The state institution launches an investigation into the new version of Azem’s murder Ismet Haxhia gives three hours of testimony on the details of the events page 5

BY GAVROSH LEVONJA Yesterday’s signing of the agreement on a temporary administrative council for Kosovo constitutes another essential step toward establishing it as a separate reality outside Serbia. This also considerably weakens the few atavistic threads that legally continue to keep Kosovo tied to Belgrade under the formula of “preserving Yugoslavia’s sovereignty.” Naturally, this is the sole reason why the representatives of Kosovo Serbs boycotted yesterday’s launch, refusing to sign the agreement establishing the joint administration that will govern Kosovo. In this way, it can be said that yesterday’s agreement brings us back to the days of Rambouillet, where the representatives of the Serbian authorities also refused to sign the document presented by the international community, thereby signing the decision for NATO to bomb their country, the consequence of which is today’s reality. But what matters most for the Albanian factor is that yesterday, for the first time since the beginning of the year, in Rambouillet, representatives of the Albanians were once again seen together, both physically and in their thinking, which was also reflected in their joint statements at the signing of the agreement. To be realistic, the period following the Rambouillet Conference has been characterized by disagreements among the main leaders of Kosovo’s Albanians which, in keeping with Albanian tradition, degenerated into banal mutual accusations. Thus, Kosovo’s Albanians have so far had two prime ministers, a provisional government and a government in exile, presumably because none of them was governing. In any case, the protagonist of yesterday’s events in Pristina was the Frenchman Bernard Kushner, the man who will in fact “make the law” in Kosovo. It does not take much imagination to picture Kushner’s speech bringing the Albanians together and setting them on the path of cooperation, the only path that can lead to the realization of their aspirations. In a sense, without forgetting Rambouillet, the role of external actors is decisive in bringing the Albanian factor together. Nevertheless, the ability of the protagonists of Kosovo’s public life to heed the convictions, advice and suggestions of these actors must also be recognized. This is all the more striking in comparison with the inability of politicians here in Tirana to do anything similar, despite the presence of external actors at the table. However, given the role of the international community in developments in the country and the region, politicians who do not take steps in accordance with the pace it sets will find themselves in difficulty, to say the least, and may well leave the political stage.

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Bushati is ready to join the commission proposed by the government and its Friends Yesterday’s meeting between Prime Minister Meta and Zef Bushati will be followed by surprise actions. This is what the executive says as he is set to attend a meeting of the Christian Democratic Party’s leadership at the request of the party’s chairman, Bushati. This is undoubtedly something unprecedented. Nothing of the kind has happened even within the parties of the governing coalition, yet it will happen tomorrow in the right-wing party most integrated into Europe. Yesterday’s meeting thus initiated an entirely new era in Albanian politics. Whereas once all the parties managed to come together at a rally in Tirana solely to demonstrate unity when Kosovo was under discussion, now it is about something more than a rally. Real cooperation among all parties in the institutions must now be demonstrated in the other great struggle of the Albanians: the fight against corruption and the illegal economy, the only way to integrate into Europe. And although the prime minister has insisted on cooperation between government and opposition in this great struggle, Bushati is the only one from the opposition who has shown himself ready—hardly coincidentally, he is also the leader of the party most integrated into Europe within the Union for Democracy bloc. Yesterday’s beginning and tomorrow’s continuation are the first steps toward necessary cooperation. A response from the others is expected.