“What I heard about Kosovo in the ‘Hall of Columns’, where there were also some left-wing Italian parliamentarians, who had just returned from Belgrade and meetings with Milosevic, was scandalous…”/ Testimony of the professor from Italy

By Prof. Mehdi Shkreli

Memorie.al / It was a cold night in March 1999. Not many days had passed since the beginning of NATO air strikes, which aimed to stop the madness of Serbian politics, genocide and massacres against the Albanian population in Kosovo. In Rimini, Italy, in the ‘Hall of Columns’, in a session open to the public, left-wing political groups were gathering, with the participation of several parliamentarians of this political color, which at that time was also in power, to discuss, propose and officially request the immediate cessation of NATO air flights from Italian territory to Kosovo. No Kosovars or Albanians were present at this meeting, but there were Serbian guests, even with academic titles.

I was notified by chance and ran to attend. What I heard was truly scandalous. I was told that the entire history of Kosovo, its birth and flourishing, began and ended with the birth and flourishing of the Serbian state, in the 11th-13th centuries, and that the entire Serbian culture is only in Kosovo. Some of the left-wing parliamentarians who were present had just returned from Belgrade, where they had secretly and unofficially met with Milosevic in person.

Since I arrived at the meeting a little late, an acquaintance of mine told me in a low voice that Milosevic had told these gentlemen, among other things, that; “America is waging war only to establish a military base in Kosovo, and that if they asked me, I would give it to them and there would be no more reason for them to fight against Serbia, therefore the NATO air bombings should be stopped immediately”! Among other things, Milosevic had presented a map where Kosovo lacked the territories in the north, which, together with Mitrovica and the mineral regions, had been annexed to Serbia.

Such a map was actually later published by the Italian media and presented as a possible solution to the conflicts in Kosovo. Why does Milosevic present the Serbs as being unable to live with other nationalities?! Why should all the lands inhabited by Serbs be annexed to Serbia?! Who wants this?! Milosevic’s ghost?! Criminals of the “Mladic” type, or someone else?!

If we follow such an ultra-nationalist logic, Albania should annex many territories that are today in Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo and Montenegro. Hungary as well, etc. Such an idea would mean destabilizing entire Balkan regions. In whose interest was such a policy? I was very angry. I understood that towards the long-suffering Albanian people of Kosovo, by removing all the industrialized regions, damaging its entire economy and the minimal internal market that ensures the existence of a state, they were preparing Kosovo for a future of poverty.

They were proposing the same thing they did with Albania in 1913, when within the borders of the Albanian state, only the swamps and steep mountains remained, while the fertile fields and plateaus were given as a gift to neighboring states. I persistently asked and was given the floor. After making a historical introduction for some ignorant people in the subject of history who were present, I spoke up, raising my voice, that this meeting was a disgrace to the democratic Italian society, which had not only the duty to continue the fight as a member of NATO, to stop the crazy Serbian aggression and genocide in Kosovo, but also to think about the future of this region, so that our neighboring peoples could live in peace, in mutual respect and in prosperity. A partition of Kosovo is unacceptable.

The peoples of the Balkans have always accepted coexistence in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multicultural society. It is the policies of others that have attacked and damaged this gift of our peoples. No stone should and cannot be left unturned in Albanian lands. I think that the times when corrupt foreign ministers, in pajamas and drinking tea, drew the map of Albania crookedly, leaving out more than half of the ethnic territories, are over.

The minorities in Kosovo should be a factor of peace and dialogue between neighboring states and not be used to achieve the geopolitical goals of others, through the planting of short-sighted and anachronistic nationalist concepts, to the detriment of modern European concepts. Nationalism is usually the last hole or lair chosen by corrupt and political scoundrels, to save their heads and continue to fill their pockets.

A high-ranking government official had come from Rome. He took the floor, and he agreed with me. He spoke in an official tone, free from leftist and super-pacifist ideology. After rejecting the claims of the previous speakers, who demanded an immediate and unconditional halt to the bombing of Serbia, he explained to those present that the Italian government would faithfully carry out its duties as a member of NATO. And so it was.

Kosovo was liberated from NATO once and for all from foreign occupation. Kosovo now lives with an administration, organization and state institutions that many countries in the world could envy. The new Kosovar state, born and built with the help and insistence of the United States of America and the European Union, awaits only the formal act of official proclamation and international recognition.

Serbian politics today does not have to follow the political plans and maps of Milosevic, who with his ultra-nationalism and anger set the Balkans on fire for ten years in a row. Today’s history still does not clearly define whose interests Milosevic defended? Who did he serve? I ask these questions, because Milosevic and the other ultra-nationalists who follow his path certainly do not serve the interests of the peaceful Serbian people.

The Ahtisaari Plan is a plan where the Albanian majority makes many concessions to the Serbian minority. The Serbian minority living in Kosovo is envisaged in the Ahtisaari Plan to be placed in privileged political, economic and social positions. It is envisaged to be treated very carefully by two border states, Kosovo and Serbia, as it will be a bridge between them.

Europe cannot and should not accept any more territorial divisions for the sake of nationality, religious belief or secret promises that some diplomat made to Milosevic. Today is the time for unifications and not divisions. For the peoples of the Balkans, there should be only one nationality; “being a citizen of Europe”, which we wish both Albanians and Serbs to have as soon as possible.

The prolongation of the process of determining the status of Kosovo, the secret plans and promises of foreign diplomacy, short-sighted and underground for the division of Kosovo, only bring instability to the region and extend the deadlines for Albanians, Serbs and other communities of Kosovo to receive the new European citizenship. Memorie.al

(This article was originally published in Italy, on August 6, 2007)