As we looked closer, we discovered a wide gap between perceptions and realities on the ground. Kosovo is no longer a country emerging from conflict; the murder rate is about the same as in Sweden and there are more police officers per capita in Kosovo than in Singapore. By comparison, Northern Ireland has 960 percent more violent crime than Kosovo. A UNDP study revealed that only 15 percent of respondents base their assessment of corruption on personal experience; according to the Council of Europe, most sex workers in the Balkans nowadays work voluntarily. With 18 firearms per 100,000 inhabitants compared to 69 in Finland, one wonders why Kosovo and not Finland is described as a gunner’s paradise. In fact, Kosovo and the Balkan region is one of the safest in Europe.
Illegal Weapons
The much-repeated, and rarely challenged magical number of ‘300,000’ illegal weapons made us curious. In search of its origin, we came across a 2003 study titled ‘Kosovo and the Gun,’ commissioned by UNDP. According to this study, there are an estimated 330,000 - 460,000 civilian small arms in Kosovo today. The four-person team drafting the study arrived at this number assuming that 60-70 percent of households in Kosovo keep on average 1.4–1.7 weapons in their homes. The source: ‘informed estimates of people working in various branches of the security sector in Kosovo.’ The report is silent on who these ‘informants’ are; but it concluded that ‘guns have become part of the fabric of Kosovar culture.’
A different report, published earlier this year by the UN Office on
Drugs and Crime Control, equally confirms that Kosovo is no longer a
conflict-ridden society where everyone keeps an illegal firearm under
their pillow. According to the UNODC study, ‘per capita firearms
ownership remains lower in Southeast Europe than in many West European
countries.’ With 18 firearms per 100,000 Kosovo actually ranks better
than many EU member states, notably Finland and Sweden.
Drug Trafficking
A recent UN report published by the Office on Drugs and Crime describes
‘Albanian heroin dealers as the single most notorious Balkan organized
crime phenomenon.’ The Council of Europe in its 2005 Situation Report
on Organized Crime warned that ‘ethnic Albanian criminal groups pose a
significant threat to the EU because of their involvement in drug
trafficking.’ ‘Ethnic Albanian Criminal Groups’ are also the only
national group discussed in a 2006 Europol publication.
Austrian authorities reported that ‘criminal groups of ethnic Albanians
continue to be responsible for the transport of heroin… mainly from
Kosovo to Austria.’ However, only three out of 660 heroin arrests made
were Albanians and since 2001, never more than three Albanians annually
were arrested on drug related charges. In Germany out of 7,819 heroin
seizures in 2006 only 15 Albanians and 164 ‘Yugoslavs’ were arrested.
The amount of drugs involved was 12kg out of a grand total of 879kg of
heroin seized. When IKS set out to test this allegation, we found that the image of
the well-organized and brutal Albanian drug mafia controlling the
Balkan drug routes is not confirmed by official data on drug seizures
and arrests in key destination countries. Only one Yugoslav was
arrested for smuggling.
Even in countries like Slovenia and Hungary, with no Albanian Diaspora
communities, the negative perception of Albanian drug dealers prevails.
Slovenia’s national crime assessment submitted to the UN office for
Drugs and Crime Control asserts that ‘organized criminal gangs of
ethnic Albanians seem to be the greatest problem.’ This is surprising,
given that not a single Albanian was arrested out of all 51 drug
trafficking arrests made. Of those arrested, only 2 percent were
Yugoslavs – a notion that includes Albanians and people of other
ethnicities that live in Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia and are holders
of Yugoslav passports. In Hungary, authorities stated that ‘the
Albanian nationality group are still playing a leading role in illegal
drug trafficking.’ However, no Albanian was arrested in Hungary in 2005
and 2006.
What is the truth when it comes to the role of ethnic Albanians in drug
trafficking? A 2004 study on drug trafficking conducted in 15 key
European countries concluded that at most 6 percent of drug
traffickers arrested were ‘ethnic Albanians’ – a term including
Albanians from Albania as well as Kosovo Albanians and others who live
outside the state of Albania. The label ‘ethnic Albanian crime’ makes
no distinction between citizenship.
The 2004 study assessed a total of 18,749 arrests made related to drug
trafficking in major drug markets including Italy, Germany or the
Netherlands. It concluded that of those arrested on heroin trafficking
charges 68 percent are West Europeans; 2 percent are
Serbian/Montenegrin/Macedonian; 4 percent Albanians; 4 percent
Turks; 10 percent Africans and 12 percent others. Assuming that all
heroin traffickers who come from Serbia, Montenegro or Macedonia are
possibly ethnic Albanians, a total of 6 percent of drug trafficking
arrests are’ ethnic Albanians’ A far cry from the perceived image of an
‘Albanian drug mafia’ controlling Western European markets.
Corruption
In 2007, Transparency International labeled Kosovo the world’s fourth
most corrupt country. Corruption is usually measured through citizen
surveys; but results differ greatly. What many had forgotten was
the fact that the same institution, just one year earlier found
that only 12 percent of citizens surveyed had paid a bribe in Kosovo.
The Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer of 2006
placed Kosovo among countries such as Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Croatia and
Hong Kong. Transparency International never explained the huge
discrepancy that its own polls revealed. Both local and international
media outlets were happy to be fed with such a sexy headline and the
‘negative image’ of Kosovo as the world’s 4th most corrupt place seemed
set in stone. Different polls conducted between 2001 and 2007 have
placed Kosovo among the best in the region to the bottom of the pile.
In a study funded by USAID in 2003, Kosovo scores best among nine
countries in the region. The authors conclude that ‘corruption does not
appear to be as widespread among public officials, the demands of
rent-seeking behavior by public officials are lower and the extent of
citizen involvement in corrupt transactions is lower than in
neighboring countries.’
A comprehensive study on corruption commissioned by UNDP in 2004 found
striking discrepancies between perception and actual experience of
corruption. According to this study, only 15 percent of respondents
based their assessment of corruption in public institutions on real
personal experience.
To measure the importance of corruption for the Kosovo public, we also
turned to UNDP’s Early Warning Reports, conducted regularly since
2001. Throughout the years, when asked what constitutes the greatest
problems in Kosovo, on average only 5 percent of respondents listed
corruption as most important.
Violent Crime
Interethnic crime is by far one of the most sensitive issues in
post-war Kosovo. Protecting Kosovo’s minority communities, especially
Serbs who constitute about 7 percent of the population, has become the
sole raison d’être of UNMIK. International recognition of independence
also hinges on Kosovo institutions upholding their commitment to a
multi-ethnic society. Given the importance of interethnic crime and
interethnic relations, it is surprising how little we actually know.
Despite these inconsistencies, there are a number of facts that we do
know for certain. All data confirm that murder rates in general have
dropped dramatically since 2000. The homicide rate has decreased by
two-thirds, from 226 murders in 2000 to 65 murders in 2007. We also
know that grenade mine and explosive attacks have decreased by 93
percent over the period 2000 to 2007. Theft of motor vehicles has
declined by 90 percent over that same period. These dramatic
improvements reflect Kosovo’s post-war normalization. In 2006, Kosovo
had on average 3 murders per 100,000 citizens compared to 2.4 murders
in Sweden, 4 per 100,000 citizens in Bulgaria and 5.5 murders in the US.
When Kosovo’s violent crime statistics are compared to those of
Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland has 960 percent more incidence.
Kosovo actually has few murders, robberies and car thefts than most
countries in Western Europe; it is no longer a country emerging from
conflict. Overall, Kosovo has a very low crime rate, half that of the
European average.
Security
One thing is certain; there is no shortage of police in Kosovo. Per
capita, Kosovo has a higher number of police officers than Singapore.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that ‘Kosovo
probably has the highest concentration of security personnel in the
world.’
At present there are a total of 26,233 security personnel in the whole
of territory of Kosovo, including 15,900 KFOR troops, 1,499 UNMIK
Police and 8,834 Kosovo Police officers. In other words, there is one
security officer for every 22 adult male inhabitants.
On the eve of independence, the Kosovo Police Service was a respected,
multi-national institution. The share of police officers belonging to
minority communities was above 14 percent, including 822 Serb officers
or 9.3 percent and 413 or 5 percent non-Serb minorities. There were
1,351 female officers, an impressive rate of 15 percent.
The single biggest threat to security and regional stability,
however, is the total absence of the rule of law north of the
Ibar River. Following independence, Serb police officers refused to
cooperate with Prishtina. In Serb-populated areas, police officers of
the Serbian Ministry of Interior (MUP) continue to operate
clandestinely. At present, MUP has an estimated strength of 375
officers and 160 reserve officers in Kosovo. Another 130 Serb officers
within the Kosovo Police also work for MUP, including senior officers
with access to intelligence records. This affords MUP a high degree of
control over large parts of Kosovo and advance warning on planned
Kosovo Police activities.
Kosovo must act and take its image problem seriously. Rhetoric and PR
is simply not enough. We also call on Kosovo’s friends and partners in
Europe to help tackle prejudices and clichés that no longer reflect the
realities on the ground. Much has happened since the 1990s; it is time
that the image of Kosovo abroad reflects these dramatic changes and
positive developments of recent years.
This article has been adopted from the study Image Matters!, authored
by the Kosovar Stability Initiative (IKS) and funded by Forum 2015, a
project of Kosovo SOROS Foundation and Riinvest Institute. See the full
study here .
Uranii
said:
 |
... I thank New Kosova Rep. for their in-depth research. I have to agree that Kosovo has been misunderstood for a long time. However, I don't think Serbs are to blame for everything. They have made the citizens more violent and have contributed to poverty that exists in Kosovo today. but we should not blame them for everything. It has been 8 1/2 years since they moved from Kosovo, and corruption still exists. As a people we should rise to the occasion and prevent the government from stealing. Lets put the blame where it belongs. The definition of polititian is heavily skewed in kosovo. The title includes cars, benefits, and no doubt becoming rich. If you think the polititians are corrupt then don;t vote for them, it's that easy. If you think they are all corrupt then do something about it, and for god sake stop blaming people who have no control over the corruption. |
LEO Lav ? pigelski
said:
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... The Serbs controlled all institutions in former Yugoslavia, including media, where they produced mythology, which present government still follows, without accepting reality. (By the way, who are Yugoslavs in today's Balcan's?) Leo |
2nd battalion,,rifles,,
said:
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... i knew this for more than 10 yrs,,, but those who made kosovo look bad to the world are the serbs,, their propaganda against albanians,, wich in fact there are more trouble makers in serbia then anywere in the planet... |
Leon
said:
 |
... Wow now here are some very interesting facts. I'm sure for some the truth will hurt them. I'll make sure to copy the link and spread it around. Just shows where Kosova stands and how much it has improved. Thank you so much for this great article. |
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