Kosovo: the Unemployed ‘Young Europeans’

21 Oct 2010 / 05:07
While Kosovo’s government has spent millions to broadcast its image to the world of a smiling and young population, a report released this week presents the darker side of being young in Kosovo.
Petrit Collaku
“I don’t feel like a ‘Young European,’; maybe because I've never had a chance to go to Europe and see the similarities and differences between us and our European counterparts,” said Milot, a 22-year-old student, in the survey “Unleashing Change, Voices of Kosovo Youth 2010”, released on Wednesday.

The Pristina-based “Kosovar Stability Initiative”, which surveyed 1,300 respondents for the report, points to rampant unemployment as the main issue affecting young people in Kosovo.

“Unemployment in Kosovo is destroying young people,” said Milot, while other respondents echoed that formalities and nepotism create further problems as young people search for work.

Engjellushe Morina, executive director of the NGO, said that young people are concerned about finding jobs, not happy with education, and many are aiming to migrate.

“We are talking about half of the population under 25 years of age,” Morina told Balkan Insight. According to Kosovo’s Statistic Institute, in 2009 the unemployment rate in Kosovo was 45,4 per cent, with the age group of 15-24 hit the hardest at 73 per cent.

She added that the ‘young Europeans’ rhetoric of Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci should be translated into practical actions.

“The year 2011 should be declared the year for youth, and visible support should be found in the state budget,” said Morina.

Kosovo's EUR 6 million campaign last year broadcast images of the young country across the world with advertisements featured on international networks like the BBC and CNN.

For its part, the government says that it is aware that the unemployment in Kosovo affects mostly the youth.

Kosovo’s deputy minister of labor and social welfare, Zenun Pajaziti, shifted some of the blame to the Kosovo's uncertain position in the international scene.

Pajaziti told Balkan Insight that the government has difficulty creating bilateral agreements with other countries because Kosovo is still not a member of the International Labor Organisation, ILO.

He added that the government cannot make any long-term policies for employment since it is does not know how long Kosovo will be left on the margins of the international community.

Isuf Mecinaj, a 20-year-old student from Skenderaj, studies law at Pristina University. He stressed that the unemployment problem must be addressed by the government.

“Today, you can get a job if you have a relative who works in the office where you apply,” Mecinaj told Balkan Insight.

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