With Albanians comprising majority of relief corps, Serbs wary of joining
By Scott Schonauer,
Stars and Stripes
GNJILANE, Kosovo — It was considered a crowning achievement for
U.S. peacekeepers in Kosovo.
U.S. Army commanders called the induction of the first Serbs into the
ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo Protection Corps in April an important step toward peace
and stability in the region.
On the day they joined, one officer likened the new members to Jackie
Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball.
Such a comparison would be a stretch. A huge one. Unlike Robinson,
both Serbs quit within days — and no other Serbs have joined since.
Their departure caught peacekeepers off-guard and proved that the
disaster relief organization is far from becoming the multiethnic organization the UN and
NATO had mandated.
In an area still brimming with ethnic hatred, Serbs remain leery of
joining a group in which 90 percent are former ethnic Albanian rebels. Only 10 percent of
the force are minorities.
Zoran Angielkovic, 24, is a good example of how difficult it is to
persuade Serbs to join.
Angielkovic would be a good candidate. He needs the money to support
his newborn baby and doesn’t have a paying job.
But when asked if he would join, he said he wouldn’t consider it
unless 60 other Serbs did.
He said the group too much resembles the Kosovo Liberation Army, the
ethnic Albanian guerrilla group the UN and NATO transformed into the corps in 1999 shortly
after the war.
To Angielkovic and other Serbs, that’s the last group of men he
wants to be around.
“It’s like an Albanian army and there are only Albanians
there,” he said. “I don’t know of anybody that wants to join.”
Rick Emert / Stars and Stripes
Shaban Musliu, chief of staff of the Kosovo Protection Corps' Regional Task Group 6, left;
Imri Illazi, the group's deputy commander, center; and Lt. Col. Clemson Turregano, chief
of the Joint Implementation Commission, stood by in April as two Serbs joined the corps.
Both left the corps a few days later and out of the corps' 5,000 members, working on a
daily basis, none are Serbs. |
Agim Ceku, corps commander, said he and other commanders have
introduced “confidence-building measures” to bring in more Serbs. So far, Ceku
said they are working. Thirty Serbs from Gracanica are being screened for service.
But even if the majority of the Serbs are accepted, the big question
is whether they will stay.
Ceku said he wants to do everything possible to make Serbs feel like
they belong. The confidence-building measures he mentioned include allowing Serbs to
operate and train in their own area.
“I’m going to give them some concessions just for
coming,” he said.
“This is what I can do.”
But the corps could not keep the first Serbs to join from turning in
their uniforms.
Dalibor Dimic left about two weeks after joining. Stojan Djordjevic
never showed up for his first day.
Although the regional corps commander drove to the Kosovo Serb
enclave of Straza every morning to pick him up, Dimic told friends and family that most of
the members refused to speak to him.
“The problem is that he was the only Serb there and he
didn’t feel good about it,” said his father, Slavko Dimic.
But that wasn’t the only reason his son quit.
In his first week, members began teaching him how to shoot a weapon.
Although the corps has no role in defense or law enforcement, a small
percentage carry weapons for protection.
“They say they want people to work for a natural disaster
organization, but they’re training to know how to shoot a bullet,” Slavko Dimic
said. “I sent him to work. I didn’t send him to carry a gun.”
Although both men reportedly left Kosovo to find work in Belgrade,
the Army still hopes they can convince them to return.
As of June, the Serb members were “still on the books,”
said Maj. Mark Corson, an Army liaison to the corps in Gnjilane.
But, so far, they have had no luck finding them.
And Major Randy Martin, a spokesman for U.S. peacekeepers, said the
corps still has no Serb members.
Back to July stories
Page Two news roundup
Stories from June, 2001
Stories from May, 2001
Stories from April, 2001
Stories from March, 2001
Stories from February,2001
Stories from January, 2001
Stories from December, 2000
Stories from November, 2000
Stories from October, 2000
Stories from August and September, 2000
Stories from June and July, 2000
Home |
