Summary of the week 21

This week, we expect victories and records from the Olympics. Meanwhile, on the home front, we continue the game. Everyone plays the one they are good at or the one they have invented themselves.

As is fitting for this time of year, and as always in Kosovo, everyone competes in their own discipline and by their own rules. There are always supporters for the games of defiance. Fortunately, there are also those who cheer in the true spirit of sportsmanship.

"I don't care where someone is from, what their nationality is, or what religion they follow. Whoever is good has my support," says a citizen of Pristina, laying the groundwork for rare but fair support.

Some disciplines are traditional; we've been following and cheering for them for a long time. Some are new. In survival hurdles, for instance, the first results are measured after six months of training.

Regardless of which part of Kosovo they live in, Serbs say it is difficult for them. Harder than it was six months ago when they could still use the dinar. One resident of Mitrovica has additional information and concerns:

"They are now planning to raid stores from September. They might even frisk people to see if anyone has dinars in their pockets."

Fair play, as in any competition, is assumed. However, it should not be a subjective category. Political analyst from Pristina Blerim Canaj says nothing is as it is portrayed. It is exaggerated, Canaj explains, both in Belgrade and Pristina:

"There's an illusion that Serbs in Kosovo can't do anything, as if there's some severe repression here," says Canaj.

History knows whose Lake Gazivode is, but the present does not believe it. Perhaps VAR will have to determine the truth. It is known, however, that sports on this water are not the safest.

"We don't feel safe to go swimming. We can't take our children," says a resident of Zubin Potok. "They sing songs, mention the KLA," he adds but does not give up. There is no doubt, he says, that Lake Gazivode is ours.

Protection and safety are tough disciplines. In the subcategory of monument and cultural heritage protection, no one has met the standard. This is clearly seen in the latest UNESCO report, as well as in the views of those who have been dealing with this issue for decades. Professor Darko Tanaskovic, former Serbian ambassador to UNESCO, told Kosovo Online that the level of monument protection is alarming.

"What buffer zones, what respect for legal norms. They don't exist at all. Including the laws that are broken every day," says Tanaskovic.

The region is also cheering and playing. The new strategy in Montenegro is to have as many players on the field as possible, hoping to achieve the desired result. However, one should not expect too much, analysts say.

"There will be no derecognition of Kosovo since there is no necessary majority for that in either the Assembly or the Government," says historian Aleksandar Rakovic.

While we wait for records, hopefully not in extreme sports, the hosts have set up cameras throughout northern Kosovo, ensuring live broadcasts of everything happening on the field.