Hollow Noise

The people here were informed that Malici and Demaci said that ``should Europe as well as others say that Kosovo is to remain within Serbia, then a Serb-Albanian war, that will also spread to Macedonia, will break out, which, in effect, will be the Third Balkan War,'' specifically, that it there is war, Kosovo Albanians will be helped by Italy, Austria, and Germany, besides Albania and the U.S. Simic's comment that ``the statements were politically extremely malicious'' has particularly disturbed Kosovo Albanians.

``Back in June this year, during our stay in Sofia, we had an interview with Sofia's paper ``Makedonija'' and not with Sofia's ``Standard'' or ``Trud.'' The accents of this interview were carried by the Belgrade press immediately afterwards,'' Adem Demaci, the President of the Pristina Board for protection of human rights and freedoms, told VREME. ``This is not the first time that the Serbian regime has used my well-intentioned warnings as to where this policy of repression, war and bloodshed might lead and tried to present them as threats. Scapegoats for all that might happen in Kosovo must be prepared on time. Such a policy is shrewd and dangerous. Fortunately, it is also much too obvious, so that it might prove counterproductive for its creators,'' Demaci pointed out.

Skeljzen Malici had this to say, ``All was for the purpose of making room for Zeljko Simic's reaction who's also the Yugoslav coordinator for the Geneva Conference. Following the attempt to invent Albanian terrorism in Kosovo by rigging a trial of tow illegal groups, what we have now is the intention to create an impression that those political circles, which were considered to be moderate and ready to compromise, are inspiring terrorism. Thus, a message is being sent to the mediators in Geneva, who are pushing for the beginning of the negotiations on Kosovo. It reads: Serbia wants a dialogue, but the problem is that she cannot find any interlocutors in Kosovo, as even people like Demaci, the recipient of the ``Sakharov'' Award, and Malici, who has been involved in peace actions, are basically militant and threaten with war,'' Malici said. He also added that one should not rule out an even shrewder strategy ``of direct promotion of potential competitors of Ibrahim Rugova, who has stuck to the option of Kosovo's independence, as compared with flexible and compromising statements made by Demaci and Malici.'' When asked to clarify this, Malici replied, ``Serbian strategists are known to be taking good care of the public image of their major opponents. The Serbian media widely ``publicized'' Rugova's bellicosity using his benign statement to ``Der Spiegel'' a while ago. Right now, they are publicizing bellicosity of Demaci and Malici in order to improve their rating among the Albanians, which should later enhance the influence they may have on a compromise result of the negotiations, if not ensure their direct participation.''

An instant reaction of Professor Miroljub Jevtic only goes to prove that the issue is taking on increasingly greater proportions. At the panel discussion recently held in Pristina, he warned, ``Skeljzen Malici and Adem Demaci may continue to make threats. But, if Shiptars rise up they'll get a spanking.''