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and the "occupation", "annexation" (http://www.hri.org/news/agencies/kosovo/96-07-02.ksv.html), and industries, |
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In [[1974]], new constitution of Yugoslavia was passed, under which Kosovo enjoyed almost complete self-government under predominantly Albanian local communist party leaders. For example, schools had the same curriculum and textbooks as in Albania under [[Enver Hoxha]], even after they were dropped from Albania's school system. In [[1989]], the autonomy was revoked by referendum which implemented a new, more democratic, Serbian constitution, following discrimination against Serbs. Albanians refused to participate in the referendum, however their participation would not have changed the outcome of the referendum.
After constitutional changes, parliaments of all Yugoslavian republics and provinces, which until then had MPs only from the [[Communist Party of Yugoslavia]], were dissolved and multi-party elections were held for them. Kosovo Albanians refused to participate in the elections and held their own, unsanctioned elections instead. As election laws required (and still require) turnout higher then 50%, parliament of Kosovo could not be established. As new constitution took away the right of having official media from provinces, official media were integrated within official media of Serbia. The media still had program in [[Albanian language]] however, and as the constitution made creating privately-owned media possible, privately-owned Albanian media appeared; of these, probably the most famous is "Koha ditore", which operated until late [[1998]] when it was closed following publishing 1999 calendar with KLA iconography and glorification. New constitution also gave control over state-owned companies (at the time, most of the companies were state-owned and ''[[de jure]]'' they still are) to Serbian government, so new non-communist government fired old communist (mostly Albanian) directors and some of those who stayed have quit, refusing to work for Serbian government.
The Albanian curriculum and textbooks were revoked, and new made. The curriculum was (and still is, as that is the curriculum used for Albanians in Serbia outside Kosovo) basically the same as Serbian and that of all other nationalities in Serbia except that it had education on and in [[Albanian language]]. New textbooks were (still are) basically the same as those in Serbian, except that they were in Albanian language. Albanians however were displeased with it and refused to send their children to schools in which they would be educated in the new system.
Following outbreaks of inter-communal violence, in February [[1990]], a state of emergency was declared,
Kosovo Albanians were outraged by these developments. Unsanctioned elections held in [[1992]], overwhelmingly elected [[Ibrahim Rugova]] as "president", however these elections were not recognised neither by Serbian nor any foreign government. In [[1995]], thousands of Serb refugees from [[Croatia]] settled in Kosovo, which further worsened relations between the two communities.
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The KLA repeatedly attacked Serbian police. In March 1998 Yugoslav army units joined Serbian police to fight the KLA separatists. In the months that followed, hundreds of people were killed and more than 200,000 have fled from their homes, most of these people were Albanians. Some media have reported that many Albanian families told of being forced to flee their homes at gunpoint.
The [[United Nations]] estimated that during the Kosovo War, nearly 640,000 Albanians fled Kosovo between March 1998 and the end of April 1999. Most of the refugees went to [[Albania]], the [[Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia]], or [[Montenegro]].
[[Slobodan Milosevic]] and other senior Serb officials were indicted by the United Nations for [[war crime]]s commited by Serb forces in Kosovo. There were no indictments of [[NATO]] and [[KLA]] officials.
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== Geography ==
<div style="float:right;
text-align:center;">[[Image:UTkosovo rel smaller 92.jpg|Map of Kosovo]]<br>[[Media:UTKosovo rel small 92.jpg|Larger version]]</div>
With an area of [[1 E10 m2|10,887]] [[square kilometre|km<sup>2</sup>]] and a population of almost 2 million on the eve of the 1999 crisis, Kosovo borders with [[Montenegro]] to the northwest, rest of [[Serbia]] to the north and east, the [[Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia]] to the south and [[Albania]] to the southwest. The largest cities are [[Prishtina|Priština]], the capital, with 190,000 inhabitants, and [[Prizren]] in the southwest with 120,000: five other towns have populations in excess of 50,000.
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