[Kosovo] A new born

Location: Macedonia Bus Terminal

Top 10
When I arrived at the bus station at 5am, I talked to a worker there for about 10 minutes. I asked how often tourists come to this town, because Kosovo is rarely seen on travelling ads or guide books. He said, “well, you’re probably one of the first 10 Japanese people that stepped foot into my country.” Hell yeah, that made me smile.

Why Kosovo?
Why not Kosovo? The newest nation in Europe with the smallest economy. Their relationship with neighboring Serbia is as tense as the friction between the two Korean nations. Because Serbia does not yet accept Kosovo as an independent state, they do not allow crossing of the boarder onto their side. Kosovo, however, are more than happy to carry out the boarder crossing

procedure, as if each person they authorize to enter reassures their sense of independence.

Kosovo is an unique country. Until gaining independence in 1999, it was governed by the Serbian government despite 90% of its citizens being ethnic Albanians. This only worked out because Kosovo was given autonomy in the Yugoslav constitution, which was formed in 1974. But the Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic took away the authority, including allowing Kosovars to build Albanian schools, following the Islamic religion freely, and given proportional representation in the government. This led to the uprising of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in 1996, and violence that resulted in over 50 deaths in a NATO intervention.

Under status quo, the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is in control of Kosovo’s political activities, and NATO leads its military. They are recognized by over a third of the UN General Assembly, but yet to be official due to opposing China and Russia’s veto power.

So Kosovo is quite interesting. Imagine a boy who finally escaped from a violent father, but his wounds are so severe that he can’t survive alone on the streets. That’s Kosovo. Wounds are bullets in the wall and bombed buildings. The economy is severely damaged as well.

The city of Pristina
The city was almost empty when I got there at 5am. I met two guys from Ireland, and the three of us walked around the city for about 2.5 hours..until we realized that we saw the entire city. So we found a café and had breakfast there.

I guess its understandable that there were so many foreign flags in the city. I just wonder how the local people feel about it. They fought for their life since the 18th century since the Yugoslav time for their independence, and just when they escaped Serbian rule, now they are ran by the West. Government is ran by the UN. Military is ran by NATO. The main highway is called the Bill Clinton Highway. The largest hotel in the city has a statue of liberty on top of it. Streets are decorated with flags. Nice cafes are there to satisfy UN workers, not locals.

They must have mixed feelings. But who can argue?