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TRUTH ABOUT KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Belgrade, October 1995
C O N T E N T S
1. History
2. The Importance of Kosovo and Metohija
3. Demographic Changes
4. The Constitutional Status of Kosovo and Metohija
5. The Current Situation in Kosovo and Metohija
6. Human and Minority Rights
7. The Strategy of Albanian Separatists
8. The Policy of Albania
9. The Policy of the FR of Yugoslavia
1. History
The name of Kosovo and Metohija appeared for the first time in the XII
century as a region settled by Serbs. The Serbs had come to the
Balkans at the end of the VI and the beginning of the VII centuries,
while Byzantine historians recorded their presence as an organized
people in the area as early as the IX century.
The name of Kosovo is derived from the Serbian name for blackbird
("the land of blackbirds"), while the name of Metohija is of Greek
origin and denotes a monastery estate (the region in which the Serbian
Patriarchate and old monasteries are located many of which are under
UNESCO protection).
The historical, geographical, cultural, spiritual, topomastic and
other facts provide ample evidence that the area of Kosovo and
Metohija has been the cradle of the culture and State of the Serbian
people even since the Slavs came to the Balkans. The area of Kosovo
and Metohija entered the Serbian medieval State (IX-XIV centuries)
when numerous churches and monasteries were built, as well as
bishoprics (Prizren 1019) and bishopric residences. The Metohija town
of Pec became the seat of the Patriarchate between 1346 and 1459 and
between 1557 and 1766. The most important cultural and historical
assets are the monasteries of Gracanica (1321), Bogorodica Ljeviska,
the Patriarchate of Pec and Visoki Decani, as well as the remnants of
the medieval towns of Novo Brdo, Zvecan or Dusanov Grad. The treasures
of the monasteries of Decani, Gracanica and the Patriarchate of Pec
contain over 300 very precious manuscripts and printed books, 100
items and over 100 metal and textile items from the period between XII
and XVIII centuries.
That the Serbian medieval State was at a very high level of
development is testified also by the fact that 2 000 people lived in
London at that time, while Novo Brdo had 40 000 inhabitants, many of
whom were miners and artisans. Many foreigners, including the Saxons,
lived in Novo Brdo. The Serbs were defeated by the Turks in the Battle
of Kosovo in 1389 which ushered in a centuries-long Turkish
occupation. This was the time of economic stagnation, Islamization,
Serbian migrations and the settlement of Turks and Albanians. Because
of the terror and forcible settlement of Muslim Albanians during the
time of the Turkish occupation, the Serbs were abandoning the region
of Kosovo and Metohija in a continuous stream.
The Battle of Kosovo has become a symbol and ethical imperative of the
struggle for freedom and independence in the Serbian national
consciousness.
After the five centuries of the Turkish rule (until the First Balkan
War of 1912), Kosovo and Metohija was reunited with Serbia. During
World War Two, 1941-1945, Kosmet was occupied by Italy and Germany.
Accordingly, Kosovo and Metohija has always been an integral part of
the Serbian State, i.e. of Yugoslavia, except at the time of Ottoman
and Fascist occupations. The deliberate policy of a forcible expulsion
of Serbs continued also during German and Italian occupations.
2. The Importance of Kosovo and Metohija
Kosovo and Metohija (10 806 sq.km.) is of great geostrategic
importance for Serbia, i.e. the FR of Yugoslavia. Many non-regional
powers, such as Turkey, Austria-Hungary or Italy, demonstrated their
imperialist designs towards Kosmet throughout history. Kosmet and the
Raska region (Sandzak) represent a natural link between Serbia and
Montenegro, whose unity has always been a thorn in the flesh of many
foreign powers.
The independent State of Albania was created by the London Treaty of
30 May 1913 at the ambassadorial conference in London. This was done
at the request of Austria-Hungary and Italy, supported by Germany, and
against the interests of Serbia, supported by Russia and France.
Although the Serbian army liberated the main Albanian port of Dures
from the Turks in 1913, Serbia did not seek to annex the northern part
of Albania and requested only a passage to the sea instead. Austria-
Hungary requested not only the creation of independent Albania but
also, and above all, the withdrawal of Serbia from the Adriatic coast.
Austria sought to keep Serbia economically isolated without a passage
to the sea. After the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina by Austria in
1908, Serbia and Austria-Hungary were engaged in a customs war as
Austria-Hungary wanted to prevent Serbia's exports to the West at any
cost. Yugoslavia, as the successor State of Serbia, did not request
division of Albania and acquiesced to the re-establishment of
autonomous Albania also after World War One. The border between Serbia
and Albania, established by the London Treaty, is the oldest Yugoslav
border in the area. However, in 1939 Italy used Albanian King Zogu to
weaken Yugoslavia. Albania and Italy created and supported the so-
called "Albanian question", not in the territory of Albania but in the
territory of Yugoslavia, in Kosmet. To effect secession and carry out
the terrorist struggle of the Albanians, systematically encouraged and
paid by Italy, the so-called "Kosovo Committee" was established in
Rome which requested for Albania the entire territory from Bar to the
Serbian border from 1912.
In the period of the fascist occupation of Yugoslavia, 1941-1945, the
greatest part of Kosmet was annexed to the so- called Greater Albania,
established by Italy as a puppet State and the smaller part of it
remained under the German occupation of Serbia.
Notwithstanding considerable natural resources, Kosmet has been one of
the least developed parts of Yugoslavia over decades. Beside the mine
and melting plant of Trepca, few mills, sawmills and brick factories,
there was no industry in Kosmet before World War Two. Almost one
hundred per cent of the entire population was employed in the
agriculture of the extensive type.
The enormous investments by Yugoslavia and Serbia in the economy of
Kosmet, especially through the Fund for the Accelerated Development of
the Underdeveloped Regions, brought about significant prosperity of
industry, agriculture and social services. Natural resources,
especially minerals, are a very important component for the
development of Kosmet. Large quantities of lead and zinc and other
metals and non-ferrous metals (nickel, manganese, magnesium, bauxite,
cadmium, chromium, selenium, bentonite, asbestos, marl, lime, quartz,
etc.) are a very important economic potential. In the conditions when
the energy and commodity crisis are becoming ever more evident all
over the world, large deposits of lignite enable the production of
electrical energy, gas, development of chemical industry and etc.
There are a number of larger factories in Kosmet and the thermo-energy
production capacities amount to 1 130 MW.
3. Demographic Changes
The demographic picture of Kosmet changed several times in this
century under the influence of deep socio-economic changes, political
upheavals and disturbances as a result of the liberation struggle of
the Serbian and Montenegrin peoples against the Ottoman Empire and the
Axis powers. During the five centuries of the Ottoman occupation,
through the policy of pressure, Turkey influenced the exodus of the
Orthodox Serbs and Montenegrins from Kosmet and the settlement of
Muslim Albanians from the mountainous regions of Albania. In this way,
the ratio between the Serbian and Montenegrin and Albanian populations
was disturbed. In 1929, the population ratio in Kosovo and Metohija
was 61 per cent Serbs and Montenegrins and 39 per cent others. After
the defeat of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1941, Serbs were forced to
leave Kosovo under the pressure of Albanian chauvinists and the
occupation authorities. Alongside, the expulsion of the Serbian and
Montenegrin population, Kosmet was being settled by the Albanians from
Albania and Turkey, as well as from other European countries (Italy,
Switzerland, Austria) in which Albanian political emigres had lived.
The agrarian reform from the time of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was
annulled by the order of the administrative authorities and the
occupation regime in Kosovo and Metohija and the land was distributed
exclusively to Albanians, many of whom were the settlers from Albania.
Only during World War Two, about 100 000 Serbs and Montenegrins were
deported from Kosovo and Metohija and about the same number of
Albanians from Albania was settled on their estates. After World War
Two, the then Yugoslav regime banned 1 683 Serbian families who wanted
to return to their ancestral homes to do so, while 220 000 Serbs and
Montenegrins were expelled in the period between 1968 and 1988. Over
700 settlements became ethnically pure in this period.
The upward trend of the Albanian population was maintained until 1961
when the census recorded 646 605 Albanians or 67.1 per cent of the
overall population of Kosovo and Metohija. After 1961, the then
balance in the demographic growth changed dramatically. 916 168
Albanians were registered at the 1971 census accounting, already at
that time, for 73.7 per cent of the Kosmet population. The number even
increased at the 1981 census when the number of Albanians grew to 1
226 736 or 77.48 per cent of the overall population. The data for
1991, derived on the basis of the estimates of the Centre for
Demographic Research, since the Albanian community boycotted the
census, testified to the continued great increase of the Albanians
which reached the figure of 1 607 690 or 82.2 per cent of the overall
population of Kosovo and Metohija, i.e. about 16.5 per cent of the
population of the Republic of Serbia.
It is obvious that there was a progressive growth of the Albanian
population in the 1961-1991 period. The Serbs and Montenegrins
experienced a reverse process, so that their number decreased not only
in relative but also in absolute terms. There were 264 604 or 27.40
per cent of Serbs and Montenegrins in Kosovo and Metohija in 1961,
while in 1991 their number fell to 214 555, i.e. to 11 per cent of the
overall population of Kosovo and Metohija. Throughout the last 50
years, the Albanian separatists put pressure on the Serbian and
Montenegrin population to leave Kosmet using various forcible methods.
After World War Two, the authorities of new socialist Yugoslavia
adopted the Law banning return to the Serbs and Montenegrins who left
Kosovo in order to strengthen confidence of the Albanian national
minority in the new regime. Albanian separatists compelled the Serbian
and Montenegrin owners of land, houses and other property to leave
Kosmet by threats, blackmail, arson, physical harassment, destruction
of Serbian graveyards and cultural monuments, killings and rapes, as
well as by other criminal acts. The Albanian separatists were the
first to resort to the policy of ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia in
order to create an ethnically pure area for the creation of the
illegal "Republic of Kosovo". According to the available data, about
400 000 Serbs and Montenegrins left Kosovo and Metohija in this way in
the last 40 years.
4. The Constitutional Status of Kosovo and Metohija
The Constitution of the SFR of Yugoslavia of 1974
The post-war Yugoslavia was established on the federal principle as a
State community of peoples with the same rights and all national
rights of national minorities. By the Constitution of the FPR of
Yugoslavia from 1946, Vojvodina was granted the status of a province,
primarily for historical reasons, and Kosovo was granted the status of
a region ("the Autonomous Region of Kosovo and Metohija"). The
difference in the status of Vojvodina and Kosmet, expressed in the
names of "Province" and "Region" was maintained until 1963 when the
term of "Autonomous Province" was introduced.
By the adoption of the Constitution of 1974, the structure of the
government in the Autonomous Provinces became identical with the one
in the Republic of Serbia which meant that the Province of Kosovo and
Metohija had the prerogatives of a State within a State. As decisions
at the federal level were taken by consensus, in addition to the votes
of six republics, the agreement of the two Provinces was also always
requested. It was a paradox that the two Provinces often voted against
the position of "their State" - the Republic of Serbia - the integral
part of which they formally were. It was a political and legal
absurdity that, in addition to the Constitution of the Republic of
Serbia, the Provinces had also their own Constitutions. By Article 280
of its Constitution, the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija
was de facto on a par with the Republic and even had a right to
conclude international agreements in the field of international
political, economic, cultural and other cooperation. This accounted
for the development of the years-long unilateral cooperation of Kosmet
with the Albania of Enver Hoxha (exchange of visits, lecturers and
books, the result of which was the separatist indoctrination and
subversive activities against the SFR of Yugoslavia).
The political representatives of the Albanian national minority
occupied the highest ranking positions in the State, Party and other
collective organs. Prominent politician Sinan Hasani, member of the
Albanian national minority, was the President of the Presidency of the
SFR of Yugoslavia from 15 May 1986 to 15 May 1987. The Provinces
though were denied the right to self-determination which was reserved
for the constituent peoples of the SFR of Yugoslavia.
However, even this high level of autonomy and national rights was not
sufficient for Albanian separatists. In 1981, they organized a
destructive separatist rebellion the main slogan of which was "Kosovo-
Republic" (separatist demonstrations were repeated on several
occasions until 1989). The slogan "Kosovo- Republic" constitutes the
basic strategy of Albanian separatism - the transformation of the
Autonomous Province of Kosmet into a republic which would have the
right to secession and subsequently to the annexation by Albania. The
Albanian separatist leaders in Kosmet are not interested in the rights
of national minorities at all, even less in human rights and
fundamental freedoms, but are requesting openly and unequivocally an
independent State. It is widely known that international documents do
not grant national minorities the right to establish their own States
from a composite State. If the Albanian nationalists had their way it
would result in the existence of two parallel Albanian national States
and would lead to the break-up of the territorial integrity of the FR
of Yugoslavia.
The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia of 1990 and the
Constitution of the FR of Yugoslavia from 1992
The new Constitution of the Republic of Serbia was adopted in 1990 by
all legal institutions of the system with the participation of the
legitimate representatives of the Albanian national minority. It
overcame the paralysis of the Republic of Serbia which until that time
had functioned as a State composed also of two quasi-States. The
Constitution from 1990 granted the territorial and cultural autonomy
to Vojvodina and Kosovo and Metohija, but without attributes of State
(Articles 108-112). They have the right to regulate the questions of
economic development, finances, culture, education, information, the
use of language, health and social protection, etc. The Statute is the
highest legal act of the Autonomous Province and its authorities are
the Assembly, the Executive Council (government) and the
administrative organs. (By the document of the second meeting of the
CSCE Conference on Human Dimension, Copenhagen, 1990, members of
national minorities are granted only the right to establish local or
autonomous administrative organs.) By its Constitution, the Republic
of Serbia has ensured the highest level of autonomy for Kosmet and
Vojvodina, envisaged in international documents ratified by Yugoslavia
and correspondent to the national interest of the State of the Serbian
people, as well as to the historical, cultural and territorial rights
of minorities. According to the said CSCE document from Copenhagen,
members of national minorities have the obligation to be loyal to the
State whose citizens they are (Article 37).
The Constitution of the FR of Yugoslavia, promulgated on 27 April
1992, guarantees full equality to all citizens irrespective of their
nationality, language, religion, political or any other belief. The
policy of national equality is the basic political and constitutional
principle of the FR of Yugoslavia in which one third of the population
represents national minorities. Therefore, out of 144 articles of the
Constitution of the FR of Yugoslavia, one third of the articles is
related to the rights of members of national minorities and to human
and civil rights. Articles 46 and 47 are specifically related to
national minorities and provide them the right to education and
information in their mother tongue, as well as the right to establish
educational and cultural organizations and associations. In accordance
with the conviction of the FR of Yugoslavia that national minorities
are the bridges of goodneighbourly cooperation, Article 48 guarantees
the right to national minorities to maintain international relations
in the FR of Yugoslavia and outside its borders with the members of
their nation in other States and to participate in international non-
governmental organizations, but not to the detriment of the FR of
Yugoslavia or one of its republics.
5. The Current Situation in Kosovo and Metohija
The Republic of Serbia is a democratic State of equal citizens living
in it, based on human rights and fundamental freedoms and on the rule
of law. It is not a national State of the Serbian people alone and
national minorities, i.e citizens, realize in it their civil
sovereignty, equality before the law and enjoy full equality. The
territory of the Republic of Serbia is indivisible and inalienable
(Article 4 of the Constitution) wherefore the act by which the
Albanian secessionists, proclaiming the non-existent "Republic of
Kosovo", are trying to separate Kosmet from Serbia and proclaim it a
part of a new State, is unconstitutional. In accordance with its
constitutional and legal obligations, as well as in the spirit of
Articles 37 and 40, para. 2, of the document of the CSCE Conference on
Human Dimension in Copenhagen, United Nations Charter and the Paris
Charter (Annex I/6), and with the aim of preventing the activity of
Albanian separatists, protecting the territorial integrity and
eliminating discrimination against the other population of Kosmet, the
Republic of Serbia suspended the Assembly and the Executive Council of
Kosmet for a certain period of time but not the constitutional
category of autonomy itself. It subsequently abolished these laws as
well, so that the "repressive laws", as they are called by separatist
leaders, no longer exist. Thus the conditions have concurred for the
members of the Albanian national minority to elect their political
representatives in legal, democratic elections and constitute the
organs of the autonomous province.
Part of the members of the Albanian national minority in Kosmet
refuses loyalty to the State in which it lives, refusing also under
the pressure of its separatist leaders to use the basic democratic
rights and privileges guaranteed by the Constitution. At the
instructions of the leaders of the separatist movement, the members of
the Albanian national minority boycotted all multi-party elections at
the federal, republican, provincial and municipal levels from 1990
until today. From December 1990 to December 1993, three multi-party
elections were held for the Assembly and President of the Republic of
Serbia and two elections for the Federal parliament. By boycotting the
elections of their own free will, the Albanians deprived themselves of
the participation in the process of democratic decision-making in
legal State institutions and the solution of questions in which they
are interested within the legal political system. Had they taken part
in the elections, considering their number, the Albanians would have
had over 30 out of 250 representatives in the Republican Parliament,
about 12 out of 178 in the Federal Parliament and about 80 per cent of
MPs in the Provincial Parliament. It is quite clear that the members
of the Albanian national minority would exercise practically all power
in the province.
The members of the Albanian national minority also boycotted the 1991
census. They did so in order not to "recognize" the State whose
citizens they are - the Republic of Serbia - and to continue the
manipulations with the real number of the members of the Albanian
national minority (according to statistical estimates their number
should stand at about 1 600 000, while Albanian separatists allege
that there are over 2 000 000 Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija).
By boycotting all fields of social life and by refusing dialogue with
the official organs of the Republic of Serbia and the FR of
Yugoslavia, the Kosmet separatists are trying to proclaim the illegal
state of "the parallel system" as a fait accompli. However, the
members of the Albanian national minority apply a selective boycott:
all of them use the rights under the Law on the purchase of
apartments, Decision on procurement, the right to passport, etc. There
are problems to recruit the members of the Albanian national minority
for judiciary and legislature, due to their boycott. The Albanians
accept to work in first instance courts, since in order to be
appointed to any other court they are required to take an oath and
respect the law of the Republic of Serbia and of the FR of Yugoslavia.
Such behaviour is in violation of para 37 of the Concluding Document
of the Second Meeting of the CSCE Conference on the Human Dimension,
adopted in Copenhagen in 1990, as well as para 9 of the Preamble and
Article 12 and 21 of the Council of Europe Draft Convention for the
Protection of National Minorities. The above provisions deny the
minorities any activity which is in contradiction with the principles
of the United Nations Charter, the CSCE and particularly with the
principle of the respect for the territorial integrity, the
constitution and laws of the State in which the minorities live.
The national minorities in the FR of Yugoslavia enjoy all the rights
according to the international standards. However, no international
act guarantees the national minorities the right to self-
determination, i.e. to secession. Accordingly, the Albanians
constitute the majority population in Kosovo (app. 90 per cent), but
they account for only 16.5 per cent of the population of the Republic
of Serbia, and therefore constitute a national minority even under
international standards.
In spite of the aforementioned circumstances, order and peace prevail
in Kosovo and Metohija. The allegations of Kosovo separatists and some
observers from the West concerned about the respect of human rights
that the members of the Albanian national minority are subject to
repression under the present regime. In this connection, the courts in
some West European countries have lately passed decisions according to
which alleged asylum seekers are allowed to return to Kosovo and
Metohija in agreement with the Yugoslav authorities, because there is
no persecution or torture there and the members of the Albanian
national minority have a better standard of living and health
protection than some tend to believe. Even the report of Amnesty
International confirms that there is no mass persecution of the
members of the Albanian national minorities.
6. Human and Minority Rights
The constitutions of the FR of Yugoslavia and its constituent
republics include all norms of international law on human rights and
freedoms. Unlike most of the countries which guarantee only individual
rights, the Yugoslav constitution also provides collective rights for
the national minorities, including broad territorial and cultural
autonomy. It also contains the provisions of the Paris Charter of the
CSCE concerning human rights, democracy and the rule of law which
pertain to all citizens including the members of national minorities.
The principles of Part IV of the Copenhagen Document of the CSCE
Conference on the Human Dimension have also been incorporated, placing
the national minorities in a democratic environment.
The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia guarantees all its
citizens, as well as the national minorities, the right to work,
education, culture, freedom of religion, public expression of opinion,
on the footing of equality (Arts. 32, 41, 45). National minority
members are entitled to freely express their national identity, use
their language and script, as well as to be educated in their mother
tongue in the areas in which they live. (Article 49)
Moreover, the Constitution of the FR of Yugoslavia guarantees the
national minorities the right to preserve, develop and express their
ethnic, cultural, linguistic and other specificities, as well as the
use of their national emblems (Arts. 10 and 11).
In Kosovo and Metohija there are five active leading political parties
whose members are exclusively Albanian minority (Democratic League of
Kosovo, Democratic Christian Party of Albanians, Peasant Party of
Kosovo, Parliamentary Party of Kosovo, Socialist Democratic Party of
Kosovo). All these parties exercise their political activities both in
the country and abroad, they have their own premises, and some even
their own papers. Furthermore, there are several active social
organizations in Kosovo and Metohija which are organized on the ethnic
basis like the Union of Independent Trade Unions.
The members of the Albanian national minority are entitled to exercise
all the above rights under the present Constitution, but under the
pressure of their separatist leadership, they refuse to do so. Thus,
in Kosovo and Metohija even children are used as an instrument to
achieve the secessionist goals and human rights of the Albanian
national minority members are being sacrificed.
a) Education
In accordance with the United Nations Convention against
Discrimination in Education and in order to prevent and eliminate
discrimination in education, the FR of Yugoslavia as a signatory to
this document, guaranteed the members of the Albanian national
minority the right to education in their mother tongue from
kindergarten to graduate and post-graduate studies .
The members of the Albanian national minority are educated in their
mother tongue in public premises. The Republic of Serbia has ensured
all conditions necessary for normal operations of schools respecting
the principles of international conventions. Presently in Kosovo and
Metohija there are 1400 elementary schools, 57 secondary schools and
the University consisting of 14 faculties. Teachers, the members of
the Albanian national minority, use public classrooms and teaching
aids and teach in the Albanian language, but refuse to receive their
salaries from the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia as
this would imply their recognition of the State of Serbia. Some
members of the Albanian national minority are professors (25) and
students of the Pristina University despite of the Albanians' boycott
of the University.
The members of the Albanian national minority boycott the legal
education system from elementary school to university level although
the lectures are taught in the Albanian language. The Albanian
separatists have misused even children for political purposes, by
favouring national indoctrination to modern qualified education. For
political reasons only they refuse to accept the single educational
system prevailing in the territory of the Republic of Serbia, the
curricula adopted by the competent State organs, as well as the
uniform system of school certificates and diplomas. There are no
substantial differences in programmes since only four subjects are
disputable: language, history, geography and music. All attempts at
reaching an agreement, even with international mediation in Geneva,
failed due to the obstructive attitude of the Albanian national
minority: the Albanian separatists refused to submit their curricula
to the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia for
verification. Notwithstanding, the Republic of Serbia earmarks
substantial funds for maintaining and carrying out of education for
Albanian national minority members.
Parallel education of pupils and students is being effected through
illegal curricula, criteria and textbooks and diplomas are issued
which are not, and cannot be, recognized either in the FR of
Yugoslavia or abroad. This practice leads to the confinement of young
members of the Albanian national minority into dogmas of extreme
nationalism and separatism and arouses awareness that life together
with the Serbs is impossible. The Republic of Serbia and the FR of
Yugoslavia have manifested so far a high level of readiness for
concessions in order to spare the Albanian children of the
consequences of the irrational policy of the separatist leaders. The
State organs have demonstrated readiness to recognize the school years
in the illegal education system provided that the diplomas are issued
by the competent organs of the Republic of Serbia, but even this was
refused by the Albanian separatists. They persistently insist that
school certificates and diplomas be issued by the illegal organs of
the non-existent and unrecognized "Republic of Kosovo".
The boycott of the education system of the Republic of Serbia which
guarantees and ensures the conditions for lecturing in the Albanian
language prevents the implementation of Article 4 of the Declaration
on the Rights of the Members of National, Ethnic, Religious and
Language Minorities adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in
1992, whose paragraphs 3 and 4 provide the obligation of States to
organize lecturing in the mother tongue for the members of national
minorities living in their respective territories. Additionally,
paragraph 4 provides that the members of national minorities should be
granted adequate possibilities to acquire knowledge in the entire
State in which they live, however this cannot be accomplished if they
isolate themselves by boycotting the exiting educational system.
According to the data for 1990, out of the total of 37000 students
members of the Albanian national minority 80 per cent studied at the
Pristina University. At this University lectures were given in their
mother tongue and more than 50 000 members of the Albanian national
minority graduated there. According to the ratio between the number of
population and the number of students, Kosovo and Metohija ranked
fourth in the world (immediately after the USA, Canada and the
Netherlands).
Pupils and students are flagrantly abused through political
manipulations, i.e. the misuse of education of children and youth for
the realization of separatist goals, which is in violation of the
provision of Article 10, (protection of children from racial,
religious and other forms of discrimination) - 1959 United Nations
Declaration on the Right of the Child, as well as the provision of
Article 12 (the right to the freedom of thought), Article 13 (the
right to freedom of expression) and Article 15 (the right to the
freedom of peaceful assembly) of the 1989 International Convention on
the Right of the Child.
In 1992, the Government of the FR of Yugoslavia forwarded, within the
framework of the Geneva Conference on Yugoslavia, the following
proposal for resolving the problem of education in Kosovo and
Metohija:
1. Reaching of an agreement which would fully guarantee, preserve and
develop the cultural identity of the members of the Albanian national
minority in the FR of Yugoslavia;
2. Re-employment of all ethnic Albanian teachers who wilfully
abandoned their jobs (except a small number of those who committed
criminal acts);
3. Recognition to ethnic Albanian students of two school years spent
in parallel and illegal education system;
4. Giving lectures at all level in the existing State school premises,
and
5. Recognition of the 1990 curriculum of the Republic of Serbia.
This proposal was recognized also by international factors: the three
member mission of the Committee for the Elimination of the Racial
Discrimination visited the FR of Yugoslavia in 1993 and proposed to
the Committee, in its conclusions, almost identical measures.
Unfortunately, the separatist leadership rejected this proposal and
made the resolution of the problem impossible. There is also the
question of the functioning of the education system, since if the
citizens of the FR of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia have the
right under the Constitution to apply for a job in the entire
territory of the FR of Yugoslavia on the basis of their school
qalifications, including the ones of the Republic of Serbia, this
should be based on at least an equal and unified programme of
education.
Therefore, the allegation of Albanian separatists and some foreign
factors that the FR of Yugoslavia denies the members of the Albanian
national minority the right to education in their mother tongue is
absolutely untrue.
b) Information
The Constitution of the FR of Yugoslavia guarantees the national
minorities the right to public information in their mother tongue, and
the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia guarantees each and every
citizen the freedom to express his/her national affiliation and
culture and the freedom to use their mother tongue and script. The
laws regulating the right of the members of the Albanian national
minority to information in the Albanian language are in full
compliance with the OSCE documents.
Under the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and
the Law on Public Information, in Serbia there is a large number of
public media in the languages of national minorities (Albanian,
Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, Ruthenian, Ukraine, Turkish, Bulgarian
and Romany). All the public media in the languages of national
minorities are edited by the members of the respective minority and
the funds for this are provided from the State budget.
Radio and Television of Pristina is broadcasting TV and radio
programme in the Albanian language in addition to 6 local radio
stations. 55 newspapers with an annual circulation of 21 million
copies are published in the Albanian language in addition to 40
magazines with 300 000 copies per year (1).
Radio Pristina is broadcasting every day the programme in the Albanian
language at the medium wave of 1413 khz (the relay power 100 kw) and
14 hours and 15 minutes or 855 minutes daily on the UKT band.
The 2 to 5 minutes news are being broadcasted every day as well as the
10 minutes News at Noon, the 20 minutes Events of the Day, the 30
minutes Evening News and 15 minutes Chronicle of the Day. This number
of information programme fully meets the needs of the listeners in the
Albanian language.
The programme "It Happened on the Present Date" is being broadcasted
also every day, while the 30 minutes programme "Home and Family", 60
minutes programme for farmers, and 10 minutes sport programme is being
broadcasted weekly. All kinds of music and songs in the Albanian or
other languages take a prominent place in the programme schedule.
Every day, the Pristina Television is broadcasting 10 minutes daily
news and 25 minutes Prime Time Evening News in the Albanian language.
TV Pristina realizes daily 62 minutes programme in the Albanian
language, i.e. 435 minutes per week or 22 655 minutes per year. The
programmes in the Albanian language of the Radio and TV Pristina are
being realized within the separate professional units like the
programmes in the Serbian or Turkish languages, and these units are
headed by chief editors in charge of special programmes.
c) Culture
Members of the Albanian national minority did not leave their jobs in
an organized way in the institutions of culture of Kosovo. On the
contrary, Albanians are employed in almost all institutions of culture
while in many they constitute a majority. For example, in the
Provincial Cultural Centre in Pristina, out of 8 employees only 3 are
Serbs, while 20 out of 34 employees in the Museum of Kosovo and
Metohija are Albanians. The Albanians account for the majority
employees in the State Archives as well. In the Institute for the
Protection of the Monuments of Culture of Kosovo and Metohija, out of
25 employees, 10 of them are Albanians.
The National Theatre in Pristina has two theatrical groups - The
Serbian and Albanian Drama Sections, and the latter has a greater
number of actors and a larger artistic and technical personnel. The
same situation is in the theatre of young people and in the puppet
theatre in Pristina and in the theatre in Djakovica which have a
greater number of the members of the Albanian minority. These and
other professional and amateur theatres perform not only in the
Province but also as guests all over the country and abroad. The
Albanian national minority has also its Section of the Academy of
Sciences and Arts, associations of artists, writers and musicians and
over 100 cultural artistic societies and 180 libraries with books in
the Alblanian language.
(1) The newspapers in the Albanian language are the following: Zari,
Bujku, Koha, Filizat, Dodona, Fjala jone, Shkendija, Fjala, Zeniti,
Dituria islame, Kosovarja, Borta e re, etc.
The work and programme of these institutions are financed by the
State. The same situation is in the protection of cultural monuments,
irrespective of their national origin. In addition to these
institutions and their activities the other institutions, such as the
Writers' Association of Kosovo and a number of libraries, are
independent. Even though they pursue nationalistic and separatist
goals, these institutions continue to work unhampered in State-owned
premises. The latest propaganda allegation, both by the Kosovo and
Metohija separatists and by the authorities in Albania, that the
Museum of the Prizren League has been turned into a shelter for
Serbian refugees from Krajina is untrue; the Museum continues to be
looked after as an historical monument by the Republic of Serbia.
d) Health Service
The high birthrate of the members of the Albanian national minority
(2.9 per cent), the highest in Europe, has resulted in the three-fold
increase of the number of inhabitants of this area in the last couple
of decades. This high natural birthrate accounted to the change of the
health situation in Kosmet both with respect to the ailing and the
dying of the population. The high percentage of the young of 42 per
cent of the 1-14 age group and 70 per cent of those under 30 years of
age in the population structure causes a specific pathology of the
ailing and mortality. The health situation of the population is
characterized by a low general rate of mortality because of a high
percentage of the young population and, on the one hand, a high level
of mortality of the age group of 0-4 because of the non-implementation
of the modern preventive measures, i.e. vaccination. Pristina (250
000), a hospital centre with 20 clinics and institutes, as well as a
Faculty of Medicine, the Institute for Health Protection and the
Institute for Blood Transfusion is the second largest medical centre
in the country. There are also four other larger medical centres at
Pec, Prizren, Gnjilane and Kosovska Mitrovica. 12 461 health workers
are employed in these institutions, 66 per cent of them are Albanians.
The health service of Kosovo and Metohija functions as part of the
uniform system of health protection of the Republic of Serbia. The
citizens of the province are guaranteed the right to health protection
in the way as the citizens in other parts of the Republic, regardless
of their religion, national belonging, sex, age, etc. Despite the
successful development of the health service and the improvement of
the health situation, there are indications that the quality of the
work in the health service is under the level of the development and
the professional medical standards recognized in the world.
By their principled position to render appropriate health protection
to all who request it, the health workers create reliable basis for
the return of mutual confidence of all citizens in this region. In
addition to the difficulties in organizing health activities, many
problems also arose due to the sanctions so that, unable to procure
medical and other related supplies, health workers resorted to the
most basic methods to prevent the spread of contagious diseases.
e) Employment
A great number of workers of Albanian nationality left arbitrarily
their companies and State institutions at the instruction of
secessionist leaders, which represented the gross manipulation and a
political abuse of the constitutionally guaranteed right to work. The
real goal of their leaving their jobs was to paralyse the economic
life and affirm the claim that "Kosovo is not Serbia". The recently
renewed production in the mining and metallurgical combine of Trepca
and the return of large number of Albanians to work demonstrated that
the right to employment is not being denied to Albanians. Out of 120
000 employees in the social sector, 60 per cent are Albanians.
By their boycott, the Albanians prevent the realization of Article 23
of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, Article 6 of the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and
Article 5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Despite such boycotts, the Albanian population in Kosmet is in
possession of 95 per cent of the capital of private companies, while
the Kosmet illegal leadership imposed unlawful taxes of 3 per cent on
all employed, out of which revenue it finances separatist and other
activities aimed at undermining the constitutional system and
destabilizing the Republic of Serbia.
f) Freedom of Religion
The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia guarantees all conditions
for a normal religious life of the members of the Albanian national
minority (Most Albanians are Muslims).
Religious rites are regularly performed by 476 priests in over 600
various places of worship, some of which have been built recently.
Priests are schooled in the Albanian language in the Madrassah in
Pristina. 200 students attend four classes. Members of the Islamic
community acquire high religious education at the universities in the
Arab and other Islamic countries. The Islamic community maintains
contacts with Islamic communities all over the world as well as with
Islamic international and other organizations. Believers from Serbia
regularly go to the hajj and their number depends on the material
capacities of the interested alone. The leadership of the Islamic
community in the Republic of Serbia supported the policy of Albanian
separatists whose aim is to break the territorial integrity and
sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia. Part of the members of the
Albanian national minority are Catholics and the Catholic church in
Kosovo and Metohija maintains a normal communication with the State
authorities with the Republic of Serbia.
7. The Strategy of Albanian Separatists
The Albanian separatists movement dates back to the XIX century, from
the time of the creation of the so-called Prizren League. The Prizren
League rallied around the most prominent Albanian intellectuals and
politicians of that time who adopted the all-Albanian national
programme: the unification of all Albanians in the then Ottoman
Empire. During World War Two, the Albanians in the then Yugoslavia
were in the service of German and Italian occupiers and established
the so-called "Ballist Movement" which had as its aim the secession of
Kosovo and Metohija from Yugoslavia and its annexation by Albania. The
first important Albanian demonstrations in Kosovo and Metohija were
held as early as 1968 and were condemned by all Yugoslav political
structures of the time.
The main goal of Albanian separatists on which there exists "a
national consensus" is to secede Kosovo and Metohija from the Republic
of Serbia, i.e. from the FR of Yugoslavia, and the creation of an
independent State of the "Republic of Kosovo". International
circumstances permitting, this "Republic" would subsequently merge
with Albania. This is what all the leaders of the Albanian separatist
movement say without mincing their words: I. Rugova, N. Bakalli, A.
Vllasi and others.
Proceeding from the contention that the Albanian in Serbia and
Yugoslavia are "a people" and not a national minority and that they
have a right to self-determination, in 1991 the Albanian separatists
organized an illegal referendum, proclaimed the so-called "Republic of
Kosovo" and "elected" Ibrahim Rugova as its president. Their
separatist claims are based on the number of Albanians in Kosovo and
Metohija which, they allege, gives them the status of "a people" and
the Constitution of the SFR of Yugoslavia from 1974, but even that
Constitution reserved the right to self-determination only for the
constituent peoples of the former Yugoslavia. Therefore, the Kosovo
and Metohija separatists and official Albania have embarked upon a
propaganda campaign against giving temporary shelter to 7 000 out of
200 000 Serbian refugess from Krajin, alleging that it would disturb
the present ethnic structure of the Province.
The insistence on the existence of the phantom "Republic of Kosovo"
constitutes the most direct threat to the territorial integrity of the
Republic of Serbia, i.e. the FR of Yugoslavia, and is a flagrant
violation of the Charter of the United Nations and of the basic
principles of the CSCE. The international activity of secessionist
leader Ibrahim Rugova and others is aimed at internationalizing the
question of Kosmet and ensuring support by influential factors for the
creation of the independent "Republic of Kosovo". As the international
community is not prepared to accept the secession of Kosovo and
Metohija from Serbia, the secessionist leader Rugova insists that the
Province be put under the trusteeship of the United Nations, which
would be only the initial stage of its secession.
Speaking of the methods of activity of the Albanian secessionists, it
should be said that they resort to threats (prohibition to children to
attend regular school and the abuse of children for political
purposes), blackmail (assessment of obligatory contributions for the
functioning of parallel authorities), destruction of State and social
property as well as of the cultural and historical monuments of the
non-Albanian population, armed activities (11 policemen were killed,
40 wounded, 48 sustained grave bodily injuries and 906 light bodily
injuries in Kosovo and Metohija from 1981 - 1991) and other method is
narco-mafia, particularly the trafficking in, and distribution of,
narcotic drugs by Albanians from Kosovo and Metohija in western
countries
8. The Policy of Albania
Throughout the entire post-war, communist and post-communist period,
Albania encouraged and supported the separatist aspirations of the
members of the Albanian national minority in Kosmet. Interfering in
the internal affairs of Yugoslavia, Albanian renders political and
material support to Albanian secessionists and denies the territorial
integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia and the FR of
Yugoslavia. In that way, it seeks to realize the idea of Greater
Albania of uniting all Albanians from neighbouring Balkan countries,
including Greece and the FYR of Macedonia.
The Republic of Albania is the only country in the world which,
violating the basic principles of the Charter of the United Nations
and the CSCE Final Act from Helsinki, has recognized the non-existing
"Republic of Kosovo". It did so by separate decision of the national
Assembly of Albania of 1991 which recognition was confirmed by the
present Albanian Government from April 1992. Contrary to the Vienna
Conventions, Albania allowed the opening of the illegal "diplomatic
representation" of the so-called "Republic of Kosovo" in Tirana.
Albania accords the separatist leaders from Kosovo and Metohija the
treatment of legitimate representatives of the foreign State of the
"Republic of Kosovo". Diplomatic missions of Albania to international
organizations organize the visits and international activities of
separatist leaders from Kosmet. Albania and Kosmet separatist leaders
act jointly towards foreign factors, calling for the
internationalization of the question of Kosmet and pursuing anti-
Yugoslav policy in international fora.
Upholding the thesis that the existence of an inter-State border
between two parts of the same people is unacceptable, Albania provokes
incidents at its border with the FR of Yugoslavia. In an attempt to
downgrade the importance of internationally recognized border, Albania
increases tension on the border with the FR of Yugoslavia
contributing, in that way, to the destabilization of the entire region
of southern Balkans.
Albania denies the existence of the Serbian and Montenegrin national
minorities (20 000) and the Goranci (25 000) and seeks to assimilate
and denationalize them. Beside a years- long destruction of Orthodox
churches, graveyards and historical monuments, Albania has recently
begun to apply State terror towards the members of the Serbian and
Montenegrin minorities, seizing their property and settling Albanians
from other parts of Albania on their land. Albania also prevents
education and information in the Serbian language and is trying to
intimidate prominent members of the Serbian and Montenegrin minorities
not to resist this most flagrant discrimination.
Albania stubbornly rejects all initiatives of the FR of Yugoslavia
aimed at establishing dialogue and normalizing relations making them
contingent on a prior solution of the "problem of Kosovo".
9. The Policy of the FR of Yugoslavia
The FR of Yugoslavia considers Kosovo and Metohija its internal
question. It considers that all problems should be solved through a
democratic dialogue between official representatives of Serbia and
Yugoslavia and the representatives of the Albanian national minority.
The condition is that the representatives of the Albanian national
minority accept the existing, uniform constitutional system, the
territorial integrity of the State in which they live and participate
in the institutions of the political system. In this way, they will
confirm their loyalty to the Republic of Serbia, i.e. the FR of
Yugoslavia, to which they are obliged also by international norms.
The prospects for a common life of Serbs, Montenegrins, Albanians,
Turks, Romanies and other ethnic communities in Kosmet is in the full
national equality, equitable participation in the economic, political
and cultural life. The legal framework for it are the Constitutions of
the Republic of Serbia and the FR of Yugoslavia which guarantee to
Kosmet territorial and cultural autonomy and provide the Albanian
national minority all rights under valid international norms. The
advocacy of the Kosmet separatists of the return to the Constitution
from 1974 is unacceptable, because this would reproduce the existence
of a State in a State.
The members of the Albanian national minority should join the economic
and political life of the country in greater numbers and should return
to their jobs, schools and the University. The education programmes
must respect the unity of the Republic of Serbia, as well as the
specific national and cultural needs of the Albanians, in accordance
with the modern requirements of the Europe-oriented young generation.
The FR of Yugoslavia is willing to develop goodneighbourly relations
with the Republic of Albania on the basis of equality and respect for
sovereignty and territorial integrity and mutual benefits. This is in
the interest of the peoples of the two countries and represents the
basis of stability in the region. It is therefore necessary for
Albania to re-examine its position on refusing dialogue and contacts
at a high level (in the last two years, Albania rejected three
official offers by the FR of Yugoslavia for a meeting of their Foreign
Ministers). The peoples of the FR of Yugoslavia and the Republic of
Albania are historically directed to a common life and the members of
national minorities in the two countries should be a bridge of good
neighbourly relations.
AIDE MEMOIRE
- Albania has again submitted a draft resolution on the human rights
situation in Kosovo and Metohija to the Third Committee of the United
Nations General Assembly. This is the continuation of the anti-
Yugoslav activities, interference in the internal affairs of the FR of
Yugoslavia, incitement of the Albanian national minority in Kosovo and
Metohija to separatism and a manifestation of territorial claims
against the FR of Yugoslavia. The real goal of Albania is the
separation of Kosovo and Metohija from Serbia for the purpose of
creating "Greater Albania". This is contrary to the principles of the
Charter of the United Nations, OSCE and other international
instruments protecting the territorial integrity of countries. The
main objective of the resolution is to internationalize the question
of Kosovo and Metohija and to support Albania in its aspirations.
- Such an activity of Albania is an attempt to discredit the
constructive and peaceful policy of the FR of Yugoslavia, whose
contribution to the achievement of peace settlement for Bosnia and
Herzegovina at the Dayton negotiations was welcomed by the entire
international community and rewarded by the suspension of sanctions.
Such behaviour of Albania is also a source of danger in the Balkans.
- Albania does not recognize the existence of national minorities,
violates the human rights of political opponents and has no regard at
all for democratic judicial procedure. Because of that, it has been
criticized by the European Union, United States of America and other
countries, so that Albania is the least qualified country to raise the
question of the human rights situation in the FR of Yugoslavia. Unlike
in Albania, national minorities in the FR of Yugoslavia enjoy all the
rights under the highest European standards.
- The Albanian draft resolution is replete with falsehoods and
arbitrary accusations against the FR of Yugoslavia. What is happening
in Kosovo and Metohija is not the violation of human rights, but
separatism and the boycott of the legal institutions. The allegations
of police repression, existence of political prisoners, dismissals of
Albanians from civil service, persecution of political parties and
their officials, harassment of journalists, muzzling of the media and
the alleged ethnic cleansing are untrue.
- Only persons whose activities are aimed at undermining the
constitutional order are detained in Kosovo and Metohija. However,
political parties even with exclusive Albanian national minority
membership are allowed to act freely. Many dailies and magazines are
published in Albanian, the Pristina Radio and Television broadcasts
regularly its programme in Albanian, Albanian students regularly
attend elementary and secondary schools and the University in
Pristina. The settlement of 7 000 Serbian refugees in Kosovo and
Metohija after the Croatian aggression against the Republic of Serbian
Krajina is the legitimate right of the FR of Yugoslavia. The Law on
Citizenship is an internal matter of the FR of Yugoslavia and is
equally applicable to all citizens of the FR of Yugoslavia, without
any discrimination against the Albanian national minority. The real
situation in Kosovo and Metohija is presented in the material entitled
"The Truth about Kosovo and Metohija".
- In the resolution, the FR of Yugoslavia is once again accused,
without any grounds whatsoever, of refusing to cooperate with the
Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Commission and the OSCE. The FR
of Yugoslavia wishes to maintain good cooperation with the new Special
Rapporteur and the OSCE as an equal partner. During her visits to the
FR of Yugoslavia, Mrs. Elizabeth Rehn was assured that Yugoslavia is
committed to objective information on the human rights situation in
the FR of Yugoslavia.
- The FR of Yugoslavia considers that it should be enabled to return
to the OSCE as early as possible, since the achievement of the peace
agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina and the suspension of sanctions
against it have created all necessary conditions therefor.
- The introduction of the new resolution on Kosovo and Metohija in the
United Nations General Assembly is another attempt at exerting
additional pressure on the FR of Yugoslavia by Albania and the
countries supporting it, which is unacceptable to the FR of
Yugoslavia. The request for the discussion on Kosovo and Metohija in
the United Nations is yet another attempt at destabilizing the FR of
Yugoslavia, which threatens the achieved results of the peace process,
the aim of which is to discredit the constructive and peaceful policy
of the FR of Yugoslavia.
- The FR of Yugoslavia considers that the United Nations should not
yield to the pressure of Albania and some other countries requesting
the re-examination of the human rights situation in Kosovo and
Metohija. The FR of Yugoslavia expects all friendly countries to
oppose the adoption of the new resolution on Kosovo and Metohija and
to condemn Albania's behaviour. Also, the FR of Yugoslavia expects the
United Nations to support its return to the world Organization, since
all conditions have been created by the adoption of the peace
agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina, to which the FR of Yugoslavia
gave its enormous contribution.
Belgrade, 7 December 1995
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