To the wonder kid Joe. Self professed economist extraordinaire, raconteur and general defender of everything fake. It is high time you understood something about the oldest profession in the world, when you hand over your 'hard earned' tax dollars to your chosen ones it doesn't mean they love you or want to be your friends. Shouldn't you spend your 'hard earned' tax dollars on the 60+ million compatriots with no health care because your soon to be defunct economy will double that number(you don't appear to able to read the signals that have been there for a few years already). The chinese, and others, will stop buying your countries worthless bonds as soon as they can find new markets to sell their goods and trade in other , non dollar, currency reserves. Fly high you mighty maltese falcon you.
For those who have basic macro knowledge, ISI is the key to every Balkanic country. I do deeply hate these fake donors conferences which basic goal remains to spoil and profit from newly opened export areas.
Don't be afraid for the future of the Balkans.
Thank God none of the successor states of ex-Yougoslavia has the capacity anymore to create trouble. Also most of those countries will be NATO members...Croatia already next year...so NATO will take good care of the neighborhood.
Joes says...."Kosovo has beautiful montains according to the article."
Joe,
I read the same article and I remember clearly that the writer stated there are three 'Must Sees" when you visit Kosovo.
According to the article, when you travel to Kosovo you "must see" the mountains as well as the Pec Patriarchate and the Visoki Decani Monastery both places of worship of the Serbian Orthodox church.
Many of Kosovo’s greatest treasures are its Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries some of them still under NATO protection since 2004, when ethnic Albanian mobs attacked the Serbian minority and defaced or destroyed many of the churches and monasteries.
It does not surprise me that you would exclude mentioning the Serbian Orthodox Monasteries Joe.
Your lack of objectivity with all things Serbian, and evident in your postings, diminishes your credibility.
According to the world bank, Kosovo had a GDP pr capita at 81.5% that of Serbia in 2001. In 2007, according to cia World Factbook, that relation is 17.3%. I agree that I was wrong to say that Kosovo had not experienced growth, I can see that from you link. I was apparently not updated since collapse in 2002 and 2003. But the situation is not good, to say the least! Look at the economic performance relative to Serbia.
Nevertheless, the export business is still a disaster: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7346055.stm
And why don't you want to comment on anything else? Because you can't say it is wrong.
And don't try to tell me that I am a bitter Serb living somewhere in the UK or so. I am not a Serb, and I could not care about less who ruled in Kosovo. It is a miserable place, and Serbia should be happy that Kosovo is not their problem anymore. But I am concerned, of course, since it is in the Balkans. The Balkans has a tendency to trigger large, nasty, wars in other part of Europe. Or, as Bismarck famously pronounced after the defeat of France in 1871: "The next major war for our people... Will be the result of some silly incident in the Balkans." The US and the EU are sitting in a powder keg, playing with matches. That is my problem.
PJD:"The headline on this article is contradicted by this Macedonian one:"
The words "headline" and "article" usually relate to a news paper or news website.
"macedoniaonline.eu" couldn't pass as news to a clown, never mind a nation. "macedoniaonline.eu" is merely an outlet for cranky Vardar Macedonian nationalists who have nothing better to do than to blurt crankiness about their neighbours.
Yes a lot was rebuilt. Knowing the amount of destruction I find it as a little economic miracle. There was a bigger one in Germany after WWII.
On Friday, July 4 on the cover page of Walt Street Journal's Travel Section there was a nice picture of Pristina. At first glance it looked like a view somewhere in Italy. It was a very positive article. Sure it mentioned all the things to be done - need to enhance current hotels, build new ones - but it pointed out the great future potential to atract tourists from all over the world. I am sure that after Croatia and Montenegro Kosovo will also become a tourist attraction. Kosovo has beautiful montains according to the article.
It is tru that a lot of money is invested in Kosovo, but I don't agree that it was waste of money. People who lives in Kosovo and people who have seen Kosovo in 1999 and now will testify that that money is used for its good purpose. All destroyments in private and public sector, infrastructure, burned villages and towns, destroyment of small businesses now are recovered in a solid way. In all post war countries first is to invest in a basic issues for a people (housing, infrastructure, small economy,...) and than to start with development investments.
Now its time for development investments and it is good for Kosovo to get this confirmation and money from the countries who are supporting growth of a NEWBORN Kosovo.
Of course, we can not exclude possibilities of misusses like everywhere in a world. Whoever pretends to have avoided this occurrence Kosovo is willing to use that model!
>>Kosovo is the only place on earth that did NOT experience economic growth from 2005 up til today
4.2% growth in 2006 according to the world bank http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/ECAEXT/KOSOVOEXTN/0,,menuPK:297775~pagePK:141159~piPK:141110~theSitePK:297770,00.html
I am not going to bother with anything else you said.
"I am a realist but somehow I have the feeling that in few years the economic situation in Kosovo will be much brighter."
- I am not so sure. Together with places like Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, and Iraq, Kosovo is the only place on earth that did NOT experience economic growth from 2005 up til today. Don't tell me that is the Serbs fault, and that it will all get good with independence. This lack of growth came in a time when international donors threw $5 billion into Kosovo, and the dollar was worth a lot more then!
"Tackle corruption first before you throw money at something because I doubt half the donors are going to be willing to write a check the next time Kosovo needs an international charity drive."
- Excellent point. As Ugandan journalist and academic Andrew Mawenda pointed out: More aid means more corrupt government and less democracy, given that corruption was bad in the first place. Zambia has been a champion in receiving aid, but have experienced negative net growth since 1960! Taiwan, on the other hand, did not receive a penny, except for some slant military help against the PRC. What happened? Taiwan showed growth rates never seen before, and is today an industrialized country.
Remember that we talk about a "country" that depends on remittances from abroad for about a third of its GDP. And those remittances are falling sharply as the global recession comes into play. We have seen it in Brazil and other L.A. countries for a while, and with Europe down, Kosovo is next. Unskilled labout will be the first to feel the pinch, and that is exactly the group most K. Albanian migrant workers are in (unlike Serb migrant workers, who are mostly skilled). Further, Kosovo has a trade deficit of 50% of its GDP. That is catastrophic! Especially since 50% of its exports are scrap metal from cars... Hardly an industry for the future.
And since Kosovo has already received $5 billion since 2005, $2 billion for the next couple of years is simply peanuts compared to what they are used to.
And the last point: The money is supposed to be spent on repaying the debts Kosovo inherited from Yugoslavia, which amounts around $1.2 Billion.
Indeed, the most optimistic I can find here is that Finance Minister Shala looks like both a determined and a good guy. And when you start assessing a finance minister after how he looks, you're really in trouble.
Yeah right. just as late as yesterday it was 1.2 billion USD.
Who pledged another (abstract)
billion in last 24 hours?
Don't misunderstand me, I am not envious.
I just don't believe any blaffing statement issued by G.W.Bush's govenment.
Much better news are 500 million invested by Plaza hotels in Serbia, Fiat investments and Russian "Southern Stream" contract.
These are the real deals.
Your lamantation is very questionable. As a US citizen with economics backgound I will tell you why. And by the way I don't have any Albanian ethnic background...very important fact to point out to some on this web site.
Yes most Americans feel the impact of higher gas and food prices, me included. This is a world-wide phenomenon. No end in sight. Many countries will slide into recession.
Even some of the rich feel the pinch and don't rent private jets for $15,000 per hour anymore. Oh how sad!
But let's go a step further: those Americans - the big majority - who did not buy 2-3 houses or condos as sheer speculation don't have a mortgage problem.
Also giving 400 millions to a new country, whose citizens suffered so much just to mention the nineties - is really just a drop in the bucket in view of billions spent fullishly on other things.
By not giving this small amount your or my financial life will not be better.
I am glad that for once a fraction of my tax dollars will serve a good cause.
Throwing money at something does not automaticaly make it better. I live in New Jersey and we've been pumping money into crumbling urban centers - Newark, Camden, Atlantic City, Trenton (our capital) - for decades. No matter what we do, these areas remain poor and undeveloped.
The problem is that the officials running these cities, as well as those in charge of distributing the money, are more corrupt than a member of the Djukanovic family. More money simply means more embezzlement. How much money has been thrown at Kosovo over the past 30 years? And yet it still remains poorer and more backward than some parts of the interior of Turkish Anatolia.
Notice how there's always this assurance that every euro is supposed to be spent wisely. You shouldn't need to say this, as it should be implied and expected. If someone constantly needs to make this assurance, we already know this money is being misappropriated.
Tackle corruption first before you throw money at something because I doubt half the donors are going to be willing to write a check the next time Kosovo needs an international charity drive.
If I was an US-state dept. official, I would of course say exactly the same! something like, "things are going better than expected", even if the opposite is much nearer to reality...
anyway, something to caress the albanian soul... :)
Great news! Congratulations Kosovo or Kosova!
I am sure that Kosovo's government is fully aware of the need of good recordkeeping of the monies spent to satisfy both their own citizens and the donors.
If everything is done correctly Kosovo will start to develop nicely and foreign companies will invest there. Nothing get done overnight. I am a realist but somehow I have the feeling that in few years the economic situation in Kosovo will be much brighter. The following stages seem to be in progress:
- declaration of independence (done)
- recognition of independence by the most important core states, who can help (done)
- donors conference to help the economy to develop (done)
- receive and put the donations to good use. Use it efficiently! This is to be done. EULUX (not sure with the spelling) experts should help with advise.
The development of infrastructure should start as an urgency.
- attract foreign investment. With a better infrastructure, young and ready manpower, proximity of the huge EU market it shouldn't be a problem. To use a Chinese saying: "when the pupils are ready the teacher will appear".
- Plan and time-table for EU and NATO membership. Work to satisfy the membership criteria.
- Full EU and NATO membership.
Many Americans are having difficult financial times, yet our government spends money like drunken sailors on insignificant money pits like Kosovo. What in the world are we doing there? How is spending my tax money in Kosovo going to make my life, or my fellow American's, better? No one gave my nation any money, and became pretty strong by hard work and ingenuity. Why can't all these beggar nations stand on their own feet? I'm tired of giving the world handouts, yet our very own citizens are doing without.
We all have to remember that a pledge is just that. It is not a signed check. The amount that finally gets sent may not be what is pledged. Furthermore part of the "pledg" includes money spent at Camp Bondsteel on the military there. This means that it would have been spent anyway. One last comment...a new President will be inagurated in January so all bets are off on anything involving foreigh policy as we go further.
Judging by the past when billions were invested in Albanian inhabited areas without any positive result, I am not an optimist. Just ask Slovenia, they used to be the largest donor and the loudest critics of this waste of money.
To all serbs MR.Thaci is a man with great powers. He is the leader of the newest state in Europe and he is for europen intergration. He will handle this money well and they will not end up in wrong hands. We the citizens of Kosovo belive in our leader MR.Thaci.
He is not a terrorist or a criminal. If he was that then Bryssel and Washington wouldent respect him like they do. He sacrified his life by fighting for his people and freedom. He fought until there was no serbian military forces in Kosovo anymore.
You call Kosovo a fake state but you dont realize that your country is fake. If it wasen't like that then Kosovo woulden't be independent. Just wait a hundred years then we'll se what Sanzak do. Yhey will also be independent.
Alas, the show has begun. The EU claims that Kosovo is a purely European issue, and has started the process of throwing money at it. This is, of course, absolutely necessary since the same countries that now throws money into Kosovo would never dream of letting Kosovo koining the EU, at elast in the next 50 years or so.
So in order to play "freinds" with Albanians, and keep the illusion of EU integration, Kosovo is in fact moving towards a pure EU protectorate, without rights. We welcomw Kosovo, D.E.
What about Serbia ? Why nobody cares them ? How come that without UN sanctions the Atlanta states once again support only one side of the conflict? And finally what's gonna happen on Monday when Fanne Mae crush strikes all those donors ?
Like most nations of Eastern Europe, Serbia demonstrates the same complete lack of backbone, as they are watching a part of thier teritory being carved away from them for good. This is not the way to protect your teritorial integrity. Their ancestors are turning in thier graves by seeing thier sons and daughters saying Good Bye to Kosovo.
after all life is good free and proud let's make better life for people of kosovo. they are on evrope and they will be in heart of evrope longest the world exist
Great news! Congratulations Kosovo or Kosova!
I am sure that Kosovo's government is fully aware of the need of good recordkeeping of the monies spent to satisfy both their own citizens and the donors.
If everything is done correctly Kosovo will start to develop nicely and foreign companies will invest there. Nothing get done overnight. I am a realist but somehow I have the feeling that in few years the economic situation in Kosovo will be much brighter. The following stages seem to be in progress:
- declaration of independence (done)
- recognition of independence by the most important core states, who can help (done)
- donors conference to help the economy to develop (done)
- receive and put the donations to good use. Use it efficiently! This is to be done. EULUX (not sure with the spelling) experts should help with advise.
The development of infrastructure should start as an urgency.
- attract foreign investment. With a better infrastructure, young and ready manpower, proximity of the huge EU market it shouldn't be a problem. To use a Chinese saying: "when the pupils are ready the teacher will appear".
- Plan and time-table for EU and NATO membership. Work to satisfy the membership criteria.
- Full EU and NATO membership.
Many Americans are having difficult financial times, yet our government spends money like drunken sailors on insignificant money pits like Kosovo. What in the world are we doing there? How is spending my tax money in Kosovo going to make my life, or my fellow American's, better? No one gave my nation any money, and became pretty strong by hard work and ingenuity. Why can't all these beggar nations stand on their own feet? I'm tired of giving the world handouts, yet our very own citizens are doing without.
after all life is good free and proud let's make better life for people of kosovo. they are on evrope and they will be in heart of evrope longest the world exist
Throwing money at something does not automaticaly make it better. I live in New Jersey and we've been pumping money into crumbling urban centers - Newark, Camden, Atlantic City, Trenton (our capital) - for decades. No matter what we do, these areas remain poor and undeveloped.
The problem is that the officials running these cities, as well as those in charge of distributing the money, are more corrupt than a member of the Djukanovic family. More money simply means more embezzlement. How much money has been thrown at Kosovo over the past 30 years? And yet it still remains poorer and more backward than some parts of the interior of Turkish Anatolia.
Notice how there's always this assurance that every euro is supposed to be spent wisely. You shouldn't need to say this, as it should be implied and expected. If someone constantly needs to make this assurance, we already know this money is being misappropriated.
Tackle corruption first before you throw money at something because I doubt half the donors are going to be willing to write a check the next time Kosovo needs an international charity drive.
To all serbs MR.Thaci is a man with great powers. He is the leader of the newest state in Europe and he is for europen intergration. He will handle this money well and they will not end up in wrong hands. We the citizens of Kosovo belive in our leader MR.Thaci.
He is not a terrorist or a criminal. If he was that then Bryssel and Washington wouldent respect him like they do. He sacrified his life by fighting for his people and freedom. He fought until there was no serbian military forces in Kosovo anymore.
You call Kosovo a fake state but you dont realize that your country is fake. If it wasen't like that then Kosovo woulden't be independent. Just wait a hundred years then we'll se what Sanzak do. Yhey will also be independent.
Judging by the past when billions were invested in Albanian inhabited areas without any positive result, I am not an optimist. Just ask Slovenia, they used to be the largest donor and the loudest critics of this waste of money.
We all have to remember that a pledge is just that. It is not a signed check. The amount that finally gets sent may not be what is pledged. Furthermore part of the "pledg" includes money spent at Camp Bondsteel on the military there. This means that it would have been spent anyway. One last comment...a new President will be inagurated in January so all bets are off on anything involving foreigh policy as we go further.
What about Serbia ? Why nobody cares them ? How come that without UN sanctions the Atlanta states once again support only one side of the conflict? And finally what's gonna happen on Monday when Fanne Mae crush strikes all those donors ?
Yeah right. just as late as yesterday it was 1.2 billion USD.
Who pledged another (abstract)
billion in last 24 hours?
Don't misunderstand me, I am not envious.
I just don't believe any blaffing statement issued by G.W.Bush's govenment.
Much better news are 500 million invested by Plaza hotels in Serbia, Fiat investments and Russian "Southern Stream" contract.
These are the real deals.
Like most nations of Eastern Europe, Serbia demonstrates the same complete lack of backbone, as they are watching a part of thier teritory being carved away from them for good. This is not the way to protect your teritorial integrity. Their ancestors are turning in thier graves by seeing thier sons and daughters saying Good Bye to Kosovo.
If I was an US-state dept. official, I would of course say exactly the same! something like, "things are going better than expected", even if the opposite is much nearer to reality...
anyway, something to caress the albanian soul... :)
Alas, the show has begun. The EU claims that Kosovo is a purely European issue, and has started the process of throwing money at it. This is, of course, absolutely necessary since the same countries that now throws money into Kosovo would never dream of letting Kosovo koining the EU, at elast in the next 50 years or so.
So in order to play "freinds" with Albanians, and keep the illusion of EU integration, Kosovo is in fact moving towards a pure EU protectorate, without rights. We welcomw Kosovo, D.E.
Your lamantation is very questionable. As a US citizen with economics backgound I will tell you why. And by the way I don't have any Albanian ethnic background...very important fact to point out to some on this web site.
Yes most Americans feel the impact of higher gas and food prices, me included. This is a world-wide phenomenon. No end in sight. Many countries will slide into recession.
Even some of the rich feel the pinch and don't rent private jets for $15,000 per hour anymore. Oh how sad!
But let's go a step further: those Americans - the big majority - who did not buy 2-3 houses or condos as sheer speculation don't have a mortgage problem.
Also giving 400 millions to a new country, whose citizens suffered so much just to mention the nineties - is really just a drop in the bucket in view of billions spent fullishly on other things.
By not giving this small amount your or my financial life will not be better.
I am glad that for once a fraction of my tax dollars will serve a good cause.
Yes a lot was rebuilt. Knowing the amount of destruction I find it as a little economic miracle. There was a bigger one in Germany after WWII.
On Friday, July 4 on the cover page of Walt Street Journal's Travel Section there was a nice picture of Pristina. At first glance it looked like a view somewhere in Italy. It was a very positive article. Sure it mentioned all the things to be done - need to enhance current hotels, build new ones - but it pointed out the great future potential to atract tourists from all over the world. I am sure that after Croatia and Montenegro Kosovo will also become a tourist attraction. Kosovo has beautiful montains according to the article.
"I am a realist but somehow I have the feeling that in few years the economic situation in Kosovo will be much brighter."
- I am not so sure. Together with places like Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, and Iraq, Kosovo is the only place on earth that did NOT experience economic growth from 2005 up til today. Don't tell me that is the Serbs fault, and that it will all get good with independence. This lack of growth came in a time when international donors threw $5 billion into Kosovo, and the dollar was worth a lot more then!
"Tackle corruption first before you throw money at something because I doubt half the donors are going to be willing to write a check the next time Kosovo needs an international charity drive."
- Excellent point. As Ugandan journalist and academic Andrew Mawenda pointed out: More aid means more corrupt government and less democracy, given that corruption was bad in the first place. Zambia has been a champion in receiving aid, but have experienced negative net growth since 1960! Taiwan, on the other hand, did not receive a penny, except for some slant military help against the PRC. What happened? Taiwan showed growth rates never seen before, and is today an industrialized country.
Remember that we talk about a "country" that depends on remittances from abroad for about a third of its GDP. And those remittances are falling sharply as the global recession comes into play. We have seen it in Brazil and other L.A. countries for a while, and with Europe down, Kosovo is next. Unskilled labout will be the first to feel the pinch, and that is exactly the group most K. Albanian migrant workers are in (unlike Serb migrant workers, who are mostly skilled). Further, Kosovo has a trade deficit of 50% of its GDP. That is catastrophic! Especially since 50% of its exports are scrap metal from cars... Hardly an industry for the future.
And since Kosovo has already received $5 billion since 2005, $2 billion for the next couple of years is simply peanuts compared to what they are used to.
And the last point: The money is supposed to be spent on repaying the debts Kosovo inherited from Yugoslavia, which amounts around $1.2 Billion.
Indeed, the most optimistic I can find here is that Finance Minister Shala looks like both a determined and a good guy. And when you start assessing a finance minister after how he looks, you're really in trouble.
It is tru that a lot of money is invested in Kosovo, but I don't agree that it was waste of money. People who lives in Kosovo and people who have seen Kosovo in 1999 and now will testify that that money is used for its good purpose. All destroyments in private and public sector, infrastructure, burned villages and towns, destroyment of small businesses now are recovered in a solid way. In all post war countries first is to invest in a basic issues for a people (housing, infrastructure, small economy,...) and than to start with development investments.
Now its time for development investments and it is good for Kosovo to get this confirmation and money from the countries who are supporting growth of a NEWBORN Kosovo.
Of course, we can not exclude possibilities of misusses like everywhere in a world. Whoever pretends to have avoided this occurrence Kosovo is willing to use that model!
>>Kosovo is the only place on earth that did NOT experience economic growth from 2005 up til today
4.2% growth in 2006 according to the world bank http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/ECAEXT/KOSOVOEXTN/0,,menuPK:297775~pagePK:141159~piPK:141110~theSitePK:297770,00.html
I am not going to bother with anything else you said.
Joes says...."Kosovo has beautiful montains according to the article."
Joe,
I read the same article and I remember clearly that the writer stated there are three 'Must Sees" when you visit Kosovo.
According to the article, when you travel to Kosovo you "must see" the mountains as well as the Pec Patriarchate and the Visoki Decani Monastery both places of worship of the Serbian Orthodox church.
Many of Kosovo’s greatest treasures are its Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries some of them still under NATO protection since 2004, when ethnic Albanian mobs attacked the Serbian minority and defaced or destroyed many of the churches and monasteries.
It does not surprise me that you would exclude mentioning the Serbian Orthodox Monasteries Joe.
Your lack of objectivity with all things Serbian, and evident in your postings, diminishes your credibility.
Don't be afraid for the future of the Balkans.
Thank God none of the successor states of ex-Yougoslavia has the capacity anymore to create trouble. Also most of those countries will be NATO members...Croatia already next year...so NATO will take good care of the neighborhood.
According to the world bank, Kosovo had a GDP pr capita at 81.5% that of Serbia in 2001. In 2007, according to cia World Factbook, that relation is 17.3%. I agree that I was wrong to say that Kosovo had not experienced growth, I can see that from you link. I was apparently not updated since collapse in 2002 and 2003. But the situation is not good, to say the least! Look at the economic performance relative to Serbia.
Nevertheless, the export business is still a disaster: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7346055.stm
And why don't you want to comment on anything else? Because you can't say it is wrong.
And don't try to tell me that I am a bitter Serb living somewhere in the UK or so. I am not a Serb, and I could not care about less who ruled in Kosovo. It is a miserable place, and Serbia should be happy that Kosovo is not their problem anymore. But I am concerned, of course, since it is in the Balkans. The Balkans has a tendency to trigger large, nasty, wars in other part of Europe. Or, as Bismarck famously pronounced after the defeat of France in 1871: "The next major war for our people... Will be the result of some silly incident in the Balkans." The US and the EU are sitting in a powder keg, playing with matches. That is my problem.
PJD:"The headline on this article is contradicted by this Macedonian one:"
The words "headline" and "article" usually relate to a news paper or news website.
"macedoniaonline.eu" couldn't pass as news to a clown, never mind a nation. "macedoniaonline.eu" is merely an outlet for cranky Vardar Macedonian nationalists who have nothing better to do than to blurt crankiness about their neighbours.
To the wonder kid Joe. Self professed economist extraordinaire, raconteur and general defender of everything fake. It is high time you understood something about the oldest profession in the world, when you hand over your 'hard earned' tax dollars to your chosen ones it doesn't mean they love you or want to be your friends. Shouldn't you spend your 'hard earned' tax dollars on the 60+ million compatriots with no health care because your soon to be defunct economy will double that number(you don't appear to able to read the signals that have been there for a few years already). The chinese, and others, will stop buying your countries worthless bonds as soon as they can find new markets to sell their goods and trade in other , non dollar, currency reserves. Fly high you mighty maltese falcon you.
For those who have basic macro knowledge, ISI is the key to every Balkanic country. I do deeply hate these fake donors conferences which basic goal remains to spoil and profit from newly opened export areas.
after all life is good free and proud let's make better life for people of kosovo. they are on evrope and they will be in heart of evrope longest the world exist
To all serbs MR.Thaci is a man with great powers. He is the leader of the newest state in Europe and he is for europen intergration. He will handle this money well and they will not end up in wrong hands. We the citizens of Kosovo belive in our leader MR.Thaci.
He is not a terrorist or a criminal. If he was that then Bryssel and Washington wouldent respect him like they do. He sacrified his life by fighting for his people and freedom. He fought until there was no serbian military forces in Kosovo anymore.
You call Kosovo a fake state but you dont realize that your country is fake. If it wasen't like that then Kosovo woulden't be independent. Just wait a hundred years then we'll se what Sanzak do. Yhey will also be independent.
Like most nations of Eastern Europe, Serbia demonstrates the same complete lack of backbone, as they are watching a part of thier teritory being carved away from them for good. This is not the way to protect your teritorial integrity. Their ancestors are turning in thier graves by seeing thier sons and daughters saying Good Bye to Kosovo.
Many Americans are having difficult financial times, yet our government spends money like drunken sailors on insignificant money pits like Kosovo. What in the world are we doing there? How is spending my tax money in Kosovo going to make my life, or my fellow American's, better? No one gave my nation any money, and became pretty strong by hard work and ingenuity. Why can't all these beggar nations stand on their own feet? I'm tired of giving the world handouts, yet our very own citizens are doing without.
Great news! Congratulations Kosovo or Kosova!
I am sure that Kosovo's government is fully aware of the need of good recordkeeping of the monies spent to satisfy both their own citizens and the donors.
If everything is done correctly Kosovo will start to develop nicely and foreign companies will invest there. Nothing get done overnight. I am a realist but somehow I have the feeling that in few years the economic situation in Kosovo will be much brighter. The following stages seem to be in progress:
- declaration of independence (done)
- recognition of independence by the most important core states, who can help (done)
- donors conference to help the economy to develop (done)
- receive and put the donations to good use. Use it efficiently! This is to be done. EULUX (not sure with the spelling) experts should help with advise.
The development of infrastructure should start as an urgency.
- attract foreign investment. With a better infrastructure, young and ready manpower, proximity of the huge EU market it shouldn't be a problem. To use a Chinese saying: "when the pupils are ready the teacher will appear".
- Plan and time-table for EU and NATO membership. Work to satisfy the membership criteria.
- Full EU and NATO membership.
Your lamantation is very questionable. As a US citizen with economics backgound I will tell you why. And by the way I don't have any Albanian ethnic background...very important fact to point out to some on this web site.
Yes most Americans feel the impact of higher gas and food prices, me included. This is a world-wide phenomenon. No end in sight. Many countries will slide into recession.
Even some of the rich feel the pinch and don't rent private jets for $15,000 per hour anymore. Oh how sad!
But let's go a step further: those Americans - the big majority - who did not buy 2-3 houses or condos as sheer speculation don't have a mortgage problem.
Also giving 400 millions to a new country, whose citizens suffered so much just to mention the nineties - is really just a drop in the bucket in view of billions spent fullishly on other things.
By not giving this small amount your or my financial life will not be better.
I am glad that for once a fraction of my tax dollars will serve a good cause.
>>Kosovo is the only place on earth that did NOT experience economic growth from 2005 up til today
4.2% growth in 2006 according to the world bank http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/ECAEXT/KOSOVOEXTN/0,,menuPK:297775~pagePK:141159~piPK:141110~theSitePK:297770,00.html
I am not going to bother with anything else you said.
We all have to remember that a pledge is just that. It is not a signed check. The amount that finally gets sent may not be what is pledged. Furthermore part of the "pledg" includes money spent at Camp Bondsteel on the military there. This means that it would have been spent anyway. One last comment...a new President will be inagurated in January so all bets are off on anything involving foreigh policy as we go further.
Alas, the show has begun. The EU claims that Kosovo is a purely European issue, and has started the process of throwing money at it. This is, of course, absolutely necessary since the same countries that now throws money into Kosovo would never dream of letting Kosovo koining the EU, at elast in the next 50 years or so.
So in order to play "freinds" with Albanians, and keep the illusion of EU integration, Kosovo is in fact moving towards a pure EU protectorate, without rights. We welcomw Kosovo, D.E.
Judging by the past when billions were invested in Albanian inhabited areas without any positive result, I am not an optimist. Just ask Slovenia, they used to be the largest donor and the loudest critics of this waste of money.
What about Serbia ? Why nobody cares them ? How come that without UN sanctions the Atlanta states once again support only one side of the conflict? And finally what's gonna happen on Monday when Fanne Mae crush strikes all those donors ?
It is tru that a lot of money is invested in Kosovo, but I don't agree that it was waste of money. People who lives in Kosovo and people who have seen Kosovo in 1999 and now will testify that that money is used for its good purpose. All destroyments in private and public sector, infrastructure, burned villages and towns, destroyment of small businesses now are recovered in a solid way. In all post war countries first is to invest in a basic issues for a people (housing, infrastructure, small economy,...) and than to start with development investments.
Now its time for development investments and it is good for Kosovo to get this confirmation and money from the countries who are supporting growth of a NEWBORN Kosovo.
Of course, we can not exclude possibilities of misusses like everywhere in a world. Whoever pretends to have avoided this occurrence Kosovo is willing to use that model!
Yes a lot was rebuilt. Knowing the amount of destruction I find it as a little economic miracle. There was a bigger one in Germany after WWII.
On Friday, July 4 on the cover page of Walt Street Journal's Travel Section there was a nice picture of Pristina. At first glance it looked like a view somewhere in Italy. It was a very positive article. Sure it mentioned all the things to be done - need to enhance current hotels, build new ones - but it pointed out the great future potential to atract tourists from all over the world. I am sure that after Croatia and Montenegro Kosovo will also become a tourist attraction. Kosovo has beautiful montains according to the article.
If I was an US-state dept. official, I would of course say exactly the same! something like, "things are going better than expected", even if the opposite is much nearer to reality...
anyway, something to caress the albanian soul... :)
Throwing money at something does not automaticaly make it better. I live in New Jersey and we've been pumping money into crumbling urban centers - Newark, Camden, Atlantic City, Trenton (our capital) - for decades. No matter what we do, these areas remain poor and undeveloped.
The problem is that the officials running these cities, as well as those in charge of distributing the money, are more corrupt than a member of the Djukanovic family. More money simply means more embezzlement. How much money has been thrown at Kosovo over the past 30 years? And yet it still remains poorer and more backward than some parts of the interior of Turkish Anatolia.
Notice how there's always this assurance that every euro is supposed to be spent wisely. You shouldn't need to say this, as it should be implied and expected. If someone constantly needs to make this assurance, we already know this money is being misappropriated.
Tackle corruption first before you throw money at something because I doubt half the donors are going to be willing to write a check the next time Kosovo needs an international charity drive.
Yeah right. just as late as yesterday it was 1.2 billion USD.
Who pledged another (abstract)
billion in last 24 hours?
Don't misunderstand me, I am not envious.
I just don't believe any blaffing statement issued by G.W.Bush's govenment.
Much better news are 500 million invested by Plaza hotels in Serbia, Fiat investments and Russian "Southern Stream" contract.
These are the real deals.
"I am a realist but somehow I have the feeling that in few years the economic situation in Kosovo will be much brighter."
- I am not so sure. Together with places like Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, and Iraq, Kosovo is the only place on earth that did NOT experience economic growth from 2005 up til today. Don't tell me that is the Serbs fault, and that it will all get good with independence. This lack of growth came in a time when international donors threw $5 billion into Kosovo, and the dollar was worth a lot more then!
"Tackle corruption first before you throw money at something because I doubt half the donors are going to be willing to write a check the next time Kosovo needs an international charity drive."
- Excellent point. As Ugandan journalist and academic Andrew Mawenda pointed out: More aid means more corrupt government and less democracy, given that corruption was bad in the first place. Zambia has been a champion in receiving aid, but have experienced negative net growth since 1960! Taiwan, on the other hand, did not receive a penny, except for some slant military help against the PRC. What happened? Taiwan showed growth rates never seen before, and is today an industrialized country.
Remember that we talk about a "country" that depends on remittances from abroad for about a third of its GDP. And those remittances are falling sharply as the global recession comes into play. We have seen it in Brazil and other L.A. countries for a while, and with Europe down, Kosovo is next. Unskilled labout will be the first to feel the pinch, and that is exactly the group most K. Albanian migrant workers are in (unlike Serb migrant workers, who are mostly skilled). Further, Kosovo has a trade deficit of 50% of its GDP. That is catastrophic! Especially since 50% of its exports are scrap metal from cars... Hardly an industry for the future.
And since Kosovo has already received $5 billion since 2005, $2 billion for the next couple of years is simply peanuts compared to what they are used to.
And the last point: The money is supposed to be spent on repaying the debts Kosovo inherited from Yugoslavia, which amounts around $1.2 Billion.
Indeed, the most optimistic I can find here is that Finance Minister Shala looks like both a determined and a good guy. And when you start assessing a finance minister after how he looks, you're really in trouble.
According to the world bank, Kosovo had a GDP pr capita at 81.5% that of Serbia in 2001. In 2007, according to cia World Factbook, that relation is 17.3%. I agree that I was wrong to say that Kosovo had not experienced growth, I can see that from you link. I was apparently not updated since collapse in 2002 and 2003. But the situation is not good, to say the least! Look at the economic performance relative to Serbia.
Nevertheless, the export business is still a disaster: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7346055.stm
And why don't you want to comment on anything else? Because you can't say it is wrong.
And don't try to tell me that I am a bitter Serb living somewhere in the UK or so. I am not a Serb, and I could not care about less who ruled in Kosovo. It is a miserable place, and Serbia should be happy that Kosovo is not their problem anymore. But I am concerned, of course, since it is in the Balkans. The Balkans has a tendency to trigger large, nasty, wars in other part of Europe. Or, as Bismarck famously pronounced after the defeat of France in 1871: "The next major war for our people... Will be the result of some silly incident in the Balkans." The US and the EU are sitting in a powder keg, playing with matches. That is my problem.
PJD:"The headline on this article is contradicted by this Macedonian one:"
The words "headline" and "article" usually relate to a news paper or news website.
"macedoniaonline.eu" couldn't pass as news to a clown, never mind a nation. "macedoniaonline.eu" is merely an outlet for cranky Vardar Macedonian nationalists who have nothing better to do than to blurt crankiness about their neighbours.
Joes says...."Kosovo has beautiful montains according to the article."
Joe,
I read the same article and I remember clearly that the writer stated there are three 'Must Sees" when you visit Kosovo.
According to the article, when you travel to Kosovo you "must see" the mountains as well as the Pec Patriarchate and the Visoki Decani Monastery both places of worship of the Serbian Orthodox church.
Many of Kosovo’s greatest treasures are its Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries some of them still under NATO protection since 2004, when ethnic Albanian mobs attacked the Serbian minority and defaced or destroyed many of the churches and monasteries.
It does not surprise me that you would exclude mentioning the Serbian Orthodox Monasteries Joe.
Your lack of objectivity with all things Serbian, and evident in your postings, diminishes your credibility.
Don't be afraid for the future of the Balkans.
Thank God none of the successor states of ex-Yougoslavia has the capacity anymore to create trouble. Also most of those countries will be NATO members...Croatia already next year...so NATO will take good care of the neighborhood.
For those who have basic macro knowledge, ISI is the key to every Balkanic country. I do deeply hate these fake donors conferences which basic goal remains to spoil and profit from newly opened export areas.
To the wonder kid Joe. Self professed economist extraordinaire, raconteur and general defender of everything fake. It is high time you understood something about the oldest profession in the world, when you hand over your 'hard earned' tax dollars to your chosen ones it doesn't mean they love you or want to be your friends. Shouldn't you spend your 'hard earned' tax dollars on the 60+ million compatriots with no health care because your soon to be defunct economy will double that number(you don't appear to able to read the signals that have been there for a few years already). The chinese, and others, will stop buying your countries worthless bonds as soon as they can find new markets to sell their goods and trade in other , non dollar, currency reserves. Fly high you mighty maltese falcon you.
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