Trading with the enemy in Mitrovica, Kosovo. - RUhosting

violence except for in Mitrovica. The time was deemed right by the IC to start the discussions on Kosovo's
status, and therefore the former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari was appointed in October 2005 by the UN
Secretary General to lead the process of settling Kosovo's status. In the following years several direct talks
between representatives of Serbia and Kosovo would take place, but an agreement was not reached. In
February 2007 Ahtisaari presented his “Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement” which
was followed by more negotiations during the year, not leading to any agreement. The Contact Group neither
could reach an agreement but the EU leaders agreed on a 1,800 strong EU security and rule of law mission to
be deployed after Kosovo's independence. 7 Kosovo accepted the Ahtisaari plan (although not happily) and
the placement of the EU mission, called EULEX, and declared Kosovo independent from Serbia on the 17 th
of February 2008. So far 62 UN countries have recognised the independence including 22 of the EU member
states 8
. The declaration of independence was immediately refused and declared illegal by Serbia, which was
furious. Resulting in some Serb-organized violence the first month after the declaration (International Crisis
Group, 2008). Although the independence is still disputed now, de facto the Kosovo government has control
of all of its territories except the northern, mainly Serb populated, part of Kosovo. Because no compromise
was reached between Belgrade and Pristina however, the status issue remains a factor of conflict between
Kosovo Albanians and Serbs and destroyed a lot of trust (field notes).
Apart from the first month, it has been surprisingly quiet in Kosovo since the declaration of independence.
There have been some incidents in Mitrovica 9 and south of the Ibar many Serbs claim to live in fear of
Albanians 10
, so not all is well. Relations between Albanians and Serbs are still tense, and as long as these do
not improve the fear will remain that they might escalate again when the situation worsens.
4.2. Current economical and geopolitical situation.
In this paragraph Kosovo's more statistical traits, such as its geography, population, economy and some
political factors will be covered. These traits are discussed in order to shape a more complete image of the
environment in which people live in Kosovo and in which inter-ethnic contact and trade takes place.
First a note on statistics: according to UN reports there are still many shortcomings regarding official
statistics on Kosovo which makes it difficult to make accurate assessments. The main Kosovo institution for
statistics, the Statistical Office of Kosovo (SOK) is has a lack of resources is not independent (UN, 2008).
7
International Crisis Group. Conflict History: Kosovo. Visited on 05-08-2009
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?action=conflict_search&l=1&t=1&c_country=58 visited on 05-08-
2009
8
Who Recognized Kosova? Visited on 05-08-09 http://www.kosovothanksyou.com/
9
NRC Handelsblad: Explosies en branden in Kosovaarse stad Mitrovica. 03-01-2009. Visited on 05-08-2009.
http://www.nrc.nl/buitenland/article2110714.ece/Explosies_en_branden_in_Kosovaarse_stad_Mitrovica
10
BBC News: Isolation fears grips Kosovo Serbs. 29-07-2009. Visited on 05-08-2009.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8172537.stm
37