“It’s like discovering another planet”

Besim Haziri has plenty to smile about with Kosovo's independence declaration swissinfo.ch

Switzerland's Kosovo Albanian community is still on a high after Sunday's independence declaration by the breakaway Serbian republic.

Besim Haziri, who has lived in Geneva for 14 years, tells swissinfo why he feels like a different person after the birth of the world’s newest nation.

Dressed in his white chef’s outfit, Haziri sits down at a table next to me in between preparing lunch at the Université Populaire Albanaise, an educational centre founded in 1996 by Swiss Green parliamentarian Ueli Leuenberger.

“I feel transformed. I have the impression we’ve achieved something we’ve always been dreaming of – it’s huge what’s happened,” he beams. “It’s like discovering another planet.”

Although he was unable to fly back to Kosovo to join his friends and family for the celebrations, Haziri spoke to them on the phone on “the most beautiful day of our lives”.

“I wasn’t there, but people told me it was one hell of a party. I went to the United Nations but I had to come back to work; we still managed to celebrate though,” said the 32-year-old.

Across Switzerland, thousands of Kosovars took to the streets on Sunday afternoon to rejoice at the news. An estimated 10,000 people gathered in Lausanne and 2,500 met up at the Place des Nations, opposite the United Nations’ European headquarters in Geneva.

Switzerland is home to 200,000 members of the Kosovar diaspora, or one in ten Kosovars – the second-largest immigrant community after Italians.

Haziri, who originates from the town of Gjilan near the Macedonian border, fled the troubles in Kosovo at the age of 18 and has rebuilt his life in Geneva. He has since been joined by two of his brothers and has a huge network of “one hundred” extended family members in Switzerland.

No return?

But despite the independence declaration and a start for the republic, for the moment he has no intention of going back.

“For my holidays, maybe. But I couldn’t imagine settling back there, as I’ve been here in Switzerland for years,” he said.

“Switzerland is my second country. Thanks to Switzerland we’ve managed to look after our family back in Kosovo. Over there there’s no work and unemployment is over 60 per cent. Without Switzerland we wouldn’t have what we have now.”

Every month the young chef sends part of his salary back to his parents so that they can survive. His father, who used to be a hotel director, has been out of work for a number of years.

“My biggest hope is that Kosovo’s independence is recognised by all countries and that people live in harmony together,” he said, adding that the Kosovar Serb minority had no reason to worry for their future.

Haziri’s other big hope it that the move boosts investor confidence in the country to help reduce unemployment and give locals a future.

“Before the declaration most people in Kosovo just thought about wanting to leave, but that will change. The declaration will give hope to people over there to stay put and rebuild their lives,” he added.

swissinfo, Simon Bradley in Geneva

Kosovo

Kosovo has been run by the United Nations, backed by Nato troops, since the alliance’s 1999 bombing campaign to end a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

The Albanian majority – 90% of the population – reject a return to Serb rule. Newly elected leaders of the province promised to coordinate a declaration of independence with the US and the EU, which is due to take over supervision of the territory from the UN.

Switzerland is not part of the group of nations – Germany, the US, France, Britain, Italy and Russia – that are attempting to determine the fate of Kosovo, but it is actively involved in the debate.

Up to 220 Swiss soldiers are deployed as part of the multinational Kosovo Force (Kfor). An additional 50 peacekeepers can be sent to the province for stints lasting up to two months in the case of a deteriorating situation.

The mandate of this Swisscoy force was extended to 2011 by the Swiss government in December last year.