A three-meter tall, gold-sprayed statue of Bill Clinton stands on a corner of the long boulevard that also bares his name. Beside it an American flag flutters in the cold winter wind. On the facade of an apartment building behind it hangs a large portrait of the former US president, a broad smile on his face. It is one sign of Kosovo's special relationship with America, and with the Democrats and the Clinton family in particular.

Just a few meters away from the Bill Clinton statue, a shop window bares the name Hillary. It is a woman's clothing boutique, selling Hillary Clinton-style business casual pant suits and fitted jackets. The owner, Elda Morina, is a huge fan of Mrs. Clinton. "She has a classic style, practical but elegant," she tells DW. "But it's also her character, she's a strong woman, a real inspiration."

The Clintons' influence is omnipresent in Pristina

During the Kosovo war at the end of the 1990s, it was the Americans lead by then-President Bill Clinton that came to Kosovo's rescue with a military intervention against Serbia. The US has since always backed Kosovo in its quest for independence.

Groups of students pass by the Clinton statue on their way to university every day. Besa, a 20-year-old mathematics student, says she's proud to have such a statue in her city. "It is the least we could do," she said. "He helped us to be free, when there was a war in Kosovo. Now we even celebrate the 4th of July. We like America very much."

The Trump factor

Besa has followed the presidential elections closely, and the election of Trump has left her and others tense and in a state of limbo. "We are scared of Donald Trump, because he could make changes that are bad for Kosovo," she told DW.

Kosovo is still in the process of recovering from a conflict that's far from resolved. When Kosovo, which is overwhelmingly Muslim, tried to secede from Yugoslavia, a brutal armed conflict followed. It was fought between the army of then-Yugoslavia (nowadays Serbia) and the Kosovar Albanian rebel force, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In March 1999, after a year of fighting, the United States lead a NATO intervention against Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic. A three-month long NATO bombing operation saw Milosevic withdrawing his troops from Kosovo and the war come to an end.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Traces of war In the late 1990s, the conflict in Kosovo was escalating as tens of thousands of people fled the region. After all efforts at pacifying the region failed, NATO began carrying out air raids on military bases and strategic targets in Serbia on March 24, 1999. Eleven weeks later, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic finally gave in.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Peaceful resistance fails In the mid 1980s, protests began in Kosovo against government attempts to curtail the rights of the Albanian majority. The reprisals worsened in the 1990s. Ibrahim Rugova, leader of the political movement in Kosovo since 1989, tried to make Milosevic change course using peaceful resistance - without success.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Armed guerilla warfare An armed resistance formed in Kosovo. The self-appointed liberation army UCK started a brutal guerrilla war and carried out violent attacks against Serbs and Albanians whom they saw as collaborators. Serbia reacted with retaliatory measures: Houses were torched and shops plundered, as hundreds of thousands fled the region.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Systematic expulsion As time passed, the war became ever more brutal. Serbian forces increasingly attacked civilians with the aim of breaking the UCK's resistance and its support among the population. Many people looked for refuge in the forests. Trains and trucks transport thousands of people to the borders - without passports or other documents which could prove that their home had been in Kosovo.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Last attempt at negotiation Under the auspices of the US, France, the UK, Russia and Germany, the conflicting parties attended a conference in Rambouillet, France in February 1999 with the aim of working out a limited settlement guaranteeing Kosovo's autonomy. Representatives of Kosovo accepted the conditions of the deal, but their Serbian counterparts were not willing to make any concessions. The negotiations failed.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia 'Humanitarian intervention' On March 24, 1999, NATO began bombarding military and strategic targets in Serbia and Kosovo in order to stop the violence against Albanians. Germany joined the military action, known as Operation Allied Force. It was NATO's first war in its 50-year history - and that without the official backing of the UN Security Council. Russia sharply condemned the intervention.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Infrastructure destroyed Next to military installations, NATO also attacked transportation networks such as railroad tracks and bridges. During the following 79 days and nights, the alliance carried out more than 37,000 operations with 20,000 rockets and bombs striking Serbian territory and killing countless civilians - what NATO referred to as "collateral damage."

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Poison clouds over Pancevo Industrial sites were also among the targets. NATO bombs hit chemical plants and a fertilizer factory in the town of Pancevo near the capital, Belgrade. Huge amounts of toxic substances made their way into rivers, soil and the air, with grave health consequences for the local population. Serbia accused NATO of having used depleted uranium ammunition, as well as cluster and fragmentation bombs.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia War against war propaganda In order to deprive Slobodan Milosevic of his most important propaganda tool, NATO decided to attack Serbia's public television station in Belgrade. The Serbian government, although told of the attack in advance, withheld the information from the public. Sixteen people lost their lives in the bombing.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Off target In Kosovo, NATO bombs inadvertently hit a group of Albanian refugees, killing an estimated 80 people. More "collateral damage" occurred when NATO bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing four people. The incident led to a severe diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Washington.

1999: NATO intervention against Serbia Horrific outcome In early June, communications out of Belgrade showed that Milosevic was finally willing to make concessions. NATO brought an end to its raids on June 19. During the air strikes, thousands of people were killed, 860,000 refugees were displaced and Serbia's economy and infrastructure were largely destroyed. Kosovo was placed under the administration of the United Nations. Author: Sonila Sand / ad



NATO troops have since been deployed in Kosovo under the peace-keeping mission KFOR. Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February 2008. Serbia still considers Kosovo as their province, but Kosovo has been recognized by 113 UN member states to date. The UN security council however, does not recognize its sovereignty due to Russia and China using their veto against Kosovo's independence, backing Serbia. Many feel that whatever dim prospects there were for official UN recognition they have now been extinguished by the election of Donald Trump.

"The reason why we were successful internationally, was because of active engagement with the US," said Agron Demi, a policy analyst at the Kosovar thinktank GAP. "We relied on US lobbying a lot to get more recognitions. We still have only 113 countries on our side, but we need a lot more," he added.

Demi fears that support from the United States might change when Trump becomes president. "There are a lot of people, including me, that think it's going to be more difficult for Kosovo with a Trump presidency," he told DW. "Democrats have always supported the Kosovo cause. We need that support and now with Trump I'm afraid we will not have it."

Kosovo Serbs hope that Trump will help make Kosovo a part of Serbia again, whereas Kosovo Albanians are worried about his policies

Part of that fear can be explained by the NATO presence in Kosovo. During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump questioned whether America should continue defending its NATO allies if he became president if they failed to increase their military spending for the alliance. Earlier this week he called NATO "obsolete," causing further unrest.

Kosovo's struggles

Kosovo does not have an army of its own and relies on NATO to protect its administrative borders. Pristina does not have control over its northern territories, which are effectively still controlled by Belgrade.

In northern Kosovo the majority of citizens are Kosovo Serbs, who make up roughly five percent of the population. The country's divide is visible in the city of Mitrovica, where an infamous bridge over the river Ibar separates the Kosovo Albanians from the Kosovo Serbs.

Dozens of Donald Trump billboards have appeared in Kosovo's North in the past months, showing that Serbs support Donald Trump. "People in the North are hopeful that Trump will help them make Kosovo a part of Serbia again," said Demi. "This is worrying and it harms the relationship between Kosovo and Serbia."

Pristina and Belgrade have been engaged in EU-facilitated negotiations since 2011, in an attempt to normalize their relationship. But ties between the two states have worsened after the recent arrest of former Kosovo President Haradinaj in France at Serbia's request. And in another twist a Serbian train bearing the words "Kosovo is Serbia" in 21 languages that was meant to travel from Belgrade to Mitrovica was stopped just before it reached the administrative border at the behest of Serbia's prime minister, who believed an attack on the train had been planned by Kosovo Albanians.

Unconditional love?

Waving bye-bye to bilateral ties?

Kosovar officials have so far voiced cautious concern about the power shift in the US. President Hashim Thaci formally congratulated Trump after his election victory. "Everlasting friendship between our countries and people is in the foundation upon which we will continue deepening bilateral cooperation," Thaci said diplomatically.

Trump has not yet commented on his views and future policies toward Kosovo and the Balkans. "No one knows what Trump will do," Agron Demi concluded. "We can only wait and hope that our relationship with the US and NATO will not change for the worse."

The owner of the Hillary clothing boutique, Elda Morina, is disappointed that Hillary Clinton did not become the first female American president. But she said she respects America's decision too. "If the Americans feel good with Trump, it's okay for us," she said. "We love the Americans, with no conditions."