No patriot

I enjoyed a pleasant Sunday afternoon walk through Pristina yesterday.  Its alleys are crowded.  But it also boasts vistas.  Variety is one of the things that makes a place interesting.  And with variety comes the unexpected, both good and bad.

Normally I wouldn’t comment on what amounts to an individual criminal act.  The bad is inevitable.  But the wounding Saturday evening of a Serb traveling south of the Ibar river just a few miles from where I am spending a couple of days merits a blog post, because it has broader significance.

The country I am enjoying on my third visit this year is a peaceful one that has established institutions rating a positive EU report suggesting it is ready to negotiate a Stabilization and Association Agreement.  This is a big deal, not only for the benefits that will accrue to Kosovo once the agreement is signed but also for the seal of approval “contractual relations” (i.e. signing an agreement) with the EU will give  to Pristina’s still young institutions, which are now more or less at the half-way point of recognition as sovereign by other UN member states.

The safety of Serbs is one of the key ingredients in determining EU attitudes on contractual relations.  Brussels wants to know that the Pristina institutions are committed to protecting everyone who lives in or visits the territory under their control, without regard to ethnicity.

Of course 100% security is not possible, and I’ll admit that I am a bit surprised that a former Serb police chief felt free to travel after dark in Kosovo.  And there is of course no knowing the ethnicity of his attacker, who was reportedly masked.  We’ll have to await the results of the police investigation.

But that is just the point.  There should be a serious police investigation and some results, which are far too infrequent in such cases in Kosovo.  Too many crimes against Serbs and other minorities go unsolved.

Whoever perpetrated the attack Saturday evening is putting at risk Kosovo’s claim to be ready to negotiate an important first step in its eventual accession to the EU.  I don’t know the person’s identity or ethnicity, but this much I do know:  he is no Kosovo patriot.