Quiet Street

The Kosovo Serbs and Albanians cannot reach a deal about the name of the town which used to bear the privileged title - Titova Mitrovica. The Albanians find the first word of the official name Kosovska Mitrovica superfluous - since there exists only one Mitrovica in Kosovo. The Serbs, on the other hand, still treat Kosovo as a constituent part of Serbia and find the name Mitrovica undistinguished without the addition Kosovska. They claim that it would not be quite clear whether it was about Kosovska or Sremska Mitrovica...

The story about this name would be rather excessive were this place not already divided. The major part of town is controlled by the Albanians, while only one sixth of it belongs to the Serbian administration. The French forces of KFOR have a very difficult task of 'extinguishing fires' in the immediate neighborhood of the river Ibar, which represents the natural as well as the ethnic border of the two parts of the town. Both those in the form of outbursts of international conflicts, as well as real fires when the local houses are in flames, are not uncommon. The divided town on the Ibar is mentioned by the media only when the isolated conflicts get out of control of the international troops, and when there are human victims. Just as it has happened recently.

Violence was expected by both the Serbs and Albanians. In the last few months, the Serbs were subject to lateral blows. The southern part of town is entirely cleansed of Serbian population. The exception were seven Serbs who lived under the constant supervision of the French troops near a local Orthodox Church. All buses and the train for Kosovo Polje were thrown stones at every day. The climax occurred on February 3rd when a UNHCR bus was rocketed in the village of Cugrelj, in which two people were killed, Plana Rajkovic and Budimir Jovanovic. After that the president of the Executive Board of the Serbian National Council accredited with the district of Kosovska Mitrovica, Oliver Ivanovic warned: 'We are expecting that the Albanian terrorists will attempt to spread into the northern part of town (Kosovska Mitrovica) via Bosnjacka Mahala. Tough days are still yet to come. We are forced to defend ourselves, it is obvious that KFOR cannot help us.'

The inhabitants of the northern part of town, the majority of which had nowhere to flee, looked in the direction of the Ibar bridge with horror. The quarrels would usually begin with the unannounced demonstrations to which the Serbs would response with lesser counter-meetings.

The mayor of the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, Bajram Redzepi was not indifferent. He stated that 'Serbian paramilitary troops' were present in the northern part of town. He also claimed that Belgrade 'has serious intentions of keeping the industrial complex Trepca under its own control.' At about the same time, the Albanian press speculated that 'Seselj's paramilitary formations from Serbia are stationed nearby in Zvecan'. Afterwards, it turned out that the core of the clash was the area of Bosnjacka Mahala and that none of the conflicted sides was unprepared to embark on a mini war, which later took place.

SNIPERS: On Sunday, February 13th, at about 10 a.m., Kosovska Mitrovica irresistibly reminded of Sarajevo and its toughest times in 1992. Women, children and men which happened to be in the streets were running with their heads bent downwards.

'Not there! Sniper from Kolasinska', could be heard on the street. Powerful detonations echoed throughout the town, shelling from infantry weapons and machine guns did not stop for hours. Just as it usually happens in similar circumstances, surgeons were very busy. However, unlike in Sarajevo, this time the French soldiers used their weapons.
An Albanian, who seemed to be using a sniper, was murdered on the balcony of one skyscraper. Avni Hajradina is victim of the last outbreak of violence. It was later published by the press that he had been a member of the former KLA (the Kosovo Liberation Army). The rumours have it that he was a very dangerous guy, the type of which exist in any bigger town. Before they even responded to the fire, two French soldiers were wounded: one in a leg, the other in the stomach. Without greater publicity, the latter was offered medical help by Serbian doctors. Previously, the Serbs had laid the wounded French in a private vehicle in order to take him to the operating room.

FRIENDSHIPS: Although it is unlikely that the direct participants of the conflict at Bosnjacka Mahala will meet again, the news spread that the French performed their task very well, with the traditional 'congratulations'. Simultaneously, the Albanians who resided in the northern part of town sought friends with whom they left the keys of their apartments. Many Serbian refugees looked for friends among the Albanians, to sort out their housing problems. Even though there exist no precise information about the number of Albanians who fled from the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, the unofficial estimations have it that at least a half of 2500 people crossed the Ibar bridge in fear of retribution. It is interesting that in the Serbian zone of Mitrovica, a street - which happens to be structurally multiethnic - is the least problematic. It is about the 6th Brigade Street, which is also, as a joke, called the American Street. In order to recover their household budgets, the residents of this (and not only this) street are renting the extra space of their houses to the Americans, French, and Canadians... the recently odious occupiers shortly afterwards became dear guests in Serbian homes.

OCCUPIERS: Karel Chalian from Armenia, the administrator for the municipality of Zvecan, stated the following, on the occasion of having dinner with representatives of the Yugoslav Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is situated in that municipality: "You Serbs are a cultured nation. So far, no one has called me an occupier. Everyone addresses me with 'Mr. occupier'".

Due to the 'occupying methods' of a curfew which was still in effect - since 6 p.m. the streets are filled only with armoured transporters and patrol vehicles of KFOR and UN police. There is no evident opposition to these measures since it became clear that the police had had positive effects. The happiest parents were those whose children had a habit of remaining in cafes until late, although nocturnal explosions upset everyone. At the moment the town seems to be quiet, but both the Serbs and Albanians are expecting more conflicts. The battle for Kosovska Mitrovica is not yet finished.