Harmless Uranium!

AIM Pristina, January 12, 2001

The "Balkan syndrome" scandal, which has in the past ten days preoccupied mostly the world public, seems to have primarily "depleted" numerous friendships and alliances all around Europe, and brought Kosovo after a long time back to the front pages of newspapers and in the focus of attention of the international community. The death of six Italian soldiers who had been on peace missions in the Balkans as a result of leukaemia was the beginning of a big turmoil due to the possible danger of increased radioactivity in Kosovo and fear for the health of soldiers of the peace forces and the civilian population. During the bombing campaign of Serbian targets in Kosovo, as admitted by its representatives, NATO used ammunition with depleted uranium, but immediately rejected any possibility that it could be a threat to the health of the soldiers or the civilian population. According to experts, mostly Americans in the North Atlantic Association, the very term "depleted" shows that this is nothing to be concerned about.

The UN Mission in Kosovo has stated that there is no information on an increased level of radioactivity and that “analyses have proved that the number of cases of leukaemia and of other cancerous illnesses has not increased in Kosovo in the past four years”. In fact the data collected at the University Clinical Centre in Pristina speak of a reduction of the number of persons suffering from leukaemia in 2000. Local experts, as well as the experts of UN Mission rejected “every connection between depleted uranium and cancerous states, either among the international personnel or among the civilian population”.

UN Administrator for Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, declared: “I don't see this as an urgent problem, but I wish to be clear and serious because it is a matter of a possible threat to the health of the people”. Kouchner visited Klina where depleted uranium ammunition was used and he attended the measurements of radioactivity of the hit targets and the surrounding land. The measurements were made by Italian experts who determined that the level of radioactivity on the locations was within permissible limits. After that, Kouchner declared that as former French health minister, he was seriously approaching the issue. He also stated that it was impossible to get precise data on the general health status of the population of Kosovo, because there is no precise documentation in the state hospital, and there is the possibility that the ailing citizens have sought assistance in private health institutions or abroad and there is no data about it. Kouchner is one of the initiators of an invitation to independent experts who will investigate the level of radioactivity, and to the World Health Organisation to assist the local health institutions in checking the health status of the local population against possible consequences of the use of depleted uranium. The aim of all this, as he himself stressed, is to avoid unnecessary speculations.

Political representatives of Kosovo Albanians insisted that persons from the countries which have stirred up the biggest fuss about this issue not be included in the expert team engaged in investigation, since they believe it is more a matter of political propaganda. The President of the Democratic League of Kosovo (DSK) Ibrahim Rugova was among the sharpest critics. He declared that the results must be published as soon as possible along with the reports of foreign experts in order to end various speculations and stated his personal view that it was a calculated “propaganda launched by the circles and countries which were opposed to the NATO air campaign and which are opposed to the freedom and independence of Kosovo”. This stand was interesting for the public in Kosovo because of the fact that it was stated after the talks with Italian deputy defence minister Marco Miniti, representative of the country which offered refuge to Rugova after the NATO intervention. The general stand of Albanian politicians is that the story on uranium has inflicted significant damage to Kosovo and that the aim is to induce NATO soldiers to leave Kosovo. The representative of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Jonuz Saljihaj, declared that “it is much ado about nothing, while at the same time difficult problems which are harmful for the health of the population are forgotten”. In this context he mentioned the food items which are arriving in Kosovo without any control and the construction material from former Soviet Union which is claimed to be radioactive...

The question of depleted uranium was raised in November last year when UN experts for the protection of the environment registered eight locations with increased presence of uranium in the southern and western parts of Kosovo. However, after the latest investigation it is believed that there are more than a hundred such locations, thirty of which are in mine fields which are inaccessible to experts. Nevertheless, after numerous demands, it is planned to “isolate” zones of increased radiation.

New teams of local and international experts have launched investigation campaigns of possibly contaminated places all around Kosovo, while they are marking such places in dependence of demands of the governments of the countries which have soldiers in the peace mission in Kosovo. While on the one hand experts from various countries are arriving practically every day to check up the health of their soldiers (they have not detected a single case of sickness), experts dressed in white and with masks continue the search for the “Balkan syndrome” before the very face of the public which is impatiently expecting to learn “whether this syndrome has exceeded the threat of 'mad cows'”. Experts come and go, they determine deadlines for completion of official reports and majority of them already claims that “the level of radioactivity in Kosovo is 1000 time below the permissible”. For the moment all allegations on the illness of members of the peace force as the result of radiation by depleted uranium have been rejected because, as radiologists say, “in order to register the first symptoms of such an effect a period of two to three years is needed”. It is often stated here that the number of soldiers having leukaemia does not cause concern. For instance, persons responsible in the Ministry of Defence of France declared that four of their soldiers who had served in Kosovo were affected by leukaemia. If one has in mind that 20 thousand soldiers from this country were in Kosovo, four cases cannot be a firm proof that they have “fallen ill in Kosovo”. Some military analysts believe that it is necessary to investigate what training the soldiers from Western countries had before they are engaged in a peace mission...

The NATO is, nevertheless, preparing new reports and getting ready to send expert teams which would prove to the “sensitive” Western public that there is no danger for its soldiers in Kosovo. The North-Atlantic Alliance has had a hard time convincing the public of its member countries to launch the campaign against Serb military targets in their “biggest humanitarian operation” of all times. It is therefore not surprising that there are accusations against certain European governments that they are trying to strike a blow to the North-Atlantic Alliance. The Kosovar press is regularly carrying the writing of foreign newspapers on “the Balkan syndrome” and of the journalists who are registering the statements from the seat of the NATO in which they are pointing their fingers straight towards Belgrade blaming it for intentionally raising this issue (together with its European friends) and for choosing a special moment for it. The statement of UNMIK spokeswoman Susan Manual also points in this sense. She said that it is not clear why such turmoil was raised when an UN expert team had in November last year, at a special press conference, declared that several contaminated locations had been detected in Kosovo, expressing wonder why this fact had not caused any interest at the time.

In any case, this is the most tumultuous “scandal” since the peace forces have entered Kosovo which does not seem to have scared the international staff much. The civilian population seems peaceful too, as if this were happening in some distant land...

AIM Pristina

Arbnora BERISHA