The Economist - USA (2020-06-27)

42 Europe The EconomistJune 27th 2020

H

ashimthacihadclearlynotbeen

expectingtobechargedwithwar

crimes,murderandtortureontheafter-

noonofJune24th.A fewhoursearlier,

thepresidentofKosovohadbeenbusy

discussinga much-ballyhooedsummit

plannedforthreedayslaterintheWhite

HousewithAleksandarVucic,hisSerbi-

anoppositenumber.Perhapsit would

evenhaveledtothepompofa signing

ceremonyintheRoseGarden.Richard

Grenell,anAmericandiplomat,had

doneeverythingtosecurethemeetingin

thehopeit wouldgivePresidentDonald

Trumpa rareforeign-policysuccessto

boosthiselectioncampaign.

MrThacihastoweredoverhiscoun-

try’spoliticseversincehetradedinhis

fatiguesforsuitsattheendoftheKosovo

warin1999.Hewasalwaysmoreofa

politicalcommissarthana fighter,buthe

wasa keyfigureintheKosovoLiberation

Army,whichhadbeenbattlingtoend

Serbianrule.Thatyear,after 78 daysof

bombingbynato, Serbiahandedthe

provinceovertotheuntoadminister;

andin 2008 Kosovodeclaredindepen-

dence,whichSerbiahasneveraccepted.

MrThaciandKadriVeseli,theleader

ofhispoliticalparty,werechargedbythe

KosovoSpecialistChambers,a newbody

inTheHague,backedbytheeuand

America,thatwasfoundedin 2015 aftera

voteinKosovo’sparliament.Though

staffedbyinternationaljudgesand

prosecutors,it operatesunderKosovo

lawandisa Kosovarinstitution.

In 2010 a Swissprosecutorhadwrit-

tena reportfortheCouncilofEurope

implicatingMrThaciindrugsmuggling

andmurder,accusationshehasalways

denied.Asa result,hisalliesinEurope

andAmericaencouragedhimtosupport

thecreationofthechambersandtheir

jurisdiction.Hedidso—butlatercameto

ruetheday.Lastyearhelobbiedtohaveit

shutdown.

Inanycase,thechargesstillneedto

beconfirmedbya pre-trialjudge.Whatis

oddisthereasongivenbytheprosecu-

tionforairingthechargesbeforethishas

happened.MrThaciandMrVeseli“are

believedtohavecarriedouta secret

campaign”toobstructtheworkofthe

court“toensuretheydonotfacejustice”,

theprosecutorsexplained.

Thetimingoftheannouncement,

saysAgronBajrami,whoeditsKosovo’s

leadingdailynewspaper,suggeststhat

somethingwasafootthatmadeprosecu-

torsunveiltheirchargesjustasMrThaci

wasabouttosetoffforWashington.The

summitmighthavelentprestigebothto

MrTrumpandMrThaci.Notnow.

MrThacidoesn’tgotoWashington

Kosovo

Kosovo’spresidentfaceswar-crimescharges

Notquitethereceptionhewanted

create them 5 s, accepted asecret €3.5m

($3.8m)donationfromthefar-leftVenezu-

elanregimeofHugoChávezin2010.Vene-

zuela’sembassyinRomeandthem 5 shave

deniedthereport.Butrepeateddefections

fromthe Five Stars—the latest on June

23rd—haveleft thegovernmentwithan

alarminglyslimparliamentarymajority.

Notthatit istheonlyItalianpartyindif-

ficulty.TheLeague,thoughstillthemost

favouredparty,hasslippedinthepollsto

around25%—12pointsbelowitspeaklast

July.Itsleader,MatteoSalvini,blamesthe

pandemic,specificallytherestrictionsthat

havepreventedhimholdinghisusualral-

liesandwalkabouts.Buttheslidebegan

wellbeforelockdown,andthepollssug-

gestgrowingnumbersofright-wingersare

attractedtothemoreconventional,though

arguablymoreextreme,conservatism of

theBrothersofItaly(fdi) party.Thefdiwas

builtonwhatwasleftoftheneo-fascist

movement.Ithasbeengettingaround15%

inrecentpolls.Italianscanstillgivetheir

fellowEuropeansplentytoworryabout. 7

T

uckedbehind acraggy peakonthe

Mediterranean coast, La Ciotat has

servedasaharbourfor localfishermen

sincethe15thcentury.Today,theportis

betterknownforadifferentsortof sea-

farer.Oneinsevenoftheworld’ssuper-

yachtsover 50 metreslong—equivalentto

theheightoftheArcdeTriomphe—passes

throughLaCiotatShipyardsatsomepoint

eachyear.With 300 berthsinitsdrydock,

theyardcarriesoutroughlya tenthofthe

refitandrepairofallthebigyachtsinthe

world.Atthistimeofyearmostareusually

outatsea,ormooredinCannes,StTropez

andbeyond.Today,asFranceemergesfrom

lockdown,theyardisstillfullofgleaming

yachts,amongthema115-metrefloating

palaceonceownedbyRomanAbramovich,

a Russiantycoon.

Confinement hascrushed tourismin

France.Ina normalyearnearly90mfor-

eignerscometoadmireitschateaux,mu-

seums, vineyards and beaches, making

Francetheworld’stopinternationaltourist

destination,aheadofSpain.InApril,with

planes grounded and borders largely

closed,thenumberofGerman,Italianand

SpanishvisitorstoFrancefellby99%on

thepreviousyear.Fornearlythreemonths,

hotelsandrestaurantswereshuttered.On

theRiviera“thesituationwascatastroph-

ic,”saysClaireBehar,directoroftheCôte

d’Azur regionaltourism committee. The

Cannesfilmfestivalwascancelled.Foreign

tourists—yacht-ownersincluded—hadto

stayaway.Theoverallregionalhittotou-

rism, calculates the committee, was a

whopping€1.3bn($1.5bn).

JustalongthecoastfromLaCiotat,the

colourfulharbourofCassisona post-con-

finementweekendisnonethelessthrong-

ing—withFrenchpeople.Aqueueatthe

ice-cream parlour stretches down the

street.Beachgoers formanotherasthey

waitformaskedpolicemento hand out

orangeflags,whichtheyusetomarkanoc-

cupied socially distanced space on the

sand.Themarinaisfull.Almosteverytable

inharbour-frontrestaurantsistaken.Pas-

tisandvinroséareflowing.

Businesslooksbrisk.But“it’snotbusy

atall,”saysthemanageratLaMaison,a res-

taurantintheport.Hesaysbusinessisonly

ata thirdofnormallevelsforthemonthof

June.Crucially,headds,localFrenchtour-

ists“donotspendasmuchastheGermans

or northern Europeans.”The gap could

makeallthedifferencetothesurvivalof

themanysmallfamily-ownedhotelsand

restaurants. A government forecast ex-

pects hotel,holiday-homeand campsite

bookingsevenby theFrenchto beonly

20%ofnormalinJulyand40%inAugust.

LACIOTAT

Foreignyachtsarestuckondryland,

returningtheRivieratotheFrench

TourisminthesouthofFrance

Emptypalaces

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