Ethnic violence still haunts Kosovo

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, MARCH 22. Exactly a year ago, NATO launched it's `just war' against Yugoslavia and the reign of the President, Mr. Slobodan Milosevic, over its alleged `ethnic cleansing' pogrom in Kosovo.

Technically, Kosovo is a province of Serbia, which is part of the Yugoslavian Federation. It has a population of over 20 lakhs, which is predominantly of Albanian origin. There was also a prosperous and influential minority of some two lakh Serbs, who regard Kosovo as the `heartland' of Serbian culture and heritage. In the heydays of the Yugoslavian Federation, Kosovo enjoyed the status of an autonomous province within the Serbian republic but 13 years ago when Mr. Milosevic came to power, he partly revoked Kosovo's regional autonomy.

The Albanians of Kosovo province are predominantly Muslims and their political demands have varied between full independence to restoration of regional autonomy. Prospects for a peaceful settlement in the region became bleaker with Serbs killing ethnic Albanians, when the Kosovon Liberation Army (KLA) - a guerilla group - stepped up pressure on Serbian security forces in the area. Since the NATO war, the KLA has technically been disarmed by the NATO forces but the reality may be different.

In the post-NATO year, the minority Christian community of Serbs and the majority ethnic Albanian Muslims have not been able to co-exist.

On the pre-NATO intervention period, fuelled by intense ethnic hatred the Serb Christians and the Albanian Muslims plunged the region into an orgy of ethnic violence and atrocities.

The Secretary-General of NATO, Lord Robertson, has now released a background report of NATO's involvement, activity and achievements and challenge, one year on. In Kosovo, NATO hopes to raise the level of its peacekeeping force (KFOR) back to 40,000 men. The KFOR may have curbed ethnic violence but it has not vanished. Today it is tempting for analysts to conclude that ``NATO may have already lost the peace after having so recently won the war against the Milosevic Government in Belgrade.''

The spectre and parameters of `ethnic cleansing' have now been reversed. Neutral observers point out that against the return of some eight lakh Albanian refugees, some two lakh Serbs have left the region. The Serbs live fearfully under KFOR guard or aggressively in Mitrovica, which is the only metropolitan area in Kosovo with a sizeable serb population.

NATO went into Kosovo to create a multi-ethnic society and democracy. All that today remains a utopia. Mr. Milosevic has not only survived in power but his admirers even claim that his personal popularity in Serbian region cannot be challenged at this stage.

The KLA, which received moral and armed support from Islamist theocratic governments, may be technically disarmed by KFOR peacekeepers but manages to continue its guerilla activities and last week, American peacekeepers tried to dislocate their secret arms supplies. The Albanians have a quest to merge Kosovo with Albania to create a greater Islamic Albania. This is not acceptable to European powers including Russia and major Balkan states and China.All these countries have problems of ethnic and religious minorities and the so-called independence for Kosovo may have a cataclysmic effect all round.

It is argued that the ethnic Albanians will only negotiate with Belgrade only when Mr. Milosevic's Government either falls from power or is destabilised. The NATO powers intervened in Yugoslavia ostensibly to `hit military targets' and nullify the military capability of Mr. Milosevic and thus hoped to trigger a collapse of his Government. There is an element of strong personal feelings against Mr. Milosevic.

At a NATO press conference, Lord Robertson felt convinced that the Serbian leader will fall from power. Kosovo now functions as a United Nations and NATO protectorate. The ethnic violence is a living reality and the law and order is rated as a `borderline' case. On the economic front, the region has collapsed and crises have been compounded with the exit of entrepreneurial Serbs. For local criminal gangs, it is a field day for smuggling, extortion and abductions of women and children.

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Section  : International
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