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Singing the hits of '99

11 December 2009 | By Alex Anderson

Alex Anderson Until lately, Kosovo had a decade of padding to quarantine itself from the rawness, violence and fear that clasped to the coattails of liberation in 1999, infecting the “provisional government” months that followed, carrying their bacillus of internecine murder – of alleged collaborators and of LDK members -- a good two years into the new decade (even longer in Ramush-land). It’s just been ripped away. 1999 is back. In our faces.


International Court Hearing On Kosovo Ends
11 December 2009 | Bojana Barlovac

International Court of Justice, ICJ, ended on Friday the nine-day long public hearing on whether the declaration of Kosovo independence went against international law.

Macedonia PM: No Room for EU Skepticism
11 December 2009 | Sinisa-Jakov Marusic

There is no room for EU skepticism, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said Friday afternoon after his meeting with the EU ambassador to the country, Erwan Fouere and the other leaders of the main political parties.

Tuzla Convoy Investigation Suspended
11 December 2009 |

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina stops an investigation against Selim Beslagic and six other people, who were suspected of involvement in "the Tuzla convoy" crime committed in May 1992.

 



Kosovo to Pay $231Million Yugoslav Debt to WB

Pristina | 01 July 2009 |
 
Kosovo must pay a $231 million debt to the World Bank for loans obtained during the Yugoslav period, announced James Steinbery, US deputy secretary of state, on Tuesday.

The debt, which was initially calculated to be $381 million, will be lowered by $150 million, which will be paid by the US instead.

“Kosovo will take on the existing payment of debt to the World Bank, that amounts to $381 million. From this amount, as was announced earlier, the US has promised to give $150 million, consequently lowering Kosovo’s debt to $231 million,” Steinberg said.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister and President met US deputy secretary of state at the State Department in Washington to sign Kosovo’s official membership of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Read more at Kosovo Signs IMF, World Bank Deal Today.

Albin Kurti, leader of the Self-determination movement, Vetvendosje, called on the government not to pay the debt until Serbia repays Kosovo for damages caused during the war, and return the country’s capital owed to it from the breakup of Yugoslavia.

“Vetevendosje raises concerns because the Ahttisari plan foresees that Kosovo must take on the payment of a portion of Serbia’s debt, while Serbian authorities are not asked to pay restitution for the damages caused during the war, or restitution for destruction of Kosovo’s economy during forced management of the 90s,” said Kurti.

Under the agreements of the division of Yugoslavia, Kosovo is not entitled to obtaining a share of the capital from the breakup of Yugoslavia because it was not one of the republics of the country.

(Reporting by Shega A’Mula)


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Comments:

2009-07-01 16:32:00
I think BalkanInsight has misread Kurti's statement: You quoted him saying damages of the forced management and restitution money from the war, while at the same time you paraphrased it as money from the break up. While it might not have been in the Yugoslav constitution that with the break up non-republic entities don't get any share of the capital, damages incured during the illegal stripping of Kosovo of its autonomous status and the damages from the war are completely a different matter. Your reporting of Kurti's statements here are confusing and misinterpreted. Please correct them. And, by the way, I agree with the correct statements from Kurti.

blood money
2009-07-02 04:37:03
blood money

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