Trading with the enemy in Mitrovica, Kosovo. - RUhosting

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In Pristina this new Albanian approach seems to be working well for inter-ethnic relations: It is no problem for Serbs to live there, and Serbs can freely walk the streets and talk Serbian without being bothered (field notes). Many Serbs who went to Pristina or even lived in there after the war were positively surprised or even really liked it (field notes, respondent #2, #4 & #10). Most Serbs do not know this, and believe going to Pristina as a Serb is still highly dangerous, according to respondent #10, a Serb from Belgrade. He blames this wrong perception on the Serbian media and politicians who still promote the image of Albanians as violent and enemies. It must be added that large cities, and capitals in particular are known in general for their more cosmopolitan attitudes. It is to be expected that other Albanian majority areas in Kosovo are less “Serb-friendly”. Serbian respondent #2 gladly goes to Pristina, but is afraid to go to Mitrovica south. He is not alone in this (field notes, respondent #4), although it is unclear how dangerous it really is to go to these areas. That Pristina might be a positive exception becomes clear when one looks at Prizren, a city in the south of Kosovo. Albanians are actively removing any traces of Serbian history in that area. Respondent #13, an international located in Prizren working for the ICO is worried that without the presence of the international community Albanians would erase all (Serbian) Orthodox buildings in the Prizren area. According to him politicians find themselves in a tense position between the obligation to implement the Ahtisaari plan on one hand and on the other hand their local power base. There is no real commitment to the Ahtisaari plan: “they just try to write nice reports”. 'This is the cost of independence' is a big consensus among politicians. The politicians just want to get it over with but the plan is not well imprinted on their minds so not much happens. An example is the new Logo of Prizren which only represents the Albanian majority but not any of the other ethnic groups. “They do not seem to understand”.(respondent #13) Another issue are the minority laws. “The Minority laws are also made to entice Serbs to come back but the perception is that minority rights come at the cost of Albanians. Everywhere in Kosovo people are fighting for their own rights. There is no sympathy for others” (respondent #13). This view that Serbs are getting too much aid and rights at the cost of Albanians is something I heard quite often from Albanians themselves (field notes & respondent #3). Respondent #3 tells how Serbs are being helped first with return to their homes and how this frustrates Albanians. Another Albanian frustration is “We pay everything, Serbs pay nothing.” according to her. Respondent #14, an international program director for an NGO in Mitrovica understands the Albanian concerns: “It's the best (minority rights) pack in the world. If Serbs want to play ball they can have a lot of power. There are already huge losses in the Ahtisaari plan for Albanians.” Serbs on the other hand believe Albanians are getting much more support from the international community and especially from the United States and European Union (field notes). Both groups are probably right to some extent, but they are focussed only on their own group. Since the independence Albanian resistance to foreign influence has been growing, which hit a recent low in 61
August 2009 with violent protests against EULEX in Pristina 20 . Albanians have what they want now – independence – and while before this all the international rules were seen as necessary costs of independence, now they feel they have paid enough and want to get rid of these rules and regulations. The radical movement “vetendosje!” (self-determination!) seems to have a growing support (field notes). By granting independence the biggest part of the international community's carrot for motivating Albanians in favour of a multi-ethnic state has been eaten. This could mean Albanian support for a multi-ethnic state might start shrinking in the near future. 5.4.2. Serbian approach to multi-ethnicity. Serbia's relation with Europe and the rest of the international community is very different from that of the Kosovo Albanians and Serbia's political goals are also much different. This reflects in their policies. Especially before the declaration of independence by Kosovo and the following recognition of this independence by 62 states (as of 12-10-2009) 21 , it was in Serbia's best interest to prove that Kosovo cannot protect minorities or minority rights and hereby show the world that it cannot make Kosovo an independent state. Now, after the independence and it's recognition by about 1/3 of the worlds UN recognised states, Serbia is still fighting the independence by any means. One of the tactics for this is obstructing inter-ethnic relations and integration of Serbs into Kosovar society. The main victims of this appear to be Kosovo Serbs themselves. Respondent #10, a Serb from Belgrade now living in Pristina tells how he, and his family was afraid to go to Kosovo for the first time because of the way Kosovo is presented in the Serbian media. He also noticed that Serbs from Kosovo are in general a lot more nationalistic than Serbs from Serbia proper. His explanation for this is that they are said to be, by Belgrade, to be 'the defenders of Kosovo': “They are used and abused by Serbia”. Serbs are used as political tools by Belgrade, he continues when he gives the example of 250.000 Serbian refugees from the war in Croatia who were not allowed to settle in Serbia proper but had to go to Kosovo. He also mentions several times how people who want to cooperate and do something constructive are crucified by the media and that is how they are controlled. “The public opinion and policy is ‘Kosovo is Serbia’, but in fact young people in Serbia say “I don’t give a fuck about Kosovo”. The tactic of the Serbian Government is “divide and conquer”. People who want to do something constructive are crucified by the media. That is how people who want to cooperate are controlled.”. Respondent #12, an Albanian from Mitrovica working at an NGO says the same things. He accuses the Belgrade regime of abusing the Serbian IDP community for its own goals. “They pressure and intimidate people for their own purposes. They tell Serbs in Kosovo not to accept payments from the Kosovar government. They should let go, Serbs have to integrate themselves in Kosovo”. He believes politics can still have the biggest influence on positive change, 20 EU Observer. " Violent protests against EU mission in Kosovo". 26-08-2009. Visited on 11-10-2009. http://euobserver.com/13/28583 21 Who recognised Kosova? visited on 12-10-2009. http://www.kosovothanksyou.com/ 62
Page 1 and 2:
Nijmegen School of Management, Radb
Page 3 and 4:
TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
Page 5 and 6:
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION “Sixteen
Page 7 and 8:
Governmental Organisations (IGO's)
Page 9 and 10:
1.4. Thesis organisation - Short ou
Page 11 and 12: I learned a lot from it, as I found
Page 13 and 14: Of the seventeen people interviewed
Page 15 and 16: interesting experience was organisi
Page 17 and 18: Mitrovica Serb admitted that when h
Page 19 and 20: CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK "P
Page 21 and 22: 4. Trade encourages the broader exp
Page 23 and 24: Miljacka River, separating the Serb
Page 25 and 26: This part of inter-ethnic trade can
Page 27 and 28: For the largest part of the past 60
Page 29 and 30: “Because of such dissatisfactions
Page 31 and 32: sent all colonists back to Kosovo.
Page 33 and 34: Conditions have improved and the de
Page 35 and 36: Albanians reacted to these new poli
Page 37 and 38: same: First an Albanian village whi
Page 39 and 40: Data from the SOK is sometimes used
Page 41 and 42: the highest aid per capita ever giv
Page 43 and 44: Country % of Export % of Import Alb
Page 45 and 46: which were in turn disbanded in fav
Page 47 and 48: Another similarity between both com
Page 49 and 50: situation developed in favour of th
Page 51 and 52: its economic situation. Mitrovica u
Page 53 and 54: CHAPTER 5: RESULTS Placing inter-et
Page 55 and 56: Albanian” and by Serbs associated
Page 57 and 58: “But I will never accept the inde
Page 59 and 60: Another important reason why reconc
Page 61: “Everything that happens in Mitro
Page 65 and 66: nationalists” because he believes
Page 67 and 68: (respondent #4). A Serb working in
Page 69 and 70: CHAPTER 6: RESULTS Views on the eff
Page 71 and 72: elieves inter-ethnic trade will imp
Page 73 and 74: Trader 3. Respondent #7, an Albania
Page 75 and 76: daughter of his sister who went to
Page 77 and 78: issues. On top of that you have to
Page 79 and 80: towards their colleagues of the oth
Page 81 and 82: that even if the legal or the grey
Page 83 and 84: 2004. Second, Blanton argues that "
Page 85 and 86: REFERENCES Andreas, P. (2004). The
Page 87 and 88: Lagazio, M., & Russett, B. (2004).
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