Kosovo Economy Faces Fresh Hit If Diaspora Stays Away

Arbnora Shkreta lives with her family in Sweden, but never fails to visit her native Kosovo twice a year, once in the summer and again in the winter. This year may be different, however.

With her father among those considered at higher risk from COVID-19, travel for him has suddenly become dangerous and Shkreta and her family are considering postponing their planned summer visit of five to six weeks, regardless of whether the country opens its borders with the lifting of pandemic restrictions.

Nor does she think it fair to risk placing extra strain on Kosovo's under-resourced hospitals.

"It's not ethical for us 'foreigners' to take healthcare places and burden the system," Shkreta told BIRN.

If the rest of the Kosovo diaspora is as considerate as Shkreta, Kosovo's economy is in for a shock.

Large Kosovo diaspora

Passengers wearing masks in public transport in Pristina, Kosovo, as the country starts getting out of the lockdown, May 18, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/ Valdrin Xhemaj

An estimated 800,000 Kosovars live abroad, many of them travelling back regularly to visit family and friends in Europe's youngest country.

Diaspora remittances are a mainstay of the Kosovo economy, but important too are the euros that diaspora Kosovars spend in shops, cafes and restaurants during extended holidays in their homeland.

According to the Central Bank of Kosovo, visitors to Kosovo spent almost 1.3 billion euros in 2019, around half of that sum in the months of July and August, the most popular period for diaspora Kosovars to visit.

Kosovo's economy is worth a little over 8 billion euros, and hotels, restaurants, transport and retail - the sectors where tourists spend most - together accounted for 21.5 per...