Waiting for Doomsday

The pictures of people in Albanian cities in revolt are among the main reasons for the fear that the Kosovo "powder keg" could be detonated by events in the neighboring country. The possibility that several hundred thousand "long barrels", appropriated from ammunition storages of military barracks and police stations across Albania, could surface in the region are setting ablaze some already dusty hypotheses about a potential regional conflict which would begin in Kosovo, would then spread to Macedonia and Greece, and immediately afterwards to Turkey, Bulgaria and God knows where else. Such a "Doomsday scenario" has been a cause of fear for some time in foreign affairs departments throughout foreign capitals, and it is small surprise that the world community has already begun fire prevention measures.

However, in Kosovo itself a convincing majority of people interviewed disdainfully brush away any questions about whether there are weapons in Albania. "Why would they need such stuff — they are already armed to the teeth", says one of the residents of Gracanica who refuses to give his name. "Recently an Albanian man was enquiring with the military if he could purchase a tank; when asked what he would use it for, he answered — ‘for spare parts’". For their part, Albanians respond to the same question by pointing to the proclaimed principle of the nonviolent fight for independence which is sworn to by a great majority of Albanian political forces, despite the recent actions of the mysterious "Army for the Liberation of Kosovo". "It is not us that are armed, but the Serbs", claim the residents of the village of Mramor on the Pristina border (its population is 100% Albanian). Every few months the police cordons off the village and conducts thorough house-to-house searches; as for smaller portions of the same treatment, dealt out to selected families, their count has been lost some time ago.

"Weapons have not arrived yet for two reasons", a well informed (Serbian) source says, which also insists on anonymity (in general, it is next to impossible to find anyone in Kosovo, Serbian or Albanian, who is willing to give statements in their name, especially if those statements conflict with well known, official opinion). "The first reason is that these days mountain peaks are snowed over, so the established smugglers’ routs are inaccessible. The second reason is that the army and the military have practically closed off the border". Still, our source admits that not even the weather conditions, nor the police-military factors can continue to hold back the flow of weapons: summer is on its way, and a military blockade cannot hold up forever. "Guns wont flood Kosovo, but will slowly trickle, more from Macedonia than from Albania", our source forecasts. "That, however, is a long-range problem, and we do not deal with long-range problems here".

The political effect of the fermenting in Albania is for now more concrete, and can be seen in the sudden loss of influence of Adem Demaqi, the leader of the newly formed Parliamentary Party of Kosovo, who in past months has been openly expressing the desire to replace the until recently unchallenged Ibrahim Rugova, the head of the Albanian movement for independence. Demaqi’s combination of hardcore nationalism (because of which he served a 20 year sentence) and political suppleness (which Rugovi lacks) have by all accounts left a good impression of Sali Berisha, which was indicated in the programs of Tirana Television which has been "pumping up" Demaqi in the same way RTS had been "pumping up" JUL in the wake of the November elections. At the moment the Albanian president has more important business, and Tirana Television is showing footage of a different sort. Having allied himself too closely with Tirana and having offered unqualified support to Beris during the beginnings of the unrest, Deveci, for his part, had sealed his political fate. It is with difficulty that relief at Demici’s loss of influence is concealed within DLK (Democratic League of Kosovo) ranks. "What is happening in Albania is not good, but discord among the Kosovo Albanians is even worse", a high official of this party told "Vreme", having asked, of course, that his name not be revealed. "Demaqi is not a serous politician; he changes his opinions constantly, and the majority of Albanians see that clearly now".

What a majority of Kosovo Albanians still do not see is that the independence that Rugova promises is not nearly as near as they would like to think, "Vreme" ascertained from a Western diplomat who frequently resides in Kosovo, "surveying the situation". "When someone in Bruxelles or Washington states that the Kosovo Albanians should be granted the right to self-determination, but that it should under no circumstances include secession, the first part of such a statement immediately finds its way to the front page of ‘Bujku’ (the daily sympathetic to Rugova), while the second part is glossed over. I have the impression that they persistently disinform their people about the West supporting their secession." Diplomatic sources tell that DLK officials do not stop addressing the Chief of the American Information Center in the middle of Pristina as "American Ambassador", which presents a constant source of frustration to this diplomat, who according to title only has the status of First Secretary (three ranks below Ambassador).

We had the opportunity to find out how the so-called common people of Kosovo view the events in Albania in the mentioned village of Mramor. The rebellion is perceived there as the result of joint actions by the secret agencies of Serbia, Greece and Macedonia, while CNN and BBC footage from Albania is dismissed as ill spirited, constructed, tendentious reporting. However, beneath that anger what can be seen is something resembling shame. "The whole world watches and says: you see how they are those Albanians", a local teacher says in despair. "It cannot be true. We are not like that; we are a civilized people who respect all the values of European culture". Serbs, for their part, view Albanians precisely in that light: "They are a savage people", it is said in Gracanica, 5 km distant from Mramor. Still, fears from what the future promises outweigh for most "the contentment at seeing the Albanian neighbor’s cow go dead". That sense of uncertainty, enforced by growing mistrust of Belgrade are what is prevalent among the local Serbs. "We saw how Milosevic betrayed the Serbs from Krajina and Bosnia, and we saw how Belgrade welcomed the refugees from those regions", states a regional government official who was born in Kosovo. When asked whether he had already reserved an apartment in Belgrade, he answered: "It is out of the question. I wouldn’t be seen dead there. I got together with a few friends, and we’re starting a company in Solun".