September 23, 1998
The Honorable Alfonse M. D'Amato, Chairman
The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, Co-Chairman
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
H2-234 Ford House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman and Mr. Co-Chairman:
As requested by Mr. Hoyer, with whom I spoke briefly during your September 17 hearing on the situation in Kosovo, I am submitting to you my prepared remarks, which I would have delivered if the schedule had permitted. I respectfully request that they be included in the printed official record of the hearing.
Thank you for your consideration.
Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TESTIMONY OF HIS GRACE
ARTEMIJE,
BISHOP, THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
Mr. Chairman, honorable members of the Senate and Congress, ladies and gentlemen.
This is the third trip
that His Grace, Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren, the ancient see of
the Orthodox Church of Serbia in the province of Kosovo and Metohija, has
made to Washington, DC, with a delegation of Serbian democratic opinion
from Kosovo in an attempt to avert catastrophe in our homeland.
In our previous missions,
we spoke to centers of American power and opinion in an effort to avert
an imminent escalation of the bloodshed in Kosovo. We warned that the mistaken
American policy of, on the one hand, tacit encouragement of maximalist
Albanian goals of creating a greater Albania, and, on the other hand, barely
disguised political support for the regime of Slobodan Milosevic as the
only possible voice of the Serbian people, was helping to make that escalation
more likely. Regrettably, our warnings were not heeded, and the escalation
against we warned has come to pass, with a terrible cost in human suffering
for all the people of Kosovo, Serb and Albanian, as well as others, alike.
We now learn that not
only has the Western community not been dissuaded from its past mistakes
but may be on the verge of compounding them with a military intervention
in Kosovo, perhaps preceded by air attacks against our homeland. We are
here to warn, with all appropriate urgency, that this compounding of past
mistakes may have unforeseen and perhaps irreparable consequences.
First, foreign intervention
will strengthen, rather than weaken, the power of the Milosevic regime
at a time when he may be most vulnerable.
We are especially concerned
that the past United States policy, initiated, we understand, by Ambassador
Richard Holbrooke, to rely on Milosevic as a guarantor of peace is immoral
and counterproductive.
Whereas American negotiation
efforts to date have been willing to talk to virtually all Albanians, they
have ignored the democratic Serbian opposition. This is a grave error.
Second, it would once
more encourage the radical program of violence among the so-called Kosovo
Liberation Army (KLA) and its sympathizers, victimizing not only Kosovo
Serbs -- who in proportion, are now as many refugees as Kosovo Albanians
-- but anyone who opposes their terroristic program.
This encouragement may
very well lead in short order not only to the elimination of all Kosovo
Serbs but the further destabilization of Macedonia and, especially, Albania,
which is already on the verge of civil war.
Third, it may destabilize
the already fragile peace in Bosnia.
Fourth, it may well
lead to a long-term presence of American and other foreign forces on Serbian
soil, where they may be subjected to the resentment not only of our people,
who will see them as a de facto army of occupation, but may at the same
time be subject to attack by more radical elements among the Albanians.
We want to assure you
that we are not here today as emissaries or apologists for President Slobodan
Milosevic and his autocratic regime. We are here as representatives of
Kosovo Serbs who are frightened and who are under a serious threat of being
completely "ethnically cleansed" from their homeland.
We are also here to
condemn the blatantly aggressive policy of the Albanian terrorists lead
by the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army as well as the repressive policy
by the Belgrade regime. Both policies have already caused the unnecessary
deaths and dislocation of many, many innocent people in Kosovo and Metohija
on both sides. The ethnic Albanian terrorist groups have carried out many
terrorist attacks over the past two years, aimed at provoking of international
intervention. The internal goal still remains the same as before: terrorizing
the Kosovo Serbs so that Kosovo can become an ethnically pure Albanian
province. Mr. Milosevic in turn unleashed a police and military offensive
which resulted in the deaths of not only terrorists but also of innocent
civilians, which may serve as -- and may be designed to serve as -- a pretext
for foreign intervention. This cycle of violence must be put to an end
immediately.
Nothing will be achieved
by violence except destruction and carnage. Regrettably, we feel that neither
President Milosevic nor the ethnic Albanian leadership grasp this simple
fact. Both sides have learned absolutely nothing from the Bosnian civil
war, which threaten to engulf the entire Balkans with a disastrous armed
conflict.
The Serbian Orthodox
Church and the Serbian people of Kosovo and Metohija stand for a peaceful,
democratic solution to the current crisis through dialogue. We also have
detailed proposal for the long-term democratic settlement which, to date,
has been ignored both by Mr. Milosevic regime and the ethnic Albanian leadership.
We have presented these proposals in all our meetings here.
The Serbian Orthodox
Church and the Serbian people of Kosovo and Metohija condemn all actions,
by any party, which have led during last few years to an escalation of
violence in Kosovo and Metohija.
We condemn all terrorist
attacks perpetrated by ethnic Albanian extremists against Serbian civilians,
Serbian officials, ethnic Albanians loyal to the Serbian state and the
religious monuments of Serbian Orthodox Church. We also condemn police
repression and all excessive and indiscriminate use of police force especially
against the Albanian civilians. Further, we condemn the refusal of the
Milosevic regime to institute open and sincere dialogue with the ethnic
Albanian community to achieve a peaceful settlement. Likewise, we condemn
the refusal of the ethnic Albanian leadership to embrace the path of peaceful
dialogue with the Serbian authorities and the Serbian people of Kosovo
and Metohija as well as their unwillingness to condemn armed attacks by
the Albanian terrorist groups. We support the general condemnation of these
terrorist acts by the US Administration and entire international community.
Those attacks were calculated to lead to an escalation of violence and
in fact have done so. We have detailed documentation of these attacks perpetrated
in these last two years by the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army especially
in Drenica region.
We appeal to all Americans
to understand that the conflict in Kosovo is not between the Serbian and
Albanian people but between a secessionist extremism on one side, and an
oppressive and unrepresentative regime on the other. We appeal to the United
States to reject simplistic calls for military intervention in order to
hand state power over to the ethnic Albanian leadership. Such an action,
in light of the history of Kosovo and Metohija before 1989, would lead
to the ethnic cleansing of the Orthodox Serbian people from the ancient
heart of our homeland.
We, on the contrary,
strongly believe in a democratic Serbia, with ethnic, religious and cultural
tolerance. We believe that on this basis a cohabitation of all ethnic communities
can be achieved. We support the idea of civic society in which all its
citizens will have equal rights. We insist on full respect of the human
and minority rights according to the highest international standards. We
call upon the international community, the United States especially, to
help democratic forces in Serbia replace the Milosevic regime with a government
of law and public confidence. We firmly oppose to any change of international
borders because such precedent would cause instability in the neighboring
countries and the whole region. Our vision of the future of interethnic
relations lies in the full democratization of political systems, rather
than in further territorial, political and economic fragmentation. We strongly
believe that not every political issue can be used to raise new territorial
claims. Therefore, our regional approach is an initial framework for a
future political dialogue in order to achieve a long-term stability and
cooperation in the Balkans.
We call upon the United
States and the international community to endorse the proposals of the
Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbian people of Kosovo and Metohija for
a genuine dialogue, without preconditions. Only in that way, a peaceful,
democratic settlement of the Kosovo crisis for all people of Serbia regardless
of nationality or religion can be achieved. Military intervention will
hurt, rather than help the achievement of such a settlement.
We express our deep
sympathy for all innocent victims in Kosovo and Metohija and we pray to
God to grant us wisdom and courage to preserve peace and mutual understanding
because no one can build his own happiness on misfortune of his neighbor.
Washington, D.C. September 17, 1998.
-END-
--
Decani Monastery
tel +381 390 61543
38322 Decani, Serbia
fax +381 390 61567
http://www.decani.yunet.com
e-mail: decani@EUnet.yu