The testimony of the US Assistant Undersecretary of State during the Kosovo War, James Rubin, in the trial of the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army in The Hague, awakened emotions and memories from that crucial time for the freedom of Kosovo in our generation that experienced and supported the liberation war in real time from the school desks of the capital of Kosovo.
Written by: Arianit Bytyçi
"For the ideal of Fehmiu, Xheva and other brave freedom fighters who fell in defense of the homeland, we must all fight. Our leaders must also unite and coordinate their actions with the KLA, in order to achieve Kosovo's independence. Only then will the international community see that the Albanians are truly determined in their fight for the definitive liberation of Kosovo. And then the West will not offer subjugating projects to the Albanians, such as that of the American mediator for Kosovo, Christopher Hill" - I wrote in November 1998 at a crucial time for Kosovo. I recalled this writing motivated by the testimony of the American Assistant Undersecretary of State during the Kosovo war, James Rubin, who testified to Hill's one-sided role during his engagement in Kosovo.
The testimony of the US Assistant Undersecretary of State during the Kosovo War, James Rubin, in the trial of the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army in The Hague, awakened emotions and memories from that crucial time for the freedom of Kosovo in our generation that experienced and supported the liberation war in real time from the school desks of the capital of Kosovo.
In one of the presentations as part of his powerful testimony in The Hague, James Rubin also mentions the fact that the former American mediator in the negotiations between Pristina and Belgrade during 1998-1999, Christopher Hill, who until recently "coincidentally" served as the US ambassador to Belgrade, during that period maintained a biased stance against the Kosovo Liberation Army and in favor of the Democratic League of Kosovo, continuing to divide the Albanian political scene and further sabotaging the creation of a joint Albanian military-political front in Kosovo, for the creation of which the KLA had appointed the symbol of the Albanian resistance, Adem Demaçi.
In this way, as James Rubin confirmed in his testimony, Christopher Hill, by harming the interests of the United States in finding a lasting solution for Kosovo, had presented to the Albanian side at that time an unfavorable plan for Kosovo, which envisaged that Kosovo would continue to remain within Serbia. Of course, this plan was rejected by the KLA, thus encouraging a more serious commitment by President Clinton's administration in the following months during 1998 and 1999, which resulted in NATO bombing and the withdrawal of Serbian military-police forces and administration from Kosovo.
During that time, that is, during 1998 and continuously, together with many friends, students of the “Xhevdet Doda” high school in Pristina, we had publicly expressed our support for the Kosovo Liberation Army. We did this through the school’s School Youth organization, by organizing roundtables with intellectuals, student leaders and well-known publicists, as well as by publishing articles in support of the political-military orientation of the KLA in our magazine “Gjimnazisti” and in the student newspaper “Bota e Re”. We openly spoke at the roundtables, and we published the articles with our first and last names, without any hesitation in hiding our identity.
"The world must understand that Kosovo under Serbia is not and cannot be a solution..."
Motivated by the testimony of Kosovo's friend in difficult times, American diplomat James Rubin, I am recalling some of the quotes from these articles, which date back to November 1998 in the article "Only with sacrifices can we free ourselves from the Serbian yoke", at a time when Kosovo's political leadership in Pristina was divided and did not send signals in support of the KLA, while the international community, represented by negotiator Hill and others, turned a blind eye to the Serbian offensive and attempted to offer a solution for Kosovo within the framework of Serbia:
"Kosovo is currently at a major crossroads. While the brave freedom fighters face a devastating Serbian offensive, Kosovo's political leaders remain divided, unaware that the war could one day encompass every inch of Kosovo. They make irresponsible statements to the international community, denying the influence of the Kosovo Liberation Army in resolving the Kosovo issue. This disunity of the political entity of Kosovo is also exploited by the Serbian terrorist government, which launched a major offensive against the people of Kosovo, but also by the international community, which seemingly gave Belgrade the green light to launch an offensive to destroy the KLA and subjugate the Albanians, so that they would accept a supposedly temporary solution, when in fact it could be permanent - a new captivity."
It was in the continuation of this article, with great faith that only the continuation of the war can liberate us from Serbia, that I added:
"Serbia must be clear that the offensive against the KLA has failed. Serbia may have temporarily taken control of some territories, but it has not destroyed the KLA and can never destroy it. The KLA is the people themselves."
"The liberation war of the brave freedom fighters is entering an important phase and we must understand once and for all that only its continuation and a more active policy can liberate us from Serbia."
In the article where I also wrote about the fall of the well-known commander Fehmi Lladrovci and his wife Xhevë Krasniqi-Lladrovci, calling for the unity of Kosovo's political leaders to coordinate actions with the KLA, I emphasized that:
"For the ideal of Fehmiu, Xheva and other brave freedom fighters who fell in defense of the homeland, we must all fight. Our leaders must also unite and coordinate their actions with the KLA, with the aim of achieving Kosovo's independence. Only then will the international community see that Albanians are truly determined in their fight for the definitive liberation of Kosovo. And then the West will not offer subjugating projects to Albanians, such as that of the American mediator for Kosovo, Christopher Hill."
Driven by Hill's scandalous proposal, which at that time was also published in the Albanian daily press, namely in "Koha Ditore", in this article of mine published in November 1998 I emphasized that:
"The world must understand that Kosovo under Serbia is not and cannot be a solution. Every people has the right to decide for itself its own destiny, including the people of Kosovo. This is also provided for in the charter of the United Nations. Serbia must also be clear that it can never keep Kosovo," this article concludes.
"The people do not accept the new slavery"
In the same issue of "Gjimnazistit" at the end of 1998, together with my classmate Fiton Pejën, also prompted by Hill's proposal, we wrote a joint article with the title "The People Do Not Accept the New Slavery", where, among other things, we wrote:
"After all this war, which is continuing, after all these massacres, the West offers the Albanians a frivolous "solution", a new slavery. This is best evidenced by the American projects for Kosovo, those of Hill and Holbrooke."
It is important to emphasize that we as students during the liberation war were deeply convinced that "without the direct participation of representatives of the KLA General Staff in the negotiations, no agreement can be reached on the future status of Kosovo. The world must finally understand that after the Serbian aggression in Kosovo, the independence of Kosovo is the most just and lasting solution to the Kosovo problem."
In this regard, time proved us right. The democratic world, led by the United States of America, reflected positively in support of Kosovo and our liberation war, focusing on the essential role of the Kosovo Liberation Army in reaching a lasting agreement to achieve the liberation of Kosovo.
This belief of ours as a generation of Pristina high school graduates from 1998-1999 that the US should be freed from scandalous proposals of the Christopher Hill type and take a more decisive role in supporting Kosovo's freedom was confirmed in the best possible way by James Rubin in The Hague when, among other things, he said:
"We wanted to make sure we were on the side of the angels, on the side of the good. And we didn't want them to be victims. But they couldn't be victims if they committed war crimes, and they wouldn't be victims if they had an extremist Islamist approach."
Therefore, just as in 1998, today I say with conviction and faith that Kosovo was supported by the United States on its path to liberation and statehood only because it waged a just war with a clear orientation of promoting the democratic values of Western civilization in this part of Europe. This history of Kosovo's freedom cannot be rewritten.
PS Attached to this authorial article, I am presenting the following two articles from 2 published in support of the KLA and criticizing with arguments Christopher Hill's proposal for a solution to the Kosovo issue within Serbia.
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