Quotes

"I don't see any perspective in Kosovo and I hope I will make better use of my ambitions in Albania."

Europe had made great mistakes in the Balkans. The question is: how is it possible that such an important principle as territorial integrity can be ignored?

And the question that we should now address to the USA and the European Union is the following: What would you say, you who have recognized the independence of a region of Serbia - a region without national flag or anthem, without historical tradition as a nation - if we, Catalonians, were to declare independence? We DO have a historical tradition, we have the oldest national anthem in Europe, we have an ancient national flag, our own language and culture. Would you support us in the same way you supported Kosovo?

Another fine mess in Kosovo… For weeks it has been an uncomfortable secret in Brussels that the European Union’s law and order mission in Kosovo is stuck in a political, diplomatic and legal morass… You can safely add Kosovo to your list of long-term trouble spots on the EU's periphery.

Even after independence, Kosovo's status is far from being resolved, and the splits amongst its population are only likely to get wider.

Heroin represents the highest value contraband flow and, since the mid-1990s, ethnic Albanian traffickers have been said to control the trafficking of this commodity west into Europe ... Past estimates suggested that ethnic Albanian traffickers controlled 70 percent or more for the heroin entering a number of key destination markets, and they have been described as a ‘threat to the EU' by the Council of Europe.

Kosovo will be largely dependent on EU aid, and in the meantime nobody knows if the new entity is really viable, or if it is going to be a ‘failed state' whose economy will go on being largely based on corruption and organized crime.

Kosovo has a problematic human rights record. Violence, impunity for common and political crimes, intimidation and discrimination are commonplace. If that is to change, Kosovo's government, with the help of the United States and its EU partners, must make human rights a top priority.

Courts in Kosovo frequently failed to take into account ethnically motivated factors, which were the cause of many of the crimes. Suspects convicted of serious crimes, such as setting alight religious monuments or injuring people, including policemen, often received lenient sentences, many of which were suspended.