Sir, - The sight of the people of Yugoslavia reclaiming their parliament will lift the hearts of all those around the world who have spent the past 13 years resisting the policies of Milosevic. At the same time, we should be careful not to lapse into the hyperbole epitomised by The Irish Times's description of the Milosevic regime as one "which has not and never has had a democratic mandate" (Editorial, October 6th).
Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth. It was the popular support behind Milosevic's campaigns, first to reassert Serbia's dominance within the old Yugoslavia, and then to carve out a Greater Serbia from the ruins of that country, which enabled him to stay in power for so long. It was only when Milosevic cynically abandoned the nationalist project in 1995/1996 that his electoral base began to haemorrhage significantly.
A critical element in Milosevic's final downfall has been the desertion of the urban and rural working class, exemplified by the striking miners at Kolubara. This was a sadly ironic echo of the strike by the miners of the Trepca mine in Kosovo - at the time seeking only the restoration of autonomy - at the very start of Milosevic's destructive adventures in 1989. If the miners of Kosovo had then been supported by their comrades in Serbia, Milosevic could very well have been stopped in his tracks. Unfortunately, Serbian nationalist instincts precluded such a possibility.
The Yugoslav revolution did not begin and end in Belgrade, as so many commentators now seem to believe. It began in Kosovo and will end in Kosovo - an independent Kosovo. Europe's challenge in the region now will be to assist the Kosovars in achieving what is rightfully theirs and which is the only acceptable outcome on a continent that aspires to universal democracy; self-determination.
A good start on this might be to re-examine the legitimacy of the claims which underpinned 80 years of Serbian occupation and repression. - Yours, etc.,
Peter Walsh, Kosovo Ireland Solidarity, Upper Camden Street, Dublin 2.