yugoslavias implosion

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ChApter 3
Radicals and Arkan’s Tigers also established a presence, the latter
occupying Pristina’s Hotel Grand and converting it into the headquarters
of the Serbian mafia organization in Kosovo. After creating
the Party of Serbian Unity, Arkan became politically active; his
army sowed fear as part of a “law and order” campaign. 362 His message
to the Albanians was: “We won’t negotiate with the ballistas [the
name given to Albanian nationalists in World War II]. We will copy
the American democracy model as the best, especially the provisions
on immigration. Many Albanians in Kosovo are without personal
documents, they did not respond to the population census and have
a hostile attitude to the state, so we’re going to return them to their
mother country in a very democratic manner.” 363 Arkan viewed the
situation in Kosovo as follows: “It’s not true that the situation there
is normal. I for one wouldn’t have won [the election 1993] if the situation
there were normal.” 364
MACEDONIA AS THE SOLUTION TO KOSOVO
Macedonia was also a target of the Serbian nationalists, who
regarded Kosovo and Macedonia as part of the same territorial block
of “southern Serbia” or “Old Serbia.” If Kosovo was to be partitioned,
then the Serbian nationalists saw no reason why Macedonia
should not be partitioned, too—unless, that is, it took the side of Serbia
against the Albanians. The Macedonians themselves had opted for
independence in September 1991, once it became clear that Yugoslavia
could not survive. Macedonia, however, did not gain immediate
widespread international recognition as a sovereign state (because of
362 On November 3, 1993, Arkan and his followers founded the Party of Serbian Unity
and he became its president, but the party failed to win any parliamentary seats
despite an energetic promotional campaign . In the 2000 elections, however, the
party received 200,000 votes and won fourteen seats in the Serbian parliament .
363 Borba, January 1, 1993 .
364 Borba, March 19, 1993 .