Newborn
by Tamara Heimur on April 16, 2008 in Features
Illuminated letters in Kosovo. Credit: Hamakawa
For most of us on the HKS trip, it was an impressionable first encounter. Kosovo is a country that has accomplished its long sought goal of independence, and it is reveling in the achievement. But the road ahead will be difficult and the signs of possible conflicts ahead were never far from view.
Nineteen of us went on the student-led trip, representing each of the Kennedy Schools programs. The purpose was to give us a window into the political and economic situation in the Balkans, in all its baffling complexity.
The week-long trip began in Belgrade, Serbia, where we met with political actors both inside and outside of the government. No two opinions were identical - a reflection of the diverse political views among the Serbian people. Deputy Prime Minister Djelic (MPA/MBA ‘91) expressed his government’s deep frustration with the international community’s recognition of Kosovo. The timing, he said, could not have been worse for his party, which is trying to build political stability and integration with Europe. The independence of Kosovo, he said, had only helped out their nationalist opponents, the Serbian Radical Party, and Djelic was worried his party will suffer the consequences in an upcoming election.
That wasn’t the only concern. For the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, the liberal media outlet B-92 and the US Ambassador to Serbia, Cameron Munter, the issue of reconciliation from past conflicts came up repeatedly. But for all their concern, there were few ideas about what such reconciliation would look like, or how it would work.
Just as we were starting to get a rough picture of Serbia’s complex and often conflicting hopes, we were off to Kosovo.
Consistent with our border crossing experience, many Kosovars expressed pride and relief with achieving independence after so many years of suffering, praying and fighting. As one think-tank staffer said, “For the past 9 years, all issues have been based on the status question, with independence as the main goal”. With that goal achieved, Kosovars now have to think of all the other issues.
And those other issues, we discovered, can seem daunting. With nearly half of the country unemployed and a constitution only recently ratified, Kosovo clearly has its work cut out for it. Both the Prime Minister and President stressed the need to create more economic opportunities for its young population, about 70 percent of whom are under the age of 35.
Then there are the political challenges. Kosovo has still been recognized by less than 40 countries, with notable exceptions including Spain, Russia and Greece. One of the organizations we met tracks the hard-won recognitions, one by one, on the wall of their office. And the relationship with Serbia is as tense as ever, especially when it comes to Serbs still in Kosovo.
We visited the town of Mitrovica, in the north of the country. The town’s Albanian and Serb communities are symbolically divided by a river. NATO Forces surround the bridge crossings, which are protected with barbed-wire. Witnessing the efforts of NGOs in these areas, which promote integration and understanding at the grassroots level, was truly inspiring. Even getting women to come together at a local community center took a tremendous amount of work and personal risk. Such efforts face strong and occasionally violent opposition, such as the riots in Mitrovica one week before we arrived.
At the end of a week that included everything from insightful discussions with Presidents to humbling conversations with local advocates, our learning far surpassed our expectations.
But at the same time, the final picture was not nearly as clear as we might have hoped. As we visited a 14th century Serbian Orthodox Church on our last day, a nun providing a tour recounted the conflicted history of the area. “Somehow we find a way”, she said, “even this time, although it is very hard for us”.
As we walked to dinner one night in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital, we saw a collection of enormous, bright yellow letters. Each one was more than ten feet high, and they were illuminated by powerful lights. Together, they spelled the word “Newborn.” They had been there since March 17, the day Kosovo declared its independence.
It was a simple but powerful message. This small, determined country has only begun its journey, and the process of fulfilling its national destiny will be difficult. But considering the persistence and determination it has taken to reach this point, future HKS trips to the region should expect to see a very different country from the newborn we witnessed.
The HKS student trip to Serbia and Kosovo is grateful for support from the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, the HKS Kokkalis Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe, KSSG and the HKS Office of Career Advancement.
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