The Kosovo Flashpoint Explodes Again

by Vesna Peric Zimonjic

(IPS) BELGRADE -- New solutions are being sought for Kosovo after 28 people were killed in violence last week.

This was the biggest wave of violence since the United Nations and NATO took charge of Kosovo five years back.

The southern Serbian province became a UN protectorate in June 1999 after 11 weeks of NATO bombing. The NATO campaign sought to end the crackdown by Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic against an armed uprising by ethnic Albanians.

Besides trying to suppress the rebellion led by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), Serb security forces drove out more than 800,000 Albanians from their homes, while killing hundreds.

Now Serbs are being described as the victims of ethnic cleansing by Albanians. The 80,000 still in Kosovo are the remnants of about 300,000 Serbs who lived in the area earlier. The rest fled in 1999 after numerous Albanian killings. Albanians are Muslims, while Serbs belong to the Orthodox Christian faith.

About two million ethnic Albanians surround the remaining Serbs in Kosovo.

"The idea of a multi-ethnic society in Kosovo has collapsed," a Serbian official told media representatives. "There is no safety for Serbs there. Evictions, torching of homes and churches sends a clear message. Do not ever come back. You never existed here."

The wave of violence against Serbs spread last Wednesday when word spread that three Albanian boys were drowned after Serbs chased them into the Ibar river near Kosovska Mitrovica. Albanian extremists began attacking Serbs and their property.

The UN administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) says seven Serb villages and 25 medieval churches were torched by Albanian extremists. Some 3,600 Serbs were evacuated to safety by the NATO-led KFOR (Kosovo peacekeeping force).

"Maybe the very beginning was spontaneous, but after the beginning certain extremist groups had an opportunity to orchestrate the situation," UNMIK head Harri Holkeri told media representatives.

The 18,500 international troops in Kosovo have been reinforced by another 2,000.

UN police spokesman Derek Chappell says the circumstances of the incident that led to the death of the three boys are not clear. "There's been no investigation," he told journalists in Mitrovica. "How do you do a crime investigation when you have hand grenades being thrown at you?"

Kosovo's Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi and other ethnic Albanian leaders have not directly condemned the attacks on Serbs. Ethnic Albanians are frustrated that international intervention has failed to deliver independence for Kosovo.

No such solution is provided for by UN Security Council resolution 1244 that remains the Bible for the administration of Kosovo. The resolution describes Kosovo as an administrative part of Serbia, and does not envision its independence in the near future. The resolution seeks to guarantee safety for both Serbs and Albanians.

Independence would mean loss of Serbian territory that is important to Serbs.

The medieval Serbian state was founded in Kosovo in the 14th century. Important Orthodox shrines, churches and monasteries, many of them now destroyed, are located in Kosovo region. They survived centuries of Turkish rule, as Kosovo was returned to Serbia only after World War I. But over the centuries ethnic Albanians moved into the province, and Serbs became a minority, if a ruling one.

Serb leaders are demanding partition of Kosovo, but say this should be done peacefully.

"The only solution for the safe life of Serbs in Kosovo would be a political one," Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica told media representatives. "This could be division of the province and broad autonomy for Serbs."

The UN Security Council condemned the violence in Kosovo at a special session attended by Serbian Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic. But few Serbs think condemnation is enough.

"There should be a profound revision of the Security Council Resolution 1244," political analyst Jovan Teokarevic told IPS. "What was meant for the protection and help for one side -- ethnic Albanians = and the return of all their rights as victims does not stand any more. Things have changed into the complete reverse before the very eyes of the international community."