Summary of the Week 11

It can't be without drama in Kosovo, but it can be without theater and actors, if the authorities in Pristina decide so. It can't be without Europe's support, but neither with all its demands. It can't be without dinars, but there's no solution to the problem. Between reality and desires, the past and even further past, another week has passed.

Few expected the resolution of the Brussels drama in the seventh act, but there are many who need a solution immediately and for whom the curtain has already fallen over their eyes.

"The new announcement of sanctions affects us badly. How else would it affect us? What will we do without dinars?" ask the residents of Gračanica, who still aren't sure if and when they can use the dinar. Nor where to find it.

We are no closer to an answer to that, or any other question, at the end of this week. On the contrary.

Besnik Bislimi, Kosovo's chief negotiator, after yet another search for a compromise, says, "We are now further away than before the meeting, than in previous weeks."

Everyone notices that the dialogue is moving in the opposite direction from what was planned. However, no one knows whether this is a twist or a resolution.

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, explains that they also asked Miroslav Lajčak how long it can go on like this, without progress, without a solution...

"Mr. Lajčak simply shrugged his shoulders," says Petkovic.

The other leaders also ensured that the region was not without drama. Both Rama in Athens and Davkova in Skopje addressed the public with carefully chosen words. However, not everyone greeted this choice of words with ovations.

Former Macedonian ambassador Risto Nikovski said, "The message from the new president's inauguration reached Washington, Brussels, as well as Sofia and Athens."

These and other European centers also heard and condemned Pristina's decision to ban the Serbian Patriarch from entering Kosovo. It was deemed unnecessary drama. EU spokesperson Peter Stano stated that Kosovo violated the rights of believers with this decision and played with multi-ethnicity.

At first glance, Kosovo has no problem with foreign symbols of statehood. However, it obviously does with Serbian symbols and flags. Historian Petar Ristanovic, who is well-acquainted with the situation in Kosovo, knows the rights and opportunities of the citizens living there.

"Flags of America, Albania, and other European countries are seen everywhere. Their number is several dozen times greater than the flags of Kosovo," says Ristanovic.

Each of these events could have been the culmination of the week. However, Pristina made another unexpected twist.

"We will send the draft of the Community of Serb Municipalities to the Constitutional Court as soon as possible," the Kosovo government told the Council of Europe.

"It is a little too late for such promises," commented Kosovar analyst Artan Muhaxhiri.

It is both too late and insufficient, Strasbourg echoed.

Probably due to so much drama and daily performances, there was no room for another, real one. Thus, the theater and Milutin were stopped at the gates of Kosovo this week.