Part II: Crossing the Ibar River
J. Ignacio Torreblanca
March 2, 2010
Monday we drive to Mitrovica in order to have a first hand experience of how is it to live in a divided city. Our guide today, an Albanian, used to live in the North. She had to flee during the war and when the war was over and she returned, her house was occupied by Serbs. For ten years now, she has been unable to return to her flat, and the UN has been of little help. Serbs have concentrated north of the Ibar river and Albanians south of, with very few exceptions. People cross the bridge but the Serbian flag stands up at the other end, reminding people what they are doing. So-called (Serb) “bridge-watchers” closely follow all the traffic. Allegedly, Serbian secret police and security forces are very active in North Mitrovica.
North Mitrovica is the gate to the Serbian dominated part of Kosovo. Serbs living north of Mitrovica can afford the de facto partition: they can freely travel free to Serbia and go on with their normal lives without seeing an Albanian. But for people in Mitrovica, life is difficult: the only hospital is in the south, the university campus is spread across both sides, and sewage and electricity infrastructures cannot be separated. For them, status, i.e. recognition of independence is not a theoretical issue but rather a practical one. Serbs in this area who we have the opportunity to talk to complain of how Belgrade interferes in every decision, not matter how technical, in order to make sure that there is no practical cooperation. So even if the European Commission is offering them 6 million euro for repairing the sewage system, they are not allowed to engage in talks with the EU. (more…)
Part I: Beograd
J. Ignacio Torreblanca
March 2, 2010
This is the first post of a series I am going to be running for the few days on Serbia and Kosovo. I am here invited by the Kosovo and Serbia Open Society Foundations. With me, there are two members of the Spanish Parliament’s Commission for Foreign Affairs, a lawyer and former MP who is specialized in human rights and a journalist.
I had never been in Belgrade before, my experience in the Balkans being reduced to Albania and Macedonia. I was surprised by the beauty of the Danube, but shocked by the run down aspect of Belgrade, which in many senses still looks as a post war city. As I walk down the main pedestrian street to the Fortress, I look at young people and I wonder how much do they do or care about the past, the war, Kosovo and all this.
In the morning after our arrival to Belgrade we are briefed by Peter Sorensen, EU representative, and his assistant on the daily difficulties which the recognition issue bears for the two million of Albanians and Serbs living in Kosovo and how difficult regional cooperation is. (more…)
Lisbon: and the winner is…
Christian Bulzomí
March 2, 2010
As it is already well known, the new Lisbon Treaty has brought major changes to the “European institutional architecture”. The Institutions have all experienced changes due to the entry into force of the new Treaty. While the big institutional changes such as the creation of the posts of President of the European Council and of High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy have attracted criticism and brought anything but clarity about who should be the person in charge of ensuring the external representation of the European Union, the winners of the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty appear to be the European Parliament and the National Parliaments.
On the one hand, the European Parliament has definitely gained its place as co-legislator as it “shall, jointly with the Council, exercise legislative and budgetary functions”. The Lisbon Treaty has brought over 40 new fields under the co-decision procedure. Consequently, most of the EU legislation will be adopted under this procedure which is now called “ordinary legislative procedure”. Thus, the European Parliament’s powers have been, once again, extended through the reform of the Treaties. (more…)
Obama the European
Jose M. de Areilza
March 1st, 2010
Many commentators are reading the wrong way Obama’s decision not to come to Europe for the EU-USA Summit, which has been postponed. He is accused of being insensitive with Europeans, of snubbing Spain, holder of the rotating EU presidency, or of lacking the sophistication of some of his predecessors, like Bill Clinton or Bush senior, who were true Europeanist. At the same time, these voices explain the shift in world power from the Atlantic to the Pacific and how Europe is shrinking in the new brave world of brave new China and the other emerging powers. And yet, I understand that Obama is doing us Europeans a big favor. He is a true believer in European integration, because he is forcing us to confront the hard realities of the XXIst century, where most challenges come from outside EU borders and the EU has to become a global actor if it wants to survive. Obama will be remembered –or not, it is up to us- as a founding father of European integration, second part!
Tres son multitud
Isabel Garcés
23 de febrero, 2010
Recientemente de visita en Bruselas, el presidente de Mongolia Tsakhia Elbegdorj, ha declarado literalmente que la profusión de presidentes en las instituciones europeas le producía mareo. Por un lado están los presidentes de las tres instituciones europeas: la Comisión dirigida por Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, el Parlamento presidido por Jerzy Buzek y el Consejo Europeo presidido por Herman Van Rompuy. A estos tres nombres se añaden el jefe de Gobierno español, José Luis Zapatero, que ostenta este semestre la presidencia de turno de la UE, aunque no ocupa un puesto en las instituciones europeas como tal, y la de la Vicepresidenta de la Comisión y Alta Representante, la británica Catherine Ashton (y por qué no sumarlo a la lista, el presidente del Euro-grupo, Jean-Claude Juncker…)
Pero si alguien debe estar verdaderamente mareado es nuestro presidente de turno que no solo se tiene que enfrentar a la peor crisis económica de los últimos 50 años, sino también a uno de los momentos políticos más complicados de la Unión Europea de 27 Estados miembros. (more…)
Revoluciones sin colores
J. Ignacio Torreblanca
8 de febrero, 2010
Las llamadas revoluciones de colores (naranja en Ucrania, de las rosas en Georgia y de los tulipanes en Kirguizistán) abrieron la esperanza de una pronta democratización de la esfera pos-soviética. Pero en unos pocos años, las ilusiones parecen haberse desvanecido y la frustración extendido. Que en Ucrania, el presidente Víctor Yúshenko, que encabezó la revolución naranja, no haya pasado a la segunda vuelta de las elecciones presidenciales, y que el fraudulento candidato que aquella revolución depuso, Víctor Yanukóvich, surja como el ganador de los comicios -según los primeros sondeos- lo dice todo. Lamentablemente, el país parece haberse construido a pulso una penosa imagen de corrupción política, fragilidad institucional y polarización geográfica y étnica entre un este prorruso y un oeste proeuropeo (sin contar la falta de fiabilidad como país de tránsito para el gas de millones de europeos). (more…)
