Kosovo and Serbia
There isn’t much that can be agreed on between Serbia and Albania, but I think that it’s safe to say that they don’t like each other very much. Nowhere is this more true than in Kosovo. The population is predominantly ethnic Albanian, but was/is (depending on who you ask) politically part of Serbia. The conflict is still very recent and close to the surface.
There are a collection of 14th century Serbian Orthodox monasteries scattered across Kosovo. They are filled with beautiful paintings and occasionally with monks “tending to” the rakija shop. However, all of them are surrounded by barbed wire and strong walls, and some are guarded by the NATO-led peacekeeping force, KFOR. Several were damaged or destroyed during unrest in 2004 and others continue to be looted.
I found Kosovans always happy to chat or pick up hitchhikers even if there was no common language. One conversation with a 10-year old girl sat next to me on a bus was telling though. Her distaste for Serbia was obvious. She talked about travelling to Germany and driving through Serbia on the way — ‘It was boring, only fields and trees and stuff. And all of the cars were bad.’
For my part, I met a lot of great people in both Kosovo and Serbia. Everyone was very open, friendly and a lot of fun to spend time with. However, I think it is going to take a long time before the differences are settled.
