April 12 - 25, 2013 Issue No. 109 www.prishtinainsight.com Price € 1

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NEWS

Opinion: Brussels Should Not Reward Serbia With Membership Talks

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Kosovo Organ TraffickingInspires Kusturica Film

Renowned Serbian film director EmirKusturica has announced that his newmovie will deal with human organ traffick-ing, the focus of a current high-profile trialin Kosovo.

Kusturica said that the film wouldrevolve around ideas from...

page 14culture

Doctor Faces Grilling OverPatient’s Death

Kosovo prosecutors are investigatingallegations that a woman died in the emer-gency room of country’s main public hos-pital after the on-duty doctor went homeearly.

According to an official complaint by asupervising physician at...

page 7news

CULTURE

Prosecutors from the EU ruleof law mission, EULEX, aretaking a keen interest in a

Slovenian corruption investiga-tion that is renewing suspicionsabout the way in which IPKO,Kosovo’s second-largest mobileprovider, secured its operator’slicense six years ago.

“The [EULEX] prosecution islooking into the possibilities of col-laborating with the Slovenian

authorities on similar informationthat can be used for investigationsby both countries,” EULEXspokesperson Blerim Krasniqi toldPrishtina Insight.

Late in March, Slovenia’sNational Bureau of Investigation,NBI, arrested several former top-level officials at the state-ownedSlovenije Telekom, which has helda controlling stake in IPKO since2006.

Central to a wide-ranging corrup-tion investigation are allegations

that Slovenije Telekom paid a bribeof 10 million euro for IPKO, whichat the time was an internet serviceprovider called Ipko Net, to secureits mobile operator’s license, theSlovenian newspaper Dnevnikreported.

The accusations first surfaced inthe Kosovo media in 2007, a yearafter after Kosmocell, a local consor-tium led by Kosovo businessmanEkrem Lluka, won the tender for thelicense with a bid of 81 million euro.

But as Kosmocell did not meet the

payment deadline, the tender wentto the second-highest bidder, IPKO,which offered 75 million euro.

At the time, former US Secretaryof State Madeline Albright, withher company, Albright Group,served as an adviser to IPKO.Albright remains a small sharehold-er.

IPKO is now second-largestmobile phone provider in Kosovoafter the state-owned PTK.

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Slovenian InvestigationEnsnares IPKOCorruption probe into Slovenije Telekom revives accusations that bribery helped secure the mobile phone license ofKosovo’s second-largest provider.

EU Reports Rise inKosovar AsylumSeekers

NEWS

> page 12 - 13

Kosovo Vows toMake North RespectConstitution

NEWS

> page 6

By Parim Olluri

> page 9

Civil Service ChiefBreaks LawWith PDKPosts

> page 4

> page 3

Serbia Sets PrideParade forSeptember

Dervishes in a SpinOverRebuiltTekke

Telekom Slovenije acquired Kosovo's IPKO in 2006. (Photo/Juanma Perez Rabasco)

April 12 - 25, 2013

YMCK

news2

from page 1

In 2012, Albright’s investmentfund, Albright CapitalManagement, withdrew its bid topurchase a majority stake in PTK.The Kosovo CompetitionCommission had warned thata potential purchase wouldraise monopoly issues in thetelecom sector.

The allegations raised in2007, revived in late March bythe Slovenian authorities, sug-gest Lluka deliberatelybotched the deal in exchangefor 10 million euro fromSlovenije Telekom.

Lluka, whose D3 mobilelater became a virtual mobileoperator under IPKO, did notrespond to Prishtina Insight’srequests for comment.

IPKO meanwhile has soughtto distance itself from theinvestigation.

“Recent investigations intoTelekom Slovenije are notassociated with the currentmanagement of TelekomSlovenije or the IPKO compa-ny,” the company said in anews release.

“IPKO’s current leaders arenot part of the investigation,and they remain focused onbusiness growth, consumersatisfaction, new services andcreating value for the IPKO

company and the market inwhich it operates,” the compa-ny added.

A diplomatic cable sent onMarch 16, 2007 by the U.S.Office in Prishtina andreleased by WikiLeaks notedthe accusations. TinaKaidanow, the Chief ofMission, wrote in the cablethat one of the partners of theKosmocell consortium,Kujtesa, had complained to theUS diplomatic office.

Kujtesa, Kaidanow wrote,claimed that Kosmocell hadthe 81 million euro it neededfor the mobile phone license,and that Lluka had pulled outof the deal without consultingthe other partners.

But Kaidanow also wrotethat no compelling evidencesupported the claims: “Whilethe tender process was notparticularly elegant, itappears to have met the crite-ria of fair ness and trans-parency.”

The interest of Slovenianauthorities in the deal, and theseven arrests, suggest that thebribery allegations have moretraction than they appeared tohave six years ago.

In response into the TelekomSlovenije investigation, theopposition Self-Determinationparty this month asked Kosovo

authorities to investigate howIPKO secured the mobile oper-ator’s license.

Self-Deter mination is alsodemanding to know whyKosovo never cashed a 16.2-million-euro bank guaranteethat Kosmocell posted as col-lateral for the tender.

“The investigations inSlovenia have started becausethe public interest has beendamaged. The same is evenmore true for Kosovo,” SelfDetermination said in a state-ment.

According to the rules of thetender, the Kosovo treasury

was owed the 16.2 million euroafter Kosmocell failed to com-plete the license purchase.

A 2011 report from theTelecom Regulatory Authoritysaid that Kosmocell’s bankguarantee came from anItalian financial institutionthat did not exist.

Slovenian media reportsmaintain Telecom Slovenije’sdealings concerning IPKO

have cost its shareholders millionsof euro.

But the purchase for 16.5 millioneuro of a 75-per-cent stake in whatwas then a small Internet ServiceProvider called Ipko Net was agood deal for the companyfounders, including Bujar Musa.

Musa’s role in what is nowcalled IPKO Telecommunicationsremains unclear. While hedescribes himself as a small share-holder, on IPKO’s official businessregistration he appears as a com-pany director.

Musa recently spoke toPrishtina Insight as the Slovenianauthorities scrutinize key transac-tions that helped make IPKO thecompany that it is today.

Asked about the Slovenian alle-gations concerning the purchaseof IPKO, Musa said: “Let them beinvestigated if they have damagedthe budget of their country.”

Musa declined to respond to alle-gations that Telekom Slovenijepaid Kosovo businessman EkremLluka a bribe of 10 million euro toback out of a winning bid for amobile phone license, so IPKOcould get it instead.

But he spoke freely about howTelekom Slovenije came to pur-

chase the company he co-founded.Musa said Ipko Net initially

wanted Telekom Slovenije to pay25 million euro for a majoritystake. But the company did notwant to pay that much.

“We started bargaining. It lastedfor a month. In exchange for sell-ing 75 per cent, not 51 per cent ofshares, we asked SlovenijeTelekom to finance the increase inour capital,” Musa said. “In otherwords, they gave us a loan.”

Musa said this loan allowed himand other shareholders, includingIpko Net’s co-founder, AkanIsmajli, currently Kosovo’s ambas-sador to the US, to increase theirown stakes.

The increased stakes in turn ledto greater profits.

Ismajli did not respond toPrishtina Insight’s inquiries aboutSlovenije Telekom’s acquisition.

IPKO also had powerful helpalong the way from MadeleineAlbright, former US Secretary ofState.

Musa said he enlisted Albright’shelp through an Ipko Net share-holder, James O’Brien, who waspart of the former Secretary ofState’s consultancy, AlbrightStonebridge Group.

“We didn’t have to pay[Albright’s company] for the help.But we wanted to. We asked themfirst if we could give them a fewshares. They accepted,” Musasaid.

Musa said Albright was incredi-bly helpful. “She gave us strategicadvice. She gave us contacts. Their

help was great and we can neverpay back what they have done forus,” Musa said.

Musa said Albright openeddoors in Washington and connect-ed the company to two interna-tional development banks run bythe US government, EXIM Bankand OPIC.

“We felt at home in

Washington,” Musa said.Musa also has a powerful friend

at home in Prime MinisterHashim Thaci who rents his flat inPrishtina’s Sunny Hill neighbor-hood.

“I can’t tell what the rent is butThaci lives in a flat he has rentedfrom me,” he said. Musa says hehas a “personal friendship with

the premier.“But it doesn’t mean that I have

had advantages from it,” he added.Musa added that he often meets

Thaci and discusses politics withhim.

“I am proud of it. I preserve andappreciate this connection. But, Ihave never needed or asked forfinancial help from him,” he said.

By Parim Olluri

Slovenian Investigation Ensnares IPKO

Slovenian authorities are looking into the dealings of former Slovenije Telekom officials.

IPKO co-founders Bujar Musa, left, and Akan Ismaili with the former UNMIK head Michael Steiner.

IPKO’s Powerful FriendsCompany co-founder discusses its purchase by Telekom Slovenije and his connections to Madeleine Albright and Hashim Thaci.

April 12 - 25, 2013news 3

The head of Kosovo’s civil servicealso holds leadership posts in theruling Democratic Party of Kosovo,

PDK, in a clear violation of the law.Muhamet Latifi, director of the

Department of Civil ServiceAdministration since 2010, is head of thePDK branch in Podujevo and was electedto the party’s steering committee inJanuary.

This is forbidden under the 2010 Law onthe Civil Service, which states: “CivilServants cannot occupy directing posi-tions in political parties and cannot bepolitically active.”

Latifi admits his involvement in thePDK. “It’s true that I was elected to thestructures of the Democratic Party ofKosovo,” Latifi told Prishtina Insight.

He insists that he is not actuallypolitically active.

“I have suspended political activitysince I got this job and if I continue tobe involved in politics, according to thelaw on civil servants, I will suspend myactivity as a director,” Latifi said.

Although Latifi said he had steppeddown as head of the PDK branch inPodujevo, he has not done so. In fact, hewas re-elected to the post on December23. He offered no explanation as to howbeing elected to the PDK’s governingbody did not amount to political activi-ty.

Instead, he characterised himself asa PDK supporter of nine years’ stand-ing. “The law doesn’t prohibit anyonefavouring a political party,” he said.

The Anti-Corruption Agency has yetto give its opinion on whether Latifi isviolating the law by serving as head ofthe civil service while holding PDKleadership posts.

Basri Musmurati, general secretaryof the PDK, told Prishtina Insight thatwhile the party counts civil servantsamong its officials, none serve in lead-ership positions.

“When we see a conflict of interest,we ask the person to choose betweenone of the two positions and the issueis fixed,” Musmurati said.

Prishtina Insight has reported onprevious instances of PDK leadersserving as civil servants, includingNaser Canolli, director of the OfficialGazette and newly elected member ofthe party steering committee.

In fact, the line between party serv-ice and civil service is frequentlyblurred.

On March 26, Arianit Bytyci, a seniorcivil servant in the office of PrimeMinister Hashim Thaci, sent out a PDKpress release announcing the appoint-ment of Kadri Veseli, former head of

the Intelligence Service, SHIK, as vicepresident of the PDK.

Bytyci, head of the Thaci’s communi-cations office, is forbidden frominvolvement in party activities by thecivil service law.

Bytyci did not respond to PrishtinaInsight’s inquiry about why he issuedthe PDK announcement.

Similar instances of civil servantssending out party announcements havebeen recorded in Decan and Junik.

The public information officers inthese two municipalities sent outannouncements about the Alliance forthe Future of Kosovo from their officialemail accounts.

The mayor of Junik, Agron Kuci,blamed a technical mistake anddeclined to comment further.

Rasim Selmanaj, mayor of Decan,also blamed a technical problem.

“I’ve obviously told the informationofficer to send emails from the accountof the party, but if it happened, it was atechnical mistake that shouldn’t havehappened and shouldn’t be repeated,”Selmanaj said.

Editor’s Word

Fire Sale Today, the government is due to announce

the future owner of the state telecom,PTK.

Let’s hope it doesn’t happen.With just two bidders left vying for a 75 per

cent stake in PTK, the likelihood of Kosovo get-ting a respectable price for this highly profitablecompany seems quite low.

And there are troubling questions about thebidders. M1, owned by Lebanon’s former PrimeMinister, is linked to allegations of bribery froma mobile phone deal in Iran. Axos CapitalPartners, a German private equity firm leadinga consortium of bidders, doesn’t seem to haveexperience in telecommunications and hasn’tbeen transparent about the identity of share-holders.

In short, neither potential owner has a cleanbill of health.

Why, then, sell PTK now?The prevailing argument is that Kosovo needs

the money — the government has spoken of a300 million to 600 million euro figure that ithopes to receive. The International MonetaryFund recently warned that the governmentwon’t be able build the new highway toMacedonia unless it sells PTK.

The second key argument is that PTK is adinosaur that’s being held back by a bloatedworkforce, gross mismanagement, and outdatedinfrastructure, and that a new owner will fixthose problems.

Compounding this is the troubled history ofthe privatisation effort. The first attempt in 2011ended in scandal, with the government cancelingthe bid after just one potential buyer was left,Austria Telecom. And the current sale has alsohad its share of trouble and delays, not the leastof which was the participation and withdrawal ofMadeleine Albright’s investment fund. Thus, it’stempting to put this saga to an end, and move on.

All of these arguments are compelling. Kosovodoes need the money, PTK could use an overhauland the entire process has been a costly embar-rassment - with around a 4 million euro price tagto date.

A privatisation may be the answer, but it’s notthe only one.

Other options are worth considering, especial-ly since PTK continues to generate a sizable prof-it. Last year, it put 45 million in Kosovo’s budget.

Why not look at a concession, like the agree-ment at Prishtina International Airport, and leta private company run and invest in PTK for afixed amount of time, with a set share of theprofits going the government?

Or why not even look at selling stock on theinternational equity market?

Perhaps a PTK IPO sounds a little far-fetched,but the point is that Kosovo does have otheroptions for how to get more money out of its tele-com.

And even if classic privatization t proves to bethe best option, Kosovo can at least make PTK amore attractive product that’ll attract a higherprice.

Curiously, though, the government hasn’t seenfit to do that.

The Regulatory Authority of Electronic andPostal Communications, formerly known as theTelecom Regulatory Authority, has, inexplicably,not issued 3 or 4G licenses, leaving Kosovo theonly country in Europe that doesn’t have high-speed mobile internet. Even Afghanistan andNorth Korea have 3G providers.

High-speed mobile internet could a boon forthe Kosovo mobile phone sector. PTK said in 2011that the Telecom Regulatory Authority ignoredits requests for 3G and 4G licenses. The coun-try’s telecom regulator never explained why.

That alone seems to be a great way to tellinvestors to stay away. After all, who wants toinvest in a telecom sector that’s in the technolog-ical dark ages?

There isn’t a clear answer for what’s best forPTK’s future. But a tender with just two bidders— questionable ones, at that — isn’t it.

Civil Service Chief Breaks LawWith PDK PostsDespite serving on ruling party’s steering committee and leading a local office, Muhamet Latifi maintainsthat he is not breaking the civil service law.

Kosovo smokers got badnews last week whenparliament approved a

law on the control of tobacco,outlawing smoking in publicareas.

Kosovo MPs approved theanti-smoking overwhelmingly,with 71 votes in favour and twoabstentions. No Kosovo law-makers voted against.

The ban prohibits smokingin all public areas, on publictransport, in work places andother areas specified in the

law, which President AtifeteJahjaga is expected to sign.

The law also aims to limitthe sale of tobacco productsand their exposition, whilepreventive, educational andawareness measures are alsoto be implemented.

A previous law on tobacco,approved in 2011, limitedsmoking in 30 per cent of pub-lic areas, but was not ade-quately implemented becauseit caused confusion amongstowners of bars, cafes, restau-rants, and nightclubs on howto determine the non-smokingzones.

Regional countries haveimposed similar bans onsmoking.

In November 2010, Serbia

forbade smoking in indoorworking areas and publicspaces, and in outdoor spacesconnected with health care,education, or child care.

Since 2010, Macedonia hashad a comprehensive nationalsmoke-free law covering allpublic indoor areas.

Albania adopted tough anti-smoking laws in 2007 but theyare not strictly enforced.

Kosovo Bans Smoking inPublic Areas

Editor-in-Chief:

Artan Mustafa

artan.mustafa@birn.eu.com

Editorial Team:

Jeta Xharra, Marcus Tanner,

Nate Tabak, Petrit Collaku,

Parim Olluri, Jeton Musliu and

Donjeta Demolli.

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By Prishtina Insight

“When I’ve heard aboutthe new ban on smoking,I said to myself how I am

going to drink morningespresso without a ciga-re3tte,” — Laureta Sahitaj,student

“Smoking is one of the

most terrible things in theworld. ” — Naser Goxhuli, 27

“I will respect this. I havesigns for no smoking every-where. I want health inspec-tors check out every place inPrishtina.” Besim Fazliu,owner of the Mol Caffe

Reactions to the Smoking Ban

A man in Prizren smokes a cigaretteat a cafe – as pastime that’ll soonbe illegal. (Photo/Charles Roffey)

Muhamet Latifi is in change of the civil service in Kosovo. He’s also a PDK leader.

By Njomza Salihi and Liridona Hyseni

news4 April 12 - 25, 2013

YMCK

Kosovo Vows to Make NorthRespect ConstitutionMarking the fifth anniversary of the adoption of its constitution, Kosovo leaders said itsprovisions must one day extend to the Serb-dominated north of the country.

Marking the fifth year of itsadoption, leaders ofKosovo said their consti-

tution must be implemented “inevery corner of the country,”referring to the Serb-run northwhere Prishtina's writ does notrun.

“The implementation of consti-tutionality and legality in thewhole territory of the KosovoRepublic is a guarantee for demo-cratic development and equality ofall citizens," President AtifeteJahjaga said.

"It is a necessity for establish-ing the bases for a legal state, forthe long-term perspective and ithas an impact on the stabilityand peace in the region,” sheadded.

The northern most part ofKosovo has been beyond the con-trol of the Kosovo governmentsince the end of 1999 conflict and

matters have not altered sinceKosovo declared independencefrom Serbia in 2008.

The mainly Serb-populatedarea is run by Serbian-financed“parallel structures” in localsecurity, judicial, health and edu-cational institutions.

The dilemma has vexed rela-tions between Kosovo and Serbia.No agreement was reached on thenorth in recent EU-mediatedtalks in Brussels.

On Monday, Serbia rejected aproposal related to the north

which was put on the table by theEU foreign policy chief,Catherine Ashton.

On Tuesday, Kosovo's PrimeMinister, Hashim Thaci, said hehad no doubt that one day “theconstitution will be fully imple-mented in every corner of theterritory. There is no dilemma.

“The agreement on normaliz-ing inter-state relations betweenKosovo and Serbia will, withoutany doubt, be fully in line withKosovo's constitution and laws,”he added.

By Edona Peci

The Belgrade government hasrefused a deal withPrishtina aimed at normal-

ising relations, claiming that itendangers the basic rights of theSerb minority in north Kosovo.

Belgrade’s decision, which wasreached at a government sessionlast Monday, has already drawnexpressions of dismay from theEU's top foreign policy official,who said that Brussels believedthat an agreement should havebeen achievable.

But the Serbian governmentsaid that the deal offered inBrussels did not provide basicrights and security for Serbs innorth Kosovo.

Serbia's deputy prime minister,Aleksandar Vucic, had previouslystated that the government wouldask for a new round of Belgrade-Prishtina talks following thebreakdown of the last round earli-er this month.

Catherine Ashton, the EU’s for-eign policy chief, said she regret-ted Serbia's decision.

“After several rounds of discus-sions I believe that all the ele-ments for an agreement on north-ern Kosovo are on the table,”Ashton said in a statement.

“This needs to be an agreementbetween the two sides, it is not forthe European Union to impose it,”she said.

The Prishtina authorities alsoexpressed disappointment overBelgrade’s stance but said they

“remained committed” to contin-ued dialogue.

“The government of Kosovo isdisappointed with Serbia’s rejec-tion of the proposal for normalis-ing relations between Kosovo andSerbia made by Baroness[Catherine] Ashton,” said a gov-ernment statement issued onMonday evening.

“The proposals given by the EUwere aimed at peace, stability andthe Europeanisation of the regionwith a view to ending the histori-cal conflicts in the region,” thestatement said.

The eighth round of EU-mediat-ed talks in Brussels on April 2failed to yield an agreement withKosovo on the future of the judici-ary and on the presence of theKosovo military in Serb-dominat-ed areas.

According to Vucic, the offerpresented in Brussels was meant"to humiliate us".

He said that it did not includesufficient safety guarantees forSerbs in Kosovo. He also said

there was nothing written onpaper, and instead, the Serbiandelegation had only heardrequests.

"It must be clear that we dowant an agreement," Vucic added.

On Sunday, Serbian PrimeMinister Ivica Dacic said that thegovernment was strongly dedicat-ed to continuing the Kosovo talksand was "unquestionably" deter-mined to continue with Serbia’sEU integration as well.

The talks with Prishtina havebeen crucial for Serbia’s EU aspi-rations because Belgrade’s hopesfor a start date for membershiptalks depend on the progress madeon the Kosovo issue.

The EU-mediated dialogue waslaunched in March 2011, threeyears after Kosovo declared inde-pendence.

The aim is to normalise rela-tions between the two capitals,both of which aspire to EU mem-bership, in the context of Serbia'scontinued refusal to recogniseKosovo's independence.

Serbia Says No To Kosovo Deal

Northern Kosovo has largely been outside of Prishtina’s control since 1999.

By Marija Ristic andEdona Peci

Serbia's Deputy PrimeMinister, Aleksandar Vucic,said that the government will

ask for a new round of Belgrade-Prishtina talks following thebreakdown of the last round.

"Tomorrow [on Monday] we willmake a formal response to Brusselsand request continuation of the dia-logue and guarantees for the safetyof the [Kosovo] Serbs," Vucic toldSerbian broadcaster TV Pink onSunday night.

This comes ahead of the Tuesdaydeadline that the EU has set Serbia todecide on whether to give crucialground on Kosovo in order to save itsEU bid.

The European Commission is dueto recommend whether Serbiashould open negotiations on April 16.

The eighth round of EU-mediatedtalks in Brussels on April 2 failed toyield an agreement with Kosovo onthe future of the judiciary and onthe presence of the Kosovo militaryin Kosovo Serb areas.

According to Vucic, the offer pre-sented in Brussels was meant "tohumiliate us", explaining that it didnot include sufficient safety guaran-tees for Serbs in Kosovo. He also saidthere was nothing written on paper.Instead the Serbian delegation onlyheard requests.

"It must be clear that we do wantan agreement," Vucic added.

Earlier on Sunday, the PrimeMinister, Ivica Dacic, said that thegovernment was strongly dedicatedto continuing the Kosovo talks andwas "unquestionably“ determinedto continue with EU integration aswell.

“We believe it is not useful tothrow away everything that hasbeen done so far,” Dacic said onSunday after meeting representa-tives of all political parties in parlia-ment, referring to the eight roundsof Belgrade-Prishtina talks and theagreements already made.

Meanwhile, President TomislavNikolic said that Serbia had notbeen offered a proposal but an ulti-

matum from Brussels and that hewill back any decision that the gov-ernment makes.

"This format of talks is not accept-able anymore and we will insist thatthe new talks are held under the aus-pices of an organization of whichwe are a member,” Nikolic told ajoint press conference with thePresident of Republika Srpska,Milorad Dodik, in Belgrade onSunday.

The EU-mediated dialogue waslaunched in March 2011, three yearsafter Kosovo declared independence.

The aim is to normalize relationsbetween the two countries, both ofwhich aspire to EU membership, inthe context of Serbia's continuedrefusal to recognise Kosovo's inde-pendence.

Serbia’s ruling Progressiveshave decided to propose tothe Serbian government not

to sign the agreement withPrishtina, but to urgently seekmore talks, the party’s presidencyboard stated on Monday morning.

The president of theProgressives, Vucic said that theSerbian delegation was not offeredto sign a clear document, but toagree on eight offered principles,out of which two were unaccept-able for Belgrade.

He said that Serbia failed to getclarification for several issuessuch as the presence securityforces in Kosovo north and juris-dictions over education, healthand justice.

“Regarding that we [Serbia] donot have the paper that we are sup-posed to decide on and that theproposed solutions have not takeninto account not even the mini-mum of our interests, our propos-al is that we should not sign anagreement, but continue the talksand try to find solutions as soon aspossible,” Vucic said on Monday.

Serbia toRequest FreshKosovo TalksSerbia says it will seek a new round of talks with Kosovo,blaming the failure of the last round on the lack of safe-guards offered to the Kosovo Serbs.

ProgressivesAgainstAgreementwith Kosovo

By Bojana Barlovac

The Serbian government insists it still is committed to talks with Kosovo.

Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic

news 5April 12 - 25, 2013

YMCK

Some six months after a dead-ly accident in Prishtina’sVetrnik neighborhood,

Prime Minister Hashim Thaci’scabinet quietly issued a directiveto use state funds to pay for themedical treatment of a close polit-ical ally.

Prishtina Insight recentlyuncovered the cabinet decision,dated December 1, 2009, to pay forthe treatment of BajrushXhemajli, then mayor of Ferizajand a leader in Thaci’s DemocraticParty of Kosovo, PDK. It appearsto have been the basis for anundated payment of 64,578.82 eurofrom the state treasury to theAustrian Air AmbulanceCompany.

The May 21, 2009 accident inPrishtina’s Veternik neighbor-hood left Xhemajli in a coma. Hewas driving his official vehiclewhen he attempted to overtake thecar in front of him. According tosubsequent criminal chargesbrought against him, Xhemajliwas driving at 40 kilometers perhour, above the speed limit, andstruck three cars.

The crash injured five others,one of whom later died. Xhemajliwas flown to Austria for treatmentthe next day, while the other crash

victims remained in Kosovo. Thaci’s office did not respond to

Prishtina Insight’s questionsabout the payment. It referredinquiries to the Ministry ofFinance, which merely confirmedthat it carried out the cabinet'sdirective.

Money for Xhemajli’s treatmentcame from a 5-million-euro gov-ernment contingency fundreserved for urgent or unforeseenexpenses. The Law on ManagingPublic Finances requires officialsto provide clear justification forexpenses. However, the decisionto pay for Xhemajli’s treatmentdoes not explain why the moneyhad to come from the contingencyfund.

The government only paid forXhemjali’s treatment. Contactedby Prishtina Insight, Xhemjali

said he was unaware that the gov-ernment paid for any of hisexpenses. “Personally, I haven’treceived any money for my treat-ment,” Xhemajli, a member of thePDK presidency, said.

Ilir Haziri, who was injured inthe accident, said the governmentdidn’t help to cover his medicalbills. “No institution has evershown any interest in the otherpeople in the accident; weobtained medical treatment withour own money,” Haziri said.

Hamdi Rrustemi, whose 21-year-old son, Leutrim, died afterthe accident, said he was frustrat-ed by the government’s neglect.

“Not only has the governmentgiven me nothing, it didn’t evenshow any interest in my son’s con-dition,” Rustemi said.

Xhemajli was convicted in 2010of negligence. The verdict wasupheld on appeal but theConstitutional Court in Februaryordered a new trial on thegrounds that Xhemajli was denieda fair trial. The majority opinionfound that Xhemajli’s rights wereviolated because the defence wasnot allowed to call an additionalexpert to consider other factors inthe crash.

Xhemajli, who resigned asmayor of Ferizaj in 2012, did notserve any of his two-and-a-half-year sentence for the crash. Hetwice successfully petitioned thelocal court in Ferizaj to delay thebeginning of his sentence.

State Met AustrianHospital Bill of PM’s AllyTreasury paid nearly 65,000 euro for Ferizaj mayor to be flown to Austria for treatmentafter car accident in Prishtina.

By Liridona Hyseni

The Visoki Decani monestrary is at the centre of an ethnically changed land dispute.

Former Ferizaj Mayor Bajrush Xhemajli isset to get a new trial.

Kosovo’s President AtifeteJahjaga criticised MPs whostaged a parliamentary

debate about an ethnicallycharged land dispute at the his-toric Serbian Orthodox monasteryVisoki Decani.

Members of parliament shouldrespect the law and not conductparliamentary debates “which aimto put in question SerbianOrthodox cultural and religiousheritage in Kosovo”, Jahjagaldtold Prishtina Insight in a writtenstatement.

“This issue is regulated veryclearly by the laws of the Republicof Kosovo, the Ahtisaari package[for Kosovo's status settlement],and is guaranteed by the Kosovoconstitution,” she said.

The debate in parliament onFriday was sparked by a court rul-ing last December confirmingthat the the Visoki Decanimonastery owns some 23 hectaresof land which was being claimedby two Kosovo companies.

The decision has provoked aseries of protests by local KosovoAlbanians near the Serb religioussite.

Jahjaga however insisted that“all legal procedures have to berespected”.

The Friday debate focused onthe expropriation of private prop-erty while Kosovo was part of theformer Yugoslav state from 1989to 1999.

The opposition Self-Determination Movement pro-posed a resolution declaring suchexpropriations invalid.

Self-Determination Movementlawmaker Liburn Aliu said the

Decan/Decani case, in whichBelgrade granted property fromthe two Kosovo companies to themonastery in 1997, was an exam-ple of how “Serbia’s colonisersaimed to install their state struc-tures violently”.

The US embassy in Prishtinaalso urged MPs not to challengethe court’s decision.

“While an exchange of ideas onissues of importance to Kosovo ishealthy, decisions confirmed bythe competent authorities shouldbe respected,” the embassy saidin a statement.

“Any effort [by parliament] toengage in issues outside its legalmandate, including the Decanland case, threatens Kosovo’s sta-bility and the integrity of theinstitutional system establishedby the constitution,” it said.

The supreme court in Prishtinaruled in December that the dis-puted land belonged to themonastery, not to the companieswhich have been claiming it sincethe 1999 conflict between KosovoLiberation Army fighters andSerbian government forces.

The two socially-owned compa-nies, Apiko and Iliria, said thatthe Serbian authorities’ decisionto give the land to the monasteryin 1997 was unlawful because ithappened at a time whenBelgrade was actively repressingKosovo Albanians.

The Serbian holy site closed itsdoors to visitors after tensionsrose in February.

The Visoki Decani monasteryis one of the best-known Serbheritage sites in Kosovo, estab-lished in 1327 and housing thegrave of its founder, King StefanUros ‘Decanski’, although it nowsits in solidly ethnic Albanian-populated territory. It has been onthe UNESCO World Heritage Listsince 2004.

Kosovo PresidentUrges End to Serb MonasteryRow

By Edona Peci

A Kosovo policemen chats with a shoe vendor in the Bosniak Mahala of northernMitrovica. (BETAPHOTO/SASA DJORDJEVIC)

Foot PatrolPhoto News:

YMCK

news6 April 12 - 25, 2013

The number of Kosovarsseeking asylum rose slightlyin 2012, new data from the

EU’s statistics agency show, possi-bly setting back Kosovo’s hopes ofgaining visa-free access to the EUSchengen area.

Data released by the EU statisticagency Eurostat in March, whichcovers the 27 EU member states,Switzerland, Norway and Iceland,show that 10,135 Kosovars request-ed asylum last year, 265 more thanin 2011. By comparison, applica-tions in 2011 were more than 4,000down on the figure in 2010.

The largest number of applica-tions was for asylum in France,

Germany, Belgium, Sweden andSwitzerland.

Eurostat did not yet have com-plete figures on how many appli-cants obtained asylum. But inrecent years authorities haverejected the majority of claims.Fewer than 10 per cent wereaccepted in 2011.

With the new figures, Kosovoremains in the top tier of the coun-tries of origin for people seekingasylum in Europe. Kosovo is insixth place, behind Serbia,Pakistan, Russia, Syria andAfghanistan.

Alexandra Stiglmayer, from theEuropean Initiative for Stability,said the rise in asylum seekerswould damage Kosovo’s prospectsof visa-free travel to the Schengenarea, which comprises most of theEU.

“EU interior ministers ask theobvious question: what would thenumber [of asylum seekers] bewithout a visa requirement?Unless ways are found to bringthis number down, the EU isextremely unlikely to lift the visarequirement for Kosovars,”Stiglmayer said.

Kosovo remains the only coun-try in the Western Balkans whosecitizens must first obtain visasbefore traveling to the Schengen

area. Leaders in Brussels havebeen reluctant to lift the require-ment out of fears that the EU willbe flooded with Kosovars whoattempt to stay illegally.

Reducing the number of asylumseekers continues to be one of thekey requirements for Kosovo towin visa liberalisation.

A number of EU countries havebeen pressing to reinstate visarequirements for Western Balkan

states following spikes in asylumrequests from Serbia andMacedonia.

Vlora Citaku, Kosovo’s ministerof European integration, down-played the rise in asylum-seekersand insisted a the downward trendremained intact.

“Trends show that there is aserious drop, and what we need toensure is the continued decline ofthis trend,” she told Prishtina

Insight. Citaku added that the govern-

ment is engaging in a campaign tocombat illegal migration.

Stiglmayer said the issue is inthe hands of the Kosovo govern-ment.

“Kosovo citizens deserve visa-free travel, but in order to get it,their government must convince amajority of EU governments thatit is serious,” Stiglmayer said.

By Jeton Musliu

EU Reports Rise in Kosovar Asylum SeekersSmall increase may set back hopes of visa-free travel to Europe’s Schengen area.

Former UN whistleblowerJames Wasserstrom onMonday said he had sent a

letter to the US Secretary of State,John Kerry and the Senate, urgingthem to slash funding for the UN.

He urged the US to cut funds by15 per cent, as "the United Nationsfailed to reward whistleblowersfor reporting crime”. The US is thebiggest single contributors to UN,covering 22 per cent of the budget.

The UN Dispute Tribunal deci-sion on March 15 awarded him$65,000 as compensation for hismistreatment by the UN Missionin Kosovo, UNMIK, following hisreports to investigative bodies ofthe organization on conflicts ofinterest and corruption in itsKosovo mission.

But Wasserstrom said he wasnot satisfied with the compensa-tion and would appeal. He is seek-ing far larger damages of $3.1 mil-lion.

Wasserstrom, a US citizen, nowworks as a consultant on anti-cor-ruption in the US embassy inAfghanistan.

Andrea Young, spokesperson forUNMIK, told Prishtina Insightthat, “as litigation is ongoing, wecannot offer a comment.”

In 2007, Wasserstrom, thenworking in UNMIK, heard allega-tions that the former Minister ofEnergy for Kosovo, Ethem Ceku,

and the deputy head of UNMIK,Steven Schook, were to receivebribes as part of an agreement tobuild a new power plant in Kosovo.

As a result of his attempts tobring the matter to light,Wasserstrom was stopped at theborder of Kosovo while travellingto Greece in May 2007 and told hecould not leave the country. Hispassport was confiscated and hisoffice sealed off. His car and housewere searched while some of hispossessions were confiscated.

Posters with his picture wereplaced in UNMIK offices all overKosovo. Soon after, his contractwith UNMIK was terminated andhe lost all other work-related bene-fits.

Schook, in an earlier statement,told BIRN that he was “veryhappy” that the tribunal had ruledin favour of Wasserstrom. “Whathappened was wrong,” he said. “Ihope he gets major compensa-tion.”

He said he was not aware of theclaims that Wasserstrom hadmade against him, adding thatinvestigations against him had notuncovered evidence of illegalactions.

Former minister Ceku said thatthe matter has been investigatedand that his name has beencleared.

Schook now works as an advisorto the head of the Alliance for theFuture of Kosovo, RamushHaradinaj. He lives in Kosovo andstopped working for UN since 2007.

Kosovo’ former Prime Minister,Bajram Kosumi, recalls that at

that time the government ofKosovo had no handle on corrup-tion issues in UNMIK.

“Relations between UNMIK andKosovo until 2004 had been almostlike an undeclared war. When Ibecame Prime Minister in 2005,relations with UNMIK began toimprove significantly,” he said.

He noted that UNMIK back thenhad still executive power overKosovo institutions and controlledover 40 per cent of Kosovo’sConsolidated Budget.

"We had disagreements on someprojects that UNMIK decided to

spend money on. But we did nothave the authority to investigatepossible corruption affairs ofUNMIK in Kosovo,” Kosumi con-cluded.

Ariana Qosaj, a corruption ana-lyst, says the case reinforces suspi-cions that there was corruptionwithin UNMIK.

“Unfortunately, very few caseswere able to come to the surfaceand become known. Members ofthe UN mission had immunity andcould not be investigated by localinstitutions,” Qosaj told BIRN.

According to Qosaj, UNMIK

only in 2006 established a panel toinvestigate the behaviour ofUNMIK officials.

“Unfortunately this panel… hadonly limited responsibilities andwas helpless in relation to theimmunity of high officials ofUNMIK,” he said.

All cases involving senior offi-cials of UNMIK have since beentransferred to the EU law andorder mission, EULEX.

“However, we all know it hasbeen a struggle for EULEX to dealwith these cases,” Qosaj said.

Former UN Whistleblower Urges US to Cut FundsJames Wasserstrom has urged the US to cut UN funding, after the organisation awarded him far less money for mistreatment by the UN mission inKosovo than he was seeking.

By Bardh Shkreli

Prishtina International Airport is the starting point for many Kosovar asylum seekers.

UN headquarters in New York.

Top Destinations forKosovar Asylum Seekers in 2012:

France: 3,690Germany: 2,535Belgium: 1,740Sweden: 1,045 Switzerland: 585

YMCK

news 7April 12 - 25, 2013

Kosovo prosecutors are inves-tigating allegations that awoman died in the emer-

gency room of country’s mainpublic hospital after the on-dutydoctor went home early.

According to an official com-plaint by a supervising physicianat the University Clinical Centrein Prishtina, Feime Haziri diedaround 3am on March 22, 2012,after the on-duty doctor, ValbonGashi, went home, leaving her in aserious condition and in the careof two nurses.

The hospital declined to revealdetails of Haziri’s condition, onlysaying the 40-year-old was “seri-ously ill.”

“There are strong allegations,”Imer Beka, the chief state prosecu-tor in Prishtina, told PrishtinaInsight last week.

Contacted by Prishtina Insightlast week, Dr Gashi denied wrong-doing. “I am innocent,” he said,declining to comment further.

The head of vascular surgery,Elmi Olluri, issued a complaintabout Dr Gashi to the hospital’sdisciplinary committee on March26.

The complaint alleged that DrGashi, who had previously exam-ined the woman, went home eventhough he was supposed to stay onduty at the hospital. He did not

return even after two nursesinformed him that Haziri’s condi-tion had worsened, according tothe complaint.

Olluri, in his complaint, said DrGashi had previously been absentfrom hospital during duty hoursand was written up just weeksbefore Haziri’s death.

The hospital suspended DrGashi on June 25 with full pay,pending disciplinary proceedings,the hospital spokesperson, ShpendFazliu, said. Dr Gashi was issued

with two written warnings inSeptember. He has since returnedto duty.

Bajram Ajeti, head of theSupervisory Council of the CivilService in Kosovo, which is taskedwith reviewing complaints againstcivil servants, including doctors,said the hospital management hadneglected the patient.

“Until now, nobody has beendealing with this issue, but I hopethat finally the prosecution willdeal with this seriously because

the death of a person is not a joke,”Ajet said.

Dr Gashi meanwhile continuesto work in the hospital’s vascularclinic.

On Thursday, four days afterPrishtina Insight’s affiliate,Gazeta Jeta ne Kosove, reported onthe case, the University ClinicalCentre announced that Dr Gashihad recently performed a complexoperation on Kadri Sijarina, a vet-eran of the Kosovo LiberationArmy, KLA.

The hospital invited Kosovomedia to Sijarina’s recovery room,where Dr Gashi explained how hesuccessfully improved arterialblood flow in the veteran’s leg.

According to the website KosovaPress, Sijarina said that he waswounded by Serbian forces in thewar and the injury had doggedhim ever since.

Dr Gashi “took care of me withall of his skill. He and his teamoperated on me and I feel verygood; I’m now walking,” he said.

Doctor Faces Grilling Over Patient’s DeathSurgeon at Prishtina’s main hospital is accused of going home early and not returning after a woman’s condition worsened.

Former transport ministerFatmir Limaj and six otherco-accused pleaded not

guilty to charges of organizedcrime and other corruption-relat-ed offences, while asking the courtfor a “speedy trial”.

“I need a speedy, just, impartialand unbiased trial,” Limaj toldthe court on Wednesday.

Limaj and the other defen-dants, Florim and Demir Lima,Endrit Shala, Nexhat Krasniqi,Florim Zuka and Gani Zogaj, areaccused, among other things, ofmanipulating tender procedures,giving and receiving bribes andobstructing evidence in relationto three tenders in the Ministryof Transport and PostTelecommunication, MTPT, forpersonal or material benefit.

The alleged value of the dam-age to the ministerial budgetamounts to about 2 million euro.

The 12-count indictmentincludes telephone messages inMay 2008 between Limaj andMehmet Shkodra, representativeof an economic operator thatsought tenders from the

Ministry of Transport.The EULEX prosecution

focused, while reading theindictment, on meetings between

Limaj and two businessmen,Mehmet and Bekim Shkodra, towhom a tender was allegedlypromised.

According to the indictment,tenders were fixed also in tele-phone communications betweenEndrit Shala, Limaj’s former

advisor and Florim Zuka, a busi-nessman from Gjilan.

Limaj’s brothers, Demir andFlorim Lima, are accused of car-rying out bank transactions forthe ex-minister.

Limaj is also charged with notdeclaring campaign moneyreceived when running inPrishtina’s mayoral elections in2007 as well as other offences.

Limaj, a former KosovoLiberation Army commander, isalso one of ten suspects in thehigh-profile "Klecka" war crimescase, accused of abusing prison-ers at a detention camp duringthe 1990s conflict with Serbia.

The former minister wasacquitted of the charges last Maybut the prosecution successfullyappealed against the verdict andthe case has been sent for retrial.

“I am ready to be in courtevery day in both cases [MTPTand Klecka] just to come to thetruth,” Limaj said onWednesday.

In a previous trial at theHague Tribunal in 2005, Limajwas acquitted of war crimesagainst Serbs and Albanianssuspected of collaborating withSerbia during the Kosovo warand returned home to a hero’swelcome.

The next hearing in the MTPTcase is scheduled for May 17.

Ex-Minister Limaj Requests Speedy Trial

By Prishtina Insight

Former transport minister Fatmir Limaj consults with his attorneys.

The University Clinical Centre in Prishtina is Kosovo’s main public hospital.

By Prishtina Insight

neighbourhood business 8 April 12 - 25, 2013

The first Balkans Infrastructure andConstruction Summit will be held inVienna on May 29 and 30.

The organisers of the event, theInternational Research Networks, IRN, stat-ed that the high-profile forum aims to sup-port the expansion of foreign investment inthe region by addressing the opportunities,strategies and challenges around upcominginfrastructure projects.

The summit will address the latest trans-portation projects, energy ventures andhousing programmes in the Balkans.

It will help investors to fully understandwhere to invest in the region and how to seea return on their investment capital.

Topics will include national infrastruc-ture plans within the Balkans, assessingthe legal framework for investing in theregion and the latest infrastructure projectdevelopments.

Speakers at the summit will includeDamir Hadzic and Mile Janakieski, theBosnian and Macedonian Communicationsand Transport ministers, Kujtim Hashorvafrom Albania's Ministry of Public Worksand Transport and Andreas Beikos, aEuropean Investment Bank representative.

The forum will also host Christos Gofas,team leader from infrastructure and inter-national financing institution DG, AndyCarter, a specialist advisor for theEuropean Bank for Reconstruction andDevelopment, representatives of theEuropean Commission and governmentbodies from Croatia, Serbia andMontenegro.

Major regional infrastructure compa-nies, European institutions, banks andinternational investors, will also highlightthe latest tender opportunities during thetwo-day summit.

Vienna to Host Balkan Infrastructure SummitThe two-day Balkan Infrastructure and Construction Summit aims to inform foreign investors of business opportunities in the region.

Bosniak and Turkish leadersoften emphasize the deephistorical and religious

affinity between their two nations.“Turkey is our mother,” the for-

mer leader of The IslamicCommunity in Bosnia andHerzegovina, Mustafa Ceric, saidback in 2008.

Turkish Prime Minister RecepTayyip Erdogan “doesn’t belongonly to Turks. He is our commonleader,” Bakir Izetbegovic, theBosniak [Muslim] member ofBosnia’s State Presidency, said inFebruary 2012.

“There is no difference betweenus and our Bosniak brothers,”Erdogan himself said six monthsago.

When Turkey beat Croatia in theEuro 2008, Bosniak youths celebrat-ed the Turkish victory in Sarajevoas if their own side had won.

In Mostar, the southwestern citydivided between Bosniaks andCroats, young people fought on thestreets after the Croatian footballdefeat.

Turkey has also opened two uni-versities and one college in Sarajevo,the Turkish news agency Anadoluhas its regional headquarter inSarajevo, and Turkish soap operas

are a staple of Bosnian TV.Bakir Izetbegovic, Bosniak mem-

ber of Presidency, and Recep TayyipErdogan, Turkish Prime Minister

Bosniak leader Izetbegovic, whooften visits Turkey, maintains thatthe high-profile Turkish presence inBosnia is all to the good.

“My frequent contacts withTurkish leaders are strengthening atrend. Turkey is a steady guaranteeof Bosnia’s unity and reformcourse,” he said recently.

“Turkish leaders are working onreconciliation, connecting leaders ofBosnia, Serbia and Croatia throughtrilateral meetings,” he added.

But not everyone agrees. AdnanHuskic, political analyst and lectur-er at Sarajevo School of Science andTechnology, says Turkey’s diplomat-ic engagement in the WesternBalkans has had less impact thanBosniak leaders maintain.

“The trilateral meetings ofBalkan leaders under Turkish spon-sorship are not a big deal,” he said.

“Bosnia and Serbia have solvedsome minor issues through thesemeetings but there is no big Turkishinitiative contributing to the relax-ation of ethnic tensions in Bosnia,”he told Prishtina Insight.

For Huskic, statements about“Mother Turkey” or “brotherhood”are nothing but folly and could dam-age Bosnia’s already frayed ethnicrelations.

“Such an archaic understandingof Bosniak identity was, amongstothers, an excuse for war crimes inthe 1990s,” he says, recallingBosnian Serb accusations thatBosnian Muslims were alien“Turks”.

Milorad Dodik, President ofRepublika Srpska, the mainlySerbian autonomous entity, certain-ly does not believe in the disinter-ested good will of Turkish leaders.

He has said often that “Turkishinterests in Bosnia are opposite tothe interests of Serb people,” andthat, “The Turks always favour oneside, the Muslim [Bosniak] side.”

Speaking of such critics,Izetbegovic dismisses them as hav-ing a “19th-century mentality.

“Some people are still at war with

the Ottomans and don’t want to seethe difference between imperialand modern Turkey,” he maintains.

“But that unreasonable reluc-tance [to see the difference] isbecoming weaker and the Balkanpeople are understanding Turkeybetter with every passing day,” headded.

Ivan Kostic, an analyst from theBelgrade-based Balkan Centre forthe Middle East, notes that Bosniakleaders are not the only ones wish-ing to present a powerful outsidecountry as their nation’s sponsorand protector.

“Such populist statements areused to create a feeling among citi-zens that there is a ‘big brother’who will take care of them,” heexplained.

“Serbian officials, for example,often refer to their connection to‘Mother Russia.’ But such state-ments are not positive or construc-tive,” Kostic told Prishtina Insight.

Emotional and spiritual bondsbetween Turks and Bosniaks, aris-ing from a common religion andfour centuries of common history,are not matched by concrete actionson the economic front, either.

According to data from Bosnia’sAgency for Promotion of ForeignInvestments, Austria investedseven times more than Turkey inthe last 19 years.

In first nine months of 2012, thetotal volume of foreign investmentsin Bosnia was worth about 330 mil-lion euro. But only 2.3 per cent wasfrom Turkey.

According to data from TurkishForeign Ministry, bilateral tradevolume between Turkey and Bosniawas worth 279.5 million euro in2011.

Of this figure, 210 million wasfrom imports from Turkey whileonly 70 million came from Bosnianexports to Turkey.

By comparison, trade volumewith Germany, Bosnia’s main tradepartner, in 2011 was worth a total of1.4 billion euro.

And although Serbs and Turksare far from considering themselvesbrothers, Turkey has a bigger tradevolume with Serbia than with

Bosnia, worth 442 million euro. Even Serbian-Turkish economic

relations look poor when comparedto the volume of trade betweenTurkey and Bulgaria, worth 2.83 bil-lion euro in 2011.

“There is a lot of talk aboutTurkish economic engagement inthe region. But, until recently thatengagement wasn’t that visible inpractice, beyond meetings andpapers,” Kostic said.

For Adnan Huskic, Bosnia andHerzegovina is far from a priorityin Turkish foreign policy, as themodest level of bilateral trade indi-cates.

Weak economic relationsbetween Turkey and Bosnia, heexplains, arise from Turkey’s hard-headed realism in its investmentapproach.

“Bosnia doesn’t have a goodinvestment climate and Turkishofficials and businessmen areaware of that,” he said. “In its for-eign relations, Turkey is driven byits economic interests in the firstplace.”

Nevertheless, for Mirnes Kovac,a journalist and political analystfrom Sarajevo, Turkish realism

when it comes to investments is notthe only reason for the lack of deep-er economic cooperation betweenthe two countries.

“Turkey sometimes simply does-n’t understand the complexity ofBosnia and Herzegovina. Even thevery resolute and concreteattempts of Turkey to help Bosniaoften are fruitless,” he toldPrishtina Insight.

The complexity of conflictsbetween Bosniak and Serbianpoliticians is not the only obstacle,he says, but also the conflictsbetween the Bosniak political par-ties themselves.

“Visits by Bosniak politicians toTurkey are often used in inter-party clashes. And it seems thatTurkey’s leaders have begun tounderstand that,” he said.

Huskic says that Turkey shouldstart to ignore some of these prob-lems if it wants to be a true friendto the Bosniak people.

“If Turkey is indeed a ‘Mother’to the Bosniaks, then I expect her toturn a blind eye and invest inBosnia - even though it is not thebest country for investments,” hetold Prishtina Insight.

‘Mother Turkey’ Stays Shy of Investing in BosniaBeyond the florid talk of Turkish-Bosniak brotherhood, there is little sign that Turkey is taking much economic interest in Bosnia, or developinginto a diplomatic force there.

By Kenan Efendic

Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska, and Vladimir Putin, Russian President.

Mustafa Ceric the former leader of The Islamic Community in BiH

Construction in Kosovo.

Bakir Izetbegovic, Bosniak member of Presidency, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, TurkishPrime Minister, shake hands.

neighbourhood news 9April 12 - 25, 2013

Belgrade Gay Pride Parade -cancelled by threats of vio-lence in recent years - will

be marked from September 20 to29, while the central walk throughthe capital is set for September 28,the organisers said.

Gradimir Miletic, regionaldirector of Civil Right Defendersand one of the organisers, says theorganisers plan to meet IvicaDacic, the Prime Minister,Aleksandar Vucic, deputy primeminister, Nikola Selakovic, theMinister of Justice, and DraganDjilas, the mayor, to ensure it goesahead as planned this time.

“That means the police will haveenough time to prepare for thePride with us, so that there will beno surprises or room to say thatpreparations started late,” Mileticsaid on April 10.

Serbia's first pride march wasbrought to a halt in Belgrade inJune 2001 as protestors clashedwith police.

In 2009, 2011 and 2012, theauthorities banned the paradeafter police declared they couldnot safeguard the marchersagainst threats of violence from

right-wing groups.The 2010 Pride went ahead, but

several thousand youngsters,including football fans and mem-bers of rightist organisations,threw stones and missiles at thepolice, injuring police officers andsetting buildings and vehicles onfire.

Goran Miletic says that thisyear he hopes Gay Pride will havebetter luck and that it will be heldfor all nine planned days.

“There will be a lot of eventsand I believe it will all go aheadwithout incidents," he said.

"Regarding the walk, that issomething that we cannot do with-out police help and I hope that thestate, the Prime Minister andDeputy Prime Minister willrealise that securing the parade isSerbia’s international and consti-tutional obligation.”

Miletic added that the organis-ers had already secured institu-tional and minister’s support.

“However, when it comes to thePride Parade, it is always up to oneor two people in the country and Ithink it will be the same this year,”he added.

By Gordana Andric

Serbia Sets PrideParade for SeptemberIn spite of repeated cancellations of the event in recent years as a result of threats,organisers have announced that a Gay Pride Parade will be held on September 28.

Following the tragic death of their founder andowner, Nikola Mladenov, the weekly Fokus andthe daily newspaper with the same name are to

close.Employees of the two publications received imme-

diate discharge notices on Wednesday and were toldthat the newspapers, which were in financial difficul-ties, will cease to appear.

Fokus was under pressure from several ongoing,connected libel cases whose plaintiffs togetherdemanded up to €100,000 from the weekly and thedaily.

Following the death of the owner and publisher,Mladenov, in a car crash in late March, one business-man and diplomat, Srgjan Kerim, withdrew hisdemand for €25,000 from the newspapers.

Fokus, founded in 1995, was the oldest politicalweekly in the country while the daily was launchedlast year.

The closure of the newspapers comes at a timewhen concern is being expressed for the future ofmedia freedom in Macedonia.

After the closure in February of the weeklyGragjanski, also for financial reasons, Fokus was oneof the last remaining print media outlets that werecritical of the government of Nikola Gruevski.

The World Media Freedom Index 2013, published inJanuary by the organisation Reporters WithoutBorders, ranked Macedonia in 116th place out of 179countries in the survey, marking a hefty drop of 22places from the previous year.

Four years ago, the country was ranked in 34th

place in the same media freedom report.While many accuse the government of targeting the

pro-opposition media for their standpoints, the gov-ernment denies claims of interference.

Meanwhile, the sparse police report into the carcrash and its circumstances has fuelled suspicions insome quarters of foul play.

Police found Mladenov’s body on March 27 in anoverturned car that had landed in a ditch near thehighway at the entrance to Skopje.

The investigative judge in the case, VladimirTufegdzic, this week confirmed that Mladenov’s deathwas an accident and that his car was driving 160 kilo-metres an hour at the time.

But it still remains a mystery where Mladenovspent his last evening and who he last saw or talked to.

Mladenov, 49, will be remembered as a prominentjournalist who built a reputation as a principled criticof the political class that has led Macedonia sinceindependence.

Two More Critical Media Close inMacedonia

By Sinisa Jakov Marusic

Fokus was struggling financially before the recent death ofowner Nikola Mladenov.

Serbia’s last Gay Pride Parade was held in 2010.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic attacked the International Criminal Tribunal for theFormer Yugoslavia during a UN debate in New York on Wednesday. (UN Photo/DevraBerkowitz)

At the UN debate onWednesday about the roleof international war

crimes courts, organised by thecurrent Serbian president of theassembly, Vuk Jeremic, theBelgrade leadership took theopportunity to attack theInternational Criminal Tribunalfor the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY,which it believes is biased againstSerbs.

Nikolic said that the ICTY wasunfair and its verdicts made recon-ciliation in the Balkans even harder.

“ICTY trials will never reach thereal truth, that is why the reconcilia-tion will not be real and honest,” hesaid.

He cited war crimes trial defen-dant Vojislav Seselj, the formerleader of the Serbian Radical Party,of which Nikolic was once a mem-ber, as an example of unfair treat-ment.

“Vojislav Seselj has been in TheHague for 11 years, which is a prece-dent in legal history,” Nikolic said.

But Ranko Vilovic, Croatia’s rep-resentative at the UN, said the ICTYdeserved support.

“Croatia, as a victim of aggres-sion, has strongly supported thework of the ICTY... Maybe we didn’talways agree with some decisionsmade, but we always supported thework,” said Vilovic.

The US boycotted the debate,alongside Canada and Jordan,describing it as “unbalanced” and“inflammatory”.

Erin Pelton, spokesperson for theU.S. mission to the United Nations,said international courts had been“critical to ending impunity andhelping these countries chart a new,more positive future”.

“We regret in particular that theway today’s thematic debate and therelated panel discussion are struc-tured fail to provide the victims ofthese atrocities an appropriatevoice,” she said.

The debate started with openingremarks from Jeremic, who said “itis finally time to tell the truth aboutinternational tribunals”.

“I deeply believe that there shouldnot be taboo topics among UNstates,” Jeremic said.

But UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, who spoke right afterJeremic, defended the idea of inter-national war crimes courts.

“We cannot expect human rightsto be respected if we don’t supportthe international justice system,” hesaid.

Bosnia however expressed con-cerns about the ICTY’s recent high-profile acquittals of two wartimeCroatian generals, three KosovoLiberation Army commanders anda former Yugoslav Army general.

“Dissatisfaction with [the court's]verdicts exists within all threenations in Bosnia and Herzegovinaand this has been increased follow-ing the recent three ICTY verdicts inparticular,” said NebojsaRadmanovic, the Serb member ofthe tripartite Bosnian presidency.

The debate was briefly interrupt-ed when a representative of anorganisation representing wartimevictims from the Bosnian towns ofSrebrenica and Zepa, MuniraSubasic, was ejected for attemptingto show a banner describingBosnia’s Serb-run entity RepublikaSrpska as genocidal, according tomedia reports

The controversial UN debate pro-voked the Bosniak member of theBosnian presidency, Zeljko Komsic,to cancel a planned visit to Belgrade,saying that the Serbian presidenthad offended wartime victims.

Nikolic was also criticised inBelgrade by the Serbian LiberalDemocratic Party, which arguedthat his speech was “insincere andharmful toward Serbian nationalinterests”

Despite the criticism however,Jeremic was convinced that thedebate was a success.

“This is the biggest debate in his-tory of the UN. Eighty-two countrieshad their representatives present,we had 42 speakers... We had veryinteresting opinions, many of themcritical,” Jeremic said.

Serbia Slams HagueTribunal at UN DebateSerbian President Tomislav Nikolic described the Hague war crimes court as a biased “inquisition” during a UN General Assembly debate that was boycotted by the US as inflammatory.

By Marija Ristic

YMCK

feature10 April 12 - 25, 2013

Xhafer Veliu’s 13-year-old sonShyqyri was captured andkilled by Serbian forces in

1999, but his body was only foundsix years later.

Now, like many relatives ofwartime victims in Kosovo, Veliubelieves that Serbia has to makethe first move towards reconcilia-tion by admitting its guilt and say-ing sorry.

“I cannot forgive unless Serbiaapologises and all perpetrators ofcrimes during the war are broughtto justice,” Veliu, who comes froma village near Gllogoc in centralKosovo, told Prishtina Insight.

Many others are still waiting fornews of their relatives who’ve notbeen seen since they disappearedduring the 1998-99 conflict, headded.

As the 14th anniversary of theend of the war with Serbian forcesapproached last month, Kosovoestablished a ministerial workinggroup tasked with dealing with thepast and reconciliation.

Officials vowed that evidence onwar crimes committed during,before and after the Kosovo con-flict would be collected and pre-sented to the relevant authoritiesso all the perpetrators can be

brought to justice.“It’s clear that the main aim is

the dignified treatment of all vic-tims,” said the head of the work-ing group, Dhurata Hoxha.

Officials said it was also neces-sary to sign a peace treaty withBelgrade which would include “arequest for an apology by Serbia,for compensation for war damagesand [more clarity] about missingpersons”, Hajredin Kuci, Kosovo’sdeputy prime minister and justiceminister, explained at the time.

There was no official reactionfrom Belgrade, suggesting thatsuch a move is not even being con-sidered by the Serbian authoritieswho are determined not to do any-thing that could be seen as a steptowards recognising Kosovo as anindependent state.

Relatives of wartime victimsalso believe that reconciliationwith Serbia is not even on the hori-zon at the moment.

It’s unclear “how the Kosovogovernment plans to achieve this[by itself]”, Veliu said.

“It’s up to Belgrade to bring allperpetrators before justicebecause they live in Belgrade,” heargued.

Unilateral reconciliationimpossible

During the 1998-99 war, morethan 13,000 people are estimated tohave been killed and more than

1,700 remain missing.Inter-ethnic clashes between

Albanians and Kosovo Serbs alsobroke out several times after theend of the war, causing hundredsof deaths on both sides andamongst UN police officers andtroops from NATO’s Kosovo force,KFOR.

Bajer and Kastriot Elshani wereamong around 19 people shot deadduring ethnic unrest in March2004 when several thousand peo-ple were forced to leave theirhomes.

Their brother Asllan Elshanitold Prishtina Insight that one ofthem was shot by NATO forces inCaglavica, while the other one isbelieved to have been killed by aSerb.

He said that his hopes for jus-tice had already faded.

“Nine years have passed nowand we have had no response. Ihave no hopes at all. It’s not that adog or a chicken was killed - twomen were killed. And not only mytwo brothers - there are manymore,” Elshani said.

He and other relatives of vic-tims were invited to present theirevidence before the new workinggroup on dealing with the pastand reconciliation, which held itsfirst meeting on March 18.

Experts however have warnedthe authorities not to raise peo-ple’s hopes by making extravagantbut unrealistic promises aboutensuring justice for the victims.

Fadil Maloku, professor of soci-ology at the University ofPrishtina, described the govern-mental initiative as “media manip-ulation for internal consumption”.

Reconciliation, he explained,cannot be achieved unilaterally.

“The readiness in Kosovo andSerbia is still not at the necessarylevel, because of the moral stanceof Serbia, whose society lacksaccurate information on whatreally happened in the five warsthe regime of [Belgrade’s formerstrongman leader Slobodan]Milosevic had,” Maloku said.

In recent years, Belgrade hasprosecuted several cases against

Serb policemen and formerKosovo Liberation Army, KLAguerrillas for crimes committedduring the conflict, with a majorcase against members of the para-military Jackals unit currentlyongoing in the Serbian courts.

Prishtina has also tried severalcases of war crimes against civil-ians, both Kosovo Albanians andSerbs, with a high-profile caseagainst three former KLA com-

manders ongoing. The EU rule oflaw mission in Kosovo is stillinvestigating more than 70 warcrimes cases, while more than 300remain unresolved.

Survivors demand help

Meanwhile controversy has alsoerupted in Prishtina aboutwhether thousands of wartimerape victims should be put underexisting legislation covering con-flict victims and their family mem-bers – possibly assuring them ofcompensation payments of around300 euro a month – has raised newquestions about the government’sefforts to deal with the past.

Some lawmakers argue Kosovodoes not have the money in itsbudget to make payouts to rapevictims, while campaigners have

urged proper treatment for all vic-tims of the late 1990s conflict.

A parliamentary debate on theissue sparked protests inPrishtina, with campaignersaccusing some lawmakers ofbeing disrespectful to women whowere sexually abused by Serbtroops.

The US embassy in Prishtinabacked the move to give more aidto rape victims.

“Every country has an obliga-tion to identify appropriate sup-port for those who have suffered asa result of war, including sur-vivors of rape,” the embassy saidin a statement last week.

Families of missing people inKosovo have also called forincreased welfare payments. Theycurrently receive more than 100euro a month in financial assis-tance, but their main demand isfor the authorities to shed morelight on the fate of the remaining1,700 people who have yet to befound.

However it is still not clearwhen missing person’s commis-sions from Prishtina and Belgradewill hold their next joint meeting,at which topics like futureexhumations of mass graves couldbe discussed.

Kosovo War Victims Not Ready for Serbia ReconciliationKosovo has started work on a reconciliation strategy, but relatives of victims of the war and its violent aftermath are sceptical that justice can be done,14 years after the conflict ended.

By Edona Peci

Thousands of refugees escaped to Macedonia. (UN Photo)

A 13-year-old girl recovers after losing both of her legs in a landmine explosion in Kosovo in 1999. (UN Photo)

An injured woman from Kosovo arrives in at a refugee camp in Blace, Macedonia. (UN Photo)

neighbourhood 11April 12 - 25, 2013

The meandering River Drina.

Nature’s ArtSendsImaginationsSoaring

Nature’s ArtSendsImaginationsSoaring

April is the prime time to pick adestination and see nature’shandiwork in all its splendour, farfrom the crowds.

By Nemanja Cabric

Some places truly make peoplesee nature as universal art-work. The landscape ceases

to be an object of examination andbecomes an arena for expressingsubtle feelings that words canbarely express.

Whether it is the curiousarrangement of trees in anancient and intact forest, thestrange, winding course of a riverthat has carved its way to the seafor countless centuries, a cave dec-oration or some magnificentsculpture made of earth – naturehas a story that it is willing to tell.

Those that care for such storiesand who plan their spring tripsahead can explore several destina-tions in Serbia where they canexperience a different form oftravel, free of the barrage of newsand information, noisy nightlifeand mainstream resorts.

Take the tall sculptures that therain and sun have carved out ofthe land at Djavolja Varos, near

Kursumlija, and which shownature’s architectural skill as wellas its vivid need to play andchange.

Not only does their size varyfrom human size to some that areten times as large, they also have aheavy rock on top of them thosepoints upwards to the sky.

Exposed to the elements andforces of erosion, these figures arenever the same. Legends considerthem people who were turned tostone by magic, but science ruinsthat illusion and claims other-wise.

Apparently, these amazingsculptures, which exist only in afew places in the world, are theresult of earlier exploitation offorests for wood, which resulted inthe water removing the topsoiland softer rock and exposingintact harder rock beneath.

Deep inside the Resava Cave,meanwhile, are even subtlerexamples of nature’s work as a

sculptor.These come in the form of sta-

lactites and stalagmites, foundthroughout the cavernous halls,some of which our distant ances-tors lived in.

Besides a sculpture of a motherwith a child, this cave in easternSerbia hosts an Aphrodite, a nar-row Leaning Tower of Pisa, amosque and a famous “kiss”,which is a phenomenon thatoccurs when a stalactite and sta-lagmite finally touch one another.

While all of those artworkswere crafted by people, the riverDrina has been its own sculptorover the millennia. Its artistictechnique can be summed up asgoing with the flow.

It is also as if there were at leasttwo Drinas. The first is the mightymountain river that crushes therocks as it surges fromMontenegro through Bosnia andSerbia. The second is the meander-ing mirror it then becomes before

it merges with the mighty Sava.The distinct green colour of the

river is evidence of its epic battleto conquer the limestone on its400-kilometre-long journey all theway to the south of the Pannonianplain.

“I will not stop and fill someworthless lake,” it threatens, whileentering Serbia at Jagostica,crushing its way between MtsZvijezda in Serbia and Susica inBosnia and Herzegovina, becom-ing a borderline, an ancient bor-der, some say, between east andwest.

Restless sculptor:

All the way to its confluence, theDrina meanders between the cliffs,choosing the most suitable terrainand the softest rock, leavingbehind various shapes of islandsand peninsulas as it approachesthe valleys and cities.

Its curvy flow speaks of persist-

ence, as well as of a determinationto find the easiest way through -which has caught many people’simagination.

“You can’t straighten the curvyDrina”, people will say in theregion, as if there is no point inarguing further about somethingand setting things straight.

But it is not the only curvy riveraround these parts. The Uvac,whose canyon stretches south ofMt Zlatibor in three places, alsohas perfect S-bends. It is an exam-ple of the Drina artwork on asmaller scale, revealing amazinggeometry and, again, green water.

The Uvac Canyon is also a nest-ing place of the rare GriffonVulture, a bird with a wingspan ofalmost three metres that nests inremote cliffs, preying over vastareas for dead animals.

Unlike them, in the biggest partof Serbia the Danube has plenty ofspace to spread itself peacefully,except in one place in easternSerbia where it narrows to thewidth of one-and-a-half footballfields in a system of gorges calledthe Djerdap Gorge, or “IronGates”.

The barely accessible banks andriverbed of these gorges holdsecrets of Neolithic and Romancivilisations, while the whole areaaround them is a protected nation-al park.

Thanks to two gigantic damnsthat were constructed here, thewater level rose by 35 metres, leav-ing several villages and riverislands under water, together withNeolithic settlements found andresearched only a few years priorto construction.

The water also submerged theisle of Ada Kaleh, known as a portand smugglers’ haunt, along withits mosque and labyrinth of alleys.

However, what is left to see isstill a first-class experience – thenarrow range of forested hillsoverlooking the Danube as it tight-ens between thick forests and barerocks, although at the entrance toGolubac it had seemed as wide asthe sea.Djavolja Varos, Devil's Town, Serbia's unique and constantly shifting earth and rock formation. (Photo/Rudolf Gete)

neighbourhood12 April 12 - 25, 2013

Followers of the Sufi tradition of Islamin Bosnia and Herzegovina eagerlyawait the opening of a new tekke (Sufi

shrine or home), scheduled for May 8.Construction of the new tekke was com-

pleted on April 6 at the Kovaci memorialcentre near the centre of Sarajevo.

The site is where the former presidentAlija Izetbegovic was buried. A secludedspot, it is surrounded by greenery andnature, with a great view over the old partof town.

The aim of the municipality of Seldzuk,the main source of money for the construc-tion, is to replace the tekke built by Isa BeyIsakovic in 1462 on the outskirts Sarajevoat Bentbasa, which was demolished afterWorld War II.

Many Muslims in Bosnia andHerzegovina are delighted with the idea,as it shows that tariqas - Sufi orders - arereviving in Bosnia and Herzegovina onceagain.

One such believer is Hajji AhmetakAhmed, a dervish of the naqshybandiyyaorder, and big fan of dhikr - a devotionalact or ritual glorifying God, performed inthe tekke.

Although he comes from a family thatcherished the Muslim faith, he says hismore complete devotion and understand-ing of its lifestyle came after he experi-enced a tragic event.

During the war in Bosnia, on November

10, 1993, in an attack by Bosnian Croatfighters from the HVO, he took 13 bullets inhis chest, neck and jaw from a distance ofonly two metres.

Amazingly, he survived. Having partlyrecovered, the next year he performed ahajj, a pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca,with a group of wounded civilians and sol-diers alongside President Izetbegovic.

Ahmed now maintains that it was goodthat he was shot because his wounds pavedhis way towards the Kaaba, the holy site ofMecca, and gave him the chance to per-form hajj near the president with the touchof a thousand brotherly hands.

Today, he is retired and every freemoment he spends in visiting tekkes andmosques where he performs dhikr.

A once famous tekke:

Mevlevi Tekke on Bentbasa, which theCommunist authorities demolished in 1957,was one of the most famous tekkes inBosnia and Herzegovina, known for its his-torical and cultural significance alongwith the one at Buna in Blagaj and theQadiri tekke Haji Sinan, which houses avaluable collection of calligraphy.

The original tekke on Bentbasha was thefirst registered institution of a tariqa inBosnia and Herzegovina and is thus animportant symbol in BiH history.

Many other tekkes in this area were alsobuilt in the 15th century. In Sarajevo alonethere were 47 at one time, many of whichare now demolished.

The goal of building a replica of theoriginal, built by Isa Bey Isakovic in 1462,is to return to Sarajevo its old dervishorder, which existed here for centuries.

The head of the Association forPromotion and Preservation of OttomanHeritage Haji Mujaga, Velija Kukuruzović,says rebuilding the Mevlevi Tekke is high-ly significant.

“Mevlevi Tekke has cultural, historicaland heritage importance for Bosnia andHerzegovina, because, although thetariqas were officially discontinued duringthe rule of Austria-Hungary, the Mesnevi(the poem of 20,000 verses of the founder ofthe Mevlevi order, Dzelaludin Rumi, whichis one of the best explanations and inter-pretations of Quran) never stopped beingrecited and the Mevlevi continued their

religious practices,” he said.Kukuruzović adds that opening the tekke

will also lead to the administrative recog-nition of the tariqa by the IslamicCommunity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.“Official recognition of the Mevlevitariqat in Bosnia and Herzegovina willcome soon,” he said.

Dervishes of the Mevlevi order are rec-ognizable for their characteristic dance,the “sema”.

By spinning in circles for hours, theypass into a state of meditation in whichthey praise God. The dance was inventedby the founder of the order Jalāl ad-Dīn

Bosnia’s Dervishes in a Spin Over Rebuilt Tekke

Amina Hamzic

marketing

Mevlevi dance, the sema

Muhammad Rūmī.This order is also known for public read-

ing and interpretation of the Mesnevi,which critics consider a masterpiece ofIslamic art.

The interpretation of the Mesnevi inBosnia and Herzegovina has a traditiondating back hundreds of years.

On the other hand, the Rufaiyyah tariqaare best known for their specific form ofworship, during which their faces arepierced with needles and the dhikr oftenincludes games with fire.

During the act of piercing the faces,dervishes’ wounds often do not bleed,which is attributed to the believer’s deepstate of meditation.

Believers approach certain tariqaaccording to their own sensibilities. Forexample, the Naqshbandiyya tariqa is wellknown for attracting people of a gentle andpacific disposition.

Part of Bosnia's identity:

The following tariqas exist in Bosnia andHerzegovina: Rufaiyyah, Qadiri,Naqshbandiyya, Khalwatiyyah, Shadhili andthe Mevlevi order.

Tariqas only differ in the practices andrituals performed in the tekkes, as they arethe legacy of their original founders, whilethey all share the same faith in God and theProphet.

There are 12 tariqas in all in Islam, whosenumber symbolizes 12 human natures.

Although Islam is usually thought of ascoming to the region with the Ottoman con-quest of the 15th century, some scholarsbelieve that it appeared as much as 200 yearsearlier, thanks to the dervishes and their rit-uals.

As political systems and governmentschanged in Bosnia and Herzegovina overthe past centuries, tariqas were not alwaysapproved of by the state, as was the case in1952 when they were prohibited. Althoughthey continued to exist in secret, the banwas lifted only 30 years later.

Today, as in the past, they have signifi-cance for the historical, artistic and cultur-al development for Bosnia and Herzegovina,a professor at the Faculty of IslamicStudies, Sedad Dizdarevic, explains.

“There is almost no writer or poet who inthe Ottoman period did not belong to atariqa.

“Not only are they responsible for theflourishing of 'divan' literature in ourregion, but they also developed a nationalliterature in Bosnian and Arabic, known asAljamiado,” he explains.

Dizdarevic says that the religious, cultur-al and civilizational background ofMuslims in the region cannot be understoodand interpreted without understanding therole of the tariqa.

“Tariqas had a very active social role, andthey encouraged science and humanitarianwork in society,” he says.

Dizdarevic recalls that in the past, tariqaswere inseparable from public life as thedervishes dealt with work, science and artas well as with the spread of Islam.

“The teaching of the tariqas... gave Islamthe seal of universalism, tolerance, spiritu-ality and enlightenment,” he adds

Dizdarevic also stressed the role ofdervishes in the development of cultural,scientific, religious and other institutions inBosnia and Herzegovina.

“Tariqas change individuals from within,not wishing to change the community out-side,” he notes.

“But, although the tariqa is primarily anindividual sphere, it allows that throughindividuals, the community lives a better,happier, more tolerant and more humanelife.”

Many today follow different ritual prac-tices from those that they had in the past.

Mensur Effendi Pasalic, Chief Imam ofFojnica, in central Bosnia, notes the modi-fied ritual practices of the Naqshbanditariqa:

"The Naqshbandi tariqa in the 1980s had avery strong ritualistic practice of piercingwith swords,” he recalls.

“However, the influence of educatedsheikhs gradually eliminated that practice,and now it is reduced to the dhikr and spiri-tual meditation,” he adds.

Spirituality and hedonism blended:

Tekkes are not created by accident.Usually the sheikh has a dream about thelocation of the future tekke, and throughtime the dream comes true.

For all tariqas, dreams represent animportant part of the faith. For example,one becomes a sheikh when a previoussheikh on his deathbed dreams about whichof his students will become the next sheikh.It happens often that a student dreams anidentical dream, and the overlap of dreamsbecomes crucial in the selection process.

Tariqas are characterized also for sym-bolism. Fasting, the dhikr as well as the cos-tumes of the dervishes include symbols ofIslamic events.

For example, during the last ten days of

Muharram (the first month of the Islamiccalendar), a red prayer mat is used, symbol-izing the bloodshed and tragic events inIslamic history that occurred over these tendays, such as the exile from heaven, or thedeath of Hussein on Karbala.

Tekkes are always built in secluded andbeautiful places surrounded by nature,Effendi Abu Samed Hadžimejlić explainedto BIRN.

“Each location has been carefully chosen.The surroundings of a tekke and its appear-ance should inspire and create peace in ourhearts,” he says.

Hadžimejlić Effendi continues that thetekke has an ambivalent nature, involving acombination of spirituality and hedonism.

“Although tekkes are spaces wheredervishes glorify and praise God and nur-ture their spiritual side, it's also a placewhere they talk, read poetry, drink tea,” headds.

"In an entirely different way, the tekkeprovides a kind of hedonism, consumptionof those living benefits that are in fullagreement with Islamic tenets," EffendiHadžimejlić concludes.

YMCK

neighbourhood 13April 12 - 25, 2013

marketing

Muslim followers of Sufi-ism await the reconstruction of their ancient‘tekke’ – a symbol of the revival of the forgotten dervish tradition inSarajevo.

The new tekke at the Kovaci memorial centre. (Photo/Amina Hamzic)

Mevlevi Tekke has cultural, historical and heritage importance for Bosnia. (Photo/Amina Hamzic)

YMCK

culture14 April 12 - 25, 2013

Renowned Serbian film direc-tor Emir Kusturica hasannounced that his new

movie will deal with human organtrafficking, the focus of a currenthigh-profile trial in Kosovo.

Kusturica said that the filmwould revolve around ideas fromthe books of Russian novelistFyodor Dostoevsky but wouldfocus on what he described as "onethe biggest issues in this century".

"That issue is the removal ofhuman organs, the most brutal actand the biggest sign of a return topagan times," Kusturica explainedto Tanjug news agency on Sunday.

Alleged organ harvesting inKosovo became an internationalscandal following the release of areport by Dick Marty, then humanrights rapporteur at the Council ofEurope, in December 2010.

The report alleged that some ele-

ments of the Kosovo LiberationArmy, including Kosovo's PrimeMinister Hashim Thaci, had traf-ficked the organs of prisoners dur-ing the late 1990s conflict.

An investigation by the EUSpecial Investigative Task Forcestarted in 2011, but no legalcharges have yet been laid.

In another case, seven ethnicAlbanians and two foreigners arecurrently being prosecuted inKosovo for allegedly luring poordonors to the Medicus clinic nearPrishtina with false promises thatthey would be paid up to 15,000euro, removing their kidneys andselling them to rich transplantpatients.

Kusturica has spoken about theproposed movie several times overthe past week, saying that his ideais to shoot most of the scenes inRussia, as the majority of the plotis set there, while the Kosovoscenes will be filmed elsewhere.

"The idea for the movie is in facta scenario that my daughter wroteat a time when we were all in dis-belief about these events, and thenslowly begun to understand that it

is probably the biggest issue of thecentury," he said.

He added that he will probablywork on it for the next three yearsbecause "it is a big project and itdemands big preparations andinvestments".

Holding a lecture for students onthe University of Nis on March 27,Kusturica said that Kosovo was agreat untapped topic for literatureand film.

He also complained that mostfilms present a dark image ofSerbia to the world - "evenHollywood-made movies withgreat film stars such as RichardGere and Penelope Cruz, and notto mention Angelina Jolie's movie'In the Land of Blood and Honey'".

He said that all these films failedbecause "it is impossible to base agreat artwork on false facts".

"Some even try to depict Serbianpeople as more genocidal thanGermany in World War Two. It is

vicious propaganda. I do not wantto defend anybody's crimes,including Serbian ones, but I can-not understand how someone cancompare events in WWII withwhat was going on during thebreak-up of Yugoslavia,"Kusturica concluded.

At the moment Kusturica ispreparing to shoot another filmunder the working title 'Love andWar', starring Italian actressMonica Bellucci as well asKusturica himself.

According to the director, theshooting of this story about a manat various stages of the war willstart on June 15 and last until theend of October.

Kosovo Organ Trafficking InspiresKusturica Film

Awell-known archaeologyprofessor has criticized thegover nment -sponsored

makeover of the capital, Skopje2014, for improvisation and formegalomania.

“There is no common masterplan that unites all the separateparts into one unified and mean-ingful whole,” Nikos Causidiswrites in his e-book, “Skopje 2014- Sketches for Future Research”,published last week.

“It has been made by piling upbuildings based on... improvisa-tion and petty daily interests,”Causidis maintains.

Through case studies of sepa-rate buildings, monuments andcomplexes that form part of theproject, the professor casts a crit-ical eye on its architectural andartistic values.

With its “anachronistic artis-tic styles and inconsistencies[Skopje 20124] is the result of allthe traumas and inconsistenciesthat we as a country and asnation are experiencing… notonly through the centuries, butin the last ten years,” Causidisopines.

The grand government-leddrive aims to give the neglected,grey-looking centre of theMacedonian capital a more mon-umental appearance.

Drawing inspiration fromClassical Antiquity, the projectenvisages the construction ofmuseums, theatres, concerthalls, hotels and administrativeoffices as well as tens of largemarble and bronze monuments.

The project also envisagesadding neo-Classical facades tomost of the iconic modernistbuildings in the city centre.

The project appears broadlypopular with members of thepublic, but critics object to itshigh price tag, estimated bysome to be at least 500 million

euro, as well as to its artisticstyles.

The heart of the project is a 22-metre-high bronze equestrianstatue of the Ancient warrior,Alexander the Great, whichstands atop a white marble foun-tain on the main square.

The statue has caused muchfriction with neighbouringGreece, which claims Alexanderas an exclusively Hellenic figure.

Greece already has a long-run-ning dispute with Macedoniaover its name, which Athens saysimplies a territorial claim to itsown northern province, alsocalled Macedonia.

Since 2008, Greece has beenblocking Macedonia from joiningNATO over the unresolved namedispute. The blockade has alsoprevented Macedonia fromobtaining a start date for EUmembership talks.

Causidis, a professor at thestate Sts Cyril and MethodiusUniversity in Skopje, says hisbook is not a finished scientificwork but more of a synopsis,

preparing the way for a morethorough study.

“I made several attempts topublish the book [in hard copy],but that did not work out. In theend I decided to publish it myselfin electronic form,” he recalled.

Meanwhile, the governmenthas announced its own project to

analyse and evaluate the project,comprising books and CDs onthe historic events and personal-ities memorialized as part ofSkopje 2014.

These include the 10th-centuryTsar, Samoil, as well as twoOttoman-era revolutionaries,Goce Delcev and Pavel Shatev.

'Skopje 2014' Symbolizes Macedonia’sFrustration, Book SaysThe makeover of the capital reveals Macedonia's national weaknesses and frustrations, awell-known professor says in a pioneering scientific study.

By Sinisa JakovMarusic

A page from “Skopje 2014 - Sketches for Future Research.”

Emir Kusturica, left, with actress Monika Bellucci and Serbian Prime Minisiter Ivica Dacic. (Photo Beta)

By Nemanja Cabric

President of the Union ofFilm Artists of KosovoLirak Celaj sharply reacted

to the news that Kusturica willshoot a movie about organ traf-ficking by saying that “he cannotbe called an artist” and should be

banned from Kosovo.“Kusturica is a director that

writes scripts for the Serbian gov-ernment, and has supportedMilosevic’s regime. He should besanctioned as ‘persona non grata’in Kosovo,” he told Prishtina

daily newspaper Koha Ditore onFriday.

He argued that Kosovo societyshould strongly react againstwhat he described as Kusturica’santi-Albanian propaganda.

Kusturica ‘persona non grata’ in Kosovo?

YMCK

international 15April 12 - 25, 2013

The Republicans have admit-ted it: They need to get seri-ous about collecting and

analyzing voter data.Well, you can't get much more

serious than talking to Teradata,the "data warehousing" companythat helps Wal-Mart, Apple andeBay store massive amounts ofinformation about the behavior oftheir customers.

Teradata is just one of themajor data outfits with whichleading Republican strategists aretalking in their declared effort tomatch Barack Obama's big datacampaign tactics, according toone person with knowledge of thestrategy discussions.

The Republican NationalCommittee would neither confirmnor deny talking with Teradata,but was emphatic that no deal isin place. Teradata also declined tocomment. There's unlikely to beany final deals until the RNCappoints a chief technology offi-cer, which it has pledged to do byMay 1.

But if Republican strategistsare still shopping for formal part-ners, their goal is clear: a new,more open database that willmake it easier for Republican can-didates to share what they'relearning about voters — and forthe party to share voter informa-tion with technology developersin order to build apps for use incoming campaigns.

"At lots of levels, for lots of rea-sons, there's a lot of people thatwe're talking to," Mike Shields,the RNC's new chief of staff, toldProPublica.

Both Republicans andDemocrats already have databas-es of basic information aboutevery voter in the United States.But Obama's campaign made bigstrides in connecting data from

different sources, like campaigndonation records, consumer dataand volunteer lists, in order toproduce more detailed profiles ofindividual voters.

The Democratic NationalCommittee has also streamlinedthe way information flowsbetween local volunteers and thenational party, so that data aboutvoters collected by many differentcampaigns — such as a Minnesotavoter's stance on gay marriage orwhom a Virginia voter supportedin a state senate race — all endsup in the same database in D.C.

Republicans want to matchthese innovations — especiallythe flashy ones, like the Obamacampaign's ability to link people'sFacebook profiles to their officialvoting records. They also want touse data to make predictionsabout individual voters, not onlyabout how to influence their vote,but about how to maximize theirpotential political donations.

This is where Teradata couldcertainly be useful. The companyis not a data broker, an outfit thatstrictly sells information aboutconsumers. (So, for instance, theGOP wouldn't be getting any ofApple or Wal-Mart's data.)Instead, Teradata helps compa-nies organize their own data, sothat they can pick out unexpectedtrends — for instance, that Wal-Mart shoppers stocking up for ahurricane often buy strawberryPop-Tarts.

When working with Isle ofCapri Casinos, Teradata built asystem to combine informationabout customer gambling habitswith data from the company'shotels. The new system sends anautomatic alert to casino hostswhenever a "high-value guest"arrives at a hotel. It also trackshow different customers respondto coupons, emails, and specialoffers.

This kind of detailed trackinghas become ever more central todata-driven political campaigns.Almost every day, Obama's re-election campaign tested 12 to 18

different email variations, beforesending out the best-performingfundraising email to its entire list— a testing strategy that some-times earned the campaign anextra million dollars, or more.

The campaign also tracked indi-vidual responses to email blasts— storing information onwhether someone had, forinstance, signed a card wishingMichelle Obama a HappyMother's Day, and using thatinformation when asking thesame people to sign a birthdaycard for Barack.

Obama's data team also gener-ated individualized predictionsabout voters. The team calculated,among other things, which peoplewere most likely to be persuadedto support Obama based on a con-versation about a certain policyissue — information that thenallowed field organizers to bemore strategic about the housesthey visited and the phone callsthey made.

Working with a company likeTeradata would only be a firststep toward this kind of sophisti-cated data program. Obama's 2012campaign considered usingTeradata, but ended up going withVertica, a Teradata competitor,paired with open-source softwareHadoop, to organize and searchthrough their huge quantities ofdata. But, as former Obamastaffers point out, having massesof information doesn't do any-thing on its own: You have to usethe data to ask the right ques-tions.

Wal-Mart famously used itsdatabase to ask what productscustomers tended to buy beforehurricanes. The Obama campaignused its data to ask whether thevoters it wanted to reach werewatching the evening news — orother kinds of television showsaltogether. The campaign used thetelevision-watching data itacquired to figure out exactlywhat shows the voters they want-ed to reach were watching, all ofwhich made for more cost-effec-

tive ad placements.The result? The Obama cam-

paign bought more targeted ads,while spending less per televisionspot than the Romney campaign,according to data collected byKantar Media's Campaign MediaAnalysis Group.

The campaign also constantlyadjusted its predictions — andchecked on the big picture of thecampaign — by connecting voterinformation with detailed pollingdata.

Shields, the RNC's new chief ofstaff, called the data develop-ments "a space race" between theRNC and the Democratic NationalCommittee.

"They put up Sputnik, butthere's no reason that we can't puta man on the moon, and leavethem behind," he said.

As well as hiring in-house dataanalysts, the RNC plans to make iteasy for outside software develop-ers to access the party's nationaldatabase. The goal, Shields said,is to create a "vibrant market-place" of digital tools and applica-tions that developers can sell toRepublican candidates — allbased on the party's own voterdata. Think about the apps thatconnect to your Facebook profile— but for politics.

If the plan takes off, some ofthe GOP's closely-guarded voterdata will soon be available in new

ways. Obama's 2012 canvassingapp, which anyone could down-load, included a map of the user'scurrent location that displayedthe first names, addresses, agesand genders of nearbyDemocrats.

The RNC will still get to controlwhich developers are allowed toaccess its data. But its plans for amore open data platform willrequire that the Republican estab-lishment confront technical, legaland cultural hurdles.

"[The RNC] is an organizationthat is trying to figure out wherethey sit with technology in gener-al. They're going to have to makean investment in a big way, ifthey're going to go on with opendevelopment," Harper Reed, theObama campaign's chief technol-ogy officer, told ProPublica.

The hard part about opening upyour data is trusting the users,Reed said — including the usersyou don't like. What happens ifsome Republican developers wantto use Republican data to build apro-choice app?

"This would be a challenge forany organization, not just a politi-cal one," he said. "It sounds inter-esting. It sounds innovative. It's achallenge."

This article is published cour-tesy of The ProPublica,

http://www.propublica.org, underCreative Commons license.

Voter Information Wars: Republican PartyGets Serious About Data

South Korea has raised its alert amid

North Korea’s recent threat over a missile

test. South Korean and US forces are

together in an exercise during annual mili-

tary drills in Yeoncheon, South Korea,

near the border with North Korea on

Wednesday. South Korea’s foreign minis-

ter told lawmakers Wednesday that the

risk of a North Korean missile launch is

“considerably high.” (AP Photo/Ahn

Young-joon)

High Alert in South KoreaPhoto News:

A representative of Teradata presents some of the companies data analyses.

By Louise Bekket

YMCK

16 April 12 - 25, 2013 Guide

Restaurants:

Liburnia 1 and 2Rr Meto Bajraktar, tel. +381 (0)38 222 719.There are actually two Liburnias oppositeeach other, both very similar in style andfood. Housed in a fine Ottoman abode andsurrounded by pleasant walled gardens,Liburnia oozes atmosphere, whether in win-ter or summer. The food is a roll call ofdecent traditional Albanian food, includingthe usual stews (tave) and grilled meat. It’snot the best place in town to sample localdelicacies, but a good choice given the set-ting. Open 8 am - 11 pm

Country House Off road to Podujevo from Pristina, rightafter the Muciqi Mercedes-Benz garage, tel.+377 (0)44 656 054. This rustic restaurant isa 15-minute drive outside Pristina (on agood day) and provides glorious viewsacross rolling, verdant hills and is especial-ly pleasant place in the summer to watchthe sunset. The overall food quality isdecent, with special marks for the freshbread, straight from the wood stove, andspeca me maze (peppers in cream). 10 am -11 pm.

Princesha Gresa 23 Rr. Fehmi Agani, tel. +381 (0) 38 24 58 41. Ifyou have a horse-size hole in your stomachto fill, this is the place to come. The mealstarts with some free bread and dips and isfollowed by gargantuan portions of salad,meat, fish, or anything else on this variedmenu. The food is sometimes great, some-times average but always served in massiveportions. Open 10 am - 11 pm.

Hemingway Rr Ilaz Kodra, tel. +386 (0)49 145 637. Yes, youcan get fresh sea fish in landlocked Kosovo.Hemingway is tucked away in an unappeal-ing end of the city but worth a trip if youare craving food of the piscine variety. It's apretty basic sort of set-up and relativelyexpensive for the setting, but undoubtedlyone of the best places in town for fish. Open9 am - 11 pm

Le Siam Thai Rr Fehmi Agani, tel. +377 (0)45 243 588.Stylishly designed and smoke-free, Le Siamhas become a real hit for the international

community of Kosovo. If you are acquaint-ed with Thai food, you're not in for any sur-prises here, with the typical assortment ofcurries, salads and deep fried treats, deliv-ered to decent standards. At 7 or 8 euro for amain course, it's relatively pricey comparedto its neighbours. Open Monday-Thursday11:00-14:00 and 17:45-22:30; Friday-Sunday11:00-23:00.

Renaissance II Rr. George Bush (behind the Pro Credit BankHQ), tel. +377 (0)44 118 796. Renaissanceoffers arguably the best overall dining expe-rience in Prishtina. It's quite an experiencejust to find the place. Tucked away along atiny alleyway, you enter the homely, stonebuilding through heavy wooden doors. It's15 euro per head, and for that you will bekept fed, watered and supplied with boozefor at least a three course meal, including awonderful meze starter and a deliciousmain course cooked on embers. Open 11 am- 11 pm.

Bars:

TapëHajdar Dushi Street Nr. 2 (next to Zani Bar,Kada Books, in front of the RadioDukagjini). Tapë — which means “cork” inAlbanian but is often used to denoteextreme drunkenness — is a bar with awarm atmosphere in Prishtina’s centre. Itserves homemade rakia, as well as a varietyof beers and other liquors, and, of course,Stone Castle wine - all at reasonable prices.

Crème de la CrèmeRr Robert Doll, tel. +377(0)44259912. Crèmeis probably the best all-round bar in the city.It's run for the amusement of the young,arty owners and not for profit, whichexplains the more-than-generous pricingarrangements, especially for the perfectlyexecuted cocktails. Its five tiny floors heaveon Fridays and Sundays with Pristina's coolto the variety of beats. Every Wednesday,Friday and Saturday from 8pm to 3am.

Filikaqa Rr Mujo Ulqinaku BL 4/1, Pejton, websitewww.filikaqa.com; 038 244 288. Whistle, as ittranslates from Albanian, offers a dizzyingarray of televisions on which to watch yoursport of choice and eat the best burgers in

Here is Prishtina Insight’s guide to the best places in town to eat, drink, shop andbe merry. We’ll keep this section updated with the newest and coolest placesopening in Kosovo.

Hot Food:VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT (ABOVE), Rruga Garibaldi, Behind Metro Caffe.Tingell-Tengell’s short-lived but much loved vegetarian menu gets a restaurant of itsown. It doesn’t have a name, and it’s delicious. There’s falafel, hummus, baba ghanoujand more. The stew is also luxurious. All the food is under 5 euro. The bar also fea-tures a few whiskies you’ll be hard-pressed to find anywhere in Prishtina, as well asan allegedly 36-year-old rakia. The space also feels like home, in that down-to-earthhipster sort of way. The only quibble is the bread, which is a rather basic white breadthat’s toasted and garnished with herbs. It doesn’t do justice to the otherwise spectac-ular fare. Don’t miss the poppyseed cake, either. - Gravlax

FRESCO (LEFT). Rr. Fehmi Agani. The newest eatery to hit Prishtina’s fine-diningscene, Fresco has designs on being one of its best. Forgive the excessive interiordesign - the food is is elegant and simple, with a gastronomic sense that in-step withthe times. The salmon filet (11.50 euro) is a standout: succulent and flavorful, appear-ing alongside a sweet potato puree and tempura-fried zucchini. The steaks are perfect,too. +377 (0) 44 333 772.

PAPIRUN Tel. 045 26 23 23. Papirun has seating at two perpendicular counters inwhat’s basically a hole-in-the-wall just off Mother Teresa Boulevard, near the GrandHotel. The menu has 13 options: 6 pizzas and seven sandwiches. The sandwiches arethe stars, though. Every component is handled with care. The bread alone is goodenough to make just about any sandwich into a glorious feast. It’s freshly baked andseasoned with rosemary.

town. Select a booth, ask the amiable staff totune into your match and grab a 'doubledecker' or 'triple burger', which look likeAmerican fast-food classics but taste better.Friday night Karaoke is a must-see, must-sing event.Hard Rockers ClubRoad Ilaz Kodra, contact: vraja_fatos@ hot-mail.com. It's one of the few places inPrishtina where you can catch regular liveacts and the only place which caters forthose who like their rock served up heavy, orhard. On a quiet night, it's quite a comfort-able venue to grab a beer, even if you are notbeing entertained by hirsute musicians .

The CubanRoad Luan Haradinaj Tel: +377(0) 45 620 620.This is a decent addition to the city's drink-ing scene, even if the place can be full ofspivs and tarts who aren't going to a fancy-dress party. The Cuban-themed décor isdecadent Havana, the food is average, andnot very Caribbean, but the cocktails aregood. 8 am - 1 am.

Xhoni’s BarRexhep Mala, Pristina, tel. +377 (0)44 750 720.Xhoni’s is, without doubt, a Prishtina insti-tution. It’s small, friendly and smoky, playsexcellent soul, disco and classic rock musicfrom vinyl and is open until the last man orwoman staggers out. Arrive by 11pm at theweekend to secure a corner, or even better a

seat, if you intend to make a night of it. Nextto A&A restaurant and has round windows.Opens: 8pm-to late. Shut on Sundays.

Fastfood:

Bel AmiRr Luan Haradinaj, Tel: +377 (0)44 133 848,+386 49 133 848. The ideal town-centre stopfor a quick lunch or takeaway snack, BelAmi unceremoniously serves some of thebest chicken doner in Prishtina in a surpris-ingly un-greasy, smoke-free environment.Ask for a “komplet” to get the classic donerpacked with salad and sauces and wrappedin tin foil. Monday-Friday 9 am - 7.30 pm;Saturday 9 am - 8 pm.

Clubs:

P1Fehmi Agani, +377 (0)44 608 669. If you’relooking for cool, then P1 is probably notthe spot for you. The decor is pretty unin-spiring, the music is bog standard and theatmosphere reminiscent of a cattle mar-ket. But if your thing is scantily cladyoung women or packs of amorous boys,than it’s an excellent choice. And, in thevenue’s defence, it does have a pleasantoutdoor area for summer dancing.Working hours Wednesday, Friday,Saturday from 9 pm to 3 am.

YMCK

Te Komiteti

Te Komiteti’s large trees and a beauti-fully garden, which surround the smalloutdoor terrace, give you an impressionof an exclusive place for ordinary peo-ple. And this is exactly what it is. Frombrunch to lunch-time snacks and specialevening meals, this restaurant offersdishes comprising quality, varied ingredi-ents, combined to perfection. Alongsideone of Prishtina’s best ‘modernEuropean’ style menus, you’ll also find agood selection of wine, and great san-gria and cocktails .

Te KomitetiQamil Hoxha Street

Prishtina+381 38 24 96 63

Where to pick up Prishtina Insight?Hotel Prishtina

Hotel Prishtina’s 43 charming guest rooms and suites arereminiscent of a small hotel in the European tradition. You'llimmediately feel at home in our living room, sipping a glass ofwine in our fine restaurant surrounded by a gallery of paintingsby local artists.

The hotel offers free, fast wifi internet, complimentary breakfast,conference room, swimming pool, sauna and laundry service.

Hotel Prishtina,St. Vaso Pasha nr. 20

+381 38 / 22 32 84

A taste of Napoli in Prishtina.

After ten years of making pizza in Napoli, andwith only love to blame, Fatmir, the head chef,returned to Prishtina. His pizzas, made in a wood-burn stove, are definitely genuine napolitanas.Fatmir also has several delicious pastas on offer, atrue joy for the taste buds. Napoli has an excellentselection of red and white wines or, for the moreambitious, one of the region's best quince raki.Napoli makes for delicious lunch, dinner or evenafter-theatre time out in the centre of Prishtina.

Pizzeria Napolioff Luan Haradinaj, opposite Newborn

044/409-402402

Hotel AFA

Located in a quiet neighbourhood justoutside the city centre, Hotel Afa canguarantee guests a peaceful night whilebeing within walking distance of all theaction. The venue has won a host ofawards for its excellent service to cus-tomers and offers a good range of facili-ties, from an exclusive restaurant andVIP bar to pretty, tranquil gardens.Rooms start at 45 euro for a single, andluxury rooms and apartments are avail-able. The hotel’s rooms are well appoint-ed and comfortable.

15, Rr Ali Kelmendi,Sunny Hill, Prishtina

+381 38/225 226www. hotelafa. com

Paddy O’Brien’s

The staff atPaddy O’Brien’shave a saying: “It’seasy to walk in, butvery hard to leave.”

And with itswarm atmosphere,fantastic range ofdrinks and excel-lent food, it is easyto see why.

There have beenmany attempts toestablish a properIrish pub inPrishtina, but thisis the only one tohit 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 ‘nchips, and whopping great burgers.

Thursday is pub quiz night, but there is always somethinggoing on at the pub, whether it is sport screenings or just a goodshindig.

Paddy O’Brien’sTringe Smajli Street, by the Illyria Hotel

Prishtina: 045-420900

Papillon Bistro Bar

This newly reopened bar in Prishtina, Papillon, offersmore than 60 types of wines from France, Italy, Spain,and Kosovo with great prices and delicious dishes.

They serve pasta, sandwiches, salads and differentappetizers.

You can also try different types of local or internation-al beers.

The bar, with it’s stunning new design, is located inthe centre of Prishtina, near ProCredit Bank headquar-ter, RTK radio centre, and the Mother Teresa cathedral.

PapillonMother Teresa Str. Nr. 51 A

info@caffepapillon.com044 103 310

1717April 12 - 25, 2013

Guide Contact Prishtina Insight if you would like your event to feature orto advertise your venue. Email marketing@prishtinainsight.com

If you live in Kosovo and would like toreceive the hardcopy of the newspaperdelivered to your door, you can also sub-scribe for 13 editions, the equivalent of six months, for 13 euro, including deliv-ery, or for 26 euro for the whole year. Please note, deliveries outside ofPrishtina may be refused due to trans-port costs. You can pay through an internationalbank transfer or in cash at a Kosovobranch of Raiffeisen bank.If you are interested in subscribing pleaseemail us at info@prishtinainsight.comwith the subject "subscription", listingwhat type of subscription you require. Wewill then provide you with an invoice andbank details.

Prishtina Insight has teamed up with these excellent venues to offer a limitednumber of complimentary copies of Kosovo’s only English-language newspaper.Grab a copy of the publication and settle down with a drink or a meal to read it.

YMCK

timeout18 April 12 - 25, 2013

“Zambezia” 3DEvery day at 2pmSet in a bustling bird

city on the edge of themajestic Victoria Falls,"Zambezia" is the storyof Kai - a naïve, buthigh-spirited young fal-con who travels to thebird city of "Zambezia"where he discovers thetruth about his originsand, in defending thecity, learns how to bepart of a community.

Director: WayneThornley

Writer: CamillaBubna-Kasteliz, Andrew Cook, etc.

Starring: Leonard Nimoy, Jeremy Suarez, AbigailBreslin.

“The Croods” 3DEvery day at 4pmThe Croods is a pre-

historic comedy adven-ture that follows theworld's first family asthey embark on a jour-ney of a lifetime whenthe cave that has alwaysshielded them from dan-ger is destroyed.Traveling across a spec-tacular landscape, theCroods discover anincredible new worldfilled with fantasticcreatures -- and their outlook is changed forever.

Director: Kirk De Micco, Chris SandersWriters: Chris Sanders, Kirk De Micco etc. Starring: Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan

Reynolds.

“G.I. Joe –Retaliation” 3DEvery day at 6pm and 8pm Framed for crimes

against the country, theG.I. Joe team is terminat-ed by the President'sorder, and the survivingteam members face offagainst Zartan, hisaccomplices, and theworld leaders he hasunder his influence.

Director: Jon M. Chu Writers: Rhett Reese,

Paul WernickStarring: Dwayne

Johnson, D.J. Cotrona,Channing Tatum.

“Stoker” Every day at 10pmAfter India's father

dies, her Uncle Charlie,who she never knewexisted, comes to livewith her and her unsta-ble mother. She comes tosuspect this mysterious,charming man has ulte-rior motives andbecomes increasinglyinfatuated with him.

Director: Chan-wookPark

Writers: WentworthMiller, Erin Cressida Wilson

Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman,Mathew Goode.

--------------------------------Soon: “Broken City”, “Epic” 3D and “Evil Dead”

For any further questions or reservations call at 038 243238 or visit them at www.kinoabc.com

“The last station”Every Thursday at 8pm The story is situated in theyear 2015. Nowadays and pastproblems are carried in theyear of 2015. Burim is themain character who is lookingfor the truth, for his familyand his fiancé, which are stillmissing since the war of KLAended. After many attempts hefinds out that his neighbour isstill alive and that he knowsmore about his family. Burim

can’t live in the present; he is always going back to thepast, in the memories of his family and Behare, hisfiancé. Halfway he meets a young girl called Shpresawho reminds him of Behare and finally gets part ofBurim’s life. Based on the novel “Birds fly on their own” by IbrahimKadriu.Directed by Lirak Celaj and Florent MehmetiCast: Besnik Krapi, Liridona Shehu, Ilire Celaj, AdrianMorina, Eshref Durmishi and Kushtrim Sheremeti.

“As if this was a show”Every Wednesday at 8pm "In the bus no. 4...duringthe war in Prishtina ...a26 years old - youngman...is wearing jeansand a black T-shirt... At"Union" hotel...sniperbreaks a window... andthe youngster is shot inthe neck... A lady dressedin white, who was stand-ing near him starts toscream. When she seesthe blood in her shirt shefaints... two hourslater...she is seen at the Big Mosque...near café"Romantika", but this time accompanied by a friendyounger than her...Based on the drama by: Almir ImshireviqDirected by Agon MyftariCast: Rebeka Qena, Ardian Morina, Armend Ismajli,Besnik Krapi

8pm Friday, 12 April“After Miss Julie” By Patrick MarberDirector: Kushtrim Koliqi

8pm Saturday, 13 April“After Miss Julie” By Patrick MarberDirector: Kushtrim Koliqi

8pm Monday, 15 April“After Miss Julie” By Patrick MarberDirector: Kushtrim Koliqi

8pm Tuesday, 16 April“Collisions”By Ekrem Kryeziu

8pm Wednesday, 17 April“Collisions”By Ekrem Kryeziu

8pm Thursday, 18 April“The killing of the mosquito” By Xhevdet BajrajDirector: Donard Hasani

8pm Friday,19 April“The killing of the mosquito” By Xhevdet BajrajDirector: Donard Hasani

6pm Monday, 22 AprilKosovo Turks Day

8pm Tuesday, 23 April“The killing of the mosquito” By Xhevdet BajrajDirector: Donard Hasani

8pm Thursday, 25 AprilPremiere – “Kopelia” balletChoreograph Ilir Kerni

Crème De La CrèmeAlexunder’s freaky friday! Friday, 12 April 2013at 9pm

Dit’ e Nat’Hithat Blues Trio LiveFriday, 12 April 2013At 9pm

Tingëll Tangëll5 years TingëllForest Nimani – Ska; Arif

Muharremi - Dirty Dark Funk made inPlemetin; Vigan Nimani - GangsterJazz; Shejn Tahirsylaj - Afro Beat; GentNimani - New Wave; Alban Nuhiu -African Funk; Jarkko Räsänen – Funk.

Friday, 12 April 2013At 9pm

Theatre

Prishtina Diary

National Theatre of Kosovo

news 19April 12 - 25, 2013

The jury in the Balkan Fellowship forJournalistic Excellence has selected10 participants for this year’s pro-

gramme.The fellows were drawn from more than

100 applicants. The competition for the topplaces was once again extremely close, andthe quality of shortlisted entries was veryhigh.

BIRN would like to congratulate the win-ners, and to thank all who applied this year.BIRN would also like to encourage candi-dates who were not successful to considerapplying again next year.

The journalists were selected throughopen competition to receive funding andprofessional support that would help themconduct cross-border research into a topic ofregional and EU significance. Participantsin the programme are selected based on therelevance, feasibility and originality oftheir proposals, as well as their professionalqualifications, motivation and journalisticapproach.

The Selection Committee is comprised ofseven prominent media figures from theBalkans and Europe. Each year, committeemembers read, evaluate and select story pro-

posals for the fellowship.Alongside six permanent committee

members, an expert in the fellowship inves-tigation topic is appointed as an annualmember, and this year it was Paul Lewis,award-Winning UK journalist and specialprojects editor at the British daily newspa-per The Guardian.

Here are the fellows for 2013, listed alpha-betically by surname:

Dino Jahic, Bosnia and HerzegovinaMeri Jordanovska, MacedoniaHana Marku, KosovoMarija Milosevic, SerbiaVlad Odobescu, RomaniaGoran Rizaov, MacedoniaMirko Rudic, SerbiaErjona Rusi, AlbaniaMelisa Skender, CroatiaElena Stancu, RomaniaThis year’s Fellowship programme topic

is Integrity. The Balkan Fellowship forJournalistic Excellence is an annual bur-sary for cross-border investigative and long-form reporting. You can find out more aboutthe project on its website:

http://fellowship.birn.eu.com/en/page/home

BIRN Fellows for 2013 Selected

The EU rule of law mission, EULEX,said on Wednesday that it hadexhumed the remains of seven bodies

thought to be those of wartime missing per-sons and also found a further two parts ofskeletons at a Muslim cemetery in northernMitrovica.

“The victims were exhumed fromunmarked graves spread throughout boththe upper and lower part of the cemetery.During the operation, an additional fourpotential burials were pinpointed,” EULEXsaid in a statement.

“This is the result of several weeks ofanalysis of a variety of documents datingfrom the 1998-1999 conflict. EULEX DFM[Department of Forensic Medicine] believesthat there could be more unmarked burialsat this location and will request furtherprosecutorial orders for more exhumationsin the near future,” the statement said.

More than 1,700 people are still missing 14years after the end of the conflict.

According to EULEX, so far this year itsforensic team has conducted 18 field opera-tions in the Peja/Pec, south Mitrovica, northMitrovica, Suha Reka/Suva Reka, Prizren,Gjakova/ Djakovica, Klina andSkenderaj/Srbica areas.

Seven of these resulted in exhumationsand the remains of 28 individuals wererecovered.

Previous BIRN’s fellowship participants

KFOR soldiers

secure a bridge over

the Ibar River, which

runs between North

and South

Mitrovica. In light of

Serbia’s rejection of

a deal concerning

northern Kosovo,

KFOR renewed its

pledge to “to con-

tribute to a safe and

secure environment

and freedom of

movement for all

people in Kosovo.”

(BETAPHOTO/Sasa

Djordjevic)

On GuardPhoto News:

By Edona Peci

Remains are taken by EULEX at the Mitrovica cemetery

EU Finds Corpses ofWartime Missing in KosovoThe EU rule of law mission in Kosovo has recovered the remains of sevenpeople who have been missing since the conflict with Serbian forces inthe late 1990s.

YMCK

opinion 20 April 12 - 25, 2013

Ecosovo

At Home inVelika Hoca

It seems that within the next month or so there is hardly a week whenwe’ll be working all the way through from Monday to Friday. So are youthinking of where you might go for a long weekend, or a night away

somewhere special?If so, there’s good news, because one of my favourite places to stay in

Kosovo just got more accessible. I love the Cultural Heritage WithoutBorders, CHWB, project that supported traditional homes in the stunningvillage of Velika Hoca to develop as bed and breakfast accommodation andreceive visitors.

For a long while, however, it was a well-guarded secret. Like an unattainable pleasure, people would surf the web for photos of

this attractive community in the heart of Kosovo’s wine-growing region,with its 13 churches, some dating back to the 12th century. Sometimes youwould see a bottle of raki on a shelf in someone’s home in Prishtina with acarved wooden cross improbably fitting into the bottle, and you would knowthey had been there. People mentioned the mythical-sounding JerusalemRoom but never really explained what it was.

The reason for the mystique was that only a few printed copies of thebrochure giving accommodation details seemed to be in existence. Likepirated movies, there were blurry photocopied versions in circulation,passed from the hand of one returning traveler to another heading off forthe weekend, but unless you knew someone who knew someon. Velika Hocaremained almost unknown, and hard to find.

In fact, it’s only about 20 kilometers from Prizren and makes an easy daytrip or a leisurely weekend away from the capital. And this week I discov-ered that the information about where to stay when you get there is nowavailable online! No more the exclusive holiday retreat of those in the know,everyone can stay the night – at one of the four family homes made ready toreceive visitors.

The beautifully presented brochure with information and photographs ofthe accommodation is available on the Cultural Heritage Without Borders’website at http://goo.gl/xduWw. You can also read about the wonderfulchurch architecture in the village (including Decan monastery’s winery)you can read there about the variety of styles of homes which are ready toreceive visitors, along with contact details. (It often helps to find someonewho speaks Serbian if you want to book.) All the four houses from CHWB’sproject are more than 100 years old, though the Spasic house is probably thegrandest, and the one with the so-called Jerusalem Room holding the fami-ly icon, brought back from pilgrimage to Jerusalem

With the fellow guests in our party, we tried two of the homes in VelikaHoca and were well looked after in both. Reasonably priced, with good homecooking and a sometimes over-enthusiastic welcome — I defy you to getaway with just one glass of raki — the accommodation is a treat. Why both-er leaving Kosovo for a weekend break when you can save time in the carand petrol in the tank, and can contribute something to Kosovo’s economy.You’ll be sat in a vine-covered courtyard sipping the local red before yourcolleagues have even made it to the border.

Elizabeth Gowing is a founder of The Ideas Partnership, a Kosovan NGOusing volunteer power to tackle educational, cultural heritage and environ-mental challenges. She is also the author of “Travels in Blood and Honey;becoming a beekeeper in Kosovo” (Signal Books, 2011). She can be reached

on theideaspartnership@ gmail.com

By Elizabeth Gowing

Thaci, Dacic and Ashton during more hopeful times.

Velika Hoca’s delightful B&Bs.

The prime ministerialdrama in Brussels hasfinally come to an end, at

least for this season. SerbianPrime Minister Ivica Dacicdemonstrated that he does nothave the courage to announce tohis nation the news that shouldhave been announced back in1999 - the permanent loss ofKosovo. Kosovar PrimeMinister Hashim Thaci, on theother hand, showed that his“courage and determination”are symbiotic with the presenceof international backing.

And in all this bitter epilogueit seems that EU foreign policychief Catherine Ashton hasbeen dealt a major blow to hercareer in her efforts of “normal-ising the relations” between tworather polarised governments.So, what will be the price of thisstalemate?

SerbiaBelgrade’s lucid rejection of

the agreement shows that theleadership in Serbia was wellaware that backing such agree-ment could potentially bringback the terror last seen withthe assassination of ZoranDjindjic - this time presumablywith Dacic as the victim. Theburning of the office of OliverIvanovic in northern Kosovo,attacks on the offices of Serbia’slargest party, SNS, and therather naff protests in Belgradeare the glaring example of howlittle Serbian public has done toface wars of the 1990s. The polit-ical rhetoric combined with theinfluence of the SerbianOrthodox Church have kept an

entire nation hostage to thepropaganda and manipulation.

Serbia’s struggle in divorcingitself from its dark pastbecomes more apparent if wescrutinise the actions of theSerbian state officials, who feltthe need to consult PatriarchIrinej on the acceptance of theagreement with Kosovo. We aretalking about consultationswith the head of a religiousinstitution, whose calls forpeace have generally beenmarred by its infliction of hate-speech toward Kosovo and itsAlbanian citizens. This, howev-er, should not be much of a sur-prise given that at times of eco-nomic crises and social despairthe Kosovo issue has usuallyserved as food for masses inSerbia.

Serbia has a wealthy resumeof rejecting agreements withKosovo starting with theRambouillet Accords of 1998.However, what has become evi-dent with the passage of time isthat every subsequent negotia-tion with Kosovo has put Serbiain a more unfavourable positionto negotiate as its power fades todictate developments in Kosovo.The last round of negotiationsproves that Serbia was trying tosave what it could be saved anddid not even debate about southof Kosovo. Therefore, any fur-ther negotiations will ensurethat Serbia’s EU path remainsthe same - a passage viaPrishtina.

KosovoOn the other hand, Kosovo is

stuck, too. Even though whenEdita Tahiri embarked on thesenegotiations, it was very murkyas to what Kosovo stood to gain.The possibility of a

Stabilisation AssociationAgreement, SAA, was seen as a

major step forward of the EUvis-a-vis Kosovo. This is espe-cially important given the lackof consensus within the EUabout Kosovo. The SAA carrotwas a sign that Kosovo andSerbia will have separate EUintegration processes, but withnormalisation of relations asthe main intertwining condi-tionality.

Hashim Thaci and his cabi-net were adamant that nothingshould breach theConstitution, a fruit of theAhtisaari Plan, which is oftenseen as the biggest compromiseAlbanians made in their questfor independence. That said,the negotiations failed asSerbia rejected the agreement.So, if Kosovo cannot come to anagreement with Serbia aboutits own territory, then it is timeto roll up the sleeves and tacklethe issue of the north directly -without Belgrade, withoutDacic, without heavily armedpolice units and without vio-lence.

Kosovar leadership should bediligent in drafting a strategiceconomic plan for the integra-tion of its Serb citizens in thenorth. Challenges, problemsand obstacles will undoubtedlybe present, but this will be amajor test of Kosovo’s state-hood and the capacities of thisgovernment. At the end of theday, even in the hypotheticalevent that Serbia accepted theagreement, Kosovo would havestill had to approach its Serbcitizens in the north as it wasclear that they railed againstthe agreement anyway.

Serbia’s decision is ratherdisappointing, but it is not trag-ic. A tragic scenario wouldarise if during the necessarypunishment of Serbia, Kosovofaces consequences too.

Outside In

For Kosovo and Serbia, a Deadlock

By Kreshnik Hoxha

opinion 21April 12 - 25, 2013

If you would like your NGO to appear in our Making a Difference feature, please email info@prishtinainsight.com

Catherine Ashton, theEuropean Union’s foreignpolicy chief, will issue a

report on April 16 indicatingwhether Serbia will be given a dateto start talks on joining theEuropean Union.

Serbia, however, is undeservingand should not be given a date. Notonly has Serbia refused to normal-ize relations with Kosovo. It failsan even more basic test for joiningthe EU. Serbia’s discriminationagainst minorities in Serbia -Hungarians in Vojvodina,Albanians in Presevo, andMuslims in the southwest Sandzakregion - disqualifies it from join-ing the bloc.

The political dialogue betweenSerbia and Kosova broke downlast week over executive powersdemanded by Belgrade for KosovoSerbs living north of the Ibarriver. Local control of the judici-ary and police is a deal-breaker.

The Republic of Kosovo hasalready bent over backwards toprovide local autonomy to KosovoSerbs. It has implemented theAhtisaari principles representthe gold standard in local self-government and decentraliza-tion. They address participation

by minorities in public life,including full and exclusive pow-ers in matters concerning cul-ture, education, heath, environ-mental protection, and economicdevelopment. Prime MinisterHashim Thaci has proven hiscommitment to the Ahtisaariprinciples, which have beenenshrined in Kosovo’s constitu-tion.

[Named after the Finland’s for-mer president and UN diplomatwho conceived the Ahtisaariprinciples, Kosovo was offeredinternationally supervised inde-pendence if it made concessionsincluding extensive autonomy tominorities.]

Negotiations do not representa goal in themselves. Talks can-not go on without result.

When negotiations betweenRichard Holbrooke andSlobodan Milosevic broke downin March 1999, Holbrooke leftBelgrade warning Milosevicthat NATO would act. However,Holbrooke called Milosevic thenext day to give him one lastchance to reconsider. Milosevicrebuffed his appeal. As a result,Serbia paid a dear price.

When Ashton adjourned theSerbia-Kosovo dialogue, shewished the parties a safe triphome but left the door ajar forcompromise. Belgrade maymake concessions aimed at jus-tifying a decision by the EU toset a date for talks. Given

Belgrade’s consistent pattern oftrying to undermine Kosovo’ssovereignty, it cannot be trustedto act in good faith. Any agree-ment will require monitoring,guarantees and enforcement toensure implementation.

Of course, dialogue is betterthan conflict. The EU should notclose the door on future talks.But these talks should include abroader agenda, undertaken ina different format.

Serbia cannot expect toachieve in northern Kosovowhat it achieved in Bosnia – astate within a state officiallysanctioned by the internationalcommunity. Minorities inSerbia, such as 300,000 ethnicHungarians, deserve the sametreatment afforded 30,000 Serbsin Northern Kosovo. The protec-tion and promotion of minorityrights is not a menu where somegroups get more than others.

The EU is fundamentallyabout European values. Serbiaand other countries in theWestern Balkans should adopt aminority rights standard har-monized with European norms.The Ahtisaari principles repre-sent a good starting point.

Of course, European officialsmust lead negotiations onSerbia’s EU candidacy. But talksabout a regional approach tominority rights demand a moreinclusive process. The quint,which included the United

States, the United Kingdom,France, Germany and Italy, wasa useful system for coordinatingdiplomacy during the final sta-tus talks on Kosovo. However,Russia’s non-participation as afull diplomatic partner led toproblems that worsened overtime.

Russia is still smarting fromits weak diplomacy in Kosovo,its humiliation at the PrishtinaAirport in 1999, and subordina-tion to NATO’s command aspart of the Allied force forKosovo. Today Russia is resur-gent; it needs a robust role. IfRussia is part of the problem, itmust also be a part of the solu-tion.

Russia can show its relevanceand play a constructive role as aco-chair with the EU and UnitedStates on the development of aminority rights standard for the

Western Balkans. Better to haveMoscow in the tent as a partnerthan outside as a spoiler. Takinga regional approach would alsobenefit relations between Serbiaand Kosovo.

Peacemaking in the Balkansduring the 1990s demonstratedthe disadvantage of incrementalmeasures. A comprehensive andinclusive approach, involving allregional and international stake-holders, is a bold alternative thatcan more successfully addresscore and continuing problems inthe region.

David L. Phillips is Director ofthe Program on Peace-building

and Rights at ColumbiaUniversity’s Institute for theStudy of Human Rights. His

recent book is ‘Liberating Kosovo:Coercive Diplomacy and U.S.

Intervention.’

Defenders of the journalisticprofession should continueto refuse to talk to the gov-

ernment about its proposed medialaw until the authorities changetheir ways.

Macedonia’s JournalistsAssociation, ZNM, the TradeUnion of Macedonian Journalistsand Media Workers, SSNM, theMacedonian Institute for Media,MIM and the Centre for MediaDevelopment, CRM as well asother organizations defending theprofession, are all boycotting theprocess of enactment of the so-called Law on Media.

Why? First, government institu-tions did not offer the draft law forconsideration to media workers.Afterwards following the standardpractice, they assembled a publicdebate at the last minute, not invit-ing most of these organizations toparticipate.

Second, does it make sense todebate with a government that hasfailed to process any of those

responsible for the forced removalof journalists from parliament onDecember 24? This act breached anumber of legal norms and inter-national conventions as well as theMacedonian constitution and theparliamentary rulebook.

Thirdly, is there any sense indebating a law that no one hasseen - and when no one from thegovernment and the institutionsin charge of the media sphere hasspoken a word in public aboutMacedonia’s catastrophic 116thranking in the World MediaFreedom Index 2013 published byReporters Without Borders?

Fourth, does it make sense todebate with a government that hasshut down the oldest TV station inMacedonia as well as three dailynewspapers, and under whosewatch journalists and cameramenhave been beaten, and nearly allthe critically inclined media areceasing to exist or struggling forlife - and when media favours arebought with nontransparentspending of public money on gov-ernment commercials?

Fifth, is there any sense indebating with a government thatrefuses to debate with anyoneopposed to it and seeks only to dis-

cuss things with itself ?Sixth, does it make sense to dis-

cuss with a government thatlaunched a “dialogue” with jour-nalists with a sole purpose of get-ting one of the few sentences inthe 2011 European Commissionreport on Macedonia that startswith the phrase, “Predominantlypositive”? Since then it has alsopassed laws, like the one ondecriminalization of libel, whichhave further narrowed the spacefor free media and increased thelevel of censorship and auto cen-sorship.

Seventh, does it make sense todiscuss with a government thathas marred the death of one of theicons of Macedonian journalismwith procedural sloppiness and alack of even basic decency? Theyhave virtually ignored the death ofNikola Mladenov, not even send-ing a telegram of condolence. Yetthis man was great promoter ofpluralism in the country in thelate 1980s and early 1990s, whichincluded giving space to the thenjust formed DPMNE party, at atime when no one else gave themsuch space.

There are many more reasonsfor media organizations not to

talk to this government aboutmedia legislation and to continuetheir boycott of the “publicdebate”.

Their watchword should be NoPasaran! At least until the author-ities change the above-mentionedbehaviour.

If they want to prepare laws, it

will not be done with the help ofjournalists. They can use otherculinary masters to concoct theirlegal stews. We will not sup withthem. We only wish them bonappetit!

Petrit Saracini is program man-ager at Macedonian Institute for

Media.

Brussels Should Not Reward Serbia WithMembership TalksEurope should not offer Belgrade a start date for talks until it offers its own minorities thesame privileges it demands for the Serbs in Kosovo.

Serbia has yet to be given a start date for talks to join the EU.

By Petrit Saracini

Macedonia’s Media Law: Don’t Pass It

By David L. Phillips

Life in Focus22 April 12 - 25, 2013

YMCK

Contraband’s DemiseKosovo police on Wednesday destroyed a collection of drugs and guns seized dur-ing recent months. The cache included 212 kilograms of marijuana, 1.2 kilograms ofcocaine, a rifle and two pistols. (Photos by Korab Basha)

YMCK

23April 12 - 25, 2013

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