Summary of the Week 39

Even when you don't want to play, sometimes you have no choice. You follow the rules if you know them. You move toward the goal if you know where it is. You fight against other players if you know who they are. Another week has passed in Kosovo, filled with everyday games, as well as more dangerous ones.

We set the rules here, and you’re not welcome. The translation of the Kosovo Assembly Speaker's speech might not sound exactly like this, but that’s the message Serbs understood.

Serbian List MP Milan Kostic described what he and his colleagues experienced:
“We were all insulted there, being called terrorists and other things. We endured all kinds of insults,” Kostic said.

Sometimes communication isn’t verbal or polite. One resident of North Mitrovica, whose house was raided by special forces the day after the Ibar-Lepenac canal explosion, didn’t even know what game he had been unwillingly dragged into.

“They didn’t ask anything; they just started beating me,” testified Gzim Jahirovic.

Even if the rules aren’t clear at the start, they can become apparent along the way. However, anyone who gets carried away can easily lose their advantage. For instance, the Kosovan Prime Minister seemed to know more in the first hour after the explosion than in the days that followed.

“I’m neither an investigative judge nor a policeman to know how far the investigations have progressed,” Albin Kurti said at a press conference.

It remains unclear who designed the game and set the rules. Analysts speculate that someone might have overplayed their hand.
“It could be said that Pristina might benefit more from this, although it also reveals Pristina’s weaknesses,” said historian Stefan Radojkovic. He added, “The question is whether this was a plan that backfired slightly.”

The rules of the game, the distribution of cards, and the roles are still being deciphered by others. Some are merely watching, while others are cheering. Both groups are missing key details.

“At this moment, we don’t know who is behind the attack,” said U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier.

Even when all the circumstances are clear, the rules are not. How each move will be punished doesn’t depend on rolling dice but on the players. Attorney Milos Delevic, even two years after the attack, is still surprised by the differing interpretations of the same event.

“Someone who injured two Serbian youths, including one boy,” Delevic said about Azem Kurtaj, whose trial continued this week, “is being charged with a crime carrying a penalty of up to 5 years, which could be reduced to just 6 months.”

The rules change, and no one has the right to opt out of the game. Under such conditions, even a small, personal victory—like the release of Dusan Milanovic—is celebrated as a victory for all.