Page 53 - bneMagazine March 2023 oil discount

bne March 2023 Southeast Europe I 53
remained part of the Federation, which consisted of Serbia and Montenegro.
Even before that, when Slobodan Milosevic became head of the Communist League of Serbia in the late 1980s, he initiated plans to trim down the autonomy of Kosovo and protect rights of the Serbs there by launching
a campaign against Kosovan separatists.
In 1989, President Milosevic proposed
a new constitution to strip Albanians in Kosovo of their rights. The move provoked violent protests, which in turn prompted Belgrade to declare a state of emergency and to impose direct rule over the province.
Dissatisfied with the move, the separatists' activities in Kosovo were
on the rise. Kosovo Albanians set up
the guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which sought independence from Serbia. The KLA was funded mainly
by the Albanian diaspora, but also by Albanian businessmen, and according to estimates the militant group received up to $100mn for its paramilitary activities. The organisation was designated as terrorist by the Serbian authorities.
The Serbian police and military’s actions against KLA separatists escalated into armed conflict in 1998, which ended with Nato strikes on Serbia in 1999. The strikes forced Serbian forces to withdraw from the province and they were replaced by the Nato-led peacekeeping mission, KFOR, and other international organisations.
Legacy of conflict
Aside from thousands of deaths, the conflict left thousands of people displaced and missing from both sides. Today 90% of the population is Kosovo Albanians and only 5% or about 100,000 are Serbs, of which half live in the northern Kosovo, with very close ties with Belgrade.
That means they have Serbian IDs, passports, car number plates, health care, education, telecom services and other benefits.
Following the conflict, the KLA was transformed into the Kosovo Protection Corps.
Chaos inside and outside parliament in day of opposition protests in Albania
bne IntelIiNews
Protesters tried to force their way into Albania’s parliament during a demonstration on February 13, while inside the parliament there were angry exchanges as opposition MPs disrupted the session.
The Democratic Party, led by former president and prime minister Sali Berisha, has launched a series of protests against Prime Minister Edi Rama’s government. The opposition have accused the government of corruption and failing to alleviate the pain caused to the population by high inflation.
A large crowd of opposition supporters gathered outside the parliament on February 13, following a thousands-strong protest on February 11.
Faced by a police cordon around the parliament, protesters threw smoke bombs and tried to force their way inside the building.
The session started with one minute of silence to commemorate the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
Shortly afterwards, protesters managed to set fire to equipment supplying energy to the hall where the parliament session was taking place. This plunged the session into darkness, but MPs continued to debate, lighting the hall with their mobile phones.
Berisha repeatedly interrupted the session to demand that the McGonigal case is investigated, and was rebuked by speaker Lindita Nikolla.
The opposition has criticised Rama over alleged links to former FBI agent Charles McGonigal. McGonigal has been charged with taking secret cash payments of more than $225,000 that he allegedly received from a New Jersey man employed decades ago by an Albanian intelligence agency. Rama has denied opposition accusations of corruption.
Another Democratic Party MP, Flamur Noka, blew a whistle continuously to prevent other MPs being heard.
Berisha also claimed to have a “erotic video” featuring Socialist Party officials and foreign ambassadors. He declined to publish the video, saying he would hand it over to law enforcers.
After the parliament session ended, Berisha joined the protesters outside. He pledged that further protests will take place in the coming days to keep up the pressure on the government.
www.bne.eu