POLITICS-BALKANS: Now Serbs Want a Split

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic Reprint | | Print |

Vesna Peric Zimonjic

BELGRADE, Mar 30 2004 (IPS) - Serbs, who had fought to prevent the break-up of their former homeland are now seeking another split of what remains.

In the southern province of Kosovo they are making an inventory of their homes and their medieval churches and monasteries destroyed by ethnic Albanians two weeks ago. They say they will stay in Kosovo, even though security is poor and promises of a better life are far.

“It is our duty to stay,” Oliver Ivanovic, one of the leaders of Kosovo Serbs told Belgrade media at a press conference. “Leaving our homes would mean the end of our community and our history. A mass exodus will not happen.”

Kosovo, administratively a part of Serbia, has been run by UNMIK and an interim government since 1999.

Two weeks ago, 28 people were killed in a wave of violence against Serbs in Kosovo. About 3,600 were evacuated to the Kosovo Forces (KFOR) international peacekeepers bases and to the north where there is a strong Serb population, according to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

European Union (EU) high representative for its common foreign and security policy Javier Solana and commissioner for external relations Chris Patten called for immediate aid to the affected Serbs following a visit to the province last week. The Kosovo parliament responded by allocating five million dollars for the affected Serbs.

UNMIK figures show that more than 300 Serb homes were torched by Albanian mobs, together with 30 Serbian Orthodox Churches and monasteries. Albanians are Muslims, while Serbs are of the Orthodox Christian faith.

President of Serbia and Montenegro Svetozar Marovic appealed to the United Nations Culture and Science Organisation (UNESCO) to help “defend the cultural heritage of Europe” in Kosovo. Some of the churches and monasteries dating back to 14th century are listed by UNESCO as precious European monuments.

As cradle of the medieval Serbian state, Kosovo wears a historic look. Besides monasteries and churches, even small villages have a number of chapels decorated by 14th century Byzantine artists. They survived Turkish rule that lasted for more than 500 years. Kosovo was returned to Serbia at the time of the First World War.

UNMIK and an 18,500-strong KFOR entered Kosovo in 1999 after 11 weeks of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) bombing against Serbia. The air campaign was launched to end repression against some two million ethnic Albanians by the regime of former Serb president Slobodan Milosevic. He fell from power in 2000.

The UNMIK mandate under Resolution 1244 of the United Nations (UN) Security Council was to restore the multiethnic society in Kosovo. But the bombing led to an exodus of some 200,000 Serbs who feared revenge by ethnic Albanians. Only 80,000 stayed on.

The UN resolution does not prevision the key demand of ethnic Albanians – independence from Serbia. On the other hand, Serbia is using the failure of international efforts to keep peace to demand the partition of Kosovo.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica told parliament last week that “a multi-ethnic paradise in Kosovo is a utopia.” Territorial autonomy, he said, “remains the only way to ensure peaceful co-existence between Serbs and Albanians.”

According to the plan for the division of Kosovo, dressed up as “autonomy”, Kosovo would be divided into Serb and Albanian parts. Serbs would have five municipalities where they ethnically prevail.

EU officials rejected the plan when Kostunica visited Brussels last week, but it is gaining popularity within Serbia. The backing for such a plan comes mostly from local media.

This is leading to an atmosphere similar to the one preceding the wars Milosevic fought in Croatia and Bosnia in the 1990s under claims of protecting the national interests of Serbs living there.

More than 200,000 people were killed in those wars, most of them non-Serbs. The wars led to more than 700,000 Serb refugees fleeing to Serbia proper by 1995, fearing revenge from Croats and Bosniaks.

The difference now is that Kostunica says the solution in Kosovo “must be a political one” rather than through a call to arms.

“The idea is to follow the model of Cyprus,” historian Aleksandar Fatic told IPS. Cyprus was divided into Turk and Greek parts three decades ago. The UN and the EU are now trying to reunite the island.

“One can imagine a more modern solution,” international law expert Vojin Dimitrijevic told IPS. “It could resemble the solution for Bosnia-Herzegovina,” he added. The country was divided into two parts, one for Serbs and the other for Muslims and Croats by the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war in 1995.

Prominent journalist Veton Surroi, a rare ethnic Albanian to communicate with the Serbian public told Belgrade media that “the violence against Serbs was a serious blow” to any efforts for multiethnic Kosovo. “It is obvious that the time will come when a kind of decentralisation will become necessary,” he said.

Decentralisation would practically mean broader autonomy for Serbs in the province. International officials find “decentralisation’ a less dangerous term than “separation” or “territorial autonomy”.

But Kosovo president Ibrahim Rugova has rejected any idea of territorial autonomy or the creation of Serb entities in the province.

“Any administrative organisation is an internal matter for the Kosovo authorities…and can only be considered after recognition of Kosovo’s independence in unchanged borders,” Rugova said in a statement last weekend.

Analyst Ivan Torov says the situation has reached stalemate. “Subtle diplomacy is needed, but it looks like both sides (Serb and Albanian) are dug deep in their trenches. We’re having a crisis around Kosovo only five years after the international community thought it was over.”