SOFT BORDERS: KUKES AND PRIZREN

UNCLAS TIRANA 000787

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL AL SMIG
SUBJECT: SOFT BORDERS: KUKES AND PRIZREN


1. Summary. On October 28-29, Poloff visited the northern
border town of Kukes to deliver a presentation at the local
American Corner. In conversations and activities, it seemed
that the city of Kukes, 15 minutes from the border with
Kosovo, faces north more than south, with its interests
largely in Kosovo. In at least some aspects, Kukes could be
considered a suburb of the southern Kosovar city of Prizren,
including their common Geg dialect, which Tiranians find
difficult to understand. Movement across the international
border is relatively uncontrolled for local residents. While
the trip highlighted the soft borders that have developed
between Northern Albania and Kosovo, it may also point to the
loose hold Tirana has on its outer regions. End Summary.

THE DURRES-KUKES ROAD
--------------


2. Poloff departed Tirana Oct 28 at 9 a.m. The winding drive
through the mountains (approximately 150 km) - sometimes on
no more than a dirt road - took until 3 p.m. that afternoon.
Locals claim that after construction of the Durres-Kukes
highway, travel from Tirana will only take one-and-a-half
hours. Construction on the highway was evident in places,
but it seemed that overall, little work had been done so far,
and there was very little current activity to be seen during
the drive. NOTE: Both the GOA and lead contractor Bechtel
say they are on track for a June, 2009 completion of the
road. END NOTE.

THE OPENING OF BORDERS
--------------


3. Locals of Kukes noted that during Communist times, Kukes
was extremely isolated - on its north by guards at the
Yugoslav border and on its south by endless mountains. To
this day, newspapers do not arrive in the city until around
noon. With the opening of borders in 1991, people flowed
both directions across Kukes' border with Kosovo. Extended
families were united across what they considered an imaginary
border invented in 1916 by outside powers. Overnight, Prizren
- 15 minutes from the Kosovo border - became the closest
large city to Kukes. Indeed, Kukes officials explained that,
historically, Kukes had been a part of the Prizren community,
and people from Kukes continue to feel close ties. These
ties were strengthened when, during the 1999 Kosovo war,
Kukes became a center-point for refugees from Kosovo. Today,
the most prominent landmark in the city is a monument to the
Kosovo War.

THE SOFTENING OF BORDERS
--------------


4. Kukes officials apologized profusely that the Mayor could
not participate in Poloff's presentation and explained that
he was currently in Pristina for meetings. When asked how
often the Mayor goes to Kosovo on official business, they
responded at least once a week. On the other hand, at best
he makes his way to Tirana once a month. Officials explained
that almost all goods in Kukes come from or through Prizren,
which is the hub of all trade between Kukes and Kosovo.
Meanwhile, few goods from Tirana could be seen in the local
market. Indeed, most purchases in Kukes were made with euros
rather than lek.


5. After the presentation, the Mayor's Chief of Cabinet
invited Poloff and other Kukes officials to dinner. After a
15 minute drive down an unlit dirt path, Poloff asked where
dinner would be. The response was Prizren, Kosovo. After a
few wrong-turns in the dark, we arrived at the border post.
The Chief of Cabinet rolled down his window to greet the
official, whom he apparently knew well. After a quick chat,
our cars were waved through without any presentation of
documents. The same scene was repeated 100 meters away at
the Kosovar checkpoint, where the official was also an
acquaintance of the Chief of Cabinet. Poloff later asked how
easy it was for average citizens of Kukes to cross the
checkpoint. Kukes locals responded that no passport was
necessary, just any form of ID. NOTE. This is probably not
true for Albanians from outside the Kukes area. END NOTE.


6. Immediately upon crossing the border, the dirt road turned
into a paved, lit highway. Our Kukes hosts expressed envy at
the state of Kosovar infrastructure as well as the wider
availability of goods. While some of the infrastructure was
inherited from Tito's Yugoslavia, they explained, much was
from international assistance after the war. Some of our
hosts wondered in jest if Albania needed a war of its own to
improve its infrastructure.


7. Our hosts seemed well known in the restaurant. They
pointed out other Kukes citizens who had come to the
restaurant to dine, including the Kukes Chief of Police.
They explained that to eat out, residents of Kukes usually
prefer to cross the border into Kosovo rather than dine in
Kukes. All our hosts praised traditional Kosovar cuisine and
professed its superiority to Albanian food.


8. After dinner, our party strolled around the streets of
Prizren, where our Albanian hosts shared their memories from
the Kosovo war, when some had actually been present in
Prizren. One host claimed there were hundreds of Kukes
"martyrs" in the Kosovo war (although he stated he himself
was only a journalist covering the war at the time).


9. Throughout the night, conversation focused more on Kosovo
than on Albania. Indeed, during the American Corner
presentation, the youth participating always posed their
questions in terms of Kosovo as well as Albania, many
expressing worry about a possible change in policy toward
Kosovo if Barack Obama is elected. While no one disputed
Kukes' loyalty to Tirana and the central government, all left
the impression that life in Kukes orbited more around Prizren
and Kosovo.


10. COMMENT: What remains to be seen is what, if any, effect
completion of the Durres-Kukes road will have on the Kukes
region and its ties to Tirana. The current five-to-eight
hour drive will be cut to 1.5 hours, with a multi-lane
highway connecting Kosovo to the Albanian port of Durres.
The GOA estimates that increased traffic along the new road
will bring in over 120 million euros per year in transit fees
and money spent on gas, food and lodging by trucks and
tourists plying the new route. END COMMENT.

WITHERS