Coffee and Cigarettes

Today I had three long meetings with various staff and consultants of the Hidrodrini Regional Water Company in the city of Peja to the west of the country. Much business here takes place over coffee and in cafes. Two of these meetings were thus today, so a working day can sometimes seem like one long session in a cafe. And usually smoky cafes at that. This place is years away from the type of smoking ban that England now has, and even if they had one no one would take any notice. Apparently at least eighty percent of the population smoke and, as I understand, twenty-five percent of the population are children so that's a remarkable number of smokers. But when you spend your day in smoky cafes its not hard to believe. Kosovo has a reputation for serving the best coffees outside Italy; coffee is taken small and strong. Long meetings require several coffees although they should be sipped slowly over at least half-an-hour, people new to the culture I notice often gulp them down in less than a few minutes. Perhaps unsurprisingly some of the most constructive discussions and decisions end up being made after several macchiato and often the most protracted discussions in a formal meeting setting are resolved quickly once adjourned to a nearby café. A meeting where parties fall out, sometimes seriously, can end with an invitation for coffee and then, if accepted, all differences are soon forgotten, sometimes settled. You know you are in trouble if the invitation is refused, this means there is no more wish remain on speaking terms despite differences, then its time to call it a day.

Inependence: today the campaigning Serbian prime minister, Boris Tadic visted Kosova with a heavily armed escort. He declared that Serbia would never accept any kind of independence for Kosova. Hasim Thaci, the Kosova provisional Prime Minister, on the other hand declared that this would be the last time a Serbian prime minister would be conducting an election campaign on Kosovan soil. They should have coffee together.