Kosovo

 

00`02

To whom does Kosovo belong? Albanians and Serbs have been fighting for supremacy over the area for centuries. The ethnic border runs along the river in Mitrovica, with Albanians living in the south and Serbs in the north. NATO soldiers keep both sides apart.

 

00`20

OT German

 

00`30

As a precaution, drivers have played down their national characteristics not to reveal whether they are Albanian or Serbs. As does Kapllan Baruti, an Albanian judge who lives in the Serbian north of the city. He is constantly on the alert.

 

00`45

OT Kapllan Baruti, Judge, North Mitrovica

As I have been living here for over 20 years the Serbs know me and have had time to get used to having me around. It is even harder for my colleagues to move about freely if they do not have a car.

 

01`10

Judge Baruti lives under close security near a Police Station. The Kosovo UN administration has stationed a white Jeep on permanent alert next to it.

 

01`20

The Baruti family actually supports the independence of Kosovo. Having said that, they are also not in favour of independence. Their reservations are caused by the way the conflict is splitting the city.

 

01`30

OT Mrs. Baruti (no insert)

The Serbs have already threatened us by phone. At the moment things have calmed down again.

 

01`30

OT Kapllan Baruti (no insert)

With the independence of Kosovo, the Serbs in the north of the city would also adopt the idea of separation. Which means that Mitrovica would be a divided city with the border running through the middle of the city. I do not know whether they would actually erect a physical boundary. Were that to happen, there would be nothing to keep our family over here rather than in the Albanian south where our people live.

 

02`07

Open

 

02`11

We are making our way from the northern region of Kosovo to the south.

 

02`17

Eight and a half years after the war, the hostility is still evident.

 

02`20

This is particularly clear in Oertchen Besje. Here Albanians form the ethnic majority and Serbs live in fear. “For Sale” signs are seen nearly in each house. The prospect of a Kosovo, governed by Albanians, completely without the protection of the UN, sounds a dodgy one to the inhabitants of Besje.

 

02`42

OT Woman in shop

Independence would make people leave. We cannot anticipate what would happen. Perhaps we would not be abused at all, but even so, we would still be isolated and work would be difficult to find.

 

02`57

The homestead of Farmer Zivkovic has been up for sale for three weeks. His family have been living in the Kosovo for four generations. They were always friendly with the Albanians until the advent of the war. Today they are the enemy.

 

03`12

OT Zivojin Zivkovic, Serbian farmer

The Albanians often beat me up, without any reason. They wanted to steal my tractor.

 

03`22

OT Spasa Zivkovic, Serbian farmer

I told my husband, he can remain here. But I want to be off.

 

Rep: Where then would you want to go?

 

OT Spasa Zivkovic

I would go to Serbia, to my daughter.

 

03`31

In 2004, the Serbs experienced what blind hate could do. Albanians violated 150 orthodox churches and monasteries while the NATO force, KFOR, watched on helplessly. In the case of San Andreas church it was only the stone walls that withstood the fire. The church was completely burned.

 

03`56

Now, three years later, the historic building has been restored. The UN administration wants to show that the Serbians too can count on its protection, and to restore lost confidence.

 

04`10

In order to keep the conflicting groups in check, NATO stationed 16,000 men in Kosovo.

 

04`18

OT Nils Toenning, Vice Commander, North Kosovo

Unrest grows. However, it is not that we assume that security is endangered, more to show that we are prepared for all eventualities, to demonstrate operational readiness. One could say that although strained, the situation in the Kosovo is calm. There are many rumors in the circulation, which easily cause tension. Our role is to make sure that no clashes arise there.

 

04`50

The Serbs and the Albanians have to be protected from each other. We discover that at the border crossing of Rudnica which lies between Serbia and the secessionist republic of Kosovo. Some days previously a basketball team turned up at the border crossing. The team plays in the Kosovan league, but the players live across the border.

 

05`16

They are all Serbs who had fled from Kosovo. They live and train in Serbia but return to Kosovo for games. The three hour bus journey, when they do come, is already enough to exhaust them.

 

05`30

OT Player

Our sports hall is in Serbia, so we cannot host home games. Wherever we play we are always the guest team. We train in Serbia not in Kosovo, so we feel in an unfamiliar area in each game.

 

05`49

On the road through their own homeland they need to be escorted by the police for their protection.

(Stadium) Their entry into the stadium is like an entry into a hostile fortress. There are no fans for the Serbian Kosovan team here.

(Coach) About a year ago the coach’s car was bombed – not by Albanians, but by Serbian nationalists.

 

06`24

OT Miomir Dasic, Coach “Bambi”

Nobody helps our team “Bambi”. That is completely logical in that Serbs resent the fact that such a team exists at all, while Albanians would rather invest in their own clubs rather than us.

 

06`45

The public is not all that understanding. The fan area is blocked off, however only on the Albanian side.

(Stadium under guard)

The international administration does all it can to make sports games possible between Serbs and Albanians and to avoid incidents.

 

07`09

In spite of the difficult situation, there are still people who return to Kosovo. Krenare Rugova is the only fashion designer in Kosovo. She studied in Paris and New York before returning to her homeland three and a half years ago.

 

07`38

Power failures are part of daily life in Kosovo, to be borne with patience.

 

07`43

OT Krenare Rugova, fashion designer

Of course I believe that things will become better. Why else would I have come back here, and why else would I work 12 hours a day? Independence would be good for my business, as we could reach international markets. Till now there are no quality fabrics available in Kosovo. That would be a great help to me.

 

08`14

Prices are not at a level with European ones. The average income is 250 Euros. You cannot obtain a dress by Rugova at under 140.

 

08`26

It is not common to see Albanians and Serbs performing together. The Blue Bridge Band is an exception, with musicians hailing from the Serbian north and the Albanian south of Mitrovica – they are all colleagues in international organizations.

 

(Bridge)

In daily life the bridge links up the two parts of the town – not its inhabitants.

 

THE END