When the Kosova Liberation Army first emerged some two years ago, Ibrahim Rugova, leader of the Democratic League of Kosova, argued that it was a Serbian police trick designed to discredit his pacifist policies.
This is somewhat rich, since it is widely believed that Serbian President Milosevic more or less permitted Rugova’s activities until recently. If Albanians did not have him to look to they would search for leadership amongst other, more militant, candidates.
Under Rugova’s guidance the LDK and other Albanian parties in Kosova declared independence and began setting up parallel structures of government, health care and education. Rugova was elected president in semi-underground elections while a "government-in-exile" shuttled between Germany, Switzerland, Albania and Macedonia.
Six months of renewed Serb repression has radically changed the balance of forces among Kosova’s Albanian majority. The Kosova Liberation Army is rapidly becoming the dominant force. Rugova is even losing members of his own party to the KLA, including official KLA spokesperson Jakub Krasniqi.
Parliament
Rugova is caught in a cleft stick. In a bid to shore up his political position, he recently convened the 120-member Kosova parliament, elected in March but never authorised by the Belgrade government.
The LDK controls 90 per cent of the seats, in part because pro-KLA groups boycotted the election. No sooner had Rugova taken his oath as president than Serb police raided the LDK headquarters, where the session had taken place.
Like the KLA, Rugova supports independence. His pacifism has won him international support. But his commitment to non-violence has failed to end the bloodshed or win self-rule. Negotiations with Milosevic in May proved abortive and further alienated most Kosovars from Rugova.
His international popularity is an important factor in his declining support in Kosova. The governments that praise Rugova’s pacifism are totally opposed to Kosovar independence. The Dayton Accords, which supposedly ended the war in Bosnia, simply left Kosova at Milosevic’s mercy.
Since passive resistance has clearly failed and the west, despite occasional denunciations of Milosevic, shows no support for their struggle, Kosova’s Albanians have concluded they have no choice but to fight alone.
Liberated areas
The KLA has been the main beneficiary. It has shown an increasing ability to take on Serbian forces, to create liberated areas and is reported to be organising clandestinely in the Kosova capital Pristina.
The success of the KLA has led US special envoy Richard Holbrooke, the architect of Dayton, to meet with the KLA and argue that they must be included in any discussions with Milosevic.
He has even rejected the use of the term ‘terrorist’ to describe the KLA. He qualified this, however, by saying that the real purpose of the meeting was to discover who actually controlled the KLA and that this contact did not in any way undermine Rugova’s position and authority.
At the same time the Contact Group - Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the US - has made it clear it will not countenance Kosovar independence, which they fear could trigger rebellions in other states with substantial Albanian minorities, such as Greece and Macedonia. They are currently working on another Dayton-style ‘agreement’ to impose on the region.
Only Kosova’s Albanian population has the right to decide whether or not it wants independence or accepts some form of autonomy within Yugoslavia. Socialists must support their right to self-determination.
There are forces that have advocated Kosova becoming a third unit, alongside Serbia and Montenegro, in a federation. These include Adem Demaci, who spent 28 years in Yugoslav prisons and heads the Parliamentary Party of Kosova and Mahmut Bakalli, former head of the League of Communists of Kosova, sacked in 1981 for supposedly being responsible for the rise of Albanian unrest.
On paper such a scheme has appeal. A genuine federation, uniting different nationalities on an equal basis, would be a big step forward in rebuilding unity amongst the different nations of the Balkans. However the level of Serb repression - which continues despite the threat of western sanctions - has made such a solution almost a non-starter.
Socialists must also support the right of the Kosovar Albanians to unite with Albania if they so choose. We do not necessarily advocate it. The right of nations to self-determination does not mean that all nations must be grouped within a single nation state.
There are many nations - the German, Hungarian, Russian etc - that are divided between several different states.
There is no reason why the same could not be the case for Albanians. Indeed the KLA has recently retreated from advocacy of unification. However, we reject any attempt by imperialist powers to deny the right of Albanians to unite in a common state.
Whatever state the Kosovar Albanians eventually achieve it will almost certainly contain non-Albanian minorities. Socialists must not only support Kosovar independence but fight against Albanian chauvinism and for full national rights for non-Albanian minorities – just as we defend the rights of national minorities in whatever state they are found.