Kosovo Affects the Crisis in Tirana

AIM Tirana, 6 October, 1998

Three masked persons killed colonel Ahmet Krasniqi, minister of defence of Kosovar government in exile, in Tirana in the night of 21 September. Murderers, who it seems were professionals, had noticed Krasniqi while he was leaving his car at the entrance to his home, and shot three times at him. He died on the spot. They then left in an unknown direction, while his guards remained at the place of the crime having failed to prevent the tragedy. The police which arrived almost immediately, managed only to find a few shells from a gun made by "Zastava", with which the crime had been committed. That was the end of Bukoshi's man who had for months lived in the shadow in a suburb of Tirana, with a mission which remains in the dark.

The murder of Ahmet Krasniqi has shaken up the Albanian capital. Committed just a few days after destructive disturbances caused by the murder of the deputy of the opposition Hajdari, the murder of Krasniqi has greatly intrigued the imagination of all those who tend to draw a parallel between the latest developments in Albania and the crisis in Kosovo. From that point of view, loss of the minister from Kosovo was interpreted as an indirect result of an invisible and occult process which vaguely reflects another unproved influence of Kosovo on the crisis in the Albanian state.

Nevertheless, the first comments of the press in Tirana turned the murder of Krasniqi into a somewhat different direction. The first version on pages of newspapers spoke about rivalry among armed groups in Kosovo. Krasniqi was the minister of defence and FARK (armed forces of republic of Kosovo), rival formation to the Liberation Army of Kosovo (OVK), known so far as the armed faction of the ethnic Albanian separatist movement. Former commander of a large military unit in Tito's Yugoslavia and married to a Serb, Krasniqi was often considered by Albanian press to be a man with dubious connections. Such a delicate position of his by prime minister Bukoshi and opposite the OVK are believed to be one of the reasons of the assasination in Tirana.

On the other hand,the opposition in Tirana soon issued its version of the murder. Berisha did not hesitate to touch upon another delicate topic concerning relations of Tirana and Pristina, accusing the Albanian secret service of collaboration in the murder of Krasniqi. He promised an independent investigation of his party in order to reveal the perpetrators of this tragic act.

However, there is another element which could complicate the case of Krasniqi and the position of the officials of Kosovo in general when developments in Albania are concerned. A public accusation pronounced by a Socialist deputy speaks of direct implication of Kosovo prime minister Bukoshi and his men in the violent events on 14 September. According to Spartak Braho, members of the government of Kosovo, Bukoshi himself inclusive, were aware of the plans for violent overthrowing of the leftist government prepared by the opposition. And that is not all. According to the statement of this deputy, Bukoshi offered Berisha help of his armed men in organization of what his armed men considered to be the "unsuccessful coup d'etat". Thundering statements of the deputies of the left have not been denied by the government of Kosovo nor by the rightist opposition in Tirana. Nevertheless, everything is received with reservation in the sphere of high policy on both sides of the border, all the time while speaking about the topic where the threat of stirring up provincial and interwthnic animosities is more than possible.

Developments of 14 September when the ceremony of the funeral of deputy Azem Hajdari degenerated into open violence against central institutions of the state, put big question marks concerning the role of some Kosovars active in Albania. About 30 thousand Albanians from Kosovo who fled from there to northern Albanian in the course of six months were constantly considered to be a potential threat to stability of this country. Italian minister of defence Andreata declared a few weeks ago that he had information on infiltration of armed Kosovo units from the north of Albania which was aimed at unstabling the country and offering support to former president Berisha. Andreata also declared to the press that he feared the model of Liban.

Such an attitude was the cause of caution and concern in the government circles in Tirana. The night before the funeral procession of Hajdari attacked the seat of the government in Tirana, three thousand refugees had entered Albania after the Montenegrin government had refused to offer them refuge. This tide of newcomers is perceived with increasing fear by the officials in Tirana, who along with economic problems which are linked to their systematization, note that the opposition does not shrink from politically manipulating this phenomenon. Berisha and his party have insisted for a long time on the thesis about anti-Albanian character of the government headed by Fatos Nano. Concerning this point, the Democrats used the origin from the south of majority of ministers in the cabinet, putting stakes on the known card of Albanian "geopolitics" - the origin of the leaders of the state. Along these lines Berisha also tried to ruin the reputation of the left government among the Albanians in Kosovo. The leader of the opposition also used a few reckless statements given occasionally by prime minister Nano concerning the crisis in Kosovo and especially his meeting with Milosevic in Crete. It is not pure chance that the newspaper of the Democratic Party regularly carries the photograph from the meeting between Nano and Milosevic. That is how assumptions were created for arising of an anti-government feeling among a large part of the Kosovo population. which is not without consequences for the fragile situation of both sides of the border.

In the scenes broadcast on 14 September by electronic media in Tirana, among the demonstrators one could clearly see men who were waving the coat of arms of the OVK. The presence of the symbol in the violent revolt against the government provoked an instantaneous reaction of the OVK and a few political parties in Pristina which declared themselves against violent solutions and use of force against institutions. Just a few days after stifling of the armed revolt on 14 September, Albanian police in Tirana and other districts arrested a certain number of Kosovars identified, according to the official version, as active participants of the violent demonstrations. On the other hand, the Albanian state gave clear instructions concerning verification of the newcomers from the west. Customs at airports and in ports were instructed to take rigid measures against those who cannot easily be identified based on personal documents they possess. This caused negative reactions among new-comers from Kosovo.

Nowadays there are forces in Kosovo, in the north of Albania, but also in the Albanian diaspora in the West, who wish departure of the left coalition from power. When former prime minister Nano demanded from political forces of Kosovo to clearly condemn what he called the "coup d'etat", he just showed fear that some day political forces from Kosovo could show sympathies for Berisha and support his call "to liberate Tirana before Pristina". However, there are small chances that such an apocalyptic project could some day be applied to the misfortune of all the Albanians, on this and that side of the border.

AIM Tirana

Arben KOLA