For Kosovo's Serbs and Albanians, reconciliation seems impossible

AFP, 18 novembre 2005 03:11

 

The war remains stuck in their memories and between Stanisa and Idriz, reconciliation seems impossible as the upcoming talks on Kosovo's status sharpens their hostility.

 

"If Kosovo becomes independent, then not even a single Serb will remain in our village," says Stanisa Djuricic, 45, a Serb leader in Velika Hoca, the south-central Kosovo village where some 700 Serbs remain from a pre-war population of about 1,700.

 

"Serbs say reconciliation may happen if Albanians can guarantee them security, but how can I guarantee them security from somebody whose family members have been massacred?" asks Idriz Shala, 69, an elder in the Albanian majority village of Zociste, just a few kilometres (miles) from Velika Hoca.

 

Between the two villages, NATO-led forces in Kosovo (KFOR) keep watch from a hilltop base and patrol the muddy streets in the area in their armoured vehicles.

 

Kosovo has been run by the United Nations and NATO since June 1999, when the alliance ended its 78-day bombing campaign against then Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic's forces for their suppression of ethnic Albanian rebels.

 

The UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has since preached the need for a multi-ethnic society; however in practice the best international forces have been able to achieve is some measure of protection for the 30,000 Serbs in Kosovo enclaves.

 

International policymakers have seen some progress towards normality, but that is not enough for Stanisa, who says that during Kosovo's 1998-1999 war some 1,000 people fled across the province's border fearing reprisals following the conflict.

 

"We used to live together, visit each other and keep good relations, but that is the past. We dont have any contacts with people from surrounding Albanian villages," Stanisa says, adding he hopes things will improve within a few years.

 

The entrance to the Serb village is barricaded by KFOR troops, who patrol the area and watch for potential threats in the area, where armed groups operate under cover of dark.

 

"Nobody has seen them because we dare not go out at night. Of course we're fearful ... If the KFOR troops leave, so will we," Djuricic says, pointing beyond vineyards around the picturesque village to the peacekeepers on top of the hill.

 

Kosovo's Serbs, an estimated 30,000 of whom live nowadays in the province's enclaves, see the Serbian territory as the birthplace of their history and culture.

 

Its Albanians, who make up more than 90 percent of the province's population, are demanding independence from the ex-Yugoslav republic in the talks, which begin on Monday with chief UN mediator Martti Ahtisaari's visit to the region.

 

However many ethnic Albanians who have their own horror stories still view local Serbs as unrepentant former oppressors.

 

"All our Serb neighbours were heavily armed. When we returned after the war we found our homes burned to the ground," Idriz said, adding he expected some of the 40-50 Serb families who lived in Zociste before the war to return.

 

Not far from the village is the Serbian Orthodox monastery of Stari Vraci, whose 14th century church and bell tower lies in a rectangular heap of stones where its walls once stood.

 

The monastery's monk says the church and its surrounding buildings were blown up "professionally" three months after NATO troops entered Kosovo without protecting the site.

 

"We waited for five years to return but couldn't" as KFOR said it was unable to guarantee their safety until about a year ago, the monk added.

 

"I want to stay in the monastery. If Kosovo becomes independent I will stay although it implies risk," said Stari Vraci's Father Jovan.