Vol. 71/No. 47      December 17, 2007

Albanians make up 90 percent of the population of Kosova, which was an autonomous region of Serbia until 1989. Under the impact of the 1942-46 Yugoslav revolution, Albanians won recognition of language and cultural rights, but the social and economic development of the region was stunted by the policies of the Stalinist misleadership of the workers state. Just before the formal breakup of Yugoslavia, for example, only 124 people per 1,000 in Kosova were employed. The figure was 292 per 1,000 for all of Yugoslavia.

As the ruling apparatuses in Yugoslavia began crumbling in the late 1980s, rival sections of the bureaucracy used nationalist demagogy to justify their grabs for land and resources. Competing Stalinist gangs pitted Serbs, Albanians, Croatians, Bosnians, and other nationalities against each other. In 1989, Belgrade revoked Kosova’s autonomy.

The Serbian government, led by Slobodan Milosevic, imposed a state of emergency on Kosova that lasted 10 years. In 1999, Belgrade unleashed an “ethnic cleansing” campaign, killing up to 12,000 people, mostly Albanians, and expelling 1 million from Kosova. Washington and other imperialist governments bombed Yugoslavia for 78 days and then sent in troops, claiming this was to stop the violence. But the imperialist powers had in fact fomented the violence for years.

Kosova has been “administered” by the United Nations—and thousands of foreign troops and cops—ever since. The occupiers have slowed down initiatives for self-rule and fanned the flames of ethnic divisions. The European Union (EU) now proposes a plan whereby the UN administration of Kosova would be replaced by an EU administration. NATO and EU troops, some 16,000 of which are stationed among Kosova’s 2.1 million people, would remain.

The EU administration would supervise the implementation of a UN plan through which Kosova would have its own constitution, police force, and army, and be eligible to apply for membership in the United Nations and the EU. The “independent” Kosovar government would be supervised by the EU, and “key elements” of the constitution would be prescribed by the United Nations.

The UN plan singles out Kosova as a unique case that “does not create a precedent for other unresolved conflicts.” The stipulation reflects fears by capitalist rulers in Greece and Turkey especially, and by aspiring capitalists in Russia, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and elsewhere, that an independent Kosova would inspire self-determination struggles by other oppressed nationalities, especially in the Balkans.

Kosova’s government has allied itself with Washington and the European Union in hopes that they will push for Kosovar independence and counter the Serbian government and its backers in Moscow. But such a pro-imperialist stance is not universally popular, especially among those fighting for self-determination for Kosova.

“Even if the European Union replaces the United Nations, Kosova would still be controlled by international powers,” Albin Kurti, a leader of the group Vetevendosja, told the Vienna Die Presse newspaper. Vetevendosja means self-determination in Albanian. Kurti said the Kosovar government would not declare independence “as long as the international powers do not accept that.” Jailed in February for leading a demonstration against the United Nations, Kurti is currently under house arrest.

Vetevendosja has led demonstrations against the occupation forces and for self-determination. A November 18 article in the Washington Post takes note of the group’s increasing popularity. It reports that 50 percent of Kosova’s population says they are ready to participate in protests against the United Nations.

“Not a ruling UN mission in Kosova, but a diplomatic mission of Kosova in the UN,” wrote Kurti in a November 24 statement. “Self-determination, only self-determination makes this possible.”  
 
 
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