19 June

By Shambhavi Chouhan

The morning of 19^th June dawned overcast, which was quite reflective of my mood. It was one of our last days in Kosovo and I was not quite ready to let go, already. Things were just heating up after an interesting meeting with the leader of Vetevendosje, Mr Albin Kurti from the evening before. Everyone was captivated with his smooth oratory skills, with the right amount of philosophy sprinkled around and his (apparent) thirst for equality and cooperation. Voila! He was successfully able to serve a convincing nationalistic narrative at the detriment of Kosovo. My mind was still afresh from this colourful narrative of Mr Kurdi and I was curious to know how Mr Petrit Selimi, the founder of Millennium Development Foundation in Kosovo would receive the former’s opinions.

It was still quite early, and I was not in the mood for anyone who tried to sell me a rosy philosophical vision devoid of reality. Though, Mr Selimi pleasantly caught me off guard with his relative simplicity and vision as opposed to Mr Kurdi’s exaggerated narrative. I liked the fact that this narrative (finally) focused on developing the economy of Kosovo singularly and not linking it to reunification with Albania for a progressive growth. The Millennium Development Foundation displayed a sense of structure in their initiative as they focused on increasing innovation, renewable energy and transparency. I was rather easily sold as I could visualize the drive for change instead of the idea of nationhood or ethnicity for propulsion, which had frustrated me with Vetevendosje’s narrative. Mr Selimi concluded his presentation by stating that the tagline for Kosovo which his organization had developed was “It’s not that bad.” I liked the fact that yet again, he displayed a realistic version of his country and elaborated with how his organization hopes to tackle the future. Overall, not everyone was convinced by him, while someone referred to him as the “Young Steve Jobs”, the others were not impressed that he chugged his espresso while still chewing his gum.

Right after the meeting, we were able to catch his assistant, Tada, in the hope of getting leads for our project (Art as an expression of peace building in Kosovo). She agreed to meet us later that evening in the (in)famous Soma café, where Mr Selimi had claimed that he had been egged by Mr Kurdi’s minions, a few months ago.

The morning progressed on as we scattered to work on our projects and we walked through “B Street”, the famous neighbourhood for graffiti in Pristina. We witnessed some remarkable artwork and were just happily soaking in the magnitude of the work under the sun.

Later that afternoon, we met with the magazine named “Kosovo 2.0”. The name itself was intriguing and depicts a thirst for a parallel version of the current state of affairs in Kosovo. A Kosovo without corruption. A Kosovo without inefficiency. A Kosovo without unemployment. The layout of the magazine, the analysis of the issues and the bold voice impressed me heavily. I was certain that I wanted to know more about them. Thereby, I asked one of the members and he readily agreed to talk with me further that evening.

Rinor from Kosovo 2.0, as he sipped his wine, expressed his frustration and helplessness experienced by nearly every young individual in Kosovo. High levels of corruption combined with inefficiency in the system, without any form of accountability. Nonetheless, the heavy resilience of the youth keeps the spirit of Kosovo alive. He stated that the Prime Minister increased his salary to 3000 euros (through his own accord), while the average salary in Kosovo was stagnated to 300 euros. The official excuse given was that he needed to buy more ties for his official meetings, in response, hundreds of ties were left outside the Office of the Prime Minister, on independence day.

Furthermore, more than 50% of the public spending is spent on government employees, while the unemployment and poverty rate remain at a very high rate in contrast to the rest of Europe. Despite these challenges, the optimism and the hope for a better future keeps the Kosovar youth inspired and driven.

Our last meeting for the day was soon upon us with Tadi, Mr. Selimi’s assistant. She is a charming feminist who instantly won Nour, Merci and I over. She vocally criticized the beauty standards in Kosovo and rebelled by donning trainers instead of high heels. She was not particularly happy with the governance either, but also stated seriously, “Where else would I be? This is home.”

As the evening began to fade away, I was positively delighted with the day and especially enjoyed meeting Rinor and Tadi. The courage displayed by the members of Kosovo 2.0 by vocally criticizing eminent politicians of corruption and for other issues was a spark for hope. These small actions may seem minor against the monster of evil in Kosovo which keeps shifting shapes in the form of corruption, inefficiency and unemployment but, they do assault it to some extent. Maybe like a bug, but it does irritate the monster. And sometimes, the sun is able to break through and the youth resign to “it’s not that bad”.