Conspiracy and blackmail mentioned as people leave Kosovo

Conspiracy and blackmail mentioned as people leave Kosovo

PRISTINA, BELGRADE, BRUSSELS -- In only two months between 50,000 and 120,000 ethnic Albanians have left Kosovo in a wave migration to western European countries.

Among them are at least 6,000 elementary school students, according to reports.

While Belgrade is merely monitoring the events rather than talking about the reasons behind the exodus, historians based in Kosovo say that in the past, "the reasons for emigration were different," while now Kosovo is being "mercilessly emptied, making the overall situation alarming and with unpredictable consequences."

Professor Hakif Bajrami fears that there is "some secret agreement of world powers" behind this mass exodus of Albanians from Kosovo.

Bajrami spoke for the public broadcaster RTK and urged the authorities "to find the strength and stop this exodus."

Demographics professor Rifat Blaku says the migration wave will have "terrible consequences." "This is a tectonic shift for the Albanians in Kosovo," he told the Pristina media.

Meanwhile, "Kosovo's secret service" has been quoted as presenting data to the assembly in Pristina that showed that more than 50,000 Albanians recently left Kosovo.

The local media in Pristina are commenting on "the very strange and unacceptable" behavior of the political leaders, who - except for Ramush Haradinaj, "who recently started to cry at a bus station when he saw the mass of his fellow citizens fleeing Kosovo" - do not attempt halt the trend and "with that give people at least a little hope."

These reports conclude that the politicians' behavior can be explained by their "fear of facing the mass of people leaving Kosovo."

Some media...