Kosovo: The Birth of a Country

As independence is proclaimed in the provincial parliament, people from Pristina and surrounding villages gather in the Illiria Hotel. They watch the news on flickering screens, clapping, cheering, and sharing quiet smiles with neighbors. There is a sense of relief, excitement, and disbelief — a collective recognition that a new country has just been born.

Yet, amid the celebrations, an underlying tension remains. The hope for a peaceful society, where citizens’ rights are guaranteed for all, is still uncertain. Conversations drift between joy and worry, between memory and expectation. Older generations remember the violence and instability of the recent past, while younger people imagine the possibilities of a country finally shaping its own destiny.

In the hotel, the room feels alive with anticipation and uncertainty. Faces light up with joy and doubt, hands gesture, eyes meet across tables. Each movement, each glance, reveals the weight of history and the fragile promise of the future. Celebration and apprehension coexist, quietly marking the birth of a nation.