Who Clinched Victory?

Kosovo's Serbs are just as unhappy with the peace treaty as the ethnic Albanians. "Milosevic is the only winner", says a Kosovo Serb. Ethnic Albanians in Pristina are disappointed, some of them are even furious. No bombs for Milosevic, no independence for them, they will only get unarmed OSCE observers. "They won't even have hand guns. We've already had unarmed diplomats and they didn't do us any good. No one believes that Milosevic will comply and keep his promises", says an ethnic Albanian. However, some of them are happier than the rest. "We will now get our own police force. In three years, we will be the winners", an ethnic Albanian student told the daily Koha Ditore.

Kosovo’s Serbs are appaled with the striking similarities to the 1974-1989 period, when Kosovo enjoyed what they call broad autonomy. "Even then, the police was organized at a proportional level. Nine ethnic Albanians to one Serb. The one Serb was more of a nuisance than the nine ethnic Albanians. He had to be, to prove trustworthy, keep his job and survive", says a Serbian doctor in Pristina. However, some serbs feel different. "Alright, we won. As the international community has provided its guarantees for the well-being and safety of the entire population, it should abolish the laws banning trade in property between ethnic communities so that we can leave Kosovo in peace", said a young Serb.

Although the population was not as anxious and tense as in Belgrade, when the air strikes appeared imminent, both the Serbs and the ethnic Albanians were concerned and in a rather reconcilable mood. The ethnic Albanians realized that missiles fired from the Adriatic still can't tell the difference between a Serb and an Albanian, meaning that it was likely that casualties would have been numerous on both sides had air strikes against Serbia gone ahead. The people were glued to their television sets awaiting the outcome of the Milosevic-Holbrooke talks. Many ethnic Albanians and quite a few Serbs were relieved when news broke that some kind of an agreement had been reached. Some ethnic Albanians are still releived, although there is growing discontent again among many of them. They weren't happy with the 1974 Constitution, and many of them feel that they got even less this time. There is neither no panic nor euphoria in Pristina, as the town's population returns to business as usual.