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Kosovo: Dashed Hopes

March 18, 2015

Tens of thousands of Kosovans have left their home country for Serbia and Hungary in recent months. Now, border security has been stepped up and few are managing to leave. It's both a curse and a blessing, because people are urgently needed in Kosovo.

https://p.dw.com/p/1EszA

For weeks, up to ten booked-out tour buses a day left the capital Pristina alone, headed for Serbia. There hasn't been a comparable wave of emigration since 1999, during the Kosovo War. More and more schools are closing because there's a shortage of teachers. Businesses lack customers. Kosovo, with its 1.8 million inhabitants, is considered the poorhouse of Europe. It's home to the youngest population on the continent, and youth unemployment lies at 70 percent.