Swiss Review 3/2018

6 Swiss Review / May 2018 / No.3 Focus ENVER ROBELLI It is said that Kosovo is the 27 th canton of Switzerland. No earthquake, flood or hurricane separated the tiny country from the Swiss Confederation and transported it to the backwaters of the Balkans. The course of history ran very differently. One spring day in 1964, the Swiss Farmers’ Un- ion began recruiting agricultural workers fromYugoslavia - including lots of Kosovo Albanians. Their homeland, then a province of themulti-ethnic Yugoslavia, was poor and un- derdeveloped, and the Albanianmajority of the population were suppressed by central government in Belgrade. That is why many Kosovans decided they would rather mow Swiss meadows and milk Swiss cows than face an uncer- tain future. The future. More than half a century later, this is how things now look: Bernard Challandes fromNeuchâtel was recently appointed head coach of the Kosovo national foot- ball team. Just two years ago, FIFA admitted the small Bal- kan country as its 210 th member, and the Kosovans occupy 176 th place in the world rankings. Challandes, a top coach previously in charge of FCZ, has a good knowledge of the Swiss football scene and he knows where, betweenGeneva and St. Gallen, themany talented footballers withKosovan roots are plying their trade. Over 200,000 Albanians from the former Yugoslavia are living in Switzerland, and most come fromKosovo. The close ties that now exist between Switzerland and Kosovo are also reflected in the fact that footballers such as Xherdan Shaqiri andGranit Xhaka are amongst the biggest idols of Swiss teenagers. Certain football officials inKosovo hope that Challandes will manage to entice some talented players to Pristina. However, the stadium in the Kosovan capital does not meet the strict requirements of FIFA and UEFA, which means that the Kosovans have to play their home matches abroad. They once played in Frankfurt against the Faroe Islands, and on another occasion in Paris against Madagascar. The match against the African nation was the first under the new national coach Bernard Chal- landes. Kosovo won 1:0. Record-breaking cake Lots of things have to be improvised inKosovo, and not just on the football pitch. On 17 February, the nation celebrated its first major anniversary - ten years of independence. It was a cold winter’s day when in 2008 the Kosovan MPs de- clared their own state – while outside on Mother Teresa Boulevard the crowds marvelled at and enjoyed possibly the biggest cake ever. And to top it all off therewas free beer and fireworks. However, Kosovo is still not truly independ- ent a decade on. Serbia, the former occupying force, refuses to recognise Kosovan independence. Belgrade regards Kosovo as a renegade province. Five EU states – Spain, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Cyprus – have not recog- nised Kosovo either. Kosovo – our canton In February, Kosovo celebrated the 10 th anniversary of its independence. But what has that got to do with Switzerland? A great deal actually, as close relations exist between the two countries in a number of areas.