Inquisitive Foreigners

"If the excuse for not opening secondary schools for lessons in the Albanian language is the disregard for the plans and programs of the Republic of Serbia, why the opposition to the opening of the University, which works under a uniform program?" - was the question put to the Serbian Radical Party president, Vojislav Seselj, at a recent talk with journalists in the Kosovo capital. In the absence of a logical answer, Seselj in his usual style attacked the "inquisitive" journalists, deducing that such a question could only have been commissioned by none other than Tirana, and repeating that an intelligence test should be a condition for employment as a journalist. Nevertheless, Mr. Seselj has "evolved" somewhat in some of his attitudes. From the standpoint that Albanians don't need schools at all, to the announcement that he would give them primary education. Secondary and tertiary - no way! The chief of the Radicals a few days ago received the title of professor of the University of Pristina and has announced that he will be moving to Kosovo permanently, and this is interpreted by the witty as his determination to prevent Prime Minister Milan Panic from carrying out his promise to "open the University and all schools for Albanians". How and with what methods he will do this remains to be seen. In spite of everything, Albanian secondary school children will try on Monday 14th September, along with their Serb and Montenegrin peers, to move into their classrooms at last. At the same time, it has been announced that this will be energetically opposed. All in all, the determination of both sides is what joins them, but also what could separate them forever. Federal Prime Minister, Milan Panic, has postponed his visit to Pristina and thus, so they say here, proved that he hasn't the strength to change anything in this crisis zone. However, there is still a chance that he will meet again with Rugova, leader of the Kosovo Albanians, on neutral territory. Maybe in Geneva, to where a delegation of Kosovo Albanians has also been invited.

Since the last issue of VREME, a considerable number of foreign diplomats have been in Pristina. The Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thorvald Stoltenberg, talked to the Albanian side about the installation of a CSCE mission in Kosovo which would be led by a representative from his country, and the Charge d'Affaires of the German Embassy in Belgrade, in his meeting with the provincial authorities, showed great interest in the reasons for the lack of medicines and, with regard to this, asked where Serbian hard currency was going. He left without an answer! Another subject of interest is the reasons for the dismissal of Albanians. We relayed to the vice-president of the Kosovo Union of Independent Trade Unions, Aziz Abrassi, the officials' answer that it was a matter of voluntary resignation: "That statement could possibly stand for, say, 100, 500, or even 1000 people, but do you really think that 128,635 workers and professionals of various profiles, in these times of financial and economic crisis, would voluntarily choose hunger?" asked Abrassi, continuing, "There are thirty reasons why Albanian workers are thrown out of work, and the most frequent are: the Trepca miners' strike in 1989; participation in the general strike on 3 September 1990; refusal to cooperate with the police and likewise to give written recognition of the emergency measures and laws of Serbia; leaving the communist trade union and joining the Union; boycotting the elections for the Serbian parliament...." To our comment that a good number of workers had been proclaimed technologically redundant, Abrassi replied using the example of "Foronikla" in Glogovac: while Albanians were sent home under this excuse, Serbs and Montenegrins were accepted in their places, and not only in Kosovo. At the same time this (until recently) most lucrative giant in not only the economy of Kosovo, is being "integrated" with the biggest Serbian losers. Is this not a conscious effort to ruin our economy and at the same time change the ethnic structure, first in companies, and then in the entire population of Kosovo?