From the article of 'Petrel'
No.672 / April 5, 1998

Please send us your opinion and the impression about this article without reservation.

We denounce the Serbian hegemonism.

The ethnic confrontation is intensifying.
The history and the background of Kosovo problem



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The ethnic confrontation spouts again in the Balkan peninsula, that is, "Gunpowder warehouse in Europe." Violent Ethnic Conflicts occur between Albanian and Serbian in the Kosovo autonomy state of the Yugoslavia federation Serb Republic. I wonder whether a new armed clash will be repeated again though the memory of the civil war of Bosnia-Herzegovina in the old Yugoslavia age has not woken up. I want to think about the problem between the worker and the nationalism searching for the background of the ethnic problem of Kosovo.
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What is the Kosovo problem?

The Kosovo autonomy state exists at the south region in the Serb Republic composing the Yugoslavia federation (the remain is the Montenegrin Republic), it borders on Albania and Macedonia, the Albanian inhabitants are occupying 90 percent or more of the 2 million people.

This region is the central region of the Serb kingdom in the Middle Ages historically -- it is said as the holy "Ground of the founding of the country" for the Serb --, Serbian built the kingdom on this region at the end of the 12th century, they were defeated at the fight with the Osmanli Empire at the end of the 14th century, a large amount of Albanian had flowed in come to settle down replacing Serb who had escaped outside.

Though Serb recaptured Kosovo by the first Balkan war in 1912, there was no change in the race composition that the inhabitant's majority are Albanian, and Albanian has been discriminated as the second class citizens in the first and second Great War.

The ethnic equality was expressed after foundation of the old Yugoslavia federation in 1945, and Kosovo became an autonomy district and has been promoted to an autonomy state in '63. When Tito who hoists "Loose federation system" enacted a new constitution that expanded the power of the republics and the autonomy states in '74, Kosovo also became to be able to have an original constitution, assembly, judicial organization, and they were approved the wide autonomy right as much as republic.

The new constitution was evaluated as the further development and evolution of "independently controlled socialism" of Yugoslavian original -- though it expressed the independent control of the worker and the independence of enterprise, it was actually a kind of capitalism, national capitalism -- the republic and the autonomy state was given a big, economic power of the business of issuing banknotes, the currency policy, and the taxes system, and the like. However, these systems did not have made the control of the society and production by the workers, an organic relation of each republic and autonomy state, but oppositely, the union as a domestic market has been lost as much as the power of each republic and autonomy state had been reinforced.

And, the economy of Yugoslavia deteriorated more and more in the influence of the first, the second oil crisis, and in the world recession. Each republic piled up the debts from foreign country for the capital investment, they remained as a debt of the nation, and the economic crisis such as a great deficit of the balance of trade and the accumulation of the foreign debts, inflations, and the increase of unemployments has deepened.

The ethnic confrontation came to the surface in the economic crisis deepened after dying Tito on '80, and it was Kosovo to have led the van. The Albanian inhabitant who requested the republic promotion of Kosovo caused a large-scale riot in '81. There was the situation that Kosovo was the poorest region delaying in economic development in Yugoslavia in the background of this riot.

Though it is statistics of the year '88, in case that the individual income and the gross production per head assumes to be 100 respectively in Kosovo, the former is 165 and the latter is 850 in northern Slovenia that is the most wealthy region, and the former is 144, the latter is 375 in Serbia. The classification that the northern part had advanced in industrialization and was high income, and the southern part had been delayed in industrialization and was low income was the reality of the "socialism" in Yugoslavia. The regional difference caused the violent ethnic conflicts, and produced the Serbian repulsion to the northern part, the confrontation between Serbian and Albanian in the southern part, and the like.

The collision between Albanian and Serbian was repeated in Kosovo, the Serbian ruling class holded down the strike of Albanian workers who protested the large-scale collision in '87, inflation, unemployment, and Miloshevich, the chief of the republic caucus (President of Yugoslavia now), forced the revision of constitution to reduce the power of the autonomy state greatly in '89.

The repulsed Albanian declared the independence of "Kosovo Republic," but Serb dissolved the Assembly of Kosovo and annexed Kosovo as a matter of fact. The unity meeting to Kosovo is held in other republics such as Croatia, and the suppression of Serb to Kosovo stimulated the nationalism of these Republics and became the trigger for the separation and independence of each Republics.

The Kosovo problem -- though other ethnic problems are also similar -- has born in the bourgeois evolution of national capitalism as we have seen. "Independently controlled socialism" was not able to achieve the equality and the fusion of race, expanded an economic, regional difference oppositely, and produced the conflict of interests between the republics and the autonomy states. The nationalism has gained power and the confrontation has deepened in such situation.

Ethnic confrontation is intensifying.

The civil war of Bosnia-Herzegovina started in '92, old Yugoslavia dismantled, and Serb established new Yugoslavia federation with Montenegrin. However, Kosovo executed original election of President and Assembly and chairman Rugova of Kosovo Democratic Alliance was inaugurated as President. Albanian radical ethnic organization, "Kosovo Liberating Group" aiming at separation and independence expanded the activity in the situation that the autonomy right of Kosovo was taken up and sporadic collisions also continued after that, and an event that the Liberating Group attacked the police station and two persons died occurred.

And, the Serb side threw in a large-scale police force and began the cleaning up strategy of the Liberating Group at the end of February this year; It became the situation reported that Albanian of 50 persons or more containing children and women was killed and several thousand persons became refugees, and the using force accompanied by victim continued afterwards. The situation that Albanian and Serb inhabitant directly collided mutually for the first time was caused in the state capital Pristina on March 19, too.

Rugova, the Leader of Kosovo violently criticized the attack of Serb side as "It is the Ethnic Cleansing slaughtering Albanian" and asked to the international society to mediation. Albanian anti-Serb feelings are extending to the surrounding country and the protest meeting and the protest demonstrations to Serb are done frequently in the neighboring country Albania and Macedonia both republics. The Kosovo problem conceives the danger to become the trigger of a large-scale dispute rolling in the surrounding nations.

If Albanian Republic will start the support of the brothers of Kosovo, the national dispute with Serb will not be avoided. Albanian exceeding 20 percent of the population lives in Macedonia Republic, so if the problem would expand and prolong, and the refugee would flow in Macedonia, the confrontation with the Macedonian of slab is forecast.

In addition, the religious problem is closely related, too. Albanians large majority are Islamite and Serb and Macedonian are Christians of the Greek orthodoxy. There are Hellenic descendent inhabitants in Albanian Republic and Turkey descendent inhabitants in Macedonia Republic. If the dispute will spread to Albania and Macedonia, neither Turkey nor Greece might keep silent.
This region Balkan where religion and race are tangled complexly with each other is "the Gunpowder warehouse in Europe" in old times and now together.

America, Europe, and Russia six countries dreading Kosovo to be the reappearance of Bosnia held the urgent Foreign Minister conference on March 9, and criticized the military power exercise of the Serb government and agreed about inflicting a punishment of the arms embargo. The conference was held even on 25, the opinion of France and Russia saying that it was necessary to watch the whereabouts of the discussion between persons concerned, and put off the punishment reinforcement that the United States had insisted.

The opportunity of the discussion is surely budding recently as the Serb government asked to Albanian leader for conversation containing the autonomy right recovery in the subject for discussion, and promised the police force to withdraw. Albanian side having refused the conversation declares that they have an idea to choose the negotiation member with the Serb government, too. The result that Serb government allows the home language education to Albanian descendent students (They have refused class in Serb public school after '91 for teaching in home language.) appears concretely, too.

However, Serbian president and students of Pristina University strengthen the repulsion to the return of Albanian descendent students as "It is a betray to Serbian." Moreover, the poll result that Serbian who assumed "We can do nothing but exclude Albanian to solve the problem" exceeded 40% was reported, so the root of the confrontation does not vanish.

There is no sign of concession in Albanian side as "just the independence of Kosovo is only way to solution." (Rugova) Because a large number of casualties have already been born and the concession to Serb will incur a big repulsion from the inhabitant. Moreover, opposing to Yugoslavia and America and European countries that do not admit the change in the border, there is also the deep-rooted dissatisfaction as "Why cannot we do though such as Croatia was able to become independent?" There is no change in the situation that we cannot have an optimistic view even if the opportunity of the discussion is budding.

The workers and nationalism.

What attitude should the worker take in such a situation? We, the workers think that it is necessary to be decided whether for Kosovo to stay as a part of Serb or to become independent by the intention of the inhabitant of Kosovo.

On the other hand, Lenin is emphasizing the importance for the worker to be independent from nationalism generally. For the worker to win the class struggle, "It is necessary that proletariat is independent from nationalism and so to speak completely neutral in the struggle of each ethnic bourgeoisie for hegemony." (From 'About racial self-determination right') And, he says that if the one side workers (in this case, Serbian workers) support the privilege of their ethnic bourgeoisie even a little, it wakes up distrust without fail in the other ethnic workers, weakens and divides the international unity of workers, and only pleases the bourgeoisie.

If Serbian workers follow to the rule class of the home country, it will drive the Albanian workers to the camp of the Albanian nationalist after all and will help the Albanian nationalist to tempt the workers by nationalism.

(Takumi Yakuwa)