From this day of February 17, 2008, Vlora Citaku keeps the memory of a polar cold and an immense emotion. “When I was called to come and sign my country’s declaration of independence, my whole body was shaking. I thought of my parents, and of my uncle who had died during the war against Serbia. Their dream came true, remembers the MP, now in opposition within the Democratic Party of Kosovo. After working for foreign journalists during the conflict (1998-1999), the young woman, from a family of activists committed to the independence of the former Serbian province, had been elected member of the Parliament of Kosovo then propelled at 28, just after independence, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Fifteen years later, seated in a trendy cafe in Pristina, the one who was later ambassador of her country to the United States and then minister for European integration also remembers the joy mixed with fear that accompanied the holding of this ceremony. . “We feared that the Serbs and the Russians [qui refusent toujours de reconnaître l’indépendance du Kosovo] do something that day, or that the Serb minority in Kosovo leaves the country en masse, making it look like an expulsion, or that they poison the water supplies. » The guns had been silent for almost ten years but the mistrust between the two neighbors had become encysted, despite the discussions led by the international community to find a way out of the tensions.
“Our independence was not the product of a secessionist will but the result of ethnic cleansing. She represented the achievement of a generation that had fought hard.”affirms the elected official who wishes to recall the policy of discrimination led by Belgrade against the province of Kosovo ten years before the war. “My parents who were teachers had to leave the university, Kosovo schools were closed, we lived under curfew…”. But, like many today, the now forty-something wishes to clarify: “We don’t have a problem with Serbs living in Kosovo; we have a problem with Serbia manipulating the Serbs in the region for its own interests. »
Mass exodus of youth
After more than fifteen years of political commitment, in the majority and then in the opposition, Vlora Citaku admits that the country still faces major challenges, in particular the massive exodus of Kosovar youth – a trend common to the countries of the region. But she is optimistic: “Democracy is a ‘work in progress’. » A file, however, complicates progress, believes the MP. “We need a final mutual recognition agreement with Belgrade. The Serbs must accept the reality of our existence, they must look at their past, even if it is always more difficult to do so when one is the aggressor. This lack of agreement weighs on foreign investments, which need stability, and on political life in general. This central subject serves as a pretext for the government not to take all the measures necessary for the reform of the country. »
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