The student from Serbia visits Kosovo for the first time: The past does not hinder our future

This is the first time that the 21-year-old visits Kosovo.

In Novi Sad, he studies in the field of software and information technology, while in Pristina he met students from different countries of the world, including colleagues from the University of Pristina.

He says he got the suggestion to apply to this summer university from a friend.

“I usually travel for various exchange projects. I had a few weeks free in my calendar and a friend told me that it is the International Summer University of Pristina. I decided to apply… Why not when I would have the chance to see what it’s like here and meet a lot of people?!“, says Kumovic for Radio Free Europe.

With colleagues from Kosovo, he says he had the opportunity to discuss various topics, but not so much about the past between Albanians and Serbs.

“We have very interesting stories and people sometimes mention them, but most of us weren’t even born at that time. So we didn’t let that aspect spoil our fun here“, says Kumovic.

In the years 1998-99, a war initiated by the then Serbian regime took place in Kosovo, leaving over 13,000 civilians dead and thousands more missing. Even 23 years after the war, more than 1,600 people are still missing – most of them Albanians.

Kosovo and Serbia are in talks to normalize relations, but the process is going slowly.

“It is always better to avoid these topics. But when we talk about them, we try to see them from a friendship point of view, not from a political point of view… but, what are we going to do together with each other“, says Kumovic.

He adds that in the conversations with his Albanian colleagues, he has noticed that he and they have commonalities and differences, but he does not elaborate more.

“I cannot speak for all Serbs and I cannot speak for people from Kosovo. But I can speak as an individual who believes that people should work together to overcome their differences and build something lasting.”says Kumovic.

He expresses his happiness that he chose to visit Kosovo, where, in addition to attending the Summer University, he also visited tourist locations, including Serbian monasteries.

The incident in Skenderaj worried the students

In addition to him, four other students from Serbia were also present at the Summer University of Pristina. Radio Free Europe tried to talk to them, but they were reluctant.

“After the event that happened that day (the protest of the ‘Black Eagles’ fan group), I don’t feel comfortable talking about any journalist“, said one of them through a written message.

Other Serbian students also said that they would not want to be exposed to the media, expressing concern about the incident that happened on July 17 in the city of Skenderaj.

On this day, some fans, known as “Black Eagles” and supported by some war veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army, prevented the visit of the students of the International Summer University of Pristina to the Jashari family memorial in the village of Prekaz, claiming that there were Serbs in the group of students.

Officials from the Summer University of Pristina said that in the group traveling to Prekaz, “everyone was international”, and that the visit was later canceled “so as not to provoke the situation”. The event caused reactions for and against, especially in social media.

The “Adem Jashari” complex is a cultural heritage monument, which commemorates the events of March 5, 6 and 7, 1998, when the forces of the then Serbian regime killed 20 members of Adem Jashari’s immediate family and over 30 cousins ​​and relatives. his.

Bekim Jashari, from this family, said that preventing students from visiting the memorial was contrary to the attitudes of this family.

The International Summer University of Prishtina is organized every year by the University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina” and hundreds of local and international students and professors participate in it.

This year, he started work on July 11 and finished on July 22. His works, according to the University of Pristina, were attended by about 300 participants from different countries of the world.

top channel