KOSOVA WILL NOT REMAIN UNDER THE SERBS, PRESIDENT RUGOVA SAID

Kosova Information Center, Prishtina, September 8, 1993,

"Reguardless of the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Serbian attempts to keep Kosova within Serbia, Kosova cannot and will not remain in the hands of the Serbs, nor within any kind of some phantom Yugoslavia," Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, President of the Republic of Kosova, said in an interview given to the Croatian "Vecernje Novosti". President Rugova added that "the question of Kosova has been internazionalized and there is an awarness in the world that it is not an interior question of Serbia, as it is usually presented by Serbian authorities. The West cannot reward Serbia with Kosova. I think it is a matter of speculation. One cannot draw a resemblance with the Serb living in Croatia. Kosova has its own history and its status. It was a federal unit in the Yugoslav system as of 1945, especially by the 1974 Constitution, on which the desintegration of Yugoslavia was based. We forewarned on this the international Community, although it seems that our warning was not met with due understanding. A more substa

ncial understanding has been shown at the Geneva Conference, and in some diplomatic interiors. Serbia has been maneuvring on an alleged unconcern for the division of Bosnia and the status of the Serbs in Croatia, while as a matter of fact it has virtually been engaged in the creation of Great Serbia. Because of this, I feel that the West is cognizant of this fact and will not reward Kosova to Serbia."

Replying to a question whether the sanctions against Serbia are to be lifted once the solution for Bosnia has been found, President Rugova said: "I think that nothing can be solved by one signature alone, and neither it is the only condition for lifting the sanctions. The settlement of the Kosova problem is likewise one of the conditions for lifting sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro. One must not forget the political sanctions imposed by the international community, and we have been persistently insisting that one of the conditions for lifting sanctions should be Kosova too."

Dr. Rugova said that the sanctions hit Kosova very hard, as it has been bearing two-fold sanctions implemented also by Serbia.

Commenting on the likelihood of a conflict to break out in Kosova, President Rugova said that "it all depends from the Serbian side, which has already committed aggression in many parts of former Yugoslavia": "in Kosova there was another form of aggression. This is a genuine occupation by means of repression and organized terror. Frequently I wondered as to how long this can last. This is not a fatalistic view, but a reality which reflects the relationship of forces in Kosova. Any eruption will find us here and there is nowhere we can go. In case of war, Albania cannot remain indifferent, because here we are dealing with half of the nation living outside its present borders."

In reply to the remark that the Serbs think differently, Dr. Rugova said: "It is certain that Serbia thinks differently, but I do believe that even amongst the Serbs the political consciousness will alter. Serbs will come to understand that they too are a small nation in the Balkans."

In respond to the question on what was the ultimate aim of the Serbian repression in Kosova, Dr. Rugova saud: "Unfortunately, their main goal is that though an unprecedented repression force the Albanians leave their own country. In my opinion, this is a quiet ethnic cleansing of Kosova. Differently from the front of war in Croatia and Bosnia, in Kosova there is a front of violence. The Serbian regime has been waging wars for territories, in which even the enslaved are not wanted."