Marking its second birthday, Muslim-majority Kosovo is still facing major challenges ranging from economical woes to international recognition, amid a glimmer of hope that the Serbian minority is finally joining the fold.
"Kosovo is on the brink of an outbreak of social discontent," Bardh Hamzaj, a political analyst, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday, 16 February.
Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008 marking the final chapter in the violent break-up of the former communist Yugoslavia, has recently been hit by a wave of strikes.
Police officers and health workers staged strikes last month demanding a 100 percent salary hike.
The national economy, driven by exports of metals, cannot generate enough revenue for the government, nor can its labour market absorb some 30,000 youngsters every year.
Official data show that Kosovo is among the poorest countries in Europe with more then 40 percent unemployment and 45 percent of its two-million population living in poverty.
The global financial crisis has undermined the ability of many donor countries to meet their earlier aid obligations towards Europe's new-born baby.
Donor help accounts for 15 percent of GDP and Finance Minister Ahmet Shala said they hoped donors would help fill this year's budget gap.
The country is also still trying to gain more international ground by campaigning for more countries to recognize its independence.
"The biggest number of states which have not recognized Kosovo yet are waiting for the International Court of Justice," said Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni.
Serbia, which still considers Kosovo a breakaway province, has challenged its independence with the ICJ, which is yet to make a final decision.
Currently, a total of 65 countries -- including the US and the majority of European Union members -- recognize independent Kosovo.
Hope
But officials in the Muslim-majority country are urging calm, asserting that the current challenges, especially economical woes, need more time to be solved.
"Citizens expect that with the independence, social well-being will follow immediately," said Minister for Public Administration Arsim Bajrami.
"All expectations will not be fulfilled at once."
The minister cited some positive signs including a significant Serb turnout in the November local elections.
"It is an encouraging fact that we as the state made the local Serbs turn to the reality and understand that their future is Kosovo and their integration into the institutions (of the state)."
Many Serbs took part in the vote, the first after independence, effectively ending their boycott of polls organized since Kosovo came under UN administration in 1999 after a NATO bombing campaign that halted civilian killings and ethnic cleansing by Serbian troops.
"In four municipalities pragmatic Serbs won the vote," noted minister Bajrami.
Albanians make up about 90 percent of Kosovo's population of around two million people.
Other minorities include Roma, Bosniaks and Gorani, or Slavic Muslims.
"Kosovo is on the brink of an outbreak of social discontent," Bardh Hamzaj, a political analyst, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday, 16 February.
Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008 marking the final chapter in the violent break-up of the former communist Yugoslavia, has recently been hit by a wave of strikes.
Police officers and health workers staged strikes last month demanding a 100 percent salary hike.
The national economy, driven by exports of metals, cannot generate enough revenue for the government, nor can its labour market absorb some 30,000 youngsters every year.
Official data show that Kosovo is among the poorest countries in Europe with more then 40 percent unemployment and 45 percent of its two-million population living in poverty.
The global financial crisis has undermined the ability of many donor countries to meet their earlier aid obligations towards Europe's new-born baby.
Donor help accounts for 15 percent of GDP and Finance Minister Ahmet Shala said they hoped donors would help fill this year's budget gap.
The country is also still trying to gain more international ground by campaigning for more countries to recognize its independence.
"The biggest number of states which have not recognized Kosovo yet are waiting for the International Court of Justice," said Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni.
Serbia, which still considers Kosovo a breakaway province, has challenged its independence with the ICJ, which is yet to make a final decision.
Currently, a total of 65 countries -- including the US and the majority of European Union members -- recognize independent Kosovo.
Hope
But officials in the Muslim-majority country are urging calm, asserting that the current challenges, especially economical woes, need more time to be solved.
"Citizens expect that with the independence, social well-being will follow immediately," said Minister for Public Administration Arsim Bajrami.
"All expectations will not be fulfilled at once."
The minister cited some positive signs including a significant Serb turnout in the November local elections.
"It is an encouraging fact that we as the state made the local Serbs turn to the reality and understand that their future is Kosovo and their integration into the institutions (of the state)."
Many Serbs took part in the vote, the first after independence, effectively ending their boycott of polls organized since Kosovo came under UN administration in 1999 after a NATO bombing campaign that halted civilian killings and ethnic cleansing by Serbian troops.
"In four municipalities pragmatic Serbs won the vote," noted minister Bajrami.
Albanians make up about 90 percent of Kosovo's population of around two million people.
Other minorities include Roma, Bosniaks and Gorani, or Slavic Muslims.
