Crisis In The Balkans

Sir, - W. J. Murphy (March 31st) raises the question of the origins of the Kosovar Albanians in Serbia

Sir, - W. J. Murphy (March 31st) raises the question of the origins of the Kosovar Albanians in Serbia. Well, the indigenous inhabitants of the western Balkans (Illyria) under Roman occupation several hundred years BC were the ancestors of the Albanians. The Serbs (Slavs from the Russian region) invaded several hundred years after the time of Christ.

It is thus a myth that Kosovo is the cradle of Serb civilisation. When the present boundaries of Serbia were drawn up in 1918, the Kosovars had the misfortune of being incorporated into Serbia. - Yours, etc., Michael M. Delmonte,

Trafalgar Terrace, Monkstown, Co Dublin.