Kosovo confusing?

We are witnessing lately a flood of articles on the subject of Yugoslavia, Serbia and Serbia's southern province Kosovo and Metohia. The one that has triggered me to respond was Kosovo: Another chance for Yugoslavia to confuse the world (The Jakarta Post, March 23).

It might be a good start to "unconfuse" the author, Bernhard Kueppers, and at least a part of the world -- The Jakarta Post readers -- by making the terminology clear.

Firstly, "Kosovo" in this and many other articles refers to Serbia's province of Kosovo and Metohia (the province's administratively and geographically correct name, since it comprises these two regions). Compare this to colloquially adopted term "Bosnia" for Bosnia and Herzegovina, that included Herzegovias in Bosnians as a consequence. This would be similar to referring to the Irish as English.

Which leads me to a second term: Kosovar. This is the Albanized version of an originally Serb term Kosovac, and it means a person from Kosovo. It certainly cannot and must not be used as Kosovar Albanians, as Kueppers did. It should be simply: Kosovo's Albanians. That is, of course, if author doesn't not want to further confuse the world; which he does, by introducing "the Serbian Albanian province of Kosovo". Which is not only linguistical but also political nonsense comparable to a German French province of Bavaria.

The author further suggests that the problem of this Serbian Albanian province of Kosovo, and I quote: "...should be taken out of the narrow Serbian framework and placed in the larger frame of Yugoslav federal republic..." which would make it what -- the Serbian Albanian Yugoslav province of Kosovo?

Terminology aside, Kueppers is confusing the solution for Kosovo's problems with the creation of (one more) Albanian republic in the Balkans, this time in Kosovo and Metohia. Kueppers generously places this would-be republic in the Yugoslav federation (at least for the time being) but clearly outside the "narrow Serbian frame". Even if it was legally possible, which it is not both by Yugoslav and Serbian as well as international laws, Albanians already have a republic. Albania Kosovo's ethnic Albanians also have a republic, Serbia.

There are facts of life that make Kosovo's ethnic Albanians an ethnic minority. This entitles them as Yugoslavs and Serbians to a normal standard of human and civil rights at an equal level enjoyed by the rest of Yugoslavs and Serbians. It also entitles them to a special body of minority rights. But it also includes the right to a republic.

Kosovo's problem is not whether to be a republic or monarchy. It is, however, a problem of democracy, multiethnicity and quality of life in general, both in Kosovo and in all of Serbia.

Kueppers failed to see this. Let's hope that the Contact Group doesn't. What Yugoslavia now needs is not more sanctions and poverty, nor do Yugoslavs need to be held hostage collectively again. Yugoslavs (ethnically Serbs, Montenegrins, Albanians, Hungarians) do need some real help to stay and live together.

BRANIMIR SALEVIC

Tangerang, West Java