Kosovo: The approach road to Prishtina from the airport is somewhat daunting for the lily-livered foreign tourist. The rain is pouring down on the unmade road and armoured vehicles carrying pumped-up soldiers roll by, churning up the road surface. Cars come off slip roads at full pace, with drivers believing brakes are only to be employed to avoid certain death. This happens every hundred yards or so.
Our man from the UN: "I do not worry about myself, it is others I worry about."
He undercuts his argument by doing a u-turn across four lanes of traffic to get to a petrol station.
As we get close to the town centre, a Tarmac surface appears, traffic takes on a semblance of order and we take in the sights.
The first and most prominent sight is that of a handsome and wise man, covering the side of a huge office block. It is Bill Clinton, father of Kosovo. This, indeed, is Bill Clinton Boulevard. Plans to rename Prishtina 'Clintongrad' are just a populist manifesto away from reality.
After years of casual America-bashing across Europe, it is startling to see a US president receiving such acclaim. But the Kosovans are thankful. The deployment of US and EU troops in Kosovo in 1999 avoided the sort of genocidal frenzy that took place just a few miles north in Srebrenica, Bosnia. And not only that, the Kosovan people have had their nation recognised by the US, with the implication that they will be defended against Serb aggression.
Rolling along the road and there is a billboard poster of a silver-haired politician type, whom I could not quite place. I am informed that it is Joe Biden, the current US vice-president, who recently paid a visit to Kosovo.
And for those pessimists out there, it turns out that wonders never cease. In this parallel universe in the southern Balkans, even the much-maligned Tony Blair gets credit for his messianic zeal. The town of Peja has a street named after him.
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