Jorie Horsthuis
Jorie Horsthuis is a journalist and a political scientist. She writes about disputed borders for international media. As co-founder of De Facto, she organizes and hosts our live events. Based in the Netherlands, she teaches at the University of Amsterdam.
Articles
Studying at the ‘University of Pristina, Temporarily Located in Kosovska Mitrovica’
Students from Serbian enclaves all over Kosovo come to the divided city of Mitrovica to study. Circumstances are difficult: teaching methods are old and teachers frequently just don’t show up. ‘We were drawing architectural plans by candlelight.’ (Article in Dutch)
Jorie Horsthuis | 13 Mar 2009
Surviving in Hotel Junior
Maja (20) is already living half of her life in an old run-down hotel in a Serbian enclave in Kosovo, sharing one room with her parents and brother. Her family was expelled by the Kosovo Albanians before the eyes of the international community, immediately after the war ended in 1999. ‘We don’t know how long we can stay here.’ (Article in Dutch)
Jorie Horsthuis | 4 Mar 2009
The Deserted Serbian Black Piste
Serbian people around the world demonstrated last week against the declaration of independence of Kosovo. The inhabitants of the small Serbian enclave of Brezovica in the Southern part of Kosovo fear for their future now that the Albanian population does not dare to come and ski at their slopes anymore. (Article in Dutch)
Jorie Horsthuis | 20 Feb 2009
Waiting for Visitors in the State Museum
Every afternoon, students wait for visitors in the state museum in Stepanakert. They would like to practise their English, but only rarely a tourist shows up. Not many foreigners dare to travel to this unrecognized state in the Caucasus. (Article in Dutch)
Jorie Horsthuis | 6 Feb 2009
A Cow as a Wedding Present
650 couples married in October 2008, in a football stadium in Nagorno-Karabakh. A wealthy Armenian businessman arranged a present for all of them: two thousand dollar and a cow. In this way, he intended to stimulate the growth of the population of this small unrecognized state in the Caucasus. (Article in Dutch)
Jorie Horsthuis | 24 Oct 2008
Soldiers in the Courtyard
Right through the center of the Cypriotic capital Nicosia runs a wall composed of ruins, fences and sandbags. The streets within the bufferzone between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots have been deserted already for thirty years. ‘Even the mailman didn’t dare to come here.’ (Article in Dutch)
Jorie Horsthuis | 23 Jul 2008
The Flashing Flag of Tashkent
Not all Turkish-Cypriots are happy with the huge flag covering the mountainside just above Tashkent. But their request for the removal of this ‘symbol of the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus’ does not really resonate. (Article in Dutch)
Jorie Horsthuis | 8 May 2008
Selling Hamburgers on the Mitrovica Bridge
From their hamburger shack on the bridge of Mitrovica, Šućo and Suad can oversee both the Serbian and the Albanian part of their city. The clientele of their hamburger business has decreased rapidly. “Albanian people crazy, Serbian people stupid.”
Jorie Horsthuis | 1 Feb 2008
Kosovo’s Conflicting History Books
In Kosovo, the educational system is ethnically divided. From their childhood years, Serbian and Albanian children learn that they are enemies. Not really supportive for integration, acknowledges the international community that stands by and watches. (Article in Dutch)
Jorie Horsthuis | 24 Jan 2008