Official version published in the Paris Globalist: http://www.parisglobalist.org/kosovo-crossroads-post-war-state-limbo/ 

In a post-conflict context, now in a period of recovery, Kosovo is the newest country in Europe. Following its independence in 2008, after the violent breakup of Yugoslavia and bloody ethnic wars of the 1990s Kosovo is currently at a crossroads. The events left thousands missing and crippled, and thousands of survivors of violence, including those who suffered conflict-related sexual violence.

Indeed, traces of the conflict are present throughout Kosovo. Memorial sites marked with flowers, plaques, name engravings and flags, as well as commemoration ceremonies are ubiquitous. Mines from the war have still not been entirely mapped out and removed, some exist in the mountains of Kosovo on the borders. Massive graves -the latest which was questionably believed to be under the territory of the University of Prishtina and the Serbian Orthodox church, whose construction has been halted due to tensions- continue to be unearthed. Survivors of the conflict are struggling to come to terms, many suffering psychological problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, and in receiving reparation from the state for the harm they experienced. Survivor refugees painfully recount their journeys as they were expulsed out of Kosovo into the borders of Albania and Macedonia. The legacy of the conflict manifests itself in the bitterness, hurt, despair and fatigue of both Albanians and Serbs, as well as other involved ethnicities during the Balkan wars. In international relations, Serbia maintains remorse towards the US and Europe for leading the NATO campaign bombing in 1999 to end the war.

Members of the Kosovo Liberation army, whether deceased or alive, are hailed as heroes in Kosovo. Meanwhile the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia apprehended and sentenced tens of former commanders who committed war crimes on all sides. As 11 July 2016 marks the 21st year anniversary of the massacre in Bosnia, in which Serbian forces separated men and women to executed 8,000 Muslim men and boys, a culture of remembrance is developing, as it did so after the Holocaust. This remembrance and eventual healing begins with recognition of atrocities by all side, and recognition of the victims and survivors on all sides.

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International organizations did much to end the war and to facilitate the peacebuilding process afterwards. EULEX (the EU Rule of Law mission) UNMIK (the UN mission in Kosovo), KFOR (NATO forces), and security forces in Kosovo are now nearing the end of their missions in Kosovo, after playing a stabilizing role post-war (though not without their own set of scandals).

Now 16 years after the war, Kosovo remains a country in limbo – recognized as Kosovo, an independent nation by some, and as continuing part of Serbia by Russia. Precipitating a deadlock in the UN , the P5 Security Council members cannot agree on what status to award it. This complicates matters further for impartial international organizations or parties, such as the United Nations, that are in the country to assist the population inclusively, but that cannot reference the state as either Kosovo or Serbia – all the while having to maintain positive relations with the government of Kosovo, Serbia, and allies. Needless to say, this makes logistics and political “correctness” an exceedingly sensitive dance.

Travel to Serbia is forbidden for those who carry a Kosovo stamp in their passport,who are turned away at the border crossings (as was a brave friend of mine who then hitchhiked back to Prishtina). Within Kosovo, pockets of communities defiantly raise Serbian flags..

Experiencing a 30% unemployment rate and struggling as the poorest country in Europe, Kosovo is now at a delicate transitional phase in which everything is at stake: the development of its economy, the reintegration of an ethnically divided population, and accession into the European family.

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Yet these movements of transition are also the key – should the post-conflict transitional justice process fail, the population which has suffered much will lose its trust in the government and other involved actors irreparably, as it occurred in Albania when the transitional justice process was hijacked by political parties to discredit their opponents. Meanwhile, corruption in an opaque privatization process  as occurred in post-communism Eastern Europe, leads to wealth that is commanded under the hands of a few, and inequality reigns.

At the same time, the country is working hard to up its status in the global theater, with European Union accession being its main aim. The country is putting in place robust laws and legal frameworks for democracy and human rights, with support from international organizations as well. Yet implementation in these laws lags behind.

So against this context, the most necessary processes are transitional justice, democratization, remembrance of the past, transparent privatization with media scrutiny, donor aid coordination, and perhaps most of all — the reintegration of Albanians, Serbians, and other ethnicities in the region, which is vital. They hold the key to healing the population and the entrance of the country into a more peaceful Europe.