Now is the time to write

I am very happy because the idea that I’ve had for some time now seems about to be realized. Without money, the idea would have remained just an idea. The Balkans - a region in which there are so many problems to write about. How many problems are never addressed? A lot.

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Finding the right people in Kosovo was difficult. Troubles were numerous. People were afraid of the camera. Although I have many years’ experience as a journalist, I often failed to persuade them to talk. But at least I am satisfied with what I've done.

I've done as much as I could.

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Traveling to Serbia was very emotional. The trip to Belgrade reminded me of many things. Eleven years ago, I was a refugee from the regime that Belgrade, this great city, was home to.

I often thought, do these people really know what their former regime has done in Kosovo? Now, eleven years on, I travel to see my co-citizens there; to see those who, for different reasons, have linked their life with this city and this country.

But I didn’t saw them. Albanian-Serb couples in mixed marriages still have difficult times living together. In Serbia and Kosovo it’s the same situation.

It seems to me that these are the people who are paying for what happened in the past, and who will continue to do so, perhaps forever. Many things have changed - and many others must change.

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My trip to Germany. This is a country that for many people is a paradise on earth while for many others it’s hell. Many have lost their lives trying to get there.

Just a year ago, some Kosovo women and children drowned in the river Tisa on the Serbian border with Hungary, trying to get there. This is the state that provides housing, life, certainty, but which also does not allow many people to work.

At least, I thought that in this country it would be easier to do my job because people were emancipated, but it turned out to be more difficult.

Now is the time to sit at the computer and do what I know best to do. Write. I’ll keep my impressions to myself.