The newest disagreement anywhere between Serbia and you will Kosovo couldn’t prevent a great Serbian lady and you can a good Kosovo Albanian man out of falling in love. Despite the pressures they face, they alive gladly together throughout the Kosovar financial support, Pristina.
Suzana M. (left) and you may Gent S. in their flat inside Pristina; as they anxiety consequences to possess Gent’s family unit members, they don’t have to show the identities Image: Vjosa Cerkini/DW
Only good stone’s toss regarding College or university out-of Pristina, Suzana Yards. away from Novi Unfortunate when you look at the Serbia and you may Gent S. off Ferizaj during the Kosovo have put up house to one another when you look at the a great lightweight, carefully provided flat. Both twenty-five-year-olds were one or two for not as much as two years.
Theirs is the facts out of a relationship one right now seems nearly impossible within indigenous nations. It first started on the other hand of your own Balkans regarding the Croatian vent city of Rijeka towards the Adriatic coastline inside .
It absolutely was the holidays are, and you may Suzana had work once the a waiter. Gent is working on a construction website. Eventually, Suzana and her associates have been paying a few happy period leisurely into the beach in the Rijeka.
Gent try seated but a few legs away. The guy trapped Suzana’s attention. Along with his brown locks and you may brownish attention, she discovered him in some way various other, special.
Suzana – extreme and thin with much time, dark blond hair – immediately attracted Gent’s attention. He thought she try unique, too. When their sight came across, Gent plucked upwards his courage and expected Suzana when the he may purchase their an ice-solution.
Different ethnicities no problem
«Generally speaking, I’d never take on an invite that way,» recalls Suzana, «given that this is the means my moms and dads delivered me personally up, however, my associates forced us to deal with.» The two got speaking. First thing they receive that they had in accordance was you to definitely neither of these try from another location trying to find conversations otherwise prejudices connected to ethnicity.
You to definitely basic dialogue more a freeze-ointment try followed closely by additional schedules. «We appreciated him straight from the expression go,» claims Suzana. «He is a reputable, kind-hearted person.»
Good Balkan relationship
Suzana, the actual only real child out of a beneficial Serbian couple, grew up in Bosnia and you may Herzegovina. Pursuing the battles you to definitely accompanied this new separation of former Yugoslavia in early 90s, the family gone to live in Novi Sad in the Serbian province out-of Vojvodina, in which ethnic Hungarians and you may Romanians real time near to Serbs. Suzana’s moms and dads planned to inhabit an excellent multiethnic, multicultural environment. «It’s no coincidence that I’m called Suzana. My personal parents failed to have to bring me an usually Serbian basic label,» she says.
Gent was born next young man from a cultural Albanian household members within the Ferizaj in southern area Kosovo. The guy found other nationalities and you may religions from an early age while the his nearest and dearest had family relations out of Bulgaria and lots of distant connections who just weren’t of Muslim trust.
Reservations provided treatment for affection
Nevertheless, remembers Gent, their dad was not whatsoever happier whenever their child first told your about Suzana. Non-Albanian partners is actually frowned-upon for the conventional cultural Albanian family members. Furthermore, because the head of one’s members of the family, it is the father who has got the final word. Gent risked being throw out by his nearest and dearest.
«My dad questioned why I experienced a beneficial girlfriend out-of Serbia, whenever there have been thousands of Albanian girls during the Ferizaj,» says Gent. Undeterred, he decided to introduce Suzana to help you their mothers. After they came across their own, its reservations melted away plus they grew fond of her.
Kosovar men with the hunt for good «sweetheart»
Getting to know a good girl during the Kosovo often is a highly more affair. During the summer and you will wintertime getaways, many more youthful Kosovar guys who happen to live overseas already been «home» driving strong – oftentimes German – trucks hoping out of impressing the brand new girls, observing them and maybe even wanting a spouse.
