Only 7% of the money is obtained; government officials offer no explanations At the meeting held in Skopje on February 10–11, neighboring countries benefit four times more page 3

By BLENDI FEVZIU Recent developments in Mitrovica and the violence provoked once again have reopened an old debate. A debate that dates back to the entry of NATO troops into Kosovo in mid-June, and that has yet to find a proper answer. The issue concerns Kosovo’s status and its future. The ambiguity in statements—or, more accurately, the discrepancy between statements and reality—has created an amorphous situation, blocked crisis management and, above all, made a concrete solution even more difficult. To make the matter more specific, outbreaks of interethnic violence, the creation of armed enclaves, the absence of law and order, and the lack of any investment are direct consequences of Kosovo’s unclear status and of equally confused statements, coming primarily from the international institutions themselves or the governments that make them up. Anyone who has visited all of Kosovo knows well that its inhabitants are convinced that independence has arrived and that a return to Serbia or the Federation is entirely impossible. Not only political engagement, but the very lives of Albanians are being built on this logic, and imposing a different idea will do nothing but provoke further violence and destabilization. On the other hand, however, the Serb community, and especially those concentrated in the Mitrovica area, still believe that Kosovo’s separation has not been final and that Serbian armed forces will return in the not-too-distant future. Russia’s continued public commitment in support of this idea; the constant invocation of Resolution 1244, which everyone is convinced has been overtaken by events; and comments suggesting that Milošević’s departure and the establishment of a democratic government in Belgrade will create the conditions for Kosovo to return to the Federation with a new status have fostered among the Serb community a sentiment entirely opposed to that of the Albanians—and, indeed, an unrealistic one. But above all, the uncertainty over Kosovo’s status weighs on the international administration itself. In an article published two weeks ago in “Le Figaro,” Kushner explains that the coffers for his work are empty and that he does not have even a single mark to continue his work. This becomes even more tragic when one recalls that the entire annual UN budget in Kosovo is equal to the cost of half a day of bombing. But Kushner says that no serious investment can come from abroad, and no major institution or company can risk its investments in a country whose future has not yet been legally determined. More than Albanian resentment, Mitrovica is about uncertainty over the future.

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SCANDAL. The request reaches President Meidani’s desk The Prosecutor’s Office declares war on the Court. It was Chief Prosecutor Arben Rakipi who yesterday at noon submitted the request to President Rexhep Meidani, for the matter to be considered subsequently by the High Council of Justice. Sources from the General Prosecutor’s Office said that this had become necessary as a result of the investigations conducted by the group of prosecutors, after a decision issued by this panel of judges was deemed illegal. The case concerns the release from Vaqarri prison of a convicted person through an unprecedented forgery. The investigation found that the three-member judicial panel had also been implicated in the matter. To take the investigation further, their immunity first had to be lifted. Put more plainly, this request marks the height of the conflicts between the Prosecutor’s Office and the Court. For three years running, the prosecuting authority has viewed the Court as an obstacle to its work. There have been many statements during this period alleging that, through their rulings, the black robes have become enemies of justice. page 7