18 June 2020
By Freke Leene
As our virtual fieldtrip to Kosovo is almost coming to
a close, things are starting to slow down a little. Reflecting on the last 10
days, we have had the privilege to meet an insane amount of organizations,
peacebuilders and activists who all dedicated their lives to a better Kosovo.
The passion and dedication we have seen during the last two weeks is truly inspiring.
Today we (virtually) return from Northern Kosovo, back
to vibrant Pristina. Unfortunately, our meeting with EULEX, the EU Rule of Law
Mission in Kosovo, was cancelled a couple of days ago. Truly unfortunate,
because especially considering the current developments in Kosovo and the
world, a meeting with EULEX would have been extremely interesting. Hearing
their take on the new Pristina-Belgrade dialogue, U.S. involvement in Kosovo, the
exchange of territory-deal, a possible extension of EULEX’s mandate, U.S.-EU
relations and many other topics might have been very insightful. Hopefully,
next year’s Peace Lab will be able to ask them all about this in person.
In the afternoon, we met with Blert Morina representing
CEL, the Centre for Equality and Liberty of the LGBTQ+ community in Kosovo. CEL
is one of Kosovo’s leading human rights organizations, and its mission is to
advance the well-being of LGBTQ+ people through protection, empowerment and
advocacy. It does so by organizing all kinds of workshops, storytelling nights,
training for prosecutors, legal aid and psychological support. Additionally,
CEL publishes policy papers and research paper regularly, in an attempt to
spread awareness and knowledge about the importance of LGBTQ+ rights.
Blert Morina himself is an extremely knowledgeable and
open man, and was very willing to share his personal experience with us. His
passion for his job was clear from the start, and hearing about his personal
struggles as a transgender man in Kosovo was truly eye-opening. We talked at
length about the paradox of Kosovo’s relatively young and progressive
constitution, while in practice LGBTQ+ persons experience a lot of
discrimination and violence in Kosovo. When asked about political
representation of LGBTQ+ persons, Blert noted that he was disappointed,
especially considering the fact that even the relatively progressive
governments only superficially care about LGBTQ+ rights. When it really comes
down to it, even these governments are not willing to fight for these rights.
What struck me most about our meeting with Blert was
when he talked about his hopes for the future of Kosovo, and the role that
youth would play in it. “This young, brave generation will not be silenced
anymore,” he said, and he seemed genuinely optimistic about the future of LGBTQ+
rights. Additionally, he hopes that in the future, citizens of Kosovo will be
able to travel freely and experience the world, instead of “staying locked in
the isolated box that is Kosovo”. Let’s hope his dreams come true.
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