near Srebrenica on the 17th anniversary of the massacre of 8,000 men and boys, defined by the C cerned that trials will suffer if “For two years my family and I International Court of Justice as genocide. K matters do not improve. endured torture from the Unit in neighbourhood July 20 - August 30, 2012 11 Macedonia Murder Suspects Languish in Detention After 60 days in detention, no evidence has been presented against the men suspected of the grisly Skopje murders, their lawyer says - raising further questions about the so-called Monster case. their safety. Raufi insists that in a case of this gravity, it was unacceptable for the police not to have By Sase Dimovski secured evidence before charges were raised. He says the authorities are trying to collect evidence now, while the suspects are in detention, while nobody has told them on lawyer for the three suspects what grounds they are accused of commit- detained for the gruesome killing of ting the murders. Afive people near Skopje in April says “The investigating judge needs to decide that after 60 days in detention no evidence what still needs to be collected as evidence. has been presented against them. We believe that we have enough evidence,” The Criminal Court in Skopje extended Chief Prosecutor Ljupco Svrgovski told the detention of the three men for another Prishtina Insight. 30 days on July 2. He did not want to predict how long would By law, investigations and detention can- it take for the investigation to be completed not exceed 180 days. In case during that peri- and when will be decided whether to press od charges are raised the detention may be charges, or drop the prosecution for lack of extended against them for a maximum of evidence. another year. One of the most serious problems with the Police suspect that a total of five men case is that the murder weapons have not were involved in the killing of four youths been found. Police have yet to produce any evidence against those arrested and one middle-aged man while they were “Police are still searching for weapons fishing at the Zelezarsko Lake, near the vil- Sajdini Ibrahim, owner of a house where Relatives of the other three detainees while looking for the two suspects who lage of Smiljkovci. police in the raid found a large quantity of have meanwhile claimed that prison guards remain at large,” a police official told The bodies of Filip Slavkovski, weapons, claimed that the stash was left in the Prilep facility had tortured them and Prishtina Insight. Aleksandar Nakjevski, Cvetanco Acevski over from the 2001 conflict in the country. complained to the Ombudsman. According to the police investigation, with and Kire Trickovski, all aged between 18 Expert analysis showed that the weapons Ombudsman Ixhet Memeti confirms for the help of collaborators among the local and 20, were discovered on April 12. found were not used in the murder. Prishtina Insight that injuries took place population near the Macedonian-Kosovo bor- The bodies had been lined up and Meanwhile, the status of one other person and that he has filed criminal charges der, near Kumanovo, a few days after the appeared to have been executed with arrested in relation to the murder, Haki against the prison staff. murder they crossed into Kosovo illegally on firearms. The body of 45-year-old Borce Haziri, 27, is still unclear. “We found that physical violence had foot. Stevkovski was a short distance away from Haziri first asked for the status of protect- taken place against suspects in the “It will be a real shame if such a case as the rest. ed witness in the case, but later asked for ‘Monster’ case,” he said. serious as ‘Monster’. [the codename for the Three of the five suspects, Agim this status to be removed, agreeing to “We have notified the Directorate of case], involving the murder of five people, Ismailovic, Fejzi Aziri and Rami Sejdi, are answer charges as part of the group that Prisons, which suspended the prison ended with the release of defendants because in custody in Bitola prison. participated in the murder. guards, and have filed criminal charges for of a lack of evidence,” former police minis- Police are still searching for the other According to his statement, that Prishtina torture. Now the case is in the hands of the ter Pavle Trajanov, now an MP parliament two, Afrim Ismailovic and Alil Demiri, Public Prosecutor,” Memeti said. believed to be hiding in Kosovo. After the Police Minister, Gordana One other man, Haki Haziri, has since Police are still Jankulovska, initially blamed the murder been charged in relation to the murder. It on Islamic radicals, the claim angered the has been two months since he was detained. searching for large Albanian Muslim community, which If the suspects are found guilty of the on two occasions in the days after the murders, they face from 10 years in jail to the other two, arrests staged protests in Skopje. life imprisonment. They accused police of targeting the According to a court ruling presented to Afrim whole community with vague and derogato- Prishtina Insight by the relatives of the ry statements unsupported by evidence. The three detained suspects, their detention is Ismailovic and protests were held under the motto "Stop the being prolonged out of fear that they might Framed Cases". flee the country if released. Alil Demiri, Political analyst Ramadan Ramadani “On the proposal of investigating judge argues that the police claims have indeed the department for organized crime is believed to be not been supported by any evidence that extending the detention of the suspects for would point towards religious radicalism or another 30 days because the investigation is hiding in extremism as a motive for the crime. not completed and expert examination of “There is a big suspicion among many the items found at the scene is still in Kosovo. people that this is just a story that was progress,” the Court in Skopje told inserted in order to explain the murders,” Prishtina Insight. Ramadani said. says for Prishtina Insight? Insight has published, he claims that prior The arrest of the group linked to the “The police have to work on solving the to the murder he was not aware that the fel- “Monster” case has meantime worsened ties Where is the evidence? murder,” he added. low suspects were preparing to carry out a between the two ruling coalition parties, the Suspects claim they were tortured: murder. main VMRO DPMNE and the smaller ethnic Nasser Raufi, lawyer for all five suspects, News of the killings raised tensions in the He said he was only asked to drive the car Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, says police, court and prosecutors have pre- ethnically divided country after reports used to transport the others to the murder DUI. sented no evidence in the case. spread that the killers were ethnic scene. Macedonian Albanian protesters have He says that after spending 60 days behind Albanians. “I was not aware that they intended to kill also accused the DUI leader, Ali Ahmeti, of bars, his three detained clients should have On May 1 police rounded up 20 allegedly anyone until they donned their masks and doing nothing to protect Albanians from been released and the proceedings suspend- radical Muslims, all ethnic Albanians, in an took out their weapons,” he said. “I was what they called a political process. ed. operation in several villages around the cap- shocked. After that, I lost 20kg in weight in On state television, MTV, in Albanian lan- They’ve spent 60 days in custody and the ital. During the raids they seized firearms only few days.” guage, Ahmeti last month tried to respond court has presented no evidence confirming and other weapons, some of which they Days after his arrest, Haziri’s father, to those complaints. suspicions that they committed the mur- believe were used in the murder. Sefet, sent a letter to the EU and US He said that in agreement with VMRO ders,” he said, adding that he intended to After 48 hours most of the suspects were embassies in Macedonia, saying he did not DPMNE they had asked the US, the EU and appeal against the extra detention in a high- released for lack of evidence. know where his son was for seven days, and OSCE to establish a joint commission to er court. But in mid-June a court in Skopje handed accusing the police of threatening to kill his oversee the whole judicial process to deter- Raufi said he was defending all the sus- a six-year jail sentence to one of the 20 son if he declined to be a witness. mine “whether there is evidence indicating pects after many of his colleagues, who were arrested in the police roundup for illegal The court will soon decide whether to that those arrested are the perpetrators of summoned ex officio to represent the sus- possession of weapons. pects, refused to do so, expressing fears for retain Neziri in custody. the [April] murders”. 12 July 20 - August 30, 2012 feature Denial of Memory: Albania Ignores Evils Albania has failed to confront communist leader Enver Hoxha’s policy of torture and murder against the supposed opponents of the isolationist regime. Shirely Cloyes DioGuardi spoke to three survivors of the country’s former notorious prison, Spaç. In both cases, they were betrayed by communists. Xhelal By Shirley Cloyes Lepenica, Pellumb’s great uncle, DioGuardi was killed during the civil war that erupted in Albania at the con- clusion of World War II. ommunist dictator Enver After his murder, Albanian com- Hoxha subjected Albania to munist forces danced on his grave, Cforty-five years of one of the burned and destroyed his property, most centralized and repressive and confiscated all of his material totalitarian regimes that the world possessions. The brutal and tor- has ever known. turous regime of Enver Hoxha Hundreds of thousands of inflicted pain and suffering on the Albanians were subjected to Lamaj and Lepenica families for arrest, torture, and imprisonment. decades to follow. This intensified Several thousand were murdered after Qemal Lepenica, one of from 1945 until Hoxha died and the Pellumb’s uncles, fled from regime of his successor, Ramiz Albania in 1951 to Germany. Alia, collapsed in 1991. After his father’s conviction and As the Alia regime began to incarceration in 1967, Pellumb, his crumble in 1990, the communist mother, and siblings were forcibly elite fought back. Food and energy transferred to a village named supplies dwindled and thousands Skrofotine, near Vlora. of Albanians scurried on boats to Pellumb said: “We were placed reach freedom in Italy. in the middle of nowhere—my The flight was captured on tele- mother with five children. vision screens around the world. “As a boy of eight, subconscious- But when the first democratically Fall of Hoxha's statue in 1991 ly, I began to understand the mean- elected government of Sali the 20th long overdue closure for the vic- ple with the unfinished business of ing of the communist terror. My Berisha came to power in 1992, Century is the task of all coun- tims—not to mention laying the the past so that it does not contin- father’s incarceration led to the there was no reckoning with life in tries and ethnic groups in the groundwork for giving them ue to distort the present, and to most difficult period in our lives. Albania under Communism. Balkans. national recognition and repara- begin to construct a new and “During this time, my mother The Berisha government was In 2012, many countries in tions for their suffering. viable future. was my hero. She was the back- praised by the international com- Eastern Europe have embarked on The renowned literary figure In what follows are the oral his- bone of the family. At school, the munity for a bloodless shift from an accounting of the communist Ismail Kadare has written in his tories of three Albanian other children would call us kulak, Hoxha’s horrific regime to democ- era. introduction to Bedri Blloshmi’s Americans (Pellumb Lamaj, which meant ‘enemy of the peo- racy. This praise was rightly As Lukasz Kaminski, the presi- 2010 account of the murder of his Raymond Sejko, and Eqerem ple.’ When I went home, I would deserved, but not the denial of dent of Poland’s Institute of brother Vilson and Genc Leka by Mujo) who managed to survive ask my mother, ‘How should I memory that underlay it. National Remembrance, told The the Hoxha regime: “Communism years of incarceration in the infa- respond to these taunts?’ She said, Sali Berisha was Enver Hoxha’s New York Times in February 2012, has fallen in Albania, but not its mous Spaç Prison. ‘Tell them that you are proud to be personal physician. Although he “In order to defend ourselves in dust and stench. a kulak based on your family’s did not personally participate in the future against other totalitari- “The snake eggs are still every- Resistance to Persecution, background.” the surveillance, torture, arrest, an regimes, we have to under- where. They continue to spawn When Pellumb Lamaj completed imprisonment in unspeakable con- Imprisonment, Torture, stand how they worked in the past, deception, psychological violence, grammar school in 1974, he was the ditions, and murder of Albanians like a vaccine. Across Central and and particularly hatred. and Murder: The Story of only student prevented from join- deemed “enemies of the people” Eastern Europe a consensus of “They are spread out in the left ing the Albanian youth organiza- by Hoxha and his henchmen, Pellumb Lamaj silence appears to have ended, one and right parties, in the small and tion because, according to his Berisha and his family lived a that never muted all criticism and big ones. They remain vigilant to teacher Armando Kushta, he “had privileged life while so many of From 1945 to 1991, some 5,500 discussion but did muffle voices ensure the historic protection of his eyes fixated on the West” and his fellow citizens were suffering men and women were executed, crying out for a long-awaited reck- the fallen dictatorship. They insti- displayed signs of and dying. and close to 100,000 sentenced to oning.” gate a superficial critique, often at being “a capitalist”. Like other Eastern European prison in forty prisons and fifty In spite of the ongoing internal the level of poems and artists, to Pellumb said: “This was nations that emerged from fascism forced labor and internment Kushta’s attempt to try to dissuade under Nazi domination during camps because they were consid- me from entering high school.” World War II only to be engulfed by ered “enemies of the people”. Ironically, after Communism Communism, Albania buried the Poet and activist Pellumb began to fall in Albania in 1990, story of the Holocaust, even Lamaj, who made his way to the Kushta would be among the first though unlike any other nation, United States two years after the individuals to leave the country the role of Albanians during fall of Communism, would turn and immigrate to the United World War II consisted of saving out to be one of them. States. every Jew who either lived in He was twenty years old, when His family considered his arrest Albania or sought asylum there. he was sent to the Spaç prison in only a matter of time, since he and The suppression of the 1979, where he would spend eleven his brother refused to collaborate Holocaust was facilitated by the years of his life. with the secret police, known in fact that the majority of European Pellumb was born on a farm in Albania as the Sigurimi — a Jewry who survived were psycho- Clirim, Albania, near the city of refusal that under Hoxha’s regime logically unable to convey the hor- Fier, on January 4, 1959. Because meant jail time at best, execution rors that they had experienced, there was a concentration of anti- at worst. especially to a public that wanted communist resistance in this Looking back, Pellumb said that to forget the war and move on. region, many families were placed March 1, 1979, was “the day that I The same pattern would follow in internment camps. will never forget”: after the fall of Communism. In In 1967, when Pellumb was eight “It is indelibly etched in my Albania, the history of the years old, his father, who was sup- mind. That day, the Sigurimi Stalinist communist regime under porting a family of seven on mea- Symbol of the Party of Labor of Albania arrested me and charged me as an Enver Hoxha was suppressed, and ger wages, was charged and con- “enemy of the state”,” he said the majority of survivors were victed by a “kangaroo court” for debate, Albania unfortunately is turn attention away from that “After several months of con- afraid to speak about the atrocities raising his own livestock and trad- not among the former communist which constituted the essence of finement, I was convicted on the inflicted on them by their own peo- ing his cows for milk without per- nations engaged in a long-awaited the system: genuine crime.” basis of false testimony and sen- ple. Two decades after the fall of mission from the local govern- reckoning. There have been no To expose the “genuine crime” tenced to fifteen years of hard Communism, Albania has still ment. public forms of closure—no trials, requires a confrontation with labor at the infamous Spaç Prison. failed to come to terms with its Earlier, during World War II, no imprisonment of the torturers, Albania’s communist past — a “I was one of the youngest pris- past. members of the Lamaj family and no truth commissions—only confrontation that entails first of oners sent to Spaç. To this day, the Reconciling with their emer- his mother’s family, the amnesty for the perpetrators. all listening to the voices of Enver scars of their torturous regime gence from 400 years of Ottoman Lepenicas, were killed while Opening up the communist Hoxha’s victims. remain on my body and in my rule, followed by Nazi occupation fighting against the Italian fascists archives is essential to revealing The time has come for Albania mind.” during World War II, and then and then the Nazis as members of to the world what happened under to make sure that the denial of Pellumb said that the Spaç forty-five years of Communism in the “National Front” (Balli the Hoxha regime and to bringing memory does not succeed, to grap- Kombëtare). Prison was something out of feature July 20 - August 30, 2012 13 of its Communist Past

Dante’s Inferno. According to him, tortured because I had helped my “Spaç was a black hole at the fellow inmates. bottom of a canyon, surrounded “I was proud that I had, and I Report Corruption by dark and dreary hills. told chief that, ‘One day you will “The only time a prisoner could be brought to justice for your catch a glimpse of the blue sky crimes.’ But, unfortunately, jus- was at midday. At night, when the tice is sometimes only a dream. lights were turned on and aimed at “Many of the men who were the security fences to prevent any responsible for decades of perse- escape, the sky was streaked with cution, torture, and murder in the reflection of the barbed wire. Albania are living lives of privi- “Prisoners were divided into lege and wielding power in a cor- groups that worked nonstop in rupt government. rotating shifts in the mines under “There was no ‘Nuremburg the watchful eye of the guards who trial’ for the Albanian communists inflicted punishment—routinely, who tried to destroy their own peo- indiscriminately, and often brutal- ple, and the West has chosen to ly. Because we also received bare- ignore their crimes.” ly enough food to survive, many In August 1990, Pellumb Lamaj men perished. Every day, when we was released from prison — in his entered the mines, we felt as if we words, “symbolically soon after were marching towards a guillo- the collapse of the Berlin Wall”. tine, not knowing if we would sur- Two years later, he received an Hoxha’s bunkers can be spotted across Albania vive another day. opportunity to move to the United “The regime stole our youth and States. He reflected: “I was fortu- Soviet Union. from 1963 to 1968; then she was we continued to be isolated and dashed all of our hopes and nate because there was no room When the rift between the Soviet banished from 1968 to 1974, only to stigmatized. dreams. But I never forgot the for me in Albania. The same peo- Union and Maoist China took be interned again for ten years — “In 1967, I was conscripted into words of older prisoners who said ple that had persecuted me and place in 1961, Hoxha sided with from 1974 to 1984. the army and assigned to a troop that, ‘If you make it out of here, others, including the chief of the Mao, and he and his closest allies Her husband, Rexho Plaku, was that consisted only of the sons of please tell the civilized world that secret police, remained in power.” initiated purges to eliminate a wealthy man who had led the condemned parents. All of us we were martyrs, that we sought Pellumb never forgot the fate of rivals. group of partisans in World War II received the worst assignments. freedom from those who took free- his family, his fellow prisoners at Teme Sejko was one of the peo- that Teme, Taho, and Sulo had For two years, I did hard labour on dom away from us, that we Spaç, and those who perished ple they targeted. So were his joined. But shortly after the war, an army farm until my discharge opposed a criminal state ruled under the Hoxha regime. “For the brothers, because they were per- he was jailed by the Hoxha regime, in 1969.” with an iron fist by a ruthless past twenty years,” he said, “I have ceived as having political views and he would spend thirty-two Rajmond thought that he and tyrant, Enver Hoxha.” pursued justice through every that threatened Hoxha. years in prison. his family were finally free in 1970, In May 1984, there was an upris- media outlet that I have been able On the morning of July 28, 1960, Teme’s son, Rajmond Sejko, ulti- especially because that year the ing at the Qafe-Bari Prison. Three to reach to expose the poison and Teme went to work as usual, only mately the only one in the family Hoxha government permitted a lit- prisoners were executed and oth- the torturous regime that engulfed to find himself arrested and to survive, described the tle liberalization, including the ers were sentenced to twenty-five Albania and extended its tentacles charged with “participating in a deplorable conditions in which he right to see Italian and years, some of whom were then to all Albanian lands in Eastern conspiracy involving Yugoslavia, and his mother, Shpresa, and Yugoslavian television. brought to Spaç, tortured, and Europe.” Greece, and the United States”. brother, Sokol, were forced to live The latter showed how poor and thrown into solitary confinement. His family never saw him again. once his father was branded as an undeveloped Albania was com- When they were released into Hoxha Purges His Rivals: For a year he was incarcerated “enemy of the people”. pared to the Albanians living just while the regime prepared a show He said that: “The same military on the other side of its borders. the camp days later, their bodies The Destruction of the were scarred and their clothes trial against him and several other court martial that condemned my When people began to call for caked with blood. Especially Sejko Family officials. father, on the same day condemned change, the government retaliat- because some of the men had been On May 27, 1961, Teme was con- my mother, my eleven-year-old ed. In December 1972, they cut off Pellumb’s friends in the past, he Born in 1922 in Konispol, Teme victed of being “an enemy of the brother, and me (I was thirteen) to all access to television; they started to help them with bits of Sejko joined the Communist Party people” and sentenced to twenty- a five-year period of internment, attacked a festival devoted to tradi- food and clothing. during World War II while fighting five years in prison. But just three known as ‘internal exile’. tional Albanian music, calling it Witnessing this, the collabora- with the partisans. days later, his skull was broken “We were forced to relocate to a decadent; and they began a series tors and the jailers, called the “Red After Albania was liberated and he was strangled to death with remote and very poor hamlet of purges and arrests of “liber- Guards”, immediately reported from Nazi occupation in a cord. called Otllak outside of the town of als,” which included all former Pellumb to the chief of the secret November 1944, Teme studied at When Teme was arrested, so Berat, which was home to only 100 political internees and prisoners. police. Soon after, he was hand- the military academy in Moscow. was his brother, Taho, a journalist people, including 20 internees. We Rajmond’s brother, Sokol, was cuffed and taken to the chief ’s He would return again from 1955 who had also fought with the parti- lived in a small one-room hut, with among them. After being fired office. to 1957, as he rose to the rank of sans during World War II. a dirt floor, thatched walls, and a from his job in a factory in Berat, “He started screaming that he rear admiral and commanded the In 1956, at a meeting of the plastic roof. There was no heat or he was arrested in 1973, tortured would teach me a lesson I would Albanian naval forces in Vlora. Communist Party of Tirana, he running water. in prison by a “specialist in tor- never forget. He ordered the Red In short, he was part of the com- had criticized the growing dispari- “We had to walk for one hour to ture” named Ali Xhunga, put on Guards to take me into a room munist regime during the first ty between the living standards get drinking water; we washed our trial in January 1974 on charges of near his office, where they tor- phase of Enver Hoxha’s rule. that the communist elite enjoyed bodies and our clothing with water “terrorism, sabotage, spreading tured me for hours. In the late 1950s, Hoxha began to in Albania and the poverty-strick- drawn from irrigation canals; and, anti-government propaganda, and “They attacked me with sticks, shift his alliances away from en majority. instead of a toilet, we had a roof- participating in organized crime,” their boots, and wooden bats until Marshal Tito’s Yugoslavia and the Taho Sejko immediately lost his less outhouse. and then executed in March of I lost consciousness. When I final- job and was transferred to a cleri- “We were confined to Otllak, that year after false witnesses ly opened my eyes, a doctor in a cal position in a factory in and needed advance permission lined up by the government testi- white coat was peering over me, Shkodra. from local authorities to travel, fied against him. checking my pulse, and giving me Although Taho was not executed even to see a doctor. At least twice He was only twenty-four years an injection. along with Teme in May 1961, he a day we had to report to the vil- old. “To this day,” Rajmond said, “He told the chief of the secret was imprisoned and tortured in an lage security officer. “it haunts me to think of the suf- police to stop the torture, because attempt to force him to publicly “My mother and I worked long fering my brother endured.” my pulse was too weak. I was lying embrace the Hoxha regime. Taho hours, six days a week in the With Sokol’s death, Rajmond on a cement floor in a pool of refused to capitulate, and in March fields, starting at 5am in the sum- said that their mother, Shpresa blood, unable to move. My left 1962, he was secretly convicted and mer and 7am in the winter. Sejko, was devastated. hand was broken and bleeding, shot to death. His family, includ- “During the five years that we Towards the end of 1974, she and the big toe on my left foot had ing his mother, were expelled from were interned, no relative or wrote a statement, accusing the been crushed. Tirana and relocated to Shkodra, friend dared contact us, including government of killing her hus- “The torture had begun in the after being told that Taho had gone my mother’s brother, Engjell, who band and her youngest son, and morning, and I guessed that it was mad in prison and had been con- lived only ten miles away. distributed it to her neighbours. the middle of the night, when they fined to a state mental hospital. “Much later, in 1975, Uncle On February 19, 1975, police tossed me into a cell. I would In 1963, three years after the Engjell’s Russian wife would be arrived at the Sejko’s home to spend a month in solitary confine- Hoxha regime arrested Teme and arrested and jailed for five years, round up Shpresa and also ment before they sent me back to Taho, their brother Sulo was simply because she was overheard Rajmond. Rajmond, who was at the camp. When I arrived in the jailed. telling ‘political jokes’. home alone, was immediately camp, all the prisoners saw the He was tortured, and later his “When our internment finally brought to the police station. His Y scars on my hands and feet, and body was found at the bottom of a ended in June 1966, I was eighteen mother was in Fier visiting the M everyone realized that I had been well. Their sister, Merushe Sejko- years old. My mother, brother, and widow of Tahir Demi, who had C Enver Hoxha with his wife, Nexhmije Plaku, was interned in a camp I moved into the town of Berat, but been killed along with Teme Sejko. K 14 July 20 - August 30, 2012 feature

After questioning, Rajmond was the end of World War II. The Mujos were next moved in released to locate his mother. But Hoxha and his henchmen hunt- 1954 to a farm in Lushnje that “had by the time he reached Fier, ed down and executed anyone who been turned into a concentration Shpresa was heading back to fought against them. camp”. Berat. However, a few escaped, and In the years ahead, they would And by the time he returned to Sefer and Alo were among them. be shifted to many camps spread Berat, he found her lifeless body Sefer and Alo made their way to throughout Albania. Eqerem and on the ground under a sheet in Munich, Germany, where they his brothers were eventually front of their house. She had been joined a group of exiles who had allowed to attend high school. But shot by local officials who were formed a battalion and were being not long after they graduated, declaring her death “a suicide”. trained at a military base under someone accused Eqerem of being Rajmond was taken into custody, the auspices of the US Army to a spy. and a security official proceeded to return to Albania to try to rescue In April 1976, at the age of thirty- interrogate him for an hour. their families and overthrow the four, he was arrested. After eight The official demanded that The infamous prison at Spac Hoxha regime. months of investigation by the Rajmond admit to coercing his For two years, none of the authorities, he was tried and sen- mother to commit suicide. When smoke, and the gas fumes from the report to the local officials for Mujos’ friends or relatives knew tenced to seven years in prison in he refused, Himci brought in other mines that seeped into our clothes questioning two to three times a what had happened to them. Spaç. officials from the Ministry of the and skin, the air was fetid. day. Then, in 1947, along with 1,000 A year later, his brother Fatmir Interior, including one who in 1974 “I remember waking up on my At one point, Vojo Nano, a mem- other families, they were herded was also accused of being a spy had pressured Rajmond and his top bunk, my throat clogged and ber of the secret police, tried to into a camp in Valias outside of and was sentenced to six years in mother to testify against Sokol. unable to speak. Food consisted recruit him as a spy. Enraged, Tirana. It consisted of a military the Ballsh Prison in Fier. They interrogated Rajmond mostly of bread, beans, and some- Rajmond tried to grab Nano by the barracks, left behind by the When Eqerem and Fatmir were from 5pm to 1am, focusing on the times milk. Those who worked in throat. Italians forces when they handed released at the end of 1983, they statement that his mother had the mines got a bit more.” In 1985, Enver Hoxha died and over Albania to the German Nazis returned to a farm where their written against the government. Rajmond worked in the mines his successor, Ramiz Alia, came to in 1943. mother and Nevrus had lived a When Rajmond was formally from 1975 to 1982. Two years power. Three years later, when Bunk beds, consisting of wooden hardscrabble existence during charged a few days later, he was before he arrived at Spaç, there Rajmond’s banishment was sup- planks lined the walls; soldiers their incarceration. accused of “action in opposition to had been a revolt. posed to have ended, it was instead were placed at intervals through- Even so, because their father out the camp; and it was here that the government” with a sentence After it was put down, the four extended for another five years. and uncle had escaped to Germany Bajame Mujo and her sons would of three to ten years in prison. leaders of the uprising were exe- A year afterwards, in March and were part of the resistance endure years of suffering. With that, the first official psy- cuted and eighty-seven prisoners 1989, the Alia regime tried to movement, the persecution of the Later they were moved to a near- chologically and physically tor- had their sentences extended for return Rajmond to prison once Mujo family continued. twenty years or more. In the after- by brick factory, where, according tured Rajmond for eleven consecu- more, when he was denounced by Four months after Eqerem and math, greater restrictions were to Eqerem, they became “slave tive days. Ali Gega, a Communist party offi- Fatmir left prison, the family was imposed on every prisoner. For labourers”. After a show trial in May 1975, cial in Berat. detained and sent back to a camp example, family visits were Gega had falsely accused “Meanwhile, Sefer and Alo he was charged with having writ- in Lushnje. They would not taste restricted to five minutes. Rajmond of “speaking out against courageously made their way back ten and distributed the statement freedom until the communist During his time at Spaç, various Albanian government offi- into Albania,” Eqerem said. “My signed by his mother and was sen- regime fell in 1990. Rajmond’s maternal grandmother cials”. father and uncle would go back and tenced to eight years in prison. Referring to the fall of visited him once a year for six Hysni Kallmi, a resident of forth from Germany to Albania, After subsisting on a diet of Communism, Eqerem said: “My years, each time traveling hours to Kutalli, was selected to testify leading missions to overthrow gruel and sleeping on cold con- family planned our way not only reach him. against him at a public hearing, Hoxha’s evil regime. crete floors in jails in Berat and out of the camp, but out of Eventually she was too old and but Rajmond stood up for himself “They may have wanted Tirana, shackled and beaten with Albania. infirm to return. Books and lan- and managed to overcome the revenge; they definitely wanted fists and a wooden club, Rajmond “We crossed the border into guage-learning were banned. effort to re-incarcerate him. peace; but, above all, they wanted was transferred to Spaç. By then, Greece and, through many twists When Rajmond was caught try- Nine months later, as the com- their lives and families back.” he had lost forty-four pounds. and turns, ultimately succeeded in ing to learn Italian, he was thrown munist government was losing its Eqerem said: “The thought of flying to the United States. into solitary confinement in freez- grip on power, it issued a general my father and uncle only fleetingly “The Worst Prison in “Landing in New York, we were ing temperatures. amnesty for political internees crossed our minds. But the knowl- met by an old man with a smile and Albania” and prisoners. On December 30, edge that they were intent on res- Banishment 1989, Rajmond was freed. Less cuing us, which we learned when tears in his eyes. It was our father, Built in 1968, Spaç Prison was then a year later, the regime of the news was leaked that their bat- Sefer Mujo, whom we had not seen located in a desolate stretch of Rajmond Sejku was finally Ramiz Alia would fall. talion had made their way into for forty-eight years. land in the northeast, Merdita released from the Spaç Prison in Albania and had already retrieved “My uncle, Alo, stood by his side. region of Albania. Rajmond October 1982, and he returned to Escape, Exile, and Life in some families, helped to keep me, The relief that my brothers experi- recalls it as “perhaps the worst Berat to live with his grandpar- my mother, and brothers alive. It enced that day was overwhelming. prison in Albania,” because the ents. the Camps: The Story of filled us with hope and joy, and for “Even so, our relief was tem- majority of prisoners were worked He worked as a labourer under the Mujo Family fleeting moments, we were free.” pered by the absence of our moth- to death there in copper and pyrite the supervision of a foreman who In 1949, when Eqerem was seven er, who had tried to protect us on mines. spied on him for the government. In April 1945, some of Hoxha’s years old, the Mujos were moved to the long journey only to succumb “In Spaç, I lived in a barracks A year later, in October 1983, he military forces pulled Bajame another camp, this time in to breakdown and death just about five meters by five meters, was secretly condemned to anoth- Mujo and her children, Eqerem, Tepelena, on Albania’s southern months before.” housing fifty-two men,” he said. er period of internment, but this Fatmir, and Nevrus, from their coast. “The building consisted of time he was banished to the small home, set the house ablaze, and According to him: “Conditions Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi is twelve other rooms of this kind on village of Kutalli for five years, took them to Kruje, where they were so deplorable that many died Balkan Affairs Adviser at the three floors. We slept on platform where he lived in primitive condi- were herded into a camp with and we children spent our days Albanian American Civic League bunks stacked three high and tions. other families. huddled together looking out of lined with thin straw mats, old His grandmother joined him The reason for their capture was the windows as our mothers and This article could not have been sheets, and a few threadbare blan- there, after his grandfather died in that Sefer Mujo, husband and fathers formed a line that looked written without Pellumb Lamaj’s kets. Berat. father, along with Sefer’s brother, like ants, while they transported partnership, together with the con- “Because of the overcrowding, Rajmond was forced to work on Alo, had resisted the rise to power the wood that was needed to heat tributions of Rajmond Sejko, lack of ventilation, cigarette a farm seven days a week and to of Hoxha’s communist regime at the homes of the Albanian elites.” Eqerem Mujo, and Luan Mazreku. UN Chief Includes Kosovo on Balkan Tour Ki-Moon Visits Prishtina on July 24

This will be the first visit to the not a member of the UN.” By Valerie Hopkins region by a UN Secretary General “Serbia is still considering how to since the dissolution of Yugoslavia. respond to the challenge of the visit to He will meet the recently elected Kosovo,” he said. an Ki-moon will visit the former Serbian President, Tomislav Nikolic, “He must declare whether he is Yugoslavia for a week, starting on July 23. going there to visit UN representa- BJuly 19, including Kosovo on Ki-moon is also expected to meet tives, or visiting Kosovo as an inde- July 24 where he is expected to meet Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk pendent state,” Nikolic told journal- the government. Jeremic, recently elected as President ists on Tuesday. Y According to information released of the UN General Assembly. Ki-moon plans to visit Bosnia and M by the UN, Ki-Moon will “meet with Nikolic expressed regret that the Herzegovina on July 25 and 26, a sen- C international and regional organisa- Secretary General plans to visit ior diplomat in Sarajevo told Prishtina K tions and with Kosovo authorities”. Kosovo during his trip, saying it “is Insight. Ki-Moon arrives in Kosovo on July 24 culture July 20 - August 30, 2012 15 Albanians who Saved Jews From Nazis Honoured in Film New film challenges hoary clichés about Muslims by recalling the heroic Albanians who kept 2,000 Jews safe in the Holocaust. Then, fearing that they would suffer from mould, they removed the books from the box and hid By Besar Likmeta them behind a bookshelf. Rexhep kept the secret books until Albania’s Communist regime collapsed in 1991, and then exhep Hoxha still remem- started searching for the owners. bers vividly the day in 1967 Despite contacting several peo- when his father shared a R ple through the Albania-Israeli family secret that he would go on Friendship Foundation, he had no to guard for nearly half-a-century. success until one day US photogra- Then under the grip of the pher Norman Gersham showed up Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha, at his door. Albania had just declared itself Gersham had visited the the world’s first atheist state. Holocaust Museum in Washington Hoxha’s Communists banned and noticed a rare white spot on any public expression of religion the map of Europe, where it seems and burned holy books and that Jews had not been persecuted. objects. Enthralled by the story, Thousands of mosques and Gersham came to Tirana to docu- churches were either destroyed or ment the untold story of men and turned into cultural centres, DP Neil Barrett, Director Rachel Goslins, and Norman Gershman on location in Tirana, Albania. | Photo courtey JWM Productions, LLC women who had saved the lives of barns, gyms and warehouses. nearly 2,000 Jews who moved to and emotional storytelling style, “The fact that Rexhep’s story of Albania’s centennial anniver- A Jewish family that had found Albania in the war to escape perse- Besa: The Promise challenges not only really happened, but that sary. shelter in Rexhep Hoxha’s house cution. some fundamental assumptions we had the privilege to discover “This documentary is irreplace- during the Second World War had “This promise that was made about the presumed enmity and document it, is one of those able in order to show the values left behind three prayer books, and was very important for the princi- between Islam and Judaism, rare gifts from the documentary and virtues of our nation,” Rexhep’s father had promised to ples of my family, it’s been a foun- reminding viewers of the power of gods for which I will be forever Berisha said. keep them safe until they returned dation for my life,” Rexhep said. good people to transform the way grateful,” she added. Although the documentary has to collect them. “To keep one’s given word is a we view the world. Now under restricted release, not yet premiered in Albania, it “When the purges against reli- show of responsibility and is More than seven years in the the documentary premiered in a has already set off a debate in the gion happened these books became something that should be cultivat- making, the film reveals the ceremony held at the Holocaust media on whether the history of dangerous materials and we had to ed by all of us,” he added. untold story of the men and Museum in Washington in April the Albanian families who save find a way to hide them,” Rexhep When Rexhep and Gersham met, women of Albania – almost all of attended by Albania’s Prime Jews during the Holocaust is being recalls. an extraordinary and unexpected them Muslims – who faced down Minister, Sali Berisha, mythologized. “They were beautiful books and drama was set in motion, which is the Nazis armed only with their Congressmen and dignitaries. But Rexhep, whose family histo- we were afraid to keep them in now part of cinematic documen- traditional honour code, the besa Berisha described the documen- ry is intertwined with the project, plain view, because a curious visi- tary, Besa: The Promise, directed and saved the lives of nearly 2,000 tary “as one of the most impres- says that what happened cannot be tor could reach for them and dis- by award-winning US director Jews. sive movies that he had seen in his deflated. cover that they were religious Rachel Goslins. “Working on this film for the lifetime.” “This is a story about human books,” he explains. The two men joined together in past five years has been a journey The Albanian premier was so values and they cannot be demys- Rexhep and his father first hid a remarkable quest to find the that has affirmed my faith in impressed with the documentary tified,” he concluded. the books in a wooden box, with Jewish family that had owned the human decency and courage,” that last week he asked his cabinet This article is funded under the holes on top, which they could books and return them. Goslins said in a statement accom- to support its distribution costs in BICCED project, supported by the hide either under the bed. With its well researched history panying the film. Europe, as part of the celebration Swiss Cultural Programme.

Photo News

Prizren’s Dokufest Breaks Records: Dokufest again set new standards for itself in its 11th incarnation. The festival host- ed more than 300 filmmakers and film professionals with a record number of 25,000 visitors to screen- ings and other Y activities. M C K 16 July 20 - August 30, 2012 Prishtina Insight

Where to pick up Prishtina Insight?

A taste of Napoli in Prishtina. Hotel Prishtina Prishtina Insight has After ten years of Hotel Prishtina’s teamed up with these making pizza in 43 charming guest excellent venues to Napoli, and only rooms and suites are with love to blame, reminiscent of a offer a limited num- Fatmir the chef small hotel in the returned to European tradition. ber of complimentary Prishtina. His piz- You'll immediately copies of Kosovo’s zas, made in a feel at home in our woodburn stove, living room, sipping a only English-lan- are definitely gen- glass of wine in our guage newspaper. uine napolitanas. fine restaurant sur- For those who con- rounded by a gallery Grab a copy of the sider pizza to be of paintings by local publication and settle boring, Fatmir has artists. several pastas on The hotel offers free, down with a drink or offer, also a true joy for the taste buds. Napoli has an excellent selec- fast wifi internet, com- a meal to read it. tion of red and white wines or, for the more ambitious, one of the plimentary breakfast, region's best quince raki. Napoli makes for delicious lunch, dinner or conference room, even after-theatre time out in the centre of Prishtina. swimming pool, sauna and laundry service. Pizzeria Napoli Hotel Prishtina, off Luan Haradinaj, opposite Newborn St. Vaso Pasha nr. 20 044/409-402402 +381 38 / 22 32 84

Hotel AFA Te Komiteti Located in a quiet neighbourhood just Te Komiteti’s large trees and a beauti- outside the city centre, Hotel Afa can fully garden, which surround the small guarantee guests a peaceful night while outdoor terrace, give you an impression being within walking distance of all the of an exclusive place for ordinary peo- action. The venue has won a host of ple. And this is exactly what it is. From awards for its excellent service to cus- brunch to lunch-time snacks and special tomers and offers a good range of facili- evening meals, this restaurant offers ties, from an exclusive restaurant and dishes comprising quality, varied ingredi- VIP bar to pretty, tranquil gardens. ents, combined to perfection. Alongside Rooms start at 45 euro for a single, and one of Prishtina’s best ‘modern luxury rooms and apartments are avail- European’ style menus, you’ll also find a able. The hotel’s rooms are well appoint- good selection of wine, and great san- ed and comfortable. gria and cocktails . 15, Rr Ali Kelmendi, Te Komiteti Sunny Hill, Prishtina Qamil Hoxha Street +381 38/225 226 Prishtina www. hotelafa. com +381 38 24 96 63

Restorant Brasserie Lura Paddy O’Brien’s Papillon Bistro Bar At 450-metres squared Restaurant Lura is as spacious as The staff at Newly reopened bar in Prishtina, you get in Prishtina. It’s also surrounded by the towering Paddy O’Brien’s Papillon, offers more than 60 types of wines trees of Germia and offers a pleasant garden where, in the have a saying: “It’s from France, Italy, Spain, and Kosovo with summer, this eatery prepares food al fresco. It’s large meet- easy to walk in, but ideal prices and delicious dishes. ing room is also ideal for that private lunch or dinner. very hard to leave.” They serve pasta, sandwiches, salads and The combined style of classical and modern interior And with its different appetizers. leaves you with an impression of refined taste. warm atmosphere, You can also try different types of local or The newly opened restaurant is already famous for its fantastic range of international beers. Mediterranean specialties, exquisite seafood and fine drinks and excel- The bar, with it’s stunning, new design, is selections of Italian, French and local wines. But that’s not lent food, it is easy located in the centre of Prishtina, near all, for music lovers, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to see why. ProCredit Bank headquarter, RTK radio night dinners are accompanied by jazz, whereas on There have been centre, and the Mother Teresa cathedral. Saturdays local patriots can enjoy live traditional many attempts to Albanian music. establish a proper Papillon Lura Restaurant Irish pub in Mother Teresa Str. Nr. 51 A Str. Nazmi Gaffuri • 10 000 Prishtina • +381 (0)38 763 763 ; Prishtina, but this [email protected] +386 (0)49 763 763 • www.lurarestaurant.com is the only one to 044 103 310 [email protected] hit the spot. From classic coffees to cocktails, via, of course, Guinness, you really wont find it difficult to select the perfect drink. A mouth-watering menu of Irish specialties is also on offer, spanning from all-day breakfasts to Irish stews at night. Options include shepherd’s pie, bangers and mash, fish ‘n chips, and whopping great burgers. Thursday is pub quiz night, but there is always something going on at the pub, whether it is sport screenings or just a good shindig. Paddy O’Brien’s Y Tringe Smajli Street, by the Illyria Hotel M Prishtina: 045-420900 C K By Shengjyl Osmani July 20 - August 30, 2012 17 in Prishtina Timeout Contact Prishtina Insight if you would like your event to feature or to advertise your venue. Email [email protected] Stacion - Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina

Tuesday, June 26, 2012 During July, Anri Sala the cinema 3-2-1...Long Sorrow screens the brand new Opening at 8 pm. Spider Man With the 3-2-1 performance featuring free jazz musician movie, “The Pierre Borel, responding on saxophone to the recording of Amazing Jemeel Moondoc. Spiderman”. Like most Wednesday, June 27, 2012 teenagers his Artist talk with Anri Sala at 20:00hrs. age, Peter [played by Andrew Anri Sala was born in 1974 in Tirana. He is a contempo- Garfield] is try- rary artist whose primary medium is video. He studied ing to figure out art at the Albanian Academy of Arts from 1992 to 1996, who he is and video at the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs of Paris how to be the and film direction in Le Fresnoy-Studio National des Arts person he is Contemporains, Tourcoing. He lives and works in Berlin. today. In his jour- To name a few of his works: Dammi i Colori (2005), Long ney to put the Sorrow (2005), Intervista (1999), Nocturnes – 1999, 1395 pieces of his past together he uncovers a secret that Days Without Red (2011). Sala has been part of the most his father [Campbell Scott] held – a secret that will important international events, such as the European ultimately shape his destiny as Spiderman. This is Biennial, Manifesta – 2000, Venice Biennial – 2003, the first in a series of movies that tells a different Istanbul Biennial - 2003, Tirana Biennial – 2003 – 2009, side of the Peter Parker story. Sidney Biennial – 2006, Documenta 2012. He’s also received many international awards among which, Prix Gilles Dussein – 2000, Best Young Artist, Venice Biennial Soon, the cinema – 2003, Absolut Award – 2011. will start screen- Anri Sala’s works reflect a very special perspective on ing “Total Recall how we see the world, a view that mixes reflections on his- 2012” movie. tory, memory and instantaneous ephemeral conscious- ness, with an unparalleled dedication and attention to the 1, 2011, in which French saxophonist Pierre Borel responds Total Recall is an present. He has a unique talent for sharp and accurate live to Long Sorrow. 3-2-1 begins with Borel accompanying upcoming 2012 realisations, as well as a special ability to create installa- an audio recording of Moondoc’s improvisation with his American science tions and spatial proposals which include sounds, images, own earlier performance on film, playing in the garden fiction action film sculptures, films or live performances. area of Stacion, resulting thus in a ‘trio’: the film, the audio remake of the 1990 Long Sorrow, 2005, filmed on the eponymous public hous- recording and the live performance. Borel then plays live film of the same ing estate in Berlin, is an enigmatic record of a perform- with the film Long Sorrow in the inner space of Stacion, a name, which is ance orchestrated by the artist. Sala invited noted free jazz ‘duet’, before finally performing a solo after the film ends. based on the 1966 musician Jemeel Moondoc to perform while suspended out- 3-2-1 punctuates the fixed cycle of the show with an impro- short story "We side the window of an empty apartment on the eighteenth vised element, integrating the strands of film and perform- Can Remember It floor. Through details and close ups of the musician’s eyes ance that run through Sala’s work. for You and facial expressions we get a first-hand experience of the The performance 3-2-1 was first created for Anri Sala’s Wholesale" by adrenaline rush running through his body. It’s this rush solo show at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 2011. Philip K. Dick. that dictate his musical performance, while its sound con- Unlike the origi- veys the bodily experience of the architectonic space and nal 1990 film, the The exhibition of Anri Sala at Stacion - Center for its dimensions. Suspending him in space and denying him plot of this new version lacks a trip to Mars and con- Contemporary Art Prishtina is supported by: Ambassade the possibility to express himself through words or human tains strong political overtones. In addition, the film de France au Kosovo, Ministry of Culture, Youth and also blends Western and Eastern influences together, voice, opens up for a phenomenological relation between Sports of the Republic of Kosovo, Ministry of Foreign due to the fact that the two nation states, New the body and the space, a relation in which the analytic Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo, Directorate for Culture, Shanghai and Euroamerica are battling for political capacity of human intelect is entirely reduced, while the Youth and Sports of the Municipality of Prishtina, Hotel power. brains has become merely a mechanism that responds to Nartel, Arda Rei, Ujë Rugove, Technomarket, Europlakat, the spatial stimuli percieved through every extremity of KTV, Klan Kosova, X-print, 3V studio and DZG. the musician’s body. For more: 038-222-576; E-mail: [email protected] For any further questions or reservations call at 038 243 For the show at Stacion, Sala stages the performance 3-2- www.stacion.org 238 or visit them at www.kinoabc.com Dodona Theatre Prishtina Diary Oda Theatre Every Tuesday at 8 pm Friday, July 20, 2012 Tre Gjermanët e Trashë II Prime Club, DJ Blunt & Real 1 (Three Fat Germans II) Saturday, July 21, 2012 Troja concert, Germia Swimming Pool Every Thursday 7.30pm Thanks to this play you will understand Tickets on sale at the door entry, consting 3 euro. Çifti i Hapur is being staged “What did Brigel say when he asked for a Concert starts at 9 pm. with the text of Italian authors drink?”; “Why Hans didn’t let him drink Dario Fo and Franca Rame, Mojito?”; “How did Gani experience his 21st directed by Kushtrim Koliqi snow?”; “Is Vukashin really Ukshin?”; “Does A man proposes to his wife of KFOR-ja still work for KFOR or she just loves eliminating the concept of mar- him?” tial loyalty and creating an Author: Lirak Celaj; Producer: Florent “open relationship” in their Mehmeti; Roles: Naser Rafuna, Adrian Morina, lives. The woman rejects this Kushtrim Sheremeti, Lirak Celaj, Fisnik Ademi, and after several attempts of Ard Islami, Arta Selimi, Florent Mehmeti. suicide, she decides to accept her husband’s offer because in If It Was a Play - Every Thursday 8pm fact it’s the only way to remain Based on the drama by Almir Imshireviq. Director: Agon Myftari. married. The man is happy. He, On bus number 4, during wartime in Prishtina, a 26 years old, wearing jeans, is no longer needs to hide his girl- near Hotel Union, when a sniper bullet breaks the glass and shoots the youngster friends and is released from in the neck. A lady wearing white, who was next to him starts to scream. When feelings of guilt. Cast: Edona she sees the blood in her shirt she faints. Starring: Rebeka Qena, Adrian Morina, Reshitaj and Besart Sllamniku. Armend Ismajli, Besnik Krapi. Y For more details email; teatri- M For more information call +381 (0)38 246 555 or write [email protected]; C [email protected]. [email protected] K 18 July 20 - August 30, 2012 inside prishtina Scandal-Hit Firm to Build Both Kosovo’s Landmark Squares The construction of two central squares in Prishtina has been beset by problems, including rowing contractors, cancelled tenders and fears of “radioactive stones”. the square related to the supply of paving stones, after the municipal- ity realized that they had not asked By Petrit Collaku for radioactivity tests. The Public Procurement Regulatory Committee, which was company with a history of consulted about the new tender, overcharging is now the told Prishtina Insight that this Amain contractor to build partly due to the municipality’s two prestigious new squares in the failure to seek analysis from sup- capital of Kosovo in deals worth pliers concerning radioactivity more than 10 million euro. levels. Ibrahim Rugova and Zahir When stones were laid in the Pajaziti squares are intended to nearby Mother Teresa Boulevard provide Prishtina with a central in 2007, Prishtina was awash with focal point for the first time. rumours, reported in the press, Ringed by the government about alleged radioactivity of the building, parliament, the former granite. Express newspaper Union Hotel and the statue of the reported at the time that the Albanian warrior Skanderbeg, Institute for Safety at Work had Ibrahim Rugova Square will con- found high levels of radioactivity, tain a statue of Kosovo’s first pres- although this was never officially ident as well as a fountain. confirmed. Work on the Ibrahim Rugova Square in central Prishtina (above) is well behind schedule But the choice of All Zone as the The municipality said there was main contractor is highly contro- Ekrem Rexha, head of procure- Fast NP and Ideal Solutions – were how the evaluating committee had nothing amiss about the second versial as the firm has previously ment at the municipality, would closely linked, with common own- arrived at the figure of 300,000 euro tender and it was being held as a been exposed for overcharging the not comment on the issue. ers, officials, phone numbers and for the fire engine. result of earlier “miscalculations”. city for fire engines. Prishtina Insight has made an addresses. “The price paid is 27 times high- In a consortium with two other It was also investigated by pros- official request to see the docu- This suggested collusion er than customs estimated [its firms, All Zone won this tender, ecutors over allegations that it ments regarding the tender under between the companies in order to value],” the auditors’ report said. too, in June, for 2.2 million. The rigged the bidding process. This Access to Public Documents laws. artificially increase the price. “We were not able to find any municipality said it would not add investigation was dropped in Documents obtained by BIRN explanation as to how the evalua- to the overall cost of the square. March, however. listed Gazmend Kelmendi as chief tion committee arrived at this All Zone has in the meantime History of overcharging: executive of All Zone, but other amount [300,000 euro] in reference snapped up the contract for the All Zone is a firm that comes documents related to All Zone to the awarded contract,” it con- Radical changes of plan: city’s other square. with a good deal of historical bag- were signed by Valon Zymberi, cluded. Two other firms, Sted Group The municipality has been gage. who is now listed as the official Following Prishtina Insight’s Kosovo and Conex Group were forced to make radical changes to The company notoriously sold a owner at Kosovo’s business regis- revelations, prosecutors launched originally selected in 2011 to work the construction of the two main fire engine to the municipality in tration office. an investigation into whether on Zahir Pajaziti Square in a deal squares in recent months. May 2009 for 30 times its cost Significantly, Kelmendi also fraud had occurred. But the case worth 4.5 million euro. In October 2001 it was price, an investigation by signed the bid on behalf of Fast was dropped in March owing to But the municipality appears to announced that All Zone had won Prishtina Insight revealed last NP, while Zymberi signed on lack of evidence. have unofficially cancelled the the 4.3million euro deal to con- year. behalf of Pro Trade. Fitim All Zone and Pro Trade have original tender, held a new one, struct Ibrahim Rugova Square, While the municipality paid Jetullahu signed the bid for Ideal gone on to win a series of contracts and awarded the contract to All with another firm, ABC, within close to 300,000 euro for the vehi- Solutions. with the municipality, including Zone, along with two other firms. five months. cle, documents showed it had been All four firms were registered at for the supply of fire engines. Work on this square has not Work on the site began on March bought in Germany for just 11,000 Kosovo’s Business Registration All Zone was also involved in the begun, although the municipality 16, following the review of com- euro. Agency on the same day, January construction of a new underpass in March said that it would begin plaints from the losing bids. The investigation also showed 27, 2009, and three of the compa- under Bill Clinton Boulevard, shortly. But Prishtina Insight has since that All Zone bought two trucks nies appear to have almost identi- another high-profile infrastruc- “They said they’d made some learned that ABC, the more experi- and assembled them inside cal addresses in the Dardania ture project tendered by the munic- mistakes in the project, and so on,” enced construction company, has Kosovo into one fire engine, which neighbourhood of the city ipality. Veton Fetahu, owner of Conex withdrawn from the consortium is widely deemed unsafe. The landline phone number list- Valon Zymberi declined to speak Group, said. following disagreements between On the day it was delivered to ed for All Zone on a letter to sent to to Prishtina Insight. The municipality changed the the two firms. the brigade, the engine began to Prishtina municipality is the same At a press conference on tender without notifying the “We’ve withdrawn from co-oper- leak oil and some firefighters have as one listed for Ideal Solutions in Wednesday, head of procurement Public Procurement Regulatory ation because of some disagree- refused to use it to this day. a contract award for another ten- Rexha stressed that despite “some Commission, PPRC, even though ments. That’s all I can say,” ABC This newspaper’s investigation der. obstacles”, Ibrahim Rugova the second tender saw costs owner Arben Jetullahu said. also showed that all four compa- A report of the Office of the Square was going according to increase by 200,000 euro to 4.7 mil- The city has also been forced to nies bidding for the fire engine Auditor General last year said plan and the first stones would be lion euro. put out a new tender for work on contract – All Zone, Pro Trade, auditors were unable to ascertain laid this month.

Photo News:

French Ambassador Unveils Photo Exhibition: French Ambassador in Prishtina Jean Francois Fitou opened the photo exhibition "Panorama of Kosovo cities", on the French national day, July 14. The exhibition at the Embassy of France in Prishtina is com- posed of snaps taken by stu- dents. Y The Association of Professional M Journalist of Kosovo also took C project. K inside prishtina July 20 - August 30, 2012 19 Attack on Prominent Kosovo Journalist Condemned eporters Without Borders has con- join the European Union could allow cultural event in the western district of demned the assault on Halil Matoshi, impunity to prevail.” Dardania. Ra reporter and political analyst, who Matoshi, who writes for the daily newspa- According to information obtained by was attacked this week in Prishtina. per Koha Ditore, was attacked while return- Reporters Without Borders, two of his Matoshi was attacked on July 10 by three ing home from assailants punched and kicked him while unidentified men, one of them armed with a the third tried repeatedly to stab knife, on a street of the capital, but him. He managed to fend off escaped with relatively minor the knife blows with his bag injuries. until his assailants fled at the “We are shocked by approach of passers-by. the extreme violence of After being treated at this attack,” Reporters hospital, Matoshi was able Without Borders said. to go home. The police “Targeting such a said they were investi- prominent member of gating the assault. the national media, one Matoshi is one of Journalist Halil Matoshi known for criticizing the Kosovo's best known ing on a revised version of the criminal government, will send media commentators, who code, two articles of which, 37 and 38, are a very disturbing mes- has made a name for him- deemed to pose a serious threat to media sage to all of Kosovo’s self with his uncompro- freedom. These have now been dropped. journalists. It will intimi- mising analyses of “This assault, which could have proved date them and encourage Kosovar politics and his fatal for Matoshi, is indicative of the hostil- them to censor themselves," outspoken criticism of the ity to which the independent media are it added. government, corruption exposed,” Reporters Without Borders con- “We urge the competent and other subjects that tinued. “It is absolutely essential that jour- authorities to do everything most journalist regard as nalists receive better protection, one based possible to bring those respon- off-limits. on precise laws that enable them to work sible to justice. The possibility The attack came follow- without fear.” that this attack was linked to the ing a battle between Kosovo is ranked 87th out of 179 countries victim’s work must not be ruled out. It is President Atifete Jahjaga and in the Reporters Without Borders press free- unthinkable that a country that wants to a parliamentarians who were insist- dom index. Cheryl Johnson, Movie Producer

1.What surprised you most 5. Ban traffic. about Prishtina? 1. Its vibrant heartbeat. 6. How many macchiatos do/did you drink a day? 2. What's/was your favorite 6. Between 6 - 10 best macciatos in hangout? the world. 2. Renaissance 7. What's the tastiest Kosovar 3. Do/did you do anything cul- food? tural? 7. Flia homemade by friends with 3. Yes, Listen to live music, go to pear preserve (pears from their own theatre, fashion shows, boxing trees) and yogourt (from moun- match! tain village) eaten outside with a view of 4. What is the most annoying snow capped mountains in the thing about Prishtina? distance (Peja) 4. Bad air. 8. What landmark do you use 5. If you were mayor of to tell taxi drivers where you Prishtina for the day what would live/lived? Prishtina through the Eyes of: the Eyes through Prishtina you change? 8. Hotel Victory marketing 20 July 20 - August 30, 2012 opinion Supermarket Forces

the plums are from Belgium and the garlic By Ana Benacic has travelled half way around the globe. Like so many of our products, it has come from China. can see why our mangoes come from Meanwhile, the supermarket’s advertis- Italy, our avocados from Brazil and our ing urges shoppers to “buy Croatian prod- Ibananas from Ecuador. Croatia has ucts!” They ought to carry some small print never excelled at cultivating these. below the slogan: “…if you can find them.” But why do we import tomatoes from Of course, we do grow our own cabbages, Morocco, onions from Turkey, and paprika, apples, strawberries and potatoes. But I zucchini and aubergines from Spain or the nonetheless wonder how a country can Netherlands? After all, these are crops that afford so much produce from the global we know how to grow. market when it has a wheezing economy, And why do we bring our almonds all the with scarcely more workers than pension- way from the US, when they could be har- ers. vested in Dalmatia? Much of the southern According to the national Chamber of prices that are imposed on us by traders.” But some people in the business have still coast is covered in almond trees. Their Commerce, we import 80 percent of our sea- He says domestic producers cannot even managed to get rich. According to Forbes white blossom appears early in the spring, sonal fruit. Local farmers blame state poli- afford to buy cold storage units for their magazine, some 14 of the 20 wealthiest peo- forming an exotic contrast to northern cy for squeezing them out of the market. produce. Loans are prohibitively expensive. ple in Croatia made their fortunes through Croatia where the trees are still bare. "We are desperate,” says Đuro Vuković, Đuro wishes he had never asked his son, exploiting the land, through processing and A glance at the labels in one of our who grows apricots and plums. “We cannot who studied agriculture, to join him in the distributing its produce. What could be the biggest supermarkets will also tell you that fight against uncontrolled imports and business. Hard work does not pay, he says. secret of their success? Degrees of Frustration

By Samir Kajosevic

ack from university, Valon Arifi learnt a bitter lesson – a diploma in Bdesign was no guarantee of employ- ment in the Presevo Valley. Valon left his hometown after a brief con- flict between the military and rebels from the ethnic Albanian population, who form a majority in this impoverished pocket of southern Serbia. He completed his studies in Pristina, the capital of neighbouring Kosovo, where an ethnic Albanian majority has formed an over the local government in Presevo, Valon complains that he can only make armed rebellion more than a decade ago. independent state. Valon says the best public sector jobs have a living as a DJ at a local club, despite his Although they have more rights now, they As a student, Valon believed that more gone to their friends and supporters. qualifications. Yet he is luckier than have fewer funds. Political squabbles and clout for his community back home would “I thought it would be better if the many of his peers, in that he has an Serbian army trucks appear to be the give them more openings on the job mar- Albanians came to power,” he says, run- income. main legacy of the conflict. ket. He was disappointed. ning his fingers over his bald head. “Now Ethnic Albanians in Presevo have Local factories have shut down and Since ethnic Albanian politicians took I see that everything is the same.” begun questioning the impact of the investors have been scared away. There is only one hotel in the region and most of the shops close at six pm. In an already weak job market, young Albanians face an additional hurdle. Many finished their studies in institu- tions in Tirana, Tetovo and Pristina, where they were taught in their own lan- guage. Their qualifications are not recog- nised by the Serbian state. This may be why the bar where Valon worked was full of ethnic Albanians, even though it was a week day. Graduates here seem to spend much of their time drink- ing and listening to loud music. Those who get tired of this routine look to emigrate. Serbs search for work in the big cities of Belgrade and Nis, while the ethnic Albanians try their luck in west- ern Europe. Some politicians claim tens of thousands of young people have left Presevo since the EU eased visa restric- tions on Serbian citizens in 2010. Valon says many of his friends are in Switzerland or Germany. “I will try to work as a designer in Tirana,” he says, adding that he too will look beyond the region if he can’t make it in Albania. Editor’s note: As a result of the EU-bro- kered negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia, the first 73 diplomas from Kosovo were certified a fortnight ago, in line with Y the European Universities Association’s M A patriot’s duty agreement, and will be recognised in C Serbia. K opinion July 20 - August 30, 2012 21 The cleric’s legacy Outside In Kosovo’s By Arbana Xharra Contrasts he new mosque dominates the sky- line of Marina, a village of narrow Tstreets and high-walled houses in Kosovo’s central region of Drenica. I trav- elled there recently to meet the followers By Kreshnik Hoxha of Xhemajl Duka, a cleric who had over- seen the mosque’s construction. Jusuf Mziu says the village would not ith a hypertension-causing Prime have accepted aid from an extremist. Minister, Vatican-style interferences of A young man who had been working Wthe US Embassy, a troubled northern Kosovo, a President who challenges Kosovo’s outside his house guided me, walking patriarchal society, a parliament that can lecture through cobbled lanes on his worn-out Hollywood on drama production, a paralysed shoes. The village was quiet, except for the opposition, and a cracking coalition, Kosovo has barking of dogs. Curious eyes followed us, been relentlessly confusing people across the peering from through half-open wooden world. doors. As Prishtina Insight prepares to take its sum- Xhemajl Duka, also known as Imam Jusuf Mziu says the village would not have accepted aid from an extremist. mer break, a review of Kosovo on the main two Kastriot, moved to Kosovo in 1999, shortly developments over the last eleven months seems after the war. Ten years later, he was he admired Imam Kastriot and had seen Outside the village however, the cleric’s like a good way of wrapping up this season and deported to his native Albania amid accu- no evidence of his rumoured radicalism. message provoked alarm. In the nearby marking the third birthday of Outside-In. sations that he was promoting Islamic rad- “Of course, if he really had anything to town of Skenderaj, Ajnishahe Halimi Viewing the rhombus-shaped country from the icalism. The mosque he had built was shut do with extremism, we would not accept spearheaded a petition against Imam British Isles has been engaging. But, many a time down on the grounds that it had operated his help,” he said. Kastriot that attracted thousands of signa- has it caused me frustration when observing the outside the control of Kosovo’s central I approached some of the village’s wid- tures two years ago. stagnation in many spheres of life in Kosovo. Islamic authority. ows, who had lost their husbands during As the head of a local NGO that cam- For the majority of this writing season, Hamid Kelmendi, the owner of a house the war. They were reluctant to speak to paigns for women’s rights, Halimi was Outside-In focused on the developments in north- near the mosque, said Duka had been his me without the permission of a male head particularly concerned by reports that the ern Kosovo, which has been smothered by barri- guest. He said the cleric, or imam, had also of the family, in keeping with their strict imam was urging young girls to wear the cades attempting to stop Prishtina from extend- helped build several wells to improve the conservative mores. However, they Islamic veil. ing its power to this Serb dominated region. water supply. acknowledged that they had received Two years after the deportation of Nearly a year after these events, northern Kosovo “He only wanted to help the poor people financial aid from the mosque. The women Imam Kastriot, his legacy remains divi- today is still deadlocked and ethnic hatred contin- in this village,” says Kelmendi. “He did a also said their children had attended sive. While some followers in Marina ues to simmer. lot for us.” Islamic lessons there, and that there was praise his charitable work, his conserva- I am certain many of you will remember the Jusuf Mziu, an old man sitting in his nothing untoward in what they were tive message is regarded by others as a statements from the government regarding the garden with his cousin and his son, said taught. threat to a more secular way of life. “major, coordinated action” of the Kosovo Police in July 2011 to take control of the border cross- ings in Jarinje and Brnjak. But, I am also certain your memory will not fail you in recalling the out- come of this attempt which brought to Kosovo the The Eagle is Grounded concept of “sovereignty with helicopters”, all this billed to EU’s taxpayer. It appears that “progress” on resolving problems in the north is caught up in barricades and cannot proceed further. If it wasn’t northern Kosovo, it was the drama By Aleksandar Manasiev between Edita Tahiri and Borko Stefanovic that kept us all busy until Serbia decided to call it a hadn’t gone to Thessaloniki to write day and have new elections. While many about hooligans. But nor could I walk Kosovars regarded the negotiations as highly Iaway from the courthouse without dis- dangerous for Kosovo and called for them to end, covering why heavily armed police were talks between Kosovo and Serbia was necessary. holding back a crowd of angry young men However, Kosovo failed to play the game to its at its gates. advantage and this further raised doubts about The elections and the economic crisis the process. had brought me to Greece, but while I was The delegation led by Edita Tahiri failed to bid there, I would also see their impact on a higher with conditions when a weak Serbia was story I had been following back home – the desperate for the candidate status. In the end, the culture of hardcore football hooliganism. EU-facilitated dialogue brought a footnote to The crowd of men outside the court- Kosovo’s name and a candidate status to Serbia’s house was about a hundred strong. future. Dressed mostly in black, they were trying The controversial footnote became a major problem both in Serbia and in Kosovo, used by to get into the building but had been Supporters of a local Thessaloniki team protest outside of court restrained by the police. The officers were nationalists on both sides. But, we just need to look back to July 2010 and realise that a complete- equipped with guns, batons and tear-gas Thessaloniki. the stated intention of defending Greek ly new denomination for Kosovo was on the table. grenades – but had so far not used them. They refused to be photographed from national pride inside the stadium. They up close so I had to take my picture from have been accused of extending that Back then, we were all preoccupied with the The midday sun shone over Greece’s afar. Even then, the message from their “defence” to the streets through violence aftermath of the ICJ decision on Kosovo’s decla- second-largest city, heightening the ten- eyes was unmistakable: “You’re not wel- and thuggery. ration of independence. There was a feeling of sion. The country was already on a knife- come, get lost!” In Thessaloniki, I understood that the hope that our politicians would use this to the edge because of the sovereign debt crisis The men outside the courthouse had economic crisis affected every aspect of advantage of the country and consolidate their that had threatened its membership of gathered to demand the release of 34 life in Greece – even the quality of foot- lobbying to bring about the long-promised recog- the euro-zone and the very survival of the PAOK supporters who had been arrested ball. The widespread despair was an ideal nitions. Two years later, we find ourselves strug- euro itself. A recent parliamentary elec- that very day on suspicion of hooligan- backdrop for the rise of neo-Nazi ideolo- gling to recite the correct number of recognitions tion had been inconclusive, another one ism. A police officer told me that the gies, as well as hooliganism. to the extent that every government official uses was about to take place. Many wondered if affair had nothing to do with politics, or The police operation in Thessaloniki their own figure of choice. it would deliver more seats for the neo- with sports. also uncovered drugs, weapons and large Progress, employment, prosperity, democracy, Nazi party, Golden Dawn. But my assumption that these guys amounts of cash, suggesting that the tar- freedom of speech exist in Prime Minister’s At first glance, I assumed the crowd out- were members of Golden Dawn was not gets were not your ordinary football fans. speeches, but at the same time regress, unemploy- side the courtroom were supporters of entirely baseless. PAOK’s emblem features a sombre, dou- ment, poverty, anarchy, censorship exist in our this party. But after speaking to the police Over the last decade, some Golden ble-headed eagle with folded wings. The routine. and some of the men, I realised they were Dawn members have formed the hooligan bird’s ominous appearance suited the Welcome to Kosovo, a land of contrasts. fans of the local football club, PAOK firm Galazia Stratia (Blue Army), with mood outside the courthouse. See you in September!

If you would like your NGO to appear in our Making a Difference feature, please email [email protected] 22 July 20 - August 30, 2012 Community Focus Ecosovo Foraging – the art of food that’s wild, free and locally-grown

By Elizabeth Gowing

here’s a feral frisson to the idea of foraging – it brings to mind leathery-skinned wise old men of Tthe hills with eyes that glint like juniper berries and the knowledge of how to make acorn coffee. Are you sure you wouldn’t want to become one of them? If not, you can relax in the knowledge that foraging is actually now rather fashionable. And you may in fact Elderflower can be turned into a great, free treat have been doing it for much of your life – think of those parking lots and countryside, you can buy the dried ver- blackberries you picked on your last walk through the sion from the company Natyra in Gjilan (044 425003). countryside. And today’s foraging is often tomorrow’s Use them in soups or as an alternative in any recipe gourmet treat – salad rocket/ rucola was treated as a requiring spinach; I recently concocted an excellent net- weed and only collected growing wild until the 1990s, but tle and almond pesto recipe I made up with some olive oil, now no smart restaurant in Prishtina or elsewhere in lemon juice and garlic. Europe would dare to offer a menu without it. And if you want a refreshing drink made entirely in So what are the upcoming forager foods available in Kosovo to wash down your nettle dish, go elderflower Kosovo? As well as blackberries, whose season is coming Profile: Kosovo’s picking. up, I would urge you to treat yourself this summer to a Elderflowers are abundant in Kosovo (I saw most in locally-produced leaf vegetable, and to a refreshing sum- Velika Hoça, but they are common in most rural regions) mer drink. Bob Marley and have a delicious, light floral scent and are very versa- The leaf is nettles. Kosovars have traditionally used tile – they can be eaten raw as well as being boiled up In 2010, a group of individu- nettles, especially to celebrate St George’s Day (marked (just the flowers – not the poisonous stems or leaves) with als from different communi- here by people of all faiths according to the Orthodox cal- lemon and sugar/ honey to make a syrup which you can ties established “Gypsy endar, on May 6) when all kinds of pre-Christian rituals then dilute to taste with sparkling water. Groove” and Kafu says that it require the use of nettles. Some people say you have to By Egzon Avdullahi Other meals I have happily foraged in Kosovo include gelled immediately. The band sleep the night before with them under your pillow. Some boletus mushrooms – huge mushroom heads I found in plays Roma music from the say you have to have a bath with nettle leaves in the water the beech forests of the Llap region (but please go with entire Balkans, and is influ- or flick water with a nettle stalk at each member of the afu earned his reputa- someone who knows what they’re looking for so you enced by other musical genres family for health and prosperity (when I asked one fami- tion from singing don’t poison yourself), wild strawberries, blueberries such as jazz, reggae, funk and ly about these traditions they dismissed them, saying KQur’anic verses. But drum n’ bass. and raspberries in Rugova, walnuts in Deçan (and in the they sounded ridiculous, but that what you had to do was then he found Bob Marley and “The inclusion of music gardens of Prishtina’s Ethnological Museum), mulber- was inspired to created a new put the nettles on your head…). from around the world in a ries not only in the grounds of Prishtina University (I bet music band , Gypsy Groove, But what everyone can agree is delicious is using the genre of our own is very cool. there are none there by the time you get there as the local fusing Balkans Roma music, nettles rather like spinach in recipes such as pite pie. I think that we’re the first kids know that tree very well) but also in Dranoc, and mixed with jazz and reggae. Nettles have more vitamins and minerals than either band that creates such music,” marjoram for mountain tea in Peja. Once you start look- His grandfather played the spinach or broccoli, so they are very good for you, and said Kafu. ing at Kosovo’s abundance, you realize that here there is violin and his uncle was a they are freely available. Initially there were strug- indeed such a thing as a free lunch. singer. Bajram Kinolli, known Young nettles are inevitably the tastiest and taking the gles and opposition, as this Elizabeth Gowing is a founder of The Ideas as Kafu, is one of a long line of tips (the top 5 or so leaves from each stem) will give you community’s music was not Partnership, a Kosovan NGO working on educational, cul- Gjakova musicians. They the best flavour. Don’t eat them once they have started to widely known. “However, we tural and environmental projects. She is also the author of were his first inspiration and form flowers. were lucky enough to find a the recently-published, Travels in Blood and Honey; he started to hone his musical And don’t they sting? No, not once they’ve been boiled. common language within the becoming a beekeeper in Kosovo. She can be reached on talents early while reciting In Kosovo, as well as being available for free in parks, band,” he says. “This is proof [email protected] verses from the Qur’an. to other people that Roma, Kafu is grateful for the good Ashkali and Egyptians are people who surrounded him Photo News: able to make not only tallava as a child, but he also deserves music, but also jazz, rock, funk praise for not stopping at that. and what not.” He invested great effort in Kafu is also an actor, and establishing his identity, and, recently played in the “Yue in this process, he created his Madeleine Yue” theatrical artistic aura. play, in Prishtina. He says that Between 2004 and 2007, Kafu each individual should follow sang around Gjakova with his his dreams. band “The Strings”. Gjakova There is discrimination always had close ties with from Kosovar society and Albania, so one day Kafu institutions, he adds, against decided to challenge himself the RAE community but cer- there. He cherishes many fond tain communities are discrim- memories from his time spent inated against all over the with different singers there world. over an entire year. “We have to find ways (of Finally, one day he found his most significant source of integration), such as our mul- inspiration – the reggae music tiethnic band comprising hero Bob Marley. Albanians, Ashkali, Roma and After coming back to a half-Turk,” said Kafu, refer- Kosovo, alongside his friend ring to his band. “My family Mirsad, he started to work as claims we’re Egyptians, but I an educator at the Social don’t feel Egyptian, and I don’t Dancing Theater, an organiza- feel Roma or Ashkali. I feel tion that promotes social more like a Kosovar, as I was equality, justice and human raised in this spirit.” rights. Together, they also per- Like many other artists, formed Rock n’ Roll music. Kafu is a skilful preacher of “One day, I said to myself: social policies and identities. why don’t we create a band But “Gypsy Groove” has also BIRN Releases 2011 Annual Court Monitoring Report Y that sings about what we to be listened to for its diverse Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, in Kosovo last week published its annual report on the justice system. M belong too. People told us: approach to another topic - Monitors attended some 2,000 hearings to compile the findings. love. Much like his Jamaican C The report will be available in English at kosovo.birn.eu.com soon. “wow, that is a great idea”,” K Kafu said. inspiration, Mr Marley. July 20 - August 30, 2012 23 Classified Contact Prishtina Insight if you would like to advertise Email [email protected]

Embassies and Liaison Offices in Prishtina

American Address: "Nazim Hikmet" no. 30 Arbëria/Dragodan, 10000 Prishtina Phone: +381 (0) 38 549 516 Austrian Address: "Ahmet Krasniqi" no. 22 Arbëria /Dragodan, 10000 Prishtina Phone: +381 (0) 38 249 284 Belgian Address: "Taslixhe" I, 23 A 10000 Prishtina Phone: +381 (0) 38 734 734 British Address: "Ismail Qemajli" no. 6 Arbëria /Dragodan, 10000 Prishtina Phone: +381 (0) 38 254 700 Bulgarian Address: "Ismail Qemajli" no. 12 Arbëria /Dragodan, 10000 Prishtina Phone: +381 (0) 038 245 540 Dutch Address:" Xhemal Berisha" no. 12 Velania, 10000 Prishtina Phone: +381 (0) 38 224 61 Finnish Str. Perandori Justinian No. 19 Pejton 10 000 Prishtina Phone: +386 43 737 000 French Address: "Ismail Qemajli" no. 67 Arbëria /Dragodan, 10000 Prishtina Phone: +381 (0) 38 22 45 88 00 Greek Address: "Ismail Qemajli" no. 68 Arbëria /Dragodan, 10000 Prishtina Phone: +381 (0) 38 243 013 German Adress: "Azem Jashanica" no. 17 Arbëria /Dragodan, 10000 Prishtina Phone: +381 (0) 38 254 500 Italian Address: "Azem Jashanica" no.5 Arbëria /Dragodan, 10000 Prishtina Phone: +381 (0) 38 244 925 Japanese Address: "Rexhep Malaj" no. 43 10000 Prishtina Alcoholics Anonymous Personal Trainer Phone: +381 (0) 38 249 995 Luxemburg Classified Ads Address: "Metush Krasniqi" no. 14 (English speaking) Mentor Azemi - 044 811 921 Do you have a flat to rent? Position to fill? Students to find for a language Arbëria /Dragodan, 10000 Prishtina course? Why not speak directly to Kosovo’s international community Personal attention and Phone: +381 (0) 38 226 787 through Prishtina Insight’ classified ads. training schedule Malaysian Almost every international organisation, embassy, NGO and many oth- For further information... Time and place of your Address: "Bedri Shala" no. 48 ers subscribe to Kosovo’s only English language newspaper, which is also choice 10000 Prishtina on sale at newsstands in seven cities and received in electronic format by Contact : 3 per week = 150 month Phone: +381 (0) 38 243 467 scores of paying clients across the world. Erik - tel nr.: 044937397 5 per week = 200 month Norwegian (Other schedules possible) Address: "Sejdi Kryeziu" no. 6 10000 Prishtina Phone: +381 (0) 38 232 111 00 Saudia Arabian Easy Medium Hard Address: Dardania SU 7, building 2, #1 y| y |y | 10000 Prishtina Phone: +381 (0) 38 549 203 49 159791 Slovenian Address: "Anton Ceta" no. 6 35887 93 7 10000 Prishtina Phone: +381 (0) 38 244 886 91 4 275 9 469Swedish Str. Perandori Justinian No. 19 96 87 4327 436Pejton 10 000 Prishtina 54789 19 45Phone: +381 38 24 57 95 Swiss 31 5 6 912323 8 Address: "Adrian Krasniqi" no. 11 10000 Prishtina 954 1 823 25 7 Phone: +381 (0) 38 248 088 83 4 68598 Turkish Y Address: "Ismail Qemajli" no. 59 M Arbëria /Dragodan, 10000 Prishtina C 29 76 4 842 Phone: +381 (0) 38 226 044 K 24 July 20 - August 30, 2012 advert

AMAZINGLY AFFORDABLE PRICES

Prishtina ››› Stuttgart › München › Hamburg › Köln › Berlin › Düsseldorf › Hannover › Frankfurt ›

Prishtina ››› Zürich › Genève › Vienna

Skopje ››› Zürich › Düsseldorf

www.flyksa.com Y 038 220 220 M C K