Kosovo youth strive to turn visa frustration into hope

I dream of visiting a European Union state. Will I get a chance to be young? The 19-year-old from Pristina is one of many young people in Kosovo who have not been able to travel to Europe, but dream of looking closely at Paris, Berlin, or Rome.

Close and Loving Europe Unattainable

The obstacles to these trips to Kosovo citizens are severalfold: the high cost of obtaining visas, complex and often skeptical procedures against Kosovo youth. Further, trips to Europe are very expensive for their standard of living. A Kosovar who works in Kosovo earns about 300 euros a month, while only a plane ticket to EU states costs as much.

Europe mostly attracts me with history, culture, architecture and natural beauty. But also with its life and its political organism. In my eyes Europe is not perfect, yet compared with my country, I see it many times more developed. For Kosovo as a state, Europe is currently presented as elusive. And that may be one reason why many young people head for it individually, demanding a better life”, Kryeziu says.

Young people in Europe really work hard, but they also offer them more opportunities where they can engage and develop. This is a big difference from many young people in Kosovo, often taking much of the time in vain and without any activity.

Kryeziu recalls that Western Balkan states offer little opportunity for Kosovo youth to perform any professional practice or participate in various training in Europe. Because at the moment of the most detailed briefing for Kosovars' applications, the condition that stops and irritates Europeans, is that they are not citizens of a European Union member state”.

Europe closes doors, but youth aims to bring it to Kosovo

The opening of the European gate is delaying for Kosovo youth, but it has not lost hope and has undertaken initiatives to bring Europe closer to Kosovo. Argjir Dubova, 25-year-old from Pristina, along with Gentiana Krasniqi and their friends, have started to organise different events in Kosovo, aimed at promoting European thoughts and values across Europe: within the framework of the European civic initiative „Pulse of Europe”. Their desire is to promote European values and thinking in Kosovo, but also to show the European pulse of Albanians in Europe.

Unlike other peers, who have not had the opportunity to travel to Europe, Argjir has made precisely experience and practice at the European Commission in Luxembourg a year ago, to encourage other young people to participate in events for the European Union and to march together on the values and diversity of the states of Europe.

<x0) No- EU Councils”

For us, the fundamental values that every European must broadcast are respect for human dignity, freedom and equality. These are also the values in which the European Union is established, then different opinions should be respected, not forgetting basic values. Therefore, Kosovo and any other European state should work on the protection and promotion of these” values, Dubova says.

Europe appears in its eyes to be a country of peace and stability, which becomes even more distinct from the variety of different cultures and beautiful languages. ”

Although there is no measure to assess how much Albanians love Europe, the story speaks of the European orientation of Albanians. Kosovo today has the youngest population in Europe with an average of 26 years and is also one of the most pro-European states. Categorisation for Kosovars in “non - EUcountries” -- that is, countries that are not part of the European Union -- greatly hinders these young people. Although their state is not part of the EU, they do not feel themselves different from the citizens of the European Union.

Dubova's advice to the EU is that setting “No- EU Countries” may be best to replace it with “Potential ♫ EU Countries” or “Future EUcountries”. As Robert Schuman said, in his statement on May 9, 1950, “Europe will not be made at once”, so we are all Europeans and we must all help integrate all Europeans into Europe. ”

/DW