Features of Albanian separatism in Kosovo and Metohija

Abstract

Authors examine the formation and development of Albanian separatism in the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija. The article deals with the main aspects of the history of creation and functioning of the first armed extremist groups of Kosovo Albanians, in particular the activities of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the hottest phases of the Kosovo crisis in the 1990s, including the role of international actors in the development of Albanian terrorism in the Serbian province. In the article, the authors conclude that Albanian separatism is not a spontaneously organized ethnic group with the aim of fighting against "terror" perpetrated by state power, but is instead the embodiment of the idea of a "Greater Albania", projected in the First and Second Prizer Leagues. Western countries also actively supported the formation, training, logistical support and funding of the KLA. The leader among Western states supporting Albanian separatism in Serbia was the United States, which provided Kosovo separatists with comprehensive support. With the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the arrival of the UN Military and Civil Mission in Kosovo and Metohija (KFOR and UMNIK), Albanian extremists and terrorists used all-out violence to expel the non-Albanian population from Kosovo and Metohija. The separation of Kosovo from Serbia, which took place under the careful guidance of the international community represented by the USA and the EU, as well as the recognition of the so-called Kosovo's "independence" by, above all, Western countries, grossly violated not only UNSC Resolution 1244 and international law in general, but also created an international legal precedent which gave other proponents of territorial secession an excuse and right to seek the same as that of the so-called Kosovo.