Expert: Masha Petrova - 3/27/2001

Question
Hay...

Iv been doing some research on the war in Kosovo in 1999 and Iv got so much information from magazines and stuff, it'd take me ages to go through it all!!

I was wondering if you could tell me - in a simple kinda way - what happenend in Kosovo.
WHy did it start?
WHat did NATO do about it?
What issues did the serbs/kosovos have to get over for it to end and stay ended for as long as it has?
How long do you think the peace will last?

I know its a lot, but I don't need too detailed answers!


Thanx a lot for your help!

Answer
Karly,
As you said, it is a HUGE answer but I will try to clarify a few things.  Please just remember the US media is SO biased and jaded so try to use foreign news sources (BBC, etc.).  What happened is Kosovo is the cradle and birthplace of the Serbian nation.  In the 14th century there was a battle (Battle of Kosovo) where the Serbs defeated imperial troops and had a Serbian nation for the first time.  There are many Orthodox churches and cultural places there for that reason.  In more recent times, ethnic Albanians came across the border from Albania because the country is so poor people were fleeing on rafts to Italy and crossing borders (they were and still live in concrete bomb shelters it is so poor) and they settled in Kosovo.  Well, for multiple reasons I will just leave it that they have a MUCH higher birth rate than ethnic Slavs in the area who generally have a declining one so soon they were the "majority" in the tiny region of Kosovo.  Then they wanted to speak Albanian vs. Serbian (which are in no way related so it is not that they are similar languages like Macedonian and Serbian), be more expressive of Islam, and have more political leadership and then autonomy.  Their goal is to unite Kosovo and NW Macedonia with Albania for a "Greater" Albania since they went there on the good nature of other countries accepting them and then using population to maneuver their political goals.  When the Serbs resisted because of the historical and cultural importance, the "Kosovar" Albanians (just Albanians in my view) took arms that were actually acquired with direct and indirect international support and began guerrilla warfare and then the Serbs retaliated and it got ugly.  Note: THIS HAS HAPPENED IN THE REGION SINCE THE OTTOMANS CAME AND STARTED ISLAMIC RULE - HUNDREDS OF YEARS SO IT IS NOT GOING AWAY.  Finally NATO came to protect human rights since the Serbs were attacking people (so they like to warp facts to fit other political ambitions) and said that the Muslims were being attacked unjustly as in Bosnia.  Nay.  Granted, attrocities on BOTH sides but the US especially tried to make one side look innocent.  The KLA got funding and weapons from other Muslims in the region (Bosnian and others) which were actually given by the US so they can defend and protect themselves.  After some time in the region, the Serbs were tied and the Albanians were still running wild raping, pillaging, burning, and killing just as the others had done in the name of war.  So NATO allegedly was then there to protect and instill peace.  No peace was instilled.  Check out the website http://www.kosovo.com  There is a huge section called Crucified Kosovo that lists Orthodox churches destroyed in the area (AFTER the arrival of NATO KFOR troops sent to "protect") that is very interesting if you take the time to review it.  The Decani group was started by a monk who had an internet connection during the start of the war in 1997 and would list all the churches and priests missing or harmed in the conflict and it just grew from there.  You hear about Muslim mass graves, rapes, burning of Muslim homes, etc.  You do not hear about the serbian mass graves, women driven from homes, churches (like 14th century) burned, icons desecrated, nuns raped, and Orthodox priests decappitated.  It would make the Western govnts admit flawed policy and that is something they are not willing to risk now.  People are finally realizing this and it seems finally to seem a little more realistic.

I am a historian of the Balkans.  I am also Macedonian (where NATO is there now saving the world after the made us take hundreds of thousands of Albanian refugees last year who now help plot with the KLA to bomb our cities).  This hits close to home.  So about NATO all I will say is we did not want them there and in most eyes of the region, they have done nothing.  There is a running joke from the 1993 fighting that there is a conflict, people die, and later the UN or NATO come by to id the bodies - that is how they are keeping peace.  They turn away from real conflict only to hold press conferences.  Yes, fighting in 1993 - it has went on in Macedonia for some time but it was not a news catcher like Bosnia then Kosovo but now it is a big deal.  If everyone wanted to stabilize the region there should have been a blanket approach back then to stomp it out but apparently that does not seem the ultimate goal, does it?  Even now, there is not real peace... there is forced cooperation.  The western powers (UK, France, US, etc.) divided up the Balkans after WWI and the fall of the Great Empires (Habsburg, Russian, and Ottoman).  Fact is, they did a miserable job.  They drew boundaries irrespective to cultures and conflicts and thus people do not get along.  That is not going to get better until all sides get together and can agree on reasonable terms.  I am biased but I do not feel my tiny country with only 2 million people which is landlocked should have to give up land to a people's that have a homeland (unlike the Kurds or something) on the Adriatic that is larger than ours just because they came to a better place and populated it and now want to make that just like the home they left.  I am sorry but if you want to speak a foreign language, disrespect the local government, institutions, and culture, only to replace it with something that exists somewhere else, that is cultural warfare.  And that is the view in the region and that is why there is no simple peace that guns and tanks will resolve.

I hope that helps.

~Masha