Summary of the Week 32

Chapter by chapter, like levels in a video game. However, the goal of the game isn’t the same for everyone. For some, these levels lead forward, while for others, they push them backward. Some receive praise, while others are stopped and slowed down.

The chapter of stalemates and disputes within CEFTA has been successfully completed, according to congratulatory messages from Western leaders to the Kosovo prime minister. But for truck drivers stuck at Merdare for days with their parking brakes on, congratulations are not the first thing that comes to mind.

"I’ve been waiting for 4 hours, if not more. I don’t know how long we’ll be waiting. I don’t know what the problem is, but this is terrible," says one of the truckers as he continues to wait in line in front of the terminal.

Maybe Brussels will provide an opportunity to answer that question. Given that other chapters on the agenda haven’t even been cracked open for months, and some unresolved issues, like property, are becoming more pressing. That’s why the mayor of the municipality whose property the Privatization Agency has set its sights on, Dalibor Jevtic, says:

"I believe that the issue of property needs to be brought to the table in the Brussels dialogue. The local institutions here cannot solve it," Jevtic says.

Local authorities are playing their own game. On some existing foundations, they are layering bricks and ambitions to cover the entire north with police stations. Citizens, however, would allocate the money differently.

"They should ask the citizens of North Mitrovica, for example. What do you need? Then have a debate, and come to a common solution. Not just build another police station," says one Mitrovica resident.

For some time now, there has seemingly been no successful debate even within the ruling Kosovo party. They’ve moved from a chapter of constructive diversity to a chapter of self-exits.

This comes as no surprise to university professor Nexhmedin Spahiu.

"It’s easy to invite people of different profiles and views when you want to gather votes. But when you’re in power, you have to show your true colors. You have to show who you stand with," Spahiu told Kosovo Online.

This week, Albanians showed where they stand and how committed they are. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama believes the opening of the first chapter or cluster is a historic moment.

"We are excited and encouraged. Now we begin the hardest part of the work," says Rama.

The hardest part of the job, it seems, awaits them on their home turf. Because this European chapter and the one on the streets back home, where the opposition protests frequently, don’t seem to be from the same game.

Some chapters were closed this week. With the departure of General Jackson, we were reminded of what parts of the agreement he signed have remained only in the agreement, and not in practice.

In other chapters, with the completion of the census count, new levels of the game have just been opened. What rules will be set by the census results in Montenegro will become clear in the coming weeks.