Prime Minister, The Past Is Calling

In the two months since taking office, say U.N. officials in Pristina, Haradinaj has galvanized his coalition government with an impressive blend of energy, discipline and attention to detail. "He's someone who does not confuse declarations with accomplishments," says a veteran U.N. official familiar with the region. "He has built up a head of steam and has not let up. And he works well with the international community." Despite the public and noisy objections of his own coalition, for example, Haradinaj was able to push through a pilot project granting limited autonomy to a Serb-dominated area near Pristina. "He wants, and he gets, results," said the official. Even some opposition leaders are impressed. Veton Surroi, the [an error occurred while processing this directive] respected newspaper publisher who now heads the Ora party, calls Haradinaj "hyper-intelligent and hands-on. You give him a list of 10 things and he will do them."

The next six months are critical for Kosovo. The U.N., which has administered the province since 1999, is in the process of handing over power to Haradinaj's provisional government, which has until August to demonstrate that it is implementing reforms ranging from fiscal transparency to security guarantees for the Serb minority. Passing this U.N. test would trigger "final status" talks on Kosovo's independence from Belgrade — the ultimate aim for Kosovo Albanians. Full sovereignty could follow as early as next year. If Haradinaj were indicted, analysts say, it is unclear how ordinary Kosovo Albanians would respond. Haradinaj is popular, but mainly in his home region of western Kosovo. Security experts predict "manageable" protests. The bigger fear is that a change in leadership could cause a breakdown in the reform program. That in turn could trigger a return to the violence that shook the region last March, when 19 died, dozens of U.N. staffers and peacekeepers were attacked, and thousands of minority Serbs were driven from their homes by Albanian mobs impatient with the lack of progress toward independence.

This is not the first time the tribunal has stirred controversy in the Balkans. In Croatia and Serbia, the prosecutor is reviled for targeting "war heroes." "The case had better be solid," says a senior diplomat. While some Kosovo Albanians resent having one of their own placed in the same dock as Slobodan Milosevic, others concede that the tribunal has brought their enemies to trial when no other court could. "The timing of the tribunal is never good," says opposition leader Surroi, "but you have to deal with it."