Çeku by invitation only on Europe Day

Europe Day, which was declared a "Day" in the Milan Summit of 1985, is a day meant to celebrate the creation of the European Union and a day meant to celebrate the European values of "peace and solidarity." With a title like "Europe Day" one would naturally think that this holiday should be a celebration of all of Europe. But it's really only meant to be celebrated by the member countries of the EU. Even though May 9th is a day to celebrate EU countries specifically, all non members are still invited to join in the festivities and celebrate a union they are not part of. This is exactly what Kosovo did this week. Despite the fact that the EU has imposed some of the harshest immigration and trade laws for Kosovars, and despite their disinterest and ambiguity about whether we join the EU or not, we still insisted on celebrating a holiday created by a union that still doesn't fully recognize us as an independent state.

Yes, Kosovo is in Europe and its people are European, but "Europe Day" is not. During Kosovo's celebration of Europe Day the culminating event was a performance at the National Theatre in Prishtina by classical guitarist Petrit Çeku, along with Pedro Ribeiro Rodrigues (Portugal) and Tomislav Vuksic (Croatia). Çeku is considered one of the world's best classical guitarists and is from Prizren. He’s a talented musician a small country like ours can be proud of. Even though there probably are countless people who would have purchased tickets to see him perform, this event was "invite only." A Kosovar success, performing in his own country, but only to the few "elite" worthy enough to see him.

Çeku plays with an intense sensitivity to the music, controlling the tempo and dynamics of the work with utmost precision. And clearly seen within all the control and precision is a passion for what he is doing. Music like this shouldn't only be made available to the few who could get the "invitation". We're bitter towards the EU for excluding us all of the time, and yet, often we ourselves do the very same thing to each other. Culture should be available to everyone, and should be accessible to everyone, especially on a day meant to celebrate universal values such as "peace and solidarity."

Photo: Majlinda Hoxha