Der Standard: Distrust of EU on rise in Kosovo
Distrust in the EU is on the rise in Kosovo, because the activities of the Europeans continue to be vague for many people there, the Vienna daily Der Standard assessed on Tuesday, adding that after the concessions that had been made to Belgrade, many viewed the EULEX Mission as a pro-Serb institution
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Tuesday, December 30, 2008
"The (ethnic) Albanians have lost their trust in the EU, and the only one they believe in is the US", said Predrag Jurekovic, an expert on Kosovo issues at the Vienna Institute for Peace Support and Conflict Management.
"There is a danger that the initial euphoria after the proclamation of independence will not be used in a proper way and that Kosovo will find itself in a new vacuum", he cautioned.
Jurekovic pointed to the fact that Kosovo had no border line which was properly guarded.
Investors are leaving Kosovo, nationalism is on the rise and EU special envoy Pieter Feith is on the defensive, the daily noted.
Meanwhile, a German police priest, Kurt Gritzner, who visited Pristina before Christmas, has warned that the situation in Kosovo has clearly deteriorated over the past months.
"There is a bomb ticking there. It does not necessarily have to explode, but it is ticking...," German daily Frankfurter Rundschau quoted Gritzner as saying.
"We look at the conflict as moderate and it has nearly disappeared from our attention, but the situation there has become dangerous lately, which has not been registered in Germany correctly," he said.
