The division

 

By Emma Vrijsen

 

Today is Monday 14 June and we have officially transported ourselves from Pristina to the beautiful city of Mitrovica. Although this transition is virtual, it is exciting for our class to engage with organizations located here and to better understand the present dynamics of the city. Today we will meet with two schools, the first being the University of Prishtina in Mitrovica and the second being the International Business College Mitrovica. 

 

From what I understood, Mitrovica is a fascinating location due to the ethnic division that takes place within the city. The city is physically divided by the Ibar River which can only be crossed at two different locations. What is interesting about the division is that the division extends to ethnicity, where in South Mitrovica there is an Albanian majority and a Serbian non-majority, and in North Mitrovica there is a Serbian majority and Albanian non-majority. I say non-majority due to the highly politicized nature of this ethnic division. What I found fascinating was that the connection between the North and the South is very minimal and often there is no contact between them. The two populations live beside each other, and not with each other. I have witnessed similar things here in Amsterdam, where communities don’t often engage with each other; however, it has never been to the extent as we see in Mitrovica. 

 

As mentioned, our virtual visit was to different schools. Our first visit was to the University of Prishtina in Mitrovica. Interestingly enough, we met students from the University of Prishtina in Prishtina earlier last week. Thus, it was interesting to witness people calling each university the real University of Prishtina. 

 

At 11:00 we had our first meeting. We met with Milos Subotic, who works at the Associate International Relations Office for the University of Prishtina in Mitrovica. He gave a presentation on the school and we continued asking questions. What I particularly found interesting is how the school did not take any responsibility for the need for reconciliation amongst the youth. They were planning to set up a language program for Albanian and Serbian students; however, that was the limit of extending integration. They don’t have a political science department, hardly focused on history lessons, and even found that student organizations really simulated the top-down power dynamics the country has. 

 

Our second meeting was at 15:00 with the International Business College--Mitrovica (IBC-M). We met with Mirjana Krsmanovic Vlajic, the Assistant Directorate and International Relations Coordinator, Harri Tuomola the Executive Director, and two IBC-M students. This interview and discussion had a very different tone to it. The main aim of the school was to close the divide between North and South Mitrovica by placing two campuses on each side of the river. The aim was to bring students together from the North and the South through the common language of English. Although that is a privilege by itself, it does illustrate that there needs to be a common ground before people can communicate and interact. 

 

What I loved the most is that after about 40 minutes, our class seemed to direct more questions towards the students, and so our teacher noticed that the dynamic would feel more natural if the professors left. Personally I thought this was a brilliant idea. The consequences of it was that everyone opened up a lot more and the dynamic flowed a lot better between all the students. Hopefully some of us, including myself, made some friends, and we hope to visit them in the future. 

 

These two meetings were wonderful, and it made me want to go there and meet people my own age in Mitrovica. However, I felt like these meetings were an even better analogy of the situation in Kosovo. The two schools contrast with each other a lot. The University of Prishtina in Mitrovica acts as a symbol of separation. The university has a different location, yet still it does not want to share the identity of its Albanian twin. They want to remain unique and become the official University of Prishtina. The International Business College of Mitrovica, on the other hand, aims to bring unity in a very divided city. It wants to reconnect the opposing entities and unite them in hopes of bringing Mitrovica forward. The former divides and the latter unites. Of course this is not the whole truth of the situation; however, when comparing the two schools, I found a symbolic meaning in their opposition. 

 

Regardless, for the first day being virtually in Mitrovica, I felt like I have learned a lot and know that my peers in this class are just as fascinated in the city as I am.