[ALBSA-Info] {QIKSH =?ISO-8859-1?Q?=AB?=ALBEUROPA=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=BB?=} PRESS: Kosovo faces a new moment of truth (Washington Post, 16 October 2000)

[Wolfgang Plarre]

http://www.msnbc.com/news/477069.asp?cp1=1

Kosovo faces a new moment of truth
                 
Power shift in Belgrade sets clock running for proponents of self-rule

By Daniel Williams
THE WASHINGTON POST

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Oct. 16 -  The most routine plans for self-rule in
Kosovo have quickly become urgent necessities. Politicians and citizens
here say that Vojislav Kostunica's ascent to power in Yugoslavia means
that Kosovo must get its political act together, tame its unruly society
and show it can stand as its own country.

     'Milosevic was not just a person, but
     also a symbol of an ideology of
     hatred. The Serbs need not only to
     change their president, but theirminds.' 
     - ASTRIT SALIHU
     philosophy professor 

       "THE WORLD is too quick to kiss Kostunica," complained Vehbi
Rafuna, president of the War Invalids Association, which aids people
wounded in the fight last year against Serbian-led Yugoslav security
forces. "And what about us? We must show we are a state, and everybody
must understand we are a state. This unclear situation of ours can only
hurt." He limps from bullet wounds to his legs. "We must make moves."
       Two weeks ago, the majority ethnic Albanian population in this
NATO-occupied province of Serbia, the dominant republic in Yugoslavia,
gave little thought to the political machinations in Belgrade,
preoccupied as they were with their own battle for independence. But
with Kostunica now occupying the president's office and Slobodan
Milosevic on the outs, they fear that the world will forget or obstruct
Kosovo's separatist aspirations.
       Kosovo is hamstrung by its status as an international
protectorate run by the United Nations since the end of the NATO
bombardment of Yugoslavia last year. Institutions of self-government are
few, and the ones that exist are poorly run. 
       With Kostunica pledging an open and democratic Yugoslavia,
Kosovo's deficiencies may begin to stand out, people worry. "Look at our
city; look at the garbage lying around," said Murat Zhubi, a travel
agent in Pristina, Kosovo's capital. "Last winter, we had no heat.
Criminals come here and can rob, get arrested and be on the street
within a few hours. Will we deserve independence if this continues?"
       
PUSH FOR CALM

       So Kosovo's ethnic Albanians are pushing ahead with a
step-by-step approach to getting their affairs under control. Municipal
elections are scheduled for the end of this month, and elected officials
will replace ad hoc councils formed largely by remnants of the
officially disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army, the guerrilla group that
led the fight against Milosevic's forces before the 2½-month NATO
offensive that began in March of last year.
       After the municipal balloting, Kosovo Albanians want to hold
parliamentary elections within six months, followed by a referendum on
independence. 
       "We have the right to a referendum, and this should be accepted
by the international community. It's the democratic right of every
people," said Hashim Thaqi, head of the Kosovo Democratic Party, the
political offshoot of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
       In the meantime, he said, "it's up to us to build local and
centralized institutions, and these institutions must be a stable
partner for the international community."
       Naim Jerliu of the Democratic League of Kosovo echoed that
thought: "The municipal elections are a first step in showing the world
we are serious about taking responsibility for ourselves."
       
ALTERNATE TAKE ON KOSTUNICA

       In the meantime, Kosovo Albanians are fighting a rear-guard
action against the glistening international image of Kostunica. He is
portrayed by many here as Milosevic in sheep's clothing. Newspapers have
prominently displayed a 1998 Associated Press photograph that shows a
grinning Kostunica holding an AK-47 rifle. 
        Kostunica has said  many times that Kosovo,  still legally part
of Serbia  despite the current U.N.  administration, cannot  split off
permanently. But  he has also talked in fatalistic terms of being able
to imagine a Serbia without Kosovo.
       He has acknowledged that about 900 ethnic Albanian prisoners were
carried off by Yugoslav authorities before NATO troops entered, and
remain jailed in Serbia.
       In an interview with The Washington Post, he raised the
possibility of freeing them, but said he wanted an accounting of Serbs
who have disappeared in Kosovo since NATO arrived.
       Among the Albanian prisoners is Flora Brovina, a pediatrician
snatched outside her apartment in Pristina in April. Her case was
supposed to be heard last week in Nis, a southern Serbian city, but the
judge called in sick. The hearing was rescheduled for November.
       Brovina's continuing detention has attracted widespread
condemnation. Her family says she suffers from angina and was mistreated
in captivity. "Kostunica is supposed to be democratic, but he robs time
from the life of innocent people," said Brovina's son, Uranik.
       Events such as this make people dig in their heels. "In Belgrade,
they are again playing the nationalist card," said Jakup Krasniqi, a
former guerrilla commander. "Serbs were forced to withdraw from Kosovo.
Kosovo will walk to independence."
       "We wait for fuller changes in Serbia," said Astrit Salihu, a
philosophy professor and independent political analyst. "Milosevic was
not just a person, but also a symbol of an ideology of hatred. The Serbs
need not only to change their president, but their minds."
       
WORRIES ABOUT THE WEST

       Many people here worry that the longing gaze the West is giving
Kostunica means it may try to block Kosovo's independence. Western
governments have long opposed establishment of an independent state on
the grounds that it might destabilize neighboring Macedonia, which also
has a large ethnic Albanian population.
       U.N. Resolution 1244, issued at the war's end, declares Kosovo to
be part of Yugoslavia. Officially, the goal is "substantial autonomy"
for the province, which would mean some kind of Yugoslav presence.
       So people here shivered when reports spread that Bernard
Kouchner, the top U.N. administrator in Kosovo, planned to travel to
Belgrade to discuss the return of a limited number of Yugoslav security
forces to Kosovo. Zoran Djindjic, a senior official in Kostunica's
victorious coalition, predicted the forces would be dispatched by year's
end.
       Kouchner denied receiving an invitation to visit Belgrade and
said that if he ever does go, he would discuss prisoner release.
       The return of the Serbian forces to Kosovo would lead to
violence, many people say. 

     'We have the right to a referendum,
     and this should be accepted by the
     international community. It's
     the democratic right of every people.' 
     - HASHIM THAQI
     Kosovo Democratic Partyleader 

       That would be a nightmare for NATO troops spread across the
province and could bring them into conflict with ethnic Albanians. Baton
Haxhiu, editor of the newspaper Koha Ditore, warned that ethnic
Albanians would "turn against the international mission" if a Belgrade
presence was permitted to return.
       For the West, NATO's bombing attack may have been a humanitarian
rescue mission, but for most ethnic Albanians it was the culmination of
a national liberation war. New granite monuments to combat troops
sprinkle the Kosovo countryside.
       "We paid with our bodies," said Enver Krasniqi, a veteran who
lost his right leg to an artillery shell while trying to cross from
Albania. "We cannot forget and cannot pardon. The Serbs can never come
back here. The West has misunderstood us. Autonomy is not an issue."
                                
© 2000 The Washington Post Company


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