Ruairi O'Connell

The Dog that Didn't Bark

A weekend trip to the Albanian coast - nine hours, but worth it to find a beautiful, and genuinely unspoiled, beach at the end.

A chance piece of graffiti, however, set me thinking. By the main road in Fier, a town in Southern Albania, someone had written a slogan, roughly translated as 'Long Live Ethnic Albania!'

It occurred to me that 'Greater Albania' was the dog that didn't - and still doesn't - bark. The graffiti was striking because, living in Kosovo, I had never seen the slogan before. Whilst it is possible to meet people who long for a union with Albania, they are a tiny minority in Kosovo (and, I suspect, in Albania too). The graffiti was notable for its rarity.

What are not rare, however, are the Albanian flags which are still common throughout Kosovo (especially during wedding season, when they are waved from cars in the bridal procession). The Kosovo Albanian community still maintains a strong sense of being 'Albanian' - much as Kosovo's Serbs, Roma, Turks, Bosniaks seem themselves as Serbian, Roma, Turkish and Bosniak, in the 'ethnic' sense of the word. It is interesting, however, that for Kosovo Albanians especially, the strong sense of ethnic identity has not translated into a movement for political unification.

There are various reasons for this. The Albanian language spoken in Kosovo is different from that spoken in much of Albania (but all Albanian speakers would claim to speak a common language). Moreover, the experience of the Albanian communities in Albania and Kosovo has diverged greatly since the First World War, most obviously with the Kosovo Albanians' experience under Milosevic. The experience of autonomy in Socialist Yugoslavia (and its withdrawal under Milosevic) cast the political question in very Kosovo-centric terms, as well as creating a "Kosovar" identity (albeit a fluid one which overlaps with other layers). In similar terms, the Kosovo Serb experience under Yugoslavia, forming much of the administrative and military elite for the whole country, mitigated against the formation of a separate Kosovo Serb identity, and towards identification with Serbia (of which Kosovo was a province).

Of course, identity, by its nature, is fluid, and often defies exact definition (and for this reason, I hope to see lots of comments on the blog - and expect most of them to disagree vehemently with me!) But in any case, there has been very limited political activism (in my experience) for a 'Greater Albania'. Of all the provisions in the Comprehensive Settlement Proposal , the prohibition on union with other countries was the easiest to sell to the Kosovo Albanians.

Posted at 16:50 01 July 2008 by Ruairi O'Connell  | 

Lunch with the Kosovo Minister of Education

Lunch yesterday with Enver Hoxhaj, the Kosovo Minister of Education.

He has a significant challenge in front of him. Most socialist societies in transition benefit from having had a decent (and often excellent) educational system. Not so Kosovo. Following years of neglect since the second World War, under Milosevic, the K-Albanians were forcibly thrown out of the education system (the Milosevic-era Rector of Pristina University even suggested that Albanians should not 'even be given a pencil', lest they learn to become terrorists; he was later appointed Rector of the Mitrovica University by the Kostunica Government). For nearly ten years, K-Albanians had no access to the education system. Instead, they were taught in private homes which served as informal schools and universities, supported by voluntary funding from the diaspora. Throughout this period, teachers - and pupils - were subject to constant harassment and intimidation (and worse) from the police.

On top of this, schools were caught up in the systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. Whilst schools in major towns were left intact (as the Serbian authorities would use them for the Serbian community), those in the villages were destroyed (along with houses and other buildings); in one part of Kosovo, 60% of schools are still accommodated in portakabins, which are hardly suitable for winters that can reach -20C.

After the war UNMIK and the creation of the Kosovo Ministry for Education, tried to redress the wrongs of the past. Importantly, the right to education in one's own language was guaranteed early on in Kosovo law (and further guaranteed by the Comprehensive Settlement Proposal ).

In 2005, we were approached by the municipality of Novo Brdo/Novobërdë to help support the construction of a school in the municipality. Their concept was to (re)create a multiethnic school; separate classes would be organised in both Serbian and Albanian, but practical classes and sports would be organised together. This was an initiative of the K-Serb mayor, and seemed a great way to use education to bring the communities together. We rapidly agreed.

However, whilst the school is now built, and due to open in September, we fell foul of attempts to use education as a weapon of ethnic separation. The Serbian government from 2005 started to put pressure on K-Serbian teachers to withdraw from receiving Kosovo salaries, and work exclusively for the 'Serbian' parallel authorities; pupils were to be taught in 'Serbian' schools with no contact with other communities. Our hopes to have this school used by both Serbs and Albanians fell foul of this; the K-Serb pupils, rather than using a school in their own village, are still forced to travel for miles to their own separate school. Even the K-Serb mayor and officials couldn't shield their community from this pressure. It is still depressing to see such policies in action, leading the K-Serbian community into a dead end.

To end on a positive note, I met representatives from Hope and Aid Direct , a UK charity bringing aid to vulnerable communities in Kosovo. Having seen the awful situation, they developed a 'school in a box project' to bring basic supplies to Kosovo schools (a lucky rural school will have windows and heating; many don't have enough desks or chairs, and are forced to re-use paper until there is no space left) [just moved this to the end of the sentence]. They rely on donations from the public in the UK, and from businesses generously donating surpluses. He was here, in part, to discuss ways of reaching those most at need in all ethnic communities (their slogan is "we bring aid, not sides"); so having seen one education project fall foul of attempts to use education to divide people, it was heartening to talk to someone trying to use education to help all of Kosovo's communities; regardless of ethnicity, they all need rapid investment in education.

Posted at 16:33 26 June 2008 by Ruairi O'Connell  |  Comments[1]