Lauri

Hip hei, nykyinen kotikaupunkini ylitti viimein(?) uutiskynnyksen myös Suomessa. Hesari kertoi osin virheellisessä uutisessaan miten Silovon kylän asukkaat ovat tuskastuneet eloonsa ilman sähköä. Sähköttömyys on nyt jatkunut jo yhdeksättä päivää. Yksi seuraamus tilanteesta on se, että kantaravintolamme “Kirjasto” on joutunut lopettamaan ruokatarjoilun, koska ilman kylmälaitteita se ei voi toimia.

Jaa, miksei serbeillä sitten ole sähköä? Useimmat heistä eivät ole maksaneet laskuaan vuoden 1999 jälkeen… Mutta todettakoon tasapuolisuuden vuoksi, että myös yhä useammat albaanit jättävät sähkölaskunsa maksamatta. Niinpä koko “maa” kärsii kroonisista sähkökatkoista, jotka johtuvat siitä, että

1. sähkölaitos KEK haluaa muistuttaa ihmisiä laskun maksamisesta ja että
2. sähköä ei yksinkertaisesti riitä kaikille, koska

• sähköntuotanto ei ole ajantasalla
• sähköverkko ja siihen tehdyt erilaiset (laittomat) viritykset johtavat sähkön hukkaamiseen.

Omalla kotikadullani tilanne on melko hyvä, vaikka kolmen tunnin katkot ovat tulleet minullekin turhan tutuiksi. Pääosin elän kuitenkin 4-2-elämää - ts. neljää sähköistä tuntia seuraa kaksi tuntia ilman sähköä. Ja sitten on nämä elämää helpottavat keksinnöt, kuten generaattorit, akut ja invertterit.

The car in picture was not involved with this post.

I have to drive because of my work. My careful estimation is that I drive about 280 km every week, and all of that is work-related. When you drive a lot it sometimes happens that you are stopped by the police for one reason or another.

One day, not so long ago, I was pulled over for speeding. (Yes, I was speeding, but just a little bit.) Accordingly I started to look for my driving license, and while doing that I apologised for my mistake. The policeman then replied (in Albanian): “Our pockets are full of apologies.” I leave it to you to try to figure out what he meant.

They decided not to fine me, but I had to promise I would not speed again.

Self-determination, or Vetëvendosje as it’s better known, is one of the few real popular movements here in Kosovo. It reflects the feelings of the civil society and people, and not so much those of political leaders and their clientele, or followers. But what is more important is that the movement is very critical of the international presence here.

And it is exactly that criticism that has made the Vetëvendosje so “feared” by the international community. When there is a Vetëvendosje meeting in town it is considered as something that we must keep an eye on; something that may cause problems (even security problems) for the international community. However, so far there is no evidence that the movement would really pose a security threat. Yes, there have been demonstrations, and tomatos and paint have been thrown on UN buildings and vehicles. But that is fairly normal in all European countries, where freedom of civil society and the right to demonstrate are perceived as essential rights of the people - and the necessary evil of a democratic society.

Albin Kurti, the leader of Vetëvendosje, is a controversial figure. He was active during the 1990s and was sentenced to prison by the Serbian authorities. After being released he returned to Kosovo, where he became a critic of the UNMIK rule over Kosovo institutions - and was eventually arrested. He was soon released but remained under house arrest. Kurti thinks that Kosovars have the right to govern themselves and that they should take the responsibility of their country - even if they failed. According to him, the international rule of the past almost ten years has been a failure as noone takes the responsibility and because the internationals (the term used for foreigners working in Kosovo) care only for their own promotion and not for the progress and welfare of Kosovo.

Personally I like the following quotation (even though the image given is overly negative and generalising too much):

And then you see these bureaucrats, on lunch break from the UN headquarters, with their laptops and mobile phones, as in the film “Matrix”. Why are they all in Kosovo? Double income, a fast career, no responsibility, no one has to account for his decisions and, frankly, most of them are only mediocre in their own countries.

**

Links to Vetëvendosje and Albin Kurti

• Official Vetëvendosje website
• Portrait of Albin Kurti in ESI website
• Vetëvendosje in Wikipedia
• Albin Kurti in Wikipedia
• Review of Vetëvendosje activities in 2008 by New Kosovo Report

As I’m not going to write about my work, I think I should elaborate a bit on my life here in Kosovo. And what would be a better way to start than the capital of Macedonia!?

Skopje is really nice. It’s small but big ebough to have the things I need: food, cafes, some sightseeing, normal shops, and somewhat laid back feeling on the streets. And, of course, it’s close to Gjilan, where I live.

I guess the realities here in Kosovo may boost the appeal of Skopje, but even for a tourist, coming from far away, it provides something. My favourites are (in no particular order): the old town across the river Vardar from the main square, Church of Saint Spas (Sveti Spas) and its magnificent carved iconostasis, cafes by the river, and the supermarket in the Ramstore mall. The last one is not really anything special, but for me it does play an important role as the place for food-shopping.

The most useful language in Skopje is, of course, Macedonian (a dialect of Bulgarian). Also Serbo-Croatian (Bosnian/Montenegrian…whatever) is widely spoken and understood as it is fairly closely related to Macedonian. Albanian is used especially north of Vardar, and even some Turkish can be useful as there is a Turkish community and in the old town many understand at least some Turkish.

A bus from Skopje to Ferizaj/Urosevac costs 270 denars (€4.5), and from there you can continue by bus, kombi (minibus, dolmuş) or taxi (ca. €15) to Gjilan.

So, I’m back in the blogosphere. Since I closed down my university blog and stopped updating my old website I have tried (twice) to start up a new blog. I guess one reason for not going on with those projects was that I was not happy with the publishing platforms (or I was too lazy to learn them). Maybe with Wordpress and a ready-made template, which I know from the Turkey blog Euroopan rajalla?, this will work out?

This is going to be mostly in English, but occasionally I may use Finnish in order to better express myself, or just to write something about Finland.