Monday, June 20, 2005

Palokaj: Time of assessments in Kosovo

Koha Ditore carries an op-ed by its Brussels correspondent Augustin Palokaj that it is good that the international community has made it clear that only Serb-related standards are a priority and that Albanians understand they can only realize their aspirations by respecting the rights of Serbs. However, says Palokaj, this, in an indirect way, gives Serbs room for manipulation, especially when most of them have taken a cue from Belgrade to prevent independence of Kosovo.

It seems, says Palokaj, no one understands the work of Kai Eide and Albanians think that a positive assessment is a foregone conclusion. Surprisingly, Serbs too think it will be positive based on expectations that Eide’s work will only serve as a justification to start status issue. Furthermore, he will embellish the situation if only to prove that Kosovo has accomplished the Standards.

On the other hand, the international community is saying that the ‘result cannot be prejudged’.

Over the next three months, Kai Eide, will independently undertake a detailed assessment of the Standards implementation, but the result should be based on political will and not on figures, as statistics provide the best mechanism for manipulation.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Editor, I would love to hear more from the KOHA Brussel analysts. Augustin Palokaj is quite good, and so is Beqaj. I miss them. Blerim Shala of Zeri does a good job in Prishtina, now that Surroi has gotten into politics.
Their views and reporting are quite alternative and informed.