Identity and Community Between Two Legal Worlds: Growing Up Kosovar in Northern Ireland

Rhianne Sloan 

Growing up in Northern Ireland, as a second-generation Kosovar citizen, my understanding of the law has been greatly shaped by my mixed heritage. Within these seemingly opposite locations, one shaped by resilience and conflict, the other by complex history and division, I have nonetheless found similarities.

For people with multi-ethnic identities, the law plays a crucial role in shaping how you view identity and community. The law both in Kosovo and Northern Ireland is a prime example of this.  

I had previously written an article reflecting on Kosovo’s legal and rule of law struggles emerging from its conflict situation. However, I believe it is crucial to highlight - something I did not then have the opportunity to do - how Northern Ireland and my mother country share unexpected parallels. Northern Ireland is a country where identity and community are very often defined by dual allegiances. Whether these are Irish or British, Nationalist or Unionist, these identities overlap and are integral to how people view themselves as citizens in our society. Rooted in an amalgamation of history and politics, Kosovo shares a similar situation where the experiences of its citizens are also shaped by nationality and legal recognition.  

Kosovo is a country in the Balkan region of Southeast Europe. Previously being part of Serbia within the federal Yugoslavia, Kosovo formally declared independence in 2008 after being governed by a UN interim administration from 1999, after its conflict with Serbia. This conflict occurred under Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, who rejected the existence of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, through a regime of ethnic cleansing. This open conflict between Serb forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) lasted from 1998-99 and was ended by international intervention through NATO airstrikes. However, tensions had been boiling for years before this.  

 Many countries, other than Serbia itself of course, do not recognise Kosovo’s independence. These include Russia and several EU member states including, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia, and Romania. Some of these states have their own similar political reasons that would be exacerbated upon recognising Kosovo, for example, Spain with its tensions with Catalonia and the Basque country. 

Kosovo today contains many diverse ethnic communities, which are all reflected in the stars on its flag. These are mainly Albanian and Serbians, which according to its constitution are both the official languages of the state. There are also groups which are afforded a star, these include Bosniaks, Gorani, Roma and Turks.  In 2008, an estimate by the Statistical Office of Kosovo published that Kosovo had 2.1 million inhabitants, 92% were Albanian, 5.3% Serbians, 1.1% Roma, 0.4% Turks and 1.2% other. 

In establishing Kosovo, the new state was envisaged as a state for all citizens regardless of political affiliations or cultural divide. A place where people could rally behind one multiethnic identity, being Kosovar. In the proposal of UN chief negotiator Martti Ahtisaari, the state would be built as a testament to overcoming conflict rather than a solution to a historical dispute where any one group would ‘triumph’ over another.  

But despite the multiethnic nature of Kosovo being reflected in its establishment and Constitution, legal recognition of identity can get a bit more complicated. Many citizens in Kosovo face challenges whilst working or obtaining visas to travel. Due to non-recognition of our self-declared statehood, the Kosovo passport is not accepted everywhere. On top of an already complex understanding of identity, this can add an additional layer. In fact, Kosovo’s citizens have only enjoyed visa-free travel to the Schengen area for one year, this being granted by the European Union in January 2024. Previously, holders of the Kosovo passport could access visa free travel to less than 20 countries. The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti expressed on X, “Our citizens now have equal standing to visit family or pursue educational, cultural & business opportunities one short flight away- one step out of isolation, one step closer to [the European Union].” Ending this previous isolation of Kosovar citizens has enabled a strengthening of their identity, even allowing them, as the government stated when this measure was implemented, “to feel European.” This is a positive step in the right direction for Kosovo given its aspirations to become a member state of the EU. 

The role of the law in shaping identity is equally significant in Northern Ireland. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement ended the Troubles and was an acknowledgment of our region’s complex and dual identities, by granting people the right to hold both British and Irish citizenship if they so wished. This legal recognition allows individuals to navigate their sense of belonging on their own terms and reflects the layered national identity in Northern Ireland. 

For second-generation immigrants like me, the law is not limited to rights and what we can or cannot do, but it also is integral to how we perceive ourselves and navigate our place in society. This is undoubtedly felt here in Northern Ireland as well. With both places having lived through conflict and division, they have emerged from this albeit at different rates, but the search for identity and the experiences of their people in pursuit of this may link the two countries more than would initially appear. The complexity of my identity is something I am proud of and growing up between both cultures has allowed me to realise that we don’t have to conform to one single way of perceiving ourselves and that identity can be something that continues to evolve, just as we do.