The following is an excellent review of the situation in Kosova/o at the present time, and
the prospects for relations between independent student groups in Belgrade and Prishtina
- PBD

| Orig From: SHL_SA@ZAMIR-SA.ZTN.APC.ORG (SHL Sarajevo)
| Organization: SHL Sarajevo
| Orig Subject: Report on Kosova/o

17.03.98

Shin Yasui, writing from Sarajevo

I visited Pristina by accepting an invitation from the Independent Union of the University of
Pristina from March 12th to 15th to observe the situation there. Then, I spent two more
days in Belgrade.

During my stay, there were two demonstrations. I was initially informed that there would be
one demonstration specifically for demands on the Education Agreements signed by
Ibrahim Rugova, the "President" of Kosova, and Slobodan Milosevic, in September, 1996.
These agreements have never been implemented. Recent aggressive measures made by
the Serbian authorities in the Drenica region earlier this month have upset and altered the
students' intention for the demonstration as well as long-term goals of their struggle. The
demonstration was planned on March 13th; however, students were not able to decide
whether the demonstration would be held or not until the day before. When it was decided,
the aim of the demonstration was mainly aimed against the Serbian police brutality in
Drenica. It was repeated on March 15th when the mass was held in the Catholic church.

Meanwhile, the Serbian government sent its delegation to Kosovo and invited
representatives from the Kosova/o minorities for their dialogue. Despite repeated calls
from the Serbian side, the Albanian representatives have refused to attend the negotiation
with them. Responding to the third call, the Turkish, Muslim and Roma minorities had a
talk with the Serbian authorities (there is another ethnic group called the "Goranis" who
want to be part of negotiations). The Albanian side has soften their stance for dialogue by
possible exclusion of independence option as precondition for dialogue.

Ibrahim Rugova's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) has been the biggest party, and
Rugova himself has been sticking to non-violent measures toward the brutal police state of
Serbia. However, it is quite clear that Kosova/o Albanians are running out of patience in
such an apartheid situation. The situation of Kosova/o has been aggravated and
deteriorated acutely since the Serbian special police started raid against villages in the
name of fighting against "terrorists" from the Kosovo Liberation Army. Many civilians were
killed and villages were entirely demolished. Reaction from the Albanians was "Do you
think kids and elderly people can be terrorists?"

a. State-sponsored student organization in Pristina

When I arrived Pristina by bus on March 12, I found out that there was no telephone
available at the bus station. The bus station was just outside the town center, and I
decided to use a taxi to go into the center. By chance, I came to one of the dormitories in
the university. As you might know, the Albanian students and faculty members were
expelled from the campus in 1991. This happened when the Serbian government (led by
Milosevic) reformed the school curriculum and outlawed the Albanian language education
(Kovova/o's autonomous status was already stripped in 1989 by Milosevic). The Serbian
government fired all the Albanian teachers because they protested against the new all-
Serbian education system and prevented Albanian students and pupils from attending
schools. As a result, the Kosovar Albanians developed their own education system up to
university level.

Two female students from one dormitory took me to their student organization. According
to Balkan Peace Team, there are four student organizations in this "Serbian" university of
Pristina. I was taken to one room where three students were drinking beer. The room was
so dim because of their relentless smoke. The two girls looked quite abashed and
embarrassed about this but also resigned as if they were telling me this was the way it was
at their place. Reactions from those three students were thrown at me in the form of
thundering questions such as "Who are good guys?" "Which side are you on?" "Are you
going to Siptars' (Albanians') side?", etc. These are typical questions from the nationalist
elements of Serbian and Croatian sides. Based upon my experiences in "Herceg-Bosna"
and Republika Srpska, Serbian and Croatian nationalists usually ask which side you are
on by nationality even before asking who you are. Since I was used to these questions, I
could answer quite properly by neither upsetting them nor bending my personal principles.

Then, I was introduced to Aleksandar Jokic, the president of the state- controlled union
(Savez Studenata). The followings are what he basically said in this short meeting:

-Kosovo Albanians want independence to create "Greater Albania".

-Rights of Kosovo Albanians as well as other minorities of Republic of Serbia are
guaranteed.

-The Serbian police acted only against "terrorists" and those civilians who used weapons
against them.

-Indeed, Serbia tries to solve problems in Kosovo in the same way as other western
European countries do.

-Albanian narco mafia from outside operates terrorist activities in Kosovo (According to
him, Sari Berisha's party has been supporting separatist groups in Kosovo, but the
socialist government also supply weapons).

When I asked if his organization currently had any contact with Albanian students, he
sternly said no. Then, I asked if he would participate in any dialogue with Albanian
students. He said that the Serb side would engage in dialogue with them if the Albanian
side would accept Republic of Serbia as their homeland with its constitution. He meant to
say that there was no way that Albanian students would get their education in their own
language.

He said that there were about 20,000 students with 13 faculties in the university. He
estimated that there were 500 students from Bosnia and Croatia.

b. Demonstrations on March 13 and 15

In the morning of March 13th, I went to the office of the Independent Union of the
University of Pristina. The office was already packed with students, journalists and
observers.

Students from the Union have organized street demonstrations to demand for
implementing the Education Agreement so that they would be able to go back to campus.
The demonstrations in Pristina were twice (October 29 and December 30) harassed and
assaulted by the police. Until recently, the purpose of the demonstrations was "retaking
Pristina University buildings and other premises violently occupied by the Serbian regime
in 1991". The Students Protest Council of the University was established in a close
coordination with faculties and high pedagogic schools/colleges. The demonstrations have
been peaceful, non-provocative and non-violent. Although they are very much
spontaneous (for deciding date and place), they seem to have a means to spread
necessary information about demonstrations among the Albanian communities in Pristina
and beyond. Since the massacres in the Drenica region, the nature of the demonstrations
have altered but are still within their broad purposes -- respect for human rights and
protest against police repression. One demonstration was carried out without any incident
on March 9th.

Around two in the afternoon, a team of nine observers started heading toward the place of
protest. When we arrived there, thousands of people had already started showing signs
and chanting slogans. There were slogans and chants like "freedom", "Kosova",
"Drenica", "Stop ethnic cleansing" and "Serbian police out of Kosova". The crowd led by
the students also shouted "Rugova!" Later on, Milot told me that was one of strategies to
mobilize mass support for Rugova for the upcoming election. There is an obvious
frustration among the Albanians toward Rugova's non-provocative, non-violent measures,
and many students think that Rugova has done nothing significant. Milot told me that there
was no other credible politician who could have mass support on the Albanian side.
According to him, the Kosova/o situation has radicalized the Albanian population and it
would be difficult for the Albanian politicians to make a compromises with the Serbian
counterparts. Just like Milorad Dodik and Biljana Plavsic in Republika Srpska who started
cooperating with the international community and the Federation, the Albanians need to
keep their so-called "moderates" to deal on this delicate situation with the international
community and the Serbian and Federal authorities.

On March 15th, the demonstration was held on the main streets of Pristina toward the
Catholic church where the mass took place for the Drenica victims. Again, thousands of
people came out with candles silently walked on the streets guarded by the Serbian police.
When the crowd arrived in front of the Catholic church, The blasting sound of a Chetnik
song suddenly came from one window of a nearby apartment. The crowd didn't react to
the provocation, and the protest proceeded without incident again.

Recent series of demonstrations have been quite peaceful, but it does not guarantee
anything. In Pristina, there is too much media attention now. It has been reported that the
police assaulted demonstrators in less-focused areas in Kosova/o. People's frustration is
indeed running out, and the situation is still volatile and explosive. It is easy to light up any
ignition for the Serbian authorities to suppress the population just like they did mercilessly
in Drenica. Low-intensity conflict may break out, and hope for peaceful solutions for
Kosova/o may vanish.

c. Various opinions from Kosova Albanians

I had conversations with several students, demonstrators and journalists from the
independent daily Koha Ditore. I was accommodated at the house of Milot, one Albanian
student leaders, during my stay in Kosova/o. On the night of 13th, three students from a
student organization in Belgrade University (there are more than 10 student organizations
in the university and they are not so centralized) stayed at his place as well. They had
intensive discussions until five in the morning, and I could follow until two or so.

Milot is considered one of the most open-minded students in the union and ready for open
cooperation with the Serbian students. However, he is quite careful about this open
cooperation because the union itself has been taking the "populist" cause by organizing
protests and demonstrations. The union has nationalistic characters and quite centralized.
It conducts conversations and discussions with politicians on their side. It seems that the
union is not ready for dividing itself in favor of either extremists, [either conservative or
liberal]. It wants to maintain the 'force of the mass' as a broad coalition united for the cause
of Albanian national question.

The Union does not have any contact with the Serb side in Pristina. They actually deride
students who are attending at the university. According to them, only the worst students
from elsewhere in Serbia go there because they are not able to go to any other university.
They finish their studies as quickly as possible due to their "connections" or transfer to
another university. Therefore, the Albanians claim that these Serbian students are not
attached to Kosova/o. The Belgrade students agreed with them by saying that they would
prefer to have contacts with Kosova/o Serb students.

The Albanians do their best to maintain their parallel education system, but it is considered
insufficient because of a lack of expertise and equipment. One of biology students told me
that she would not know how to contribute to her society. Practically speaking, students
graduate schools with diplomas which are not recognized by the Serbian authorities. In the
Albanian society, job availability for graduates is severely limited (the unemployment rate
is estimated at 70%). The parallel education system is creating academics without
prospects for applying their skills and knowledge in field.

At the same time, the system is based upon Albanian language. The younger generation
(so-called "generation of the Kosova Republic") does not speak Serbian language. Hence,
this system leads Albanians to the point of no return (obviously, they cannot return to the
Serbian education system).

The Kosova/o Albanians' life is dominated by politics, at least among people in Pristina.
There are quite a few humanitarian NGOs operating in Kosovo with neutral faces in front
of the Serbian authorities. So, they are not so popular. One of Koha Ditore journalists said
that there should be political solutions before any social help and support in Kosova/o. She
is a member of a social reconciliation project called Post-pessimist which has conducted
and participated in many dialogues and seminars with Serbs since 1994. Ironically,
pessimism on social reconciliation has prevailed and Post-pessimism is not as active as
before. "It's not so easy to maintain contacts," she said "when Albanians are killed by the
serbian authorities."

There is no clear physical and geographical division between the Serb and the Albanian
communities in Pristina. But numerous psychological boundaries have been created since
early 90s. After the Drenica massacre, people have been reluctant to venture out on the
streets after dark. This "neither war nor peace" situation of apartheid has made stark and
depressive mood in their life. And this mood has affected their everyday life including
cultural one. I told Milot that Mostar (smaller than Pristina) and Sarajevo have kept their
cultural life during war. Milot replied that Pristina was never the cultural center. The Koha
Ditore journalist said that now everything in life is related to politics.

There is no question that students in the Union are committed to their cause. I got an
impression that their activities have become their lifestyle itself now. Otherwise, their life
will be filled with vanity and despair. I remember when the news about murder of two
Albanians came to the office in a busy afternoon, one of the students who was always
energetic and cheerful just sat down gazing hollowly at the floor with her downcast eyes for
a while. She started explaining to me about her ancestors' experience in Kosova/o but had
to interrupt because another job came in. Milot also frankly told me that he had to put more
priority on his activities in the Union than spending private time with his girlfriend. This
apartheid situation has ruined what's supposed to be a normal life which we enjoy.

There were various degree of opinions among the Albanians on what the future of
Kosova/o should be like. But they more or less agreed with:

-Kosova/o should not be under control of the Serbian government.
-The negotiations should be carefully monitored by the international community as the third
party.

d. Student Union in Belgrade

There is one student organization in Belgrade which has sent its delegation to Pristina and
initiated dialogues with Albanian students through a humanitarian organization Pax Christi.
I briefly talked with the three delegates of this student organization Studentska Unija at
Milot's  house. But I had a chance to meet one of them called Branislav again in his
organization's office at Belgrade University on March 16.

It was unthinkable for them to establish any kind of official contact with Albanian
counterparts a few years ago; however, the Belgrade protests last winter seemed to have
made a breakthrough. There were some individual contacts with Albanian students even
before (dated back to 1994), but official contacts started in July last year when Pax Christi
organized a seminar in Belfast and invited students from Belgrade and Pristina. After the
October protest, the Belgrade student organization sent 10 students to Pristina to voice
their support for the Education rights of the Albanians. Indeed, one of them as an
individual (not as a member of the organization) nominated the Independent Union of the
University of Pristina for Nasa Borba tolerance award for last year. The Union won the
award, but this member was severely criticized by the state-controlled media.

Now the Belgrade student organization wants something more than dialogues through
NGOs. They would like to make a public declaration with the Union in Pristina. However,
the Union has been very cautious about this step because of the nature of the
organization that the majority of students adhere to. Milot thinks that it is not the right time
for the Union to do so in order not to create a division in their organization (the Belgrade
organization is one of big factions but still not as a whole while the Albanian side has one
unified organization). The Serb counterparts understand this problem but insist that the
Albanian side would need to encounter problems arising from within the Albanian
community. Branislav confided me that there are Albanian students who would want to
openly cooperate with the Serb counterparts. He told me that "they should say to their
public that there are good and open-minded Serbs."

The Belgrade student organization has some contacts with the Serb side in Pristina.
Roughly 70% of the students are non-Kosovar Serbs. There is basically no hope for
dialogue among students (so-called "puppets") who follow official lines such as the state-
controlled organization. Branislav told me that there are some Serb students who would
like to have contacts with Albanian students. "But then," he said, "they would have
problems with the authorities." This reminded me of the situation in towns of Republika
Srpska such as Foca. Towns are encircled by narrow-minded power-mongers and
townspeople are afraid of making any kind of initiatives because of strict surveillance from
the local authorities. I did not have a chance to meet with 'open-minded' Serb students,
but basically they are contained in small ghettos even if they want to do something.
Serbian nationalism has not only gravely affected non-Serbs but also killed life and hope of
Serbs.

In the Balkans, people like to talk about their own versions of history to justify what's going
on now. Several Albanians told me about the sell-out done by the Ottoman Turks (Turks
are not popular among the Kosova/o Albanians) and Tito's communist government. When
I raised a question of conflicts between the two main tribes of the Albanians (the Gej in the
north including Kosova/o and the Tosk in the south), one of the Albanian students
answered that they were trying not to talk about it because they were now dealing with the
Albanian national question. The ordinary Serbs can tell you about the glory and myth of
Kosova/o dated back to the Middle Ages. For this question, Branislav said, "Who had what
first does not matter. What matters is how the situation is now like human rights."

Branislav and others in the union put a priority on sincere and honest communications
among different ethnic groups at all levels and acknowledge that the Serbian government
is not sincere enough. They know that there is a lack of development in civil society on
both Serb and Albanian sides. At the same time, they also know that something
constructive needs to start and be developed on both sides. There will be a seminar on
tolerance and open-mindedness in Belgrade in May, and the Belgrade student
organization is inviting the Independent Union of the University of Pristina since the
seminar would deal with Kosova/o issues.

e. After the visit

There is no easy solution for problems in Kosova/o, but the international community needs
to act upon the fact that gross human rights violations have been done by the Serbian
authorities in this apartheid situation.

There is a lack of development in civil society on both Serbian and Albanian sides, and
there is little functioning democracy. At government level, much pressure on Milosevic
from the international community needs to be put continually for solving problems on
Kosova/o. Milosevic and his small circle of gangs will have to leave the political scene with
possible indictment for crimes against humanity in Croatia and Bosnia, but it will be
dangerous if Vojislav Sesej with the growing influence in rural Serbia replaces him. Some
transitional figures will need to build credibility in Serbia such as an opposition politician
Vesna Pesic until next step for development of functioning democracy (as happening in
Republika Srpska). Unfortunately, so-called "Zajedno" opposition coalition of was
pathetically disintegrated after the protests in Belgrade last winter. At the same time,
human rights and humanitarian organizations should have unhindered access and
freedom of movement in Kosova/o.

Granting political independence to the Albanians may turn out to be premature since this
may produce reverse discrimination and revenge politics against non-Albanians (as
happening in Bosnia). The Union in Pristina is a credible "middle-of-the-road" force for a
gradual, painful course for peaceful and meaningful solutions in Kosova/o. They should
carefully but steadily develop and improve their relationship with more open-minded
Serbian students such as Branislav's organization. Attention from the international
community is not the only thing that they should depend upon. Improvement of the
situation in Kosova/o is deeply connected with that of the rest of Serbia. Parallel
development of civil society throughout Serbia is a pre-condition for lasting stability in the
region. This cannot be done without deep and profound relationship between those who
are eager to commit themselves for their cause.

For further development of Kosova/o, I encourage you to contact:

Balkan Peace Team
(e-mail) bpt_bg@eunet.yu

Helsinki Citizens' Assembly
(e-mail) hca@ecn.cz

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forwarded by Peacenet Balkans Desk (pnbalkans@igc.apc.org)