I spent 9 days wandering around Kosovo, Europe’s newest country, encountering many similarities to the beautiful nation of Albania and regaling in the joy of the extremely low prices at restaurants and stores.

Top Photo: Prizren from Prizren Fortress

Lake Liqanit near Peja

Destinations

Prizren: Often (deservedly) called Kosovo’s most beautiful city, Prizren sits on a river below an impressive fortress

Gjakove: Famous for its kilometer-long bazaar, built in traditional style

Peja: The outdoor capital of Kosovo, with the gorgeous Rugova Canyon just outside the city center

Pristina: The country’s capital is less scenic than its other cities but is bursting at its seams with new construction and delicious eats

Mitrovica: A divided city with ethnic Serbs & ethnic Albanians separated by a river & a bridge

The Prince Lazar statue in Mitrovica

Some Stats

  • Kosovo became a nation in 2008 after a terrorist-led independence movement from Serbia
    • The terrorist group had reason to be upset–Albanian Kosovars were treated horribly by Serbian police and had their human rights severely infringed upon. They were excluded from government jobs.
    • In just one year (1999) of the Kosovo war, 850,000 people fled or were ethnically cleansed — forced to abandon their homes
    •  There were some atrocities committed by Serbian soldiers–like massacring entire villages–that led the US and other Western powers to intervene and move Kosovo toward independence
  • Most countries recognize Kosovo but it’s not part of the UN due to opposition from Serbia and Russia
    • Throughout history, Kosovo has been part of Serbia at times and independent at others but Serbia considers it a fundamental part of their territory. Non-Serb Kosovars don’t agree.
  • More than half of Kosovar people still live in villages
  • Kosovo has one of the lowest rates of income inequality in the world and its current prime minister has made considerable progress in combating corruption
  • Life expectancy in Kosovo lags far behind other Balkan countries at only 71.1, comparable to poorer nations like Bolivia & Tajikistan
  • Partly because of this but mostly due to a high birth rate, Kosovo is the youngest country in Europe–with an average age of 31.7 (compared to 40.1 just across the border in N. Macedonia)
  • Kosovo is far less diverse than culturally similar Albania, which has sizable minority ethnic & religious populations
    • 93% of Kosovars are ethnic Albanian and 97% of Kosovars. Almost the entire population speaks Albanian
The weird National University Library in Pristina

What a Steal!

Kosovo is one of few non-EU countries that uses the Euro and it may be the cheapest country that uses the Euro. Wandering around a grocery store, you’ll see tons of products priced at 30 cents, 50 cents, etc. which is refreshing in today’s age of hyper-inflation.

Hadum Mosque in Gjakova

Policing The Churches

Since it was part of Serbia until only 15 years ago, Kosovo has tons of historic Serbian Orthodox churches. I wandered around to see some and was intrigued to see that each of them had a police officer stationed in front–I imagine to prevent vandalism by people who have anger toward Serbs. While this sort of sentiment is not expressed publicly (or violently) much nowadays, it was certainly a big problem during (and in the years immediately after) Kosovo’s independence movement.

I had to show my passport before I could enter this monastery in Peja!

Thanks, USA!

In today’s world where the US’ global reputation is mixed at best ;), Kosovo stands out for their gratitude for the US, which under Bill Clinton negotiated their independence from Serbia. Almost every day, I saw some sort of street art with a message along the lines of “Thanks, USA!”

My free walking tour guide even shared that around the time of independence, many Kosovar people gave their children the first name “Bill Clinton” lol. Sadly, I didn’t get to meet any of these young Bill Clintons

Bill Clinton Plaza in Pristina

BREAD FROM HEAVEN

I have been enjoying the bread in Balkans so far, but the bread here in Kosovo is next level! Every restaurant–from fine dining to corner shack–serves you the most incredible homemade, crunchy yet soft, to-die-for bread with every meal. It’s so much better than that of the fanciest bakeries in the US and it’s a free side to what is usually a $2-$4 meal :O There is nothing I’ll miss more about Kosovo than the bread and I will forever cherish the memory of its deliciousness.

An incredibly delicious pastry called Pite me Spinaq

DOGS FROM HELL

Kosovo’s capital city is a very dangerous place–not because of the humans but the street dogs! I’ve never been to a city where the street dogs are so aggressive. During my free walking tour, a dog followed us the whole way and kept interrupting the tour to aggressively follow and bark at passersby, even nipping some in the legs. While thankfully no one was injured, I encountered lots of aggressive dogs like this during my time in Pristina.

If you love dogs, I’d suggest Kars, Turkey, instead. This is the city that had the most street dogs of any place I’ve been to and they were quite calm and friendly. And if you’re scared of dogs, avoid Pristina at all costs!

*Footnote: I met a Pristina local who said the dogs are not usually so bad but I saw what I saw loll.

Terzi Bridge in Gjakova

How To Empower 3,200 Women

I stopped by the office of Women for Women, an organization that runs personal and professional training for rural and underprivileged Kosovar women, to hear from director Iliriana Jaka Gashi and PR manager Lirije Haliti about their impressive accomplishments and learn more about the status of women in this new country.

Women for Women

  • The org goes to villages to recruit women to join cohorts of 25 women who go through bi-weekly empowerment trainings that cover health, gender-based violence, and especially vocational training of the women’s choice
    • Most women choose traditionally female-dominated careers like agriculture, sewing, food processing, childcare, and elder care–not surprising in such a patriarchal society and certainly an easier (and less resistance-producing) way to empower women than trying to recruit them into male-dominated careers
      • While the excellent Kosovar film Hive dramatizes the resistance of men in a village to a female entrepreneur, Women for Women has rarely encountered men who aren’t supportive of their wives, daughters, etc. pursuing entrepreneurial work since it financially benefits them too
    • Over the last two decades, 3,200 women have completed the program–an impressive number for a country of less than 2 million
  • Without Women for Women, many female villagers would not be aware of the entrepreneurial opportunities that are available to them in Kosovo. (Many still don’t even have internet access.)
    • Kosovo has the lowest rate of women in the workplace in all of Europe–only 18%!!

Kosovar women in general

  • Kosovo has a female president (and is the only country in the Balkans that’s had 2 female presidents). But this is a country where most power rests with the prime minister and the current president has been relatively passive in her role.
    • This correlates with the general status of women in politics here–there’s a quota for Parliament so there are many women in political office but their influence tends to be limited
  • Femicide and gender-based violence has been rising, but it’s unclear whether this is due to more empowered women reporting it or a true increase in the prevalence.
    • Iliriana suspects that it is actually increasing, due to economic woes that have caused a growing sense of hopelessness among Kosovars–especially since the pandemic and the Ukraine war. When men feel frustrated and unable to achieve their goals, women tragically often bear the brunt of their discontent.
  • Filmmaking is perhaps the greatest success story for women in Kosovo–many of the country’s most prominent filmmakers are women and they have made award-winning films like the aforementioned Hive (about a female entrepeneur facing resistance from her village), The Hill Where Lionnesses Roar (about teen girls itching to break away from life in their town & even forming a gang), and The Marriage (about a woman who is about to marry a closeted gay man).
  • The media is very male-dominated here–it’s not uncommon to see a political issue debated on TV by a 100% male panel

Queer Empowerment Through Makeup & Mixology

I sat down at the Western Balkan region’s only queer bar with Baton from CEL Kosova (Centre for Equality and Liberty Kosovo) to learn about this org’s incredible career training, support & advocacy, activism & research, and to chat about life for LGBTQ Kosovar people.

  • A big focus for CEL is capacity building for queer Kosovars and they achieve this through career training. With queer people discriminated against in the workplace, it’s a big help for them to have the chance to develop these skills. A few careers that CEL has led (or plans to) lead trainings for are:
    • Makeup (Kosovo’s first queer salon opened recently)
    • Fashion
    • Video editing
    • Graphic design
    • Mixology
  • CEL helps to put on not only an annual Pride festival but also hosts an annual Queer Festival and a “Queer University,” where topics like trans Healthcare, the anti-gender movement, and positive Masculinity are discussed
    • Schools in Kosovo are generally not safe spaces for queer youth, who have limited recourse for bullying and often have to deal with homophobic teachers and staff
  • The media approach Kosovar activists have taken is a contrast to those in Albania, who have famously debated homophobic religious figures on TV. CEL refuses to debate homophobic figures–Baton sees this as leading to endless back & forth.
    • Such a discussion does not contribute to the communities but puts them in a more difficult position because religion still plays an important role
    • Hate speech here tends to surface only in the virtual world, while it is much more loud and public in Albania
  • Mainstream Kosovar celebrities like Rita Ora (born in Pristina!) and Dua Lipa (born to Kosovar parents in the UK) have positively influenced queer acceptance in this small country (as have Kosovar people who have lived abroad in more open-minded societies).
  • There has been some support from the government for the community
    • CEL, supported by Kosovo’s Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sport, compiled the first-ever archive of LGBTQ History in Kosovo
    • A recent law change allows trans Kosovars to change their name and gender on their ID
      • The CEO of CEL, Blert Morines, was the plaintiff in a court case that led to this change
    • Same-sex partnerships have been a goal here for a while and progress has been made toward achieving them, in sharp contrast to other Western Balkan countries (with the exception of Montenegro) where this is not seen as a remote possibility in the near-term
    • The most prominent building in the Pristina skyline was lit up in rainbow colors for the first time during the city’s Pride last year–a big sign of progress
  • The Albanian language has no direct translation of they/them and determining the best way to address non-binary people with respectful pronouns is still a work in progress. It’s quite possible Kosovars will influence Albanians in Albania and other countries in this area since the queer movement is very active here.

Art Activism FTW!

I also chatted with Dardan Hoti, Executive Director of Sekhmet, a nonprofit that uses art, media, and research to advocate for queer and feminist issues in Kosovo, to hear about their amazing work.

  • Dardan was a journalist for almost a decade before he wearied of the constant homophobia he faced and left the large media company he worked for
    • He once heard coworkers in the hallway at work say “Our TV station is full of f***ots”…so yeah
  • One focus for Sekhmet is media training–helping journalists understand how to cover the rainbow community in a normalized & affirming way (and also just to increase the volume of the coverage, which is very limited currently)
    • Many journalists forego these trainings due to an attitude of “If you go to a gay training, you’re gay”–allies are more the exception than the rule in the industry, as Dardan’s experience reflected
  • Sekhmet also runs a podcast and a radio show and hosts queer art exhibitions. They’ve even compiled the first ever database of Queer Kosovar literature (of which a surprising amount already existed) and are helping first-time queer authors to publish
    • This year will be the first ever Pan-Balkan Queer Art Exhibition, which they’re really excited about
  • Dardan shared a heartwarming story about a mural of a gay guy with a disability and a Roma trans woman embracing that was painted at a local university. Soon after it was painted, it was vandalized and ruined but they re-painted and it’s now still standing in all its glory years later.
    • One woman stopped to tell him how much she liked the mural but when she realized it was a queer mural, she expressed disgust and walked away. Dardan saw this as progress–art reaching people who wouldn’t otherwise be reached, even if their initial reaction to queer art is negative.
  • Finally, Dardan shared that Kosovo got a head start in queer liberation due to the UN essentially setting up the new country’s institutions from scratch in the early 2000s–including human rights protections.