Kosovo

Disclaimer: This post is long, but you were looking for a way to procrastinate anyway.

Nerd Alert: There's a bunch of controversial history in the beginning of this post. To quote Dane Cook: I did my best.

Kosovo declared independence in February 2008, making it the newest country in the world. Serbia doesn't recognize Kosovo's independence, still considering it part of Serbia. The United Nations (UN) has not recognized Kosovo, because of Russia's veto power in the UN Security Counsel. There is no question that Kosovo is de facto independent of Serbia, though heavily reliant on international organizations.

From Kosovo

It is no exaggeration that Kosovo is the most pro-American country in Europe. The main street in Prishtina is Bill Clinton Boulevard, decorated with a huge poster of a grinning Bubba in front of an America flag. A larger than life statue of Bill Clinton is in the works. It's a little surreal and a strong contrast to my pre-Obama experience in Eastern Europe. Keep reading to discover the reason for this brown-nosing...

From Kosovo

Kosovo, a region in what used to be southern Serbia, is more than 90% Albanian. Serbs used to live here in the middle ages until the "Battle of Kosovo" in 1389 when Turkish forces defeated the Serbs and kicked them out. Albanians then moved into the area. The Albanians' predecessors - the Illyrians - predated the Serbs in the region. Fast forward to 1913 when the Serbs regained Kosovo from the Turks. The Serbs consider Kosovo to be "Old Serbia" where a number of important medieval Serbian Orthodox Churches are. Serbia brought in settlers to live in Kosovo and regain their lost land. What you have here is the common Balkan phenomenon that every country wants its borders to be what they were at the peak of its medieval kingdom.

Albanians suffered under Serb rule, resulting in constant protests. In 1999, under Slobodan Milosevic (eventually a convicted UN War Criminal), Serbia began an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Albanians in Kosovo. NATO, led by Bill Clinton, began a bombing campaign which eventually forced Serbia to leave Kosovo. According to my CouchSurfing host, if not for NATO intervention, the Kosovo Albanians would all be either dead or refugees.

However it is important to keep in mind that the conflict in Kosovo is strictly a national one. Though Albanians are largely Muslims and Serbs are largely Orthodox Christian, religion plays almost no role in the conflict. Kosovo's Muslims are very secular - you hardly ever see women covering up, and apparently in the summer most of the girls walk around half naked. I came across this interesting article which discusses this issue.

End of Nerd Alert

Prishtina, the capital, is filled with an alphabet soup of international organizations: NATO's KFOR, EULEX, UN's MIK, OSCE. Throughout my stay in Kosovo, I saw Irish, Italian, Germany, Turkish, and Swiss solders. In fact, this is Germany's first major military deployment on foreign soil since World War II. In Priznen, I saw Germans soldiers guard the burned out remains of a Serb church. Surreal.

Interruption: I am writing this on the bus, and the most RIDICULOUS Albanian rap video just came on the TV. The dude is wearing a Yankees doo rag and driving a Beamer convertible. He's trying to be hard core, but his B-rate ho doesn't seem to be all that into the video and is just standing there awkwardly. American Gangsta Rap really doesn't translate well into other cultures. Anyway, I was saying...

In Prishtina I am hosted by an Albanian high school student and his family. He turns out to be the first McCain supporter I meet on the trip, and is able to lay down a McCain / Pailin talking point to everything I say. My pro-Obama argument is a little rusty since I have gotten so little resistance in Europe. I am pretty impressed. His house is really nice and his mom spoils me with food. When the electricity goes out or the water stops, I'm told "that's Kosovo." But really it's no big deal.

My host's family was kicked out of their house by Serbian forces in 1999. The fled to the border with Macedonia, but weren't allowed in. Finally they snuck into Albania. In a sense they were lucky that they all survived.

I decide to take a day trip to Priznen, a city a few hours away from Prishtina. While Prishtina is more of just a big city, Priznen has a charming old town. I decide to climb up to the ruins of an ancient castle overlooking the city. On the way I pass by the charred remains of Serb houses and churches protected by German NATO KFOR troops. In 2004, Serbs allegedly caused two Albanian children to drown, which ignited an Albanian mob that burned down hundreds of Serb houses and killed 19 Serbs. KFOR really screwed up by allowing this to happen - Serbs in Kosovo essentially live in ghettos protected by KFOR forces.

When I get to the castle, I ask some high school kids to take my picture with Priznen in the background. We start talking and end up hanging out for the rest of the day. Even though they are just 15 or 16, they are already medical school students. Their school uniforms are white doctor's coats. My guess is that this is to inspire confidence in kids who are in a difficult situation. They take me out for coffee, and then show me around their school. After being introduced to their English teacher and principal, they invite me to sit in on their anatomy class. Everyone in class keeps telling me how much they love their anatomy professor. The classroom has brand new desks, which apparently the professor bought with his own money. You can tell the professor has the respect of the students, who constantly interact with him in a very relaxed atmosphere. The students tell me that the professor was imprisoned by Serbian police for joining student demonstrations in 1981. He was offerred the post of Minister of Science but declined so he could teach in the school. It was exciting to sit in on a class with the future doctors of Kosovo.

From Kosovo

I also talk with the students about how they were affected by the Kosovo War. At least two of them lost their fathers during the war. The idea of reconciliation with the Serbs is a non-starter.

Albanians express their identity via the Albanian flag. That is, the flag of the neighboring country of Albania. The minority Serbs in Kosovo fly the flag of the country of Serbia. The 10 month old Kosovo flag means little for the Kosovo Albanians and is not recognized by Kosovo Serbs, who still consider Kosovo to be part of Serbia.

Contrast this situation with the one in Bosnia, where Bosnians for centuries have had a Bosnian identity independent of ethnicity. In Kosovo, neither Kosovo Albanians nor Kosovo Serbs have such a concept. It now has to be created from scratch in the midst of ethnic tensions. I don't envy the leaders responsible for creating a coherent country in such a situation. International forces will have to provide security indefinitely. I don't see either side trusting the other.