Dole Letter to Lord Peter Carrington
BOB DOLE
KANSAS
United States Senate
OFFICE OF THE REPUBLICAN LEADER
WASHINGTON. DC 20510-7020
September 6, 34991
His Excellency Lord Pater Carrington
Leader ot the Conference on Yugoslavia
Brussels
Your Lordship;
I am deeply concerned about the tragic situation in Yugoslavia, I commend you for your leadership of the European Community-sponsored conference on Ywjonlavia. All Americans join in the hope that the negotinione thfl you will lead in Brussels will make real progresa toward ending the bloodahud in Croatia and beginning the unrch for a lasting resolution of Yugoslavia?s complex political situation.
At the same time, I am disturbed that there appears to be no current intention to include representatives of Yugoslavia?s large Albanian community in the Brussels talks, As you know, Albanians represent the third largest group in Yugoslavia There can be no lasting agreements on the future of Yugoslavia unless Albanian rights are tully protected, and Albanian interests fully And fairly taken into Account. It is hard indeed, impossible to see how that can be done if tha Albanian community is not represented at the talks.
I understand that seating An Albanian delegation might spark demands that other groups should also be represented e.g., the Serbians of Croatia. But, candidly, that argument simply won?t wash. The constitution of Yugoslavia acknowledges that XOsofl has a special statue that of an aflonoaoue province. The Yugoslav Federal Presidency has a representative from Kosova, reflecting that autonomous status (though, I would hasten to add, that representative is in fact a ?puppet? of the Serbian Government and would not be an acceptable representative for Albanian intsroats in Brussels), It would seem reasonable for the Brussels conierence to utilize that same ?6 plus 2? tormulatton with separate representatives from the six republics and the two dutonomoun provinces.
but far more is at stake here than Just legalities. The hard reality is that Kosova is a tinderbox, that could go up in flames at mass violence and mass slaughter at any time. Years of Serbian repression have made the people of Kosova not second, but third or fourth clan citizens, in their own country, Moreover, concomitant with its aggression against Croatia, Serbia ha launched & new and even more severs crackdown in Kosova, If the people at Kosova now also see themselves as “shut out” from the negotiating procecs in Brussels, fears that their interests are being dealt away in an effort to solve Yugoslavia?s other problems will inevitably grow. No one can predict the outcome.
So I would ask you to seriously consider the following proposals :
That a legitimate representative of Kosova be included in the Brussels talks. One obvious choice would be Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, who is the acknowledged leader of the human rights movement in Kosova,
It you conclude that, theae considerations to the contrary notwithstanding, it is not possible now to formally include a Kosova representative at the talks, that at a minimum you and Foreign Minister van Den Broek meat with Dr. Rugova.
That the European Community form observer groups to visit Kosova, beginning immediately, to monitor and report on the human rights and humanitarian conditions there.
The bottom line, Your Lordship, is that a “solution” to the Yugoslav problem that does not take into account the Albanians will be no solution at all. Any such phony solution will not produce lasting peace, but simply set off a new and even more bloody round of unrest.
In closing, let me again express my admiration for your willinngness to lead the Brussels negotiations and my best wishes tot the success of those critical talks.
sincerely yours,
BOB DOLE
United States Senate