SURROI WANTS KOSOVAR COMMITMENT TO MULTI-ETHNIC SOCIETY.

Kosovar publisher Veton Surroi wrote an editorial in "Koha Ditore" on 18 February, in which he suggested that the Kosovar political parties do not sufficiently promote a tolerant and multi-ethnic society. Surroi argued that the 16 February bomb attack on a bus, which killed seven and injured 43 Serbs, was aimed at halting the internationally sponsored refugee-return plan (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 February 2001).

He concluded that "the political message [of the attackers] was directed [not towards the victims but] towards the survivors. And this makes the difference between ordinary murder and terror." Surroi added that "the message [of the attackers] is very simple: Kosovar Serbs cannot be citizens of Kosova."

Surroi recalled that in the past, Belgrade tried to deny the Kosovar Serbs their specific local identity, claiming simply that Kosova is Serbia. Now, he added, "bombs on the bus help everybody who wants to argue for a partition of Serbs and Albanians. [The bombs] help [promote] the development of [ethnically-based] enclaves and those who want to see Mitrovica divided."

Another message of the attackers was directed towards the international community, according to Surroi. Not only did the attack show that KFOR is not capable of protecting minorities -- the bombing also demonstrated that nobody is safe, not even KFOR troops. Thus, he argued, "the bomb against the bus was also a bomb against NATO, the liberators of Kosova," he added.

Surroi concludes that the Kosovar Albanians must ask themselves if they want to jeopardize their relations with NATO and whether they want to implement the policies of [indicted war criminal Slobodan] Milosevic.

The Kosovar Albanian political parties, he added, do not seem to be aware that "Kosova is about to stumble into a new trap, [a process] to which the [Albanian] Kosovars are themselves contributing."

Meanwhile, the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms also criticized that "the political parties in Kosova use the ritual of denouncing violence...for political marketing.... [But it] is not a sincere effort that will concretely contribute to the prevention of all kinds of violence." (Fabian Schmidt)

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, BALKAN REPORT Vol. 5, No. 14, 20 February 2001
A Twice-Weekly Review of Politics, Media and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Broadcasts in the western Balkans
Copyright (c) 2001. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.

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