RUSSIAN BRIDES

News - Europe diary: Kosovo ghosts

On a hillside surrounded by snow-capped mountains, I am looking at the graves of those who died fighting for the Kosovo Liberation Army. A portrait of a young man in uniform is etched into the shiny marble head stone of each one, an Albanian flag flutters above every grave. The last person who lies here was killed only six years ago, the oldest grave is just 11 years old.

The little square in the part of Mitrovica where the Serbs live is rather run-down - paving stones cracked and the water in the fountain dribbles rather than jets. But the bunches of bright yellow flowers next to the tattered pictures of the young soldiers tell the same story of grief that has not had time to fade.

It was to stop the killing of Albanians who make up nearly 90% of Kosovo’s population that Nato fought its last European war. Now the US and Britain believe that speed is of the essence in making Kosovo independent.

They say too much delay would frustrate Albanians and increase tensions here, whereas a clear-cut solution will be grudgingly accepted even by those who resent it.

REFUGEE WORRIES

Durgut Shaqiri has a sharp haircut and a snazzy snakeskin jacket. He does not have a particularly military bearing, but he’s showing me around Veliki Trnovac the village in southern Serbia he fought to defend just a few years ago.

He’s an Albanian and fought to stop Serb police and troops going into the village. More than 60 men died there, on the rather nondescript road surrounded by fields. He says that Kosovo has to become independent and that when it is, it will be a force of stability in the Balkans.

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