Tensions in Kosovo The Halifax Herald

Tensions in Kosovo
The Halifax Herald (Opinion Page) - Monday, June 21, 2004

By SCOTT TAYLOR / On Target

PRISTINA, Kosovo - On June 10, the United Nations police force was placed on full alert.

Outside the gates of the civil headquarters, squads of riot police were outfitted with body armour, batons and assault rifles.

Behind the front ranks stood additional units of heavily armed police officers with tear gas dispensers at the ready. In the centre of the UN compound were a number of armoured police vehicles and several prisoner transport buses along with K-9 dog handlers parading about with some vicious-looking Alsatians.

As further backup to the UN police force, a number of NATO combat units were also in the vicinity and snipers were visible atop several key buildings in downtown Pristina.

"After what happened in March, we are taking no chances," explained one policewoman. "We (the UN) will not be taken by surprise again."

On March 17, the province of Kosovo erupted into a 48-hour orgy of violence and destruction. Originally, the overwhelmed UN and NATO security officials thought the sudden rampage by more than 100,000 Albanian Kosovars into the ethnic Serbian enclaves was a spontaneous outpouring of hatred. But in the investigation that followed, it was quickly discovered that the riots had been carefully planned by Albanian leaders.

The two-day clashes left an estimated 19 civilians dead and 1,104 people injured - including 188 international soldiers and police. More than 800 Serbian homes were destroyed, leaving some 4,000 people homeless.

But perhaps one of the most disturbing aspects of the riots was the deliberate destruction of 29 Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries, many dating back to the 11th century.

On June 9, 2 1/2 months after the riots, Albanian organizers of the Kosovo Action Network advised UN officials they would be conducting a major demonstration the following day. Although the network spokesperson said that it was going to be an exercise in "non-violence," there has been increased tension between the Albanian Kosovars and the international community since the events of March.

As well, the situation between the Albanians and the Serbian minority remains critically tense. On June 7, an Albanian extremist gunned down a Serbian youth outside the Gracanica enclave. Following this drive-by shooting, the Serbs of Gracanica staged a protest demanding that NATO troops respect UN Resolution 1244, which guarantees a "safe environment" for all Kosovo residents.

Ironically, it was this same UN resolution that had been the focal point of the Albanian protest on June 10.

The expected crowd - some 10,000 people, according to the organizers - failed to materialize, with the actual number of protesters probably being fewer than 1,000.

Despite the poor showing, the demonstration was well-organized - complete with a powerful sound system blaring such rock anthems as We're On a Road to Nowhere by Talking Heads and Bob Marley's classic reggae hit Get Up, Stand Up - Stand Up For Your Rights.

The professionally printed placards proclaimed slogans such as "You want standards - We want freedom," "Truth is hate to those who hate truth" and "No independence, No freedom, No security, No peace," the gist of which added up to a general denunciation of the UN/NATO "occupation of Kosovo."

It has now been a full five years since the Serbian security forces withdrew from Kosovo, and the Albanian Kosovars are frustrated by the international community's failure to solve rampant unemployment and by the delay in the process of moving toward self-governance and independence.

As part of their new tactic of non-violence, the network demonstrators simply blew whistles at the UN police line for a deafening 16 minutes. Then, at the instruction of one organizer, everyone in the crowd held up a small square of red cardboard - to symbolize Albanian independence - and then threw it into the air.

The riot police were visibly relieved when the crowds silently turned away and dispersed into the central square.

"These (Albanians) are claiming that the international community has not done enough for them, that they are treated like second-class citizens and that their human rights are being violated," said a UN policeman.

Those are "the very same arguments that they used to convince the world of what demons the Serbian administrators were," she said.