Youth Despair of Decent Future in Kosovo
Faced with a dismal education system, political uncertainty and economic stagnation, many young Kosovars are opting to leave.
By Sokol Ferizi in Pristina, Mitrovica, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Vienna and Brussels
All over the world, students sit in cafés, bemoaning their lot. But few voice such authentic despair as students in Kosovo, trapped in an unrecognised state that is difficult to leave and has little to offer.
Kosovar students cannot even cling to the dream that if and when it becomes easier to travel abroad, they will finally be able to benefit from the qualifications they have gained. The only public universities, in Pristina and North Mitrovica, are failing institutions. Widely seen as having politicised and corrupt administrations, and old-fashioned and stale courses, they supply a third-class education for the region's young Albanians and Serbs, leaving them ill-equipped to develop their potential.
Faced with the prospect of a diploma that is worth little, followed by probable joblessness, young people are finding it increasingly difficult to muster the energy to do something about their conditions. With civil society weak and a culture of civic activism yet to emerge, they do not believe they can play a part in the development of Kosovo. More and more look for a way out in drugs and crime, phenomena that have increased exponentially in recent years; others find succour in a return to religion.
For most, the only solution is emigration. Therein lies the irony. Many European countries have jobs a-plenty and few young people to fill them, but are resistant to immigration from places like Kosovo, which has the youngest demographic profile on the continent - half its population is under 25.
European Union officials acknowledge it is difficult for these frustrated youths to see beyond final status, but insist that, ultimately, the lack of opportunities needs to be resolved at domestic level. Genoveva Ruiz Calavera, head of the European Commission's Kosovo Issues Unit in Brussels, is clear on this point: No one is going to agitate on your behalf. "If we keep coming there with ready-made formulas, we will only perpetuate this apathy".
