Q&A: The crisis in the Balkans

By United Methodist News Service

Posted: April 7, 1999

Q: Where and what is Kosovo?

A: Kosovo is a province of Serbia, which is one of two countries that make up the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The federal republic was formed in 1992 by Serbia and Montenegro, which were once part of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia during the cold war. Other parts of the old communist regime, such as Croatia and Bosnia-Herzogovina, won independence after bloody conflicts with the nationalist Serbs.

The province of Kosovo is bordered by Albania and Macedonia. Before the current crisis began, 90 percent of Kosovo's population was ethnic Albanian. These are the people commonly known as Kosovars. Islam is their primary religion.

Q: What are the roots of the conflict?

A: The breakup of Yugoslavia following the cold war laid bare the long-standing tension between Kosovars and Serbs. Kosovo holds historical significance for both Serbs and ethnic Albanians, and both sides have committed atrocities against the other in conflicts throughout the centuries.

The Serbs view Kosovo as the birthplace of their culture and the home of sites holy to the Serb Orthodox Church. It also was the site of an important victory by the Turks over the Serbs in the 14th century. The defeat effectively ushered in 500 years of Turkish rule over Serbia, which ended in the 1900s. Though Serbs recently accounted for only 10 percent of the population, they have had a stronger presence in the province at various points in history.

Under the former Yugoslavia, the Kosovars enjoyed a great amount of autonomy. However, Serb President Slobodan Milosevic did away with that status in 1989, as part of his drive to assert Serb nationalism. This increased tension between the ethnic Albanians and Serbs.

After losing their autonomy, ethnic Albanians began pushing for independence for the province. The Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA, was formed and took up arms. The Serbs, in an effort to eradicate the KLA and tighten their grip on Kosovo, began an ethnic cleansing of the province, forcing hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians to flee their homes. Reports of mass killings and atrocities have emerged from the region.

Q: How big is the refugee crisis?

A: More than 850,000 Kosovars have been displaced by the Serbs (as of April 6), and about half of those have fled since the NATO air strikes began on March 24.

Q: What is NATO doing in Yugoslavia?

A: In an effort to avoid a humanitarian disaster, the United States and its European allies forced the Serbs and Kosovars to the negotiating table. NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, put together an agreement that would have made Kosovo an autonomous province within Serbia. Though the Kosovars eventually agreed to the pact, the Serbs refused to sign it.

NATO then acted on its threat to launch air strikes against Serbia in an effort to halt the ethnic cleansing and force the Serbs into a settlement.

Q: What role do Macedonia and Albania play in the crisis?

A: Both countries are on Kosovo's border. The refugees displaced by Serbia's ethnic cleansing campaign have been flooding into Albania and Macedonia at a catastrophic rate, and officials in those countries say they don't have the capacity or resources to handle the influx of people.

Macedonian officials have refused to allow United Nations relief workers into refugee camps. International relief workers report that many refugees have simply disappeared and that Macedonian authorities are relocating ethnic Albanians to destinations outside the country, with no regard for families that may be split up in the process.

The Serbs also have moved to seal off the border between Kosovo and Albania, preventing further flight of refugees out of the province, according to April 7 news reports.

Q: How is the United Methodist Church addressing the situation?

A: The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is working through Action by Churches Together (ACT), an ecumenical organization. ACT is providing help to refugees in Albania and Macedonia in the form of food, water, shelter, medical supplies and other resources. UMCOR has offices in Bosnia and is helping refugees who have fled there.

The United Methodist Church also is supporting relief efforts in the region through its involvement in the National Council of Churches (NCC). The NCC's relief arm, called Church World Service, is contributing $800,000 worth of tents, blankets and mattresses to a partner agency in Albania as part of an international faith-based effort to provide short-term assistance to refugees. Earlier, the agency had channeled $100,000 worth of bedding and blankets through the International Orthodox Christian Charities.

Church World Service is seeking $1.2 million in denominational and public support for the Kosovo crisis through partners within ACT. (See UMNS #179, "Methodist among leaders making Easter appeal for peace," March 31.)

The NCC has issued a call for a cease-fire on all sides in Kosovo to coincide with the Eastern Orthodox Easter weekend. The cease-fire is proposed to begin Good Friday in the Eastern calendar, April 9, and continue through Monday, April 12. The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, NCC staff executive, said such a cease-fire would provide an opportunity for negotiation.

The top staff executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society in Washington and the top executive of the World Methodist Council have separately issued statements urging a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

Source: United Methodist News Service, official news agency of the United Methodist Church.