The United States' "Christmas Threat" was a defining moment for Kosovo and one of the strongest documents of American policy towards the regime of Slobodan Milosevic, said writer and activist Blerim Shala.
In a conversation on the PIKË podcast with publicist Veton Surroi, Shala recalled that during 1991–1992 there were intensive and direct contacts between Albanian political representatives and American diplomacy, including the State Department, the National Security Council, and the US Congress.
According to him, in the fall of 1992, the American side had informed them that an extraordinary decision was being prepared for Kosovo, which would materialize in what was later called the "Christmas Threat" - a unilateral US threat to Serbia, without invoking NATO or any other international mechanism.
Shala emphasized that this threat did not come "from the sky", but was the result of strategic analyses by the highest American institutions, as well as new political developments in Serbia, where the emergence of Milan Panić created a real risk of Milošević losing power.
He said that there was great pressure from US senators for Kosovo Albanians to participate in the December 1992 elections in Serbia, with the reasoning that the democratization of Serbia would bring more favorable circumstances for Kosovo. However, according to Shala, participation in the elections was extremely problematic and was rejected.
In this context, he emphasized that in 1992 there was no sign that the Kosovo Albanians were preparing for war; on the contrary, signs indicated that Milošević might start a conflict in Kosovo to avoid losing power.
The “Christmas Threat” was described by Shala as brutal because it was the first time the US directly warned that it would intervene militarily if Serbia was responsible for the outbreak of war in Kosovo. According to him, this message shocked Milosevic and served as a deterrent.
He added that this threat was left as a legacy by President George HW Bush and was later reconfirmed by the Bill Clinton administration, remaining a basic document of American policy towards Kosovo until the late 90s.
