Tiny Kosovo has played a greater role in history than many in the West can imagine. In 1389 King Lazar of Serbia halted the march of Islam into central Europe on Kosovo’s battlefields. Were it not for this, Western history may have been unimaginably different.
More recently, the meltdown of the former Yugoslavia started with a big lie in Kosovo. Ethnic Serbs told a tall tale of persecution at the hands of the Muslim majority. This led to the exact opposite becoming real (rather than imagined): Serbs sought to put Kosovo’s Muslim’s “in their place” – as in, under the jackboot of Serb nationalists. A wave of Serb nationalism surged across all Yugoslavia soon after.
It’s hard to overstate what a brutal chapter in European history this proved. It took two generations for ethnic cleansing to return to Europe. After WW2, it was assumed that it could never happen here again.
Asides history, there’s two other great reasons to visit Kosovo:
(1) The mainstream Instagram crowd is not there, and may have never even heard of the place. No selfie sticks, no extended photo shoots blocking the best view and celebrated landmarks. It’s a gritty, real place.
(2) Any place that 1 in 100 couldn’t place on a map is probably good value and sure enough, Kosovo is that. One day a Kardashian will have a flight diverted here for some reason or other and it will become another soulless simulacrum within a year. If you crave something – anything – real, here’s your chance…
Dr Martin James 