Kosovo! First Impressions

Well, after an only sorta-terrifying and sketchy ride from Belgrade across the border into Kosovo - with 11 of us somehow fitting in just a van and small car - we made it to Prishtina! At one point our hired driver may have attempted to traffic us when we stopped off the highway in a residential neighborhood where he got out and spoke to a man who promptly came out of his house (wearing a shirt that said "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia")...but I guess it all worked out.

One of the first things we did was walk past the Government building (qeveria, in Albanian). Outside of the building there were tents set up, covered in UÇK flags (aka Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA), and many old KLA fighters that appeared to be living there. The sign posted at the entrance to their campsite read "unë jam veq një clirimtar. kështu m' deshti liria" which means something to the effect of "I am already a liberator now give me freedom". 

Entrance to UÇK protest

UÇK tents set up outside the government building

We walked into the tents and were happily greeted by the old men. They showed us some photo albums from the war (gruesome) and explained they were fighting for a seat in Parliament that they believed they deserved since they self-organized and formed an Army to fight for for Kosovo, which previously had not existed. The argument seemed to be that since the Army wasn't established by the State, rather by the people, that the State was not required to treat them as "veterans" and offer benefits. And so many of these people who fought for freedom of their country, who  could no longer work due to injuries suffered from the war, could not provide for their families. They had decided to set up camp right outside of the qeveria until they were given a seat in Parliament, and thus a chance to influence legislation around this matter. Given the rate of pace of things around here, I think I'll be seeing a lot more of these guys.

Photos of those who died or went missing during the war.

 So far, my impressions of Prishtina is that it is a pretty strange but ridiculously interesting place. A huge photo of one of the pioneers of the KLA, Adem Jashari, adorns the shopping mall sometimes referred to as "Boro-Ramizi" in downtown Prishtina, showing respect to the KLA which some European countries and even briefly the US considered a terrorist organization.

Boro-Ramiziz Mall with a photo of Adem Jashari.

Something I noticed immidiately as different from Belgrade was the graffiti. In Serbia there was a large amount of it, and it was extremely hateful - especially towards the US and NATO. Here there is less, and it's more political and frankly more effective. It shows resentment towards the UN, whom many people feel is overstaying its welcome and preventing Kosovo from standing on its own feet. It is primarily directed against the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX). I haven't seen anything derogatory towards Serbs, though in Serbia there was certainly a lot directed towards Albanians.

Top reads "Buy Albanian", rest is against UNMIK and EULEX.

Another thing that stood out was these ridiculous looking billboard campaigns by the Kosovo Security Force (FSK). This one depicts what looks to be a child playing soccer and getting his/her arm and leg blown off by an exploding mine. Now, I'm told unexploded mines are a relevant problem, as many of them remain from the days of the war, and I was warned not to go off track if I go hiking, for this reason. But these campaign are just pretty awful.