An Albanian student in London has ignited an online Balkans scuffle surrounding Kosovo’s borders, which managed to attract the attention of several major global media outlets.
20-year old Megi Cara launched an online petition demanding Apple Maps display Kosovo as its own country with distinct borders, after noticing that currently there was no international border between Kosovo and Serbia on the Apple Maps app. The petition attracted the attention of local news outlets, and even that of Albanian-origins artists like Dua Lipa. It currently has gathered more than 150 thousand signatures.
Exit spoke to Cara to find out more regarding her intentions and the petition that rekindled some nationalist flames, who fortunately remained on the online sphere.
Megi Cara is an energetic, cheerful young woman that speaks in a confident tone.
She is originally from Mamurras, and has been studying in London for the past two years. In September, she will begin her university studies on economy and politics.
Cara says that some days before she was part of an internet discussion regarding the depopulation of historically Albanian populated territories in Serbia. The Serbian government has been erasing Albanians from the Civil Registry in the Presevo Valley via a practice called “passivization of residential addresses.”
During the discussion, someone raised the question about “why nobody is talking about the fact that Kosovo is not on the map?”
This question urged Cara to draft a short petition, thinking that she would do whatever she could, however little it may seem.
She asked friends to share the petition on social media, and reached out to several outlets that post about the Balkans.
In a few hours, she realized that support was growing with a speed she hadn’t expected, with thousands of signatures and several media outlets writing about it.
Cara enthusiastically recalls the supportive messages she received from Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania and the diaspora.
As the number of signatures grew, the petition drew the attention of several celebrities who reposted it on social media, including Dua Lipa, Dafina Zeqiri, Era Istrefi, Rita Ora, Sidrit Bejleri, Kapital T, Don Phenom, Enisa, Selma Kasimovic, Elvana Gjata.
However, the young woman also received offensive and threatening messages. She assures us, nonetheless, that she is not afraid.
Cara says that the best would-be outcome of all of this, would be Apple Maps discussing the issue of Kosovo’s borders, and, ideally, to display the country as an independent one, with its own territorial integrity and clearly defined borders.
Her dream, however, is more ambitious. She hopes that this petition will show the governments of Albania and Kosovo that Albanians want to unite, that they want the governments of both countries to work towards a closer relationship, that will eventually lead to a complete removal of the border between them.
“I did not expect this kind of support, and I cried when I saw the thousands of people who had signed,” Cara says, touched.
The petition remains open, and has already passed 150 thousand signatures.
