Living People and Dead Monuments

On the eve of the London Conference on the former Yugoslavia it is with a dose of optimism, but also skepticism, that the future development of events in Kosovo is viewed. Yugoslav Prime Minister Milan Panic's announcement that the state of emergency will be lifted along with all the discriminating laws against the Kosovo Albanians, has been rejected by the Serbs with the explanation that it is "tactless and the fruit of his lack of information. There should be no doubt as to his good will, but this announcement is harmful and shows that Panic is politically inexperienced," is the comment of the head of the Serbian Democratic Forum, Dusan Celic. But in Albanian circles the announcement was met with restrained approval: "Panic has said a lot up to now, but done little. At one moment he announces that he will recognize the Albanian right to self-determination, at another he denies it. I am afraid that it will be the same case with the state of emergency and lifting of the discriminatory laws," says Dr Ibrahim Rugova, leader of the Kosovo Albanians, who, on Wednesday, received an invitation from Lord Carrington to (in)directly take part in the London Conference.

Even though the Albanians view the coming conference with trepidation, fearing that, as in 1913, they will be left with short change, in the circles of Serbian political parties and associations there is great hope that "Serbia will do everything to prevent others from deciding about the holy Serbian lands of Kosovo and Metohija". If anything is decided in favour of the Albanians and to the detriment of the state of Serbia, there is a threat here of the activation of the entire Serbian people.

Thus Kosovo as a territory, even with special status, is something Serbian parties don't think about. However, Panic's proposal, presented at the recent talks in Athens and Tirana, that Kosovo be discussed in Belgrade, though first met with doubt by the Serbs, has nonetheless not been rejected: "I consider that Serbs and Montenegrins here are not clear about what would be discussed, and there certainly exist forces in Serbia that are not for any kind of discussion. We cannot bind the Serbian people, state and Yugoslavia to such as these, or even the politics of the majority of the opposition parties," says Momcilo Trajkovic, an MP in the Serbian parliament. Skeljzen Malici, another Albanian leader has quite the opposite opinion: "The Kosovo problem has its genesis in Belgrade and can only be solved when Belgrade comes to understand that the Serbian question is least to do with Kosovo, when it decides between myth and reality, or between "living people and dead monuments". Panic speaks of "my Albanians" and promises that he will come to an agreement with them at any moment, as if Kosovo is simply a matter of disagreement. Once again we have a flippant promise of speed which promises nothing good for Kosovo. Before he made a bridge to Kosovo at all, Panic made two wrong steps: he went to Mitsoutakis in order that he should be mediator at some kind of conference, and then he looked for support from Tirana. It has all been thought out so that Rugova rejects the offer and an illusion is created of how Serbia is prepared to take part in a conference on Kosovo, in the presence of a third party, as offered by Carrington, but the Albanians aren't. The ultimate goal of the operation is to prevent the direct representation of Kosovo at the London Conference."

And as additional proof that the days to come will in no way be "cooler", there is talk that on the eve of the new school term, a number of Albanian teachers have been taken in by the Pristina police, and that the president of their association, registered in Belgrade, Redzep Osmani, has been ten or more days in jail. The Albanians, however, have still not given up on "going into our schools" on September 1. For the time being, the Serbian side is not showing signs of alarm, that is, of course, if you ignore the "investigative actions" of the authorities. The federal ministers of education and justice, which Panic "sent" long ago to Kosovo, still haven't arrived....