Out With the Old and In With the New
Unfortunately, we were understaffed this week, which means that extensive traveling was out of the question. I can’t complain because client-side work is my favorite part of the job. Early in the week I was able to attend a conference that was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The gist of the meeting was to provide more education on administrative law for attorneys that give free legal aid, as that is a large bulk of the work that they do, and to centralize legal aid. I personally don’t think it was the right move towards more centralization as in my own personal experience working with CLARD, many clients appreciate the familiarity and friendliness that comes with working with private legal aid groups. I just haven’t found a situation where more bureaucratic structures create a more seamless and efficient process. Near the end they mentioned how many people had used free legal aid and benefited from it, and that figure was in the thousands. It felt good knowing I was contributing to that number.
After all the signing formalities were concluded, the crowd quickly dissipated to the terrace to enjoy cocktails, hors d’oeuvre, and cigarettes. The legal community is very small in Kosovo, so naturally anybody with even some seniority knew everyone at the event. I was probably the only outlier, but I was quickly able to introduce myself. The terrace provided a great view of Pristina, and I was later able to enjoy a coffee with my colleague who pointed out where NATO rockets hit and where fighting occurred between KLA and Serb forces while he was living in Pristina during the war, as well as the abandoned Orthodox Cathedral that Milosevic had built shortly before the war. It’s odd that he decided to build a church in Pristina as little to no Serbs live in the city.
Speaking of architecture, Pristina is seeing a much needed revitalization. I’m currently staying in the portion of the city called “Pristina e Re”, which literally translates to “New Pristina”. Compared to “Qendera Pristines” which is the Downtown area or more literally, “Center of Pristina”, all the buildings are new and quite nice looking. Comparatively, in the center of Pristina the buildings are mainly old Yugoslavian buildings with not that many historical structures that were built before Communism. Apparently, the Communists stuck to their motto of “uništi stari graditi novi”, which means to destroy the old to build the new, which explains why most of the construction was post-WWII. The exterior of these buildings may look like they haven’t been repainted since they were built, but residents make the efforts to renovate the interiors and the apartments can look quite nice. You need to make an effort to go down side streets lined with cobblestone and pre-WWII houses. Another thing I find rather jarring coming from Albania is how old some of the businesses are here. It isn’t uncommon to see a business that was started in the 1940s shortly after WWII as Yugoslavia allowed small private businesses while in Albania, everything was collectivized.
The concept of a fifteen-minute city has really taken on in popularity since many US cities are not walking or bike friendly. Many European cities such as Pristina already have that infrastructure in place. At least within Pristina, I’ve had no need for a car as I can walk or take the bus anywhere I’d like to go, and if I planned on living here longer, then I’d invest in a bicycle. Although Pristina e Re is quite a hike from the city center, anything I realistically need is here. Grocery stores, dry cleaners, cafes, restaurants, and bakeries are all within walking distance. It’s hard to find that in the United States outside of a handful of cities such as New York City or Boston. According to the people who were around during Yugoslavia, Kosovo had a pretty good train system that would take you to multiple cities hence the famous song, “Në tren për Prizëren”. Post-Yugoslavia, that of course is gone and you need to rely on a car or special buses or vans that function like Greyhounds in the United States. Some will even take you into neighboring Balkan countries.
Next week I'll get to learn more about the extradition process in Kosovo. Kosovo has two major challenges; many countries do no recognize Kosovo as a country and with the countries that do recognize Kosovo, many of them do not have extradition treaties as the country was only officially granted independence less than twenty years ago.