With eight nationalities, three religions, five languages and two alphabets, the polymorphous nation of Yugoslavia has long bubbled with ethnic rivalry. One of those conflicts now threatens to erupt into violence. Angry Serbs are staging increasingly militant demonstrations against their countrymen in Kosovo who are ethnic Albanians. The biggest demonstration so far took place Sept. 3, as 70,000 protesters gathered in the town of Smederevo, near Belgrade, to demand action by the central government.
The Serbs complain that the Kosovo Albanians have launched a campaign of terror and rape to drive them out of the heavily Albanian province. Says Radomir Smiljanic,...