Word: kosovo
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...same time, the semi-autonomous province of Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs 9 to 1 but which is administered by Serbia, is engaged in a bitter dispute with Belgrade over a recent attempt to break away. Serbia, the largest republic, with 36% of Yugoslavia's 23.6 million people, has suspended the Kosovo parliament and rushed more troops into the province. The move came after more than 100 Kosovo deputies declared their region's independence from Serbia and demanded full republic status within the Yugoslav federation...
...Serbia's Communist leader, Slobodan Milosevic, the struggle over control of Kosovo may provide a last chance to revive his and his party's flagging fortunes. Milosevic came to power in 1986 on the force of his strident Serbian nationalism, but a deepening economic crisis and the party's refusal to permit open elections in the province have since undermined his authority. Just last year, hundreds of thousands of Serbs turned out at a Milosevic rally to hear him promise a new golden age for Serbia; last month 30,000 people demonstrated against him in Belgrade, burning pictures...
...tougher Milosevic gets with Kosovo, the more likely it is that Slovenia and Croatia will accelerate their moves away from the center. "Whatever happens now, Yugoslavia as we have known it since World War II is finished," says Zvonko Baletic of the Institute of Economics in Zagreb. "The best we can hope for is a confederation of basically independent states...
...unrest began late last month, when 40,000 Albanians took to the streets of Pristina, Kosovo's capital, demanding the resignation of local leaders, free elections and the release of political prisoners. Kosovo's 1.7 million Albanians, who out-number Serbs and Montenegrins in the region almost 10 to 1, last flooded the streets eleven months ago, when Serbia tightened its grip on the nominally autonomous province. That decision triggered riots that left 28 dead...
Serbian nationalists last week pressured the central government to firmly squelch the uprising. The eight-man State Presidency promised unspecified security measures. Soon after, troops, tanks and air force jets were deployed throughout Kosovo...