On the Westernisation of Kosovo
By Jake Hurfurt
With a grin and a cheery wave, a bronze statue of Bill Clinton overlooks the capital of Kosovo. Beside him, his wife Hillary is immortalised in the name of a women’s clothing shop.
Statues of ex-Presidents stand in a number of cities around the world but in Kosovo, they have a bit of extra meaning. They represent a desire to become part of these men’s world, to become like the West.
Affinity with the West among the liberated generation is one thing but speaking to young people across the country made one thing clear, they too want to join the West.
Despite the deification of Clinton, it is with Europe that young Kosovars deeply identify with. Vlera Hetemi, a 19-year-old economics graduate and consultant with Deloitte says that she shares a lot of values with Europe, “we have a very strong tolerance between different religions and nationalities.”
Economics, as well as values, draw Kosovo towards Europe. Access to the common market, free movement of people and free capital flows are vital to the country’s prosperity.
For her generation, free movement, or at least visa-free movement is what will open doors for Kosovo’s first post-war generation. Though university education is common, access to Europe will allow the thousands of talented youngsters to improve themselves and in turn improve their own communities.
Vlera said, “we should be able to go and take experience, either through studies or through temporary work we can do in the Western countries with the lessons learned come and do the best in our countries.”
Young people are still seen as the future of the country, but at the moment Kosovo is struggling to provide engaging opportunities for educated youngsters
Escaping would be easy for bright young people like Vlera. Instead, they feel an affinity with Western European values and want to bring them back home.
There are some people who still want to get out because they see little future in their native land. Speaking to four young men atop the ruins of a medieval fortress, overlooking the dying evening light kissing the terracotta roves of Prizren, they despaired at their future prospects.
Asking not to be named and smoking a joint without a care in the world, they opened up about their outlook for their futures in their home country. ‘Raki’, a 20-year-old law student, was blunt saying “even if you graduate [university] you will work as a bartender or a waiter, but we are trying to stay”, before gesturing to his friend ‘Granit’ “well he is trying to leave” who added “the situation now Kosovo is, I need to leave.”
‘Granit’ is heading to Colorado in the autumn, on a college exchange program, hoping to experience a different way of life, though he joked the legalised cannabis was attractive too. Though leaving Kosovo is difficult for ‘Granit’, he said that “it was a good way to leave Kosovo because there’s a better life.”
Special treatment for Kosovo’s Serbian minority is what the young men see as a key cause for their limited opportunity. Before the dictaphone was turned on, they didn’t hold back, simply saying “fuck Serbs” when asked about the ethnic divides in the country.
Once the cameras were rolling, they were much more measured, but ‘Raki’ was still frustrated with the perceived injustice, while making it clear he has no problem with Serbs on a personal level, he thinks “they are treated better here in Kosovo, they have more rights in our state than us.”
In Mitrovica, a half-Serb, half-Albanian town in the north of the country, represents Kosovo’s lingering prejudices. NATO troops guard the ethnic border and as recently as last year a politician was assassinated. If Kosovo goes back to war, this divided town will be the flashpoint.
Irena Otasevic, who works in the American Corner in Mitrovica, in the Serbian area of town, says that she has noticed many of the children who use the centre want to learn English because of their affinity with Western music and popular culture.
Two young Serbs on their way back from music class in North Mitrovica told us they look to the US for their musical inspiration, particularly heavy metal bands like Metallica.
Though Jakob and Drazeb loved US culture, they were less forgiving with their views on the Washington establishment, saying, “they [America] always have some kind of profit or plan” in reference to America intervention.
Across Kosovo’s bitter ethnic divides there is a desire to pivot towards the West, for cultural and economic reasons.
Some young people are already working to forget which side of the war they are on but for others, wounds run too deep. What unites them all is a desire to succeed and there is only one way to do that, closer relationships with the West.
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26th April 2019