Tag: Kosovo

“Life in Kosovo” Talks to Leading Educationalist

This Friday, the Life in Kosovo TV debate will feature an exclusive interview with Mehmet Gjevori which was conducted shortly before the death of the well-known author of works on education and linguistics.

Gjevori published his first book in 1945, and his last in 2006 at the age of 96, thus completing a rich 60-year-long career as a successful educator and linguist.

In the interview he gave to Life in Kosovo, this leading educationalist talks about his decision to leave Albania, his home country, and come to Kosovo to open Albanian schools at a time when illiteracy amongst the Kosovo Albanian
population was as high as 90 per cent.

Among other things, he also explains why the ‘gheg’ dialect was not included in standard Albanian; talks about how he was treated by the Albanian and ex-Yugoslavian secret services; and also reveals interesting details about his
personal life, such as his first love and his marriage.

Life in Kosovo is broadcastevery Friday on RTK at 20:15.

Life in Kosovo Debates Parties

BIRN’s televised debate Life in Kosovo will for the first time on Kosovo television discuss the orientation and ideologies of local political parties.

The programme will examine how the various political parties differ from each other; Kosovan voting habits; and whether political discourse in Kosovo will change after final status is defined.

Panelists will be:

Melihate Tërrmkolli, minister of public affairs from the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK;
Hajredin Kuqi – deputy of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK;
Kaqusha Jashari – president of the Social-Democratic Party of Kosovo, PSDK;
Kushtrim Shaipi – political analyst; and
Nita Luci – anthropologist

Life in Kosovo is broadcast on RTK, every Friday at 20:15.

Xharra Attends New York Kosovo Event

 

Jeta Xharra, BIRN Kosovo Director participated in a conference entitled “Ready to Govern: Developing a Strategy for Kosovo’s First 120 Days” .

 

The conference was organised by Rockefeller Brothers Fund, East West Management Institute, Justice in Transition and Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

 

Kosovo leaders, negotiating Kosovo’s political status, and members of civil society discussed a road map for the most urgent issues that need to be addressed in the first 120 days when UN Security Council approves a new resolution for Kosovo, which will give Kosovo supervised independence.

US diplomats such as former US president Bill Clinton, US Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, former secretary of state Madeline Allbright and Richard Holbrooke addressed the conference. US Envoy for Kosovo Frank Wisner and ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch chaired the event.

“Life in Kosovo” debates VAT

This next Life in Kosovo show will discuss the controversial imposition of Value Added Tax, VAT, on NGOs.

Since January 1, 2007, many humanitarian organisations have been complaining that they are not able to bring humanitarian aid into Kosovo because of the high taxes.

To explore the subject, the following will take part in a panel discussion.

Zef Shala – director of the humanitarian group Mother Tereza/ Nëna;
John Chesnut – Chief of the humanitarian group Team Kosova;
Gjyljeta Mushkolaj – law expert; Fatime Islami – deputy director of the department of fiscal politics;
Bujar Shatri – Kosovo customs official;
Sakip Imeri – Kosovo tax administration official;

“Life in Kosovo” will be broadcast on RTK at 20:15 this Friday.

“Life in Kosovo” Debates the Economy

BIRN’s televised show Life in Kosovo, in its upcoming edition on April 6, will discuss economic issues and the problems Kosovo will face once its political status is determined.

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What will the state of Kosovo’s economy be after independence? How will Kosovo become economically independent once final status is settled? What strategies are there for employing people? Will an independent Kosovo attract foreign investors? And to what extent will social welfare increase? These are among some of the issues to be discussed.

Panelist in the studio will be:

Dardan Stublla, advisor to the Ministry of Economy and Finances
Shpend Ahmeti, economist and professor at the American University in Kosovo
Arianit Blakaj, economist
Driton Tali, economist
Ejup Fejza, official at the Trade and Industry Ministry
Gani Musliaj, Mediator ( negotiator) in the foreign investment process

The Life in Kosovo show will be broadcast on Friday at 20:30.

Seminars on ICTY reporting in Skopje and Pristina

BIRN and the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, ICTY, are organising two seminars on reporting about the work of the ICTY for journalists from Kosovo and Macedonia next week in Pristina and Skopje.

The seminars, scheduled for April 10 in Pristina and April 11 in Skopje, will offer an opportunity for media professionals from Kosovo and Macedonia to discuss various issues related to the ICTY and the coverage of war crimes with tribunal officials and experts on war crimes reporting. The seminars will be divided into six sessions and are envisaged as a forum for an open exchange of opinions and experiences, to facilitate better access to ICTY-related information. The events are organised by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, in cooperation with ICTY Outreach and with financial support from the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Life in Kosovo Discusses Refugee Returns

The upcoming edition of BIRN’s Life in Kosovo TV show on March 23 will look at the return of refugees and displaced persons to the territory.

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Large amounts of money have been spent on the returns process, which has engaged not only Kosovo’s government, but other local and international organisations as well.

Are people really returning in Kosovo? What are their expectations and what do they indeed find when theycome home? And who should be held responsible for securing the conditions for returns?

These are some of the points to be discussed during the debate between:

Nazmi Fejza, deputy minister for returns; Valdete Idrizi from the “Development of Communities” organisation in Mitrovica;
Hasim Uka, a returnee from the village Kashtanjeva, Shterpce municipality;
Dragana Gërciq, a returnee from Kosh village, Peja municipality; and
Nazmi Mikullovci, a Mitrovica local unable to access his property in the north part of the city.

Following the debate, BIRN will show a short documentary by Birol Urcan, which features the return of the Uka and Gercic families to their homes.

Life in Kosovo will be broadcast at its regular prime time of 20:30.

Life in Kosovo Debates Visa Issues

On 9 March 2007, BIRN’s televised debate show will address the issue of visas and the numerous difficulties Kosovars have when seeking to travel abroad.

Life in Kosovo will look at the extent to which citizens are informed about procedures for obtaining visas, what diplomatic offices in Pristina offer, whether the territory is to be covered by visa liberalisation policies and who should negotiate for concessions in this regard.

Panelists in the debate will include: Yvana Enzler, head of the Swiss liaison office in Pristina;
Bernd Kuebart, deputy chief of the German office in Pristina;
Nikolay Kolev, head of the Bulgarian office in Pristina; Dardan Velija, advisor to the Kosovo Prime Minister;
Fatmir Curri, of the Kosovo Open Society Foundation and
Fehmi Hajra from the New European Federalists organisation, JEF.

This edition of Life in Kosovo will be broadcast in its regular prime time slot of 20.30 on RTK.

Life in Kosovo Debates Electricity

The Life in Kosovo show this Friday, 02 March, will discuss electricity in Kosovo, with a particular focus on the new power plant Thermo Central Kosova.

The plant, which has been commissioned by the ministry of energy and mines, has provoked a range of reactions from civil society, environmentalists and some opposition parties.

Life in Kosovo will feature supporters and opponents of project, in what is expected to be a lively debate.

The panelists in the studio will be: Agron Dida, deputy minister for energy and mines; Ardian Gjini, minister of environment and spatial planning; Bajrush Xhemajli, from Democratic Party of
Kosovo’s department of energy; Luan Shllaku, representative of civil society and an expert on environmental issues; Daut Maloku, Green Party of Kosovo; and Mehmet Krasniqi, member of the Kastriot municipal assembly.

The debate will be broadcast at its regular prime time slot, 20:30.

Life in Kosovo debates wave of plagiarism

BIRN’s Life in Kosovo television show, in its 23 February edition, will look at how key texts published by Kosovo academics and scholars plagiarise others’ work.

With recent cases exposing how medical professors published books passing off the work of foreign authors as their own, the debate will also address more general concerns about the quality of studies at the Public University of Pristina.

Panelists include: Avdullah Hoti, advisor to the Minister of Education and economics professor; Dr Ejup Pllana, head of the Department for Internal Medicine; Enver Hoxhaj, head of the Parliamentary Commission for Education and Pristina university professor; Adem Beha, member of the Political Science Students’ Association; Gazmend Gashi, medical student; and Arben Hyseni, journalist from the daily newspaper “Express”.

The debate will be broadcast in its regular prime time slot, 20:30.