Sports in Kosovo

17 June 2020

By Kenji Shimizu

In today’s meetings, which took place virtually in the troubled region of Northern Mitrovica, we visited several NGOs that focused on the Serb population of Kosovo. This was something that, up until that point, had been briefly covered. Specifically, we visited the New Social Initiative, Mitrovica Community Building, and NGO Aktiv. The New Social Initiative was more of a think tank, while the other two organizations fit the traditional definition of an NGO.

One specific point that I found particularly interesting during the meeting with the New Social Initiative, was the forum that they conducted after the 2018 World cup game between Switzerland and Serbia. Several players on the Swiss team had an Albanian background, which meant that similar tensions presided between the two sets of football players. The game, filled with emotions, resulted in a narrow 2-0 win for Switzerland, with both goal scorers of Switzerland celebrating with an eagle-like hand gesture, a symbol seen as derogatory to many Serbians. According to the forum, many Serbians and Albanians agreed that celebrating with the derogatory symbol caused ethnic tensions to resurface again. Social media platforms, such as Twitter, saw a spike in hate speech and inflammatory tweets. Ms. Rudosavlevic, the founder of the New Social Initiative, called on athletic figures to be role models. As we have heard in previous meetings, she pointed to Kosovo’s first golden medal at the 2016 Olympic games as a turning point. It enabled, Albanians in Kosovo to more fully embrace the Kosovan identity. Particularly in Kosovo, where its inhabitants are primarily of a younger demographic, athletes have an important role as actors in promoting peaceful relations. When these actors act peacefully, the younger population would follow their lead. Similarly, when these actors act in a provocative manner, the younger population of Kosovo might reengage in quarrels with the Serbians.

Contrarily, on a local level, Mitrovica Community Building noted positive changes in inter-communal dialogue through participation in sporting activities. In my opinion, two explanations might be provided for this disparity in outcomes. Firstly, activities between local communities do not have the exposure of international events like a World Cup match. Secondly, younger individuals seem to want to leave in the past ethnic tensions between Serbians and Kosovo Albanians. In comparison to the older politicians in power, the young generation might remember less vividly the war and atrocities committed in the 90s. Either way, it is fascinating to note the general trend of younger Kosovans embracing a more forgiving attitude. This was further accentuated in previous meetings with other NGOs, where often times younger individuals wanted to learn either Serbian or Albanian, so that they could communicate more easily with one another. Mitrovica Community Building also noted that instead of younger people wanting to learn English, they wanted to learn either Serbian or Albanian, because, with Serbian and Albanian fluency, the chances of a harmonious life in Mitrovica were higher.