Albanians and Serbs: Pending Issues

 

 

October 25, 2021, RIT Kosovo

 

 

 

 

On October 25th a distinguished and diverse academic panel from Kosovo and Serbia addressed - ‘Albanians and Serbs - Pending Issues’ that builds on the research published by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia: “Albanian Minority on hold”

“Serbian Community in Kosovo: Frozen Life in a Frozen Conflict”
The panel is the part of a wider Helsinki Committe project related to the history of Yugoslavia. The project is supported by German Foreign Ministry.

The panelists:
Sonja Biserko – Executive Director, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia
Lulzim Peci – Executive Director, KIPRED
Ylber Hysa – Former Ambassador to Macedonia & Montenegro
Aleksandar Miletic – Executive Director of the Center for History Studies and Dialogue
Gjulieta Mushkolaj – Former Justice, Kosovo Constitutional Court
Mark Baskin – Moderator, Adjunct Faculty, RIT Kosovo

Below are the two publications that were discussed:

 

 

Sonja Biserko

 

Democracies in the Balkans have not yet been consolidated, nor have they essentially adopted a value system that respects minorities as equals.

The position of minorities and their integration into the wider political, economic and cultural community is one of the most important indicators of the democracy.

Almost all governments in the region maneuver between the integration of national minorities into political systems and their segregation. Segregated multiculturalism maintains ethnic distance, without achieving greater integration. It is a multiculturalism that does not establish bridges and cooperation between ethno-cultural groups. Minorities agree to this position because it still represents progress compared to the previous period.

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The Albanian community in Southern Serbia is territorially compact and located along the border (with North Macedonia and Kosovo). It is the one of the most underdeveloped regions in Serbia and thus both Serbs and Albanians were continuously immigrating, Serbs to bigger cities in Serbia and Albaninas to the West. Albanian community has been subjected to various administrative measures (structural discrimination) aimed at reducing their numbers, as well as stifling demands for territorial autonomy.

Also, important aspect of their position and actual status is closely linked to the status of Kosovo and the Serb community in Northern Kosovo.

The legal framework, the Constitution, the Law on Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities, the Anti-Discrimination Law, as well as numerous strategies and action plans that guarantee equality and integration of all citizens of Serbia, are insufficiently applied in practice. Regardless of the presence of numerous embassies, the OSCE and other organizations in Southern Serbia, the Albanian community is living in limbo and in expectation of their status finally being resolved as part of the resolution of the Kosovo question.

As of 2013 or 2014 the Serbian state is conducting the process of so-called "Passivation of residence of Albanians" working abroad, either in Western Europe or in Kosovo. This "passivation" also targets citizens who permanently reside at their addresses. This measure is, in essence, a form of ethnic cleansing through administrative means.

"Passivation" (mass and selective passivation of residence) leads to individuals losing their status of being a citizen of Serbia and, accordingly, all civil rights – the rights to vote, property, health insurance, pension, employment, etc. Since citizens are not informed about "passivation", they usually lose their right to appeal, the deadline for which is eight days.

As “passivation” serves to reduce the number of Albanians in these three municipalities. It is indicative that this measure applies exclusively to Albanians, and not to Serbs who are temporarily working abroad.

The Albanian community in Southern Serbia is completely isolated, and neither the government nor the opposition have shown interest in the problems it is facing. Opposition party leaders are only interested in electoral coalitions and the support of Albanian voters.

One particular problem is the non-recognition of diplomas, which prompts the departure of the most educated people belonging to the Albanian elite, who have no possibility of employment in state and public institutions.

In order to create conditions for the restoration of trust between the majority and minority community, it is necessary for Government and state institutions, the media and other actors to demonstrate political will and to seriously engage in integrating the Albanian community into the broader political community, to which the Republic of Serbia has committed itself under three agreements relating to Southern Serbia. Serbia missed the opportunity to confront the past - to prosecute cases of murder, abuse, violence and abduction of civilians in the period between 1996 and 2002 has been missed.

State institutins such as the judiciary is a major integration issue in light of proportional representation. The actual number of Albanians is not being taken into account since they boycotted the 2011 census. It is being taken advantage of.

Belgrade officials must keep in mind that it is logical and legitimate for the Albanian community in Serbia to ask for the same status that Serbia wants for Serbs in Northern Kosovo.

'Institutionalized' hate speech against Albanians is growing, and negative media coverage of Kosovo inevitably spills over to Albanians in Southern Serbia. Deconstructing stereotypes about Albanians as a disruptive, criminal and terrorist factor is an imperative in order to create the preconditions for restoring the trust and normalization of relations.

 

Gjulieta Mushkolaj

 

Kosovo Serbia Dialogue is vital for peace in the region, and facilitation by the EU is imperative. Even though there is a growing suspicion regarding the ability of the EU to successfully conclude the disputes between the two parties, the EU is mandated by the UN General Assembly Resolution adopted by consensus to accomplish this mission. There is no other mechanism for settling disputes between the two parties, and the EU's greatest advantage for being a successful mediator in the Balkans, the promise of membership, has vanished! Still, the EU is even in these troubling days the most influential actor in the Balkans, and with a proper strategy could reinvent its role especially in Serbia, in order to rescue its capacity to go forward and accomplish its role as a mediator.

The success of the EU as a mediator in Kosovo Serbia dialogues has another important dimension: the inclusion of the civil society dialogue between the two countries! Let’s not forget the outrage expressed by the civil society when the idea of the land swap, the partition of Kosovo, or other territorial fragmentation was openly discussed at the EU table! The success of the dialogue could be only expected if the process is supported with the active role of civil society groups that have shown the prospect of lasting peace between the people of two countries.

 

Dr Aleksandar R. Miletić has introduced himself and his NGO’s (Center for History Studies and Dialogue - CHSD) activities undertaken in Kosovo within the previous 2-3 years. He presented two educational brochures published by his NGO and preliminary results of the project “(Extra)ordinary People. Documentation Repository on Albanian-Serbian Coexistence in Kosovo, 19-21 centuries” based on interviews conducted with members of both Albanian and Serbian communities in several regions in Kosovo. Rather than directly deconstructing poisonous ethnocentric narratives, this project aims at providing historical sources and giving voice to those ordinary people whose life accounts defy stereotypes and biases of their respective ethnic communities. Hence, the CHSD aim is to collect and make visible positive and affirmative accounts on Serbian-Albanian coexistence in Kosovo throughout the 19-21 centuries.This include process of gathering historical sources (archival documents, newspapers articles, photo documentation) and literature, and providing oral history accounts (interviews). All these materials will be made available as a documentation repository on the project’s web-page which is currently under construction. In his presentation Miletić provided several examples of life accounts defying stereotypical representation of Serbian-Albanian relationships throughout history and nowadays.

During the discussion and while answering questions from the audience Miletić insisted on maintenance and gradual strengthening of the protection of minority rights in Kosovo as well as further consolidation of institutional capacities of Kosovo state. In the domain of educational reform he advocated a transition from ethnocentric model of history education towards a more inclusive model which would integrate minority narratives in national curriculum both in Serbia and Kosovo. Miletić expressed his remorse about the poor state of monuments and other commemorative objects dedicated to the WWII anti-fascist and socialist era period in Kosovo. Being associated with Yugoslav and Serbian rule, most of them are either completely destroyed or abandoned which provides for quite an awkward situation even in regional terms. Namely, there is virtually no public commemorative practice dedicated to commemorate anti-fascist struggle of Kosovo citizens during the WWII.

 

Ylber Hysa

 

Albanian-Serbian relations, as a complex and long relationship, have complex dimensions and segments.

Generally, we may decide these relationships in 3 segments: Historic, Political and non-political

Historic dimension of Albanian-Serbian relationship as at less millennium and half registered and it involves direct experiences, conflicts and alliances, cooperation within empires or conflicts through different empires, two Balkan Wars, 2 World Wars, communism and disintegration of former Yugoslavia.

But, this very long relationship also includes language borrowings, ethnographic influences, the phenomenon of institution of vojvodas, guardians of Orthodox monasteries, costmary law influence, etc.

In fact, sometimes, more complex than the very history of Albanian-Serbian relationship seems to be the historiography of these relations, or perception about out. Myths and stereotypes are still prevailing, combined with daily politics influences and agendas.

The political dimension of Albanian-Serbian relations is having as a central issue the question of Kosovo. Here the dialogue remains the core of the issue that does not allow further normalization of relations that might open up a different perspective of the Albanian-Serbia relation and as a consequence- the stability of the region.

As much as the first dimension still holds its influences, is the political one that keeps all three others pending?

And the third one, “non-political” have interpersonal dimension, professional, business, cultural, and other segments of the possible relations.

Albanian and Serbs, as the two biggest ethnic groups in Western Balkans, have to be responsible In trying to reach the political outcome of their relations in a way that will not create a negative precedent of the stability of the Balkans.

 

Lulzim Peci

 

The discussion initially was focused on the centralized nature of Serbian nationalism and decentralized nature of Albanian nationalism. The Serbian nationalism, until the Treaty of San Stefano and the Congress of Berlin had not territorial ambitions towards Albanian and Macedonian populated lands, but it was focused on Bosnian and Herzegovina, whereas the birth of Albanian nationalism was a reaction towards the decisions of San Stefano Treaty. The weakness of Albania and the strength of Serbia played a major role on the future developments that culminated with the war of 1998-1999, NATO intervention, and subsequently on the declaration of independence of Kosovo in February 2008. Albania, in comparison to Serbia, could not decide neither on behalf of Kosovo nor on behalf of Albanians in former Yugoslavia in general, whereas Serbia was a primary decision maker for Serbs in Former Yugoslavia. The ethnic alignments between strong “mother states” and statelet entities can create the illusion of unconditional support by “mother states”, like in a case of “Republika Srpska Kraina” that can produce fatal consequences of abandonment for statelet entities. This was not a case between Albania and Kosovo, due to the financial and political independence of Prishtina, which also enjoyed international support.

Kosovo and Serbia have a historic choice in front of them. They can decide to remain either eternal enemies or to become good neighbours or future allies. Serbia, through Srpska Lista has put under full control the political life of Serbian Community in Kosovo, at the expense of democracy, political pluralism and their integration in Kosovo. On the other side, Kosovo authorities are widening the gap between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo by not understanding the importance that the Serbian Orthodox Church has on the national identity of Serbs, which is also a product of lack of ability to understand this identity dimension of Serbian identity, which derives from the secular nature of Albanian nationalism. Kosovo government, as the first trust – building measure should implement the decision of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo of 2016 to return the land to the Decani Monastery, whereas the Government of Serbia should implement the agreement on recognition of diplomas, achieved in the EU facilitated dialogue.

Finally, Peci stated that without a strong trans-Atlantic consensus on an outcome of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, it is difficult to imagine that an agreement that will transform the current relations between two countries to those of good neighbourhood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

n a j n o v i j e   . . .

. . .   n a j n o v i j e

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uz podršku Saveznog ministarstva inostranih poslova SR Nemačke

 

 

 

 

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