What would a patriot do?

I have no way of knowing who is responsible for a series of incidents in Kosovo targeting Serbs.  What I do know is that whoever does these things is no patriot.

There is, as usual, some background here.  The removal last week of a monument to fallen Albanian insurgents against the Milosevic regime* that had been erected in the southern Serbian town of Presevo has angered Albanians in Kosovo, including some who have sought refuge in Kosovo from police harassment in Presevo.  It was foolish of the Serbian government to bother about the monument, but it was smart enough not to destroy it.  Instead it is said to have taken it to Belgrade, as evidence in a court case.

Someone in Kosovo seems to think the right response is violence against Serbs and Serb property.  That is not just foolish but positively counter-productive, as it will be taken by some as proof that Albanians aren’t civilized and don’t belong in Europe.  It would be far wiser for those concerned to protest peacefully and prepare to argue their case in Serbia’s courts.  The right response in Kosovo is for the government to arrest those responsible and charge them.  Impunity for crimes against Serbs besmirches the Kosovo state and reduces its claim to being just.

People in Kosovo might also give a bit of thought to their own monuments, which tend to glorify Albanian history in general and the Kosovo Liberation Army specifically.  We are all entitled to our heroes, but a bit of sensitivity to the other side in a war now almost 15 years past is in order.  After all, the Presevo Albanians were asking that the Serbian government put up with a monument to insurgents who had killed Serbs.  Where in Kosovo can I find monuments to Serbs?  This may be asking too much, but at the very least Kosovo Albanians need to respect Serb cemeteries and leave them undisturbed.

That’s what a patriot would do.

*PS, added January 24:  This is inaccurate and misleading.  The Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac was active also under the democratic regime that came after Milosevic’s fall in October 2000.