Switzerland: "Our Switzerland is a multicultural country"

Tefit Maqkaj, who came to Switzerland from Kosovo in the 1990s, could have had a Swiss passport a long time ago but he just hasn't found the time to apply for one.

He left the country as a teenager and now runs a pizzeria in the Swiss capital, Bern.

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He lives alone but has close ties with his family and visits them at least once a week for a meal. There he enjoys the Balkan dishes prepared by his mother. He spends what little free time he has with friends, who not only include Swiss but also Kosovars, Macedonian Albanians, Italians and Spanish.

Maqkaj dreams of raising a family of his own. It is of little importance where his future wife comes from: "When love comes, it comes." One of his brothers is married to a Portuguese and "extremely happy", he said.

He added that his parents would not have a say in his love life or exert pressure on him.

Maqkaj is a Muslim. "Not a really strict one," he stressed, but he observes his faith. That also implies respecting those with a different religion. His father and youngest brother often go to the mosque, but he goes rarely.

When he hears about fights among young Kosovo Albanians, it bothers Maqkaj.

"Violence may be the result of bad upbringing in the family, but it may also have to do with a lack of integration in the workplace, he said.

He thinks that anyone who hangs around all day, is bored and possibly depressive can easily blow a fuse if provoked. "But if you work all day and are tired, there is no time for negative things."

Maqkaj doesn't even have time at present to put in a request for Swiss nationality. He has the forms but a career change with all the burden of work has come in the way. "I will get a Swiss passport. I'm quite sure of that," he said with a smile.

Source: Swiss Info (English)