Kosovo: are you ready for the EU?

I am a young citizen of the European Union. I live in the Republic of Kosovo, which on December 12 held its first parliamentary elections since the declaration of independence in 2008. 

During this autumn, I have followed the elections through Kosovo’s media and watched as 26 political parties competed for votes to get into Kosovo’s 120-seat parliament. In the end, the winner was the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) led by Hashim Thaci, Kosovo’s prime minister since 2008. He will be forming a government with the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), founded by Kosovo’s former president Ibrahim Rugova and led by former mayor of Prishtina, Isa Mustafa.

Other main parties include the Self-Determination Party (Vetëvendosje), led by political activist Albin Kurti, which believes in the “Greater Albania” and the reduction of international control over Kosovo; the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), led by the former Kosovo Liberation Army commander Ramush Haradinaj, who is currently on trial for war crimes in The Hague; and the New Kosovo Alliance (AKR), an alliance made up of several Kosovo Albanian parties and led by the construction business millionaire Behgjet Pacolli. An interesting newcomer in Kosovo politics for the 2010 elections was the New Spirit Party (FER), led by young, well-educated Kosovo Albanians, which suggested a whole new way of thinking in Kosovo’s politics.

Unsurprising victory

Hashim Thaci’s victory is not very surprising. Although more than 50% of Kosovo’s population is under 26 and I gather from young people around me that they are unhappy with the government and the on-going corruption and unemployment in Kosovo, Hashim Thaci does represent nationalistic values with which Kosovo Albanians identify themselves.

Hashim Thaci used to be an important member of the former Kosovo Liberation Army, fighting for Kosovo Albanian independence before the war and representing Kosovo at the Rambouillet talks in France that led to Serbian military forces being driven out of Kosovo in the 1998-1999 Kosovo war.

The memory of the war is still deeply rooted in the population of Kosovo, but not everyone believes in the “Greater Albania”, nor the sudden reduction of international help, although the mechanisms by which the international community lends a helping hand to Kosovo can and should be brought question.

Bring on the new

Kosovo needs new air to breathe – new attitudes, new perspectives, new systems, new mentalities – which is maybe why an alliance like AKR and the newcomer party FER were formed in the first place. But is Kosovo ready for this?

Whether Hashim Thaci will be able to lead Kosovo into a brighter, European future is still a question which only the future can answer. The population of Kosovo needs a strong leader who really knows how they tick. They need someone that is able to connect past history with the desire to become part of the future.

Not just the Muslim faith of many Kosovars illuminates their existence but also the fact that they are Albanians. Attached to Albanianism are a very special set of traditions and culture. Is an alliance too complicated? And is a party like FER too much too soon?

A European in Kosovo

As a 22-year old Swede living in Kosovo, I obviously have to adapt to Kosovo’s society – which includes corruption of all forms. This is the most frustrating part of living there regardless of your origin. But no politician or party is completely immune to corruption: every party claims to believe in a corruption-free Kosovo and yet the government is still considered the most corrupted institution in the country.  What party should you support if you are against corruption? It is hard to know.  

My guess is that corruption will go on with Hashim Thaci. But considering the circumstances, corruption will go on in Kosovo until the Kosovo Albanian leaders understand that a corrupt system really is not sustainable for the future, regardless of which party is in power. 

I don’t think Kosovo and the international community should give up on fighting corruption. If there is a will, there is a way. And in order for Kosovo to enter the European Union, corruption needs to be combatted.

 

Anna Wiman is a Swedish freelance writer. She collaborates with Think Young, a Brussels based think tank specialized in youth.