Day Four in virtual Kosovo: The Kosovo Specialist Chambers, Peace Lab alumni and Petrit Selimi

11 June 2020

By Clementine Momas

Today was quite intense and it becomes harder for me to sit in a chair and look at the screen all day long. Gratefully, Anne de Graaf and Nini Pieters had organized very interesting meetings for us once again. The day started with a presentation by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. We got to learn about the specificities of this unique court but also broached the topic of career paths in international relations and law. A senior lawyer shared some tips with us and insisted on the fact that it is particularly difficult to find a job in this field. While this further confirmed my doubts about our limited career prospects as International Relations students, this virtual trip to Kosovo amplified my desire to work in the field of Human Rights. Besides, after this meeting, we got to talk with former Peace Lab students who seemed particularly successful in using their trip to Kosovo as an inspiration and an opportunity to conduct great projects or find internships.

On another note, our last meeting with Petrit Selimi was very interesting and inspirational. I feel very honored to be meeting such busy and influential persons, who are still willing to give us some of their time. I was pleasantly surprised by how approachable they were, especially politicians such as Albin Kurti or Petrit Selimi, who seemed quite open.

Building on the two meetings, I think that their political views on the United States and the European Union are changing with the recent involvement of the U.S. in toppling the former Prime Minister Albin Kurti. Indeed, Kurti who was originally more skeptical of the European Union spoke about it more positively than I expected during our meeting. Besides, Selimi who is the CEO of a U.S.-founded foundation seemed a little disconcerted by the recent U.S. move in interfering with Kosovo’s politics, even though he did not openly criticize it.   

He stated that their meddling is not necessarily a bad thing as it shows that the White House still has an interest in the country. Instead, he pointed out that Kurti failed to create a dialogue with Grenelle, Trump’s Special Presidential Envoy for Kosovo. According to him, Albin Kurti was not removed from power because of Grenelle but because he did not manage to change his way to govern, failed to make compromises and was too ideological. I also thought it was interesting how he argued that, in Kosovo, the Prime Minister has to be able to make coalitions in order to stay in power, contrary to other governments in Europe. He stated that winning the elections is one thing, but it is not enough.

I also thought that Petrit Selimi had an interesting stance on the delay in Kosovo’s accession to the European Union. During this course, we learned that this was mainly due to the on-going corruption, the failure to meet with EU standards, and the opposition of Spain, Slovakia, Cyprus, Greece and Romania. However, Petrit Selimi contended that the membership was also delayed because of the current polarization in politics in the European Union between the far right and the far left. Indeed, he argued that the far left did not want Kosovo to join, being a country that is heavily influenced by and supportive of the U.S. On the other end of the spectrum, the far right is skeptical of the country because of its predominantly Muslim population, which according to them, does not share EU values. This made me consider it as another potential factor that can help to explain the suspension of the talks about Kosovo joining the EU, on top of the others that we learned about in class.

21 years of peace?

11 June 2020

By Rosalie de Kerf

Today, the 11^th of June, has been a very exciting day in online Kosovo! Exactly 21 years ago, on the 11^th of June 1999, the Kosovo war ended. The meetings we had today shed light on the importance of the conflict, that ended more than two decades ago, on today’s Kosovar life. In this blogpost I will guide you through the meetings and presentations we had today and the ways in which they connected to the Kosovo war. 

The first meeting we had today took us back in time, to the war, but was also highly relevant for Kosovo today. During this meeting we were able to speak with representatives of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) located in the Hague, the Netherlands. As they are located in the Netherlands we would not have met these people if we would have actually been in Kosovo. This shows that our online Kosovo experience has some upsides beside the downside of not being in Kosovo in person. 

The Specialist Chambers were set up in 2015 in order to convict people who have committed war crimes in Kosovo or against Kosovar people during the Kosovar war and in the aftermath of the war. Even though this war ended 21 years ago, it is still important to get a sense of justice for the people that have been affected by war crimes committed.  

After we spoke to the KSC, we met with Noe. An AUC 3rd year who wrote a capstone on peacebuilding in (post-)conflict areas. This beautifully transitioned us away from a focus on the war to a focus on peace, moving from 1999 to 2020 in just a couple of minutes. Noe was able to beautifully illustrate the importance of young people and youth in peacebuilding efforts. The presentation explained that there are certain transition points that youth need in order to have a voice and agency in decision making. One of these transitions is “becoming vulnerable”, being able to open up and share your personal beliefs and stories. When growing up in a conflict environment, it is important for the youth to start speaking to the “enemy” . Once they are vulnerable and open up, it is possible to feel and express empathy which helps these people connect and communicate. Starting to communicate, will show the similarities they might have with someone that seems to be their polar opposite when just looking at the persisting (non-)violent conflict. 

Not only did Noe identify this importance, Ilen expressed this too. Ilen is an AUC alumnus that continued to study/work on the basis of his interest in peacebuilding and Kosovo. In his presentation, Ilen talked about his internship at the OSCE in Kosovo. The department at OSCE he was involved with focused on minority groups, in which youth was considered to be very important. Their work in Kosovo often focused on inter-ethnic dialogue, during which Ilen noticed that the most important thing is to facilitate a “stage” for the youth to meet each other. Once they are together, they will connect and interact without the help of others. By providing the youth that attended the OSCE events with the tools to teach the youth in their own communities, they were able to start a transition. The importance of vulnerability discussed by Noe, was put into practice by Ilen during his internship. 

Ilen and Noe were not the only people to notice that it is important to involve youth in order to resolve inter-ethnic tensions resulting from the historic formation of Kosovo and the Kosovo war. Someone else that points to this is Petrit Selimi, the CEO of the Millennium Foundation Kosovo. During our last meeting of the day with Selimi, we focused on empowering the new generation in order to shape Kosovo’s future. He mentioned that “there cannot be reconciliation without justice”. In order for the Kosovar society to move on, it is important to settle the disagreement with Serbia as soon as possible. He fears that if the Serbs and Kosovars are not able to agree on Kosovo’s independence, the “window of opportunity” (Anne's term) might close, leading to even higher tensions in the region. One of the things that might “close this window”, is the protests taking place in Hong Kong, as China might not support the existence of Kosovo for much longer. He expects that this might happen, as Kosovo’s independence is often not supported by states struggling with the rights/independence of a large minority population. Yet, by educating people and bringing the youth together, change can be made. 

So, even though the actual fighting has ended 21 years ago, there is still no positive, structural peace in Kosovo. Resolving the inter-ethnic tensions is needed in order to truly put a stop to the persistent conflict in a country that is considered to have been at peace for 21 years already.

Women’s empowerment in Kosovo

10 June 2020

By Nadia Nan

Today was the second day of our virtual field trip and this also meant the start of working on our projects. These group projects are creative assignments and aimed to raise awareness in some way. This can be in the form of for example a documentary, a podcast, or an Instagram page. We will work on this project during our virtual field trip so that we can ask questions related to our projects during the meetings and plan follow-up meetings. Our projects will be presented in the last week of this course and I will work together with Hanna.

Yesterday we met Igo Rogova, who is working for Kosovo Women’s Network, a network that is dedicated to support, protect, and promote women’s rights. Igo is fighting for a society built on gender equality because women are not being recognized in Kosovo nowadays and gender equality is not a goal every Kosovar strives to achieve. Violence against women is widespread and affects many women living in Kosovo. In addition, the word ‘feminist’ does not have the positive connotation of female empowerment. Nevertheless, Igo told us yesterday that in the 1990s, being a feminist was generally accepted, as there was more gender equality under communist rule. The Kosovo War put an end to this gender equality and Kosovo turned into the patriarchal society it still is today.

This was a very impressive meeting. Igo was funny and powerful and inspired us to focus on women’s empowerment for our project. We started to think about ways we could explore the relationship between women and feminism in Kosovo online. Today, when we were searching the internet, we found an interesting article describing ‘Balkan sworn virgins’ or Burrnesha, living in Albania, Montenegro, and Kosovo. Albanian people in these regions follow the Kanun, a set of old and traditional Albanian laws, customs, and ethics. These rules restrict women’s rights and Albanian women living in these areas are mainly taking care of the family. The sworn virgins are wearing men’s clothes, have short hair, and live their life like a man. Some women decided to live like this to express their autonomy, other Burrnesha became the head of the family out of necessity, because there were no male family members left. Becoming a sworn virgin was a possibility to support the family in a patriarchal society in which men were seen as superior. Burrnesha could enjoy greater freedom compared to women, for example, they could have a job and visit the mosque because no one knew they were sworn virgins.

Hanna and I are planning on exploring the evolution of women’s empowerment in Kosovo, through collecting exceptional stories. Burrnesha will be one of these examples. We are hoping that we can find a way to reach these communities and meet with one of the sworn virgins. In addition, we will try to find more inspiring stories and plan an online follow-up meeting with organizations in Kosovo, for example Kosovo Women’s Network and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights. We are planning on connecting the stories to analyse what female empowerment looks like in Kosovo today and how this has evolved over the years. I am super excited to start working on this project!

Peace Lab: Day Two

10 June 2020

By Max Ross

Today during our class in Peace Lab, the University of Pristina was discussed, its history was examined and I found its current ethnically segregated status particularly interesting. The University of Pristina, originally founded in 1969 has become symbolic of the political and ethnic divisions within Kosovo. Today there are two universities in Kosovo claiming the same name, one located in Pristina and the other now in North Mitrovica, the university students and faculty are divided along ethnic lines with each dominated by Albanians and Serbs respectively. As universities are almost universally considered to be safe spaces designed to encourage debate and the mixing of diverse perspectives, it seems as if there is a missed opportunity to create a platform through which Albanian and Serb youth of the post-war generation could create bonds and breakdown boundaries. There is significant evidence that institutions of higher education have the potential to play a transformative role in the post-conflict peacebuilding process and thus the University of Pristina could fill this position and help create a dialogue between two divided communities.

It is important to note that the current segregation of the two university communities was initially done out of necessity and for good reason due to the immensely volatile nature of the war in Kosovo. It is also true that institutions of higher education can potentially have the effect of undermining the peacebuilding process. However, as time goes on and as the tensions begin to ease, and with a new generation of students entering university born after the war, it may be possible to revert this separation in a constructive way. Of course, there are obvious barriers to the implementation of a full transition back to a single university including simple things such as the language barrier and the different national controls of each respective university but the exploration of at least some increased contact between students seems valuable.

The ‘contact hypothesis’ in post-conflict environments makes the claim that, on the dividing lines of conflicts, increased contact with adversaries will build bridging social capital and create trust and cooperation between groups. As individuals make the transition out of their largely insulated primary and secondary educational institutions, universities often provide the first opportunity to ‘meet the other’ and if handled delicately, can provide an opportunity to build lasting bridging social capital and understanding. It can be argued that the current ethno-sectarian segregation is causing harm to the peacebuilding process as it reinforces the differences between groups and causes universities to function as a divisive force where they could act as a platform of positive transformation.

This is, of course, a hugely complex issue and it is true that placing two communities such as these in one university poses some risk of causing friction and negative socialization. However, it seems as if there is room for some increased contact between the two groups and for the university to act as a cooperative platform in bringing people together rather than acting as a divider in reinforcing differences between the groups.

How the youth can bring about change

9 June 2020

By Lotte Luna Peters

Today could be described with three words: tiring yet inspiring. After the third and last meeting, the students were overwhelmed, to say the least, with so much information and speeches and talks from the people we spent hours talking to. However, I think we can all agree on the fact that it was a day that we will never forget: sadness that we can’t go on the much-anticipated trip to Kosovo made way for excitement, and a feeling of overall empowerment and confidence. The day already started with an unexpected turn of events, as Albin Kurti – the former prime-minister of Kosovo – agreed and confirmed that he would meet with us in the morning only a few days ago.

What made the meeting with Kurti even more interesting, is the fact that it has not even been a week since he had to leave the office: he was voted out after a no-confidence motion, following disagreements about how to handle the current Coronavirus pandemic. Kurti made a very good impression on us, and we talked for a little while after class about how charming he actually was in his way of speaking and his mannerisms – something that must have really helped him get the people’s vote. 

Some things that he said in particular stuck with me. At one point, he said: “Being heroic is just a heroic act. However, being brave is the ability to co-exist, to live with impossibilities. Being brave is much more difficult than being heroic.” This can of course very much be interpreted in a thousand different ways, but for me, it definitely ties to youth activism, especially taking into consideration the protests that are currently happening in the world for Black Lives Matter. The youth has often been the source of change and revolution, because they are brave. I think Kurti’s definition of bravery here not only means being able to co-exist with impossibilities, but also to address and fight those seemingly impossible things. When it comes to the youth, two things are especially important according to Kurti: getting together, and imagination. The latter should not be confused with creativity, he says, as creativity is something you have to prove to others by creating, but imagination can be something more intimate, something you are the only witness to. I read a book a few years ago that said something similar. Namely, human beings are unique because they can imagine, they can tell stories to each other, and that is how change is achieved. The youth can imagine a world where things aren’t the way they are right now, but should be, and they get together to fight for that world.

After Kurti, we met with Marigona Shabiu from the Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Kosovo. A main focus of their work is youth empowerment by bringing them together – which Kurti already noted is extremely important - and increasing communication. In Kosovo, the greatest barrier for getting the youth together is the ethnic divide between Albanians and Serbs. The trauma that is imposed on the parents from the war is transmitted to their children, who then get to grow up with the same stories, experiences and the then forthcoming prejudice. This way, it’s very difficult to achieve change, and as Marigona put it: people need to connect as humans first. She emphasizes how important it is that the stories of ordinary people need to be heard as well, instead of only the glorified ones with military figures. I believe that modern technology provides the Kosovar youth with a great and hopeful means to that end: the bridge between Albanians and Serbs can more easily be built. It provides them the opportunity to hear the voices of the people they don’t get to hear in their own environment, be it their family, school, or neighborhood.

The last meeting we had was with Igo Rogova from Kosovo’s Women’s Network – a very inspiring woman whose energy and overall presence I don’t think I will ever forget. Especially the words she said about youth empowerment will stay with me: we shouldn’t say that they are the future, because they are the present. Only then will the youth really get the feeling they are being involved, and only then will they really speak up. We shouldn’t wait for important change to happen in the future, but we, young people, should already try to make it happen in the present. The voices of the youth being heard is therefore vital.

One other thing that Igo told us is I think very much worth sharing. She talked about how one day, she saw three men walking their children in their strollers, instead of the normalized image of three women doing that. She then walked up to them and said how well they were doing. That story made me realize that change doesn’t always lie in the big things, like the political decisions that are being made, the laws that are being passed or the governments that are being elected. It often lies in the little things, the things that you come across in daily life. Things like seeing black people play protagonist roles in your favorite Hollywood movies, a husband cooking for his wife after she comes home from a long day of work, or seeing an Albanian and a Serb eat ice cream together on a hot summer’s day.

Peace Lab: Day One in virtual Kosovo

Tuesday 9 June 2020
By Laura Aker

In a time where many people have decided to speak out against racism and police violence, activism seems to have become a popular topic of conversation. Every day more and more individuals try to make a difference by sharing stories, spreading information and sometimes even protesting. For many students, their years in university will be the first time they become involved in civil and student rights movements. Perhaps, this is why today was an exceptionally special occasion for me. 

Because today I was able to meet and interview ex Prime Minister Albin Kurti, and representatives from the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, and the Kosovo Women’s Network during Peace Lab June 2020. Peace Lab is a course aimed at giving students a deeper understanding of the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo, while also furthering their knowledge on peacekeeping. Unsurprisingly, activism is an important aspect of this conversation and today’s experiences have undoubtedly left me with a lot of stories to reflect on. 

First of all, meeting the ex prime-minister was an exceptional opportunity. It is not every day that you meet a politician who is considered to be “the people’s choice”. In talking to him, we got a glimpse of how this man started to get involved in the politics of Kosovo, and how his actions turned him into a man who was trusted by the people. Albin Kurti is undoubtedly charismatic and has a way of framing his political decisions in a way that makes them seem fully respectful of human rights. In fact, he often motivated his answers not with simple practicalities of political pragmatism, but by putting them in a bigger narrative. Although he is a controversial figure, I definitely got to experience the powerful narrative of activism that he puts forth. 

Secondly, we got a chance to speak to Marigona Shabiu, the director of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights. She gave us a powerful presentation on youth engagement and projects that have shaped the political landscape of Kosovo. These initiatives go beyond the common petition protests and are sure to have given us a lot of inspiration in terms of our own activism. 

Lastly, we got to interview Igobelle Rugova, the director of the Kosovo Women’s Network. I think this conversation has had the biggest impact on me. Igo is a woman who has lived through a lot and has turned all her experience into something that allows her to speak up for women of all ethnicities in Kosovo. What struck me most during the interview, was her vulnerability. While talking about difficult subjects, she allowed herself to become emotional and was very vocal about this. She was so open and honest that her stories didn’t seem to be centred around some righteous cause, but around her life and the lives of so many other women. It was a reminder of the humanity that lies behind activism. I wholeheartedly believe this left every student touched to the heart and inspired to the fullest. 

All in all, I think that talking to people for whom activism is not something they are passionate about in their spare time, but whose daily lives revolve around civic and human rights, is exceptionally insightful. I think it adds a layer of humanity to the stories of activism that are sometimes lost in the conversation we have today. Of course, it is important to focus on what goals we want to achieve to make the world a more just place. But today showed me that we can’t do that without talking to the people who have been fighting this fight for a long time.

2020 Peace Lab: A different perspective

By Anne de Graaf

So 2020 has turned into the year of change. On 2 June we started another Peace Lab, but this time all the teaching had to be online. How do you go to Kosovo online? It's happening. We have more meetings than usual planned because we save on travel time. The students and I are bitterly disappointed that we can't go to Kosovo in person, but we will go one day. We've promised ourselves. And in the meantime, we're zooming in and out and all around, exploring how theory meets practice, and meeting with UN, EU, statebuilding, grassroots, and lots of different groups...virtually.

There will be blogposts from the students about their impressions and what the pedagogic geeks among us call Experiential learning.

All this is happening while protests in The Netherlands and elsewhere push for deeper engagement and structural change regarding racism and discrimination. Add the insecurity of climate change and fear and uncertainty around a global pandemic and we have a perfect storm for change. But that's another story. If you are curious about what you can do, however, please visit my Chief Diversity Officer (of the University of Amsterdam) blog here.

I'm very proud of this year's Peace Lab students, showing up, doing the work, engaging with issues of social justice, transitional justice, just justice. This just might be...the best class yet. (I can hear Peace Lab alums around the world crying out in dismay.)

Please follow our blog. Tell others to follow it. And join us on an unforgettable journey during an unforgettable time. We'll be in Kosovo virtually, studying peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding until 19 June. And all the while the students will be working on their projects. Stay tuned!

Kind regards, Anne