Summary of the Week 73

The final week of August brings a final call to complete what has been left undone, and the last preparations for important decisions and obligations. Yet, many opportunities this week—just like in previous months—have again been missed.

Before the bell rings, the Speaker of Parliament, like a classroom teacher, reminded MPs of their duties.

“I call on MPs to take their seats,” urged Dimal Basha ahead of the vote for Nenad Rasic. “I call on those in the cafeteria and in the hallways. Everyone should come and vote,” Basa repeated several times this week, trying to help Rasic secure the position of deputy speaker.

Success sometimes depends on authority, but more often on the values one represents. And many values, analysts say, have been questioned this week, just as they have been in past months.

“Democratic processes don’t work by imposing solutions,” noted Marko Milenkovic from the New Social Initiative.

Imposing solutions has become a subject with no summer break. Despite the heat, opposition, and warnings, the new bridge over the Ibar was completed.

“What does this bridge mean to them, what is it for—tell us, because we no longer know how much more we can endure,” wondered a resident of Mitrovica.

For many, the hardest lessons have been learned. For those still uncertain, additional instruction was organized this week across the north.

Radica Stevanovic from Leposavic, together with her fellow citizens, has spent the week asking why murals were painted over—including one dedicated to her late brother.

“The impression among Serbs in northern Kosovo is that they are not welcome here,” Radica concluded.

Perhaps they will feel better in a new environment—or the same one, just under a different name. That is why the municipal authorities of North Mitrovica changed the names of more than 80 streets.

“There was a big problem, because this street, for example, had three names,” explained Nexhat Ugljanin, Chairman of the Municipal Assembly of North Mitrovica. “Not only this one, but many streets were confusing,” he added.

Historians, however, see every such move as a chance for a lesson.

“These were primarily streets whose names reflected the Serbian character, the Serbian identity of Kosovo and Metohija,” said Petar Ristanovic.

Although still without visible results, the supervisors remain the same in the new “school year”—for now only recording irregularities.

“Sorensen,” commented analyst Nikola Vujinovic, “is ready to hear, but not to listen.”

There are no recesses for hearings and trials. Penalties are issued even during summer breaks—and new ones are already being announced.