Now is the time to write

Jeton Musliu

Travel time is over. After Kosovo, Serbia and Germany, now it’s time to sit down and listen to my interviews. There are so many of them. And I have to put it all in 2,500 words.

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.

***
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.

***
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.

***
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.

Fellow Bio

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Jeton Musliu

Jeton Musliu a journalist based in Pristina, currently works on the domestic news desk for the daily Kosovan newspaper Express. He has published numerous investigative articles on topics ranging from corruption, justice, security and terrorism.

Topic

Topic 2010: Taboo

Taboos change – rapidly. Homosexuality was once a taboo in Western Europe, as was “living in sin”, [i.e. outside marriage], abortion, childlessness, physical disabilities, atheism and suicide

Diary

07 Oct 2010 / 12:33

It was good to talk

Marcus Tanner
06 Oct 2010 / 10:20

Strange Times in Skopje

Jeton Musliu
01 Sep 2010 / 11:20

Completing the B Ring

Mircea Dan Opris
23 Aug 2010 / 13:35

Ten Intros later...

Jeton Musliu
16 Aug 2010 / 16:23

My last stop

Georgiana Ilie
13 Aug 2010 / 10:09

The hardest thing in my research

Majlinda Aliu
02 Aug 2010 / 10:20

Two months of silence, so much info

Mircea Dan Opris
27 Jul 2010 / 14:54

Now is the time to write

Jeton Musliu
16 Jul 2010 / 11:13

Heat Follows Me Everywhere, Even to London

Mila Popova