yugoslavias implosion

The international community vacillated between proposing
sweeping autonomy and republic status for Kosovo. The Albanians
wanted an independent and neutral Kosovo, but would have settled
for republic status. 385 The Serbs were opposed to the restitution
of Kosovo’s former status and offered to make concessions mostly in
the domain of human rights. However, the internal politics of Serbia
and three-month-long civil demonstrations deflected Milošević’s
attention from Kosovo. Milošević shifted his focus: to survive politically,
he staged a veritable terror campaign, including putting a
stranglehold on electronic and print media.
The osce re-emerged as a mediator between the Serbian government
and the opposition. Despite a solution that brought back the
opposition into the Parliament, Milošević increased police repression
in Kosovo. In response, the kla grew more active and attracted
increasing support among from the Kosovo Albanian population.
The u.s. Special Envoy for Human Rights in the Balkans, along with
European partners (the European Parliament, Council of Europe,
osce, and different governmental and non-governmental delegations),
tried to broker negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina,
but to no avail.
The West continued to be involved in regional developments.
In the wake of Albania’s collapse in 1997, the European Community
was given a mandate for institution-building in what was now
a devastated state. 386 The United States was still focused on Kosovo
as a potential flashpoint. In 1996, the United States opened the United
States Information Service (usis) in Pristina, the first international
semi-diplomatic office in Kosovo; the usis provided nearly u.s. $30
million a year in humanitarian aid to Kosovo. Kosovo was also high
385 Fehmi Agani was ready to accept this proposal, aware that at that time there was no clear
support for an independent Kosovo . See Serbian Albanian Dialogue (21–22 November
1998), Helsinki Committee for Human Righst in Serbia, Belgrade 1999, p .102 .
386 The Serbian political elite considered the collapse of the Albanian state a stroke of luck because
a weakened Albania was seen as an advantage to the Serbs in solving the Kosovo issue .
231
ChApter 3