WAR

Albanians have officially demanded independence since renegade elections in 1992 made pacifist leader Ibrahim Rugova president of a self-declared republic. The demand was ignored as Serbs fought for pieces of Croatia and Bosnia, and support shifted to armed struggle by the Kosovo Liberation Army, a guerrilla force. Serb forces hit back so hard in 1998 that 100,000 Albanians fled to the hills and NATO powers warned Milosevic they would not tolerate another round of “ethnic cleansing” in the Balkans. Peace talks in France failed and in March 1999 NATO started bombing to force Serbia to withdraw. Some 800,000 Albanians fled or were expelled to Macedonia and Albania before Milosevic gave in 78 days later. As his forces pulled out, an estimated 180,000 Serbs left as well.

LIMBO

Kosovo has been administered by the UN with NATO peacekeeping since June 1999. Unemployment is more than 50 per cent among the overwhelmingly young population. Kosovo’s uncertain future status virtually precludes outside investment. Spasms of ethnic violence, mostly by Albanians against Serbs, together with criminal gangs trafficking in contraband and people, have tarnished its image with the West. Albanian leaders say only independence from Serbia can cure these ills. A troika of EU, US and Russian mediators told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in a report last week that their mission had failed because neither side was willing to give way on sovereignty.