KOSOVO DIARY

[Aleksic Ivan]

Kosovo diary

My Aleksic Ivan Photography first image and knowledge of Kosovo comes from the famous
Serbian film "The Battle of Kosovo

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InvewtJ0GGM ) which I first saw the
late eighties, early nineties, when I first went to primary school. Of
course I was too young to realize the message that the film is wearing
and the then situation in Kosovo, but remember that I was impressed by
our courage and bravery of the few army outnumbered the Turkish army.
One of the things I realized, was "Who was the winner? ". Soon I was
in school to "clarify". Serbia was the moral victor, and the meaning
of "moral victor" I only later understood, precisely a few years ago
when I visited Kosovo.

     As I wrote im ireport, Kosovo has for several years, especially
after the unilateral declaration of independence, a very topical issue
and a powerful political weapon in Serbia, while very little is known
about the real life of Serbs in Kosovo, and even less to the
Albanians. What is obvious is that there is great hatred between Serbs
and Albanians in Kosovo. This hatred existed for centuries in the
area, but has escalated  the past few years.

    After the war and NATO bombing in 1999, soldiers of KFOR came to
Kosovo to maintain peace artificially. I have seen that such a peace
is only apparent, because both Serbs and Albanians have used every
opportunity and inattention KFOR to hurt each other. When I talked
with the Serbs, I heard terrible stories about Albanian crimes against
Serbs: A pregnant woman who was murdered on the terrace, while the
hairdryer clothes, by Albanian snipers and a bomb was thrown into a
crowded nightclub during the weekend are just some of examples. Also
when I talked to the Albanians and they had their own stories against
the Serbs. The  Albanian man told me about a time when he studied in
Pristina and the roommate who one day went to the store and gone
forever.

    I realized that reconciliation between the two peoples is
impossible. But hope has given me an Albanian who told me that his
child was born after the war and that it will not remember the crimes
that occurred during the past year. If peace continues, and this new
generation of children grow up in peace, there is a chance that the
future of Serbs and Albanians to live harmoniously.

    Albanians and Serbs still live in Kosovo so close but so far. An
interesting example is the town of Kosovska Mitrovica in northern
Kosovo which is the center of the conflict. Serbs live in the north,
and Albanians in the south. The town is so small it literally from the
balcony they can see what is happening on the other side. Divided by
only a small bridge over the Ibar River. The bridge who lost their
purpose to bring together people, he now divides people.

     They live in different realities that co-exist but “do not
recognize each other”. There are to many misunderstandings and
barriers that still hinder normal communication between Serbs and
Albanians, displaying both still present obsession with history and
identity.  Many Serbs are in confusion as a result of the
establishment of parallel institutions. Kosovo Serbs do not know who
to ask - if the parallel institutions selected in the last Serbian
elections, which does not recognize UNMIK to Kosovo institutions,
which you run the risk of being labeled traitors or institutions that
have nothing to Serbia in Kosovo and the powers that they can not
solve the problem.

    But currently is difficult to be a Serb in Kosovo because Kosovo
two years ago was part of Serbian state and the Albanians were a
minority. And today is the reverse, when the Albanians in 2008
unilaterally proclaimed independence, Serbs have become a minority in
their own country. Since then, a large number of Serbs left Kosovo,
and if you lived there for generations and is considered the Kosovo
Serbian holy land with the

highest number of monasteries and
historical monuments. This is life in the same space, but in different
"states". Albanians related to Kosovo Serbs to Serbia ". And some
still say that Serbia is the " moral victor ".