1. Verbal attacks upon the sovereignty of Kosova, were launched in May 1998, of the Pyongyang-Brussels axis [led by Ludo Martens (Parti du Travail de Belgique-PTB) and Nina Andreyeava (CPSU(B)], at Brussels. Non-participants, such as ourselves have been made aware of this, by verbal reports from several attenders at the meeting. We await the written version of the attack - if the Brussels PTB dares. We write elsewhere of the Pyongyang-Brussels axis - Please see Alliance 19.
         The Brussels axis has been obstructing a meaningful resolution of the theoretical differences over the past 30 years in the Marxist-Leninist movement.
         2. The public distortion of the views of the deceased leader of the Party Of Labour of Albania - Enver Hoxha - by a "pretender" of the Communist Party Labour Albania. This pretender is Hysni Milloshi. It cannot be an accident, that the pretender has been assiduously taken up by the Brussels-Pyongyang axis, and the PTB.
        In Issue 26 which was on Albania's recent Civil War, we urged that those claiming the heritage of Enver Hoxha - should put their programs forward. That is because we already did have some doubts given competing claims. We wrote the following :

"It should not be surprising, given the massive repression following the death of Hoxha and the revisionist take-over by Ramiz Alia, if there is some considerable confusion inside Albania. Perhaps it may even extend to genuine Marxist-Leninists. Suppression, with consequent secrecy makes open organizing communist practice difficult... Any such confusion is naturally greater for comrades outside Albania, who are straining to understand who exactly are the participants in the struggle. This struggle has now taken on the dimensions of a class based civil war."
Issue 26 Alliance.

         Standing outside Albania, at the sidelines, we do not suggest any other path than that of Hoxha and his heirs. We believe that the party leadership of the CPA knows its own conditions best of all. But, whilst hesitating, lest we give meaningless and fatuously easy-to-give advice from the side-lines, we do urge our Albanian comrades, on only one matter. That is to make clear their Programme, as far as this is possible. This will surely have many positive effects inside Albania. For us and others outside Albania, it would lead to a better and wider sympathy of their heroic struggles - one that is tempered by an understanding of their positions. (See Alliance 26: Civil War In Albania).
         But having sounded that cautionary note, in a non-sectarian spirit, we published documents sent to us from other organisations in Europe, that claimed to originate with the CPA. Although these documents were clearly somewhat 'voluntarist' and appeared to give an overly optimistic picture of the current situation in Albania for the communist perspective. We were correct to publish these. But we were also correct to warn that currents inside the CPA were not clearly defined as of then. Since that time, the prominent denial by Milloshi, of profound distinctions between Mao and Hoxha, was printed and widely distributed by the Brussels Parti du Travail de Belgique (PTB). Of course Milloshi's profoundly anti-historical assertion suits the revisionist operation of Martens, who asserts that the differences between the various "Marxist-Leninist" leaders are secondary to the current goal of "unity". That Milloshi's statement is anti-historical and incorrect, can be verified by reading Hoxha's printed words! The statement is a clear declaration that whatever else he is - Milloshi is not a Marxist-Leninist. Unfortunately certainly the Pyongyang-Brussels factions, and it is also possible - other international currents, accept Milloshi's self-proclaimed credentials as the "leader" of the revived Albanian Communists.
         The position of Nexhjime Hoxha (widow of Enver Hoxha) is as yet unclear. Whether she is or is not affiliated to Milloshi, needs clarification since she attended the Brussels meeting with him. These issues will continue to be clarified with the organisational emergence of the leading current of the Communist Party Albania, whose paper appears under the name "Feniksi"[The Phoenix] This current emanates from those that we consider the true adherents of Hoxha; and takes Milloshi to task. This taking to task - forms the third article, and is printed last in a form translated by Comrade W.B.Bland of the Communist League (UK).
        3. The third recent event, is the continued confusion of honest ex-revisionists - who have managed to finally shake off the worst of Khruschevite revisionism. Unfortunately, many have as yet to fully liberate them from the legacy of Greater Slav chauvinism in supporting firstly Tito, and latterly Millosovic. This unfortunately includes some sections of North Star Compass (NSC). Readers of Alliance will know our vocal support of NSC - See Alliance 19. However, it should be noted that NSC only printed articles favouring Slobodan Miloshevic=s attack upon Bosnia and the peoples of Bosnia. We trust the NSC Collective have learnt by the bitterness over that decision, not to make a similar mistake, this time in regard to Kosova. But it is important to emphasise, that Alliance holds that the NSC mistake is an honest, subjective and in the end - a mistake born of confusion. This is totally at variance with the qualitatively different attacks launched by the Pyongyang-Brussels axis and Milloshi. But nonetheless, at some stage all pro-Marxist-Leninist forces, have to choose - AThe Legacy Of Tito Or Legacy Of Stalin?@ North Star will, someday, have to finally make that choice.
         We remind NSC that on one point Hoxha and Tito did actually agree. What was this point? That in Tito=s Yugoslavia dinar billionaires formed a new ruling class! See the following matching quotes :
Said Hoxha:

ACapitalism has been fully established in Yugoslavia, but this capitalism is cunningly disguised. Yugoslavia poses as a socialist state, but one of a special kind which the world has never seen before.@ E.Hoxha :@Yugoslav >Self-Administration= - A Capitalist Theory and Practice@; Tirana; 1978; p.3.
And Tito does not disagree, saying this of the class differentiation inside former Yugoslavia:
AEven among Communists there are extremely wealthy people whose wealth does not amount to merely to tens or hundreds or millions , but billions of old dinars. That much cannot be earned. This is exploitation of the results of other people=s work@. J.B.Tito: Speech of September 14th; 1972, In AKeesings= Contemporary Archives@, Volume 19, pp. 25, 794. (Cited from: AThe Question of The Albanians in Yugoslavia@ By W.B.Bland, The Albanian Society, 1981, UK).

         To all who deny, and justify the anti-Kosovan atrocities perpetrated by Great Serbian aggression, including the Brussels-Pyongyang axis; to all who deny Hoxha=s distinction from revisionists like Tito and Mao Ze Dong, we must say:

WHICH WILL YOU CHOOSE: ATHE LEGACY OF TITO OR LEGACY OF STALIN?

@

---

ARTICLE ONE:THE STRUGGLE IN KOSOVA; BY BILL BLAND (COMUNIST LEAGUE- UK)
INTRODUCTION
         The present crisis in Kosova - ['Kosovo' in the Serbian language] commenced in March 1998 when:

"Serbian police swept through ethnic Albanian villages in Kosova province" ('The Guardian', 2 March 1998; p. 12).

And left: "An estimated 75 people dead". ('The Guardian', 20 March 1998; p. 15);
In what 'The Times' called in its headline a: "Massacre by the 'ethnic cleansers"'. ('The Times', 4 March 1998; p. 1).
However, the roots of the crisis go back to at least the beginning of the century.
(1) THE PARTITION OF THE ALBANIAN NATION
         The Albanian people, who are descendants of the Ancient Illyrians, form a nation whose language evolved from Illyrian.
         Following the defeat of the Turkish Ottoman Empire in the First Balkan War, a conference of the Great Powers of the period - Austria-Hungary, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia - convened in London in December 1912 and took it upon themselves to draw the frontiers of the new states which came into being as a result of the war. However:

" The Great Powers largely ignored demographic realities".
('New Encyclopaedia Britannica', Volume 14; Chicago; 1997; p. 617).

        In particular, only about half the Albanian nation was placed in the newly created state of Albania, the rest - composed mainly of the region of Kosova - being placed within Serbia. The Great Powers

"Ceded the vast region of Kosovo to Serbia" ('New Encyclopaedia Britannica',Volume 14; Chicago; 1997; p. 617).

Thus, today 1.7 million ethnic Albanians live in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and 0.4 million in the Republic of Macedonia. And out of a population of 2.0 million Kosovars:

"Around 1.7 million or 85% of the total." are ethnic Albanians." ('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 34; p. 35,785).

        After the First World War, in December 1918, the victorious Allied Powers created the 'Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes', renamed 'Yugoslavia' in October 1929, and installed on the throne Aleksander, Regent of Serbia, who formally became:

"King in August 1921" ('Europa World Year Book:1997', Volume 2; London; 1997; p. 3,661).

        In October 1934 Aleksander was assassinated in France, and his brother, Prince Paul, was made Regent until Alexander's son Peter should come of age.
        In March 1941, the increasingly pro-German regime of Prince Paul was overthrown in a coup, and a Government which supported the Allied Powers was installed, with King Peter as Head of State. In April, however, German and Italian forces invaded, quickly overrunning the country". ('Europa World Year Book : 1997', Volume 2; ibid.; p 3,661).
(2) KOSOVO UNDER THE MONARCHY:
Aleksander had:

"Assumed dictatorial powers in January 1929"; ('Europa World Year Book : 1997', Volume 2; ibid.; p. 3,661).

        and under the Serb-dominated monarchy, ethnic Albanians:

"Did not even enjoy the most basic national and democratic rights - the right to use the Albanian language in public business, the right of having schools in their mother-tongue,.. The right of publishing in their own language, and so on. Nothing was done for the schooling of the Albanian national minority. Moreover, even those schools, which had existed previously for teaching in the Albanian language, were closed. In 1939 there were only three public libraries with 6,000 books (all in the Serbo-Croat language)";
(Ali Hadri: 'The Albanian Population of Kosova between the Two World Wars', in: Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Albania: 'The Truth on Kosova'; Tirana; 1993; p. 131, 136).

        As a result of this policy:

"More than 90% of the Albanian population were illiterate," (Ali Hadri: ibid.; p. 131, 136).

        But even worse, the monarchist government adopted a programme of 'ethnic cleansing'. Disguised as 'agrarian reforms', a series of 'colonisation' laws took land from Albanian peasants in order:

"To settle these parts with 'sound nationalist elements"' (Ali Hadri: ibid.; p. 128); from Serbia or Montenegro.

        A semi-official report submitted in March 1937 by VASO CHUBRILOVICH, who later became a Minister in Titoite Yugoslavia, to the Serbian Club of Culture, concluded that:

"The only effective method for solving this problem (the alleged 'problem' of Kosova -- Ed.) is the mass deportation of the Albanians. When the state wants to intervene in favour of its own people in the struggle for land, it can be successful only if it acts brutally". (Vaso Chubrilovich: 'The Expulsion of the Arnauts', in: Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Albania: op. cit.; p. 184).

(3) KOSOVA IN THE RANKOVICH PERIOD
        The official position of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia during the Second World War was expressed in a resolution of the 1st Conference of the National Liberation Council for Kosova and Metohija held at Bujan in Decemberi January 1944:

"Under the leadership of the Provisional Committee of the CPY for Kosova."
(Enver Hoxha: 'The Titoites; Historical Notes' (hereafter listed as 'Enver Hoxha (1982)'; Tirana; 1982; p. 117).

This resolution pledged as follows:

"Kosova and the Dukajin Plateau is a province inhabited for the most part by an Albanian population which today, as always, wishes to be united with Albania. . . . The only way for the Albanian people of Kosova and the Dukagim Plateau to be united with Albania is to fight together with the other peoples of Yugoslavia in the war against the bloodthirsty Nazi occupiers and those in their pay, because this is the only way to win the freedom.. to decide their own future through the right of self-determination up to secession."
'Resolution of 1st Conference of National Liberation Council for Kosova and Metohija', in: Enver Hoxha (1982): ibid.; p. 117).

        On the basis of this resolution, Albanian partisans assisted those of Yugoslavia in the armed struggle to liberate Yugoslav territory from German occupation.
        However, the leaders of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia were in fact, NOT MARXIST-LENINISTS, BUT REVISIONISTS. And the grouping which became dominant in the immediate post-war period was one REPRESENTING THE INTERESTS OF SERBIAN CAPITAL HEADED BY ALEKSANDER RANKOVICH.
In June 1948,

"The expulsion of Yugoslavia from the Cominform was announced";
('Keesing's Contemporary Archives', Volume 7; p. 9,381).
because of: "Deviations from Marxism-Leninism, of pursuing a policy of 'nationalism' and Trotskyism".('Keesing 's Contemporary Archives', Volume 7; p. 9,381).

        It was in accordance with this revisionist policy that, after the liberation of Yugoslavia, the leadership of the CPY reneged on the pledge of the Bujan Conference, and brought about the arbitrary:

"Inclusion of Kosova, the Dukagjin Plateau and other Albanian regions within the 'new federal Yugoslavia." (Enver Hoxha (1982): op. cit.; p. 120).

        and proceeded to continue the policies of the Yugoslav monarchy towards the ethnic Albanian population of Kosova. As the Marxist-Leninist leader of post-war Albania, Enver Hoxha, told Stalin in April 1949:

"The Tito clique is following the sane line and the same methods in Kosova and Macedonia as those used by their counterparts - King Aleksander and others in the past...The Belgrade clique . . . is using large-scale terror there, with mass deportations, arrests and forced labour, . . as well as expropriation."
(Enver Hoxha: 'With Stalin: Memoirs'; Tirana; 1979; p. 108).

        In November 1952:

"The CPY was renamed 'the League of Communists of Yugoslavia' (LCY)... A new Constitution was adopted in January 1953, with Tito becoming President of the Republic, a post which he held until his death in 1980".
('Europa World Year Book: 1997', Volune 2; op. cit.; p. 3,161).

(4) KOSOVA IN THE KARDELJ PERIOD
        In June 1966, a:

"Crisis inside the League of Communists was reported to have been brought to a head by the accidental discovery.. of a hidden microphone in President Tito's private apartments." ('Keesing 's Contemporary Archives', Volume 15; p. 21,567).

        Rankovich:

"As State Secretary for Internal Affairs from 1945-53 and President of the Committee for Internal Affairs from 1953-63 had been primarily responsible for the organisation of the security police (generally known as the UDBA)."
('Keesing' s Contemporary Archives', Volume 15; p. 21,567).

        So, in July 1966, Rankovich was expelled from the Executive Committee and Central Committee of the LCY, and:

"Subsequently resigned as Vice-President." ('Keesing's Contemporary Archives', Volume 15; p. 21,567).

        The investigation of the Yugoslav security services into this period:

"Revealed that particularly grave irregularities had occurred in two autonomous provinces of the Serbian Republic, Kosova.. and Vojvodina.. Allegations of persecution of the Albanian community in Kosmet (Kosova and Metohija -- Ed.) had been put forward by the Albanian Government in 1958".
('Keesing's Contemporary Archives', Volume 16; p. 21,805).

        After the dismissal of Rankovich, a revisionist grouping REPRESENTING THE INTERESTS OF NON-SERB CAPITAL became dominant. Its leading ideologist was
EDVARD KARDELJ and its interests and ideas were expressed in the Constitution adopted in 1974. This Constitution handed down a significant degree of power to:

"The six republics AND autonomous provinces (Vojvodina and Kosova). The confederal character of the constitution was further evidenced by the parity of all federal units.. The 1974 constitution did take the devolution of power and the empowerment of federal units to unparalleled heights".
(David A. Dyker & Ivan Vejvoda (Eds.): 'Yugoslavia and After: A Study in Fragmentation, Despair and Rebirth'; London; 1996; p. 15).

        Two years after the ousting of Rankovich, in 1968, LARGE-SCALE DEMONSTRATIONS TOOK PLACE IN KOSOVA demanding greater democracy, and these were seized upon by the Kardelj clique to force acceptance of:

"Some of the demands placed by demonstrators. They approved the use of the (Albanian - Ed.) national flag and establishment of a university'.
(Anon.: 'Republic of Kosova'; n.d.; n.p.; p. 29).
The University of Prishtina, providing higher education in the Albanian language, was established in 1970. ('World List of Universities and Other Higher Institutions of Education," New York; 1997; p. 1,124).

        The new dominant clique:

"Did not approve the status of a republic (for Kosova -- Ed.)" (Anon: op. cit.; p. 29).

But the constitutional changes which were adopted under the Kardelj regime:

"To a certain degree, limited Serbian competence over Kosova". (Anon: ibid.; p. 29).

        The adoption of the new constitution:

"Was followed by the formation of .. supreme courts, territorial defence, Albanians were engaged in police forces and army forces and many of them were even given General's ranks". (Anon.: ibid.; p. 29).

        It seemed that:

"Kosova was . . . in a new phase in its struggle to realise its long dreamt dream - the 'Republic of Kosova"'. (Anon.: ibid; p. 30).

(5) THE DISINTEGRATION OF YUGOSLAVIA
        But the multinational state of Yugoslavia, under the basically capitalist regime of the Kardelj period, was inherently unstable.
        As long ago as 1978 the Albanian Marxist-Leninist Enver Hoxha wrote:

"The Communist Party of Yugoslavia, from the very beginning, was not built on the bases and teachings of Marxism-Leninism. With each passing day it was becoming clearer that a socialist society of the Leninist type was not being built in Yugoslavia, but that capitalism was developing instead. How does the problem of nations and nationalities in Yugoslavia stand? The Yugoslav Federation inherited deep-rooted conflicts in this field.
Tito and the renegade Yugoslav clique around him did not develop a Marxist-Leninist national policy. . . . On the contrary.. this policy served to fuel the hatred and feuds among the nations and nationalities of Yugoslavia".
(Enver Hoxha: 'Yugoslav Self-Administration' - A Capitalist Theory and Practice', in: 'Selected Works', Volume 5; Tirana; 1985; p, 272, 274, 313-14).

        By the beginning of the 1990s, it was clear that the rise of national antagonisms between the constituent nations of this federal state had MADE THEIR RETENTION WITHIN A SINGLE STATE NO LONGER POSSIBLE.
        Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence in June 1991, Bosnia-Hercovina in April 1992, and Macedonia in November 1992. In April 1992, a new 'Federal Republic of Yugoslavia' was proclaimed, now composed only of Serbia and Macedonia.
(6) KOSOVA IN THE MILOSHEVICH PERIOD
         As, in the late 1980s, the old Yugoslav Federation approached disintegration, the Serbian capitalist class plotted to replace it with a new federation which they would dominate. SLOBODAN MILOSHEVICH:

"Became president of the Serbian League of Communists in 1984. . . . As a hardline party leader in the pre-perestroika mould",
(Melanie Perry: 'Chamber's Biographical Dictionary'; Edinburgh; 1997; p.1,286).

        He was:

"An unrepentant champion of a 'Greater Serbia', (Melanie Perry: ibid.; p. 1,286).

        WHICH WOULD INCORPORATE WITHIN ITS FRONTIERS ALL THOSE PARTS OF THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA WITH A SUBSTANTIAL SERB POPULATION.
        This did not mean that Miloshevich had the slightest sympathy for the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosova. On the contrary, HE HAD USED DEMAGOGIC ANTI-ALBANIAN RACISM AS A STEPPING STONE TO POWER. Miloshevich

"(himself of Kosovar origin) . . had undertaken a hard-line and on occasions an openly nationalist campaign for the extension of Serbia's rights over its provinces (i.e., over Kosova and Vojyodina)".
(Melanie Perry: ibid.; p. 34).

        In June 1987:

"Thousands of Serbs and Hontenegrins travelled from Kosova to Belgrade, where they staged a protest march". (
'Europa World Year Book: 1997', Volume 2; op. cit.; p. 3.661).

        and by these means, the grouping around Miloshevich was successful:

"In ousting Serbian leaders who did not share his views on this issue' "
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 34;p. 36,375).

        In October 1987, the Federal State Presidency imposed EMERGENCY MEASURES on Kosova,

"Including the despatch to the province of special federal police units and the effective suspension of the authority of the provincial police and judiciary".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 34; p. 36,795).

        And:

"The expulsion from the party of Mr. Fadili Hoxha, an influential (ethnic Albanian) Kosovar politician who had been a member of the federal collective state Presidency between 1974 and 1984".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 34; p. 36,795).

        In particular, during 1988 and 1989:

"Proposals to amend the Serbian Constitution to reduce the level of autonomy of the two regions (Kosova and Voivodina -- Ed.), were supported by regular demonstrations by Serbs".
('Europa World Year Book: 1997', Volume 2; op. cit.; p. 3,661).

        The ethnic Albanians of Kosova replied with counter-demonstrations, and in November 1988,

"An indefinite ban on all mass gatherings in Kosova was imposed".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 34; p. 36,622).

        In February 1989,

"The LCY central committee dismissed several members from its own ranks, including Azem Vlasi, the popular ethnic Albanian former LC leader in . . . Kosova".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 35; p. 36,470).

        In response, ethnic Albanian miners

"Began a protest strike in the Kosova town of Trepca". ('Keesing 's Record of World Events', Volume 35; p. 36,470).

        When, under this pressure, the president of the Kosova LCY, Rahman Morina, announced his resignation:

"The announcement prompted the Trepca miners to call off their strike. . The apparent capitulation of the Kosova IC leadership to the strikers prompted an immediate backlash by Serbs both in Kosova and in Serbia proper. On Feb. 28 an estimated 700,000 Serbian demonstrators massed outside the Federal Assembly building to protest against the Kosovar Albanians' 'chauvinism and separatism"; ('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 35; p. 36,470).
"Rioting continued.. when Vlasi was arrested in early March. Some 25 people were reported to have been killed during clashes with the police'.
('Europa World Year Book: 1997', Volume 2; op. cit.; p. 3,662).

        In March 1989, the Kosova Provincial Assembly:

"Endorsed changes to the Serbian Constitution which gave the Serbian central authorities control over the internal affairs of Kosova and Voivodina. . . . This reduction in autonomy gave rise to a wave of rioting". ('Keesing 's Record of World Events', Volume 35; p. 36,514).

        and later in the same month the:

"Ban on public protests in Kosova was reinforced to include restrictions on the movement of people into the proyince from other parts of Yugoslavia, and on the reporting and photographing of public protests and troop movements,"
('Keesing' s Record of World Events', Volume 35; p. 36,514).

        In April 1989:

"It was reported . . that the Yugoslav authorities were offering financial incentives to Serbs wanting to settle in Kosova".
('Keesing' s Record of World Events', Volume 35; p. 37,156).

        In May 1989, Miloshevich:

"was elected President of the Serbian State Presidency
('Europa World Year Book: 1997'. Volume 2; op. cit.; p. 3,662),

        and this position became the centre of his power base for the next few years. In January 1990:

"Violence erupted once again in . . . . Kosova. . . . Tens of thousands of Albanians in at least 12 Kosovar towns were involved in daily clashes with riot police which by the end of the month reportedly had left at least 27 people dead. A crowd of more than 10,000 ethnic Albanians gathered outside the provincial LC headquarters in the capital Prishtina. . . . After several hours, the crowd had swelled to around 40,000 people. Riot police used water-cannon and tear gas against those who ignored warnings to disperse."
('Keesing s Record of World Events', Volume 36; p. 37,173).

        In April 1990, Serbian President Slobodan Miloshevich:

"Declared that Serbia's own internal affairs secretariat had now taken over from the federal authorities in administering public security in the province (Kosova - Ed.)". ('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 36; p. 37,382).

        In May 1990:

"The Serbian leadership announced new proposals for constitutional amendments that would remove Kosova 's autonomy entirely".
('Europa World Year Book: 1996; Volume 2; op. cit.; p. 3,662).

        In June 1990, the 180-member Kosova Assembly was

"Summarily closed by the Serbian authorities";
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 36; p. 37,621).

        while the Serbian Assembly was:

"Empowered to take over the affairs of the Kosova Assembly and of other official bodies".,
('Keesing’s Record of World Events', Volume 36; p. 37,621).

        In July 1990, the Serbian League of Communists of Serba voted to form:

"A new political party to be known as the Serbian Socialist Party. Slobodan Miloshevich, the Serbian President and a former leader of the Serbian communists, was elected president of the new party",
('Keesing 's Record of World Events', Volume 36; p. 37,622).

        Also in July 1990:

"The Serbian Assembly voted .. To dissolve the Kosova Assembly permanently (and thereby dismiss the government), and to terminate the contracts of all Kosova parliamentary officials, transferring the Kosova bodies' responsibilities permanently to the Serbian parliament. The head of Kosova's radio and television services and the director-general of the influential Kosova newspaper 'Rilindja' (Renaissance - Ed.) were replaced. In the following days, .. thousands of workers responded to calls by ethnic Albanian leaders for a one-hour daily strike".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 36; p. 37,621).

        And in the same month,

"In a referendum conducted throughout Serbia, a majority of Serbs voted in favour of proposals for a new constitution for the republic... However, the Albanian majority in Kosova province protested that the proposed constitution would effectively strip Kosova of the special autonomous status conferred on it . . in the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution.. Only 25% of the Kosova electorate turned out to vote, most of them being Serbs";
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 36; p. 37,621).

(7) SERBIAN AGGRESSION AGAINST CROATIA
        The Yugoslav federal army had long been controlled by Serbia, and its officers were predominantly Serbs:

"The majority of officers (in the Yugoslav Federal Army - Ed.) are Serbs".
(Economist Intelligence Unit: 'Country Report: Yugoslavia', No, 1, 1991; p.5).

        Furthermore, Serbia was

"A major arms producer before the ending of the cold war."
('The Observer'' 18 April 1993; p. 18).

        and this large arms industry made Serbia well-equipped for aggressive war:

"The Serbs are endowed with an embarasssing wealth of heavy weapons and endless supplies of ammunition".
('The Guardian', 16 April 1993; p. 12).

        THE YUGOSLAV FEDERAL ARMY WAS THUS A READY-MADE INSTRUMENT TO TRY TO BRING ABOUT THE 'GREATER SERBIA' DESIRED BY THE SERB CAPITALIST CLASS.
        In mid-1991, therefore, SERB 'IRREGULARS', ARMED, SUPPLIED AND SUPPORTED BY THE YUGOSLAV FEDERAL ARMY, INVADED CROATIA.

As a result:
"By early September (1991 - Ed.) . . Croatia had lost almost one-third of its territory to Serbian nationalist forces, with whom the Serb-dominated Yugoslav National Army (JNA) was now openly identified".
('Keesing 's Record of World Events', Volume 37; p. 38,420).

        In December 1990, the Serbian occupation forces proclaimed the:

"Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina' within Croatia, comprising municipalities in Croatia with a 'majority Serb population
('Keesing 's Record of World Events', Volume 37; p. 38,163).

        and in April 1992, Krajina:

"Declared itself part of Serbia".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 37; p.38,275).

(8) SERBIAN AGGRESSION AGAINST BOSNIA
        Shortly after the proclamation of Bosnia's independence, the Serbs permitted the UN to arrange a CEASE-FIRE WITH CROATIA. In other words:

"As soon as the Serbs had had their territorial fill of Croatia, they used the United Nations to arrange a cease-fire. This enabled them to re-deploy in Bosnia".
('The Guardian', 22 December 1992; p. 125).

        Then:

"Serb troops, backed by the Yugoslav army, stormed into eastern Bosnia, capturing a string of . . . towns" ('The Guardian', 8 February 1992; p. 15).

        The Serbian aims were:

"To take over as much of the territory of Bosnia-Hercegovina as possible by military action and terror. It was launched in the summer of 1990 and is closely linked to Slobodan Miloshevich's Socialist Party of Serbia.... Their strategy has been to help local militia gain control of a maximum amount of this territory, to proceed with ‘ethnic cleansing’; this territory, and then to call in the UN and other international forces to separate the two sides, and finally for the 'ethnically cleansed' populations to vote to join the new Yugoslavia".
(Economist Intelligence Unit: 'Country Report: Yugoslav Republics', No. 2, 1992; p. 10, 12).

        In other words, the policy was aimed at THE MURDER OR EXPULSION OF NON-SERBS FROM 'GREATER SERBIA':

"General Radko MIadich, the former Yugoslav army officer, Greater Serbian nationalist and Bosnian Serb military chief . . is . . . one of the architects of the Serbian programme of 'ethnic cleansing', first on Croatia in 1991 and now on a much larger scale in his native Bosnia. The Miloshevich camp in Belgrade armed, organised and supplied the Bosnian Serbs. Over the next four months Gen Mladich's forces went on a rampage of killing, raping, looting and expelling Bosnia's Muslims from their homes".
('The Guardian', 14 April 1993; p. 8).
'The Observer' calls this 'ethnic cleansing' by its proper name -Serbian fascism".
('The Observer', 18 April 1993; p. 23).
        By mid-1992. Serbian forces had occupied 70% of Bosnia:

"The Serbs . . have overrun 70% of Bosnia in nine months of war".
('The Guardian’ 16 January 1993; p. 11).

         And in September 1992:

"The parliament of the self-proclaimed 'Serbian Republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina' . . . declared itself in favour of union with the ('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 38; p. 39,103).

(9) THE 'REPUBLIC OF KOSOVA'
        Rejecting the new constitutional proposals, in July 1990, a group of 110 delegates to the Kosova Assembly DECLARED KOSOVA TO HAVE REPUBLICAN STATUS WITHIN THE YUGOSLAV FEDERATION:

"A group of 114 ethnic Albanian delegates to the Kosova Assembly issued a statement . . in which they declared that Kosova was now independent of Serbia, and that it was instead a full constituent republic within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 36; p. 37,621).

        In September 1990. Serbia's new Constitution entered into force. It:

"Abolished almost completely the attributes of statehood which the . . . Yugoslav federal Constitution had granted to the provinces of Kosova and Vojvodina within the Serbian republic. The new constitution proclaimed the 'Republic of Serbia', dropping the adjective 'socialist’''.
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 36; p. 37,725).

        In response:

"A general strike brought Kosova virtually to a standstill".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 36; p. 37,725).
It was:
"Called to protest against the mass dismissals of ethnic Albanian officials".
('Europa World Year Book: 1997', Volume 2; op. cit.; p. 3,662).
In the same month:
"The Kosova Provincial Assembly . . . was re-formed unilaterally by 111 of its . . . deputies at a secret session . . . in the village of Kacanik. . . Serbia immediately declared the proclamation illegal . . and the Prishtina public prosecutor's office announced that criminal charges would be brought against those Assembly deputies involved".
        Also in September 1990, Serbia's repression of the Kosovar Albanians was:

"Condemned by the minority leader in the United States, Senator Robert Dole, following his visit to Prishtina at the head of a delegation of US Republican congressmen";
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 36; p. 36,726).

        In September 1991, 6,000 Albanian teachers were:

"Threatened with dismissal for refusal to comply with the Serbian curriculum. . . . The Serbian authorities were also preventing 350.000 Albanian pupils and students from re-entering school because they had followed an Albanian curriculum". ('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 37; p. 38,420-42l).

        In October 1991, the Kosova Assembly (illegally, according to the Serbian authorities):

"Organised a referendum . . . on sovereignty for the . province of Kosova, and proceeded . . . to elect a provisional coalition government headed by Bujar Bukoshi. .The referendum was reported as recording an 87.01% turnout and 99.87% approval for sovereignty for Kosova".
('Keesing 's Record of World Events', Volume 37; p. 38,513).

        In May 1992:

"Elections were held in Kosova . . to a 130-member provincial assembly. The 'Democratic Alliance of Kosova' (DAK) secured most seats in the elections (which were declared illegal by the Serbian authorities) and their leader, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, was elected 'President' of the self-proclaimed 'Republic of Kosova'. However, Serbian security forces prevented the assembly from holding its inaugural session"
('Europa World Year Book: 1997', Volume 2; op. cit.; p. 3,663).

        In June 1992, Serbian troops:

"Surrounded the building and arrested several deputies".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 38; p. 38,970).

        In July 1992, the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Dobrica Cosich:

"Nominated Serbian-born US businessman Milan Panich as Federal Prime Minister";
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 38; p. 39,013).

        In August 1992, Prime Minister Panich:

"Revoked the state of emergency in Kosova, which had been in effect since the unrest of 1989-90".
('Europa World Year Book: 1997', Volume 2; op. cit.; p. 3,663).

        He emphasised, however:

"That he was not yet proposing any withdrawal of federal troops from the province
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 38; p. 39,037).

        In October 1992, Federal Prime Minister Panich:

"Visited the Kosova capital Prishtina . . . for talks with Ibrahim Rugova . . . on the rights of ethnic Albanians. Panich's visit followed two days of clashes in Prishtina . . . between police and unarmed Albanians demanding the right to education in the Albanian language and the reopening of Albanian schools".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 38; p. 39,150).

        Also in October 1992:

"In what appeared to be an attempt by his power, Serbian police led by Nihail Kertes, one of Miloshevichs aides, seized and retained control of the FRY Belgrade".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 38; p. 39,150).

        In May-June 1993.

"a group of more than 20 writers and journalists staged a hunger strike.. in protest against censorship and against restrictions on Albanian language publishing".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 39; p. 39,518).

In August 1993:

"Tension rose... in Kosova, with numerous reports of beatings, house searches and arrests, including searches of party offices."
('Keesing’s Record of World Events', Volume 39; p. 39,606).

        In the same month, the UN Security Council:

"called on the Yugoslav government to reconsider its decision not to allow the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) to continue its monitoring work in Kosova";
('Keesing’s Record of World Events', Volume 39; p. 39,606).

        In September 1993, the Yugoslav government:

"Ordered the closing of the 58 secondary schools and 21 of the 350 elementary schools in the Albanian language".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 39; p. 39,646).

        In November 1993, at the inaugural conference of the Serbian (SSJ), paramilitary commander Zeliko Raznjatovich ('Arkan'):

"Threatened that if he secured a seat in Kosova, Albanian nationalists would be expelled".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 39; p. 39,745).

        In elections to the Serbian legislature in December 1993:

"Less than nine-tenths of the 1,000,00 strong Kosova electorate was reported to have voted".
('Keesing’s Record of World Events', Volume 39; p. 39,785).

        In February 1994, Ibrahim Rugova:

"Met US President Bill Clinton ..during a visit to the USA".
('Keesing’s Record of World Events', Volume 40; p. 39,872).

        In the same month, the Serbian authorities in Kosova announced

"The immediate closure of the 'Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosova'. The Academy had continued to function despite its official abolition in 1992".
('Keesing s Record of World Events', Volume 40; p. 39,872).

        In December 1994,

"In the largest wave of arrests since 1990 in the . . province of Kosova, Serbian police detained 170 ethnic Albanian former policemen".
('Keesing’s Record of World Events', Volume 40; p. 40,327).

(10) INSTABILITY IN SERBIA PROPER
        In early June 1996:

"Several new appointments to the Serbian Government were carried out. All the new ministers appointed were members of the increasingly influential 'Yugoslav United left'(YUL),led by Miriana Markovich, the wife of President Miloshevich".
('Europa World Year Book: 1997', Volume 2; op. cit.; p. 3,664).

        Municipal elections in Serbia in November 1996 were contested by an anti-Miloshevich coalition 'Zajedno' (Together) and:

"Provisional results . . . indicated that 'Zajedno' had gained control over 14 principal towns, including Belgrade. . . . However, most of the opposition victories were annulled by (SPS-dominated) municipal courts and electoral commissions. Mass demonstrations in protest at the Government 's refusal to recognise the results of the municipal elections were subsequently staged by students and other 'Zajedno' supporters in Belgrade".
('Europa World Year Book: 1997', Volume 2; op. cit.; p. 3,664).

        The demonstrations quickly became general:

"protests against the regime of Serbian President Miloshevich. The demonstrations were the largest witnessed since . . . March 1991".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 42; p. 41,414).

        and by December 1996 developed:

"Into violent clashes between protestors and members of the security forces in Belgrade. It was reported that two people had been killed and a further 58 injured".
('Europa World Year Book: 1997', Volume 2; op. cit.; p. 3,665).

        Subsequently:

"The Ministry of Internal Affairs..ordered a ban on demonstrations, which the security forces attempted to enforce; nevertheless, anti-government rallies continued".
('Europa World Year Book: 1997', Volume 2; op. cit.; p. 3,665).

        At the end of December 1996:

"A delegation from 'the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe' (OSCE)' issued a report upholding the results of municipal elections that had been invalidated". ('Europa World Year Book: 1997', Volume 2; op. cit.; p. 3,665).

        In late December 1996:

"Reports in the Western press suggested that Miloshevich was becoming increasingly isolated".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 42; p. 41,415).

        In January 1997, for example:

"The Serbian Orthodox Church (which had hitherto supported Milosevich) issued a statement urging him to acknowledge the results of the municipal elections";
('Europa World Year Book: 1997', Volume 2; op. cit.; p. 3,665).

        Throughout January 1997:

"mass protests against the regime of Serbian President Slobodan Miloshevich continued. Students continued to hold daily rallies in Belgrade (the capital) throughout January, despite an Interior Ministry ban on marches".
('Keesing's Record of World Events', Volume 42; p. 41,454).

4. Faced with this unexpected and despicable behind-the-scenes activity, members of the Central Organising Committee and the three deputy chairman of this Committee reacted immediately and did everthing in their power to correct this fractional step with its dangerous consequences for the unity of the CPA and its very existence. However, Hysni Milloshi, either at his own wishes or on advice from outside the Party, refused to return. Precisely for this reason, a letter was sent to all organisations and committees of the Party with the aim of clarifying the situation, correcting errors made, and assisting the communists to re-establish the unity so severely and treacherously damaged.
5. With the aim of re-establishing the unity destroyed by the obstinacy and shamelessness of Hysni Milloshi, the majority of the members of the Central Organising Committee decided that the activity of this legal forum should be continued, without interrupting for a moment efforts to resolve the differences, to unify all communists in a single Marxist-Leninist Party, and to convoke a Congress of the CPA at which a Programme, Constitution and political line of the Party could be approved and a legitimate leadership elected. In all the many initiatives which the Central Organising Committee has undertaken without the participation of Hysni Milloshi and some of his supporters, it has had the approval of the overwhelming majority of communists in the four corners of the country.
6. In the conditions created after the elections of 29 June 1997, efforts for reunification have continued through discussions. Up to the end of April of this year, the Central Organising Committee has undertaken more than twenty initatives with the aim of re-restablishing Party unity. Towards these initiatives, Hysni Milloshi has maintained a dishonest, fraudulent stance. On not a few occasions he has welcomed them, has agreed to discussions and to deadlines for a reply. But each time he has cheated and given proof of his determination to travel further along the road of splitting and sabotage of the communist movement in Albania, while putting forward the bourgeois-imperialist view that the existence of 'several communist parties' is acceptable. It would seem that he is obsessed with the position of 'Chairman', the undeserved title he has adopted which has brought him not few benefits at a time when genuine communists were suffering in the prison cells of Berisha's dictatorship.
7. After the failure of all attempts at reunification, the Central Organising Committee decided unanimously to cease further attempts at discussions with Hysni Milloshi,to call on communists, organisations and committees of the PCA to distance themselves from his splitting and sabotaging activity, not to fall into bourgeois-imperialist trap of 'several communist parties', and to be vigilant.
8. The participants in the meeting of the Central Organising Committee expressed their determination to take without wavering the road taken up to now to build the CPA, to broaden its activities and increase the influence of communists in the social and political life of the country.
        In the framework of this task and this perspective, work will be done to clarify further the views and positions of Hysni Milloshi, analysing in detail, with facts, documents and serious arguments the mistakes and faults in his practical activity and in the ideological and political positions which he has held and holds.
        The communists, organisations and committees of the CPA, as in the evaluation of every phenomenon, must begin from the difficult situation through which Albania is passing, must hold on high the flag of the nation and the people, and make the Communist Party, as the people want, a vanguard force in the struggle for national sovereignty and independence, for people’s democracy and social equality.
CENTRAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF ALBANIA.
Tirana, 3 May, 1998.