People or territory? A proposal for Mitrovica

3/2004
18 February 2004

Please find attached ESI's latest proposal for the divided city of Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo. Entitled - People or Territory? A Proposal for Progress in Mitrovica - the proposal is for a package of measures, designed to address both the unresolved political status of the city and its increasingly desperate economic plight.

This idea was first presented at a three-day Wilton Park conference in early February 2004. The event was attended by the key politicians from Mitrovica (North and South), international officials, European diplomats, representatives of the most important donors in Kosovo, Trepca management, political representatives from Belgrade and the prime minister of Kosovo. ESI has also presented the proposal to policy makers in Brussels and in different EU capitals.

The proposal has been greeted with serious interest from all sides, and has sparked a new debate on how to ease tensions and revive hope in one of the most depressed places in the Balkans today.

The proposal emerged out of 18 months of research by ESI into the political economy of the Mitrovica region. We will also post a constant update of reactions from politicians and the media within and outside the region (including a lengthy piece from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).

As always, we are looking forward to your reactions and comments.

Best regards,


Gerald Knaus

PS: Bosnia constitutional debate - ESI Turkey project ready

The debate on the constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina continues. This week ESI was invited to present our proposal at a conference in Sarajevo organised jointly by the four German political foundations (Adenauer, Böll, Ebert and Nauman). Over 200 people, leaders of all political parties (including the party presidents of SDA, SDS, SBiH and SNSD) and many representatives of Bosnian civil society participated in a day-long discussion. We will continue to provide information on the ongoing constitutional debate in Bosnia and Herzegovina on our website.

ESI is now ready to launch its long-prepared Turkey project. This project, and the new ESI office in Istanbul which will be operational from May, will examine the relationship between political, social and economic developments in Turkey and the process of European integration.

ESI is looking for Turkish project analysts from April 2004. Candidates should be highly motivated, with substantial writing and analytical experience. They need to be fluent in Turkish and English, willing to be based in Turkey and to travel in the country, and capable of working as part of a wider ESI team. If you are interested, or know somebody who might be, please send a CV to esi@esiweb.org, title Turkey project.