MTCowgirl's Kosovo Blog

The recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on Kosovo’s declaration of independence seems to have lead to more questions than answers in the aftermath of the court’s non-binding opinion.  There have been both humorous takes such as If Kosovo can secede, what stops Mexifornia from declaring independence from the US and more serious articles such [...]

The International Court of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations, has issued a non-binding opinion on the declaration of independence by Kosovo stating that international law does not prohibit declarations of independence and therefore Kosovo did not violate international lawwhen unilaterally declaring independence from Serbia in 2008.  Kosovo is expecting a rash of [...]

Albin Kurti was found guilty of obstructing official persons and sentenced to nine months but was immediately released for time already served (jail and house arrest following the February 2007 riots).  The other charges of participating in a crowd committing criminal acts and inciting violence were dropped.  Kurti acted as his own lawyer and told [...]

It has become beyond hot in Kosovo these days with temperatures in the high-80′s to low-90′s F.  While the temperatures are bearable in other locales, one fact that makes Kosovo a bit unbearable during the summertime is the lack of air-conditioning.  Most apartments and many restaurants lack any type of air-conditioning which makes the dog days [...]

Riot police and KFOR kept protestors from each other on opposite sides of the Ibar Bridge in Mitrovica over the weekend as Serbia held elections in the North as tensions flared.  Albanian demonstrators gathered in the South while Serbs gathered in the North at the infamous Mitrovica bridge, a symbol of the city’s division while [...]

Kosovo Police detained five men described as being radical Islamists in a suspected violent plot.  The two Kosovar Albanians and three Kosovo Bosnians were later sentenced to 30 days in jail.  While the details of the plotted attack have not been made public, a large amount of weapons, bulletproof vests, computers, and binoculars were seized during the arrest. [...]

Four people have been killed in a shoot-out with Macedonian police at the Kosovo border area.  Macedonian police reportedly tried to stop a van suspected of carrying arms when the occupants opened fire.  The police returned fire and killed four passengers in the van which turned out to be carrying a large amount of weapons [...]

Serbia has announced that it is deploying investigators to the administrative line with Kosovo to investigate a mass grave reported to hold the remains of some 250 persons.  The mass grave was located in a pond near the town of Raska as Serbian war crimes prosecutors worked with EULEX.  Investigators failed to find the suspected [...]

Tensions are continuing to rise as Kosovo Serbs are left without their normal Serbia-provided telecommunications in enclaves around Kosovo following the destruction of sites by the Kosovo Regulatory Agency.  Four communication sites and a police station in the north of Kosovo have been attacked  following the actions of the Kosovo government in apparent retaliation.  The action has [...]

As part of an ongoing investigation of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, EULEX police in plain clothes reportedly searched the offices of the Ministry of Transport and escorted staff from the premises today.  The Ministry of Transport and its head, Fatmir Limaj, have been the focus of many corruption allegations in the media in the past [...]