Old articles about Kosovo

Articles written when Kosovo was not famous...

Background material about Kosovo, especially the material disseminated by mainstream channels, is deficient in many aspects, but perhaps the most startling feature of many such articles is the singular way of examining the history of the region. We are told that Kosovo is the cradle of Serbian nation and we learn about the battle of 1389 and then, in most articles, with a gigantic leap that would make envious any athlete, the article strides 600 years later, in 1989, when the Kosovo autonomy was rescinded by Milosevic. What happened during these 600 years, pray tell? Or, at least, what happened during the last few years before 1989?

It is now difficult to write about the recent past of Kosovo without taking into account the war which is raging just now. So, it occurred to me that if I managed to find articles written in the 80s, when Kosovo was not famous, at least these would be free of any bias due to the later events.

A good friend who is also a wizard in database searching undertook the task and here is the fruit of his labours, a bunch of older articles about Kosovo. Be warned, the articles were not written for posterity. These were run-of-the-mill, "boring" articles about contemporary events. But perhaps here lies their interest, for they present the situation without any make-up. Anyway, here they are...

N.S.

Ass.Press: Minorities leaving Yugoslav province dominated by Albanians (1981)

CSM: Kosovo sparking a Yugoslav purge? (1981)

CSM: Kosovo - Marble sidewalks but troubled industries (1981)

Economist: Yugoslavia's home-grown bother (1981)

NYT: A storm has passed, others are gathering (1981)

WP: Emergency steps in face of ethnich disturbance (1981)

FoF: Serbs in Kosovo exodus (1982)

FT: Kosovo riots jolt the regions (1982)

FT: Police in Kosovo (1982)

NYT: Yugoslavs seek to quell strife (1982)

BBC: Serbian Presidency discusses emigration from Kosovo (1985)