Kosovo auf Deutsch

http://www.balkanalysis.com/2007/11/18/kosovo-auf-deutsch/ ^ | 11/188/2007 | David Binder

[lupo-de-mare]

Kosovo auf Deutsch 11/18/2007 (Balkanalysis.com)

By David Binder

Forget about status negotiations for a moment. The near-term outlook for Kosovo is unalterably grim: an economy stuck in misery; a bursting population of young people with “criminality as the sole career choice;” an insupportably high birthrate; a society imbued with corruption and a state dominated by organized crime figures.

These are the conclusions of “Operationalizing of the Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans,” a 124-page investigation by the Institute for European Policy commissioned by the German Bundeswehr and issued last January. This month the text turned up on a weblog. It is labeled “solely for internal use.” Provided one can plow through the appallingly dense Amtsdeutsch - “German officialese” - that is already evident in the ponderous title, a reader is rewarded with sharp insights about Kosovo.

Occasionally a flicker of human frustration with the intractability of Kosovo’s people appears in the stolid German text. That reminded me of an encounter 44 years ago in the fly-specked cafeteria of Pristina’s Kosovski Bozur Hotel, occupied by a lone guest drinking a beer. He introduced himself as an engineer from Germany.

What was he doing here?” I inquired. “Ich verbloede,” he replied - “I am stupefying myself.” - (or, I am making myself stupid)

http://www.balkanalysis.com/2007/11/18/kosovo-auf-deutsch/

Original Studie: Kosovo by the Institute for European Policy commissioned by the German Bundeswehr http://balkanforum.org/IEP-BND/iep0001.PDF

[rellimpank]

—reading the article, it sounds as if Kosovo is about like Chicago—

[seeker_two]

There’s always Paris..... ;)