By Isabel Toenshoff
During our virtual trip to Kosovo we met a large variety of individuals and organisations that shared their perspectives with us on politics, economy, education, inter-ethnic dialogue and many other topics. Even though I learned so much from all the meetings, one of the most important voices among them, in my opinion, is the one of the youth, especially as Kosovo is demographically an extremely young country. That is why my classmates Emma, Maxime, Ruïe and I decided to dedicate our final project to listening to the perspectives and stories of young people from different ethnic backgrounds. Thereby, we hoped to further understand how young people are influencing the older generations and ultimately, the peace process.
During our interviews with young people from Mitrovica and Pristina it really became evident how much young people are aching for Kosovo to move forward. Many of them have friends or classmates from other ethnic groups and disagree with the resentments still present among the older generations, for example their parents'. We realised that the young generation has a very powerful role in Kosovo and their emancipation is crucial for progress, especially regarding peacebuilding. It is often the young people who positively influence their parents’ opinions about the past and are able to bring about real, sustainable change within a community, village, city, or even the whole country. Additionally, education is a crucial driving factor in the reconciliation process: young people increasingly start speaking each other’s languages and are learning how to cooperate with each other on a professional level. Ultimately, we found that the young generation wants to leave the war and other conflicts in the past as they see no purpose in reviving the old memories, stigmas, and sources of conflict.
On the other hand, we witnessed a lot of frustration among young people regarding the slow-moving European integration of Kosovo. Young people, in particular, feel held back by visa restrictions and limited academic or cultural exchange with other European countries. It is a shame that such a modern and vibrant country like Kosovo cannot really participate in European interchange and cooperation, something that I as a young person have come to value a lot over the past years. Talking to young people from Kosovo during our project has made me realise how privileged I am to be able to study abroad in Amsterdam together with students from all over the world. Thus, I am convinced that maintaining this cooperative framework between nations is absolutely crucial for long-term sustainable peace in Europe and that my or future generations should not take it for granted. I truly wish for Kosovo’s youth to share that privilege with us as soon as possible and to be able to come visit or even study at our University College in Amsterdam one day.
Young people and their ideas, motivations, and knowledge will immensely influence the future of Kosovo and its peacebuilding process. Looking back now, I am optimistic about the youth’s powerful and positive impact on the country, especially regarding a change of mindset among the older generation. Listening to their perspectives was extremely inspiring and we can definitely learn a lot from them about tolerance, persistence, and dialogue. I would like to thank every participant of our project again for their time and help; it was such a pleasure to meet everyone!
