As tensions rise in Kosovo, Switzerland beat Serbia again in the World Cup, knocking Serbia out of the tournament. The smell of gunpowder in the Balkans spilled over onto the soccer field in Qatar.
The matchup between Switzerland and Serbia is sensitive because Switzerland
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There are a few Kosovars on the team. Some Kosovars have said that the Swiss team is the equivalent of Kosovo, Albania and the United States.
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After that, Kosovo's third team. Kosovo seceded from Serbia in 2008, but to date Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independent status, and relations between the authorities in Belgrade and Pristina remain tense. Kosovo has an Albanian majority and a Serbian minority, and the conflict between the two communities has been difficult to resolve.
Russia 2018
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In the World Cup, Switzerland beat Serbia 2-1 in the group stage, when the two players who scored the goals were both Kosovars. Granit Xhaka, who scored the first goal, was born to Kosovo Albanian parents, and his father was a political prisoner in Yugoslavia who moved to Switzerland to seek asylum after his release from prison. Xherdan Shaqiri, who scored the second goal, was born in Kosovo and moved to Switzerland.
Another player on the Swiss team at the time was Valon Behrami, also a refugee from Kosovo. Some of his relatives were later killed by the Serbian army during the Kosovo war. These refugees, whom Switzerland hosted, eventually became
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The members of the team that defeated Serbia on the World Cup field. From the hatred of war, to the peaceful revenge on the sports field, there must be mixed feelings in your heart.
Shaqiri has always been unapologetic about his identification with Kosovo and Albania. His statement that he would play for Kosovo if given the chance raised questions about his loyalty among Swiss fans, and later FIFA forbade the player to play for Kosovo.
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On that 2018 game, making highly politically sensitive gestures after Zaka and Shaqiri scored. They celebrated by making a gesture of two open hands and crossed thumbs. This gesture represents the double-headed eagle on the Albanian flag, indicating their identification with the Albanian nation, with Kosovo. The Serbian players were quite unimpressed, believing that there should be no politics on the pitch. Subsequently, FIFA intervened to investigate and both players suffered fines, and the incident led to much subsequent furore.At the end of 2018, the
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Playing against Red Star Belgrade.
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Head coach Jürgen Klopp has not scheduled Shaqiri to play to avoid additional political trouble.
This year's World Cup comes at a time of tension in Kosovo, where Switzerland and Serbia have once again been drawn in the same group, and in July 2022 the crisis in North Kosovo erupted. The crisis began when the Kosovo authorities demanded that Serbs in Kosovo replace their old Serbian license plates with new Republic of Kosovo license plates or face a fine. This provoked a high level of discontent among Serbs in Kosovo, with many Serbs working in government departments resigning in protest, which in turn led to an increase in tensions between Kosovo and Serbia.
Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who will be in power from 2021, has adopted an uncompromising attitude toward Serbia in pursuit of Kosovo's fully independent status. Kurti's license plate policy was originally scheduled to go into effect in August of this year, but was put on hold due to pressure, but announced again in November that he would push the policy through.
The situation in Kosovo changed rapidly just during the World Cup. Last week, the European Union summoned Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (Aleksandar Vu?i?) and Kosovo's Prime Minister Kurti to hold consultations in Brussels, which ended in failure. Originally, the EU put forward a proposal, hoping that Kosovo to suspend the implementation of the policy of license plate replacement, and Serbia will not issue new license plates of Kosovo cities, hoping to resolve the crisis. However, Kosovo did not accept the EU proposal. After the failure of the negotiations, EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell warned of a possible escalation of the situation and violence. NATO and the U.S. also called for avoiding an escalation of tensions.
