Kosovo’s failed dream

In February 2008, Europe’s youngest country declared independence as a ‘multi-ethnic state’. In the aftermath of its conflict with Serbia, post-war Kosovo was shepherded towards its new identity by the United Nations, Europe and the US. The West spent 25 times more money per capita here than on post-war Afghanistan. But as the country and its ethnic Albanian majority celebrated 10 years of independence last Saturday, it’s clear that efforts to turn Kosovo into a multi-ethnic state have failed and minorities remain locked out of mainstream society.

Serb and Roma minority groups are isolated in separate municipalities. The Serbian Decani Monastery still has Nato soldiers guard its gates and Orthodox Serb families living near the eastern border with Serbia say they might wave at their Albanian neighbours, but they would never go inside their homes. Over 100,000 Roma, who fled the 1998 war still live in exile abroad. Many still remain in Montenegro’s Konik camp, preferring to endure ghetto-like conditions for two decades rather than go home.