Non-recognition gives Kosovo a headache

Bill Clinton Boulevard in the capital, Pristina

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Visit Pristina in summer and it’s hard to believe Kosovo has any serious economic problems. Stylish coffee bars and restaurants are packed with well-dressed customers. Expensive SUVs clog the highways. Teenagers in a supermarket pay for chocolates and cigarettes with a €100 note.

At first sight, the Balkan state’s numbers also look pretty good. Kosovo ranks 44th in the World Bank’s Doing Business report. Its economy has been growing by more than 4% a year since 2015. At 17%, the public debt-to-GDP ratio is the lowest in the region. Nearly a third of the population of 1.8 million is under 30.

But all is not quite as it seems. Take a closer look at the Pristina traffic, and the larger cars all have foreign number plates.