Editorial
November 1998

Serb grip on Kosova continues with NATO accord

It all seems so predictable. Serbian neo-fascists wage a genocidal war against an entire people which the U.S. does nothing to stop. When the situation risks getting out of hand, the U.S. first threatens NATO air strikes and then imposes a "peace" settlement that basically rewards the Serbian aggressors. It occurred in Bosnia three years ago with the Dayton accords. It is occurring once again with the accord to halt for now the fighting between Serbia and ethnic Albanians in Kosova.

Hammered out between Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic and U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke, the architect of the Dayton accords, the agreement calls on Serbia to halt its military offensive in Kosova which has killed thousands and produced 400,000 refugees. Yet it does not require Milosevic to completely withdraw his troops. It only stipulates that he bring the number of troops down to the number of those present prior to his recent offensive-19,000 soldiers! This maintains Milosevic's grip on the region and allows him to renew hostilities when it suits him.

The U.S. and NATO say they will try to prevent this by having 2,000 unarmed civilian observers on the ground while patrolling Kosova with jet fighters from the air. But the recent history of the West's actions in the region raise many doubts that this will have much effect. The presence of armed UN "peacekeepers" in Bosnia several years ago did nothing to prevent Serbian aggression. On the contrary, the "peacekeepers" opened the gates to Srebrenica, a city under siege in eastern Bosnia, and the Serbs then slaughtered 10,000 of its residents.

The accord also calls for a three-year timetable in which Serbia is supposed to complete "interim autonomy arrangements" for the Kosovars. This arrangement directly negates the central demand of the Kosovar people-independence from Serbia. As Adam Demachi of the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA) said in a statement attacking the accords, the Holbrooke-Milosevic deal provides Kosovars with fewer rights than the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution and leaves them with a lesser degree of self-governance than enjoyed up to 1989.

In fact, the people of Kosova were completely excluded from this agreement. Though "moderate" leaders who are more accommodating to the U.S., such as Ibrahim Rugova, were "consulted" about the discussions with Milosevic, the KLA was excluded from them and its basic demands ignored. Moreover, the language of the accord was outright insulting in speaking of "the problems in the Province of Kosovo and Metohija." This is the language used by Serbia to refer to its occupation of Kosova.

PARTITION FOR KOSOVA?

It all sounds like what happened in Bosnia, where a U.S.-imposed accord prevented the Serbian forces from suffering a military defeat. It led to the partition of Bosnia. A similar fate may await Kosova.

The most recent Serbian military offensive took place in northern Kosova. Entire villages in the Mitrovica, Vushtrria, and Podujeva regions were burned to the ground, and tens of thousands of its Albanian residents forced to flee. The entire Kosova economy-and much of Serbia's-is dependent upon northern Kosova. It contains the biggest lead and zinc mine in Europe at Trepca. Milosevic clearly wants to hold onto this region at all costs.

Milosevic has taken the U.S.'s opposition to Kosova's independence as a signal that it may allow a partitioning of the country. He is therefore doing everything he can to keep as many troops as possible in the north and prevent the return of refugees. The U.S. is letting him get away with this by insisting that Serbs have as much right to this region as ethnic Albanians-even though they make up only 4% of its population.

Milosevic is also trying to play upon divisions within the KLA. One of its wings, the Kosova Peoples Movement (KPM), favors partition. It is led by followers of the late Communist leader of Albania, Enver Hoxha. Despite its militant rhetoric, the KPM is willing to let Serbia keep northern Kosova in exchange for the rest of the country being allowed to unite with Albania. This approach is strongly opposed by the rest of the KLA.

What makes all of this especially dangerous is that the Holbrooke-Milosevic accord calls on U.S. and NATO forces to intervene only after a massacre or major offense is committed by Serbian forces. No structures are in place that will enable refugees to return to their homes or war criminals to be arrested. The Kosovars are simply being asked to have faith that after Milosevic massacres them, NATO will come in with air strikes.

In fact, the U.S. and Western powers have long tried to avoid air strikes out of fear it would embolden the fighters of the KLA in their struggle for independence. The threat of air strikes is primarily used as a way to cover over the extent to which the U.S. is trying to cut a deal with Milosevic. It has the added effect of fooling many, including on the Left, into thinking that the U.S. stands on the side of the Kosovars.

As Veton Surroi, editor of KOHA DITTORE, the leading independent paper in Kosova, put it, "If the greatest military force in the history of mankind was to be employed in order to 'squeeze' such concessions out of Milosevic, then the message sent out to mini-dictators around the globe, is that you can get away with the crimes you have committed."

The accord remains on shaky ground and showed signs of coming apart as soon as it was signed, in part because Milosevic is dragging his feet on reducing his troop levels. It may prove far more difficult to maintain this accord than the one in Bosnia. The U.S. was able to pressure the Bosnian government into signing the Dayton Accords and end its military advance against the Serbs. The KLA, however, is a diffuse and multitendency organization and lacks a central authority which the U.S. can easily bring into line. It is likely to resist pressure from above. Despite this rotten accord, the struggle of the Kosovar people for independence, freedom, and equality, has not yet run its course.

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