interview by Safeta BISEVAC
DEMACI: I came to Belgrade at the invitation of Bogoljub Karic, who assisted Albanians during the war, and even saved several Albanian families by transferring them to Montenegro. While he worked in Pec, all Albanians had only nice words for his family. Following Karic's idea I came to Belgrade in hope that people here would listen to me. I am very happy that I have experienced something like this, because I believed that it was extremely important to establish contact at this moment. I am not active in any single party, I am not important politically, but I was in the Albanian resistance for more than 50 years. I think that Serbs in Serbia should know what Albanians think and feel, so that they do not make a wrong choice. Instead they should wish for Albanians whatever they wish for themselves, if they do want to solve our problem as well and as soon as possible.
DANAS: How were you received in Belgrade?
I was received everywhere well, which means that the fresh air in Belgrade has started to give results. I am returning to Pristina with good impressions. I also visited "Otpor" and am watching with a lot of optimism exactly that generation, whose task will be to lead Serbia further. Serbia is fortunate to have that organization of young people of high conscience who are not corrupt, love their country, but also have a lot of respect for us Albanians.
Did you contact local politicians?
There were no contacts, nor were they planned. I do not miss meetings with politicians but contacts with ordinary people who will by voting and in other ways push their ideas through. As far as politicians are concerned, they are busy and I am not their interlocutor any more.
However, the solution of the Kosovo problem is not possible without politicians.
True, but I am here to convey the views of ordinary Albanians to ordinary Serbs. Politicians from Serbia will certainly get a chance to meet politicians from Kosovo and will not miss the chance to talk to me.
You have praise for your host Bogoljub Karic. How come, if one recalls that he was a part of Slobodan Milosevic's regime, which inflicted a lot of evil on Albanians?
Buguljub Karic is a businessman. Some Albanians describe him as a regime supporter. But he loves his country, his people, and as a businessman he has to work and make profit. For a while he was a minister without portfolio in the Serbian government. However, as soon as he realized that that regime had gone too far and that it did not accept his proposals, he found a way to distance himself. We are more inclined to trust Mr. Karic, because he is directed towards the future, he wants well for his people, and does not want evil for Albanians. That is why I think that Bogoljub Karic should be respected and should continue to do his work. I do not think that his temporary connection with the previous authorities is a reason to refuse contacts with him.
Although he was not in the government for long, he had more then temporary connections with the previous regime and used them to get rich.
He got rich because he is a skilled trader. He knew how to work and the state allowed him to project his capital and knowledge. However, he was not totally loyal to that state, because when he realized that they had gone too far, he left them.
You said that you had come to convey a message of ordinary Albanians to ordinary Serbs. What is the essence of that message?
The essence is that Serbia is today at the crossroads, at ground zero. It has finished a cycle of its political wanderings started in 1921. Serbia must not any more have pretensions to be "Greater Serbia", and as long as it demands from Kosovo to be a part of Serbia it will want to be greater. By denying freedom to Montenegro, Serbia would continue the old practice. My goal was to tell that to the ordinary people in Serbia before the elections on December 23 so that they could influence the correction of the old policy and urge the authorities to take a new direction. That would free both Serbia and us around Serbia of troubles.
Do you think that ordinary Serbs will understand that message?
I don't think so, because they are still burdened by old ideas. There is still a military-police complex whose influence is great. But if only ten people understood my message and arguments, I think that that is enough to build a critical mass that would stop Serbia from the old ways and make her chose the direction that would connect her with the world and allow us to deal with real issues.
Serbs have emotional connections with Kosovo which has always formally been a part of Yugoslavia. What makes you think that Serbs can accept the independence of Kosovo?
I know that they have ties because for a whole century they have been brought up in the spirit of the old man Vujadin, Kosovo woman, nine Jugovic brothers [characters from the cycle of Serb folk poems about Kosovo] and other myths. I think that the shock suffered by the Serb people, the downfall of the regime and everything that has happened during the last 10-12 years, the engagement of the world, all that is enough for them to summon strength and realize that the end has come to old illusions, the mentality that still lives in the past. I insist that we deal with the present, because by building the present we are building the future. No matter how few people realize that, I think that already that is good. Based on the number of phone calls and reactions of not only those who know me, but even strangers, I think that I successfully conveyed my message.
You mentioned the involvement of the world. After the political changes in Belgrade and Vojislav Kostunica's victory, it seems that the support of the international community for the independence of Kosovo has dropped?
The term international community is very wide and elastic. They have certain interests in Serbia and in Kosovo, but believe me, they do not care a lot about us. I think that the decisive thing is how we and Serbs will sort this out. If we agree to accept each other, to guarantee freedom to each other, to help each other, understand each other and develop true human relations, the international community will gain and accept such a solution. As long as we rely for a while on this and then for a while on that [foreign power] and look back to old alliances with powers that care only about their own interests, that will not be good. The world will have to change its attitude towards Albanians and Serbs because it will not be possible to decide about our fates, happiness and future of Albanians and Serbs in offices abroad.
Many in Serbia believe that a return to the Constitution form 1974 could keep Kosovo within Serbia. During the old socialist regime an Albanian was a president of the Yugoslav presidency and Kosovo had wide-ranging autonomy. Is there any chance, if Albanians enjoyed all rights and freedoms, to keep Kosovo at least formally within this state?
No, such a system could not sustain itself and survive in the long run. Besides, there were also other proposals. In 1993, I proposed Balkania, as a confederation of Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo. The goal of all those proposals was to prevent bloodshed. However, now blood has been spilt, big wounds were opened and little trust that used to exist has been destroyed. New trust can be built only if these peoples accept each other as free and independent, and on that basis all other agreements can be made. We depend on each other. We are next door neighbors and must find an agreement based on these new principles, rather than on old systems and constitutions. By rejecting the 1974 Constitution the Serb regime destroyed any possibility of cooperation, the Albanians did not do that. Suffering and high price paid by the Albanians for breathing freely in Kosovo is such that there is no possibility of going back to the previous situation. If Serbia keeps insisting on that, that will merely be a waste of time.
You emphasize that Serbs should free themselves of illusions about "Greater Serbia". Have the Albanians freed themselves of the idea of "Greater Albania"?
Today in Kosovo there is no tendency to unite with Albania. That is a matter of the past, because it wasn't accomplished in time. The Albanians have become sufficiently smart to realize that the unification will actually happen, although it will not be formal. Borders can survive even though the economic, cultural and other links become extremely tight. If those links are not disturbed, then borders are not important and the need to modify them disappears.
Aren't you somewhat contradicting yourself? You say that borders are not important, and insist on independent Kosovo. Why would it be a problem if Kosovo remained in Serbia and Yugoslavia, if in practice it was virtually independent?
If it weren't for this bloodshed, evil and war, we could have accepted formal links with Belgrade, but the Serb regime has destroyed all chances. You know that in 1988 Albanians accepted Yugoslavia under the condition that they were equal with others, that Kosovo became a republic. But the Serb regime rejected all that and thereby destroyed every possibility of life in a common state. If is impossible after everything to accept something like that because the new generation has experienced so much evil that it does not think about any mode of link with Yugoslavia. Let me remind you that at one rally in front of several tens of thousands of young people, I said that we should forget the past, but that was booed. Trust can be rebuilt only by the acceptance of the fact that Albanians want independence. Only after that, we can rebuild our relations, and that will go easily and swiftly.
What about western Macedonia?
Thanks to Georgievski and the ruling parties the crisis in western Macedonia has subsided. Albanians are increasingly satisfied and are penetrating into the government structures. They are not second class citizens and are not any more putting forward the question whether they can remain a part of Macedonia and cooperate with Macedonians. That can help the solution of the Kosovo problem because Albanians from western Macedonia will not anymore strive to unite with Kosovo. I think that in all of the former Yugoslavia, that part of Albanians is currently doing the best as far as the regulation of common life with other nations is considered.
Youd you care to comment on Hashim Thaci's defeat in the local elections in Kosovo?
It is easy to explain that defeat. When Hashim Thaci came, he took on himself and his government great responsibility, but he had no means to run his government. All sorts of things happened in the anarchic interregnum, and he was held responsible for all of that. The fact that Albanians did not want to risk and gave their votes to Ibrahim Rugova, whom they know well, also influenced the results. I think that these election results are good because Rugova and his people will now have to show what they know and can do. There will be no more avoidance. They will now be the authorities that will be expected to resolve problems at the local level. They have no capability to resolve those problems because they are not much better than Thaci and others, so that all of that will lead to the sobering up of the voters in Kosovo. The leaders of the defeated parties will have enough time until the next elections to think about their mistakes, and some parties will very soon merge.
Many criticized your involvement in the political representation of the KLA?
That move was rather risky for me, but I decided to do that in order to try to avoid bloodbath. I wanted to participate in the search for a solution as a man who would find links with Serbia. The Serb regime was deaf and rejected our extended hand. Since 1990 and my release from prison I advocated that the Kosovo problem be resolved peacefully. Until 1997 we tried to solve the problem peacefully. I traveled all over Europe and the world, begged, cried, kneeled... But all was in vain. The Serb regime gave us no other way out. We had to fight for survival and take up weapons, and I had to side with the people who fought for our freedom. I believe that that was totally legal and moral. We tried to use all other modes of struggle, but it did not give results. We had to fight the Serb occupation with all means available.
President Vojislav Kostunica recently stated that he was prepared to negotiate with representatives of Kosovo Albanians. Is a meeting of the FRY president and Ibrahim Rugova likely in a near future?
A meeting can take place, but I do not think that the atmosphere in which something could be resolved has been created. Perhaps Kostunica wants to do a quick job with Rugova, hoping that he can easily deal with him. Kostunica is wrong if he thinks that he can now find with Rugova some solution that would keep Kosovo under Serbian control. Rugova is now stronger and has to display firmness because in the past he showed to be rather slimy, spineless and sad. I think that Kostunica now has a lot of work at home. The same is true of Rugova. Perhaps in a few months their meeting will make sense.
You defined the present situation in Kosovo as "breathing freely". Many Serbs complain that they cannot live and breathe freely.
They are correct because many Serbs do not live well. They live in some enclaves and cannot move around, live and work freely. They have some small markets in Kosovo Polje, Gracanica. All of that is miserable and poor. They use dinars in their transactions, while Albanians use German marks. Albanians are making a lot of money, while Serbs are making ends meet with small salaries they get from Serbia. Those Serbs who did not commit crimes, live in poverty without any guilt of their own. Problems in Kosovo are additionally complicated by the fact that it is not known who is guilty and who is innocent because very few culprits have been identified and arrested. The very fact that Serbs decided to stay in Kosovo is positive and I think that the Albanians are slowly realizing that Serbs are also citizens of Kosovo and should have equal rights. Kosovo Serbs for many years led privileged lives and were under influence of the Serb regime. Therefore, they are in a way responsible for their present situation, but the main culprit is the Serb regime.
They even in the most recent elections voted for Slobodan Milosevic, but it seems to me that they have opened a new line. I think that slowly a basis for common life in Kosovo is being created.
Will that basis enable the return of expelled Serbs?
I think that otherwise Albanians cannot count on acceptance by the world, and hopefully they realize that freedom cannot be reserved only for us. If Albanians do not as soon as possible secure the same freedom and civic rights for all residents of Kosovo, it will not be good. I think that such thinking is slowly getting an upper hand among Albanians, although some will always be stubborn.
One assumes that freedom and rights about which you are talking do not only apply to Albanians and Serbs, but also to members of other ethnic groups living in Kosovo?
That is even easier. The only problem will be with Roma who made a big mistake by siding with the Serb regime in the most difficult times. They committed grave and numerous crimes, especially in Pristina. Of course, some of them are innocent, but how is one to prove that now. In Djakovica, for example, Roma did not do such stuff, and no one is bothering them today.
Several Muslims have been killed since the withdrawal of the Yugoslav Army, and it cannot be said that they supported the Belgrade regime.
Unfortunately, Muslims were killed only because they were heard speaking the Serb language. The same happen to some Gorans, Turks who sided with the Serb authorities. We had problems to calm down that situation, and the situation is now much better than before.
"Later I was taken into custody one more time. They attacked me like wasps: 'what are you doing here? Everyone else ran away. How dare you walk around'. I told them: 'even if everyone else leaves, I am going to stay with you here'. Then some Chetnik jumped out with a machine gun and said 'I'm going to shoot you right now'. 'Shoot me if you want,' I told him. When they saw that I was totally unfazed, the others jumped on him, and said, let's talk, we do not want to kill people. I thought that they would kill me, but they were smart and did not want to further enrage the Albanians and the world with my murder. So here I am, still alive, again in Belgrade. Here I am, again among the Serbs."