Digest # 9 (1994)

KOSOVA/USA

WHERE WOULD YOU HANG THE AUTONOMY

by MAHMUT BAKALLI

Some time ago, the author of this article, visited Washington. He met with different
Congressmen and Senators at Hamilton's Foreign Commission and representatives of the
State Department. His host was David Bonier, Congressman from Minesotta, "Majority
Whip" in the Congress, and coordinator of the Democratic majority in it. Even though this is
not, as he put it, "a presentation of legitimate political representative of Kosova, a member of
any party, but the posture of a former political leader of Kosova and an Albanian
intellectual", this is the essence of the presentation of Mr. Bakalli.

I shall not start describing the repression of the Serbian regime against the Albanians in the
occupied Kosova, because you are well informed about it. But I would like to stress that the
oppression and mistreatment against Albanians, not only are continuing, but are becoming
deeper and more extensive in a very systematic fashion, as a part of the occupying system,
with the purpose to subjugate the Albanians, create an apartheid and expel as many Albanians
as possible to accomplish ethnic cleansing. We ourselves are not well organized for a more
active resistance, we have opted for pacific methods, and hope that this posture of ours will
prevent war from bursting in other parts of the former Yugoslavia. But, we have not enough
support and reactions from the international community when it comes to the repression that
Serbia applies against Albanians, neither do we have the support for the just solution of the
status of Kosova.

I express my deep concern regarding the not very clear, undetermined and non-consequent
policy of some European states and the USA proper, a policy full of dilemmas and hesitations
related to the conflicts in the Former Yugoslavia. This is also expressed in the dilemmas
regarding the independence of Kosova from Serbia, but also the Serbian aggression in Bosnia.
Instead of punishing the Serbian aggression, the dilemmas and non-engagement of the West,
are only encouraging Serbian expansionism and aggression, and this aggression allows an
easier penetration of Russia and its interests in the heart of the Balkan and consequently the
Mediterranean. I would just like to remind you of the times of Tito's rule, when the USA and
the West have, in different ways, put 82 billion dollars in Yugoslavia, in order to stop the
penetration of the Soviet Union in Yugoslavia, and today, the same countries, and in such a
naive way are allowing the Russian interest in Bosnia get through the channel of Serbian
aggression. This means that their interests will be present in Balkan, and even wider, where it
can consolidate its rows and even rule, according to its interests.

Nowadays there have been rumors about gradually lifting up the sanctions against Serbia,
precisely in times, when Serbs in Bosnia (under the direct patronage of Serbia) are extending
their aggression in Sarajevo and Bosnia as a whole, in times when Serbia is intensifying its
repression against the Albanians in Kosova. I think that the sanctions should be conditioned
to the just solution of the Kosova issue, too, respecting the political declaration of Kosova's
people for independence from Serbia. On the other hand, and this is worrying too, both in the

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USA and the European Union it has been said in several occasions that Kosova could become
an autonomy under the Serbian jurisdiction, even though the truth about Kosova and the
Albanians is well known to the world. I am convinced that any sort of autonomy which would
be proposed to Kosova, under Serbia, will in the last instance become a formal autonomy
under absolute rule of Serbia. Therefore, even the different attributes that are mentioned in
favor of a autonomy, such is the "special status" "broad autonomy" "full autonomy",
"autonomy under international guarantee" or the one similar to 1974 Constitution, are not just
solutions to Kosova's problem, they would support the rule of Serbia over Kosova and the
Albanians, they disrespect of the aims, declarations and the determination of the Albanian
people against the jurisdiction of Serbia over Kosova. It is especially illusive and deceiving
when it is said that Kosova could be re-installed the '74 Constitution autonomy. This is a
very big mistake and a great illusion, even though it might seem attractive. I was one of the
participants in the creation of the '74 Constitution and the autonomy of Kosova on its basis,
and I, with full responsibility, declare that the particular solution was good for the time when
we had a federation in the Former Yugoslavia, which was comprised of eight constituents,
amongst them the autonomous Kosova, when there was a completely different system and
regime. Today, SFRY doesn't exist any more, and neither do any of the conditions, and you
wouldn't have where to hang such an autonomy today, there are no grounds for it. Today, this
autonomy could remain only as a formal autonomy under the rule of Serbia. This is why this
kind or any other kind of autonomy of Kosova under Serbia, would turn into a formal
autonomy and will not be accepted by the Albanian people.

It is also true that some comparisons between the position of Kosova and the self-proclaimed
Serbian states in Croatia and Bosnia are unacceptable, and they are politically and historically
wrong. Those are creatures of the present Serbian aggressive war and they had never had any
kind of autonomy or independence, whilst Kosova, since it is antique, medieval and
contemporary period has always had its political identity, its borders, its autonomy and
different levels of independence, and Serbia has made it disappear with its police and military
violence. Therefore, comparisons and analogies have no grounds whatsoever, and as such are
unacceptable, not even as a concession or political compromise, as is unacceptable any idea
on the eventual division of Kosova between the Albanians and Serbia.

The just solution for Kosova and the Albanian issue, and the only just solution is the
separation of Kosova from Serbia as an independent state, as the people themselves have
expressed their political will. If the USA and Europe still insist on the solution for having
Kosova under the Serbian rule, I am convinced that the Albanian people will suffer another
big injustice, which it won't accept, and therefore it will have to find other paths to reach its
independence. Thus, the unsolved Albanian issue will remain in the Balkan as a time-bomb,
meaning that the Albanians will see themselves forced to, by war, liberate themselves. The
war would have big dimensions. Therefore, to have peace and stability in the Balkans, to have
democratic development, then the Albanian issue must find a just solution, and that is
separation of Kosova from Serbia.

I appeal to you, to not mention this option in any political declaration or statement of the
USA, because this will contrary to the political will, the vital and existential interest of the
Albanian people, and this will only incite the Albanian people to, sooner or later, start the
liberation war, and thus start new Balkans wars. I do understand that you, for the time being,
can not openly declare yourself in favor of the independence of Kosova, but I would also
suggest to you not to declare yourselves in favor of the autonomy of Kosova within Serbia.
Many describing formulations can be used to show the respect of the rights, the aims and

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declared will of the Albanian people, further on, you could insist to sponsor the political
negotiations between Serbia and the legitimate organs of Kosova, or to propose the
celebration of an international conference on Kosova, or to propose the UN Trusteeship on
Kosova and the withdrawal of the concentrated Serbian military, paramilitary and police
forces from Kosova, during eventual negotiations regarding Kosova's status. I know that
Serbia, the Serbian "lobby", its allies in the USA and the world, will be against this kind way
of solving Kosova's problem, by saying that it is "Serbia's internal affair". But an intensified
international pressure, strengthening and extending the sanctions against Serbia, by applying
new measures, this can be achieved, because not only is this the just way to achieve
realization of the purposes of the Albanians, but also to break down the endless expansionist
and aggressive ambitions of Serbia in the Balkans. Kosova is, objectively, not only an
internal affair of Serbia, but it is an unsolved international issue, and in the first place, that of
the Albanians, because they make up 90% of the people and are more than two million, who
have lost their autonomy by Serbia's use of force. The so called "historical right" of Serbia
over Kosova has its sources in Serbian pseudo-history full of myths, created throughout
centuries by the Serbian hegemonic and expansionist forces, and this can't be a starting point
in International Law.

I think that the Albanian issue in Macedonia can be solved only if the Albanians are
recognized as a constituting people of one state, fully equal to the Macedonian people, in
which both people would be responsible to safeguard the independence and sovereignty of the
Macedonian state. This is not only the interest of the Albanian people, but also an existential
interest of the Macedonian people and a strategic interest of Europe and the USA, to have a
stable and independent Macedonia. On the other hand, the Albanian people in Montenegro
should be granted political-territorial autonomy in those municipalities here they make up the
majority in their ethnic territories. These are the only solutions that should be guaranteed to
the Albanians in the former Yugoslavia, as a minimum. Don't forget that they comprise half
of the Albanian people. These political solutions are factors of peace in the Balkan and at the
same time open new paths towards self-determination and the realization of the political aims
of the Albanian people for unification with peaceful means, without altering the borders right
now, and without causing new wars among the Balkan states.

I don't know whether the USA and the EU have any orientation, or a strategic vision of the
new composition of the Balkans and South-Eastern Europe within the new world order. I
allow myself to give you some suggestions:

a) If there is any strategic concept to create ethnic states in the Balkans, then the ethnic
Albanian state should be created as well, and it should include all the Albanian ethnic
territories in the Former Yugoslavia;

b)If there is a strategic concept for the creation of regional union of the Balkans state, within
the European integrations, then Kosova should be included in that integration, but only as an
independent state and not under Serbia's rule;

c) If the USA and Europe agree to have Russia expand its influence and interests, as well as
the domination on Slavic lands in the Balkans, it should be known that the Albanian people in
its own territories, will not accept any Russian or Slavic domination, because it has nothing in
common with their civilization and culture. The Albanian people, one of the ancient people of
the Balkans and Europe has its eyes directed only towards the West, because its ideals are
freedom, culture, prosperity of Western Europe and the USA, and never that of Russia and

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the Slavic states. In my opinion, it is in the interest of the USA and of Europe to have support
of the Albanian factor in the Albanian space in the Balkans, not allowing it to be swallowed
by a union of Slavic states, which the Albanian people doesn't aim at, neither will accept to be
part of.

d) If the USA and the EU have a strategic orientation of your own or are under Russian
pressure, or have reached an agreement with it, regarding the fact that in the future Serbia
should be one of the strongest states in the Balkans, some sort of the "Balkans policeman", it
will be a wrong orientation for peace, stability and democracy in the Balkans. In that case, the
Albanians of Kosova and the rest of the Balkans, will not accept such a domination of Serbia
over them, and there will remain the permanent danger and threat of the Serbian-Albanian
conflict, of an extended war of big dimensions. And in case that your interests are those of
having Serbia only as one in the line of the Balkan states, without domination and
expansionist goals, a democratic and open state towards the neighbors, Europe, the USA and
the whole world, then this will be achieved only if Kosova is separated from Serbia as an
independent state. Because Serbia has found its source of hegemony and expansionism in
Kosova. without Kosova, Serbia has got chances to become democratic, to have links with
the world, and become prosperous;

e) The democratization of Albania and its close military cooperation with the USA, Europe
and the NATO must be greeted. This is of great importance for the defense of the
independence and its prosperity, but also the whole Albanian question in the region. I allow
myself to suggest the USA not to reduce its strategic interests to the Republic of Albania, but
cover up all the Albanian space in the Balkans. I think that this is the only way the USA will
find the stable point of long term support, because this is the only way that Albania will
express its own long term interests, meaning that this would incite the just solution of the
Albanian issue in general and would be a contribution to peace and stability in the Balkans.

SERBIA

CASABLANCA IN BELGRADE

by GORDANA IGRIC/AIM/Belgrade

The watchman of a parking lot in Belgrade downtown, a refugee from Gorazde, loudly
interprets the Serbian right over the town once inhabited by over 70% of Muslims. He
complains why, there, he couldn't sing Serbian songs (Tito's prohibition) and about how much
he had sacrificed for it. Now he is angry because the Serbs here, take care only of
themselves. He claims that he had lived only for Great Serbia, and now he is looked at
disgustingly by women and children who queue in line to get their parcels as refugees. The
Serbs do not know what real Serbianism is.

He got a reply from an electrician. You will keep on crying after Tito. The way I had sung
Serbian songs and gone to prison for that, you could have done too. But you didn't want to.
And do you think that someone will believe you that you have made all that fortune with two
hands solely? You have your town bombed, and you are delivering speeches to me. What
kind of a man are you - asks this person from Sumadija. You show more love for Greater
Serbia and Belgrade than for your Bosnia and your neighbor. This spark in the middle of the

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street in Belgrade, the same day when Gorazde was bring shelled, is only a reflection of the
cold war going between the newcomers and the locals, two opposite and dark worlds. The
ethnically indifferent Belgrade was introduced the idea of Greater Serbia and ethnic cleansing
by people from war seized territories whose nationalism seems a bit ridiculous. The essence
of the warring Belgrade is comprised of different dialects, customs, economic hopes,
patriotism and the patriotism of money.

Old Belgrade doesn't exist any longer. New Belgrade, the xenophobic one, throws Molotov's
cocktails against UNHCR, beats up all street cleaners that don't have Serbian last names.
Instead of the bohemians, streets are full of "skinheads", the new tyrants. In the mornings, at
the entrances of many buildings, the following warning will be found: "Don't play your luck.
We could beat you up just because we find you in the apartment, we could rape the person
you love, we could mistreat your child - if you don't lock your doors".

By night, Belgrade reminds you of Casablanca, the great reception center, where wealthy
refugees and local "businessmen" celebrate their fishy profiting jobs, drinking whisky. The
new owners of the city, who have come from the battlefields, have almost nothing in common
with Bogart. The citizens of Belgrade who survived the Communist invasion of Belgrade in
1945 and the arrival of many people from the rural areas for decades, are shocked with the
arrival of this "new class", which is nourishing animosity against all foreigners. Luxurious
cars (with registration plates from the battlefields), "Rolex" watches, mistresses wearing polar
fox coats, are a status symbol of the "foreign element" in the core of Belgrade. Special shops,
cafe-bars, purchase of boutiques, mercilessly spent money - this is how new Belgrade smells.

In a night club called "Princ", four "businessmen" in one night alone, spend over 800 DEM.
The tip for the waiter is 200 DEM only. The "Hyatt" or "Plavi Jahac" are cult places. The
night clubs are divided in those where people drink because of the "fear", because of the
"pleasure" and on "credit". In the "Promocija" bar, when the waiter tries to get the bill paid,
the guest takes his revolver from his waist, puts it on the waiter's forehead and doesn't pay.
Many of them wear weapons under the suit jacket, and it is so visible, that it is a sign for the
waiter in "Princ" not to approach that table. Those who drink because of "pleasure" are
usually young policemen, who are thus being paid for their protection services by the owners.
The ones drinking on "credit", are regular costumers who usually pay the bills at the end of
the month.

War gave the city Colombian aroma. According to Rajko Danilovic, attorney, and a Belgrade
old-timer, everything started before war, when selected criminals used to do dirty jobs abroad
for the political police. When war started, they offered their services to the regime, and under
the disguise of patriotism, plundered whatever they could in the battlefields. Now they have
serious expectations to being awarded for this. A considerable number of them is still on the
front and are engaged in arms' and fuel smuggling. With the consent of the state, the new
establishment is being created, and that one has hard currency and contacts with the banks. In
this symbiosis, it is precisely the newcomers, who have managed very well, have the decisive
word, for without them, there is no "business" in Bosnia. Thus, a lobby of this kind, under the
symbol of successes, leaves their co-nationals in the shadow.

People in Belgrade are hard to impress.

"Plavi Jahac" gathers "Mlada Bosna". The same people keep coming every day, spending
over 100 DEM a day. There you can see Karadzic's children, sniper shooters from Sarajevo,

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spirits and tobacco smugglers, but also the cosmopolite Bosnian youth.

Natasa Markovic publisher and owner of "Plavi Jahac", expresses herself with nostalgia about
old times. She refuses to believe that "occupation " will last. "People in Belgrade have closed
themselves in their apartments, whilst the nationalists kept shooting their firearms in the
midst of Belgrade. I fear from the one "town haters". I had the chance to speak to a journalist
from Pale, and he promised me that Sarajevo would be an "ecological town" very soon. Now
I know what it means, and I believe this is their dream. They would do the same thing to
Belgrade, if they could".

Zora Cavic-Ilic, a member of a respected diplomatic family of the pre-Communist Belgrade

comments: "We, the old-timers, follow up on the situation from distance. Thus we acted
when the Germans came, and when the "liberating" partisans came. We have kept our
integrity. We have learned to survive, and as dolphins we transmit our genetic experience to
our children. The only thing that remains and enters is the filth. It is in the air, and the
language has become filthier. There are swears to often. People communicate among
themselves as if they were yelling to one another from one hill to the other. The TV offers us
infamy as a general style, and it enforces it mercilessly and without any consideration. But
things can be even worse. Nevertheless, there is something inside of me that makes me fight
back this feeling as is I were a beast. I do not want to accept a town of filthy cars, shoes or
greasy hair."

Rosa E. is a refugee from Sarajevo. She is fifty and used to be a well known professor of a
high school. She lives in an attic, together with her son and she is always uncomfortable when
she feels people are staring at her, because of her accent. She closes her eyes and goes way
back to the past- the travels around the world, her resort cabin in Korcula, two big apartments
in Sarajevo, crystal, leather... She has lost it all, forever. Nevertheless, she says she will go
back to Grbavica, to an emptied Muslim apartment. She says she has no roots here.

An eighty years' old lady from Sarajevo, a former editor of Prosveta, who barely survived the
first winter of war in Bosnia, claims she loves Belgrade, she considers Karadzic and Mladic
to be criminals of war, and the biggest enemies of the Serbian people.

In the other group of refugees, there is one young military invalid from Brcko, twenty,
missing a leg. He is angry at the opposition and Vuk Draskovic. He criticizes the Serbs too.
"When we finish business in Bosnia, we will come here to teach you to become real Serbs
and Orthodox".

"As soon as a I thought that the invasion of Belgrade was over, we are living the whole thing
again. Those of 1945 presented themselves as victors with the right to live here, to get our
property and the young and beautiful Belgrade women. The new ones do not resemble the old
ones, because they are losing instead of wining. They carry on themselves the seal of guilt",
concludes Danilovic.

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THE ALBANIAN ISSUE AT THE AMBASSADORS' CONFERENCE IN LONDON (III)

TOWNS THAT CHANGED STATES THREE TIMES

by REXHEP QOSJA

The first project for the determination of the border of Albania that any of the Balkan states
has presented the Ambassadors' Conference was the Memorandum of the Provisional
Government of Vlora, how the Government of Albanian known by that time. The
characteristics of this Memorandum are the following: the defense from the defamations
against the Albanian people coming from Serbian and Greek chauvinist and propaganda
circles, who of course are not mentioned by names, and second, it expressed the fear that the
Albanian territory would be partitioned in this Conference. The Memorandum stated: "The
Albanian people comprises the most compact, most homogenous and the most important
ethnic grouping in the Balkan Peninsula, for its origin, language, customs and character differ
completely from the neighboring races and give it a special individuality, which has enabled
it to confront all attempts of assimilation"; Albania, with all the suffering under the foreign
rule, has never accepted to give up on its sovereignty; this is why it considers just the "right to
speak out loud, and request from the European Powers to enable it to, along the right to life,
to have the right to development in peace"; that it had decided to become an element of
balance in the Balkans therefore, in order to fulfill this purpose, it should be allowed to create
an organization which "can't be other rather than that of full independence, because only
independence can make disappear, in the future, all obstacles that may derive from previous
and alien influence"; that the victory of the Balkan Allies against the Turkish conqueror "can
be considered for many reasons, as results of the act of liberation, in which the Albanians,
today as in the past, through the permanent insurrection and a restless irredentism have been
distinguished by a special bravery"; that full peace in the Peninsula can't be imagined ever, if
the borders of each political entity would not be based on geographical and ethnographic
purposes of every country"; that the "Albanian people seeks, for its own country, borders that
are as natural possible and that are imposed on ethnic conditions and its right as the first
inhabitant of the Balkans"; that by reducing the territory of the state and by narrowing the
natural borders, Europe would make the Albanian people lack material conditions for an
independent living, for thus Albania would lose all its economic sources for normal
development".

Probably because the neighboring countries had already defined the borders of division of
Albania proper, and the borders between Albania and the neighboring countries, the
Provisional Government of Vlorë, presented the Conference the annex to the Memorandum,
which provides the statistical data on the ethnic composition of the population in Northern,
Southern and Eastern Albania. This makes it clear that the representatives of Albania at this
Conference, requested that future Albania be comprised of all territories that have ethnic units
and geographical continuity, meaning all those territories where the Albanians are the only
population or vast majority and have geographic continuity. Of course, inside the borders of
Albania would be the territories bid by Serbia - Kosova and Western Macedonia, where the
Albanians made the vast majority; the Albanian territories that were occupied by Montenegro
at the eve of the Berlin Congress and where the majority were Albanians, and were now
claimed by Montenegro; the Albanian territories that were claimed by Greece in Epirus and,
in general, in Southern Albania, in which the Albanians made the absolute population in the
region. There is no doubt that the their bases, the fact that the Albanian representatives were
expressing the just right of a nation - the same principle that served the other European states

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for their creation, and the same ones that the Balkans pretenders were claiming- was an
expression of fear and of a unjust right, which the participants of the Conference will always
have in mind: the right of the victor in war! The arguments presented in the Albanian
memorandum were just and couldn't be denied, but had a huge failure, that made the
Albanians weak: those were arguments of a orphan people that didn't not make part of any of
the big families of the German, Latin or Slav people, and a people that hadn't the support of
any of the Great Powers.

In December 1912, which means before the projects of the Balkan parties, the Ambassadors'
Conference in London was presented the Russian project. It was a map which might have
been elaborated in the Russian military headquarters, and it determined the borders that
would separate Albania from Serbia, Montenegro and Greece. This project supported the
territorial claims of Montenegro, Serbia and Greece. According to this project, Albania
wouldn't have within its borders all the Albanian states which will be given to Montenegro
and the Shkodër Plain; all the Albanian territories that were later given to Serbia by the
conference plus the Malësia of Gjakovë; all Albanian lands which would later be given to
Greece, plus Pogradec, Korça and its surroundings, Delvina and Saranda"! In short: the
Russian project not only threatened seriously the vital interests of the Albanian people and
more than satisfied the conquering purposes of its Balkan's neighbors, but it also denied the
possibility of the Albanian being. It is not strange, therefore, why the Russian Ambassador to
the Conference even orally denied the importance of the ethnic principle while the
determination of the borders between Albanians and their neighbors, which had already been
denied on the presented map: "By accepting the ethnological principle, however justified it
might be, as basis of the future Albanian state, the issue becomes almost unsolvable; in order
to solve it, then many interests should be taken into account- meaning, that compromise
should be reached".

There is no doubt that some of those "many interests" should have been taken into account to
cripple the living plane of the Albanians, and thus make the existence of the Albanians
impossible. The primary ones were the political and strategic interests of Russia, which were
also provided for by the unusual enlargement of Serbia and Montenegro - "its never enslaved
slaves"!

Even though the victories of the Balkans Allies suited the other two Cordial Allies- England
and France- and even though these two countries had signed the decision of the territorial
definition of Albania, it couldn't be said that the Russian project expressed faithfully the
British will to solve the problem of the borders between Albania, Greece, Montenegro and
Serbia. No. But this can't be said for France, whose Ambassador, Camboni, made a lot of
efforts through out the whole Conference to fulfill the requests of Montenegro and Greece,
and even criticized the Russian representative for not being much more active in favor of the
Greeks and Montenegrins, but for compromising with Austro-Hungary!

In December 1912, the Conference was presented the Austro-Hungarian Project. This project
too, was based on the map which determined the Albanian and its neighbors' borders. This
project foresaw a much better fate for Albania, when compared to the Russian project or the
French-Russian project! The future borderline, according to this project, would start from the
Buna outfall, would follow the old Turk-Montenegrin border, would go under Plava and
Gucia, then over Pejë, Gjakovë and Prizren- making them remain inside Albania - going
down South-East wards to Dibër and Ohër- whilst to the South up to Yanina, also placing it
inside the Albanian borders along the other territories, where the Albanians made up the

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majority. As it is seen, the Austro-Hungarian project tried to overcome the differences of
claims among the Balkan neighbors on one hand and those of the Albanians on the other.
Even though the ambassador of the double Monarchy expressed his conviction that the
"Albanians will not be deprived of any Albanian region", he was very conscious that the
Albanian lands would not escape the application of the "victor of war" principle! There is no
doubt that Austro-Hungary was interested to preserve as much as possible the integrity of
Albanian lands, and it was interested to use Albania for its political and strategic interests on
the Peninsula, for Albania was conceived by it, as an obstacle to the more aggressive
penetration of Russia in the Balkans, naturally through its proteges- Serbia, Montenegro and
Bulgaria. The Austro-Hungarian project, nevertheless, would later serve as basis for the
bargain of the Albanian territories at the Conference.

The British foreign minister and chairman of the Conference, Edward Gray and the
ambassadors of the great Powers: Germany - Lichnowsky, France- Camboni, Austro-Hungary
-Mensdorff, Russia- Bekendorf and Italy - Imperiali, spent eight months negotiating with the
representatives of Albania, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro about the division of the "Turkish
Balkan heritage", but mainly about the borders of Albania and its neighbors. During this time,
they read Memorandums and annexes to Memorandums, minutes, demarches, they looked
into geographical maps of Europe and the Balkans, and much more into project-maps, which
showed the new borders of the newly-created Albania. The British foreign minister and the
ambassadors of the Great Powers agreed and disagreed mutually, and spent the time
convincing and advising their clients about these borders. They hardly agreed about opinions
and postures, not because it was hard to be convinced about the truth, which they knew well,
not because it was hard to satisfy the truth and to agree upon it, but it was hard to unify their
different political, economic and strategic interests in the Balkans after the ruin of the
Ottoman Empire. It is very hard to know which were the decisive factors and what proceeding
were they forced to go through and reach the decision regrading the Albanian borders. But,
another thing was obvious: principality, justice, the right and humanism were not respected in
those negotiations. This conclusion can be drawn because the result of the negotiations is
tragically unjust. It is hard to know how hard was it for them to reach the agreement, but it is
certain that the demagogic arguments and counter-arguments, good and bad state of mind,
sobriety and drunkenness, sincerity and hypocrisy, threats and request, softness and rudeness,
blackmail and promises decided whether the Albanian people will have conditions of living
and which will be the borders of the country named Albania. This was a political theater,
where the Albanians were the tragic figure! This was a political bargain, and the object was
the Albanian treasure! And the bargain was huge! Regions, towns, villages, plains,
mountains, rivers were at times taken away from Albania and at times given back to it: once
they were given to the Serbs; then to the Albanians and finally to the Montenegrins; once to
Albanians and then to the Greeks! Whole regions, with well known and developed Balkan
towns, where the Albanians made up the majority or the whole population- as were Kosova
and the Dukagjin plain, Çamëria and other Albanian regions in Greece, the Albanian
territories in Western Macedonia, Hoti and Gruda, Plava and Gucia, Rugova, Shkodra,
Durrës, Korça, Gjirokastra, Saranda - in one word Southern Albania, Eastern Albania and
Northern Albania were object of the bargain known as the London Ambassadors' Conference.
Diplomats know this bargain under the name of linked bargain. There is no doubt that the
most important role in the bargain was of the ability, skill, details to be remembered and other
to be forgotten, but also, maybe the most important role was that of the power!

It is hard to determine the dimensions of the bargain, nevertheless, no idea can be created if
the minutes of the meetings at the Conference and those of the International Commission for

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the determination of the Northern Albanian border as well as the Southern border are not
read. And even more: to have a clear idea about the bargain with the living plane of one
people, is impossible unless an effort to understand what has happened behind the scenery, is
made. When a bit of everything is understood, then a big surprise arises: How was that
possible?! How was it possible that a territory which from the ethnic, historic, economic,
cultural aspect was Albanian, could be given away to the neighbors? How was it possible
that large states, as Germany, France, England, Austro-Hungary, Russia and Italy, states who
had everything and which could be considered happy for that, could have treated so the
Albanian people?

And how have they treated it?

Austro-Hungary, without whose engagement in the Conference would have left Albania even
more narrow than it is, was ready to accept the territorial claims of Montenegro in Northern
Albania under the condition that it would correct its border with Bosnia, which was then
under its rule. It also agreed that Montenegro be acknowledged the trusteeship over Catholics
of the occupied territories and to make a bring-closer policy.

England and Germany would have agreed upon Greece's extension even more southwards, if
it weren't for the fact that Greece had gained a considerable share North-East, after the
Second Balkans War, which it fought along Serbia against Bulgaria!

Russia, who requested the Shkodër Lake, Dibër and Gjakovë for its Balkan allies, where the
Slav element is present in 2% of the population, would exchange the purely Albanian Luma
for the purely Albanian Gjakova, and Tarabosh - an Albanian cliff, for the Shkodër Lake,
which is surrounded by Albanians from all sides. At the same time, Russia would agree to
leave Gjakovë to Albania, if Austro-Hungary would satisfy the Serb and Montenegrin
appetites elsewhere!

Austro-Hungary and Germany agreed that Shkodër and Tarabosh, more than half of the
Shkodër Lake, Gjakovë and Dibër should belong to Albania, because as it was stated by the
Austro-Hungarian representative, economically, geographically and ethnically those
territories belonged to Albania and were necessary for the Albanian being, whilst the Russian
representative, on the contrary, claimed that according to the historic right, those lands
belonged to Serbia and Montenegro and were conditions of their material existence!

The most interesting chapter of the Ambassadors' Conference were the conversations,
agreements and disagreements regarding the Albanian towns: Shkodër, Gjakovë, Pejë,
Prizren, Dibër, Korçë, Gjirokastër, Ohër! As if they were figures on the chess table, they
were moved from one side of the border to the other: at times they remained in Albania, at
times they were given to Serbia, then at times they remained in Albania and then given to
Montenegro, and finally once to Albania and later to Greece! The town which often changed
its "nationality" was Shkodër, because the Ambassadors couldn't agree upon the state it
should belong to! The Russian ambassador had insisted Shkodër to be given to Montenegro,
even though it is located 80 kilometres away from the Slav linguistic border. He claimed that
Shkodër was a vital issue for Montenegro which lacked agricultural land! If the Shkodër
plain, including the town itsel,f would not be given to Montenegro, then the Njegos dynasty
could hardly keep the throne, whilst the Russian government "would not be able to stop the
counter-actions of the public opinion in Russia". This means that the Shkodër plain,
inhabited 100% by Albanians was to be given to Montenegro, just to provide it with

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agricultural land, to have the Njegos dynasty still ruling and to spare the Russian government
from being criticized by its public opinion!

Not less than Shkodër, Gjakovë had also changed its nationality. Differing from Shkodër,
which will change nationality only twice- the Albanian and Montenegrin- Gjakova had three:
the Albanian, Serbian, and Montenegrin! Some of the Ambassadors of this Conference
decided to give Gjakovë to Albania, some to Montenegro and some to Serbia. Often it had
been exchanged for Shkodra, which also, as mentioned, was object of negotiation. The
arguments that served for Gjakovë to be gifted to Serbia are almost the same ones used when
explaining why was Kosova given to Serbia: there, close to Gjakovë, is the Deçan monastery,
whose land, gifted by the Ottoman Empire, expands up to Gjakovë, therefore it must belong
to the country that the Deçan monastery belongs to!

Pejë had also changed three nationalities in a short period of time: Albanian, Montenegrin
and Serbian! Even though, according to the information of the Commander of the
Montenegrin Army in Dukagjin Janko Vukotic, sent to the Montenegrin Knjaz Nikola, that
Pejë and its surroundings had close to 50 thousand inhabitants, out of which "only 480 are
Orthodox", Pejë at the beginning of the Conference went under Montenegrin sovereignty,
based on the "victor of the war" right!

The projects and counter-projects, maps and counter-maps which were presented at the
Conference, moved this town from one side to the other, and finally granted it to Serbia,
naturally under the same excuses as in the case of Gjakovë or rather Kosova: in the Rugova
gorge, close to Pejë was the Patriarchy, which proved that Pejë was an Orthodox center,
therefore to whom the Patriarchy belongs to, Peja should too! The logic was sickening, for
according to it, a cultural-historic monument was much more important than the political and
historical fate of some hundreds of thousands of people!

The small Albanian town in Macedonia, Dibër, did not, as in the case of Gjakovë and Pejë,
change three nationalities, but it was moved from one side to the other several times (between
Albania and Serbia) and finally was given to Serbia! The arguments of this case are also
interesting: the Serbian representatives requested it with the explanation that in its
surroundings there were some Orthodox churches which proved the historical right of the
Serbs over the town! The Chairman of the International Commission for the determination of
the Northern border of Albania, the Russian general Potapov, requested that the town of
Dibra, which was detached from Albania, be given additional territory, as it happened, to use
it as a "protection line against the attacks of the aggressive neighbors", as the Albanians were!
Finally, the members of this Commission had not elected the Russian general to defend the
rights of the Albanians, but to allow Serbs and Montenegrins expand as much as possible on
the Albanian territories!

A linked bargain, but a quite shorter one, was the one concerning Ohër. As the Russian
Consul in Manastir (Bitola) Golubovski claimed, in a report he sent his Government in Saint
Petersburg in 1866, Ohër and its surroundings had circa 120 thousand inhabitants, out of
which 100 thousand were Muslims, which actually meant Albanians, and circa 20 thousand
of them were Christians, which also included Albanian Christians. Ohër, according to the
Austro-Hungarian project should have remained in Albania - because the vast majority were
Albanians. It was, at that time, claimed by Serbia, which had occupied it during the First
Balkans War, by Bulgaria and Greece. At the end, it was given to the Serbs, even though
there were no Serbs there!

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(To be continued)

ECONOMY

SERBIA TAKES WHATEVER WE GIVE

by IBRAHIM REXHEPI

The monetary reform in Serbia has created new and strong bases. The bases are not found in
production or any other permanent source, but mainly in the "new measures " of the fiscal
policy. The turnover of money and goods has been burdened so much, that it is very hard to
know who is gaining more: the state or the businessmen. In Kosova, this dilemma doesn't
exist at all, because even if the Serbian government profits, and the same thing happens with
the businessmen, it is obvious that the rule organized by Albanian political forces gains
nothing. According to a source of information, some days ago an Albanian businessman was
forced to pay taxes worth 140 thousand DEM to Serbia, and at the same time had paid the
Financing Fund of Kosova only 100 DEM. Of course, this example shall not serve as criteria
to determine the one who profits the most from business in Kosova, but the figures prove an
upsetting situation: in the three first months of this year, the Financing Fund of Kosova had
gathered a total of 530 thousand DEM, whilst Serbia, through its tax system had collected
28,8 million DEM, from Albanians. The difference between the amounts that Serbia gets,
compared to the ones gathered by the Albanian institution, is enormous and incompressible.

According to the mentioned source, it is clear that even in this material aspect, the Serbian
regime is expensive for Albanians, who own 14 thousand enterprises, mainly of commerce
and trade, which means that they must pay the basic tax on turnover of goods as well as other
para-fiscal contributions, such as other administrative taxes or even the utility and communal
expenses, which are very much elevated. The source had studied the amount involved in
fiscal measures, and came to upsetting data: if the same level of inflation is held throughout
the year, Serbia will collect a total of 187 million and 727 thousand DEM from Albanians
alone. On the other hand, the monthly program of the Financing Fund of Kosova (functioning
as an institution of the Government of the Republic of Kosova) is covered with 800 thousand
DEM, which means that during a year, the Fund could collect about 10 million DEM, which
is almost 20 times less than the money collected by the Serbian state.

All economic subjects in Kosova have been institutionally destroyed in one way or the other.
New institutions have been created by the Serbs to collect money, which will be used to
finance their own governmental organs. Even in "one national" municipalities, (Kaçanik,
Gllogovc, Skënderaj, Deçan, Podujevë, Malishevë), Serbia collects taxes by using all the
fiscal means, and on the other hand does nothing to fulfill the needs of the local population of
these areas. For example, any Albanian who is (if) still working, is obliged to pay
contributions for education, health-care or other services. Taking Gllogovc as an example,
almost the whole population is Albanian, and the educational system is fully financed by the
Financing Fund. Therefore, the money collected by the Serbian state, is really used to finance
the repressive apparatus.

It is obvious that Albanians do not willingly pay these taxes. The fact is that the repressive
machinery of Serbia, which has become strong and is functioning as protection of

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Avramovic's program, doesn't allow anything to escape. Here, the enormous fines, because of
"fiscal irregularities" must be included. Unfortunately, there is apparently no one collecting
data regarding this issue, which by all means could be interesting and should not be
underestimated.

A quite large number of Albanians are now residing abroad. Many of them went abroad to
find temporary jobs, and still remain there. Many others followed them recently. The
government knows that these people send their families money for survival. The authorities
claim that the influx of money from abroad has reached 500 million DEM a month. It is very
hard to say what is the real amount, but one thing should not be forgotten, that the largest
portion of that money, ends in Serbia's deposit safes. And this not because the Albanians want
it so, but they are forced to. It seems as if the businessmen purchase most of the goods in
Serbia, whilst the people are forced to buy the goods from them in dinars. To be more
absurd, one DEM is worth one dinar and thus, all that material potential is expended, which
in times of inflation was used in a more rational way.

From the gathered facts, several characteristics can be outlined. First, Serbia doesn't pay not
one penny from its Funds to the pensionists in Kosova. It has been foreseen that the
contributions to the Pensions' Fund will be circa 33 million and 460 thousand DEM for the
whole year, and in the first three months alone, 8 million and 365 thousand DEM were cashed
in. This amount is in full proportion with the needs to cover the pensions in Kosova, and it is
well known that the majority of them are Albanians. The other characteristic is that the major
circulation of goods is being done in Prishtina. This municipality, followed by Pejë, Prizren,
Gjakovë, Gjilan and Ferizaj allocate 67% of the money paid to Serbia's budget, and Prishtina
alone participates in this amount with 36%.

Trying to illustrate the serious situation, which is threatening to completely paralyze the
economic activities, we took the example of the artisans. They claim that if this fiscal policy
continues, many of them will see themselves obliged to close down their shops or their
workshops.

"Last year, the artisans used to pay from 700 to 800 DEM as salary taxes. If the initiated trend
continues, they will have to pay between 1,500 and 50 thousand DEM for the same purpose.
This amount doesn't include the turnover tax, which in some case can be much higher than
the salary tax itself. Therefore, it is logical to think how will the artisans be able to keep on
working, if the consumers' ability to purchase things is heading down. The artisans also pay
high rents for old shops, they buy the raw material and also pay the utilities and communal
expenses", says Nijazi Stanovci, chairman of Prishtina Artisans' Association.

This Association counts with over four thousand members and there are another 19 thousand
in other municipalities of Kosova. They also face the same problems as their colleagues in
Prishtina, and if they have no chances to develop their activities, then most likely, they'll close
down their shops. This will cause a more chaotic situation, because they are taking care of
many services. Nevertheless, another logic is being used here: when each one of the started
to work, they knew what conditions were expecting them, and this should not to be
considered a surprise. The Serbian regime will not make pleasant surprises.

- 13 -
KOSOVA

A PARLIAMENT WITH NO ADDRESS

by DUKAGJIN GORANI & ASTRIT SALIHU/Prishtina

"We requested the Republic,

with a Constitution of our own-
be it by peace or war.
There is still no Republic, no Constitution, no War, no Peace."

("Minatori" rock group)

On May 24, 1992, the parliamentarian elections in Kosova took place. The address of the
parliament is still unknown to anyone in Kosova, and even to those abroad, but nevertheless,
in the statements of the political leaders of Kosova it is said that Kosova is lead based on the
May elections of 1992.

"I consider the elections to be held on May 24, as a completion of one phase of the resistance
against the occupying rule, as well as the attempts to enliven the Republic of Kosova. It is at
the same time the initiation of a new phase of this resistance and of the activities of political
parties and the governmental organs in Kosova, aimed towards this purpose", said Iljaz
Ramajli, the then president of a one party Kosova Assembly (Parliament) in an interview
published on May 12, 1992. The new phase of resistance was not only Ramajli's expectation,
but also that of the citizens who had voted. They were expecting the realization of their
political purpose certified by the 1991 referendum. The multi-party elections were awaited in
order to finally establish the rule of the Republic of Kosova in Kosova itself.

The then and today's Chairman of the LDK had also declared himself in favor of this new
phase. "We will insist that all the organs should remain in Kosova and we have no reason to
think that our people should act abroad (...), but we should insist to be persistent in these
issues, for it is clear how much influential can a government and a Parliament in exile be",
were the words of Ibrahim Rugova a couple of days before the elections.

Looking at it from today's perspective, the statement of the then and the present President of
the Government of Kosova, Bukoshi to Voice of America on May 9, 1992, sounds cynical:
"The new Parliament and Government of the Republic, on this occasion, will function inside
Kosova." We don't believe that then, the Prime-minister who was engaged in the
internationalization of the Kosova issue, could have foreseen this evolution of events, where
many things remained unchanged, - undefined and indefinite.

From a two years' perspective it can be said that the previously determined project has
degenerated. The expectation of the people that, from the elections and on, the national and
political aims would be determined by a vital national institution, as is the parliament; that it
would be operative inside Kosova; and that the responsibility for all the fore coming acts
would be established - and this was an impression created also by the statements of the
political leaders in Kosova- were not as close to realization.

- 14 -
The preparation of the elections, as well as their internationalization, at that time, were greatly
assisted by the international observers who were members of NGO delegations. Many NGO's
had confirmed their arrival to Kosova, to follow up the elections in May 1992: a delegation
from Belgium, comprised of senators and representatives of other organizations, a Swedish
Parliamentarian group, officials of the American Embassy in Belgrade, then the Bureau for
Free Elections of the CSCE (Warsaw), the Norwegian and Danish Helsinki Committees, as
well as UNPO (Unrepresented Nations' and Peoples' Organization) and a group of experts and
representatives of the CSCE.

In a press conference (May 19, 1992), the port-parole of the State Department Margaret
Tutweiler, when asked whether USA would send observers to the first multi-party elections to
be held in Kosova (according to the information published by "Bujku"), replied: "In the
elections of May 24, the President and the Parliament of the Republic of Kosova will be
elected. We will send representatives of our Embassy in Belgrade to observe the events in
Kosova. As in similar cases, in this one too, we expect the NGO's to report about the
elections in Kosova". Thus, according to this information published in "Bujku" on May 21,
1992, the statement of this lady meant (almost) the legitimation of our aims.

From a conglomerate called '92 elections' monitoring, it could be said that both Tutweiler and
the State Department had sources enough to get informations from NGO's.

How relevant and how much would the results of the elections be taken into account, would
be seen later. Whatever it came out to be, the Albanians in Kosova had accomplished their
national duty in May 1992. After the referendum, they once again proved their aspirations to
reach Kosova's independence.

The Kosovan political figures had at that stage declared that with new elections and the new
Parliament as its result, they were not aiming at the installation of the parallel rule in Kosova.
The free elections could only confirm the institutionalization of Kosova's statehood (...) and
that the elections were the wish of the people to accomplish full independence and the
inauguration of Kosova's statehood.

Today, life and the parallel system of government in Kosova are taken as a reality and a
necessity. Therefore, compulsory continuation of the free elections should not be sought. The
May elections had placed Kosova Albanians before the accomplished fact or just on the edge
of war. The creation of the superior organs of government, in conditions under occupation,
would result only in conflict, this time, not just possible, but very real. The dead end of the
Albanians of May 24, 1992 could also be formulated thus: either comes the full
institutionalization of life, or the results of the elections and the Referendum will be placed
on the plane of political comedy.

In the tense pre-electoral atmosphere, when asked by a VOA journalist: "What will come
after the (decisive) electoral Sunday", Academician Rexhep Qosja had replied : "Monday,
right?..."

Was it prophecy or irony? Whichever it might be, a definite conclusion could be drawn, and
this is that the elections in May 1992 were the "last people's occurrence". Apart from
crystallizing the internal political hierarchy in Kosova, nothing more "in favor of the
institutionalization and inauguration of its statehood" was done.

- 15 -
The violence against the Kosova Albanians, be it selective or not, has not stopped being
applied, before nor after May '92. The Government, which was hoped would start working at
home this time, didn't manage to leave the diaspora. "Hope is good lunch, but poor dinner",
had said a wise man. The constituting session of the Parliament never took place. There was
only one attempt, six weeks after the elections.

As precedent of collective declaration for independence could serve the '91 Referendum. The
May elections only attempted the formulation of the future multi-party Parliament. However,
according to the analyses, statements and surveys effectuated during May 1992, not many
were convinced that the new parliament could be constituted in conditions of occupation.
Then what did the '92 elections prove, how are they explained, and what have they served
for?

Based on the expressed will on the Referendum and the multi-party elections, the attempts to
solve the problem in any other way can only cause further tensions in the region. Looked
upon from this angle, the attempt of Albanians for independence by the use of the elections'
instrument and all the rest that they are accompanied by, should be understood as a way of no
return, a general aim for freedom. The derived statehood should be defended. Nevertheless,
apart from the will of the citizen expressed by circling the name of the candidate and a party,
as well as the aspiration for independence, democracy and pluralism, May '92 had also
verified 96% of the places in the republican Parliament for the LDK. And if by the
elimination method we start numbering the successes of the elections, then the elections,
finally, reflected the many-parties hierarchy and the maximized domination of the main
political party in Kosova. "I am not acquainted with any case in the world, where a people
under occupation has ever organized free elections..." was one of the statements of a Kosovan
political personality in a round table organized just before the elections.

Then, shouldn't the elections be understood only as a proof to the saying "that in politics
things should change - just to keep them the same".

If apart from the manifestation of protest against the close-down of schools, which came after
the elections, there were no other demonstrations of the political will of people (and it has
been over two years now), and if we are facing (or maybe we have suffered it) total
institutional failure, then a question arises automatically: was there any space left for
alternative options to the functioning of the governmental organs after the elections? Taking
into account that the only governmental institutions that are functioning are that of the
President and the Self-Financing Fund - then where are (have been) the alternatives to
political actions? Taken as a whole, were there any thoughts regarding the alternative
activities in case the people's objectives failed to be achieved through elections?

The statements of Douglas Hogg during his visit, on behalf of the international community,
did not indicate that the results of the May '92 elections would be taken into account during
the (possible) decision on the fate of the status of Kosova. It is hard to believe that the
international community has changed its posture regarding Kosova in the past two years. It
would be closer to the truth to say that the Western governments had always had such a
posture, before and after the elections. The interpretations and wishes are totally a different
thing.

The May elections were organized by the Coordinating Body of the Albanian Political Parties
of Kosova. Until before the elections, the functioning of this body was satisfactory in the

- 16 -
segment of political organization and coordination. Finally, the Government of Kosova,
which is still functioning, was created by the Body (and the local governments have had their
mandates expired since November last) and is a coalition government. However, according to
the statements of that time, the fate of this subject would have been sealed immediately after
the elections and the constitution of the Parliament. And it so happened. The free elections
and the indetermination of future political activities that followed, resulted with the
degradation of the Body into a unnecessary subject, while the non-constituting of the
Parliament, as an objective problem, is for the time being, insuperable.

The moral success of the May elections seems not to be much of help for the
institutionalization of life in Kosova. After the elections, the flow of the political will of the
people is directed towards the Writers' Association of Kosova - the seat of the LDK. As the
things stand today, this is logical, for the purposed or non-purposed crippling of the aiding
institutions such as the Coordinating Body, etc. under the excuse that "the institution of the
Parliament and Government can't not be substituted by a surrogate" reduced in a great extent,
or even totally, the possibility of sharing the responsibility among the different political
parties (eventually even proportionally, according to the places in the Republican Parliament).
Because, with a surrogate or not, the Parliament of Kosova doesn't function anyway.

Therefore, removing the Coordinating Body from the agenda as a subject - point of reference
for coordinated actions, which appeared as a need of the moment, marginalized fully the
activities of the political parties, bringing only one of them to the throne of the political
engagement. It seems as if after the May elections, the created structure in our Parliament and
finally the divisions inside our political parties in the years that came after, the Assembly of
the main political party in Kosova and the eventual (re) elections inside it, are eagerly
expected. Why?

The results of the free elections have almost paralyzed the activities of (minor) political
parties in Kosova, apart from the LDK. It is very difficult to accept that two or three places in
the Parliament can be motivation for political work, having in mind the 96 seats of the LDK.
Finally, as it has been said, this is the political will of the people, and the Parliamentarian
structure is only its reflection. Nevertheless, the results of the elections face us against a
dangerous dilemma: whether the elections strengthened the rule of only one political center in
Kosova, which from the statutory aspect claims to be only a political party. The
marginalization of the Coordinating Body brought the hope of having a joint political activity
to an end. If we would believe in bad purposes, then we would conclude that the whole
electoral festival of May '92 was organized with one sole aim- to have the (imaginary) rule be
centered in only one particular point.

The fact that the parliament is not being convened, and that the local governments have had
their terms expire, the next constitutional step would be to repeat the elections. However, the
question is, who will convene the elections, if the only institution that has the mandate to do it
is the Parliament of Kosova, the one which was never constituted? How to substitute the lack
of the decision-making center in Kosova? With the political spectre that has less than ten
members in a Parliament? Hardly. LDK, with its absolute domination in the Parliament?
Maybe.

Maybe the real result of the elections would be the conversion of the LDK from a ordinary
political party into a national center? The votes proved the people's disposition. The organs of
political coordination are almost annulled. The Parliament doesn't function, etc. etc. Where

- 17 -
should the alternative for action be found? While the LDK is acting "just as another party",
the impression is that the institutionalization is being kept hostage. This is why there is so
much interest for the next LDK Convention, as an event of existential importance to Kosova.
Finally, the criticism against this party and the insisting on the celebration of the Convention
should be taken as a direct result of the '92 elections. Domination has its price.

It is not hard to understand how the administrative formalities became part of this damned
circle. Such a paradox, taking into account the situation we are living in, could have been
foreseen. Nevertheless, the fact that such a paradoxical situation does not stop the crippled
governmental organs of Kosova from existing, is indicative. Their existence and legitimacy
are not questioned at all, because the Parliament and the Government, the MPs', as well as all
other organs deriving from the elections, are found in a state of full activity hibernation.

The 96% of the seats for the LDK, having in mind the lack of institutionalization of life in
Kosova, proved maybe how in a state under occupation someone can celebrate
Parliamentarian elections, but hardly will they argument their purpose, and even less, the
political will of people in favor of a multi-parties system.

Thus, regarding the elections, nothing else apart from the fact that all the political force to
take over the power was expressed in another place too, and not only in the great wish to
reach it, can be noticed. After Sunday May 24, 1992, really, came Monday.

EDITORIAL

NEW LINING UP IN MACEDONIA

by VETON SURROI

It is still not visible, yet a new lining up of the Albanian political scene in Macedonia is to be
expected. "Another one?", would be the question. And this would be the right question for
many people in Macedonia, but also in Albania and Kosova, who are going through a tense
situation, created after the conflict in the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PPD), the largest
Albanian party in this former Yugoslav republic.

If it should be judged according to the most recent statements of the officials in Tirana, the
Albanians in Macedonia should put together their political forces. In essence this means that
Tirana has no subject of preference, as it could have been imagined before. At the same time,
this means, as it had been said many times before, that the Albanians in Macedonia should,
themselves, chose what kind of leadership they want.

This will gradually enable the introduction to the re-integration phase of the Albanian
movement in Macedonia. And, what should be expected, if this process is developed, is not
only reaching a unique political platform of action of the Albanians in Macedonia, but what
seems more important in this moment, a unique list of people for further action. This list
would mean, a list for the elections to come.

I know that the West was sceptical about the internal Albanian developments in Macedonia. It
was not a few of them that didn't hesitate to even directly accuse Tirana of "interfering in

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internal affairs of the Albanians in Macedonia". Their explanation was that thus the
Albanians were losing their subjectivity, and they are becoming a branch of the ruling party in
Tirana. Nevertheless, one of the messages hiding behind the critical tone regarding the
developments in Macedonia was that nothing should change, for the Albanians themselves
had chosen this path and their political tone.

The one better acquainted with the situation in Macedonia, nevertheless, needed much more
than a simple theory of conspiracy where Tirana had a dominating role, as an explanation.
Not very many people will deny that the criticism against the PPD last summer had to be
solved somehow, neither will they deny that the Albanians in Macedonia should accomplish
their political requests faster, based on the platform of national equality. In this context,
changes in Macedonia must had taken place, let them be even changes of leadership.

And this happened, and in this phase of development, two leaderships appeared. However, in
a short period of time, it was achieved that the Macedonian partners in the governmental
coalition were convinced that they should accelerate the timing to accomplish Albanian
requests.

Have the Albanians in Macedonia lost their political subjectivity or they still preserve it? To
those who interpret the situation in Macedonia looking towards Tirana, this subjectivity is
lost. Maybe such an explanation should be linked to the old fashion of the Albanian political
leaders outside Albania who, in order to increase their political rating at home, would go to
Tirana, if for nothing else, then to have a picture taken aside the President. This was the
biggest legitimation, not only theirs, but also of the policy that they were leading. But, as the
events in the PPD have proven, photographs don't provide life.

The answer should be, by all means "yes", that the Albanians in Macedonia are autonomous
building their own policy, But, it is not and it shouldn't be a sin if this policy is discussed in
Tirana and Prishtina also. After the events that created two Parties for Democratic Prosperity
it has become even clearer that, despite the things that might be said in Tirana and Prishtina,
the final word, nevertheless, is that of the Albanians in Macedonia.

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