Bob Doll, the angel Gabriel of Kosovo

Bob Doll, the angel Gabriel of Kosovo

This situation was almost created by dictator Slobodan Milosevic, to whom later, on Christmas Day 1992, George Bush Senior threatened that if he descended on Kosovo for war purposes – something he was already doing in the north of the former Yugoslavia – the Americans would be there to protect Albanians and others threatened by Milosevic. The first herald of this warning was the visit of Senator Robert Doll, the angel Gabriel of Kosovo.

Written by: Enver Hasani

In the essay collection The divine moments of humanity, Stefan Zweig dwells on the limits of writing in the face of direct experience. He emphasizes that writings have great weight in preserving memory and transmitting events. But no written word, no matter how masterful, can fully reproduce the mood, emotions and atmosphere of the moment experienced by an entire generation. Great events, occurring in “divine moments”, are completely unattainable by literature – writing only comes close, but cannot recreate that original thrill. Only those who lived through that time can know this; they, as long as they are alive, will memorize the collective mood, hopes and expectations of a generation.

These lines are from a man who experienced that time, the sunny day of August 29, 1990, thirty-five years ago, when the American Senate landed in Pristina, led by Senator Bob Doll – American hero of World War II and prominent statesman, later a candidate for US president in 1996.

This day was a turning point towards a free and independent Kosovo. The visit was made possible thanks to the measured and acceptable policy that had been led for six months by the late and historic president of Kosovo, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, and above all, thanks to the titanic efforts of the great supporter of the Albanian cause, the American of Arbëresh origin, former Congressman Joseph DioGuardi, as well as the unwavering commitment of numerous patriots such as Jim Xhema, Hari Bajraktari, Sami Repishti, etc. It must be said that it was these men who opened the doors of the American Government and Congress, and who had brought the Albanian leaders of Kosovo to testify about their situation in Washington in July 1990.

The visit to Pristina was also attended by Tom Lantos, another well-known contributor to the Albanian cause, as well as six other senators of the US Senate. The other senators and all those Albanian-American patriots are remembered by the Kosovo elite of that time, those who had the opportunity to meet them; while Bob Doll is still remembered and felt by all of Kosovo, by the Albanians who at that time were being mercilessly oppressed by the repressive Serbian regime of dictator Slobodan Milosevic, who installed in Kosovo a regime of violence typical of the former colonies of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Robert Doll and America’s landing in Pristina

On that hot August day, a special American plane landed for the first time, with blue and white colors, as if it were a foreshadowing of the later colors of the Kosovo flag. From there, Robert Doll made his way to the “Grand” Hotel, where the meeting with the leaders of Kosovo was to take place. On the way, he and his fellow senators saw only police and repressive Serbian and Yugoslav military police machinery, as well as numerous Albanian civilians who had come out to the side to welcome them. At the hotel doors, Momčilo Trajković, a Serbian communist official representing the dictator Slobodan Milošević, met him to welcome Senator Doll and his colleagues and, in an ironic tone, to tell him that Serbia in Kosovo also had the same goal as the American senators – the protection of the rights of the Albanians of Kosovo. While Trajkovic was speaking, with unparalleled contempt, Senator Doll turned his back on him, as if to say “leave that nonsense.”

At that time, the Albanians had been organizing a parallel system of life for six months, in all spheres, just like the Poles after their last partition in 1795, but based on an active and peaceful resistance. In this sense, the Albanians, adamant, refused any integration into the installed Serbian colonial system, and were collecting evidence that proved the brutal violations of their freedoms and rights in the former Yugoslavia. These facts were presented to the American senators by the Albanian leaders, led by the historic president Ibrahim Rugova, on that hot August day.

After the visit, the American delegation returned to the airport, where they were again greeted by Momčilo Trajković, the icon of the repressive regime in Kosovo. “Freedom and democracy are coming,” Robert Doll told the representative of the Serbian regime in Kosovo, “whether you want it or not; whether you are prepared or not, that does not matter. Freedom and democracy are coming here, too, in Kosovo.” Trajković, with naive cynicism, repeated the same words that his masters in Belgrade had dictated to him: “We too are for democracy and freedom.”

These words of Senator Doll were quite prophetic, as if they were the words of the representative of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great, who had announced to the Jews the news of their return to their homeland and the rebuilding of the Second Temple. On that hot August day, Senator Doll gave the message of the angel Gabriel, when he told the Albanian leaders at the “Grand” Hotel that they should stay in Kosovo with their people, because democracy and freedom would come for them too; they should stay in Kosovo to build “their temple,” which meant building a parallel life, peacefully and without violence, while rejecting any integration into the repressive Serbian system.

Kosovo’s “Angel Gabriel” hinted that America would deal with Serbia, because it was the beginning of Pax americanaThese words filled the souls of Albanians with hope and encouraged everyone to follow the path of peaceful self-organization to resist the Serbian regime installed in Kosovo.

Rugova, a myth in the making

Among the leaders of Kosovo, leader Ibrahim Rugova had excelled that day, not only with his presentation of the dire situation of freedoms and human rights, but also with his tolerance towards his interlocutors and towards the Kosovar delegation itself, which he led. The latter, several times during the meeting, had been asked to speak and show, like him, the dire situation of Albanians in the disintegrating Yugoslavia.

The Albanians’ demands were for Kosovo to be independent within the Yugoslav Federation, which was still thought to survive. When Doll asked them if they agreed with this position, which leader Ibrahim Rugova had given to the senator in writing, they all unanimously affirmed the same thing. Publicly, this was perceived as America’s unreserved support for Rugova and the peaceful path he was pursuing.

Until then, there had been serious hesitation about the path to follow. The visit of the American senators, led by Robert Dole, finally removed any dilemma about what America, our only hope, wanted, then and today. It wanted loyal allies in the Balkans, who promote democracy and freedom, not violence and ethnic, racial, religious, linguistic and other exclusion. This visit was a turning point in the construction of the myth about Rugova. His political rivals, later, would fight and repeatedly attack him precisely on this point – on the path that the late Rugova followed.

The myth about Rugova, which was cemented that day, was a consequence, not a cause, of Robert Dole’s visit to Kosovo. The reason for that visit was deeper: this delegation aimed to convey the idea of Pax americana, which was in its infancy and, unlike Pax Romana, Islamic Peace, Pax Mongolia and other pax, did not intend to rely on force, except in necessary situations. This situation was almost created by the dictator Slobodan Milosevic, to whom later, on Christmas 1992, George Bush the Elder threatened that, if he descended on Kosovo for war purposes – something he was already doing in the north of the former Yugoslavia – the Americans would be there to protect the Albanians and others who were threatened by Milosevic. The first herald of this warning was the visit of Senator Robert Doll, the angel Gabriel of Kosovo.

Many of those who called for war in Kosovo before the Dayton Agreement did not understand the American strategy that Senator Dole had outlined on that hot August day. This strategy watched the unfolding of the Greater Serbia project: as that project unfolded, the Americans would get ahead of it and gradually and progressively destroy it, until the end of the war in 1999. Dayton was the first serious turning point. When Slobodan Milosevic was asked at Dayton whether he would accept a complete military and police withdrawal from Kosovo, as one of his subordinates at the time, Nikola Šainović, recounts, he said that he could never accept such a thing. When this happened in June 1999, perhaps Milosevic clearly understood Senator Bob Dole’s message to Momčilo Trajković that free democracy would come, whether the Serbs wanted it or not. The organization of the armed resistance for liberation by the KLA turned out to be in self-defense, just as the pursuit of the peaceful war and the self-organization of Albanians on the eve of the destruction of the former Yugoslavia had been. All this came naturally thanks to the following of the messages of Senator Robert Doll, which were prophetic and filled the hearts of every Albanian with hope, at a time when nothing but blood and ethnic violence was visible on the horizon.

Therefore, when foreign tourists visit the capital of Kosovo today and see the bust and one of the main streets named after Senator Bob Doll, they experience only a fraction of the mood, emotions, and atmosphere when Kosovo first welcomed its great American friend into its home.

(The author is the first president of the Constitutional Court and professor of law and international relations)