Today is a day of celebration for me. Though most of the world will neither notice nor much care, Kosovo is today an independent nation (and you can thank Bill Clinton for this triumph of American foreign policy). After 60 years being under the thumb of first Yugoslavia and then Serbia, Kosovo’s Albanian population is now able to determine their own course, free from the oppressive rule of their former Serbian overlords.
In reality, of course, Kosovo has been free of Serbia since the end of the 1999 war, but the province has been administrated by the United Nations. As of today, though, Kosovo will make it’s own way…and believe me, this newly-independent nation has a LOT of work ahead of it. Independence is not the panacea that many Kosovars may believe it is, but at least they’ll be in charge of their own fate from here on. It’s about damn time.
I lived and worked in Kosovo a couple of years prior to the war. During my stay with an Albanian family in Pristina, I made many friends and listened to the stories of everyday people who had suffered at the hands of the repressive Serbian regime. Though at the time I was there some 90% of the population was Albanian, it was the less-than-10% Serb population who ruled and enjoy the benefits that accrued to a people who regard Kosovo as the cradle of Serb culture. How many other countries do you know that revere the memory of a crushing, humiliating defeat as a high point of their history? The Battle of Kosovo Polje in 1389 was a thorough and complete defeat of the Serbian army, and yet Kosovo Polje is seen as the crowning achievement of Serbian history. Go figure.
I was in Kosovo working for Mercy Corps International. My job was primarily to administer the warehousing and distribution of relief supplies for a program funded by the US Agency for International Development. My day to day duties took me to place where indescribable poverty was the rule and the exception was what little assistance I could deliver. Having grown up in a place where my idea of violence involved a snowball fight, my time in the former Yugoslavia was an education, to say the least. Prior to my time in Kosovo, I’d been working in Croatia assisting Croats displaced by the war in their homeland, and Bosnian refugees forced out of their homeland by the brutal war there.
By the time I returned stateside, I’d learned a very basic truth. People may speak different languages or come from different cultures, but we’re really not all that different. We all want the same things: to be able to feed and raise our families, enjoy our friends and loved ones, and to carve out our own claim to a happy and peaceful existence. I’d also seen far to much of war, death, and suffering. If I never see another minefield, I will be a happy boy.
My friends and colleagues in Kosovo deserve their independence, but they do have their work cut out for them. Having always been the poorest province of the former Yugoslavia, they’ve a long way to go before they have a functional economy and anything resembling prosperity. Kosovo is now an independent nation, but they will be depend on Western economic assistance for the foreseeable future. Before the 1999 war, Serbia had spent the better part of two decades disenfranchizing and marginalizing Kosovars of Albanian descent. Doctors, engineers, and others with neccesary and specialized skills were refused employment. Kosovo’s economy became increasingly moribund over time. Digging out of that hole is going to be a long-term process, but one I imagine Kosovars will gladly undertake.
I’m happy for Kosovo today, because so many there have suffered for so long. Independence is no magic cure, but it does mean that Kosovo will be determining it’s own course. As one of the few places in Europe when the US is almost universally loved, I would hope that this country will continue to assist the newly independent nation of Kosovo in continuing down the path to democracy and economic self-sufficiency. Having seen events in Kosovo firsthand, I’m excited for the people. I met so many who had suffered at the hands of the Serbian secret police. Almost everyone had a story of an ugly encounter with Serbian state power.
In my case, a officer of the Serbian (not) secret police lived across the street from me. I grew accustomed to living life knowing that I was usually under surveillance. It was stressful, but it was nothing Albanians endured on a daily basis. The officer was outwardly nice enough, but made no bones about letting us know that if war broke out, he would kill us all. Imagine living with that knowledge every day.
I became involved with the Pristina PEN chapter while in Kosovo. If there is a more courageous collection of heroes, I’ve yet to find it. These writers, some revered in their homeland and in Albania, worked to peacefully advance the cause of independence, knowing the their writings could put themselves and their families in grave danger. They were flattered by my presence at their meetings, taking it as American recognition of their cause and their plight. Honestly, I was the one honored and flattered to be in their midst. I knew that I would be going home eventually, and that any risk to me would cease once I crossed the Macedonian border. These writers would continue to live with that risk day in and day out. That to me is courage unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed.
My heart is a bit lighter today, knowing that so many friends and colleagues have achieved their dream of independence from Serbia. This day has been a long time coming, and I look forward to the Sturm und Drang sure to come long and loud from Belgrade. Serbia will reap what it has sown for so many years. The Serbian Orthodox Church is already calling for patriotic Serbs to go to war against Kosov, and the American government is in full damage control mode. No, independence is not going to be an easy process, but all we have to do is to look at our own history to recognize what can happen with hard work and conviction.
I only wish I could be in Pristina to celebrate….
