When the country your territory is in tries to murder you, hard feelings emerge. Almost ten years after U.S. intervention and the official end of war, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, formed its own independent government and drew its own borders. It’s kind of like if Texas were to leave the U.S. because the U.S. government decided it wanted to keep the land but annihilate all Texans.
Kosovo declared independence in February of 2008, but the rest world has been slow to recognize this, which has created all sorts of problems for Kosovar residents. What do you do, how do you function, how do you travel, how do you get involved in world decision-making when only some countries think that you’re real? As of 2018, 109 of the 192 countries that make up the United Nations have officially recognized Kosovo. Serbia, obviously, has not. Serbia still claims Kosovo as a territory of its own.
That’s why if you type in Pristina (in Kosovo we spell it Prishtina, but the rest of the world drops the h) into Google flights, it will say Pristina, Serbia. It's also why if you look at Kosovo on Google maps, its upper border (with Serbia) is a dotted line instead of a solid one.
I know, it's complicated. It took me months to understand the region and the country that I currently live in, but I promise you, we will get it all straight together!
Currently, there are negotiations taking place between governments in the region, trying to reach stabilization. However, there’s a lot of corruption, and it remains an extremely touchy matter. Ethnic conflict and tensions are still incredibly real.
