"Kosovo - comments and impressions" Former Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Travelogue by Marcin75

It is a very small country. You can drive from one end to another in about two hours. Approximately two million inhabitants. How many exactly - nobody knows. One city, couple towns and villages. Signs of war. Signs of hatred. Signs of pain. Signs of prosperity. Signs of entrepreneurship. Signs of hope. No signs of environmental protection.

The official status of Kosovo remains unclear. Officially it is a part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Practically the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo plays the role of public authorities. KFOR soldiers try to keep the public order. There is no more blood shed in Kosovo. But there is no clear idea, what would be next, either.

Almost everybody was frightened hearing I was heading to Kosovo. Somehow people tend to think that the war there has not ended. It is not true. Armed conflict is over. The biggest danger is road traffic. The conflict, however, remains unsolved. People try to avoid speaking about the future. Nobody feels comfortable touching that issue in Kosovo. Be happy with what you have now - peace - the international rulers often say.

Better do not remind people the past. The past is painful, too. The events of recent years and heroic history of Kosovo nations mix. The memory of Battle of the Kosovo Polje is as vivid now, as if it happened couple years ago. Symbols of the past have devastating influence on contemporary affairs.

Forget about the future! Do not remind the past! Live today, enjoy, look at some pictures and read comments about Kosovo!

Djakovica / Gjakova - Monument and ruins

I did not know what to expect from that town, but it showed me one of the most touching symbols of values, that were destroyed in Kosovo. The monument of Mother Theresa - an Albanian catholic, known worldwide for charity and love she had been bringing to poor and needy. The ruins of the orthodox church just behind it - only the damaged facade survived, the rest of the building perished. Symbols of love and symbol of hatred. All together - Kosovo.

Strpce road sign

Kosovars (Kosovo Albanians) do not go there. It is risky to drive a car with "KS" license plates to Strpce. It is very far from Serbia proper border, but almost only Serbs live there. Yugoslavia lives there. You cross a very serious checkpoint on a border which you would never spot on any available map. You enter a country of cyrrilic alphabet and prices in Yugoslavian dinars. You enter a small village community under siege.

Marble cave

Just amazing. Seeing grey, dusty central Kosovo landscape I would never imagine the beautiful cave curved by waters under not a very high hill, less then 30 minutes drive south of Pristina. The cave was discovered some 30 years ago - it was funny to hear how many 'legends' could guides say about some spectaculars of it. Probably for the use of schoolchildren. Do not complain that the cave is brutally prepared for tourists (concrete pavement). Just look at stalactites, stalagmites and beautiful rocky leafs above your head!

Pristina - railway station

Somebody named Pristina "the cross-roads of the Balkans". Very true. The big cross-roads without order, drivers' discipline, sense of direction and traffic police is exactly what Pristina is today - a huge traffic jam. All international personnel make Pristina a very cosmopolitan center of commerce, services and entertainment. The only Kosovo university brings youth from all over province. The traffic is almost as chaotic as in smaller places, but crossing many-lanes roads is way more risky then narrow streets of small towns. Pristina is vivid, Pristina has electricity, Pristina is expensive - definitely is not the prettiest place on Earth, but is a starting point of all activities you can think of in Kosovo.

There is no provincial flag. Disappointed? Am I lying? Black double-headed eagles fly on so many ensigns there! But it is not a flag of Kosovo - the language of political correctness is very sensitive there. Albanian, Serbian or other ensigns are just so-called "community symbols". The only official one - emblem of the UN.

Freizaj - street sign

English. Or maybe German. Of course for internationals. People experienced in Kosovo advise not to attempt to speak Serbian or Albanian - if you use the wrong language in wrong place the results may not be pleasant. Some people speaking Slavic languages - Bulgarian, Macedonian, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian - should also be aware. The melody and some words are similar. Of course in most cases nothing bad would happen, but in many instances such language can bring back bad memories.

<font size="2"><i>To all Serbian and Albanian visitors to this page: please do not feel offended if there is no name of some places in you language</i></font>

It sometimes appears. Comes in waves. The power-cuts happen sometimes once a day, sometimes every 10 minutes. Nobody knows. Better to have a flashlight on you, especially at home. If you are on the street, you will almost not notice the power-cut. Some shops work with gas lamps, most have generators. The light just darkens a little bit for a moment.

Numerous power-cuts kill all electric appliances. Maybe that's why you can see old washing machines or refrigerators all over Kosovo on the fields, in rivers and streams, on sides of roads.

There is a nice, brand new office building in Pristina. Modern skyscraper is cozily enlightened. It houses Kosovo electro-energetic company.

Ferizaj / Urosevac - church and mosque

Fairly big town as for Kosovo - approximately 50 thousand inhabitants. Predominantly Albanian area before the war (although they had over 8.000 Serbs) - now there are 21 Serbs, mostly old widows. Their houses are protected by KFOR all the time. They do not attempt to move without a military escort. So better do not attempt to recall the Serbian name of the town - Urosevac.

But the town is not dangerous. It is very noisy - especially in the evenings. The electricity appears only sometimes, so each shopkeeper, restaurant owner or richer citizen has his own electric generator. The noise of thousands working generators is loud enough to make a conversation on the main street difficult.
Ferizaj is the only place in Kosovo where an orthodox church stands next to the mosque. From the distance they look like a picturesque example of co-habitation of people of different religion - a very false impression in that case. The church is surrendered by barbed wire entanglements, KFOR soldiers protect it day and night, no services are held, of course.

Prizren

Everybody keeps saying there: "go to Prizren, it's pretty". Prizren surely is. On the slope of the hill, crowned by the old fortress, with huge mountains in the back, with many mosques, churches and older houses, but also stylish cafes on the banks of the river Prizren can be named a best tourist destination of Kosovo. But there you also cannot feel the spirit of peace. "Prohibited Area. Danger - authorised use of firearms" sign welcomes you to where the Serbian part of the town used to be. Barbed wire closes the way to its historic churches. "Keine turisten" - German KFOR soldier is not very friendly. The churches are protected against crowd, protected as symbols of - it is difficult to say now what they do symbolize - protected as signs of unclear hope for normal (from Western point of view) relations between Kosovo communities.

If you are interested in reading more about Kosovo, I recommend following links:
UN Mission in Kosovo

OSCE Mission in Kosovo - my employer

Albanian point of view

Serbian point of view

Przemek Drusewicz's Kosovo page - my friend's page about 2001 Kosovo elections