Things really are changing

Ramush Haradinaj–former Kosovo Liberation Army fighter, former Prime Minister, former two-time indictee of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia–stopped by to chat at SAIS this afternoon, with Mike Haltzel moderating.  He acquitted himself, pun intended, with aplomb.

His main focus is on doing well in the November 3 municipal elections, a prelude to next year’s parliamentary contest.  He hopes to double his vote, capturing perhaps five municipalities, in addition to the six his Alliance for the Future of Kosova (AAK) already controls in western Kosovo.  He is trying to build the trust of citizens, which he thinks the Self-determination Movement of Albin Kurti has lost.  He underlines equal rights for all in Kosovo, but recognizes that it will be difficult to win the confidence of Serbs.

He is supportive of the Belgrade/Pristina dialogue, in which an AAK official participates.  He wasn’t so much enthusiastic about the results so far as determined to implement them and improve the situation, especially in the north, as much as possible.  The Pristina authorities had to compromise to allow the Serbs to portray the elections there as status neutral, but in fact they are organized by the Pristina-based electoral commission according to its normal procedures.  Both Belgrade and Pristina have condemned the recent murder of an EU Rule of Law official, which was a tragic event but not one that will derail the progress being made.

Ramush is supportive of more citizen-to-citizen interaction between Serbs and Albanians, both within Kosovo and between Kosovo and Serbia.  He agreed that this is vital to underpin the technical and political agreements reached so far.  More needs to be done with media, sport, culture, business and other sectors.  Serbia and Kosovo should be forming joint groups to press the European Union for needed infrastructure funding. The liaison offices functioning in the two capitals have so far been too timid.  He would like to see them take on broader roles and make contact with ministries, parliamentarians and others, as the offices of the five non-recognizing EU states already do in Pristina.

The energy sector is especially important, because Kosovo has lots of lignite that has gone unexploited far too long.  Its use will be expanded for electrical generation, using the best anti-pollution technology.  A gas pipeline is in the works from Albania for home heating.  Kosovo is not well-endowed with hydro compared to its neighbors.

Sonja Licht, a pillar of Belgrade’s civil society, referred to the recent Belgrade security forum, at which a substantial number of Albanians (both from Albania and from Kosovo) participated.  She was at pains to note the high quality of an all-women panel on human security, which included a Serb from northern Kosovo.  Something important is changing in the relationship between Serbs and Albanians.  They are moving past the obtacles that persisted for a long time after the 1999 war.

Asked about the Kosovo security forces, Ramush was vaguely impatient but still cautious in response, noting that they are few and would be developed in close cooperation with NATO.

Mike Haltzel underlined the importance of language issues.  Serbs and Albanians should learn each others’ language, in addition to English, which is vital to their future livelihoods.  Ramush thought making the languages compulsory at school would not work.  People will learn both languages if there are good economic reasons to do so.  English he said is required from first grade and German from the fifth.  He himself speaks Serbian and demonstrated that in a brief conversation with Milan Misic, the Politika journalist present.