Elections:

Few values
behind parties
promises. PAGE 4
Opinion:
When politics
overshadow
poverty. PAGE 14
Prishtina
Insight
June 6-19, 2014 l #136 l Price 1
Culture: Clothing shopping goes old school. PAGE 16
PI Guide: The seaside comes to Prishtina. PAGE 12
Our vision for the
future: The baby
who grows up to be
Prime Minister
and saves the
country. PAGE 6
DRITA
2050
2 n June 6-19, 2014 n Prishtina Insight
J
J
J
J
Kosovos best hope: still in diapers
Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
Mensa e Studenteve, rst oor, 10000, Prishtina, Kosovo
PHONE: +381 (0) 38 24 33 58 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Nate
Tabak STAFF: Jeta Xharra, Marcus Tanner, Edona Peci, Petrit Collaku,
Parim Olluri, Nektar Zogjani and Arijeta Lajka. DESIGN: Trembelat Prishtina
Insight is supported by the Norwegian Embassy, Rockefeller Brothers Fund
and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.
Its pretty safe to say that things are
not going as well as they should be
in this country. Even in Prishtina,
a world away from the destitute
villages that dot the country, we
dont have 24-hour running water.
Thats just the tip of the iceberg.
Dont forget unemployment, woe-
ful health care and education, and
an impotent judicial system, just to
name a few.
Theres obvious blame to go
to the ruling PDK, which came to
power after the 2007 elections.
But nearly every major party (LDK,
AKR, AAK) has at some point either
been in power
or been part
of a governing
coalition since
after the 1998-
99 war. Self-in-
terest, includ-
ing wholesale
graf, has all too
ofen taken pri-
ority over good
governance.
The lone exception, Veteven-
dosje, has a promising reformist
agenda, but it also has a history
of doing things like turning over
cars. (Im not counting newcomer
NISMA because it seems to exist
primarily to extend a middle fin-
ger to Hashim Thacis PDK - and
will probably get into Parliament
because of that).
In short, voters dont have an
option with some kind of serious
caveat. So, we decided to make
our own. Our baby, Drita, may not
be ready to govern just yet. But we
hope that she will become Prime
Minister 36 years from now, in
2050, and transform Kosovo into
the thriving country that it should
be through sound policies and sen-
sible leadership. (You can read the
details on Page 6).
To some, this might echo 2010s
ill-fated Fryma e Re [New Spirit]
party best known as FeR. It had
young, highly educated leaders
who promised to run Kosovo with
common sense. It failed to get
enough voters to get seats in the
Parliament. A number of promi-
nent Fryma e Re members includ-
ing Shpend Ahmeti, now Prishti-
nas mayor, joined Vetevendosje.
But unlike with FeR, were giv-
ing Drita three and a half decades
to get ready. In the meantime, Ko-
sovos leaders should do their best
to give baby Drita, and the thou-
sands like her, a fghting chance.
They dont need much a good
education system, breathable air,
and, a standard of living that en-
sures food and shelter plus a cou-
ple of toys.
Nate
Tabak
Editor-in-Chief
from the editor
Prishtina
Insight
PageTwo
STILL HERE
Theres little reliable publically available
polling data for the June 8 elections.
Nevertheless, weve ofered our best,
unscientic guesses for how the major
political parties will perform.
Elections 2014:
PIs Predictions
VETEVENDOSJE: Since its transfor-
mation from a grassroots movement
into a political party in 2010, leader
Albin Kurti has managed to show
that its about more than protests
and nationalism. It scored a major
upset by beating LDK for the Mayors
ofce in Prishtina. And the rst half-
year under Mayor Shpend Ahmeti
has been promising. We expect that
the party will make gains and
continue cultivating its role as the
countrys most credible opposition.
2010: 14 seats
2014: 19-20 seats
(+5-6)
AAK: Party leader Ramush Haradinaj
served as PM for 100 days before
surrendering himself to the Hague to
face war crimes charges. He showed
promise as a unifying force within
Kosovo - as well as between Kosovo
and Serbia. He returned to public life
in Kosovo in 2011 following his second
acquittal at the Hague. But his im-
mediate courtship of his former rival,
Thaci, sent the message that he was
eager to get back into power, above all
else. He still hasnt recovered.
2010: 11 seats
2014: 8-9 seats
(-2-3)
LDK: Its hard to get excited about the
LDK. Former Prishtina Mayor Isa Mus-
tafa, the party leader, lacks charisma,
and their platform in these elections
has little distinguishing characteris-
tics. LDK, however, has fewer things
working against it than its main rival
PDK, and could even gain seats. Thus,
it stands a good chance of emerging
from the elections with the largest
bloc in Parliament and become part
of the next governing coalition. Dont
bet on a PM Mustafa, though.
2010: 27 seats
2014: 26-28 seats
(+/1)
AKR: Headed by multi-millionaire
construction tycoon Behgjet Pacolli,
the party itself has never managed to
become a serious force by itself in Parlia-
ment. The biggest problem has been Pa-
colli, who isnt very well liked. He made
his fortune in the former Soviet Union
during the 1990s, and has struggled to
resonate with ordinary people. But given
the likelihood of a narrow coalition, and
Pacollis stated willingness to work with
anyone, theres a good chance the party
will have a place in the next government.
2010: 6 seats
2014: 5 seats
(-1)
A
A
A
A
THE WINNERS
Prishtina Insight n June 6-19, 2014 n 3
9
9
10
1 0
7
7
2
2
THE WILD CARD
THE LOSER
THE STRONGEST
THE SPOILER
PDK: While Prime Minister Hashim
Thacis party stands the best chance
of leading the next government,
we think it will be considerably
weakened. Apart from government
employees, whove gotten generous
raises, ordinary people havent gotten
a lot out of PDKs mandate. Unem-
ployment remains high even the
governments suspect gure is about
30 percent. Kosovars still lean on the
diaspora to make ends meet, and
they still havent gotten visa require-
ments lifted by the EU. Expect PDK to
lose many voters to NISMA and Vete-
vendosje. But ultimately, Thaci will
probably cobble together a governing
coalition, thanks to the absence of a
clear leading political party.
2010: 33 seats
2014: 26-27 seats
(-6-7)
NISMA: Founded by disillusioned
former PDK leaders Fatmir Limaj
and Jakup Krasniqi, the new party is
well positioned to be a spoiler. It has
support in PDK strongholds, and will
probably win a surprising number
of seats in Parliament at PDKs
expense. Its a bit unclear what the
party stands for, but it could be
courted for a coalition.
2010: Did not exist
2014: 6-7 seats
SRPSKA LISTA: Now politically
united, Serbs across Kosovo are well
positioned to become a signicant
voice in parliament - if Serbs in
northern Kosovo vote in signicant
numbers. If that happens, Srpska
Lista will probably take direction
from Belgrade, which could have a
real say in Kosovos internal policies
for the rst time since 1999.
2010: Did not exist
2014: 10-15 seats
PARTIA E FORTE (STRONG
PARTY): Under Legendary Leader
Visar Arifaj from the municipal
assembly of Prishtina, Kosovos
national GDP has increased by 652
percent, in what economists are call-
ing the Legendary Efect. We believe
that voters will reward Partia e Forte
with at least 3.6 million votes. This
will give the party a supermajority
of 200 seats, even though there are
100 non-minority seats in parlia-
ment. This will pave the way for the
establishment of a revolutionary
totalitarian-egalitarian regime.
2010: Did not exist
2014: 200 seats
A
A
A
A
4 n June 6-19, 2014 n Prishtina Insight
Many parties, few programs
While voters have a range of parties to choose from on June 8, the
ideological diferences between most of them appear slim.
Big promises,
few details
At a rally last week in Gjakova,
where the jobless rate nears 60 per
cent, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci,
leader of the ruling PDK, said the
city would become so developed if
it voted PDK on June that it would
look like Germany.
Like most parties campaign-
ing in the election, the Democratic
Party of Kosovo, PDK, is trying to
gain votes by focusing on the
economy and creating jobs, but isnt
clear how its ambitious pledges will
be achieved.
According to the PDKs
campaign, the ruling party will
create 200,000 jobs in Kosovo
in only four years and double the
amount of employees in busi-
nesses, which Thaci is convinced
will lead to a boom economy.
The Alliance for the Future of
Kosovo, AAK, also maintains it can
deliver 200,000 jobs, and increase
the average salary to 1,000 euro.
The Democratic League of
Kosovo, LDK, is joining the trend,
promising a mere 120,000 new
jobs.
Such goals are simply not
realistic, according to economist
Musa Limani. Kosovos economy,
including the private sector, which
is dominant, does not have the
capability to create 200,000 jobs,"
Limani said.
"So far, about 6,000 to
10,000 individuals have been
hired each year, so how they are
going to make 50,000 new jobs in
a year? Limani asked.
Arijeta Lajka
By Arijeta Lajka
and Edona Peci
Kosovos nearly 1.8 registered vot-
ers have 30 parties to choose from
in the June 8 elections, but when it
comes to ideologies, their choices
are more limited.
Four of the fve largest political
parties are campaigning with strik-
ingly similar programs.
The Democratic Party of Ko-
sovo, PDK, the Democratic League
of Kosovo, LDK, the Alliance for
the Future of Kosovo, AAK, and
the New Kosovo Alliance, AKR, all
promise free-market based eco-
nomic development, which they
say will create thousands of new
jobs.
Their campaigns are domi-
nated by promises rather than
contrasting visions of the future of
the country.
Political consultant Kushtrim
Shaipi said the result could be
the establishment of [governing]
coalitions without any principles,
based on arithmetic calculations
to ensure a majority of votes for
the government and not based on
values and political beliefs.
Driton Selmanaj, from the Ko-
sovo Democratic Institute, agrees
that the parties largely lack any
ideology and operate based on
improvised plans, without any
project or clear orientation.
The PDK, AAK and LDK see
themselves as parties of the centre
right, while the AKR defnes itself
simply as a centrist party.
While the business-oriented
economic promises mesh with
centre-right politics, the promises
on welfare, including on national
health insurance and increased
pensions, tilt more lef.
Only the AAK responded to
Prishtina Insights questions con-
cerning party ideology albeit
vaguely.
As a centre-right party, we cre-
ate and promote the freedom of
individuals, freedom for initiative,
freedom of expression, religion,
and competition in all areas of life,
it said. We are convinced that with
free individuals we will have a free
society, a developed state and a sta-
ble democracy, it added.
Instead of ideology, Kosovos
largest parties are principally asso-
ciated with their leaders and with
history.
The PDK and LDK both trace
their origins to the growing resist-
ance to Serbian rule in the 1990s.
Founded by the late Ibrahim Rugo-
va, the LDK arose as a movement
of peaceful resistance. The PDK on
the other hand, founded by former
members of the Kosovo Liberation
Elections 2014
Army, is rooted in armed struggle.
The two parties have thus
represented opposing traditions
in Kosovo, even though ideologi-
cally little distinguishes the two.
The parties were in a governing
coalition from 2008 to 2010.
Among the major parties, only
Levizja Vetevendosje [Self-Deter-
mination movement] can be con-
sidered left wing. The party has
positioned itself as the champion
of the lower and middle class and
calls for fiscal policies to balance
the burden of fnancing the budget.
Vetevendosje MP candidate
Zgjim Hyseni says the parties that
claim to be on the right of the spec-
trum in fact act to the opposite of
that.
Hyseni said one notable ex-
ample of the confusion between
what was lef and right was Koso-
vos independence in 2008. Inde-
pendence, which was declared in
accordance with a plan created by
Finnish Diplomat Martti Ahtisaari,
which envisages a multi-ethnic
state.
All the parties approved the
Ahtisaari plan, which denies the
nationalistic Albanian element as
a state-building factor for Kosovo
- but if we look at the ideological
categorization, nationalism is ac-
tually related to the right, Hyseni
noted.
Prishtina Insight n June 6-19, 2014 n 5
Kosovo Serbs join
last-minute campaign
By Valerie Hopkins
The southern half of Mitrovica is
full of election billboards promis-
ing new turns, new directions
and claiming that the countrys
current leaders deserve new mis-
sions.
But across the bridge and past
the barricade, in the predominant-
ly Serb northern part of town, the
only visible campaign parapher-
nalia are faded and frayed posters
from last Novembers local elec-
tions - the first local races held in
north Kosovo under the auspices
of the Kosovo government.
General elections, to be held
for the first time in the north, are
only days away. But the election
is apparent nowhere in northern
Mitrovica.
Shortly afer the elections were
announced last month, Kosovo
Serbs leaders in the north - who
have never recognized the coun-
trys independence - announced
their participation in a unified
Srpska Lista, joining Serbian poli-
ticians from both the north and
south of Kosovo.
Unlike the northern Serbs,
many of the southern Serbs on the
list long ago accepted Kosovo as a
state and have taken part in gov-
ernment.
The unifed list was trumpeted
by Serbian politicians in Kosovo
and Serbia as a chance for a Kosovo
Serb renaissance.
Together, they claimed, the
Serbs could win more than the 10
seats reserved for them in Kosovos
parliament, making them a real po-
litical force.
That optimism has faded and
Kosovo Serbs have spent most of
the 10-day campaign period pre-
varicating about participating,
refusing to campaign because the
Central Elections Commission
printed ballots with the seal of Ko-
sovo on them.
These issues have not deterred
Nenad Rasic, outgoing Minister for
Labor and Welfare in the Kosovo
government, from participating
independent of Srpska Lista.
It is clear from the events of the
last months that Belgrade is trying
to distance itself from Kosovo, Ra-
sic said.
However, Kosovo Serbs have
not realized that their path should
not be dictated by Belgrade, or by
Prishtina, either, he added. We
need to fnd our own way.
Rasic has campaigned while
other Serb leaders have shuttled
back and forth to Belgrade, await-
ing word from Serbian Prime Min-
ister Aleksandar Vucic.
Vucic, who is coping with cata-
strophic foods in Serbia while fac-
ing criticism for alleged censorship
and an alleged plagiarism scandal,
has yet to make a strong statement
on the matter.
The political wrangling is leav-
ing Kosovo Serb voters in the north
cold.
People are angry at Belgrade,
Ivan Antic, who works in the ad-
ministration of the recently formed
municipal assembly of Northern
Mitrovica, said.
They are missing an opportu-
nity to do something for the north
of Kosovo, he added. Once again,
everyone is clear that in the north
we are again going to be cheated.
On Wednesday, the Srpska Lis-
ta fnally announced that it would
start activities with only three days
to go before the pre-election si-
lence begins on Friday at midnight.
As the 11
th
hour approaches,
Vladeta Kostic, leader of the Srpska
List (and a Serbian MP), Wednes-
day called on Kosovo Serbs to vote.
Serbs in Kosovo are familiar
with Srpskas policy and program
and we are right now working on
the Serbs to motivate them to go
out and vote, Kostic said.
Gracanica mayor Branimir Sto-
janovic said the choice between
the unjust decisions of the Cen-
tral Elections Commission and the
damage of a boycott had not been
easy, but concluded that non-par-
ticipation would be worse because
representatives would reach par-
liament with as few as 1,000 votes
each.
We cannot allow those who
would vote in favour of forming an
armed forces for Kosovo to win in-
stead of us, he said afer the meet-
ing in Belgrade.
Momo Trajkovic, head of a
Gracanica-based NGO, the Serbian
Resistance Movement, is critical of
the way that the Srpska Lista and
Belgrade have handled the issue.
What the Serbs are trying to do
with the Kosovo parliament is just
a simulation of patriotism, which
could do much more harm than
good, he said.
In running a non-campaign for
seats in the parliament of a country
that many of them dont recognize,
candidates from the Srpska List
have not told voters how they plan
to deliver their constituents a bet-
ter future, but they want their sup-
port anyway.
As you see, this is a campaign
that almost was not conducted,
said Kosovos current deputy
Prime Minister, Slobodan Petro-
vic - the man at the top of the Srpska
List. But I expect citizens to show
their political maturity and respon-
sibility and get out and vote.
Trajkovic too expects Serbs
to vote on Sunday, but is not opti-
mistic that Srpska Lista can bring
about the signifcant change.
The List is simply horns in a
bag - a group of people who had
earlier accused one another but
now need each other, he said.
Petrovic, who was a Serbian
traitor and Kostic, a great Serb, - as
he considers himself now turn to
people and say, Here we now are,
together, Petrovic is no longer a
traitor but a patriot and we are the
United Serbian list, he said. It is
sad and funny.
MP candidates
spar during a
debate about
the economy.
PHOTO/LISAR
MORINA
Kosovo Serbs have not realized
that their path should not be
dictated by Belgrade, or by
Prishtina, either. We need to nd
our own way. NENAD RASIC
Get the latest on the elections at
www.twitter.com/prishtinsight
tweet
6 n June 6-19, 2014 n Prishtina Insight
Cover
The extraordinary journey of the little girl
from Krusha e Madhe who became the
Prime Minister and rebuilt a nation.
2013: Drita is born in Krusha e
Madhe, Kosovo, to Mejreme and
Avni Kastrati. She is the youngest
of three children.
2016: Kosovo signs Stabilization
and Association Agreement
with EU. Majlinda Kelmendi,
representing the International Judo
Federation, wins a silver medal at
the Olympic Games in Rio.
Cover
Prishtina Insight n June 6-19, 2014 n 7
The path to
Kosovos
New Republic
Drita came into the world during
a dark, cold night in January 2013.
Her mother, Mejreme, remembers
barely making it to the closest clin-
ic in Krusha e Madhe. She could
hardly wait to get out of the womb,
and when I held her for the first
time, I remember her smiling. Shes
the only one of my three children
who smiled after birth, Mejreme
recalls.
Drita's favorite pastime was
running through the felds of Kru-
sha e Madhe, hiding from morning
until supper, occasionally forcing
the town to comb the felds looking
for her. The felds now support the
entire town and Drita's family make
their living working for Krusha e
Madhe's newly monied agrobusi-
ness farmers.
Mejreme occasionally regret-
ted not becoming a dentist instead
of working the land she inherited
from her mother, one of the war
widows of 1999. The open fields,
flled with places to hide and run,
were Drita's frst playgrounds.
School seemed like a prison
to Drita at first, despite the fancy
teaching aides and the young,
earnest teachers from Prishtina.
She stopped staring out of win-
dows and fghting with boys when
she started playing football - first
against boys, then as part of the
girls' football team. Her classmates
remember her as small and loud,
but her father, Avni, showed me
dozens of photos of Drita feeding
and playing with street dogs.
"Shed feed them in our back-
yard and play with them, and
pretty soon every dog in Krusha
knew our address. She would
sneak out food for them. We told
her to stop a million times but she
never listened, Avni said, pointing
to a photo of a muddy-faced Drita,
holding a puppy under each arm.
By the time she fnished eighth
grade, Drita was a whizz at math
and science but absolutely hated
reading. Her grades were just good
enough to get into the Atifete Jah-
jaga Secondary School, one of the
more competitive high schools in
Krusha.
Besarta, a literature teacher
at Atifete Jahjaga, was a recent
graduate of the elite Teach for To-
morrow program for young teach-
ers when she taught Drita. Once I
asked the class, what the relevance
was of Hamlet's To be or not to be
speech, and Drita said that not
knowing how to make up your
mind is stupid and a waste of time.
She had a way of putting things in
this blunt, black-and-white way
and she definitely knew her own
mind. Lets put it this way, it was
both a joy and a struggle to teach
Drita.
With great resistance and with
a lot of pushing on Besarta's part,
2019: Ministry of Internal Afairs begins issuing
green passports to citizens who can provide
proof of employment and a monthly income
of 1,500 euros. Holders of green passports are
allowed to travel to the Schengen Area without
visas. Vetevendosje organizes protests.
2021: Kosovo
C power plant
begins operating
in Obiliq.
2024: Serbia removes
references of Kosovo and
Metohija from constitution.
President Aleksandar Vucic
announces that Serbia is ofcially
neutral on the status of Kosovo. EU
admits Serbia into EU, while Kosovo
CONTINUES ON PAGE 8
Story by Hana Marku
Photos by Majlinda Hoxha
8 n June 6-19, 2014 n Prishtina Insight
Cover
Drita read and reread the books in
her high school curriculum. She
would visit Besartas desk after
school, demanding to know why
certain poems rhymed and some
didn' t, and why the History of
Skenderbeg had no women fght-
ers in it, and why Ndre Mjeda did
not write in standard Albanian.
It probably surprised everyone
when Drita decided that, instead of
medicine, accounting or farming,
she decided to study one of the
most old fashioned fields still of-
fered at the University of Prishtina -
Albanian Language and Literature.
She liked to do the opposite
of what everyone else was doing,
recalls Burim, a childhood friend.
She was the only one that went all
the way there to Prishtina, to study
something that was outdated - and
she got a full scholarship for it too,
he adds.
From academic to activist
Drita moved into the gentrify-
ing Arberia neighbourhood, high
up in the hills near Prishtina's met-
ro line. In the spacious apartment
she shared at the Pandora Tower
apartment complex, she got to
meet and live with Kosovo's avant-
garde culture scene, the Dudists.
When a pipe burst and none of her
six roommates could fix it, a rela-
tive of the landlord was called, and
that's how Drita met Agim.
At that time, in 2033, Agim
was the young owner of AlbiCom
Construction, a company he had
recently inherited from his retired
father, who had inherited it from
his own father, a veteran of the Ko-
sovo Liberation Army. Agim had
only just finished his degree in
engineering when he took on the
business, which was unpopular for
being one of the few companies to
take on guest workers from Serbia.
(They work for less, so it makes
sense).
Agim was impressed that Dri-
ta could hold a wrench, and Drita
enjoyed talking to him. To the sur-
prise of everyone, they fell in love,
started dating, and married shortly
afer.
Agim shows me photographs
of their honeymoon in Venice.
Back then, Kosovars couldn' t
travel to Europe without a visa un-
less they could prove they earned
more than 1, 500 euros a month,
which basically meant less than
a quarter of the population, Agim
said. So, before our honeymoon,
I employed Drita as a consultant
at my construction company. Af-
ter all the nail-biting on that fight,
I thought she was going to bite her
fngers of.
By the time Drita graduated
with her BA degree, they had
moved in together to a small apart-
ment in Mat IV, a new ethnically
is given candidate status.
Thousands burn green passports
in front of European Commission
ofce in Prishtina.
2025: Turkey buys 10 billion
euros in 30-year Kosovo
bonds. Turkish consortium
receives 99-year concession to
run Kosovos public health system.
2029: Kosovo public
servants earn more
on average than their
counterparts in Germany. The
average price of a two-bedroom
apartment in Prishtina reaches
900,000 euros.
mixed suburb on the outskirts of
Gracanica.
An MA followed Drita's BA,
and to the great annoyance of the
department of Albanian Language
and Literature, her MA thesis re-
vealed the probability that - based
on the verse and prose written
about him - an Albanian Ottoman
Pasha was probably gay. This
caused a stir, to put it mildly, at the
Academy of Science and Arts. The
thesis was published into a book,
and the book established Drita as
either an intellectual or a degener-
ate traitor of the Albanian nation,
depending on who you asked.
Afer trying to conceive for two
years, Drita found out that she was
infertile.
It crushed her, Agim admits.
But she is not the type of person to
go for IVF treatments or surrogate
parenthood, or stuf like that. One
day she came home and showed
me a picture of these two little girls,
and she said Were bringing them
home.
The two girls were two sisters,
Albana and Venera, who had been
abandoned by their parents to Ko-
sovos underfunded and under-
staffed public orphanages. Drita
and Agim adopted them in 2039.
As a PhD student at the Univer-
sity of Prishtina, Drita became a
prolifc writer, publishing books of
Kosovo womens literature in an-
thologies, documenting post-1999
prose and poetry in Kosovo, and
penning a series of short stories
for children based on Albanian
fairy tales.
Drita quickly rose through the ranks of the Social
Progressive Party, a slowly growing social-democrat
party mostly active in towns and cities. A vigorous
campaigner and outspoken critic of the govern-
ments neo-liberal economic policies, Drita gained
popularity for her passionate public speaking and
open, friendly demeanor.
CONTINUEDFROMPAGE 7
DRITA
Prishtina Insight n June 6-19, 2014 n 9
2031: Real-estate prices tumble by
70 percent in the rst nine months
of the year. By years end, eight
out of 10 households have debts
far exceeding the value of their
homes. Kosovo government debt
downgraded to junk-bond status.
2032: Government announces
austerity measures, slashes wages
in public sector by 50 percent.
Turkey ofers 20 billion euro
nancial rescue package.
2033: Drita begins her
studies at the University
of Prishtina, in Albanian
Language and Literature.
Kosovos economy grows for
rst time in four years.
An outspoken critic of the Uni-
versity of Prishtina, Drita pushed
for Serbian, Turkish, and Roma
literature to become a part of the
curriculum at the Faculty of Lan-
guages and Literature. She helped
to organize Kosovo's annual gay
pride marches through the univer-
sitys LGBT Support Center.
Although she worked as an
educator, we all knew that Drita is
a doer, not just a thinker, says Yll-
ka, Drita's older sister, an assistant
manager at an ajvar manufactur-
ing plant in Klina. I knew it was just
a matter of time before she entered
politics.
Drita quickly rose through the
ranks of the Social Progressive
Party, a slowly growing social-dem-
ocrat party mostly active in towns
and cities. A vigorous campaigner
and outspoken critic of the govern-
ments neo-liberal economic poli-
cies, Drita gained popularity for
her passionate public speaking
and open, friendly demeanor.
As a deputy in parliament, she
would be remembered for her bat-
tles to push for a referendum on
joining a federation with Albania,
modernizing jails on the model of
the new, improved Dubrava cor-
rectional center, and sending Ko-
sovar troops on a peacekeeping
mission to Eastern Ukraine. That
was before the earthquake.
The earthquake
The earthquake of 2048 was
unexpected and devastating. The
country had experienced earth-
quakes before, but nothing like this
in living memory. The Magnitude
7. 3 temblor struck 10 kilometers
southeast of Peja.
Urban areas were hit hardest,
with poorly planned and illegally
built structures collapsing upon
one another. Villages and towns
were isolated, with no Internet or
telephone signals. The Kosova C
powerplant failed, leaving half of
the country in the dark.
With parliament suspended
and the country in a state of emer-
gency, Drita organized aid eforts in
her neighborhood. She opened up
her home, which became the main
point of reference for food, water,
and shelter in Mat IV, Mat III, Lagja e
Spitalit, Bregu i Diellit, and eventu-
ally, the entire city.
As the main coordinator of aid
throughout the city, Drita became
a part of the Governmental Rapid
Response Team, an ad hoc-group
made up of the Prime Minister,
the Commander of the Kosovo
Armed Forces, the ministers of
interior, health, and infrastruc-
ture, and municipal leaders. With
the mayor of Prishtina away at his
vacation home in Turkey, Drita
took command of the municipal-
ity of Prishtina - not without some
fghting and angry telephone calls,
which eventually led to the may-
ors resignation.
It was the middle of Janu-
ary, so our priority was to rescue,
recover, and shelter as many dis-
placed people as possible. It was
next to impossible to shelter peo-
ple without electricity. Refugees
from Prizren, Gjakova, and Peja
were flooding Prishtina, recalls
commander Nik Balidemaj.
In an act of what was then
termed as political suicide, Drita
crashed meetings of the Govern-
mental Rapid Response Team
with experts from the University of
Prishtina's Faculty of Environmen-
tal Sciences. Instead of investing
aid money into the reconstruction
of Kosova C, Drita insisted on the
experts devising a plan to invest in
multiple sources of energy - wind,
water, solar, biomass, and geother-
mal energy - with each source inte-
grated into one easily repaired and
replenished grid.
It proved miraculously effi-
cient. Every damaged building
was reconstructed with a sophis-
ticated system of solar panels, and
no hill or mound in Kosovo went
uncovered by a wind power plant,
or body of running water with-
out a hydro plant. Kosovos first
geothermal well opened up on the
site where Kosova C used to be.
Although the country still had not
recovered from the earthquake,
for the first time in nearly half a
decade, Kosovo became a serious
exporter of energy.
The Guardian took notice of
Kosovo's new energy boom, run-
ning a profile story on Drita, enti-
tled Kosovo's new green hope?
Although an international darling,
Every damaged building was reconstructed with a
sophisticated system of solar panels, and no hill or
mound in Kosovo went uncovered by a wind power
plant, or body of running water without a hydro
plant. Kosovos rst geothermal well opened up on
the site where Kosova C used to be.
CONTINUES ON PAGE 10
10 n June 6-19, 2014 n Prishtina Insight
Cover
2039: Drita and Agim adopt their
two daughters, Albana and Venera.
2042: Drita elected to parliament as
member of Social Progressive Party.
2043: Kosovo Armed Forces
deploy peacekeepers for
the rst time as part of a UN
mission in Eastern Ukraine.
Soldiers wear ag patches in
deance of UN directive. Serbia
submits formal protest at UN
Headquarters in New York.
the Kosovo press ran stories on
how she had sacked hundreds of
Kosova C employees, on the failure
of the geothermal well to produce
as much energy as promised, and
on her husband's Serbian guest-
workers, hired at a time when
many Kosovar Albanians were
out of work. When elections were
called for, a vicious internal bat-
tle was fought over whether Drita
should be the Prime Minister-nom-
inee.
She definitely was a wild
card nominee - untested, young, a
woman, and very outspoken. But
ultimately, we thought she was our
best shot at getting in government,
explains Blerim Potera, one of the
partys founders and Dritas cam-
paign manager.
The campaign was unique in
many ways: Drita ran under her
maiden name, which she had nev-
er changed. She did not wear the
makeup or high heels preferred
by other female politicians, and
she insisted that everyone call her
by her frst name. She spoke openly
about her hometown, her family,
her academic work, and her inabil-
ity to conceive. First and foremost,
she came across as human, says
Potera.
The Social Progressives oppo-
nents were a mix of old and new:
a few surviving Rugovists, some
PDK hawks, the rightwing Vetev-
endosje crew (who took up most
seats in parliament) - and the New
Albania party, a neo-conservative
party that advocated the return of
Islam and the traditional way of
life.
The electoral battle was ferce,
with Rugovists claiming that the
Social Progressives were synony-
mous with Yugoslav Communists,
the PDK accusing them of being
weak, Vetevendosje accusing
them of being fake leftists, and
New Albania saying that a woman
cursed with infertility should not
decide the fate of Kosovos chil-
dren. An old photo of Drita taking
a spliff as a student, leaked five
days before election day, almost
prompted the party to consider
forcing her from the race.
The results were announced
on November 25, 2050. Social
Progressives - 34 per cent, Vetev-
endosje - 23 per cent, the PDK - 19
per cent, the LDK - 14 per cent and
New Albania - 10 per cent. Drita
gave her inaugural speech in front
of the Newborn monument, worse
for wear, but still standing in front
of the Youth Center in Prishtina.
Flanked by her husband and
children, Drita gave a speech that
would come to be known as the
New Republic address.
This new republic does not
belong to us. It belongs to your
children, to our children, the chil-
dren of Kosovo - regardless of their
nationality, regardless of their skin
color, regardless of their parentage.
This new republic is for them. And
we will build it, together.On her
frst day in ofce, things would not
appear so rosy. The cabinet met ur-
gently to discuss the near-collapse
of the health care system, which
had been sold of to a Turkish con-
sortium in the 2020s; previous ad-
ministrations had failed to read the
fne print of the agreement, which
stated that in the event of acts of
God, the costs of reconstruction
and basic care were to fall solely
on the government.
Numerous clinics across had
never been rebuilt since the earth-
quake as a result, and in some parts
of the country doctors and nurses
walked away from their jobs due to
the wage cuts (and in some cases,
no wages altogether). Private, ex-
pensive, dubiously licensed clin-
ics abounded, and just one month
before the elections, a young man
with respiratory problems died
from an asthma attack. His par-
ents could not aford the cost of an
inhaler in private clinics and phar-
macies, and could not get their son
in time to the regional hospital in
Gjakova.
Massive government invest-
ment would be needed to help the
health system get back on its feet,
and a new, nationalized form of
health insurance urgently needed
being cobbled together. It meant
that Dritas 10-per-cent wage in-
crease for public and private sector
workers - the promise that she ran
and was elected on - would have to
be delayed indefinitely. The new
republic would begin in this way,
in a combination of both victory
and defeat but with the promise
of something better tomorrow.
CONTINUEDFROMPAGE 9
DRITA
Prishtina Insight n June 6-19, 2014 n 11
2048: Magnitude 7.3 earthquake
devastates Kosovo.
2048-2050: The Green
Deal is put into place by the
Governmental Rapid Response
Team with experts from the
University of Prishtina's Faculty
of Environmental Sciences, which
rebuilds Kosovos power grid.
with renewable energy. Kosovo
becomes a serious exporter of
energy for the rst time since after
the 1999 war.
2050: The Social Progressive
Party wins national elections by
a narrow margin. Drita is elected
Prime Minister.
This new republic does not belong to us. It belongs to your children, to our children, the
children of Kosovo - regardless of their nationality, regardless of their skin color, regard-
less of their parentage. This new republic is for them. And we will build it, together.
Drita 2050
12 n June 6-19, 2014 n Prishtina Insight
piguide
With sh this fresh you
expect to look out on the
terrace and see an ocean
view, but the mountains and
trees you see instead are still
a pleasant environment
By Arijeta Lajka
On the way out of Prishtinas busy
center, away from the dense pol-
lution and noisy traffic, theres a
wide road that stretches to Germia
Park, where the air is far easier to
breathe and the sound of cars less
frequent.
Along that road, theres Casa
Rita, a charming wooden house
with an outside garden surround-
ed by trees. In this rural, bucolic
setting, Casa Rita serves up some
of the best seafood in town.
The interior has a modern
yet elegant feel to it. Theres also
a collection of bizarre but in-
triguing artwork. The huge
restaurant is has seating on
an outside terrace, inside and
even on the second foor balcony.
Fish is the focus of the restau-
rant, with the menu ofering octo-
pus, stingray, and catfsh, rare on
most Prishtina menus.
Lets just say that I try to avoid
fsh in Kosovo completely. Partly
because it usually isnt fresh and
who really knows where it comes
from.
Casa Ritas fish comes from
Ulcinj and one of the owners is an
Ulqinak, so afer months of being
deprived of good fsh, I decided to
take my chances.
During my first visit to Casa
Rita, I tried salmon carpaccio ap-
petizer, which was excellent.
The salmon was perfectly
fresh and salty, and rubbed
with aromatic spices and
topped with a tuft of arugula
(rocket).
On my second trip, I selected
the octopus salad appetizer. It
was a large portion of octopus,
chopped tomatoes, potatoes, lem-
ons and onions covered in a sweet
EDS
EAT
DRINK
SHOP
A
PIZZAMIA> Sometimes you just want a slice of pizza.
For all its pizza options, Prishtina isnt a slice kind of town.
Basically youre stuck with getting whole pies for a sit
down meal, or perhaps for delivery or take away. Newly
opened Pizzamia addresses the problemwith cheap
rectangular slices. They range in price from40 to
80 cents, elegantly served with free peppers
and olives for those who eat there. You can
also take pieces to go in a bag. Pizzamia
ofers 15 kinds of pizza - available both in
slice and small round pies. The slices use
a focaccia-like dough that rich with olive
oil, and remarkably delicious for the price.
Great for a snack or quick lunch.
PIZZAMIA. Open daily, 8 a.m. to midnight
Corner of AgimRamadani and EkremCabej (the road to
Sunny Hill) streets, across fromMenza e Studenteve,
Prishtina.
EAT

SUPERB
Four stars: Perfection
Three stars: Superb
Two Stars: Good
One Star: Just OK
No Star: Dont Bother
CASA RITA
Hours:
Mon - Sun:
8:00 am -
11:00 pm
Address:
Dr. Shpetim
Robaj
Directions:
On your way to
Germia Park,
near AUK
+381 38
516677
oil. Together the rather unconven-
tional mix created the perfect dish
with a hint of sweetness.
For my main course, I ordered
the spaghetti fruta di mare, which
had diced tomatoes, basil, shrimp
and octopus: the simple ingredi-
ents of pure Mediterranean bliss. I
scarfed down every last bit of spa-
ghetti and seafood.
I wasn t too impressed with
my dining partners dish, chicken
penne alfredo. The chicken was
tasty, but the Alfredo sauce re-
minded me of an all-too-common
ingredient in Kosovo, Hopla.
For dessert, we tried the choco-
late soufe (served with ice cream)
and panna cotta. Although the
soufe was a bit fat, the chocolate
was rich and melted in our mouths.
The panna cotta, served under a
strawberry syrup, was also per-
fectly sweet and sof.
Casa Rita has an elegant atmos-
phere that doesnt make you feel
uncomfortable. Its serene setting
more than makes up for being a bit
out of town.
The staf is particularly inviting.
One of the owners, Dzato Tivari, is
constantly sparking conversations
with diners and making sure the
cuisine is up to their standards. The
prices are decent too: our dinner
for two was a little under 25 euro.
Casa Rita brings the seaside to Prishtina
Prishtina Insight n June 6-19, 2014 n 13
03
03
02
02
04
04
06
06
07
07
WHERE
TO PICK UP
PRISHTINA
INSIGHT
01 Pallet Lounge
Pallet lounge is an newly opened,
exquisite cafe restaurant that ofers
a variety of multicultural dishes
and drinks. It is located right across
the AUK University in the outskirts
of the city, surrounded by nature.
Grmia Road (across AUK) +386
(0)49 880-777 palletlounge@
gmail.com facebook.com/Pallet
Lounge Papillon Bistro Bar
Papillon ofers more than 60 types
of wines from France, Italy, Spain,
and Kosovo with great prices and
delicious dishes. You can also try
diferent types of local or interna-
tional beers. Mother Teresa Str. Nr.
51 A [email protected]
044 103 310
Hotel AFA
Located in a quiet neighbourhood
just outside the city centre, Hotel
Afa can guarantee guests a peace-
ful night while being within walking
distance of all the action. Rooms
start at 45 euro for a single, and
luxury rooms and apartments are
available. The hotels rooms are
well appointed and comfortable.
15, Rr Ali Kelmendi, Sunny Hill,
Prishtina +381 38/225 226 www.
hotelafa.com
Hotel Gracanica
A place to relax in the calm and
clean air of the countryside, just
15 minute sfrom Prishtina city
center, 500 m from the center of
Gracanica and its UNESCO World
Heritage monastery and a short
walk to the archeological site
of Ulpiana. The boutique hotel
combines contemporary architec-
ture with traditional elements to
create a unique atmosphere that
will make you feel at home. +381
(0)38 729 888 (landline) +386
(0)49 764 000
[email protected]
www.hotelgracanica.com
www.facebook.com/HotelGra-
canica
Hotel Prishtina
Hotel Prishtinas 43 charm-
ing guest rooms and suites are
reminiscent of a small hotel in
the European tradition. The hotel
ofers free, fast wi internet, com-
plimentary breakfast, conference
room, swimming pool, sauna and
laundry service. Hotel Prishtina,
St. Vaso Pasha nr. 20, +381 38 /
22 32 84.
Pizza Napoli
A taste of Napoli in Prishtina.
After ten years of making pizza
in Napoli, and with only love to
blame, Fatmir, the head chef,
returned to Prishtina. His pizzas,
made in a woodburn stove, are
denitely genuine napolitanas.
Fatmir also has several delicious
pastas on ofer, a true joy for the
taste buds. Pizzeria Napoli of
Luan Haradinaj, opposite
Newborn. 044/194-710.
049/194-710
A
EAT
FYI
EAT STRAWBERRIES NOW
In case you havent noticed, stores and street corners are
overowing with strawberries (called dredhz in Alba-
nian). Theyre in season now - and grown here in Kosovo.
We suggest you eat as many as possible.
14 n June 6-19, 2014 n Prishtina Insight
G
ipsy, magjup, Roma, Ashkali,
Egyptian, RAE (pronounced
Arr-ay-eee or rye) the
prol i ferat ion of names
alone suggests the confu-
sion about these communities in Ko-
sovo. Some have Romani as their home
language, and some speak Serbian at
home, but most have Albanian as their
mother tongue. Some are Muslim, some
are Orthodox Christian. None live in gai-
ly-painted caravans, and very few have
a traveller lifestyle, confusing the idea
of gypsies that many foreigners bring to
Kosovo.
They may look alike to the outsider,
but one Egyptian (a name that is said to
relate to the route taken on the migration
to Europe via Egypt some 500 years ago)
told me that the only thing these three
communities have in common is their
poverty and exclusion.
The statistics certainly make sober
reading: a 2009 study by the Kosovo
Foundation for Open Society (KFOS)
found that 16 percent of the members of
these communities do not have identity
documents, 20 percent of them have a
monthly family income of less than 50
dollars, and 93 percent said that their in-
come was not enough for food. Ninety-six
percent had not completed compulsory
schooling.
Ive worked with these communities
for years, through my NGO, The Ideas
Partnership. I wondered, are the mem-
bers of these communities looking to
this Sundays elections to change their
situation?
I spoke to Roma, to Ashkali and
to Egyptians from Fushe Kosove (the
municipality with the largest Ashkali
community in Kosovo), Skenderaj and
Prizren. Although there was interest in
the elections, there seemed to be few
expectations that they could change
anything. Like a parody of the worst of
the mainstream parties electioneering,
campaigns among the two Roma, two
Ashkali and two Egyptian parties I dis-
cussed with voters were focused mainly
on both literal and metaphorical drum
beating.
We hope we ll wake up from our
sleep because theyve gone too far, one
candidate told me.
But who they were and why the
community had been asleep for so long
was never explained. Meanwhile the
KNRP Facebook page puts the party
back in political subject with its pho-
tographs of a vibrant street party with
pipes and tambourines, and the head
of the party dancing a traditional round
dance. The picture does nothing to chal-
lenge traditional beggars or musicians
stereotypes of the Roma.
Candidate Idriz Murtezi of the PLE
Egyptian Liberal Party spoke about the
importance of education, but the major-
ity of discussions I had with voters and
candidates focused on the existential
crisis of the three letters that make up the
acronym RAE ofen used to refer to the
communities.
The acronym is universally hated
by members of the three communities,
and in Fushe Kosove you can see it spray-
painted out when used on boards put up
by well-meaning, efcient donor bodies
wanting to save space. Perhaps we would
all feel as strongly if our ethnicity was re-
duced to a single letter, lumped together
with two others with whom we felt little
commonality.
The constitution divides us
Despite the revulsion for the acro-
nym, in this election, a hot topic of de-
bate is whether those letters should be
regrouped. The 2011 census of Kosovo
(excluding the three Serb-majority mu-
nicipalities in north Kosovo) registered
over 15,000 Ashkali, over 11,000 Egyp-
tians and nearly 9,000 Roma. Some in
the communities suspect the true num-
bers are much higher, and that if Ashkali
and the Egyptian were viewed as a single
group, they would be the second largest
minority in Kosovo, afer Serbs. The issue
is important to those in the communities
who say that they have been divided
only for political reasons after the war,
and that the distinctions only emerge at
election time.
Such classifications suit both the
majority community (divide and rule)
and the politicians of the minority com-
munities (for whom a total of four seats
are reserved in the Assembly one for a
Roma party, one for an Ashkali party, one
for a Egyptian party, and one for which-
ever of the three gets the most votes). But
ordinary members of the communities
feel it has brought no benefts. A 16 year-
old Egyptian girl I spoke to refected sadly,
The constitution divides us.
The Roma are seen as separated
from the A and the E by their language
(although Romani is not a universal frst
language for Roma it is almost never
spoken as mother tongue by Ashkali
and Egyptians) and religion (almost all
Ashkali and Egyptians are Muslim, while
far fewer Roma are). Fikret Berisha, an
Ashkali, said he thinks the Ashkali and
the Egyptians should be together. They
are one people but there are vested inter-
ests everyone wants to steal more than
the others, he said.
Muharrem Asllani, an Egyptian civil
society activist, said the Ashkali and
Egyptian communities need to unite as
weve been for centuries to get better
representation in parliament.
A young man from Skenderaj agreed,
saying, Its only politics that have divid-
ed us.
Its written down that Im Ashkali,
but if we were united it wouldnt matter,
just as long as we made progress. I would
vote to become united. [The politicians]
shouldnt focus on politics but on ridding
our people of poverty, and then theyd de-
serve my vote, he said.
Winning votes, ignoring poverty
Opinion
Send us your thoughts to [email protected].
ELISABETH
GOWING
Elizabeth
Gowing is a
founder of
The Ideas
Partnership,
a Kosovo
NGO. She is
the author of
Edith and I;
on the trail of
an Edward-
ian traveler
in Kosovo.
She can be
reached on
theideaspart-
nership@
gmail.com.
Prishtina Insight n June 6-19, 2014 n 15
Coppy / Print / Scan
20 ppm
ARDF
Duplex
Bypass
Network
Coppy / Print / Scan
28 ppm
/ Color / B&W
ARDF
Duplex
Bypass
Network
16 n June 6-19, 2014 n Prishtina Insight
culture
Going retro with Lillys Selection
Inspired by classic lms,
Mad Men, and Prishtina
street style, pop-up
shop ofers a handful
of vintage items and
secondhand items from
the 20s-90s, all without
breaking the bank.
By Arijeta Lajka
Its a Saturday and Shkolla e Mocme is
full of racks of vibrant and somewhat un-
conventional clothes - a silk red Chinese
kimono with orange fowers hangs near a
yellow jumpsuit with a tag reading Made
in Yugoslavia. More gems lay buried in the
racks like a wedding dress with wide, fow-
ing sleeves, the epitome of 70s fashion.
Layla Barake, the mind behind it all,
is spotted in the cafe, sipping on her cof-
fee and chatting with a few friends that
have become loyal customers. She sells
clothes here every Saturday. Its not a
collection. Theres a diference because
that means you make them yourself..I
just select things.
She curates the clothes from a part-
ner who buys them throughout Europe.
Her hand-picked clothing, coupled with
Shkolla e Mocmes atmosphere are the
core of the pop-up vintage boutique- Lil-
lys Selection.
According to Barake, the inspiration
behind the collaboration derives from Par-
is elite scene in the 1920s where wealthy
women went to coffee saloons and
shopped while models walked around.
However, the concept differs from
Paris old street scenes especially since
all of the clothes range from 5 to 20 euro.
Lillys Selection does not exist for prof-
it. Its really for entertaining, its another
concept besides just shopping, she says.
In Prishtina, theres no promise that
the brands are original and even if they
are, clothes are pretty expensive. Among
the brands featured in Lillys Selection are
Pierre Cardin, Levis, and Ralph Lauren,
all for less than 20 euro.
I did my self discovery with Prishtina
girls. I was always surprised with how
good theyre looking. I was wondering
how can they afford it because back in
Switzerland to dress like that it costs a lot
of money, she says.
She found out that a lot of girls buy
second hand clothes and then she started
selling her own picks.
Theres an item in Barakes collection
from every decade between the 20s-90s.
A lot of the clothing items she picks are in-
spired by icons, flms and TV shows like
Mad Men.
We have one skirt that Demi Moore
was wearing in Ghost, Barake said. Typi-
cal 90s style.
Its also a diferent style that isnt usu-
ally seen on the streets of Prishtina where
oxford shirts and blazers prevail- a style
Barake refers to as very uniform.
When discussing the way wom-
en dress in Prishtina, she explained:
Theyre looking for an identity and they
want to be closer to Europe.
Barake is originally from Fribourg,
Switzerland. She has been living in
Prishtina since 2012 when she started
working on a few photography projects
and decided to stay in Kosovo.
Besides showcasing her clothes,
Barake also gives weekly photography les-
sons at Pjeter Budi and works for Kontour,
an NGO in Kosovo that promotes tourism.
She admits, however, that Lillys
Selection would be more profitable in
Switzerland than in Prishtina because
she fnds that the Kosovo market doesnt
appreciate vintage items.
Partin Pruthi, Owner of Shkolla e
Mocme, which means the old school in
English, said the line fts in with the theme
of the cafe.
Everything here is old. It fts into the
nature of our place because everything
around here in secondhand. Everything
is self-service, we want to make people
feel at home.
Barake wants to continue showcasing
and selling her selections throughout the
summer and invites others to sell clothes
as well.
One of Barakes customers, Ibe Seki-
raqa, plans on collaborating with Barake
and selling her clothes in the next few
weeks.
Sekiraqa gloated about the clothes
shes bought from Barake, especially the
original 60s skirt that she bought two
weeks ago. It was only 10 euro. People
always ask me where did you fnd this?
We cant fnd stuf like this anywhere.
Layla Barake
sells her
vintage
nds every
Saturday
at Shkolla
e Mocme.
PHOTO/ARIJETA
LAJKA