On Thursday, at the Harmony Hero Awards Ceremony at Kino Armata in Prishtina, Antigone Isufi was awarded for her article published in Prishtina Insight ‘Love divided: Kosovo-Serbian Couple Struggle to Build a Home in Disapproving Society’ – as an Educational and Research story.

The article talks about Suzana Maric, 25 years old, from Novi Sad, Serbia, and Gent Sejdiu, also 25 years old, from Ferizaj, Kosovo, for whom the centuries-old enmity and the bloody war between the two countries have not been an obstacle to living together.

While accepting the award, Isufi stated that “If two people from societies in enmity can live within a family, they can also live within a society”.

It is very rare in Kosovo to hear about mixed Kosovo-Serbian couples. The tense situation between the two states, the different narratives and the failure to confront the past that would lead to reconciliation, make it almost impossible for people to bond in the institution of marriage.

Most Albanian-Serbian couples are now in their 60s, married in an era when secular communism crossed ethnic and religious divides. 

Other winners in this ceremony included Valentina Aliu & Jelena Bulatović, from Lipjan and Gracanica, for Community Engagement, Agon Rexhepi,from Prishtina, for Advocacy and Activism, Erblina Bunjaku,  from Gracanica, for Innovative Initiatives and  Milja Mihajlović,from Lipjan, for Art and Creativity.

Regional Youth Cooperation Office, RYCO is an independently functioning institutional mechanism, founded by the Western Balkans 6 participants (WB 6): Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, aiming to promote the spirit of reconciliation and cooperation between the youth in the region through youth exchange programs.