Dashnor Kaloçi
The third part
Memorie.al publishes an archival document issued by the Central State Archive in Tirana (fund of the former Central Committee of the ALP), which belongs to May 8, 1981, where is the political diary of the communist leader of Albania, Enver Hoxha , with notes on the events of Kosovo which had begun in the first days of the spring of that year, first with the protests and demonstrations of the student youth and then the people of Kosovo, who rose to demand freedoms and rights their legitimacy, like all other peoples and ethnicities that were then in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The complete diary of Enver Hoxha, from the messages given to Ramiz Alia to send all the pages of foreign newspapers from all over the world that had covered and commented on the events in Kosovo, the preparation for an article in the newspaper “Zeri i Popullit” regarding with those events in the period March-April 1981, the response to the politician and former Serbian diplomat, Milos Minic, a member of the Presidency of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, who had made a dangerous provocation in the address of our country, stating that “The Albanian leadership, through the activity of its intelligence and diplomacy bodies, including its embassy in Belgrade, revealed its full commitment and complexity in the events that took place in Kosovo”, etc.
“The statement made by Mr Minic is a problem for us, so the position to be taken should be discussed. During the conversation, Ramiz told me that this statement of Minic and the statements made by other Yugoslav leaders require a reaction from us. He rightly said, but I do not think we should make an official public protest by our Government, nor any statement by ATSH. The latter could be a variant to publicly express our view. Yet both last night and today, I have thought a little deeper into this issue. First, the stance taken by the Titoist leaders of every level cannot be left without an answer on our part. But before we do that, before we answer, we must analyze why Yugoslav leaders do so. This action of theirs, which is accompanied by all sorts of accusations against our country, I consider a provocation, which they make us fall into it and not just remove our ambassador from Yugoslavia, doing so to give them right for all those who have acted against us, but to go even further, to withdraw our embassy from Belgrade, because Miniçi did not say the Albanian ambassador, but the Albanian embassy. This is a great provocation, except they want the consequence that it brings, not to do it ourselves, but urge us to do it. What they do is punishable. “We even condemned him, so we do not fall into their provocation.”
This is stated, among other things, in the political diary of the leader of communist Albania, Enver Hoxha, dated May 8, 1981, where he kept notes about the events in Kosovo, which had begun in the first days of March. that year, when the student youth of Kosovo came out in protests and demonstrations which were later joined by the people of Kosovo, demanding their freedoms and legal rights, like all other peoples and ethnicities that were in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. For more about this and all the attitude held by the leadership of communist Albania and personally Enver Hoxha towards the communist leadership of Yugoslavia, we know this archival document that Memorie.al is publishing in full in three parts.
Enver Hoxha’s political diary of events in Kosovo, May 1981
You have severely bloodied three times the martyred Albanian people living in their lands in Yugoslavia and who with 50 thousand people fought side by side with the Yugoslav brothers and the Albanian brotherly people who sent their liberating offensive brigades to Yugoslavia against the Nazi, Chetnik invaders. and Ustasha. With all this war, you and Rankovi. Bled him in 1945, in 1966 and again in 1981 you covered him with blood. Can it go on like this, Yugoslav leaders? Do they call this “just solution to the national question”, as you are trumpeting this slogan every day? Would you endure such terror with the tual people, would you be as cold-blooded and so patient, as Kosovars were shown before these cruel events? Does not the Albanian population living in their lands in Yugoslavia have the right to live peacefully and freely? Doesn’t she have the right not to let the udbashi enter his house and imprison, torture and rape her brave men and women? The Albanians of Yugoslavia must have all the rights and the Socialist People’s Republic of Albania will protect them when these are violated and especially when they are drowned in blood, as happened recently in all of Kosovo. You call these truths that we affirm and these rights that we defend worldwide, “interference in the internal affairs of Yugoslavia”, you call them “subversive organization of Tirana”, etc. No, gentlemen, it is not so and no one believes you. The Albanian people living in Yugoslavia are smart themselves and know what they are doing, there is no need for us Albanians of the Socialist People’s Republic of Albania to learn or hasten it. He is brave and trustworthy, he knows how to ask for what belongs to him, as he knows how to defend himself. Appreciate, Yugoslav leaders, the high virtues of this part of the Albanian nation living in its own lands in Yugoslavia, do not make it an enemy, because it is not good for you or for them, if you violate it. the rights that belong to them.
The educational, cultural and scientific relations that the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania has developed, first of all with Kosovo, but less with the Socialist Republic of Macedonia and that of Montenegro (and with the latter, no less than it has been lacking our will), in our opinion have been very normal, very fruitful, very useful and correct for both parties. These relations have been developed with the consent of both parties and by agreement between our two governments. We believe that the government of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has given its consent to both the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and the two federated republics where Albanians live. But this is an issue that does not belong to us. Both sides owe it to us that these relations were on the right track, they had no political character, nor did they promote nationalism, chauvinism and irredentism. Scientific and cultural cooperation has been fraternal, sincere, sincere on all sides. No advertisement of the lack of correctness, of the violation of the laws of one or the other republic by the people on the way to and from our countries, was made and no incident, even a small one, happened. We are fully convinced that these relations, as you like to repeat often, served as a bridge to strengthen the relations of the Albanian people with the peoples of Yugoslavia. And in fact, these relationships went on strengthening.
The turmoil in Kosovo was not our fault, nor the incitement of the slightest intervention by us, nor the economic, trade and cultural relations between the Socialist People’s Republic of Albania and the Autonomous Province of Kosovo, which the leadership of the Yugoslav Federation he considered them as “interference in the internal affairs of Yugoslavia, as incitement of great Albanian chauvinism, as territorial claims, as irredentist”. She described these relations that have been developing for a long time in the light of day and not in the shadows, as the basic inspiration of Albanian nationalism, imported from Tirana, by our scientists, professors, academics, singers and dancers. This slanderous and hostile opinion never appeared as criticism or remarks by the Yugoslavs. On the contrary, we want to emphasize that some of the most important leaders of the Albanian leadership in the Federation and in Kosovo, who showed the fiercest against the demonstrators in Kosovo, our people of art and culture who went to Kosovo, have consistently taken as an example and have publicly praised and thanked them for their courtesy. This raising of swords and shields against us by the Yugoslav leadership was certainly done to cover up something terrible, horrific and reprehensible that happened in the streets of the cities and villages of Kosovo, where much blood was shed by the people. How many were killed and how were they killed?
This is kept secret, but the Albanian people of Kosovo know that their sons and daughters were killed, tortured and disappeared and imprisoned. The more the truth is hidden, the more dangerous it becomes. Blood does not become water! Remember it! The Yugoslav leadership attributed this tragedy to “nationalism”, “Albanian chauvinism” and “irredentism”, to the intervention and incitement by the Socialist People’s Republic of Albania and the Albanian Labor Party. But that does not stand. This may lie to some and not for long. The full truth will come to light and this truth will be terrible for them. The Yugoslav leadership forgets that the Albanian nation is one, despite the fact that one-part lives in the Socialist People’s Republic of Albania and the other part in three parts of the Federal Yugoslavia. He has the same history, culture, language, he has his heroes, poets, painters, musicians, etc. common. This is his great treasure that he preserves, cultivates and develops. These are the main features of a nation. Do the Yugoslavs think that these features of the Albanian nationality should be extinguished, should be considered as the signs and phenomena of a “westernized, sick romantic nationalism and a condemnable chauvinism”? For the people of socialist Albania who went to Yugoslavia and for the Albanians who live there and who came to Albania, who exchanged views with each other on the enrichment of the Albanian language, on the genesis of the Albanian people, on the history of our ancestors, for the exact sciences, for the social and natural sciences, can these be considered as incitements of Albanian chauvinism and irredentism?
Can our folk dances and songs that have appeared in Yugoslavia be considered as incitement to chauvinism and irredentism? This is our treasure, of all Albanians, of the Socialist People’s Republic of Albania in particular. We have presented our plans and programs to you and you have approved them. They were very much liked by the public, they were applauded. Everyone loves beauty and sound. Our artistic ensembles have gone everywhere. They have been received and applauded with great sympathy and enthusiasm by the Greek people and its leaders, by the art lovers and press of this country. Likewise, our folk dances and songs have been very much liked by the Turkish people and its leaders of every rank. This has been the case in France, Italy, Algeria, Tunisia, the Nordic countries and everywhere. No one has accused us of either nationalism or chauvinism. They have respected our feelings and we have respected theirs. We ask: Why this attitude of the Yugoslav leaders? What worries them in reality in their head and in their feelings? Why do they not have a clear conscience? Do they not think that many people or groups of people have gone to Yugoslavia on our part? Statistics show the opposite and we rejoice.
Or do they want to find an unfounded reason to narrow these relations, to reduce comings and goings in the sciences, in culture, in the arts? They, if they want to, have the right to do so. We do not force the doors. We will have open doors for all sincere friends, whoever they are and especially for our Albanian brothers living in Yugoslavia. This will serve them to see the “Albanian hell”, as the main leaders of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia say, and to equate it with the “Yugoslav paradise”, as we say. But we are saying our opinion: if the Yugoslavs take these nationalist and chauvinist measures, it will be a big mistake on their part. The Albanians of Yugoslavia and the entire Albanian people will condemn them and have the right to say that the Yugoslavs are afraid of the development of Albanian culture and are not afraid of decadent culture! We are honestly telling the Yugoslavs that such measures will not calm down the Albanian public in Kosovo and other parts of Yugoslavia, and the sound Yugoslav and world public opinion will also condemn this action. Once again, we have a duty to tell the Yugoslav and Albanian leadership in Kosovo and elsewhere to maintain composure in thought and action.
The Yugoslav leadership should look with the strictest justice at the needs of the Albanians of Yugoslavia, not to treat them badly and not to discriminate against the Albanian population, to look seriously and objectively at the legitimate demands of Kosovars, not to touch and not to mistreat the heroic Albanian youth , especially the student youth, teachers, professors and all the patriotic intelligence of Kosovo and all Albanians in other parts of Yugoslavia, not to consider the University of Prishtina and the Albanian primary and secondary schools as the cradle of enemies, counter-revolutionaries, chauvinists, etc. not to cripple the University of Prishtina, under the pretext that there is an overproduction of educated people and to scatter Albanian students in all Yugoslav universities, because no one is lying about why this is done. The Albanian does not forget “the place where he left and where he was honored”. There can never be an overproduction of the educated if the production in rich and poor Kosovo increases at the same time. Serious measures must be taken here, not to hide this bitter reality, without letting you shout as much as you want that in the Socialist People’s Republic of Albania “the people have nothing to eat, no freedom”. Do not make these big mistakes, you are correcting them.
We do not want to remind you or interfere in your internal affairs, but we are telling you for the common good of our two countries, that you have greatly aggravated the issues with Kosovars and Albanians from other parts of Yugoslavia and with Albanian economic emigration outside Yugoslavia. You are creating dasi to the latter. It is not “our diplomatic agencies” abroad, Mr. Minic, that do this, but it is you. We emphasize once again, and for this we have full conviction, that Kosovo can never be for the undermining of the Federation, if it studies and resolves with justice this great issue that Kosovo Albanians themselves have put on the table, that Tito himself, Moshe Pijade, Miladin Popovic have spoken about these issues from a theoretical and practical point of view. Kosovo needs to calm down, but the removal of Mahmut Bakalli and the appointment of a Mahmut Çakalli does not calm him down. Kosovo will calm down, if the curfew is lifted, the Serbian punitive army and police are withdrawn, the situation is normalized, innocent prisoners who have filled prisons are released, the families of those killed in demonstrations are returned, that this is an issue sacred and humanitarian. Carefully and justly study the request of the people of Kosovo for a republic, solve its economic problems correctly. Only in this way will Kosovo calm down, only in this way will it be a friend of the other republics of Yugoslavia and within the Federation. Memorie.al
