Broken Capilaries On Breasts

JOURNALISTS FROM KOSOVO: PRISTINA, MODERN YOUNG AND UNEMPLOYED

Testo di Ludovica Jona. Fotografie di Alessia Leonello.

A poco più di un anno dall'indipendenza, la capitale del Kossovo ha l'aria di capitale europea alla moda. Nonostante il tasso di disoccupazione ufficiale sfiori l'80 per cento. Viaggio tra la massiccia presenza internazionale e la criminalità al potere

“L'Espresso all'italiana” è scritto sui tendoni che riparano le schiere di tavolini all'aperto nel viale alberato. Ragazzi in jeans e giacca di velluto attraversano i cortili affollati. C'è chi chiacchiera davanti a una birra e chi lavora al computer portatile. Un po' oltre, ci sono locali più ricercati: in stile moderno, con arredi in vetro e metallo, o etnico, in legno e paglia intrecciata. Vi siedono giovani in completo scuro e ragazze con tacchi alti e abiti vistosi. I camerieri servono composizioni di pesce o di formaggi matched, as in the kitchen most glamorous magazines. We are not in the center of Milan to take an aperitif, but in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, in an ordinary Wednesday afternoon.

A few months after the first birthday of independence (February 17), the capital of Europe's youngest country, with an average age of 24 years, welcomes you like a girl who wants to impress . On Clinton Boulevard, which leads from the center, parade solid houses, tastefully designed and suv flaming dart against the backdrop of posters of the best known Western brands. And around the square of the "New Born", the monument of independence made up of large colored concrete letters that make up the word "born again" in English, an exuberant vitality worldly wonder the visitor who has read the reports dramatically unproductive economy of Kosovo and its unemployment rate of nearly 80 per percent of the population.

The acronyms of international organizations such as OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), UN and UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) often on buildings and cars in downtown of Pristina, are the first signs of a possible explanation for being unexpected in a country that è stato recente teatro di un feroce conflitto etnico. La presenza internazionale, seguita ai bombardamenti Nato del 1999 che sconfissero il regime di Milosevich, viene da molti considerata la più fiorente industria del paese: all'inizio del 2008, la sola missione Onu in Kosovo ( Unmik ) aveva speso circa tre miliardi di euro, in personale, beni e servizi. “Anche se solo una piccola parte di questa somma è stata investita nell'economia kosovara – sottolinea il sito d'informazione Osservatorio Balcani- il denaro speso ha certamente avuto un ruolo nella creazione di attività produttive”. Soprattutto a Pristina dove è concentrato oltre il 60 per cento del personale internazionale.

Nonostante this, almost all call for the expulsion of Kosovars mission sent by the UN to support (and monitor) the local institutions.
"UNMIK officials have high salaries, but yet we have not seen the benefits on the population," said one young man met one of the most renowned coffee center, the Papillon. Pinstripe jacket, item sets and dazzling smile, Artan deals with casting for the national television. E 'Albanian, but has several professional experiences in Italy and the USA: to convince him to come to Pristina, were good business opportunities.

However, the local ruling class, consisting mainly of former KLA leader (Kosovo Liberation Army) is not particularly committed to enhancing the local economy. "There are significant investments in any sector of the economy and the rate of youth suicide has increased dramatically due to the lack of prospects and work," says Ilire Zajmi , Radio reporter and correspondent of ANSA in Kosovo Pristina. "Even in the entertainment industry, there is no policy that encourages foreign investment," echoed Skumbin I., known comedian Kosovar . Are critical not surprised if you look at the curriculum of the main political leaders in Kosovo: is the current head of government Hashim Thaci, the leader of the opposition Ramush Haradinaj, in addition to being very young (both have about forty years), had a military rather than political, since they were the main leaders of the KLA . In addition, a dossier commissioned by the German army in Berlin Institute for European Policy, describes them as "the chieftain cartel's most powerful Mafia Kosovo , confirming information provided by previous investigations by journalists and the courts. In particular, according to The Washington Times, during the period that Thaci was the leader of the UCK, the organization is funded primarily through the control of much of the traffic of heroin and cocaine into Western Europe. Thaci was subsequently held up by the BBC as "the central element of the criminal activities conducted by the Kosovo Protection Force" (born after the dissolution of the KLA, absorbing the militia), who extort money from businessmen in the form of taxes for the His government, a kind of lace. Ramush Haradinaj was accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court for Former Yugoslavia. Several witnesses against him have died in mysterious circumstances during the trial and in April 2008 was acquitted of all charges.

Kosovo is considered the port Europe works for 80 percent of drugs produced in Afghanistan and worked in Turkey . The shop is often hailed internationally as a justification of the amount of money that goes to Pristina, but it is not clear how trafficking of this magnitude can take place undisturbed under the eyes of the 16,000 military mission KFOR (Kosovo Force) led by NATO, still present in this piece of land as big as the Molise. "There are soldiers of the KFOR have to do legal investigations on drug trafficking, but the judiciary," he says Alberto Perduca, the Italian judge who heads the justice sector EULEX, the mission decided by the European Union after the Kosovo's declaration of independence (recognized by almost all member states), to support local institutions, gradually replacing UNMIK. Engaged in the fields of justice, police and customs officials around 2000, the EULEX mission is the most important EU foreign and, in addition to the advisory role, may exercise the judicial power with local administrators. "For example - explains Perduca-there is a special anti-crime prosecutor, set the example of the Special Anti-Mafia Directorate, consisting of 16 prosecutors, of which 6 are EULEX." However, since last December, when it came into action the administration of justice supported EULEX, is passed judged only in a case of robbery. "We are still taking over from UNMIK to the more than 1200 files opened for war crimes," the official said. He added that tackling organized crime will be very difficult: "The technical equipment, such as to make interceptions, is not adequate." But above all: "The ties between families and clans here are powerful and, in such a small country, is a big problem even defend the witnesses!"

The "EULEX Made in Serbia", which stands on the walls of all Kosovo, shows that the mission sent by the European Union is not loved by locals. Accusing to be the product of Serbia, is associated with the nation which has been waged against the so-called "war of liberation" of the majority of Kosovars who are ethnic Albanian. To cover the walls with that written, are the hundreds of activists of a movement called extra-parliamentary " Vetevendosje" (Self-determination ). Its founder is Albin Kurtis, 33, former leader of student protests against the Milosevic regime, as well as near the pacifist Kosovar leader, Ibrahim Rugova. "KFOR and EULEX should not have executive powers or legal immunity," he says. But heavy criticism does not spare members of the government, "Thaci and his men have become bureaucrats and do not deal with people. The Government says that no money is not true: we have calculated that in cases over 5 million euro aid and privatization. What are you doing? "

Meanwhile, in the Parliament in Pristina, people put a tent : there waving the banner of ' KLA and some days you sleep thirty men dug their faces furrowed and often by characteristic scars. They are former militants of the Kosovo Liberation Army and are doing a hunger strike. "We ask the government to recognize veterans and a subsidy for those who must care for war wounds," says spokesman Naser, ex tecnico geometra in Svizzera. Come altri ex militanti dell'Uck, che erano immigrati negli Usa e in Italia, racconta di essere tornato in Kossovo nel 1999 per combattere l'esercito serbo. Ma dopo la guerra, l'Uck non è stato neanche menzionato nella costituzione del Kossovo. Con la conseguenza che coloro che vi hanno militato, non hanno neanche un sussidio per acquistare medicinali. Che in Kosovo non vengono offerti dal servizio sanitario pubblico, ma hanno prezzi europei: impossibili per stipendi medi che non raggiungono i 200 euro.

Così, dall'Uck, c'è chi è uscito capo del governo e chi si ritrova a fare lo sciopero della fame per un riconoscimento economico che gli permetta di curarsi. Perché such different fates? He replies Arkan, the young entrepreneurs we met at the cafe Papillon: "These men are on hunger strike because they have stopped fighting!" Then he tells me of a guy who studied theater with him and he killed many people. And what does it do now? "The manager"