For Teuta Hadri, Kosovo’s declaration of independence on February 17, 2008 was a dream come true. As a 66-year-old Albanian Kosovar political activist and physician, she was part of a family actively involved in the national movement of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. She recalled breaking into tears as former Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci declared independence, himself trembling as he read the declaration. Hadri had been imprisoned by Serbian authorities for her political activism from 1983 to 1986, and twice again in shorter stints in the 90s.
The 1980s in Kosovo were marked by the heavy presence of secret police, which cracked down on nationalist manifestations. Arbitrary arrests and detentions of ethnic Albanians escalated rapidly throughout 1998, according to Human Rights Watch. Safety wasn’t guaranteed abroad either, as Human rights activist Enver Hadri was shot dead in Brussels in 1990 by Serbian assassins.
Living under Belgrade’s rule, there was a constant “feeling of uncertainty”, Hadri said. Kosovo’s independence granted personal freedom for Albanians, she said. “There was nothing else – death or freedom, because [the people] gave an oath to take the process [of liberation] to the end,” she said.
However, 15 years after the declaration of independence, Hadri said Kosovo still only has “partial independence”, as its decision-making continues to be directed by the international community, hindering progress. For instance, adopting the Law on Maternity Leave is a painstaking and lengthy process. A ready-made law on healthcare wasn’t approved for four years. And the country still has no law on health insurance.
Kosovo nationals are the only people in Europe – aside from those in Russia and Belarus – who cannot freely travel to Europe’s Schengen area without a visa, whether it’s for work, education or leisure. Getting the green light requires unanimous approval from all 27 EU member states, and five of them – Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Romania, and Slovakia – still do not recognise Kosovo’s independence.
This has led to feelings of despair among young people such as Erise Hajrizi, 23, a sociology student from Pristina who is currently unemployed. She has never travelled outside the Balkans, where she does not require a visa to enter. “We may have achieved to build some Hollywood-style buildings here, but everything is so unorganised, it’s such a chaos,” she said.
To address the problem of corruption and nepotism, Hadri said one needs to look to the past, when society chose “the best people, the most honest people” to carry out political activities. As older generations are dying and a “poorly established youth” is left, it becomes easier for the international community to play with appointed officials, “because they lack intellectual power, they lack resistance”, she said. “The government should be honest with itself in the first place, and then it should appoint [the most competent and patriotic] people. When your heart is in the right place you also choose good people, and if you are corrupt, you will choose the corrupt ones.”