KOSOVO: ONE WAR, TWO GOVERNMENTS

AIM Tirana, May 6, 1999

The moment when Rugova, Thaci, Qosja, and Surroi joined their hands after signing the Rambouillet Agreement now belongs to history. The actors of this act are now to be found in totally different situations: Rugova in Kosovo kidnapped by Milosevic, Thaci in Kosovo organizing the KLA resistance, Surroi in hide somewhere underground and no news of him since 24 March, and Qosja alternatively in Tirana and Tetovo.

While the agreement with Serbs failed due to Milosevic' refusal, it seems that the agreement between Albanians has also not lasted long. The press in Tirana is increasingly talking about the conflict between the two governments of Kosovo, which has caused political divisions between Tirana and Pristina too.

Today the division is discernable: on one side the Thaci Government and KLA, supported by the Albanian Government, and on the other side the Bukoshi and Rugova Government supported by the opposition led by former President Berisha.

The Kosovo Albanians obliged every day to leave their homes now have two Prime Ministers: Hashim Thaci and Bujar Bukoshi. The first, according to the Albanian press "is to be found in Kosovo" from where he repeatedly makes declarations by telephone for the Albanian Television. The second leads his government in exile and regularly visits Tirana.

Each government of Kosovo has also its own "coffer." Thaci followers have founded the foundation "Homeland calls" for collecting voluntary funds, mainly from the Albanian Diaspora in the West. The people of Bukoshi, manage a fund fed by 3% of the earnings of every Kosovar working in the West. Each "coffer" appears to finance armed branches acting on the ground: KLA of Thaci, led for the most part by ex-political prisoners during the regime of Tito and Milosevic. While the other KLA is that of Bukoshi called the Armed Forces of Republic of Kosovo (FARK), which is commanded by the Ministry of Defence and is composed chiefly of ex-career officers of The Yugoslav Army.

For the last 8 years the Bukoshi Government has continued to operate in exile with its siege in Bonn in Germany. No other country has ever recognized this government, except for a semi-official recognition by Tirana. This did not prevent Bukoshi from being received by almost all Western leaders, together with the other political leader of Kosovo Albanians, Ibrahim Rugova. After the Kosovo elections of 22 March 1998, Rugova did not charge anybody to form a new government. In these conditions, in order not to create an institutional vacuum, Bujar Bukoshi continued as "Prime Minister of Kosovo."

Both Bukoshi and Rugova have maintained close relations with former President Berisha, but their relations with the Socialist Government are complicated and most of the time quite cold, especially during the time that Nano was Prime Minister. Bukoshi is actually received in Tirana by Berisha as the Prime Minister of Kosovo, while official Tirana prefers to receive him as former Prime Minister.

Hashim Thaci, the political representative of the KLA, leads the other government of Kosovo. Thaci, who led the Albanian delegation at the Rambouillet talks, got the mandate to form the Temporary Government of Kosovo, after a historical agreement signed by the LDK of Rugova, the Joined Democratic Movement of Qosja and the KLA. According to this agreement this government should be temporary, should operate in Kosovo, and should implement the peace agreement. The Rambouillet Document laid down that free elections should have taken place within 9 months of the signing of the peace agreement.

The military action of NATO and the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo which followed it made things evolve in an unforeseeable direction. On April 2, just one day after Rugova was shown on TV screens shaking hands with Milosevic, Thaci announced his list of ministers without asking his or Bukoshi's agreement. The LDK, which is apparently passing through a confused situation, has not yet defined the names of the vice Prime Minister and its other four ministers left vacant in the cabinet.

Supporters of Thaci now confess that the new government was hastily declared, but still try to justify this with the impossibility to resume contacts with Rugova as a result of his being kidnapped by the Serbs. Independently of the silence over the matter, the hasty declaration of the new cabinet reflects on the one hand the KLA's tensions with Rugova (without taking into account his delicate position), and on the other hand the old resentments towards Bukoshi who is accused of having wasted the money of the Government.

In these conditions, as before the talks in France, the authorities in Tirana have returned to their attempts to reunify the Albanian forces and avoid a new crisis of representation. Beside already known contacts with the KLA, Prime Minister Majko met Bukoshi during his visit to Germany. Foreign Minister Milo officially invited Rugova to come to Tirana together with his family as a sign that appears half conciliatory and half-propagandistic. After a long absence, a LDK delegation led by a not very known figure, the vice-secretary Naim Jerliu, visited Tirana where he was received by top level officials in Tirana.

According to the Albanian press, Jerliu has declared that the LDK will not accept any agreement that Rugova, hostage from Milosevic, would sign with him. He also expressed readiness to resume talks concerning the common government question.

"We respect the Rambouillet Agreement and are ready to contribute to its implementation" said Jerliu.

There is a possibility to call a round table of all political forces of Albania and Kosovo from which a compromise would come out. Prime Minister Majko has offered to mediate between Thaci and Bukoshi. The two pretenders for Prime Minister are expected to sit together for the first time at the same table for "the unification of all political and military factors" Bukoshi said. There is a possibility that the two Albanian parties of Macedonia will also be invited to this roundtable discussion, as they may be in a better position to mediate as the political forces of Albania are positioned for or against one or the other Kosovo Prime minister.

The clash between the two Kosovo Prime Ministers seems not to have echoed much among the refugees fighting to survive and even less among common people in Albania. To the latter all this seems to be an absurd fight for the future power in Kosovo while it is in the process of being destroyed. Anyway, it remains a preferable topic for Tirana's press. Both sides proudly show their activities, especially the international ones: Bukoshi's meetings in Italy, Austria, Germany, USA, compared to KLA representatives' meetings with Albright and NATO.

The split between the two governments of Kosovo will not be easily overcome, however much they seek to form a united position.

ALFRED PEZA (AIM)