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November 24, 2000 Bashkim Fazliu, journalist of Radio Kontakt - Pristina We bear the responsibility
Bashkim Fazliu, journalist for Pristina Radio Kontakt was born in Pristina on May 25, 1982, and shares the same birthday as "our leader, St. Josip Broz Tito", as he says. He lived in Belgrade until 1992, where his father was a professional boxer for the "Cukaricki" team. His mother is a sculptor. Bashkim is planning to move to Michigan to pursue journalism studies. This conversation was carried out following the Albanian-Serbian round table organized by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Skoplje, November 16-19, 2000. FS: What are your impressions from the meeting? This is the third time that I've participated in Albanian-Serbian dialogues and the first time that I had positive experiences with people I only met, so in a way I'm thrilled with the views of some people. I'm thrilled that it happened at all. We look each other in the eye and speak of things our people or our regimes have only recently warred over. We have started confronting what has happened in the past - each other, and I think that is very rewarding, perhaps not for the near future, but further down the road. It will help each to understand the truth of what has happened and people to shatter stereotypes they hold of each other. FS: What is preventing a more improved dialogue between Albanians and Serbs? What is preventing a better dialogue is the fact that some of us are still not ready to face what has happened. They claim they are greater victims, the other side claims they are greater victims. I think this is the greatest barrier. Even though I experienced many things during the war in Kosovo, I listened to the Serbs that were present here - their needs and their memories of the times that we experienced. I think the barriers would be shattered if other people did the same and the dialogue would be much more open. FS: Why do the Kosovo Albanians need independence? The need for an independent Kosovo is not an ethnic Albanian need. It is simply the need for people to normally decide their fate in the area that they live in, for children to decide what they want to be when they grow up and for them to be able to fulfill this. I think that people should control what they have where they live, and I think that the Albanians were completely prevented from controlling what they possessed. They don't control their natural resources, their human resources, they couldn't develop as professionals, and they didn't have adequate education because everything was stopped by the Serbian regime. This is why the Albanians need to live in their own country. When I say country I don't mean the territory that is occupied by a certain nation, but the people that live in it, be they Albanians, Serbs, Turks or Gorans. I lived in Belgrade and it was my city - I felt at home. I still like going to Belgrade. Therefore I think it is a necessity for all people not only in the Balkans and in Kosovo, but the entire world to decide how they will live, to decide their freedoms, without limiting the freedom of other, of course. This is the primary need of the Kosovo Albanians for independence. For the past 50 years, since the Second World War we, Albanians, have always had certain autonomies, but none of them were real. The Albanians have had bad experiences in this respect and they don't believe a regime or authority will come that would give the Albanians that much freedom - primarily as human being, and then as members of a different ethnic group. I truly believe that independence is the real solution - perhaps it's a prejudice - because another Milosevic may appear few years down the road and end the autonomy. This is what the Albanians fear most. FS: Are the Albanians allowed to control of their assets - from their lives to material and human resources? At the moment - no. A large number of people in Kosovo do not have the freedom of movement, they do not have the freedom to use their language. These people live in enclaves and "ghettos" in cities like Pristina. These people are mostly Serbs, but there are others, such as Albanians that are limited in speaking their views, because of the political opinion or vocation. FS: What should all influential parties do so that the people of Kosovo may live better? First, the people should understand what democracy is, how it functions, what benefit they have of it. Should they understand that, people would not look at each other as Serbs and Albanians, Hungarians or Turks, but would make contact for business, culture, and other things. It is necessary to make contact in order to state their needs and understand each other. Kosovo needs to establish institutions that would protect the people better than UNMIK is currently doing. For example, we now have a Kosovo police that is fighting crime much better than the international community had done. A year ago we had complete chaos - crime was running wild. This year it is much better. If we were to establish true Kosovo institutions it would also give the Serbs better use their resources. FS: What should Serbia do?
FS: Is this not contrary to the Albanian position from the late 1980s? They had excluded themselves at the time. Kosovo had been autonomous until then and the autonomy was ended. Therefore, the Albanians had the legal right to demand self-determination. Now we have a different situation. The Serbs do not have the legal right to demand secession. The Serbs should look for the resolution of their problems within the community, because Kosovo should not be an ethnic Albanian state, but the state of the Kosovo people, and Serbs living there are a Kosovo people. FS: What it your war story?? During the first days of the bombing I was at home and then they pushed us, out of our neighborhood and a few nearby ones... FS: When did this happen? It was at the beginning of April, when Rugova was brought to Belgrade. My family and I and many others had left for the village of Mramur in eastern Kosovo. We slept in the mosque for three weeks. There were many people, women and small children... The children cried, the old people made noises. It was horrible. Imagine living in a room with a bunch of unknown people. It was at the beginning of April, when Rugova was brought to Belgrade. My family and I and many others had left for the village of Mramur in eastern Kosovo. We slept in the mosque for three weeks. There were many people, women and small children... The children cried, the old people made noises. It was horrible. Imagine living in a room with a bunch of unknown people. The other people intended on returning to Pristina and then go to Albania and Macedonia. They were wrong. The Serbian police cut them off. The men were taken and later killed in the villages of Kecekol, Mukare and another one I can't remember the name. Mass graves are there today, some of which have been discovered and exhumation started. Some haven't been discovered, but the fact remains that some people I slept with in the mosque are now dead. Towards the end of May we decided to return to Pristina from Medvedja. We though the war would last some time. I guess we were pessimists. The route was Medvedja - Leskovac - Grdelicka Gorge - Vladicin Han - Vranje - Bujanovac - Gnjilane - Pristina. The road was alright until Gnjilane. We were stopped at a checkpoint between Gnjilane and Pristina. I was one of the people in the front... FS: Where was this checkpoint? It was at a crossroad leading to Novo Brdo. I think the name of the village was Tabla, or something similar... I was one of the people taken off the bus and interrogated. There were ten of us. They asked us where we had been, what we had been doing. They provoked us "You asked for NATO, well here is NATO", and things like that... Then the ordered the bus to leave, and the ten of us remained. And my mother, brother and father were in the bus and left for Pristina, while I stayed. They threatened to shoot us. It was a terrible feeling. At first I felt terrible for myself, because I was afraid for my life. Then I felt terrible when I saw my mother, the bus window, the bus leaving and her looking away... It was a truly terrible feeling... It was horrifying and I wouldn't want this to happen to anyone... Not even my enemy, even though I don't have any enemies. We were released after three hours. Three men were detained. I left for Pristina. When I went to my neighborhood there was not a single person. All had left, banished. I again had the terrible feeling when you burst, when you want to scream. Sometimes a person wants to be in the room, in the house, or somewhere else, but that feeling was horrible and I don't know how to describe it. After a few days NATO troops arrived and I started working for them, as a translator at first. The first thing I saw on my first day on the job was male sex organs in the middle of the street - two streets from my own. We didn't find any bodies. Then later on, we found the body of an old man from my neighborhood, who had been massacred and been lying there for a few months. He was completely black. That was the nature of my job and I had to go through all that. After the war I had a frustration. I thought that most of the Serbs were to blame for what had happened to the Kosovo Albanians and me. However, when I started thinking a little, and started meeting some people things started to get clear. I met people who had opinions that differed from those of the classic Serbian regime and Serbian parties. It was a fantastic experience I received at such meetings. It helped me open my mind, smash my prejudices towards Serbs and I believe this helped Serbs put aside their prejudices of us Albanians. I think that is the beauty of these meetings and socializing. FS: What impels you to participate in these gatherings, despite your experiences? The fact that first, I love myself, I love people, and I love my country. I mean my city, the place that I live - this is what I call country, no a country as national creation. And I don't want this to happen to any of us again. I don't want this to happen to our children. I wouldn't want them to go through all this - I want a new reality. Our parents did not have the opportunity to stop this in time, to prevent this from happening, so today we bear the responsibility for what will happen in the future. Because we have the possibility today - all of us do. And if we do not work in the direction of change, then we will bear a great part of the responsibility and guilt for what will happen, and I truly hope and believe that this should never happen again. That is what drives me to do what I do. Boris Milicevic
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First the past and present should be faced. There is a new reality in Kosovo and many people in Serbia do not understand this. The public opinion in Serbia is that Kosovo should remain in Serbia and Yugoslavia, and that it should be returned by force, if need be. Things shouldn't be viewed this way - reality should be faced, and the new reality is that the people of Kosovo want to create a surrounding where they would decide for themselves, what should be done and how. Until now only the Albanians have done this, but now the Bosnian-Muslims, Turks, Gorans, and partially Roma are following. The Kosovo Serbs should be part of this and should understand this reality, accept it and do something for themselves in order to be accepted in this milieu. I think it a mistake that the Serbs have excluded themselves, accusing all for their horrible sufferings. The Serbs must incorporate themselves into the community and for themselves most of all, and then later others would have to help them.