Speigel THE FUTURE OF KOSOVO -How High Is the Price for Peace?

As the decision over the future of Kosovo approaches, tensions are growing in the western portion of the province. A return to violence is a distinct possibility. Meanwhile, a presumed war criminal remains in power with the blessing of the international community.

No decision has been reached yet, and Kosovo is still part of Serbia. But history is already being rewritten in the villages of Kosovo Polje and Metohija, where ethnic Albanians are building heroes' memorials to fallen brothers -- pilgrimage sites for post-independence Kosovo.

A Kosovo Albanian seen behind an Albanian flag at a market in the regional capital Pristina.....

Yes, you were even on top of it back then!

But here is an interesting piece from the Italian News back in October of 1998, which is one reason that the Italians were out in the streets protesting the NATO Bombing of Yugoslavia, six months later:

Corriere della Sera (Milan) 15 October 1998

Albanian Mafia, This Is How It Helps The Kosovo Guerrilla Fighters

Report by Roberto Ruscica

Drugs traffickers in Italy, in Germany, in Spain, in France, and in Norway: Kosovo Albanians. The men from the Special Operations Section [ROS] of the carabinieri, under the leadership of General Mario Mori, have succeeded in neutralizing a fully fledged network of Albanian drugs traffickers. The leader of this network is a certain Gashi Agim, aged 33, originally from Pristina, the capital of the small region that is being torn apart by the struggle between on the one hand the local population, 90 percent of whom are of Albanian ethnic origin and who are calling for independence from Serbia, and [Yugoslav government] on the other... Married to an Italian girl, Gashi Agim was living in a luxurious villa just outside Milan. The owner of a chain of beauty parlors and of perfume shops in London, Gashi was arrested early this summer along with 124 drugs traffickers

"Milan at this juncture has become a crossroads of interests for many fighting groups," a detective with the ROS explained. "These groups include also the Albanians from Kosovo who are among the most dangerous traffickers in drugs and in arms. They are determined men, violent and prepared to go to any lengths. They are capable of coming up with men and arms in a matter of hours. They have deep roots in civil society. They love luxury, fashionable clubs, and restaurants. They have an astonishing amount of ready cash at their disposal. Every night, to keep in practice, they burgle apartments and businesses, moving from one city in Lombardy to the next."

Investigations have shown that Italy is the most important base for these organizations and it is precisely in Milan that negotiations between the Kosovar bosses and those of the Tirana- based Albanian gangs take place. And Milan, again, is the theater in which exchanges with our own domestic crime bosses take place. According to detectives, the 'Ndrangheta receives and parcels out some 50 kilograms of heroin every day. And it is precisely by following this drug trail that the detectives have succeeded in discovering a fully fledged organization with ramifications throughout Europe: Groups have been identified that operate in France, in Switzerland, in Spain, in Germany, and in Norway. But the real brains behind this network are reportedly located in Italy.

The ROS officer, who is unable to reveal his identity, told me: "In Bratislava and in Budapest we have pinpointed storehouses capable of containing thousands of kilograms of heroin. Also, we recently seized a huge quantity of very pure cocaine. That means that the Albanian traffickers may well have refineries available to them and that therefore the drugs do not arrive ready prepared from Latin America. In certain East European countries the drugs traffickers can act undisturbed, and in some cases they actually enjoy the protection of the authorities and of the police forces. It is precisely for that reason," the detective concluded, "that a number of our missions have ended in real failure

But many names, links, and operative methods have, on the other hand, been discovered. The transportation of the drugs, for example, is habitually entrusted to German organizations: cars with tanks capable of containing 20 kilograms of drugs, or long-haul trucks with "cover" loads that cross the Austrian border to reach Milan.

The war in Kosovo has partly slowed down the criminals' business because many Albanians have been forced to take care of their families. Some of them are activists in the armed movement of the KLA fighters and have gone home to fight. They feel Albanian. They are fighting to achieve annexation to Albania. And it is precisely there that at least a part of the sea of money that the Albanian drugs traffickers have amassed is reported to have ended up, to support the families and to fund both certain political personalities and the anti-Serb movement. In spring, a number of Albanian drugs traffickers actually went as far as to take part in the organization of a rally in favor of independence for Kosovo.

And quite a number of people wanted for ordinary offenses marched past the US Embassy in Rome waving their banners and handing out leaflets.

Drugs, arms, and the Koran: Could this be the murderous crime mix of the next few years? "That is the picture that one can draw on the basis of our investigations," the ROS agents maintain. "A few years ago the Milan drugs market was run by the Turks. They were unscrupulous traffickers who would go to any lengths to satisfy the 'Ndrangheta bosses. Then, in 1996, the torch passed to the Albanians without any bloodshed." They share the Islamic religion with their Turkish confreres. An unmistakable sign is the month of Ramadan: In those weeks the traffickers close down the drug market.

"That is exactly right. But the Albanians have a particularly aggressive attitude. On the basis of phone calls that we have intercepted, we have discovered that the drugs are not only a source of wealth but also a tool in the struggle to weaken Christendom."

General Mori's men got to the Albanian drugs traffickers by following the 'Ndrangheta. And they maintain that the headquarters of the criminal operations is located in Calabria. Milan is apparently only an important business center. But it is seemingly the bosses in Africo, in Plati, and in Bovalino who order the purchase of drugs and of arms. And organized crime's arsenal is said to be located in the Aspromonte region of Calabria: bazookas rifles with telescopic sights, submachine-guns, hand grenades. "The 'Ndrangheta is different from other Mafia-style organizations," the ROS agents maintain. "It has only one objective: business. And in order to make the biggest profit it is prepared to forge alliances with anybody: with the Moroccans, with the Egyptians, with the Turks. The Calabrian bosses are not interested in controlling the Milanese territory. And sure enough the Albanian gangs are free to run the prostitution racket without any interference."

B92 News Politics Diplomacy & IR

The Times: Kosovo could erupt

17 February 2007 | 13:31 | Source: timesonline.co.uk LONDON -- In an article entitled, “In Defence of Kosovo’s Serbs”, The Times says there must be no return to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans.

It has been eight years since NATO halted Slobodan Miloševiæ’s persecution of Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians, in an onslaught that emptied and torched villages, killed about 100,000 and forced almost a million to flee.

Returning Albanians turned on their persecutors, killing 1,000 Kosovan Serbs; 200,000 left the province, never to return”, the paper sums up, adding that “morally, the Albanians have a strong case for full independence provided that the Serbs among them are properly protected from physical danger and economic discrimination.

Legally, Kosovo is a province of Serbia, which argues that to give the territory independence would be an attack on Serbia’s territorial integrity, and thus a violation of the UN Charter.

Politically, the vital thing is to prevent Kosovo, where ancestral memories of conflict reach deep into medieval history, from becoming, once again, the tinder-box of the Balkans. So the UN and NATO put Kosovo’s future on hold until a compromise could be reached that all parties were prepared to accept.

The idea was reasonable; but because compromise is not a word in the Albanian and Serbian vocabularies, it was not feasible. Eight years on the remaining Serbs, heavily dependent on subsidies from Belgrade, live in segregated enclaves, protected by NATO troops, from which most do not dare to emerge.

Continued assaults on their ancient churches intensify their fears for the future. The Albanians retort that the Serbs cut themselves off by choice, dealing only with Belgrade, and that they should blame Mr Miloševiæ, not their Albanian compatriots, for their present plight. The risk of conflict is almost as high as it was when Kosovo was taken under NATO’s wing.”

Doing nothing is no longer an option. Kosovo could erupt if Albanian demands continue to be shunted into the “too difficult” file; meanwhile, much of Western Europe quietly hopes the remaining Serbs will ethnically cleanse themselves.

On behalf of the UN, Martti Ahtisaari, the former Finnish President and a veteran of Balkan negotiations, has come up with a plan for a form of Kosovan independence, supervised by the EU.

The word does not appear, but Kosovo would have the trappings of statehood, including its own army and the right to join international organizations. The plan goes too far for the Serbians and not far enough for the Kosovans. They meet next week in Vienna for supposedly “final negotiations”. No one expects progress. The buck then passes to the Security Council, where Russia could use its veto.

This plan offers Serb communities considerable autonomy. They would be unwise to refuse. But they need better guarantees, equal citizenship and opportunities. An incentive to good faith would be an offer, made now, of EU membership for both Serbia and Kosovo, if they jointly ensure the welfare of all Kosovans.

So bold a step would be out of character for the EU. But it could hold the key to a durable Balkan peace.

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