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BOX-FOLDER-REPORT: 86-3-52
TITLE:             The Nationality Dilemma in Kosovo
BY:                Zanga
DATE:              1983-11-23
COUNTRY:           Yugoslavia
ORIGINAL SUBJECT:  RAD

--- Begin ---

Not in Index. F-566
YUGO.

EAST -- THE NATIONALITY DILEMMA IN KOSOVO

Munich, 23 November 1983 (RAD/Zanga)

The nationalist-inspired demonstrations by so-called
Albanian irredentist elements in Kosovo are currently almost
being overshadowed by the open polemics between
Serbian-Montenegrin and Albanian nationality officials in the province
and elsewhere in the federation. This new occurrence is the
result partly of the failure to introduce an effective program to
cope with nationality problems in Kosovo and partly as a
consequence of this, of the resurgence of the assertive behavior of
the Serbian-Montenegrin nationality group.

It has now become official policy in Kosovo to claim that
the political situation in the province, following the riots of
1981 and the subsequent disturbances, is well under control and
that nationalist "excesses" have been greatly reduced. Indeed,
compared with some disturbances in the past, the demonstrations
today are milder and less frequent. Yet it would be completely
wrong to claim that they are not ever present, as reports in the
provincial press frequently suggest. As recently as November 13,
the Pristina daily Rilindja carried a report about "excesses,"
referring to them, however, as "hopeless, laughable, and
supported only by those who commit them."[1] The article went on,
however, to deal with other effects of the nationalist-inspired
"excesses," which in fact are more damaging to the political
stability of the province than the frequent wall-graffiti or
nationalist slogans such as "Kosovo-Republic."

For the first time the daily openly criticized the role of
the privince's three main religious denominations (Moslem,
Serbian Orthodox, and Roman Catholic) for their attitude to
nationalism. The daily pointed out that although the Churches
were cooperating with state and political agencies, it was known
that they misused religious freedom for nationalistic and
antisocialist purposes. It went on to say that the Christian and
Moslem clergy identified religion with nationality and acted as
representatives of nations and nationalities, thereby causing
religious and national "hatred." Catholic priests in some
communities were accused of organizing youths in communal, cultural,
and other activities. Representatives of the Serbian Orthodox
Church were accused of inciting anti-Albanianism by speaking in
the name of the Serbian nation and "Serbian Kosovo," while Moslem
ones were denounced for anti-Serbian, anti-Turkish, and
anti-Montenegrin behavior. Evidence that the article particularly had
in mind the behavior of representatives of the Serbian Orthodox
Church was the example cited of the inauguration of the renovated
patriarchate of Pec (Albanian nationalists were accused of arson
in Pec in 1981) in October of this year, where, in addition to
the official outdoor ceremonies, "a number of nationalistic and
chauvinistic" demonstrations had taken place within the
monastery.

Religious and other officials should not have allowed the
presence of various nationalist representatives and

[page 2]

EAST (2) -- THE NATIONALITY DILEMMA IN KOSOVO F-567

opposional elements, such as Antonije Isakovic, Hatije
Beckovic, and others from Belgrade, as well as some active
and incorrigible Informburo elements from Pec.

These people, it was concluded, had nothing in common with
religion and freedom of religion, which they used only to express
their "Greater-Serbian hostility." Polemics of this kind are
normally found in the pages of the Albanian party paper Zeri i
Popullit and not in Rilindja.

The same Kosovar daily also took issue recently with various
Yugoslav publications for their allegedly hostile and tendentious
reporting about the province's nationalist-related problems[2]
The news agency Tan jug and the newspapers Politika and Borba were
criticized for their distorted commentaries after the Albanian
nationalist demonstrations at the football match in Belgrade
between Crvena Zvezda and Pristina on October 16, when "E-Ho, E-Ho"
calls (a short form for Enver Hoxha) were heard. Yugoslav
commentators and political cartoonists were accused of identifying the
chant "E-Ho" and the two-headed eagle of the Albanian flag with
Albanian irredentism. The Rilindja commentary retorted' that
the Albanian flag was the symbol of all the Albanians and not of
a few people and "it [the flag] cannot tolerate becoming the
subject of tasteless cartoons."

A Pristina Radio and Television commentary, for its part,
took issue with the "obstructive" writing about Kosovo in
Omladinske, the paper of the Socialist Youth of the Serbian
Socialist Republic.[3] The commentary rejected as biased and
ridiculous the claims of the paper that the frequent electricity
blackouts occurred deliberately "to prevent" the Serbians and the
Montenegrins from watching certain Belgrade Television programs,
adding derisively, "Do the Albanians watch their programs on
battery operated sets?" Omladinake was also criticized for
defending the Macedonian efforts to "Macedonianize" the Albanian
names and localities in that republic, indicating thereby that
Pristina disliked some aspects of Skopje's nationality policies.
The Serbian youth publication was also accused of making common
cause with other news media in the federation -- "setting out
from extremist, revanchist, and centralist-unitarist positions"
-- to attack the top provincial leadership, including the
provincial League of Communists' Chairman. In so doing, the
commentary claimed, Omladinske was attempting to discredit the
work of the provincial leadership; and its aim went even
further:

It wants to sow distrust among these cadres, that is, to
declare them unsuitable and incapable of leading the present
battle. This, through the columns of Omladinske, implies a
guardianship, watching from above, from some center of force
and power. This tune has been played for the past two years
by the reactionary, chauvinist, Rankovic forces, which have
failed once and for all because they have been condemned by
all the nations and nationalities of Yugoslavia, by all the
progressive forces in the country.

[page 3]

EAST (3) -- THE NATIONALITY DILEMMA IN KOSOVO F-568

What is striking about this latest spate of polemics is that
they are being waged between the various news media of the
country along nationality lines and not simply between the
authorities and hostile "nationalist" and "irredentist" elements,
which has been the case so far. This situation puts the Albanian
provincial leaders and the province's news media in a serious
predicament, for, in addition to their constant problem of
fighting Albanian nationalism and irredentism and of warding off
the steady attacks from across the border for allegedly having
sold themselves to "Greater Serbian" interests, they now also
have to defend themselves from other central quarters, such as
the Belgrade news media.

* * *

1 13 November 1983.
2 Ibid., 14 November 1983.
3 Ibid., 12 November 1983.

end

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