Roadblocks Test NATO Authority
An AP News AnalysisBy Robert H. Reid
Associated Press Writer
Friday, Oct. 1, 1999; 1:31 a.m. EDTPRISTINA, Yugoslavia –– Blocking roads has become the favorite way for Kosovo Serbs and ethnic Albanians to express their grievances, a practice that represents an ominous challenge to NATO and U.N. authority in the troubled province.
"We can remove barriers in five minutes if we give instructions," U.N. official Ugo Trojano told ethnic Albanians at a roadblock they had erected Thursday in nearby Kosovo Polje to protest the presence of a Serb barricade about 1 mile down the road.
Trouble is, such orders are rarely, if ever, given without the agreement of the protesters themselves.
In a region where brute force more often than reason carries the day, the result has been for Serbs and ethnic Albanians alike to believe they can get away with challenging the authority of the world's strongest military alliance.
Therefore, more roadblocks appear, leading to more negotiations with rival groups who have shown little interest in genuine reconciliation.
The most telling examples of such defiance have occurred in the northwestern city of Kosovska Mitrovica and in the southern town of Orahovac.
In Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbs on the north bank of the Ibar River refused to allow ethnic Albanians to move freely into the area, citing security fears. French peacekeepers, fearful of more violence, now enforce the division of the city, with troops stationed on the bridge to keep the hostile communities apart.
Ethnic Albanians in Orahovac erected barricades Aug. 23 to prevent Russian peacekeepers from entering the town. The barricades are still there – and the Russians have been kept out. German and Dutch officers have promised not to remove the barriers by force.
Noting the success of the tactic, Serbs in several villages around Pristina, the U.S.-controlled town of Urosevac and elsewhere have thrown up roadblocks in response to violent acts committed by ethnic Albanians.
The main road from Pristina, the provincial capital, to the western city of Pec has been blocked since Tuesday by Serbs upset at NATO's failure to prevent a grenade attack in Kosovo Polje that killed three Serbs and injured about 40 others.
NATO's response has been patient negotiations. The chief U.N. administrator, Bernard Kouchner, met Wednesday night with the Kosovo Polje Serbs, promising them more NATO troops to protect them if they would only lift the barricade.
As of Thursday, they had not. NATO did manage to persuade Albanians to suspend their own roadblock in Kosovo Polje to give U.N. officials time to convince the Serbs to allow traffic to move freely.
Even if the barriers are lifted, chances are they will be back at the first sign of trouble from the rival group.
NATO's style appears aimed at preventing an escalation of tensions and avoiding situations in which peacekeepers find themselves in conflict with Serbs or Albanians. But NATO has found it all but impossible to stop small-scale acts of ethnic violence.
Kouchner has said repeatedly that Kosovo needs time for passions to cool and for the wounds inflicted during the 18-month Yugoslav crackdown to heal.
There is little sign, however, that the healing process has begun. Lt. Gen. Mike Jackson, the commander of NATO-led peacekeepers, acknowledged Thursday that, "ethnic hatred is far higher than I'd wish to see it."
And the barriers only serve to seal the communal divisions.
"This is Serb land forever," said a gray-haired man at the Kosovo Polje checkpoint, who refused to give his name. "If the Albanians don't want to live with us, they have their own state. Let them go to Albania."
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EDITOR'S NOTE: AP Vienna bureau chief Robert H. Reid frequently reports on Kosovo and the Balkans.© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press
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