YUGOSLAVIA: LOW MILITARY MORALE IN KOSOVO

Created: 9/21/1981

OCR scan of the original document, errors are possible

yUGOS^VIAs Low Military Morale in Kosovo

iamong"the enlisted ranks af tiicr.'litsr^ 'forces turning in xcsoiv province rcccnt^hie spread to includejiexitr andfficers:

Lastroup ofpetitioned th< norltiw tooll" Tn!S2 ?nthere. The troops have been n Kosovo since April, andesentful local Albanianfear that they will have to maintain order over aperiod. Should the unrest in the military spread to the senior officers. Belgrade will come under strong

ike political concessions that would relieve

the militari/of some of its responsibilities in province. Mm

While tha large force of regulars in Kosovo hasany new large demonstrations, there is still agitation by Albanian nationalists and open resentment"ilitary emong the. local Albanian youth. Renewed disturbances are particularly likely to_ occur when the universities reopen early next month. mwgw

he military is one of the strongest unifyinq instl- utions int.responded unquestioninglysupporting'Tito, during past periods. weIf .dissension within the military over'ita task in Kosovo becomes more serious, this could raise some doubts in belgrade'about thebility to cUv th. namen the post-Tito era.