New Kosova Report

Parallel structures

Friday, 29 February 2008

This piece is the second in a series originally appearing at Kosovo Travelogue.

“In these enclaves and in the northern municipalities, the Serbian administration; courts, schools, hospitals, etc, directly answering to Belgrade, has been maintained. UNMIK has never accepted these Serbia-controlled structures, which operate in parallel to the UNMIK administration … In the majority of cases, these institutions operate under the de facto authority of the Serbian government and assume jurisdiction over Kosovo from Serbia proper, or operate in the territory of Kosovo. These parallel structures operate contemporaneously with, or under the same roof as the UNMIK-recognised bodies.”

- Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Mission in Kosovo, Department of Human Rights and Rule of Law

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The main boulevard leads to the bridge from the southeast, and from where sat we could only see the south end of the bridge. I must admit that the tension of the day was wearing on me. Riot police came and cleared the street of people, and so we held our coffee cups in our hands and stood in the doorway of the café.

The only people they didn’t push back were the street cleaners.

After a while we heard some explosions. The police lined up and marched towards the bridge.

And that was about it. The helicopters kept swinging above our heads for while, but when they cleared away the day became suddenly peaceful and quiet. Even the clouds that had been—I’m not making this up—moving in from the north: even those clouds fell apart, and the sun warmed the street again.

First we heard that the UN police had been firing tear gas at the protesters. Later it turned out that this was not true; that those explosions came from firecrackers thrown by the mob. It took a little while for early news reports to correct this error. But I found few sources reporting the strangest fact of all: that a second cordon had formed between the protesters and the UN forces—a barrier comprised of Bridgewatchers, and those Ministry of the Interior (MUP) forces that had been seeping across the border for weeks—it was they who quelled any potential violence that day. They lined up in front of the UN forces with their backs to the bridge and staved off a mob of 5000 of their own people in the first public demonstration of the new strategy.

The new strategy was—relatively speaking—coordinated and peaceful. Police officers in some northern towns simply stopped communicating with headquarters. They removed their KPS badges but kept their uniforms on. Seemingly violent episodes at border crossings and EU facilities appeared orchestrated to do only minor material damage. No one had yet been injured. But the new strategy was perhaps best exemplified in north Mitrovica, where the courthouse remained empty.

A minor explosion mid-week had cleared the building. Employees had been prevented from returning by security forces and protesters. The protesters at the courthouse were in fact former employees of that institution, come back to reclaim their positions after nearly a decade. The Albanian courthouse workers gathered at the south end of the bridge every morning now, only to be sent home by security forces and the mayor—for their own safety. Their rivals were simply and literally beginning to take the law into their own hands.

Throughout northern Mitrovica and northern Kosovo, with a calculated show of force that carefully stopped short of anything that might trigger UN or NATO intervention, the parallel structures were calmly asserting their authority. Institutions were being realigned or re-staffed overnight and, for all its former rhetoric of Kosovo territorial integrity, UNMIK did not seem inclined to re-assert authority, knowing full well what would follow. It wasn’t the UN that stopped the protesters from coming over the bridge yesterday: it was their fellow Serbs, acting under orders to prevent any incident that might hinder the partition of Kosovo.

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"Serbia discussed retaliatory measures on Tuesday against Kosovo and Western countries planning to recognize the province's expected declaration of independence. The measures were expected to be adopted on Tuesday at a meeting of Serbia's National Security Council, a top security body that includes the president, prime minister and other senior officials. They will be kept secret until Kosovo declares independence, possibly next weekend. The so-called "Action Plan" is believed to include the downgrading of diplomatic ties with countries that recognize the province's statehood and legal action against them at international courts.

"They said the measures would also encourage Kosovo's Serb minority, concentrated mostly in the north of the province, to shun the declaration of independence and formally keep their territories under Belgrade's control -- de facto partitioning of the province. "

- AP , Feb 14, 2008

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This morning I woke up early and went to smoke a cigarette on the balcony. The apartment buildings that stand between our flat and the river are still draped in Albanian and American flags. Occasionally too there are other flags: those of the nations that have already recognized Kosovo’s independence—Britain, France and others. Only two blocks away is the river, but the view of the main street there is hidden behind those apartments and flags. For now I cannot go to those bars: the ones that I prefer to the ones in the south. Our restaurant choices are similarly restricted. In fact, all of our already slim options have been cut in half. All that I could see from our balcony is the miner’s memorial, the Orthodox church, the fort and the half-ring of mountains that holds the rest of Mitrovica. All of it is very close.

Buildings on both sides of the river are draped in flags, but few people in the south are flying the new flag of Kosovo. An unabashed symbol of the new state’s political intentions, the new flag is derived from the colors and symbols of the European Union. Six stars surround a yellow map of Kosovo on a blue field. The flag’s relative scarcity is not particularly surprising: the two-headed black eagle on the red field has a deeper historical meaning for the majority population. But I like to tell myself that there is another reason that no one is buying this flag. I know that I am probably wrong, but I like to believe that no one is buying the new flag because they realize that the yellow map of Kosovo may not yet be in its final shape.

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"The Ministry of Justice has ordered all Serbs now employed with UNMIK to return to their original judicial institutions. The move is designed to strengthen the institutions of the state of Serbia in Kosovo, a statement from the ministry said Friday.

"The ministry has received statements from judges, court officials and magistrates that they are withdrawing from the positions held with UNMIK, and are returning to work for the judicial institution of the Republic of Serbia in Kosovo and Metohija," the statement said. It adds that the move comes in line with a joint Serbian government-UNMIK declaration on engagement of Serb judges into the multi-ethnic system in Kosovo, and the government's decision dated April 26, 2007.

"In this way, five judges and 25 court officials are returning to the courts in Leposavić, Vučitrn, Kosovska Mitrovica, Priština, Leposavić and Zubin Potok," the ministry said."

- Serbs withdraw from UNMIK judiciary, 23 February 2008

"Blackbird" is an American blogger based in Mitrovica, Kosovo.