Kosova, part of the former Yugoslavia

ERIK SIESBY*
Source: Turkish Daily News

In the West, there is considerable sympathy for the Albanian population of Kosova which, before the fighting started, constituted at least 90 percent of the total population. However, the military, political and legal assistance to the Kosova-Albanians is only half-hearted. The Western sympathy for the Albanian population comes 80 years too late -- and is counterbalanced by other considerations.

The Western military is prepared at the border -- but does not interfere to prevent the Serbs' outrageous acts. Approximately one-third of all the village houses have been burned or blown up. Only when the areas have been demilitarized can proper reconstruction take place, and without such reconstruction the expelled villagers will not return. Serbia probably intends to expel the villagers and replace them with Serbian immigrants in addition to the approximately 20,000 ethnic Serbs who were driven out of Kraina in Croatia and were forced to live in Kosova.

The leading Western politicians refuse the almost unanimous demand of the Kosova-Albanians to form an independent, sovereign state of Kosova. Instead, the West tries to solve the Kosova problem within the borders of Serbia. The reasons for the attitudes of the Western politicians are presumably that an independent Kosova may attract the denizens of ethnically Albanian areas, particularly from the Republic of Macedonia, and may even lead to union with the Albanian Republic. The fear exists that such a division of the Republic of Macedonia and attempts to form a "Great Albania" may be the spark that sets off another Balkan War. Russia has traditionally supported Serbia, but it now fears that an independent Kosova may inspire demands for independence in many non-Russian areas within the Russian Federation.

Legal experts disagree -- of course, that is their business. However, legal advisers to the leading politicians of the West lean toward the view that Kosova, according to international law, is part of Serbia. This legal attitude is understandable considering the fear among politicians that an independent Kosova may start a new Balkan War -- but is this view tenable?

The legal-political situation of Kosova has deep historical roots:

At the Berlin Congress of 1878, the great powers of Europe secured the independence of Serbia after almost 500 years of Ottoman supremacy. At that time, Kosova was not part of Serbia.

The same year, the 'Prizren League' that was assembled in Kosova represented all Albanian areas. In 1880 the League demanded an independent Albanian state embracing present-day Albania, Kosova and the western part of the present-day Republic of Macedonia. In 1881 the Ottoman army regained the Albanian areas.

During the years 1910-12, the Albanians once again revolted against the Turkish administration and proclaimed an independent Albania that included Kosova.

The Serbian army, however, moved into the already liberated Kosova, and at the great powers' conference in 1913, Kosova was left to Serbia, even though according to Turkish statistics for 1908-09, ethnic Albanians made up 81.6 percent of Kosova's population.

The European powers' acceptance of the Serbian occupation of Kosova and their lack of understanding of the needs and wishes of the Albanian population are the causes of today's Kosova problem.

The Russian attitude toward the Kosova problem in 1913, as well as today, is due to the Russian feeling of solidarity with the culture, language and orthodox beliefs of the Serbs. Seen from the point of view of the Russians, the language and the religions (Islam and Catholicism) of Kosova's Albanians did not deserve Russian support.

The true explanation may be the fact that the Russians have had fears of similar attempts at secession within the Russian Empire, now the Russian Federation. If, however, it can be established that Kosova, according to international law, is not recognized as part of Serbia, the Russians may be less stubborn in their opposition to an independent Kosova.

Therefore, we may conclude that a solution to the Kosova problem may depend on international law, a rather politically flexible part of the law.

The Serbian occupation of Kosova in 1912 was not followed by a formal Serbian incorporation of Kosova in accordance with the Serbian Constitution of 1903.

The London Peace Treaty of 1913 between the Balkan states and the Ottoman Empire, which gave Kosova to Serbia, was never ratified by Serbia. The same applies to the Istanbul Treaty of 1913. Therefore, historian Noel Malcolm has stated in his 1998 book 'Kosovo, a short history,' (p. 266) that Kosova, according to international law, is not part of Serbia, but rather is part of Yugoslavia according to the Ankara Treaty of 1925.

Kosova's independence from Serbia, according to international law, is strongly supported by other considerations.

The ethnic Albanian population has from the very beginning been unwelcome in the "Kingdom of Serbs, Croates and Slovenes," as Yugoslavia was called in 1918. Even though this kingdom had more Albanians than Slovenes, there was no room for Albanians in the official title of the realm.

It was not until the Yugoslav law on citizenship was passed in 1928 that the ethnic Albanians were expressly made Yugoslav citizens. Article 55, sec. 4 mentions "non-Slavs who have become Yugoslav citizens according to sec. 2 of this article." Previously, the legal status of the ethnic Albanians in Yugoslavia had been doubtful. They were treated as citizens in some respects, but not in all. For instance, the ethnic Albanians were not called to enlist in the army.

Albanians differ from Slavs

Albanian is an old Indo-European language far removed from the Serbo-Croatian language, and Albanian culture has roots that differ from those of the Slavic peoples of the former Yugoslavia. The Serbian-speaking people of the former Yugoslavia considered their Albanian fellow-citizens to be second-rate citizens, poor and inferior. Therefore, the 3 million ethnic Albanians, which comprised the third-largest group of people in Yugoslavia, following the Serbs and the Croats, did not obtain their own republic in the Yugoslav Federation after World War II, whereas minority peoples such as the Montenegrins, the Macedonians and the Slovenes, obtained status as republics.

The Serbian government has not only treated the ethnic Albanians as second class citizens, but has even endeavored to drive out as many Albanians as possible, particularly to Turkey.

The earliest Albanian resistance against the Serbian military took place in 1918-19 and resulted in 6,040 Albanians being killed by Serbian troops and 3,873 Albanian houses being destroyed. The fighting continued during the following years. In 1921 the 'Kosova Committee' proclaimed the losses to be 12,371 killed, 22,110 imprisoned and approximately 6,000 houses destroyed. During the '30s, the Yugoslav government negotiated an agreement with Turkey concerning the deportation of Albanians to Turkey, which offered to receive 200,000 persons characterized as "Turks" in exchange for payment, but World War II prevented this deal from being carried out. The agreement, however, was confirmed following the conclusion of the war. According to a prominent demographer, Professor Hivzi Islami, approximately 250,000-300,000 ethnic Albanians were driven into Turkey during the period of time between the two world wars, and approximately 250,000 more immigrated to Turkey following World War II. Ethnic Albanians are today an important element in this multinational state. Former Prime Minister Tansu Ciller and current President Suleyman Demirel are descendants of Albanian immigrants.

During the 1970s, the situation of the Kosova-Albanians gradually improved. An Albanian university was established in Prishtina in 1970, and the Yugoslav Constitution of 1974 gave Kosova a level of autonomy nearly equal to that of the Yugoslav republics -- but without the right of the republics to secede from the Yugoslav Federation.

Kosova-Albanians, particularly students, have demonstrated in favor of independence on several occasions.

In 1989, current Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic annulled the autonomy of Kosova in violation of the Yugoslav Constitution. He sent in Serbian police forces and closed the University of Prishtina to Albanian students. His political goal was to annex Kosova as part of Serbia. He considered Kosova to be the "Cradle of the Serbs" because an army under Serbian leadership suffered a defeat at the hands of the Turks on the plain of Kosovo-Polje in 1289. Milosevic's motive seems to be a desire to reconstruct theGreater Serbia that existed during the Middle Ages.

Reacting to oppression

The Kosova-Albanians' reaction to Serbian oppression has been to establish their own state institutions in Kosova in accordance with their July 2, 1990 Declaration of Independence. Elections are held in accordance with the constitution of the Republic of Kosova, and Yugoslav elections have been completely ignored by Kosova's Albanians. Under the leadership of the 'Gandhi of Kosova,' Ibrahim Rugova, who in 1992 was elected president, the population managed to remain calm until 1998, in spite of the ever-increasing Serbian oppression. The people of Kosova have formed their own cultural and social institutions, including a university that is housed in private homes. This Gandhi-like peace policy has not, however, softened Milosevic.

Throughout 1998, Milosevic's army waged a war against the Albanian population of Kosova. The army systematically attacked and destroyed village after village. The pretext was a small armed resistance group called the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). This modestly armed resistance movement grew as the destruction of villages continued. From a military point of view, the KLA was not a big problem for the Yugoslav Army. For Milosevic, the KLA was a pretext for destroying the villages in the northern and western part of Kosova in order to expel the Albanians from the most valuable parts of Kosova, the rich mineral areas in the north and the good agricultural land in the west. Today the KLA has become stronger and dominates large areas outside the main thoroughfares.

Milosevic's policy is a continuation of the Serbian policy of expulsion that was carried out during the time between the two world wars, but the level of destruction has multiplied. According to Rugova's closest advisors, 44,000 houses have been destroyed within one-third of the agricultural area, animals have been slaughtered, everything of value has been stolen, 420 large village areas are ruined and approximately 400,000 people have become homeless. The fighting has resulted in 2,000 Albanians being killed, and the fates of some 1,000 people are unknown.

During the period from 1974-89, the population of Kosova, of which 90 percent were ethnic Albanians, enjoyed formal equality with the other peoples of the Yugoslav Federation. Today, the Kosova-Albanians are dependent on their longtime Serbian enemies. The balance that previously existed between Serbia and the other five Yugoslav republics has now ceased to exist.

The present "Rump-Yugoslavia" is a completely different society and is strongly dominated by Serbia. The only other republic in the federation, Montenegro, is a lilliputian state with around 500,000 inhabitants; however, Montenegro has its importance. Thanks to the country's mighty mountains and proud warrior people, Montenegro has never been totally dominated by Turkey. The present liberal government opposes Milosevic. If Montenegro leaves the federation just as the other four republics of the former Yugoslav Federation did, Milosevic will no longer have any state over which to preside. The question of whether or not Kosova, according to international law, should be considered part of Serbia will then determine whether the Albanian population of Kosova must continue to suffer from the extremist Serbian administration.

Even though Montenegro remains a republic within the federation, the civilized world should demand a status for Kosova and its 2 million inhabitants equal to that of Serbia and Montenegro, as a prerequisite for being recognized as a state.

If Milosevic did not have a relatively strong army and a well-equipped police force at his command, if the Russian Federation did not have its special reasons for defending its Serbian "brothers" and if there were no fear that a union of the Albanians in Macedonia, Kosova and Albania might start a new Balkan war, the politicians of the West might support Kosova's demand for independence.

Because of the critical error committed by the great powers of Europe in 1912-13, they have a moral debt to the Kosova-Albanians. The fear that an independent Kosova will lead to a unification of part of the Republic of Macedonia and all of Albania and thus cause another Balkan war is exaggerated. In the Republic of Macedonia, a new government has recently been formed consisting of two economically liberal parties, the extremely nationalistic Slavic-Macedonian Party (VMRO) and the equally nationalistic Albanian-Macedonian Party. Such a reconciliation promises to be good for the Balkan region. The miserable economic and psychological situation in Albania after many years of foreign domination and an extreme communist dictatorship does not make Albania an attractive partner for Kosova's people. The popular support for Rugova's appeals to the great powers of the West shows that participation in the European community is the most important goal for the population of Kosova. The dream of a Great Albania will hardly compete with the Kosova-Albanians' dream of affiliation with the European Union.

Dr. Eric Siesby is a university professor and chairman of the Danish Helsinki Committee for Human Rights.