Quotes

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

Enver Petrovci, prominent Kosovo Albanian actor

In my three years travelling around Europe I have noticed that the EU flag and flags of many nations are commonplace, but the American flag (except outside US embassies and in Kosovo) has been rarer than a hammer and sickle.

Marc Mardell, BBC News

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?

Carolos Papoulas,
President of the Republic of Greece

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?

Xavier Hereu,
El Periodico

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.

Tony Barber,
The Financial Times

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

Harry de Quetteville,
The Daily Telegraph

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.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in the report
"Crime and its Impact in the Balkans"

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.

Eric Bonse,
Europe’s World

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.

Human Rights Watch

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.

Report of the OSCE