The paradoxical Kosovo ‘special court’ was a guarantee of political stability – that is why the ruling class wanted it

Andrea Capussela discusses the many paradoxes of Kosovo’s special court, which was supposed to investigate and deliberate upon the serious human rights abuses during and after the 1998-1999 war – and asks six questions

Kosovo’s political crisis suggests its citizens are no longer willing to accept large-scale electoral fraud

Kosovo is no longer at war, but deeply entrenched problems persist. Andrea Lorenzo Capussela warns that socio-economic issues are now at risk of turning into a rapidly escalating political crisis. But against the backdrop of disputes over whether early elections should be called, he identifies one reason for optimism: that Kosovo’s citizens are no longer likely to accept the large-scale electoral fraud that has characterised previous elections

The Italian election: continuity, change, and Berlusconi's rebirth

Opinion polls predict that on 4 March Italians will award most seats to a centre-right coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi, who seems set to return as the pivotal figure in the country's politics, despite a recent conviction for tax fraud that means he is currently banned from holding public office. Andrea Capussela seeks to explain Berlusconi's revival, linking his fortunes to the country’s deeper politicoeconomic problems

Kosovo’s pyramidal highway and remarkable generosity

The €838m Kosovo highway (which has in recent times attracted the Guardian’s and Foreign Policy’s attention) might well have been one of the most wasteful infrastructure projects in history. Andrea Lorenzo Capussela gives all the numbers: a staggering ‘€400m of the final €838m final construction cost is excess price’, equivalent to 10 per cent of Kosovo’s GDP. ‘Money paid for no reason’, he concludes, from a poor country to a rich foreign firm

A Critique of Kosovo’s Internationalized Constitutional Court. EDAP 2/2014

The quality and the sustainability of the democratic institutions established in post-independence Kosovo under the guidance of the international community depend to a large extent on the performance of its constitutional court. The considerable international investment in that court reflects this assessment. One of the reasons why Kosovo’s international supervision has recently been terminated is that such court has been deemed to be functioning well. But its performance has not yet adequately been scrutinized. This essay reviews its most significant judgments, including decisions that deposed a president, annulled a presidential election, prevented a general election, and abolished the inviolability of parliament. The analysis of the reasons and effects of such rulings leads to the conclusion that the court gravely lacks independence and is subject to heavy political interference, which also the international judges do not seem immune from. The performance of the court is both a manifestation and a cause of Kosovo’s acute governance problems, which its international supervision has failed to remedy. The international community’s approach towards the court is also an illustration of the reasons why statebuilding in Kosovo led to unsatisfactory results, despite unprecedented investment

Is Kosovo’s young democracy growing well?

The June 2014 elections in Kosovo have led to a political deadlock that is now freezing the young country. Despite a marked decline in election fraud, both contenders for the premiership are seen as ‘key personalities of organised crime’. The picture is sombre and yet heralds new opportunities, argues Andrea Lorenzo Capussela: “the crisis is the result of ill-conceived and malfunctioning institutions and the apparent breakdown of the intra-élite pact, which opens opportunities but entails also risks”

The scandal about the EU in Kosovo: a call for a judicial audit

n the wake of the recent scandal affecting the EU’s most expensive foreign mission, Andrea Lorenzo Capussela gives a comprehensive overview of the shortcomings of an idea that he describes as well conceived but badly managed: “Ever since 2011 it was clear that EULEX suffered from negligence, incompetence and a general inclination not to disturb Kosovo’s politico-economic élite, which often coincides with the criminal élite”, he writes

Kosovo election: When the elites teamed up to see through their KLA troubles

Kosovo held parliamentary elections on 11 June. A coalition led by former PM Ramush Haradinaj won the election with around 35% of the vote, while the left-wing opposition party Vetevendosje and the coalition associated with outgoing Prime Minister Isa Mustafa each held around 25%. The backdrop to the election was an ongoing adjudication over war crimes committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA): Andrea Lorenzo Capussela explains that many politicians with a background in the KLA were keen to secure a government position to protect themselves from charges, and reflects on the success of anti-elite party Vetevendosj

Ancient cities and new politics in Southern Italy

Having razed the city, in 510 B.C. its enemies flooded its ruins by – Strabo writes – diverting the waters of a nearby river onto them. 2,523 years later other enemies caused the same river to flood the same ruins, leaving a thick layer of mud and debris on them

Italy’s double standards: the Regeni and Abu Omar cases reveal a contradictory approach to human rights

The torture and murder of Italian PhD student Giulio Regeni in Egypt has reignited deep concerns about the treatment of human rights in the Middle East. Andrea Lorenzo Capussela contrasts the tragic event with another case just considered by the European Court of Human Rights: the abduction in 2003 of the Egyptian Muslim cleric Abu Omar by the CIA in Milan, with the complicity of Italian agents. He argues that the Italian government should now waive state-secrecy concerns and allow its agents to be tried in order to encourage Egypt to show the same level of openness in the Regeni case