(Og jeg var i det hemmelige rommet man kommer til gjennom den hemmelige/skjulte trappa - det var tilsynelatende ikke han...) Jeg skal ikke si saa mye om Kosovo akkurat naa, men det er utrolig spent der, selvfoelgelig. Soendag er det andre runde i presidentvalget der. Statsminister Kostunica har akkurat sagt at han IKKE vil stoette sittende president Tadic, selv om Tadic' parti er koalisjonspartner for Kostunica i regjeringa. Det lover ikke godt og tilsier at det hoeyreekstreme SRS ('det serbiske radikale partiet') sin kandidat kan komme til aa vinne valget. I saa fall vil EU holde seg minst paa en armlengdes avstand. Og situasjonen kan bli drastisk forverret; kandidaten fra SRS har sagt at han er villig til aa bruke vaapen for aa beskytte serbere i Kosovo.BBC's correspondent has followed in my footsteps :-) and visited Kosovo, including taking the detour to Gracanica, a Serbian enclave town. Here is his report. Here's what I wrote after I'd been there last September, including images and text from Gracanica. I will not say much about Kosovo for now, but it is incredible tense there of course. Sunday sees the second round of presidential elections in Serbia and the prime minister Kostunica has just stated that he is not explicitly supporting the incumbent president Tadic, whose party is a coalition partner of Kostunica in the parliament. That is not a good sign and may mean that the radical/right-wing party's candidate wins the presidency. In that case the EU will most likely keep Serbia at an arm's length and the situation may even get worse. The radical party's candidate has said he's willing to use force to defend Serbs in Kosovo.
(Bilde: Piggtraad og svenske FN-soldater beskytter i dag klosteret i Gracanica. Picture: Barbed wire and Swedish UN soldiers are today guarding the monastery in Gracanica.)
15. februar reiser jeg paa en 10-dagers tur til Serbia. Jeg haaper aa faa meg en tur til Kosovo ogsaa mens jeg er der og har et par intervjuavtaler dersom jeg drar dit. Men selvfoelgelig ser jeg situasjonen an - jeg drar ikke til Kosovo hvis det ikke anses som trygt. Hvis kandidaten fra SRS vinner valget vil angivelig Kosovo erklaere uavhengighet rett foer jeg kommer (ca 9-10.mars, sies det).
Og da vet jeg ikke om jeg vil bli sluppet inn og hvem som evt har makt til aa la meg komme inn. Pr i dag tas avgjoerelsen av FN gjennom UNMIK, men hvis Kosovo erklaerer seg uavhengig faller i prinsippet UNMIKs mandat/makt bort og grensen kan bli blokkert (av Serbia) utenfra eller stengt innenfra til ting roer seg. Hvis de roer seg. Hvis sittende president Tadic vinner, vil det ta litt lengre tid foer erklaeringa kommer - kanskje ikke foer midten av mars. I saa fall vil situasjonen vaere lik det den er naa og det den var da jeg var der, bare med litt mer spenning, og oddsene for aa slippe inn er stoerre. Vi faar se hva det blir til!On 15 February I go on a 10-day trip to Serbia. I hope to also be able to go to Kosovo again while I'm there, and I have a couple of tentative research interview appointments IF I make it there. But of course I'm careful and will not go to Kosovo unless it's safe. If the candidate from SRS (the radical party) wins the elections in Serbia, Kosovo will probably declare independence just before I arrive; around the 9-10th of February. And in that case I don't know who will control the border and who may or may not have the authority to let me enter. At present such decisions are made by the UN through UNMIK, but if Kosovo declares independence the foundation for UNMIK's mandate/power is diminished and the border may be blocked (from Serbia) or closed from the inside until things calm down. If they do. If the incumbent president Tadic wins it will take a bit longer before the declaration comes, maybe not until the middle of March. In that case the situation will be like it is today and was when I last visited, only with a bit more tension, and the odds for entering will be more favorable. We'll see what happens!
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