A SHORT HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF KOSOVO
AND METOHIA PROBLEM
The question of ethnogenesis and national origin became today a matter of political mystification. This is particularly the case at Balkans, where almost all ethnic groups or nations try to claim their deeply rooted origin: there are opinions and books according to which Serbs are stating that they are "the most ancient people", Croats that they are offspring of the Etruscans, Slovenians that they are deriving from an ancient tribe Venets, Albanians that they are descendants of the Illyrians, the Thracians or the Pelasgians. All those, basically racist theories, are created to prove the claim that each of those nations have a stronger right to the territories, but they are all based on speculations and fictions, as reliable historical sources are completely missing.
The first period when the history of Kosovo and Metohia area could be reconstructed with some certainty, mainly owing to Francish and Byzantine sources, are the early Middle Ages. The first mention of the Serbian name in sources is connected with the 9th century, while Albanians were for the first time mentioned in 11th century sources, what does not necessarily means that the first are the older settlers than the second, or vice versa. The only certain fact is that Serbs are of Slavic origin, while the origin of Albanians is still disputed in the science, and that they both inhabited territory of powerful Byzantine state much before they were mentioned by their name in sources. Up to the 13th century Albanians did not represent a sufficiently clear historical entity, being nomadic shepherds and highlanders, while Slavs were mainly crop farmers and mainly stayed in the plains and river valleys incorporated closely into Byzantine state, particularly as they accepted Christianity quite early.
The first Serbian small feudal states of the 10th and 11th centuries leaned towards Kosovo. The first powerful Serbian state of Nemanjic dynasty was founded in 13th century with its center at the Kosovo and Metohia area, and this is why Serbs consider this region as its historical hearth and ancient homeland. This is indisputably documented both by Byzantine sources and dozens of Serbian charters and other written documents, as well as by toponyms (place names). This area became soon the political, economic and cultural center of the Serbian nation. The Serbian Orthodox church, as national religious organization since the birth of the state, was proclaimed autonomous (authocephal) in 1219 by St. Sava Nemanjic, one of three sons of the dynasty founder - Stefan Nemanja, while his second son Stephen was crowned by Pope as the first Serbian king in 1217. The leading monasteries (Gracanica, Decani, The Virgin of Ljeviska, Banjska, etc.) were built there. When the Serbian orthodox Church was raised to the level of Patriarchy in 1346, its seat was soon placed in the city of Pec (Pec Patriarchate) in Kosovo, which survived up to our days, along with thousands of monasteries. This is why Serbs consider Kosovo and Metohia as its "Holy Land".
The western part of the Province of Kosovo - Metohia, was a direct dominion of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Middle Ages, and most land there remains the property of the many monasteries or the church (the name of this property is "metoh", and therefore all this area is called Metohia today). The part of this area nowadays still has the same name - Metohia, which Albanian propaganda persistently avoid to mention. The Serbian Medieval State reached its climax during the rule of tzar Dushan, who made a strong state and enacted the famous Code of tzar Dushan in 1349, a huge legal codification in Serbian language.
Serbian state, together with the Byzantine empire, lost its independence after Turkish Ottoman invasions. The most important symbol of Serbian history is the Battle of Kosovo which took place on June 28, 1389. The strong resistance offered by the Serbs was broken in military sense, but the deaths of Prince Lazar and his soldiers became up to now in minds of Serbian people a spiritual triumph, death for "the Kingdom of Heaven", a heroic sacrifice for the ideals of Christian civilization and salvation of Europe from Turks. The Battle of Kosovo is the seal of Serbian national identity and the key for understanding of its history and presence.
The Turkish invasion set in motion great ethnic masses in the Balkans. The first Serbian migration started in the 15th century, though not to great degree. In the 16th official Turkish records put Orthodox Christians in an absolute majority over Moslems (Turks and converted Albanians). During Turkish rule most of Albanian tribes converted into Moslems (almost 70%), about 20% of them accepted Orthodoxy, while about 10% accepted to be Catholics. This old division affects Albanian community even today, as Catholics live in towns, while Muslims are mainly located in rural districts. Urban Catholics tend to support the peaceful solutions, while the rural Muslims are the core of sc. KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army).
Two sc. "great migrations" of Orthodox Serbs from Kosovo and Metohia, both leaded by Serbian Patriarchs, took place in 17th and 18th century, affecting about 200.000 people. Serbs joined a common European struggle against the Turks, but after defeat of Austria by Turks they suffered a severe retaliation by the Turks, so that a lot of them had to move from their homeland. Migrations of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohia area weakened the Serbian ethnic element, and it became afterwards more or less a constant tendency. In the same time at the beginning of the 18th century Albanians started penetrating into lands of the South Slavs. During the 19th century for the first time we meet the notion of "Greater Albania". Owing to long-lasting Turkish occupation of almost five centuries, Albanians who converted into Muslims were favored and succeeded to take over a great part of Serbian historical territories, while Serbs were expatriated gradually through the many years of terror under the Turkish yoke.
Particularly by the end of 19th century, after the Congress of Berlin of 1878 to 1912, from the territory of sc. "Old Serbia" (the historical name for the region of Kosovo, Metohia and some neighboring areas) Serbs were physically exterminated by Turks, who drove them mainly to the new created independent Serbian state. In those thirty years about 400.000 Serbian people left this region.
After the World War I, the first Yugoslav state was created in 1918, as a successor of the Serbian state, and it encompassed Kosovo and Metohia. In that time Albanian population amounted about 180.000. After the World War II in 1945 the number of Albanians increased, as some of them were moved from Albania in fertile Kosovo and Metohia valleys inhabited by Serbs, with the help of Italian fascistic occupation regime and the Axis powers during the War.
Today, Albanian propaganda claims that there are almost 2 millions of them at Kosovo and Metohia, what is evidently exaggerated. It is worth to stress that Albanians boycotted last three censuses (1971,1981 and 1991), so that they voluntarily disabled a proper estimation of number of the Albanian population at Kosovo and Metohia. But, the fact is that the number of Albanian population is enormously higher than before the World War II. The reason is that the majority of Albanian residents in Kosovo today are not of either of Albanian ancient communities, but are Albanian refugees who resettled in the province during or after the War.
Thousands of Serbs were forced by Yugoslav communist ruler Tito (who was a Croat by origin) to leave their homes in order to leave space for Albanians and were never allowed to reclaim their property or to come back to their homes. This is performed by a special Law enacted in 1946! Instead, he encouraged more Albanians from Albania to come into the province of Kosovo and Metohia (estimated at least about 300.000) and began subsidizing these people as an ethnic group. Owing to a very high birthrate as well and further uncontrolled mass immigration, the situation soured from the mid 1960s, as the Albanian population at Kosovo and Metohia reached almost 75%. So, the Serbian people was reduced to the status of minority.
At that time, Tito instituted a national payroll tax of 1% to subsidize development of Kosovo, but this soon turned into a welfare subsidy. Serbs in Kosovo at the time were required to study Albanian language from 7th to 12th grade. According to the Constitution of 1974, the Federal Parliament included the delegation formed mainly from Albanians from Kosovo, while on the contrary, no representatives from Serbia were part of the Parliament of the Province of Kosovo. Nevertheless a high degree of autonomy and full participation in Serbian state and Yugoslav federal government, from the early 1980s Albanians began pressure for even greater autonomy, refusing to speak Serb. They began openly discriminating against the Serbs natives of the province, hoping to drive the Serbs out by different forms of violence, taking over their property at rock-bottom prices.
The "quiet ethnic cleansing" of Serbian population by Albanians during last twenty years has the consequence that Albanians claim now that 90% of the Kosovo population are Albanians, what is also questionable, as no census of Albanians was performed for thirty years owing to their boycott. The "quiet ethnic cleansing" of Kosovo performed by Albanians, was the final step before creation of Greater Albania. None of Albanian negotiators at peace-talks tried to hide that the only aim they want is independence and separation of Kosovo and Metohia from Yugoslavia. No need to say that it would be the beginning of a new page in the history of the world: if Albanian minority in Yugoslav province of Kosovo and Metohia got independence by means of separatist war and forms a new state, it will be an explicit political sign that destabilization of other states by separatist has a chance to be successful.
Hodie mihi, cras tibi. Today it is about Kosovo and Metohia, tomorrow it could be about any other country. TUA RES AGITUR.
Dr Sima Avramovic
Professor of Legal History, Faculty of law, University of Belgrade
APPEAL
ASSOCIATION OF JURISTS OF SERBIA
The Seventh Day of Bombing of Yugoslavia
At an extraordinary session on March 30th, 1999, and bearing in mind the situation in Yugoslavia and the alarming consequences it is creating in regard of the danger to peace and the foundations of law in the world, the Executive Council of the Association of Jurists of Serbia is sending out an appeal to all jurists of the world, the public in the member countries of NATO and to all people of goodwill.
Stop the bombing of Yugoslavia.
Help find a peaceful solution for the crisis in Kosovo and Metohia by means of negotiations, in order to find a true consensus based on the rule of law and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia and respect for the Charter of the United Nations, without pressure and ultimatums on any of the sides in the negotiations.
NATO's air strikes on the territory of the FR Yugoslavia which began on the night of March 24th, 1999, are an illegal act undertaken against a sovereign country and this act cannot be justified for any reason nor are there any legal grounds whatsoever for it.
Yugoslavia has not carried out an aggression against any country, be it neighbouring, or any of the countries from where the air strikes are being launched, to destroy the property, endanger the lives and the health of the people, and bring death to people throughout Yugoslavia. Only if it had undertaken such an aggression, could the measures envisaged in Chapter VII of the United Nations' Charter be applied against Yugoslavia, particularly those mentioned in Articles 41 and 42 of the Charter.
We underline that according to Article 39 of the United Nations' Charter, "The Security Council shall determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression, and shall make recommendations, or decide what measures shall be taken in accordance with Article 41 and 42, to maintain or restore international peace and security."
It is an incontestible fact that Yugoslavia has been attacked without the decision of the Security Council.
Hence, the NATO assault is a precedent in which the United Nations' Charter has been flagrantly violated, as have the fundamental principles on which the international legal order relies.
After the Second World War, despite periodical crises, the international order relied on the prohibition of the use of force and threats to use force. Article 2 paragraph 4 of the Charter envisages that all members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State..., and this rule has been one of the cornerstones of the international order for more than fifty years. In the case of the attack against Yugoslavia, the said provision in the Charter has been ruthlessly violated.
There are no legal grounds to justify this act of open aggression. It cannot be justified with any political reasons, nor with the isolation in which Yugoslavia now is, due to the international sanctions that have impoverished this once prosperous country and brought it to the verge of destitution.
We, the jurists of Serbia, share the hardship of the whole population of Serbia and Yugoslavia, and we are deeply distressed because of the sufferings of all refugees, regardless of where they come from, their ethnic origin or religious belief.
At this point, a humanitarian crisis in the FR Yugoslavia can be avoided only by halting the bombardment and resuming the negotiations.
Even now, it is still not too late to reduce the sufferings of the population and diminish the destruction of Yugoslavia. Therefore, we address this appeal to the jurists of the world, our colleagues and the world public.
Nothing can be achieved by war except human casualties and devastation, but everything can be achieved by negotiations.
Courageous defenders of justice in the NATO countries and elsewhere! We express our admiration for your unwavering stands. Here, in Yugoslavia, we are in jeopardy and defending our right, and the right of our children, to life. This is natural and understandable. But your efforts are noble. You personally are not in danger, but you have the courage to oppose your governments. This is inspiring! Thank you!
Be sure that by bringing to a halt the bombardment of Yugoslavia in the closing year of the XX century, you are the ray of hope for the dawn of the XXI century.
On behalf of the Executive Council
Miodrag V. Orlic -PRESIDENT
Full Professor of the Faculty of Law University of Belgrade, Former Justice of the Supreme Court of Serbia (1986-1992)