Kosovo The newborn trying to walk with his own feet Carley Willis, Yara Chdid, Sandra Höhne and Rhavena Terto In an effort to understand the complex history of Kosovo and how the nation rose from the ashes, preparation was necessary. We had in-depth lectures on behalf of Professors Marijana Grandits and Vedran Dzihic, who outlined the history of Kosovo beginning in the 6 th century with the immigration of Salvic groups to the region of Kosovo. The trip to Kosovo took place from January 15 th to 23 rd and was a merge of the European Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratization as well as the Vienna Master of Arts in Human Rights. To what extent that experience would transform us wasn’t clear, but it certainly transcended our expectations. The warm kosovarian people We arrived in Kosovo on January 15 th , the following day of the assassination of Oliver Ivanovic, a leader of Serbian community in the north of Kosovo. Already in the airport of Pristina, the news of the political crime and the deportation of colleagues that weren’t allow to enter the country, set the tone for what we could expect from Kosovo. As we stood in the small airport confronting the looks of the local people to the group of the new comers, we had an idea how different Kosovo would be from the western European scene. From the preparation, we all had formulated a certain image in our heads about Kosovo and its people. Before the trip, some of us were asked the same question from friends and family: are you sure it is safe in Kosovo? To our surprise, once we reached Pristina and spent a week there, that image was completely altered. First of all, kosovarian people are very warm and approachable. The mother of our host family received us with an affable hug, and dedicated, although failed, attempts to communicate, as she did not speak English, which is not unusual in Pristina. “Leaving the bustling city center, we crossed abandoned railroad tracks and coffee houses before being picked up in a car and taken to the top of a hill where we were shown the house in which we would call home for the rest of the week. It was in this journey […] I had learnt that the picture I painted in my head through preparation was far different than the Kosovo I arrived in.” Carley Willis Church of Christ the Saviour, Pristina.
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Kosovo The newborn trying to walk with his own feet
Carley Willis, Yara Chdid, Sandra Höhne and Rhavena Terto
In an effort to understand the complex history of Kosovo and how the nation rose from the
ashes, preparation was necessary. We had in-depth lectures on behalf of Professors Marijana
Grandits and Vedran Dzihic, who outlined the history of Kosovo beginning in the 6th century with
the immigration of Salvic groups to the region of Kosovo. The trip to Kosovo took place from
January 15th to 23rd and was a merge of the European Master’s Degree in Human Rights and
Democratization as well as the Vienna Master of Arts in Human Rights. To what extent that
experience would transform us wasn’t clear, but it certainly transcended our expectations.
The warm kosovarian people
We arrived in Kosovo on January 15th, the
following day of the assassination of
Oliver Ivanovic, a leader of Serbian
community in the north of Kosovo.
Already in the airport of Pristina, the news
of the political crime and the deportation
of colleagues that weren’t allow to enter
the country, set the tone for what we
could expect from Kosovo. As we stood in
the small airport confronting the looks of
the local people to the group of the new
comers, we had an idea how different
Kosovo would be from the western
European scene.
From the preparation, we all had
formulated a certain image in our heads
about Kosovo and its people. Before the
trip, some of us were asked the same
question from friends and family: are you
sure it is safe in Kosovo?
To our surprise, once we reached Pristina and spent a week there, that image was completely
altered. First of all, kosovarian people are very warm and approachable. The mother of our host
family received us with an affable hug, and dedicated, although failed, attempts to
communicate, as she did not speak English, which is not unusual in Pristina.
“Leaving the bustl ing city center, we crossed abandoned railroad tr acks and coffee houses
before being picked up in a car and taken to the top of a hill where we were shown the
house in which we would call home for the rest of the week . It was in this journey […] I
had learnt that the picture I painted in my head through preparation was far different
than the Kosovo I arrived in.” Carley Willis
Church of Christ the Saviour, Pristina.
Overall, we were positively surprised by the reception of the local people, from the host families
to shop attenders and waiters, always smiling and trying to make small talk. They were oftenly
surprised to encounter an outsider. Once, in a grocery store, the attendant was astonished to
know where we were from, questioning our reasons to be in Kosovo. “Here is like the Brazilian
jungle you know, like Amazonia” he said laughing, leaving us intrigued and a bit concerned on
his reasons to say that. Looking back, it doesn’t come as a surprise now, that we didn’t feel safe
in the streets. As mentioned before, walking though Pristina means getting curious looks from
the locals and, at night, it can be problematic to walk alone if you’re a woman, as you will easily
be approached by men passing by.
With 70% of its population being under 30 years of age, the youngest and poorest city in the
Balkans, Pristina, has an alarming rate of unemployment. According to the city Mayor, Shpend
Ahmeti, more than 50% of the kosovarian youth is unemployed, although most of them are well
qualified. Like the politician Albin Kurtis comically - and, at the same time, sadly – noted in our
first meeting: “the machiatos in Pristina are so good, because they come with master degree”.
This considered, the urban scene in the town is certainly curious: a lot of people, mostly men,
on working hours, simply standing in the streets, talking to each other or observing the traffic.
The official voices: the meetings with the OSCE, UN, EULEX and
the government
Already in our first meeting, we received a speech from a representative of the political party
Vetëvendosje, Albin Kurtis. The amusing speaker outlined three main issues; being
democratization, dialogue with Serbia as well as resource extraction as the main focus of this
social democratic movement. This was the first but not the last dialogue with a strong
representative who treated the meeting as more of a public relations opportunity, common in
a place such as Kosovo, where there are a plethora of voices all vying for the limited
opportunities available.
The meeting with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo was certainly one of the most interesting
and revealing, due to the level of honesty we received. The representative, Shpend Qamili, an
optimistic and energetic kosovarian, stressed the main issues on the country and talked about
the political recognition. Right from the beginning, he stated that his mission focus on the social
and local approach, and has nothing to do with politics. In other words, his team has no role or
opinative attribution about the political recognition issue.
Politically speaking, the UN does not
treat Kosovo as a country, it is not a
member, which puts Mr. Qamili in a
curious position. To us, with an open
heart and a warm welcome
accompanied by the famous machiatos,
he says to have faith in his country. In his
everyday work, drafting the official
papers, he has to be constantly careful
to avoid the term, referring to Kosovo as
a region or territory. UN Mission in Kosovo meeting, 2018.
For the same reason, his mission doesn’t count on funds that are available to states, so the short
budget is mainly directed to social and local projects, which according to him, have been
impacting mainly the areas of gender equality and civic education. The political status also defies
the relationship between the UN mission and the kosovarian government. The fact that until
today the kosovarian government doesn’t fully represent the country in international fora, and
the remaining presence of the UN, defies its self-determination. Sovereignty is still under the
shadow of international presence, after all it was only in 2008 the UN stopped governing the
country. Bottom line, the government wants to have the minimum possible contact with the UN
mission, to ensure autonomy, or, as he accurately putted:
“We don’t want the UN in Kosovo, we
want Kosovo in the UN.” Shpend Qamili, UN mission in Kosovo, 2018.
Interestingly, the political deadlock also implies some unthinkable traces. Kosovo stands for
having one of the most progressive legislation on domestic matters, and its basic legislation
refers to human rights standards as set by the UN; the problem is, as we would repeatedly hear
in the next days, the implementation. Kosovo is trying to play by the rules (at least formally), to
smooth the process of achieving international recognition as a country, and to be accepted in
the European Union. Commenting on this progress, he predicts the Balkans situation to be
solved in more or less the next ten years, and confidently affirms: “we are leading ourselves to
be jobless”.
Mr. Qamili and his colleagues demonstrated a faith and optimism for Kosovo’s bright future that
really impressed us. Prove of that, was their inspiring initiative to empower a movie project,
which they were very excited to exhibit the trailer as we ended the meeting. The movie is called
Home and transmits an urgent message about refugees (can be found in the homepage:
http://www.homefilm.org/). We left the meeting with sincere hopes the movie reaches people
around the world, and sensitize them for the refugees suffering, as it certainly did with us.
Later on that week, we were received at the EULEX fancy building. There, after passing through
x ray machines and passport checks in the security, we had a meeting with the representatives.
The EULEX meeting had a tone of a press conference. With a prepared speech, and deliberately
avoiding certain questions, the spokesperson mainly reinforced how the EULEX mission is the
largest civilian mission of the European Union to stabilize conflict, promote peace and
development. The EULEX is part of the integrated EU approach to the Balkans, and mainly
consisted in two areas: monitoring and executive mandates.
The monitoring mission mainly involves assisting the Judiciary and strengthening the Rule of
Law, as well as fighting corruption. While the executive mandate encompass the executive
functions, as well as the transition of those to the local government.
Moving towards the completion of their mandate in June of this year, they expressed their
concern with Kosovo’s stability and the legacy of their mission. The aim is to achieve the full