At
UN,
Kosovo
Debate
Dominated by Organs & EULEX Limits, IMF Critique
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February
16
-- The Kosovo
debates
of
the UN Security
Council, which have become more and more routine, were taken over
Wednesday by renewed reports of organ harvesting and trafficking,
including by Kosovo's leader Hashim Thaci. (Inner City Press wrote
about this issue last year, here.)
Much
of
the
issue
centered around who should investigate the charges. Inner City Press
asked UK Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, who said that EULEX can do it.
When Inner
City Press pointed out that EULEX' mandate is limited to
Kosovo and not other countries, Lyall Grant noted that Albania has
already agreed to cooperate. But the other countries?
Russia's
Vitaly
Churkin
told
the Press, “EULEX won't do it on its own.”
UNMIK's
Lamberto
Zannier
did
not talk to the Press. His spokesman said Zannier had to
meet with Ban Ki-moon (on Tuesday he met only with the “chef de
cabinet,” Vijay Nambair) and then go give a talk at the New School.
Inner
City Press received confirmation that Zannier is one of the
four candidates for the Secretary General position at the OSCE. Is
that what he will tell Ban Ki-moon?
Serbia's
foreign
minister
Vuk
Jeremic came and did a stakeout, and Inner City Press
asked him about evidence that the UN knew of the organ traffic charge
but did nothing, including a 2003 document that Inner City Press has
had for some weeks. Jeremic said he would withholding comment for
now, but said that there are countries beyond Albania which must be
looked at, including Turkey and some countries in the Middle East.
Where did those organs go?
Thaci at UN in 1999 - organ charges not shown
Finally
for
Kosovo
Vlora
Citaku spoke. She switched gears - some liken her to a Sarah
Palin - and told how she was a refugee at 11, with no dress. Inner
City Press asked if Kosovo intends to block Serbia's exports and she
said no, it wants open flows.
When
Inner
City
Press
asked about EULEX's limited jurisdiction, she said since the
organ issue involved “human dignity,” she could not imagine any
country that would not open its borders to such an investigation. Maybe
she
never heard of Sri Lanka?
Since
Inner
City
Press
also covers
the
IMF, it asked about the IMF's critique that
promises made in Kosovo's last election, to raise public sector
salaries, can't realistically or sustainably be met. She replied that
in the past, Kosovars didn't like to pay taxes. Bu now these are
being reinvested, so those rose 89% between January 2010 and January
2011.
A
cynic asked,
what ever the taxes on any organs that got exported? Watch this site.
* * *
IMF
Postpones
Kosovo
&
Pakistan,
Waiting
for Stronger Governments, Dodges on
Sudan But Answers on Tunisia
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January
6,
updated
--
Questions of Pakistan and Kosovo and the International
Monetary
Fund's
longing for strong governments arose at the IMF's fortnightly media
briefing on Thursday. Inner City Press asked, and IMF spokesperson
Caroline Atkinson read out with a cautionary note, the following on
Pakistan:
“On
Pakistan, what is the IMF's thinking after the assassination of
Punjab's governor, as the government loses power -- [here Ms Atkinson
added, “those are Matthew's words”] -- is it realistic to think
the IMF's conditions will be met?”
In
response, she
said Pakistan has been given nine additional months. But what will be
different then?
Later
in
the
briefing,
Ms.
Aktinson
read out the rare Balkan question, also from
Inner City Press:
“On
Kosovo, what are the IMF's views on Mr. Thaci's proposal to double
public sector salaries, and on the Council of Europe's allegations
this once and seeming future PM was involved in organ trafficking?”
How
ever
distasteful the organ reference may have been to Ms. Atkinson, she
replied that “we have, as Matthew may know, an eighteen month”
program with Kosovo, the December consideration of which has been
postponed.
A
link between
these two may be that while the IMF does impose conditions on its
loans, it prefers to say that governments, particularly legislatures,
have approved or even chosen between the choices presented by the
IMF. This legitimates the IMF, and also may help in collecting the
money down the road.
Kosovo
is
in
political
turmoil,
and
Pakistan no longer even controls large swaths
of its territory -- nor, apparently more importantly to the IMF, its
political space.
Protest in Tunisia, IMF role & even
acknowledgment of question not shown
Submitted
but
not
acknowledge
during
the
briefing by Ms. Atkinson was this question,
about Tunisia:
“On
Tunisia, given the IMF's role and statements, what can IMF say about
the unrest that has followed the death of protester Mohamed Bouazizi
and others?”
We
will await the
IMF's acknowledgement and answer of this question, and a more
detailed response on Sudan and the IMF's role in the debt issues, on
which the UN has said “the Bretton Woods institutions are taking
the lead.” Watch this site.
Update
of
1
pm
-
Two
hours after deadline, the following arrived, with the
notation that it should be attributed to an IMF spokesperson:
“We
deeply regret the recent surge of violence in Tunisia. The IMF
remains engaged with the Tunisian authorities and follows the
developments closely. Unemployment in Tunisia has declined slightly
in the last decade, but remains high, especially among the young. In
this context, IMF staff continues to encourage the authorities to
pursue structural reforms critical to achieve higher growth, enhance
competitiveness and address the problem of persistent high
unemployment. Such reforms include measures to increase productivity
by improving the business environment, reforming labor market policy,
increasing capital investment, and modernizing and strengthening the
financial sector.”
We'll
have
more
on
this.
, 
