YEAR 2012: 100th anniversary of Albania's independence and protests for reciprocity with Serbia

What are the events that marked Albanians and the world in 2012?On November 28, Albanians around the world celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Albanian state. The leaders of Albania, Kosovo and Macedonian Albanians, in this 100th anniversary, have given "fiery" statements in favor of the unification of the Albanian nation, in a single state. Especially Prime Minister Sali Berisha. In Skopje, on November 25, he called for the unification of Albanians: "I want to call on Albanians to work every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year for their unification." In Tirana, on November 27, during the inauguration of the statue of Adem Jashari, he said: "Let us all work proudly with your heroism, for an Albanian nation united in all its ethnic territories." On the same date, in the evening in Vlorë, he spoke about the independence of ethnic Albania, of Albania of all Albanian lands - from Preveza to Preševo, from Skopje to Podgorica. These brought reactions from Greece, from Macedonia, from the USA, as well as from the Council of Ministers of the EU, which included a paragraph for Albania, which required the avoidance of statements that go against the spirit of good neighborliness. On December 12, Berisha softened his words and said that "there is not even a territorial ambition", adding that there is an albanophobic spirit in the region. Thus, the only step towards "unification", in 2012, was the joint Albania-Kosovo Primer. This Primer was evaluated by the representatives of Albania and Kosovo "as the realization of a dream of the Albanian nation". For the inauguration of Abetare, the state leaders chose Prizren.

However, the year 2012 in Kosovo does not start with holidays, but with riots. Dissatisfaction with the process of talks with Serbia led to serious clashes between the Kosovo Police and activists and the highest officials of the Vetëvendosje Movement near Merdara. In a protest on January 14, this political party led by Albin Kurti aimed to establish reciprocity measures with Serbia and banned the products of this country in Kosovo. Vetevendosje protests were repeated on January 22, but did not establish reciprocity with Serbia. Reciprocity did not happen even in 2022, when the power in Kosovo was in the hands of Vetevendosje.

In 2012, the fights between the deputies of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Vetëvendosje Movement began! Initially, the deputy of PDK, Latif Gashi - Lata, physically attacked the deputy of the Vetëvendosje! Movement, Rexhep Selimi, at the exit of the Assembly, while another attack by the deputy of Vetëvendosje, Florin Krasniqi, against the deputy of PDK immediately followed. of, Bekim Haxhiu-Kamishi.

In negotiations with Serbia, in 2012, Kosovo accepts the agreement for the asterisk that will be placed next to its name during presentations at regional initiatives and conferences. Former chief negotiator Edita Tahiri described this (footnote) as a snowflake that will melt. In 2012, Pristina-Belgrade talks begin at the level of prime ministers. The first symbolic meeting was held on October 19 in Brussels, between the Prime Minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi and that of Serbia Ivica Dacic, under the mediation of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, Catherine Ashton. From the three meetings held in Brussels between Thaçi and Daçık, their agreement on the implementation of the Agreement for Integrated Border Management emerged. This agreement was described by Thaçi as recognition of Kosovo's border by Serbia, while Daçiqi said that an agreement had been reached that recognizes the administrative and non-state border of Kosovo.

In 2012, a tragedy occurred: the avalanche in the village of Restelicë in Dragash, on February 11, took the lives of nine members of the Reka family, while stuck in the snow - the only one who escaped this avalanche - was the little girl Asmira Reka, five years old. The President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, announced February 13 as a day of national mourning, in honor of the members of the Reka families.

Spring 2012 brought to Kosovo the promises of the European Union for its European perspective. It was the commissioner Stefan Fule himself who launched the feasibility study for Kosovo as the first step towards negotiations for the Stabilization and Association Agreement. Then, on June 14, Kosovo received the guide, but not the visa liberalization date.

On July 2, the International Steering Group at the meeting held in Vienna decided that the international supervision of Kosovo's independence will be removed on September 10. In honor of this date, the architect of Kosovo's status as an independent state, Martti Ahtisaari, was invited to Pristina, as well as other international personalities. With the conclusion of the international supervision of the independence, President Ahtisaari's Plan, on the basis of which the independence of Kosovo was declared, coordinated with the USA and the most powerful European countries, was assessed as having been fulfilled at a satisfactory level, although all the actors accepted that this plan was not implemented in the northern municipalities. Although international supervision was put to an end, Kosovo at the same time agreed to give executive power to the European Union mission for the rule of law – EULEX, with which the international presence retained a significant part of the competences in the field of the rule of law. EULEX exercised its powers in several cases. However, the one that made the most noise was the re-opening of the process against PDK vice president and MP Fatmir Limaj accused of two crimes, one for war crimes and the other for corruption and organized crime. The process of the trial and subsequent retrial against Limaj, especially in the cases related to war crimes in the process known as "Kleçka", was described by the Kosovar side as a political process, while by EULEX as a process of administration of justice . Limaj is later acquitted.

In 2012, the youngest European state receives 12 new recognitions, but this did not round off the symbolism of the 100 recognitions of the state of Kosovo. Meanwhile, on October 31, Kosovo is visited by the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

2012 was a year of several scandals. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) faced many challenges and scandals during 2012. It is suspected that 1.4 million euros, intended for the production of biometric passports, were misused. The tools for the production of passports were planned to go to the company "Osterreichische Staatsdruckerei". Due to the "evaporation" of 1.4 million euros, the German citizen Natali Veliaj was arrested. The other scandal was the one that is still known today as "Pronto": the wiretapping of the phones of Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Adem Grabovci, Vlora Çitaku and Sami Lushtak. In their phone conversations, the speaker of the Kosovo parliament, Jakup Krasniqi, was the most attacked. Meanwhile, the former mayor of the Municipality of Kaçanik, Xhabir Zharku, sentenced to three years in prison, avoids the sentence by fleeing to Sweden. And, in the Evidence Room at the Police Station in Peja, over 2012 kilograms of gold were stolen during 25. After this theft there were also arrests of police officers. For this scandal, the Government of Kosovo has been severely criticized by representatives of opposition parties and civil society. After several months, the Police Inspectorate of Kosovo had organized an action, where it had arrested several people in Peja and seized over 25 kilograms of gold. However, it was not known if the seized gold belongs to the Evidence Room at the Police Station in Peja.

Another important event in 2012 was this: The Hague Tribunal for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, on November 29, 2012, declared Ramush Haradinaj and his two former comrades-in-arms innocent of all charges. Haradinaj was received with a state ceremony and crowds of people gathered in the streets of Pristina.

In 2012, Barack Obama won a second term as president of the United States, which was considered more important than winning the first term in 2008, because Americans this time voted based on the results and the belief that he will he should finish the work left in half.

In 2012, three pairs of important presidential elections were held in three permanent member states of the Security Council: in China, in Russia and in France. Xi Jinping began his rise as the most powerful man in China. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin is again appointed president of Russia. His appointment has been followed by numerous reactions. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Moscow and other cities; dozens of activists have been arrested. His election, for the third time in the Kremlin, has encountered many irregularities and many international organizations have reported on this. Jinping and Putin today are the most dangerous people for democracy and peace in the world. Meanwhile, François Hollande of the Socialist Party wins the elections in France. He ran a campaign that focused on economic growth – as opposed to austerity – a policy that immediately put the new French leader at odds with Germany.

The Middle East was the biggest crisis of unrest, especially the Civil War in Syria where there was no international unity to properly solve the problem in this country: on one side were the Americans and Western allies, and on the other side China and Russia supporting the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Another problem was Iran and its nuclear program, because of which Western countries have imposed economic sanctions, while in many cases claims of war by Israel and the United States against this country have been heard. Meanwhile, the decision of the UN Assembly to accept Palestine as an observer state was regarded as the world's support for Palestinian interests. But things were not positive on the ground, as Israel did not back down: in February and October its troops bombed the Gaza Strip, causing great material and human damage in the Palestinian territories.

A special event in 2012 was the distribution of the Nobel Prize for the European Union. While many critics have ridiculed this country, according to others the award is important because it appreciated the contribution of six decades of the Union for the development of democracy and human rights in Europe, for solidarity and faith for the positive change of the world. The year 2012 will be remembered for some progress in the field of human rights in Europe. However, among the most special examples of human rights abuses is the hatred against journalists in Turkey and against Roma in Hungary. Violation of human rights has also occurred in Africa. Islamic fundamentalists took control in Mali where they imposed Taliban rules, which included a ban on listening to or playing music, which was even punishable by chopping off a hand. In the Republic of South Africa, the brutal rape of lesbians continued, this act was described as "corrective" that would have to change their sexual orientation.

The year 2012 has marked fewer disasters, but this does not mean that they have been absent. According to the data, disasters in 2012 took the lives of 11 people, while a year ago, only in Japan, 15 people died from the tsunami. When it comes to economic damages, the USA suffered the most from the superstorm "Sandy" that hit the east coast of the country at the end of October, with damages estimated at 878-30 billion dollars.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, the amount of carbon dioxide in 2011 has reached a record level, the point of no return.

The year 2012 was characterized by floods in many countries of the world: China, Russia, Great Britain, India, North Korea, Pakistan, etc. Meanwhile, Africa has been gripped by major droughts from which 18 million people were left without enough food.

The biggest discovery of 2012 is called the "God particle", or the "Higgs boson", which scientists have been looking for for 40 years and which will help scientists better analyze the mass, Big Ben and life itself.

It is also worth mentioning the most discussed date of the year: December 21, 2012, as the end of the world. Again, thankfully we survived! /Telegraph/