THE BETRAYAL OF THE KOSOVARS

A JOINT STATEMENT OF THE NCMLU (BRITAIN)

AND ALLIANCE MARXIST-LENINIST (NORTH AMERICA)

Related pages:

Kosova. Genocide In Kosova! The US-Led Imperialist Aggression in the Balkans.

Introduction

Two months ago, at the beginning of the NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, the National Committee for Marxist-Leninist Unity in Britain issued a statement entitled 'Genocide in Kosova'.

This statement condemned the bombing campaign, expressed doubts that aerial bombardment alone could achieve its objective, and supported the view of Malcolm Harper, Director of the United Nations Association in Britain, that a resolution of the crisis required joint diplomatic action with Russia.

On 3 June 1999, following the presentation to Miloshevich of a jointly brokered peace package by Viktor Chernomyrdin representing Russia and Martti Ahtisari, of Finland, representing the European Union,

" . . . the Serbian parliament voted 136-74 in favour of the peace plan', (Independent, 4 June 1999; p1).

Betrayal by NATO

One can, of course, only welcome the fact that, under the June accord, NATO's aerial bombardment of Serbia seems likely to end within days. But this has come about, not as a result of a NATO military victory, but primarily as a consequence of a modification of NATO demands so as to make them more acceptable to the Miloshevich regime. And one can, of course, only welcome the agreement,
" . . . to facilitate the safe return of displaced individuals and refugees to their homes', (Text of Peace Terms for Kosova accepted by the Serbian Parliament, in: Times, 4 June 1999; p2).

But to what will these people be returning now that Serbian troops and NATO bombs have combined to turn their homeland into a desert?

In particular, while it is obvious that :

" . . .the reality is that independence, under the trusteeship of the UN, is the only settlement which corresponds to needs and facts", (Neal Acherson, in: Observer, 6 June 1999; p22),

the June accord

" . . . will allow the Yugoslav President to proclaim a victory of sorts", (Independent, 4 June 1999 p2).

" . . .enjoy meaningful autonomy within the FRY (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) . . . with full consideration of the . . . principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the FRY". (Independent, 4
June 1999; p2).

The Albanian delegation to the peace talks in Rambouillet in March:

" . . . had sought a clear promise of an independence referendum", (Financial Times, 16 March 1999; p3).

but in order to secure and international agreement, they

" . . . settled for an international meeting' to be held after three years of autonomy to determine a mechanism for a final solution to Kosova on the basis of the will of the people'"; and other factors" (Financial Times, 16 March 1999; p3).

But even this vague formulation has disappeared from the June accord:

"This accord is better for the Serbs in that there is no mention of a referendum in three years' time, the clause in Rambouillet which would have inevitably led to independence", (Observer, 6 June 1999; p18).

So, when the international peacekeeping force withdraws from Yugoslavia as some day it eventually must, under the June 1999 agreement the people of Kosova will be once again be at the mercy of the Belgrade racists, to be dealt with as a purely internal problem'.

Betrayal by the Revisionist 'Communists'

That the people of a small country like Kosova should be betrayed by imperialists, whether they be American, British or Russian, will surprise nobody!

But this betrayal has been compounded by some people who call themselves Communists', Marxist-Leninists'.

For the Marxist-Leninist position on the self determination of nations is absolutely clear:

"The right of nations to self-determination . . . this is the national programme that Marxism, the experience of the whole world, and the experience of Russia, teaches the workers". (Vladimir I. Lenin: On the Right of Nations to Self-Determination', in: Selected Works, Volume 4, London 1943, p293).

And Lenin makes very clear precisely what this right of self-determination means:

"The right of nations to self-determination means only the right to independence in a political sense, the right to free, political secession from the oppressing nation. Concretely, this political, democratic demand implies complete freedom to carry on agitation in favour of secession, and freedom to settle the question of secession by means of a referendum of the nation that desires to secede". (Vladimir I. Lenin: The Socialist Revolution and the Right of Nations to Self-Determination', in: Selected Works', Volume 5, London 1935; p270).

Clearly, with regard to the remaining rump of Yugoslavia the question is: does the community of Kosova form a nation separate from Serbia with the right of self determination or is it a part of the nation of Serbia?

Stalin, the leading Marxist-Leninist authority on the national question, is explicit on this point:

"A national community is inconceivable without a common language, while a state need not have a common language". (Josef V. Stalin: Marxism and the National Question', in: Works'.volume 2, Moscow
1953, p304).

But it is unarguable that Serbs speak the Serbo-Croat language, while Kosovars speak the Albanian language. In other words, they constitute different nations, each with the right of secession.

Revisionists are people who claim to be Marxist-Leninists, but in reality put forward a policy which fundamentally distorts Marxism-Leninism so as to serve the interests of a capitalist class. It is revisionists who succeeded in destroying the socialist Soviet Union and the international communist movement. It is revisionists who are now working in every country to disrupt the building of genuine Marxist-Leninist parties and a Marxist-Leninist International.

On the question of Kosova, the revisionists argue that Kosova is not a nation because it forms at present part of the Serbian and Yugoslav states.

In the late 1920s, some members of the Soviet Opposition attempted to revise the Marxist-Leninist principles of the national question to assert that, in order to constitute a nation, a community must possess
its own national state.

Stalin's response was decisive:

"You . . . propose that the four characteristics of a nation be supplemented by a fifth, namely, that a nation possesses its own separate national state. You consider that there is not and cannot be a nation unless this fifth characteristic is present.

I think that the scheme you propose, with its new, fifth characteristic of the concept nation', is profoundly
mistaken and cannot be justified either theoretically or in practice, politically.

According to your scheme, only such nations are to be recognised as nations as have their own state, separate from others, whereas all oppressed nations which have no independent statehood would have to be deleted from the category of nations; moreover, the struggle of the oppressed nations against national oppression and the struggle of the colonial peoples against imperialism would have to be excluded from the concept national movement' and national liberation movement'. . . .

In practice, politically, your scheme inevitably leads to the justification of national, imperialist oppression, whose exponents emphatically refuse to recognise as real nations oppressed and unequal nations which
have no separate national state of their own, and consider that this circumstance gives them the right to oppress these nations. . .

That is how matters stand with regard to supplementing' and amending' the Russian Marxist theory of the nation.

Only one thing remains, and that is to admit that the Russian Marxist theory of the nation is the only correct theory". (Josef V. Stalin: The National Question and Leninism', in: Works', Volume 11, Moscow 1954, p348-49, 350).

Since, according to theses revisionist, there is 'no Kosovar nation', there can be no genuine Kosovar national liberation movement, and what passes for such must be an artificial creation'. Thus, according to the 'Morning Star', organ of the revisionist Communist Party of Britain', the Kosova national liberation movement is one of mere

". . . separatists". (Morning Star, 26 March 1999, p7).

while the Kosova National Liberation Army is characterised as

" . . .an irregular armed force, . . organised and financed from outside the country".

(Morning Star, 24 March 1999, p2).

If this is meant to imply that the KLA is organised and financed by imperialist powers, as some revisionists allege more frankly, other sources interpret the situation very differently:

"A secret NATO report obtained by the Sunday Times' has shown that the KLA has been successfully arming itself to the teeth, buying weapons around the world with proceeds arising from an independence tax' levied on Albanians abroad". (Sunday Times, 6 June 1999, p20).

Furthermore, a key point in the June 1999 agreement is

" . . . the demilitarisation of the KLA" (Text of Peace Terms for Kosova accepted by the Serb parliament, in: Times, 4 June 1999, p2).

The use in the accord of the term demilitarisation' rather than the term disarming' allows the KLA to hope, for the time being, that it

" . . can retain its weapons under another form". (Sunday Times, 6 June 1999, p21).

But whatever the interpretation which NATO ultimately places on this ambiguous wording, sooner or later the objective need of the Kosovar people for genuine independence will assert itself in the form of the outbreak of armed struggle, and this will bring the freedom fighters of Kosova -- whatever name they may then call themselves -- in conflict with both Serbia and NATO.

CONCLUSION

Some revisionists argue: How can you accuse us of being revisionists, of distorting Marxism-Leninism so as to serve a capitalist class, when we opposed the NATO bombing of Kosova?

But one does not need to be a Marxist-Leninist to oppose action which is clearly contrary to international law.

Opposition to the NATO bombing campaign gives the revisionists a left-wing mask from behind which to support a future military police action' against the freedom fighters of Kosova.

The aspirations of the people of Kosova are being betrayed, and the revisionists are accomplices in this betrayal.

THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR MARXIST-LENINIST UNITY (BRITAIN)

ALLIANCE MARXIST-LENINIST (NORTH AMERICA)

June 8th 1999.

 

Footnote:

Opportunists within the eGroup 'Marxist-Leninist-List' some time ago expelled a number of Communists whom they dishonestly claimed held 'pro-imperialist' views.

As this statement, issued at the time of the NATO agression, demonstrates, the Communists they expelled had opposed the NATO aggression!

A number of these opportunists later abandoned the Marxist-Leninist movement and joined the social-democratic SLP.

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