Summary of the week 48

We have been counting down, tallying up, adding things together… but it’s still not over. While everyone pulls the scale in their own direction, in reality, the weight has tipped in favor of instability and new tensions. That’s why this week's Compilation sums up assessments, not results.

In the weeks following the elections, as final results are awaited, probabilities are being assessed. Some are more desirable, some more realistic. Only one is almost certain.

"Kosovo is entering a period of parliamentary crisis where it will not be possible to have a stable majority in the coming period," explains political scientist Ognjen Gogic.

Regardless of the time or circumstances, opportunities for tensions in Kosovo are never missed. That was also the case this week, with the first post-election raid on Serbian institutions in the north.

"Our fears have come true, what we were afraid of has happened. The Social Work Center, on which 1,500 of the most vulnerable citizens depend, has been closed," says the director of the institution in Leposavic, Natasa Nastic.

It is always easier for contemporaries to assess chances. From a time distance, the missed ones are easier to notice. This week, Kosovo’s citizens had the opportunity to compare promises with the actual plans fulfilled over the past 17 years.

"People, in general, are never fully satisfied with what has been achieved, and that is a normal thing," says a Pristina resident interviewed by Kosovo Online on the anniversary of Kosovo’s independence. He adds: "Still, I think it's good. Mostly good."

At one moment, things seem realistic; in the next, a new problem or condition arises that reduces the chances again. Or, in this case, funds from the Growth Plan slip away.

"For Serbia and Kosovo," reminds Dragisa Mijacic from the National Convention for Chapter 35, "there is one special condition, and that is the implementation of the Normalization Agreement."

Despite logic, the longer the journey toward it takes, the closer the goal does not necessarily become. Sometimes, as in the case of forming the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM), chances decrease as time passes and governments change. Analysts doubt that the latest elections have brought the ASM any closer.

"It depends on who will form the government. Maybe someone will be willing to establish it on credit. Who knows," says university professor Nexhmedin Spahiu.

Great expectations come with every election. Even when we observe elections from afar—like today’s in Germany—we cannot influence the outcome, and the numbers and hopes don’t always align.

"The chances of Germany revoking its recognition of Kosovo are minus one hundred thousand," estimates former diplomat Blerim Canaj.

That some historical opportunities have been missed is something we see daily in both documents and practice. However, this week’s Compilation also makes space for new possibilities, for exploration, discovery, and better understanding. In fact, for an invitation sent from the Tourism Fair: Experience Kosovo!