A little more on Vetevendosje (please see my previous post on this movement, which is below).

Vetevendosje is, in essence, a radical movement. They have used somewhat violent tactics during their protests in the past few years, such as vandalism and flipping EULEX cars. Here is a YouTube video of a 2007 protest with the police (sorry, I will need to learn how to embed the video later), where multiple officers were injured and two Vetevendosje members were killed. This protest was under consideration and viewing from the police, and finally after three years, Albin Kurti was arrested in June 2010 (Human Rights Watch is calling for an investigation into the use of police force during the arrest). He was convicted and sentenced to 10 months in jail, but because he already served time earlier and was on house arrest, he was set free.

Interestingly, Vetevendosje declared on the day of Kurti’s arrest, that they will run as a legitimate political party in the next governmental elections in 2011. From talking to people in Pristina, most believe that Vetevendosje will have a suitable backing and should gain some seats in the Assembly; however there is the change that the government may not allow Vetevendosje to run in the elections, due to their past violent history, and as of now, it seems certain that Kurti will not be able to campaign personally.

Although Vetevendosje is a radical movement, Kurti thinks that "being radical is about being rational.” They are not against the law, but believe that law is politicized and that politicians and international diplomats bend the law as they will. Thus to counter this, sometimes hard action is needed to get one's views across.

Some spray painting by the group. There is one saying "Blej Shqip," which means 'buy Albanian."

This poems reads:

I vote, you vote, he/she votes, we vote, you (plural) vote, they bribe.

"Demonstrate for justice."

The Self-Determination Movement

Vetevendosje, “Self-Determination,” was created in Pristina by Albin Kurti and a few friends on July 12, 2005, after the Norwegian diplomat to Kosovo, Kai Eide, stated that Kosovo lacked a real status and should make an agreement with Serbia to gain recognition as a semi-state. Kurti’s Vetevendosje movement, which currently is not a political party but solely a ‘movement,' believed at the time Eide made that statement, that Kosovo had (and still has) an international status equal to an independent state. Yet although Kosovo declared independence in February 2008, it still lacks sovereignty because they do not have control over their borders, have no military, and are guided by the international community. Vetevendosje believes that Kosovo’s independence was not preceded by their right to self-determination.

One of the main goals of Vetevendosje is to attach sovereignty with independence. They want to change the character of the state from corrupt to trustworthy. They charge that the international diplomats in Kosovo turn a blind eye to the corruption in the name of stability and as a tradeoff for these same international diplomats to be able to govern over the actual Kosovar government. Additionally, the international presence is actually making Kosovo become less of a real state, which in turn is destabilizing Kosovo internally.

I must point out here that Vetevendosje is not against the international community, meaning the movement does not hate the countries who have a presence in Kosovo on an individual level (such as Al Qaeda ‘hating’ the US), but they are strongly against international rule over Kosovo. The problem is that the international presence pushes for stability and security as a priority, and not progress of democracy and economics. In short, the international community's first priority is to prevent crisis in Kosovo.

Vetevendosje understands that the economy of Kosovo is bad, with around 45% unemployment, 40% live in poverty (a couple of Euros a day) and 18% live in dire poverty (1-2 Euros per day). Therefore they want to develop a long-term sustainability model that searches out Kosovo’s comparative advantages and capitalizes on them. Further, they want the government to subsidize baby industries until they are competitive and profitable (this model has been used before and is still in use by countries like Brazil and China). They also want public ownership of Kosovo’s strategic resources, like telecommunications, power/energy production, and mining of minerals such as lead, zinc, magnesium. Currently, Kosovo only has a short-term plan and lacks the long-term future outlook.

Vetevendosje's outlook on decentralization is that it is essentially destabilization. Decentralization is written in the Ahtisaari plan and is the process of decentralizing state level governance to the public through creating more municipalities and strengthening these municipalities local governance. Thus decentralization creates more boundaries and more municipalities that are not connected and will also create municipalities that are ethnically dominated, such as Leposivic, which is a Serb majority municipality in Northern Kosovo. Kurti thinks that having Serbian majority municipalities will only give Serbia a greater opportunity for more leverage in Kosovo because there will be local governments made up of Kosovar Serbs. (As a side note, the Atisaari plan allows for Serbia to have ties with the Serb communitiy/municipalities as long as it is transparent and any money given goes through the Kosovar government (which is unlikely.)) With decentralization, Serbia can indirectly create more municipalities in Kosovo and control them to counter governmental policy/influence.

Vetevendosje believes that the problems for Kosovo are Serbia, UNMIK, EULEX, ICO, and all the other international presence in Kosovo (read USA). Vetevendosje wants to get to the roots of the problems in Kosovo and try to resolve them. They understand that they must mobilize to bring people together, to get a reputation of being active and progressive, because action is important to gain reputation and/or legitimacy in the eyes of the civilian population. Vetevendosje is very idealistic, and it is anyone’s guess as to whether they can implement their goals for Kosovo; but at the same time, the movement can exemplify change coming from the bottom

There is a general stance that Vetevendosje wants Kosovo to join Albania to create a ‘greater Albania,’ but really they just want to have the right to self-determination and for Kosovo to have the decision to join up with Albania (a decision that would not be allowed to be brought up now). It seems that Vetevendosje wants autonomy for Kosovo and for Kosovo to be allowed to lead and decide what is best for itself, without the help of the international community.

Protest in Mitrovica

Unfortunately I missed this one, but the Ministry of Interior opened an office in the Bosniak Mahala section of Mitrovica North, which is friendly to Albanians (and actually has Albanian flags flying in the neighborhood). The Ministry of Interior opened a civil registry office in this section, and I assume the Serbian population saw this as an encroachment of the Kosovar government into their area. Most Serbs do not want the Kosovar government in Mitrovica North, nor does Belgrade. The protest was most likely organized, I have been told that they are not spontaneous, especially when 1000s show up.

This article states that one Serb was killed and another 11 injured, but I have also seen articles that 12-13 were injured. I am not breaking news here, but it is good to report it nonetheless. Reuters also reported it, which is more reliable. I hope to catch the next one and provide my own pictures if possible.

Here is the Serbian side of the story.

Gerard Gallucci reported that the opening of the Ministry of Interior's office is part of Kosovo's government's 'Northern strategy.' which noone has apparently seen except for top government officials and international diplomats, such as Peter Feith, the International Civilian Representative. Here's what Gallucci says"

"The opening of the office was supposed to be part of Pristina's northern strategy to impose its institutions on the Serb majority north that rejects Kosovo independence. The fatality was reportedly a local doctor standing near his home in the Bosniak Mahalla mixed area. EULEX police reportedly were protecting the Kosovo office and kept protestors away."

Follow up to 'Vigil of St. Vitus Day'

Although I do not have any personal pictures of the scenes at Gracinica or Gazimestan for St. Vitus Day, you can view some pictures here from Kosovo's Koha Network online newspaper. Reports say that approximately 1,500 Serbians visited these two towns, and that there were about the same number of Kosovo police officers present. No major incidents occurred, but I did see video on TV of Serbians trying to light an American flag on fire (I don't know if they were successful).

One picture on Koha net shows Harley Davidson bikers, who are part of a humanitarian event for orphaned children in Kosovo's Mitrovica municipality. The bikers rode in from Serbia but are from Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina as well. This one article reports that on the morning of June 28, four bikers were attacked in Mitrovica South (the Albanian dominated side of Mitrovica), but that the injuries were not severe. This reports also states that bikers were from Australia, France, Austria, and Macedonia.

Vigil of St. Vitus Day

A quick post:

On Monday, June 28, 2010, was the commemoration of the Battle of Kosovo, also known as Vidovdan in Serbian (St. Vitus Day) which occurred in 1389, a battle between the advancing Ottoman Empire into the Balkans and the Serbian Orthodox Empire. Although most have said that the Serbian Empire was defeated and the Ottomans took control, academics such as Noel Malcom and Anna Di Lellio have pointed out that the battle was more of a stalemate between the two sides; however Sultan Murad, the Turkish army leader, and Prince Lazar, the leader of the Serbian army were both killed in this battle. It was actually not for another half century that the Ottomans fulled took over the Serbian empire and conquered much of the Balkans.

The Battle took place on St. Vitus day, and in the early morning Prince Lazar and one of his knights, Milos Oblic, took communion s early in the morning and then fought to their deaths. Oblic was the one who killed Sultan Murad. The holiday of St. Vitus Day is a day for remembering the fallen soldiers of the battle, and also is a day that "symbolizes the death and resurrection, the despair and hope, and the end of an epoch and the beginning of a new era."

What is interesting is that citizens of Serbia come to Kosovo to commemorate the day, including the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Irinej. Patriarch Irinej was first in Gracinica, where he gave a small mass and blessing and then went on to Gazimestan, where there is a monument for the Battle of Kosovo (see here). The actual battle is supposed to have taken place near Gazimestan, in Kosovo Polje, which meant 'field of the Blackbirds.' I heard around 3000 Serbs attended the ceremonies today and that Kosovo Border Guards were on high alert for any suspicious activity, but at the same time were more respectful of Serbs crossing the border.

It is actually an interesting story and there are myths that surround the battle. Speaking with one Kosovar Albanian about this day, he did not quite understand why Serbians would want to celebrate this day, considering it was the beginning of the downfall of their Empire and that Serbia has not won any war. But actually the memory of the Battle of Kosovo, which displays the courage of the Serbian people, plays a role in Serbia's history and identity, and is a reason why Serbia does not want to give up Kosovo.

This post will probably be a bit less educational, but I will see what I can do. I had the fortune to travel to Albania the past weekend, and here is what I have to say:

Albania is a potential candidate for accession into the European Union and although it has reformed, much more needs to be done. I am not going to regurgitate this article, but like Kosovo, and other countries in Balkans, corruption and rule of law (i.e. judicial actions, legal recourse) are two areas that need to be improved for approval into the EU; however this can take years, since Albania is just a potential candidate for accession, not an actual candidate on the path to accession. To this end, through the EU Commission, Albania is under the initial phase of Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (Kosovo is as well). This basically means that the EU is assisting Albania on building democratic and transparent institutions and is also eligible for cross-border cooperation with other potential candidates, such as Kosovo, as well as candidates and EU member states.

Approximately 95% of the population is Albanian, but there is around a 3% Greek population, and actually the area of Chameria, in southern Albania that borders Greece is contested between the two states. Traveling throughout Albania, especially towards the south, one can see graffiti that reads "I [heart] Chameria" and "F*ck Greece." (Sorry was not able to get any pictures, and there was only one reference to "F*ck Greece," but I imagine there are more closer to Chameria). Further regarding the population, 70% is Muslim, 20% is Orthodox, and 10% Catholic, and they all tend to be more secular (although there are always reports of Islamic fundamentalism being more of a force as well as the Orthodox trying to save their religious places and blaming Islam for the destruction of some of their churches/monasteries). In the capital Tirana, they are actually building a Catholic church (see below), and although the city is built up nicely, much of the development has occurred in the past 20 years.

(this is the main square)

Albania will most likely have an economic boom in the years to come as vast amounts of oil and natural gas reserves were found in the country in 2008. Yet to export their resources, Albania will have to stabilize and further develop its infrastructure, here meaning highways as the country is very mountainous and rugged, but its valleys are quite traversable.

Currently Albania is completing its main highway, (contractor is Bechtel Corporation, an American company) and much is complete; however there are times when one is driving in the mountains on dirt roads or very narrow roads. The trip from Pristina takes about 8-10 hours to the town of Dhermi on the southern coast of Albania, and I was told before the highway it would be closer to 16-18 hours (and you can still see the dirt roads alongside of the mountain that were once the old highway). Interestingly, this highway, under Bechtel, is also being constructed in Kosovo, so that there will be one main road from Pristina to the ports of Albania, which will make transportation much smoother for these countries.

I stopped in the town of Durres, which is on the Adriatic and stayed in the town of Dhermi, which is on the Ionian Sea, which is basically the Mediterranean Sea. Durres is much more developed and tourist-y, and many Kosovars come here for vacation because Albania is one of the few countries a Kosovar can travel without a visa (the visa issue is a big issue for Kosovars). The beaches of Durres are heavily crowded and dirty, as you can see by the pictures below, but still retains its beauty because the town is on the Adriatic Sea. It is also on a valley, so Durres is much more accessible to the general population (and closer to Kosovo, whereas Dhermi is another 2 hours or so from Durres). Also, I did see a man walking a bear down the street in this town - twice actually - while passing through (sorry, no picture).

There is trash lying the ground everywhere, and the water probably isn't the cleanest.

Case in point, there are trashcans practically in the water, and most are overflowing with trash.

My guess is that within a few years, Dhermi will be a major tourist attraction all summer long, and one for internationals as well (I don't want to mislead anyone, internationals do go to Dhermi). It is a town in the mountains, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and absolutely gorgeous. The water is crystal clear but the beach is rocky (this can be overlooked instantly). The beaches only get crowded in July and August, so any time in June is best. The town is pretty desolate when one gets closer to the water, so unless one wants to hike up the hill, then all your supplies are bought at the resort restaurant (you need to come prepared). The roads to get here are long and windy, up and down mountains, with some close turns. There are some grave stones (some with elaborate head pieces) as well as Orthodox prayer stations along the way. I am sorry I did not get any pictures, but they were neat to see. There are also roadside vendors that sell olive oil and honey - the beehives were next to the road as well, and although at certain points when the mountainside flattened there were 2-3 vendors selling the same products, there really is no other job opportunities in that area for the local population.

- the blue, white, and yellow boxes are beehives.

Unfortunately, there is always the trash problem. Sanitation services are a must in Albania.

Mixed neighborhoods and Government Intervention

I must clarify. Mitrovica is a municipality in the North of Kosovo where the Iber River happens to run through it. Within in the municipality there is a large city and this city is divided by the Iber into Mitrovica North and Mitrovica South. The North is predominately Kosovar Serb and the South Kosovar Albanian. However, in the northern part of the Mitrovica municipality, which is very rugged, mountainous, and underdeveloped, there are small villages or neighborhoods of Albanians, Serbians, and Bosniaks. But there is a Kosovar Albanian and Bosniak population in Mitrovica North; thus I do not want want to draw a picture like West Germany and East Germany during the Cold War, even if Mitrovica North really only answers to Belgrade. This is not the case. Anyone can cross over the main bridge (and people do this frequently) although there is a Kosovo police car sitting in the middle, for monitoring purposes. There are other bridges to Mitrovica North, and at least two that I have taken lead in to K-Albanian neighborhoods.

This is makeshift bridge along a dirt road. You can see the rails in the center of the first photo, and ahead is a a Kosovar Albanian village. The second picture is going across the bridge in the car, below is the Iber River.

This is a K-Albanian neighborhood in Mitrovica North. It is surrounded by K-Serbs for the most part, but there is not constant fighting between the two. The red flags are Albania's national flag. The bridge is at the end of the road, as unlike the bridge above, this is more suitable for traffic,. and is also guarded with a Kosovo police car.

Interestingly, the Kosovo government is trying to devise a way to create mixed neighborhoods in the north part of the municipality (i.e. the mountainous regions that can be developed). This is the plan but again, it remains to be seen how this will go. Below is the construction of a K-Albanian house that is the first house in over nine years to be funded by the government. This house is being built to create a mixed village - the thing is, the Kosovo government does not want funding or assistance from Belgrade.

I'm not certain but from what I can fathom is that Belgrade is not happy with this plan and believes it will only be a village for K-Albanians. This is probably not far off, and thinking like this is common in this situation. And as a side note, looking at the second picture of the tilled dirt, I believe that the houses behind this is actually a Serbian village, therefore Belgrade could view this construction as a blockade to expanding the Serbian village. This leads me to another interesting facet in this new village. Not more than 100 yards away did the Serbian government start constructing its own buildings right between two K-Albanian houses.

The two large buildings on the right hand side, the first one is bright red, are the buildings constructed by the Serbian government. Every other house or building you see is K-Albanian. Things like this are not uncommon in the Mitrovica municipality and it really hinders any type of cooperation or feelings of security for the citizens. It's like a chess game, a very strategic chess game that hopefully will not end in violence.