EXTERNAL PRESSURES REGARDING THE REALISATION OF THE EDUCATION AGREEMENT

Nine months after the signing of the Milosevic-Rugova Agreement on the Normalisation of Education in the Albanian Language

AIM Pristina, May 19, 1997

"The Agreement on Education has failed but has not been buried yet", stated recently a high official in charge of education in Kosovo. Such a description of the fate of the Milosevic-Rugova Agreement is contradictory only at first sight because it establishes the fact that the Agreement fell through as far as the current school year is concerned, but on the other hand that statement also claims that neither the Albanian nor the Serbian side have given it up. Belgrade recalls the Milosevic-Rugova Agreement each time it wants to prove its cooperativeness to the international community.

On the other hand, at press conferences and on other occasions to every question regarding the Agreement Rugova replied that "efforts were being exerted to that end". At his most recent meeting with the press he was somewhat more specific. He said that the scheduled Pristina meeting of the "Three Plus Three" Group had not been held because the Serbian side asked for a "time-out" and the mediator from "Sant Egedio" community was busy - "he had some previously agreed engagement", but that he hoped that things would change by the beginning of the following school year. "If not, we will probably have to re-examine the situation", underlined Rugova. Despite Mr.Rugova's statement it seems that neither the Serbian nor the Albanian side have invested much effort in order to speed up the implementation of the signed Agreement. This speaks of the reservations of both sides regarding the signing of that Agreement, as well as its implementation.

As far as the Serbian reservations are concerned, it is superfluous, in the context of Milosevic's pre-election nationalistic course, to speak about the return to schools. Also, it seems that the resistance at the Pristina University, which is exclusively managed by the Serbian cadres and attend only by students of Serbian nationality, is growing daily. The local public is not unaware of the public addresses of the Rector Radivoj Papovic who carelessly called all his Albanian students separatists who, according to him, had turned the Pristina University into a "separatist nest". If a university professor, such as Papovic, is so averse towards the Albanian language alone, many wonder here what can at all be expected from his colleagues professors, let alone the future holders of academic degrees.

The worst is that upon his return to his function, after the attempt on his life in which he had sustained serious injuries, Papovic made it clear that he was sure that it was all the Albanian doing so that he became more determined than ever not to allow to "his" University anyone who did not recognize this state and the Serbian language as the official and only one. The question is how will in case of significant changes the Serbian university top echelons manage to change the "record" and overcome the situation in which it has found itself due to its own short-sightedness.

However, it is impossible to say that there are no reservations in the Albanian political and educational circles. "In order to find out something more specific about the reservations in Pristina" - say the cynics - "we might have to wait for the memoirs of the present Kosovo leaders". Such comments are fuelled by the original reservations expressed in Kosovo, including the public invitation of the Albanian leaders in Kosovo that the things regarding this Agreement should "not be blown out of proportions"...

Be it as it may, the Agreement has been signed and is still binding on its signatories. What has been signed is aimed at the normalisation of the functioning of education in the Albanian language, although not in full, as there are many ambiguities and imprecisions. However, during the meeting of the "Three Plus Three" Group, charged with the implementation of the Agreement, the Serbian side suggested a phased return of the Albanians to university facilities, although there is no mention of such division into "phases" in the text of the Agreement. Perhaps this reserved stance of the Serbian side served as an excuse for the Albanian side to state that it did not believe that the Agreement would be carried out quickly. The problem of elementary and secondary education would have probably been resolved much earlier, but without a solution for the young Albanian students in a "parcel" those who signed and negotiated the Agreement on behalf of the Kosovo Albanians would have no peace.

The reason is that they do not trust Milosevic who has brought much evil to the local population. Fehmi Agani, one of the Kosovo threesome, confirms these assumptions. He says that this division into phases is an "unacceptable Serbian proposal". However, what may surprise many is that those well-versed claim that the proposal on the "division of the Milosevic -Rugova Agreement into phases is mentioned with great care by various foreign representatives who have lately paid frequent visits to Pristina". It is claimed that during talks which also touched upon the normalisation of education, one diplomat went so far as to ask: "Why should Papovic be thought less of than Statovci"? accusing both of extremism.

Such visitors to Pristina can be heard using as an argument the large number of students at Papovic's university - over 10 thousand students are mentioned (Papovic claims that there are 18 thousand) - as a true obstacle to speedier return of the Albanian professors and students to the departments of the Pristina University! (!?) Albeit still moderate, this pressure is linked with a specific kind of pragmatism. And why not. "Take what you can".

According to the Albanian sources, faculties which could immediately, in line with the suggestions of the "Serbian troika", "take in" students have already been specified. These are faculties teaching the so called national subjects (language, literature, history, arts...). In other words, no medicine, law, mathematics, architecture...From members of the "Albanian threesome" it can be heard that "there is no Albanian who would agree to something like that, no matter whom did such proposals originate from", which only confirms that the mentioned pressures exist.

Admittedly, there is an increasing number of those who, after the proposal on the division of the implementation process of the Rugova-Milosevic Agreement into phases had been submitted, consider the newly created situation an attempt at "Tetovising" (creating a situation resembling that in Tetovo) the Pristina University. It seems that there is much fear from possible concessions that might be made in eventual serious negotiations. This is corroborated by the statement of the Rector of the Albanian students, Ejup Statovci, who emphasized that none of the participants in the Albanian negotiating group (which, in addition to the Member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences and University Professor, Fehmi Agani, also includes Professor Abdulj Ramaj) represent the University of Pristina. In the situation in which Rector Statovci is occasionally and even publicly in conflict with the Bujar Bukosi's Government of the Kosovo Albanians as well as people around Rugova, the so called gray eminences who are said to be in charge of bringing decisions on everything, it seems that the possible division of the Agreement's implementation into stages could mark the beginning of the largest intra-Albanian political crisis in Kosovo.

AIM Pristina Mufail LIMANI