'Big Progress, But Changes Come Slowly'

Even in the topsy-turvy world of Balkan politics, Bajram Kosumi's rise to power as Kosovo's prime minister is surely one of the most dramatic. In March his Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) party leader Ramush Haradinaj had to resign as prime minister when the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) indicted him for war crimes. Haradinaj was a popular leader among the 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority and there were serious concerns that Kosovo would see a return to the violence that swept across the region in March 2004 when 19 people were killed in riots.

But Kosumi's transition went smoothly--it helped that hundreds of NATO troops were deployed across Kosovo--and he has hit the ground running. This spring has been an integral time for the region. On May 27 the United Nations Security Council was briefed on the progress that Kosovo has ...