Context of 'March 1945: Communist Official Miladin Popovic Assassinated'

Communist official Velimir Stoinic arrives to lead the Yugoslav military mission to Albania’s general staff and to represent the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. He immediately recalls Miladin Popovic back to Yugoslavia. Popovic is blamed for alleged mistakes by the Communist Party of Albania (CPA), such as the Mukje agreement with the Balli Kombetar and statements that Yugoslavia will allow Kosova to determine its future. He also says the CPA’s policies are wrong and that the leadership must change. The CPA will later accuse Stoinic of conspiring with a pro-Yugoslav faction against leading Albanian communist Enver Hoxha so Yugoslavia can take control of Albania. [PLA, 1971, pp. 227; Kola, 2003, pp. 58]

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY), joined by communist leaders Fadil Hoxha and Miladin Popovic, meets to decide Kosova’s status within Yugoslavia. Shortly before the meeting, Popovic answers a query from the Communist Party of Albania about the future status of Kosova by saying that it would be part of Yugoslavia. The meeting decides to give Kosova to Serbia. Hoxha reportedly says that the Kosova Committee had given the region its political existence and that he and Popovic thought it would be politically damaging to split the region between Yugoslavia and Albania. Some commentators will later theorize that this was done in part to compensate Serbs for the Serbian areas given to Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. [Kola, 2003, pp. 62, 64]

Miladin Popovic, secretary of the Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) for Kosova, is assassinated. Yugoslavia says that Haki Taha, a nationalist Albanian teacher from Tirana, is responsible, but Albania will later say it was done by the Yugoslav secret service, because Popovic advocates letting Kosovars decide whether to stay in Yugoslavia or not. Yugoslavia names Popovic a national martyr. [Kola, 2003, pp. 62]