Containing a Kosovo Crisis Übersetzung ins Deutsche siehe unten
A special envoy could help free Albanians from Serb apartheid
Janusz Bugajski * [see below]
19970630 - 30. Juni 1997
The long-predicted crisis
in Kosovo seems fast approaching. Public anger, political stalemate, and
international neglect are pushing the Albanian population in the Serb-dominated
province toward a showdown with the regime of Serb President Slobodan Milosevic
in Belgrade.
Pressures have been
building for more than seven years since Belgrade's annexation of Kosovo.
President Milosevic
created a system of apartheid in which the Albanian majority (estimated
at more than 90 percent) became second-class citizens. A policy of ethnic
discrimination and police repression prevails.
The Albanians have responded
not by taking up arms but by patiently constructing a parallel society
and an alternative state structure. The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK),
led by President Ibrahim Rugova, rejected violence and public protests
in order to avoid Bosnian-type massacres. The Kosovars built one of the
Balkans' most impressive civic societies, with an alternative educational
system, welfare service, youth organizations, and even a spectrum of political
parties.
The Serbian administration
misread the Kosovars' peaceful approach as weakness. Pacifism was mistaken
for passivity. Police services continue to violate human rights with impunity.
Twenty Albanians have been killed by security forces this year, and hundreds
arrested or abused.
Radicalized youths
Public patience is nearing the breaking point as a result of several negative developments.
First, Albanian youths
are becoming radicalized as a result of police brutality. Ominously for
Belgrade, about 80 percent of the Albanian population is under 30.
Youths see few employment
prospects and fear a serious economic decline as Belgrade continues to
exploit the region's resources without investing in it.
Second, Albanian leaders
are under increasing criticism for failing to deliver a free Kosovo by
peaceful means. LDK spokesmen fear one spark could ignite a mass revolt,
with bloodshed worse than Bosnia's. The province is swarming with Yugoslav
military, Serb special forces, police units, and heavily armed Serb residents
in a sea of 2 million Albanians.
The largest movement
in opposition to the LDK - the Parliamentary Party, led by longtime political
prisoner Adam Demaci - demands more open resistance to Belgrade. Mr. Demaci
and others urge various nonviolent policies to disrupt Serbian rule and
refocus world attention on Kosovo. But the LDK fears Milosevic could use
peaceful protests as a pretext to stage a massacre or engage in full-scale
"ethnic cleansing."
Terrorism is on the
rise in Kosovo. The clandestine Movement for the Liberation of Kosovo claims
responsibility for the killing of several of Belgrade's Albanian collaborators.
Among unemployed and desperate youths, the Liberation Movement may appear
an attractive alternative to police intimidation and humiliation. Both
the LDK and the Parliamentary Party are concerned about radicalism and
terrorism, but they can do little to prevent it without firmer Western
backing.
A third negative development
is the widely perceived failure of the international community to protect
the Kosovars. There is a growing view in Pristina, Kosovo's capital, that
Europe and America may betray the Albanians in the forlorn hope of democratizing
Serbia and unseating Milosevic in the upcoming elections.
Albanian leaders are
outraged by recent US statements that Kosovo needs to be resolved in the
context of Serbia's territorial integrity. There is absolute consensus
that return to autonomous status within Serbia is unacceptable. If the
LDK were to support such an option, radical groups would rapidly gain ascendancy.
America under scrutiny
Europe is not considered
a serious player in Pristina, but any US moves are closely scrutinized.
Albanians have been told to remain patient
until after Serb elections this fall. But they doubt Belgrade's policies
will change, whoever wins.
Neither the ruling Socialists
nor major opposition parties support self-determination for Kosovo, though
some privately concede Kosovo remains a noose around
Serbia's neck and the best ultimate solution would be
separation.
The Kosovars must have
proof of progress. Otherwise, they may no longer adhere to US demands for
restraint and could ignore appeals by their own leaders.
The "small steps" policy of Belgrade-Pristina dialogue
on issues such as educational rights has evidently failed. Milosevic is
not serious about concessions and merely plays
with negotiators to entice the US to lift the "outer wall" of sanctions
on Yugoslavia.
A bold initiative is
needed to avoid a catastrophe in Kosovo that could destabilize the south
Balkans. Washington should appoint a special
envoy with a role similar to that of Richard Holbrooke in Bosnia two
years ago. Then a high-level conference in Pristina
should be open to all constructive options for settling the crisis
and deciding Kosovo's status. The envoy's objective would be a Pristina
agreement and a timetable for its implementation.
The most viable midrange
option is federalizing Kosovo in a three-republic Yugoslavia (with Serbia
and Montenegro). For this, both sides must
yield uncompromising positions. Such a solution would avert militancy
and bloodshed as well as further isolation and punishment of Belgrade if
massacres were to occur in the region. Without
such a solution under US sponsorship, Kosovo is heading for disaster.
April 1990 The Serb regime removes all the Albanian students from the Prishtina University dorms. The students continue their studies thanks to the generosity of the Prishtina homeowners.
August 1990 After the dorms, the UP Medical School became the next target of the Serb regime. The police forces invade all the clinics of the Medical School and force the Albanian students out.
September 1990 Only the freshmen were allowed to enter the Medical School objects. No classes were allowed, in other words, the College closed down. The professors had been laid of already.
November 1990 The student center (Residence Halls) reopened. However, all the Serb students chose the most modern building and moved in it, not allowing the Albanian students to even get close to it. (Note: there weren't enough Serb students to fill half of this building). Segregation started.
June 1991 To protest against the repressive measures against the Albanian education in general, a general hunger strike was started in the Technical College building. After 10 hours, police forces broke off the strike.
June 28, 1991 Serbian Communist Parliament unconstitutionally applied special measures on the UP. These measures fired 260 Albanian University professors.
August 21, 1991 The Helsinki group in Vienna declared that the Albanian Language Education system in Yugoslavia is destroyed.
August 26, 1991 The Serb Rector invites all the Serbs from Krajina, Croatia (today Krajina doesn't exist) to come and study in Kosova. He promised loans, apartments and more to people that accepted this offer.
August 1991 By the end of August, 6000 Albanian teachers had been laid off (in August only).
September 2, 1991 Police forces one more time prevent the Albanian high school students from entering their school objects.
September 10, 1991 Albanian Education League Naim Frasheri organized a peaceful protest against the violence applied towards the Albanian system of education. There was police intervention in a few cases. A policeman in Istog wounded a young boy.
September 23, 1991 More than 2000 University professors and High School Teachers gathered in front of College of Philosophy to protest. The protest was stopped violently by police forces.
October 1-4, 1991 Students gather in front of their school objects but theyÆre not allowed in. There was police interventions and arrests. Minister of Education, Muhamet Bicaj decides to delay the start of the new school year until October 16th, 1991.
October 16, 1991 - Students were not allowed inside again. In the same day, the Serbian Communist Parliament illegally suspended the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Kosova.
October 18, 1991 KKA of Kosova decides to put on hold the education process until further notice. This is when a large number of students, mostly males, started to leave Kosova and search for education abroad. The draft calls to the Serbian Army were the other reason for leaving.
October 25, 1991 All the writings in Albanian were removed from the University buildings.
December 11, 1991 Dr. Ejup Statovci is elected the new Rector of the University.
January 2, 1992 Dr. Statovci writes a letter to the world leaders and to the Yugoslav Federal Authorities. The response he receives is a 60 day jail sentence. Meanwhile, the schools are still closed.
January 18, 1991 Ministry of Education of Kosova decides that the education process will resume in private objects, on January 20, 1992.
January 22-25, 1992 - Protests for five days in a row demanding release of Dr. Statovci.
January 29, 1992 Mr. Statovci is released. Right after his release, he reaffirms his stands on the rights of Albanians for Education in their own language.
February 10, 1992 The Association of Albanian Teachers protests against the Serbization of the Prishtina University.
February 17, 1992 The education process resumes in private houses.
October 12, 1992 Massive demonstrations all over Kosova. In Prishtina, more than 100,000 people gathered in front of College of Philosophy. They all wanted one thing, their school objects. This protest was also broken up violently by the Serbian police forces. This was the last protest. (Five years ago)
April 1996 A Serb civilian shoots Albanian student Armend Daci dead. This started a series of enigmatic attacks toward Serb police officers/collaborators and a series of detonations in Serbian police stations.
August 1996 The American official, Kornblum stated that secret Albanian/Serb negotiations are taking place.
September 2, 1996 The Education Agreement is signed between Kosova President, Dr. Rugova and Milosevic. This agreement is not implemented yet. More frustration caused on the Albanian side.
March 1997 The Student Union of University of Prishtina publicly asks Mr. Rugova to declare that the Education Agreement was a failure. Dr. Rugova had refused a meeting with the students earlier in February.
August 1997 - The Student Union of University of Prishtina initiates the demand for unconditional return of the school objects. Meetings are held all over Kosova. Dr. Rugova finally agrees to meet the students. He gives them his support for the protests.
September 9, 1997 The Organizational Council is formed in Prishtina. This council consists of 5 students and 4 professors.
September 15, 1997 The council composes the Platform of the Protests.
September 26, 1997 Dr. Rugova suggests a delay of the protests. The response of The Organizational Council said "Any attempt to interfere with the student initiative is unacceptable and will not be considered".
September 29, 1997 Another meeting of the Organizational Council with Dr. Rugova. The date of protests remains the same, OCTOBER 1, 1997.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ALBANEWS Site of the Week
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
! K O S O V A
S T U D E N T P R O T E S T S '97 !
! Protests Against the Serbian Occupation
of University Buildings !
!
http://www.alb-net.com/
!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Protests begin on October
1st <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
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ALBANEWS Site of the Day: "Albania and
Albanians in World Art"
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/3629/art1.html
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/1710/apolonia.html
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ALBANIA'S NEW LEADER URGES PEACE IN SERB AREA
NANO PLEDGES TO AVOID FOMENTING KOSOVO RAGE
By Merita Ilo, Tribune Staff Writer
Web-posted Tuesday, September 30, 1997; 6:03
a.m. CDT
Dateline: WASHINGTON
The newly elected prime minister of Albania affirmed Monday that his government would not support violent acts in the restive Serbian province of Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority.
Fatos Nano, speaking to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Albania supports demands by Albanian students in Kosovo for education in their language, but said the volatile issue should be resolved "through peaceful means and close cooperation."
Student unions say they will demonstrate across Kosovo beginning Wednesday to press their demands for education in their language. The only university where Albanians were taught in their language has been shut and use of Albanian language and all other national symbols has been banned.
Ethnic Albanians, who comprise 90 percent of the 2.2 million people in Kosovo, a province 200 miles south of Belgrade, took to the streets in the 1980s to protest Serb repression and demand independence. Dozens were killed in clashes with the police, and army tanks were sent to crack down on the protests. Ever since, Serbia, which considers Kosovo the cradle of the nation, has maintained a huge military presence in the region.
Kosovo has always looked to neighboring Albania for support. But Albania, urgently seeking international support itself, has never backed the idea of Kosovo's secession from Serbia.
In addition, Albania is desperately trying to recover from the destruction that followed the collapse this year of pyramid schemes that cost about 1 million people their life savings.
With a paralyzed economy, few police and no army, Albania would hardly be in a position to support a Kosovo demanding independence from Serbia.
Albania's Democratic Party, which lost in June's elections, supports autonomy for Kosovo within Serbia. It also has pushed the international community to ensure respect for human rights in the province.
This also is the position taken by the United States and other nations, which fear that demands for independence might lead to another war in the Balkans, perhaps bloodier than the Bosnian war.
In an interview, Nano said Albania is facing huge economic problems and an armed conflict in Kosovo would only worsen the situation.
Foreign Minister Paskal Milo added, "Problems should not be solved with guns and cannons, but with peaceful means." Milo met this month with Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic to discuss the issue of Albanian education in Kosovo.
The leader of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova, who supports a peaceful solution to the conflict, urged the students Monday to postpone the protests.
It is far from certain that Rugova or his underground government can keep the situation under control. An armed group, identifying itself as the Kosovo Liberation Army, has claimed responsibility for several armed attacks against Serbian targets.
Experts fear that many of the estimated 1 million weapons looted from army depots in Albania during the insurgency this year have ended up in Kosovo and neighboring Macedonia, where Albanians make up a quarter of the population.
Hard-liners blame Rugova's peaceful policy for the failure to address the Kosovo question and are gaining more popular support.
One of the hard-liners is Adem Demaci, a former political prisoner who has spent most of the last 40 years in Serbian prisons. He argues that only an armed movement can give Kosovo independence from Serbia.
Fearing that the protests might turn violent, Western envoys arrived Monday in Kosovo to assure the ethnic Albanians that while the international community supports their demands, it is against acts that could lead to new conflicts in the tense region.
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ALBANEWS Site of the Day: "About Kosova"
http://www.serve.com/rifaimar/mit-rigt.html#KOSOVA
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betreffend eine Kosova-Krise
Ein Sondergesandter könnte helfen, Albaner von serbischer Apartheid zu befreien
Janusz Bugajski * [siehe unten]
30. Juni 1997
Die lange schon vorausgesagte Krise im
Kosovo scheint nun schnell näherzukommen. Der Ärger der Öffentlichkeit,
die politische Pattsituation und internationales Desinteresse drängen
die albanische Bevölkerung in der von den Serben dominierten Provinz
zu der entscheidenden Kraftprobe mit dem serbischen Präsidenten Slobodan
Milosevic in Belgrad.
Der Druck hat sich seit mehr als 7 Jahren
angestaut, d. h. seit der Annexion Kosovas durch Belgrad.
Präsident Milosevic schuf ein Apartheidsystem,
in dem die albanische Mehrheit (schätzungsweise mehr als 90 %) Bürger
zweiter Klasse wurden. Es herrscht dort eine Politik ethnischer Diskriminierung
und Repression durch die Polizei vor.
Als Antwort haben die Albaner nicht zu den
Waffen gegriffen, sondern sie haben mit Geduld eine Parallelgesellschaft
und eine Ersatzstaatsstruktur aufgebaut. Der Demokratische Bund Kosova
(LDK) unter der Führung von Ibrahim Rugova hat Gewalt und öffentlichen
Protest abgelehnt, um Massaker zu verhindern, die von Bosnien her bekannt
sind. Die Kosova-Albaner haben eines der bewundernswertesten Gemeinwesen
auf dem Balkan aufgebaut, das ein eigenes Schulsystem, Wohlfahrts (= Sozial-)-Einrichtungen,
Jugendorganisationen und sogar ein ganzes Spektrum politischer Parteien
hat.
Die serbische Regierung missdeutete diesen
friedlichen Versuch (diese friedliche Annäherung) als Schwäche.
Pazifismus wurde fälschlicherweise als Passivität gesehen. Polizeidienste
missbrauchen weiterhin Menschenrechte, ohne dafür bestraft zu werden.
20 Albaner wurden dieses Jahr von Sicherheitsdiensten getötet, Hunderte
verhaftet oder misshandelt.
Jugendliche, die sich radikalisieren
Die Geduld der Öffentlichkeit geht angesichts mehrerer negativer Entwicklungen zu Ende.
Zunächst sind stärkere Radikalisierungserscheinungen
bei Jugendlichen als Folge polizeilicher Brutalität festzustellen.
Ungefähr 80 % der albanischen Bevölkerung ist unter 30 - (verhängnisvoll)
eine Bedrohung für Belgrad.
Die Jugendlichen haben wenig Berufsaussichten
und befürchten eine entscheidende Verschlechterung der Wirtschaft,
da Belgrad weiterhin die Ressourcen der Region ausbeutet ohne jedoch in
sie zu investieren.
Dazu kommt als zweiter Aspekt hinzu, dass sich
die albanische Führungsschicht zunehmender Kritik ausgesetzt sieht,
weil sie es nicht schafft, ein freies Kosova mit friedlichen Mitteln zu
erreichen. Führer der LDK befürchten, dass ein Funke genügen
könnte, eine Massenrevolte auszulösen, wobei schlimmeres Blutvergießen
als das in Bosnien befürchtet wird. In der Provinz wimmelt es nur
so von jugoslawischem Mititär, serbischen Spezialeinheiten und schwerbewaffneten
serbischen Einwohnern inmitten von 2 Millionen Albanern.
Die größte Oppositionsbewegung
gegen die LDK, die Parlamentarische Partei, von Adam Demaci geführt,
der lange aus politischen Gründen in Haft war, verlangt offeneren
Widerstand gegen Belgrad. Demaci und andere drängen auf unterschiedliche
gewaltlose Maßnahmen, um die serbische Herrschaft zu brechen und
um das Interesse der Völkergemeinschaft wieder auf Kosova zu konzentrieren.
Aber die LDK befürchtet, Milosevic könnte friedliche Proteste
als Vorwand benutzen, ein Massaker zu veranstalten oder die "ethnische
Säuberung" in vollem Umfang durchzuführen.
Der Terrorismus in Kosova wird stärker.
Die Untergrundbewegung zur Befreiung von Kosova übernimmt die Verantwortung
für die Ermordung mehrerer albanischer Kollaborateure (mit Belgrad).
Für arbeitslose und verzweifelte Jugendliche mag die Befreiungsbewegung
eine attraktive Alternative zur Einschüchterung und Demütigung
durch die Polizei darstellen. Sowohl die LDK als auch die Parlamentarische
Partei sind besorgt über die Radikalisierung und den Terrorismus,
aber ohne westliche Unterstützung können sie wenig tun, um diese
Entwicklungen zu verhindern.
Eine dritte negative Entwicklung ist das offen erkennbare Versagen der internationalen Gemeinschaft, die Kosova-Albaner zu schützen. In Prishtina, der Hauptstadt Kosova's, verbreitet sich die Ansicht immer weiter, Europa und Amerika würden möglicherweise die Albaner sogar verraten in der verzweifelten Hoffnung, in Serbien eine Demokratie zu errichten und Milosevic in den bevorstehenden Wahlen absetzen zu können. Albanische Führer sind empört über kürzlich abgegebene amerikanische Erklärungen, wonach Kosova in das Gefüge der territorialen Einheit Serbiens zurückgeführt werden soll. Es gibt einen unumstößlichen Konsens darüber, dass eine Rückkehr zu einem Autonomiestatus innerhalb Serbiens unannehmbar ist. Falls die LDK eine solche Option unterstützen würde, würde der Einfluß radikaler Gruppen sofort wachsen.
Prüfender Blick auf Amerika
In Prishtina wird Europa nicht als ernstzunehmender
Partner (Mitspieler) betrachtet. Alle amerikanischen Bewegungen werden
jedoch genau untersucht. Albanern wurde empfohlen, bis nach den serbischen
Wahlen im Herbst Geduld zu üben. Aber sie zweifeln daran, dass Belgrads
Politik sich ändern wird, egal wer die Wahlen gewinnt. Weder die regierenden
Sozialisten noch die bedeutenderen Oppositionsparteien unterstützen
das Selbstbestimmungsrecht für Kosova, obwohl einige inoffiziell zugeben,
dass Kosova eine Art Schlinge um den Hals Serbiens bleibt und dass die
beste Lösung eine Abspaltung wäre.
Die Kosova-Albaner brauchen einen Beweis für
Fortschritte. Ansonsten werden sie wohl nicht mehr länger die US-Forderungen
erfüllen, sich zurückzuhalten, und sie könnten möglicherweise
die Appelle ihrer eigenen Führer nicht weiter beachten. Die Politik
der "kleinen Schritte" des Belgrad-Prishtina-Dialogs über Themen wie
den Rechten im Erziehungswesen ist offensichtlich fehlgeschlagen. Milosevic
nimmt die Zugeständnisse nicht ernst und spielt lediglich mit den
Verhandlungspartnern, um die USA dazu zu bringen, die "äußere
Mauer" (outer wall) der Sanktionen gegen Jugoslawien aufzuheben.
Eine deutliche (scharfe) Initiative ist dringend
notwendig, um eine Katastrophe in Kosova zu verhindern, die den gesamten
südlichen Balkan aus dem Gleichgewicht bringen würde. Washington
sollte einen speziellen Abgesandten ernennen, der eine Rolle erfüllen
sollte ähnlich der, die Richard Holbrooke vor 2 Jahren in Bosnien
innehatte. Dann sollte eine Konferenz auf höchster Ebene in Prishtina
stattfinden, die alle konstruktiven Möglichkeiten offen prüfen
sollte, wie die Krise beigelegt werden kann, und sie sollte eine Entscheidung
über den Status von Kosova fällen. Die Aufgabe des Gesandten
sollte sein, einen Vertrag auszuhandeln und einen Zeitplan für dessen
Umsetzung festzulegen.
Die sinnvollste (lebensfähigste) mittelfristige
Option besteht darin, Kosova in ein föderalistisches Jugoslawien einzugliedern,
das dann aus drei Republiken bestehen würde (mit Serbien und Montenegro).
Um dies durchzusetzen, müssen beide Seiten Positionen aufgeben, die
(bisher) keinen Kompromiss zuließen. Eine solche Lösung würde
eine militärische Auseinandersetzung und Blutvergießen verhindern.
Sie würde auch eine weitere Isolierung und Bestrafung Belgrad's abwenden,
falls es in der Region zu Massakern käme. Ohne eine solche Lösung
unter der Schirmherrschaft der USA steuert Kosova auf eine Katastrophe
zu.