Kosovo Thanks You

Five years ago on February 17th 2008, the hopes and dreams of Kosovar people were at their all time high. Five years ago Kosovars started hoping that one day their country will be an equal among nations.

On this important date it is important to celebrate the successes but not ignore the failures.

The successes have been many: the recognition by 98 UN Member states, among with other non-members; the membership to different organisations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; and the adherence to a European outlook.

The five years of independence have also brought stability and peace, and most importantly, a clear direction for the bruised Balkan nations, with different levels of success.

Five years is a long time in state building and development. Miracles can and have happened in five years. Examples are abundant around the world.

No amount of celebration and self-congratulation can void the fact that there have been failures.

And failures have been many: the standard of living in Kosovo has increased only slightly; unemployment is still among the highest in Europe; Kosovo is not present in any of the ISO standards; nationals of this small republic can travel to a handfull of countries without needing a visa; Kosovo is isolated from the rest of Europe in many ways; the development, foreign, security and other policies have been insufficient in delivering their goals; the political spectrum has not nurtured growth and development, instead, it has nurtured factions and infighting. The list is easy to add to. But it shall stop here.

Have a happy independence day, enjoy it and celebrate it. Let’s not forget the work that needs to be done to celebrate the 10th anniversary with more successes and fewer failures.

Happy 100th Anniversary of the Independence of Albania!

Wishing all Albanians, wherever they are, the best for this day.

May the next 100 years be bright and good for everyone.

Dear friends and supporters,

We have recently received a number of emails informing us that Burundi has recognized Kosovo. We want to assure you we are aware of the recent events and do our best to be on top of what is happening.

We want to use these recent recognitions as an opportunity to highlight the lack of coordination and communication between Kosovo institutions.

We are in no way undermining or belittling the work of anyone involved in securing these recognitions, including the Deputy Prime Minister Behgjet Pacolli.

We greatly appreciate the work being done in this regard.

But, clear weaknesses remain. Recognitions are being communicated in an uncoordinated and untimely manner. They are announced in an unstructured way and sometimes without clarity.

We are taking this opportunity to request that the Kosovar institutions get serious about working on this together. This means coordinating the announcements, but also giving credit where credit is due. Confirming recognitions with one month delay, having countries missing from the official list, removing countries without giving proper reasons, are not signs of seriously run institutions.

We request that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs take a structured and coordinated approach to announcing recognitions.

• Clearly indicating whether a country has recognized or has only shown support, and avoiding the use of confusing titles in media releases
• Assigning a “recognition spokesperson” that would be the official voice for announcing the recognitions
• Giving credit to the people and institutions involved in securing the recognitions
• Being transparent when mistakes happen, they happen and it is human for them to happen. No big deal.
• Clarifying the position on certain “unclear” recognitions
• When a press release is issued, the MFA web site needs to be updated properly (the last recognition is still missing in the MFA list)

It is easy to do if there is will to do so.

We want to reassure everyone that the team running this web site belongs to no political structure, party or affiliation. The team sympathises with no such entities. We are a completely apolitical group of people that are doing this for the good of the State. Our position is completely neutral in that regard.

All we are asking is that the work be done properly and in a coordinated manner. The people and citizens of Kosovo deserve this, we hope that the Kosovar institutions can deliver this minimum.