Macedonia's Albanian leader slams government talks Posted April 5, 2001
Full article at:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20010405_1973.html
WIRE: 04/05/2001 11:58 am ET
UPDATE 1-Macedonia's Albanian leader slams government talks
By Dominic Evans
TETOVO, Macedonia, April 5 (Reuters) - The leader of Macedonia's main ethnic Albanian party said on Thursday the Slav majority was not serious about political dialogue and warned of a possible resumption of violence.
Arben Xhaferi said after talks with British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook that Albanian guerrillas who fought a month-long conflict with government troops in the mountains near the border with Kosovo had not been defeated.
"If we do not open dialogue, the violence will return very easily. The people did not disappear, they are around us," Xhaferi told reporters.
...
He rejected Cook's description of the rebels as "terrorists," saying their action did not fit that label.
"They can not be terrorists beacuse they have uniforms, they have a frontline and they did not organise terrorist attacks against civilians anywhere in Macedonia," he said.
...
President Boris Trajkovski ruled out on Thursday any talks with the rebels or changes in the basic law which would turn the tiny state into a federation.
...
Asked if this should include NLA fighters, he said: "Yes, we must have reconciliation."
...
ARRESTS PANIC ALBANIANS: Albanian lawyers claim dozens of innocent members of their community arebeing arrested on suspicion of terrorism Posted April 5, 2001
http://www.iwpr.net
WELCOME TO IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, NO. 235, April 5, 2001
ARRESTS PANIC ALBANIANS
Albanian lawyers claim dozens of innocent members of their community arebeing arrested on suspicion of terrorism
By Emin Azemi in Skopje
Albanian teacher Ismail Ibrahimi never dreamt an invitation from theministry of education in Skopje would lead to his arrest and detention.
The family of the Tanusevsci principal naturally tried to discoverhis whereabouts when he failed to return from the Macedonian capital.They eventually found out when Stevo Pendarovski, spokesperson for theinterior ministry, confirmed his arrest later in the Albanian dailynewspaper Fakti.
It transpired that Ibrahimi had been detained by Skopje police onthe grounds that his car had been "packed with explosives andammunition". According to the investigative judge, "he was planning aterrorist act aimed at endangering the constitutional order and thesecurity of Macedonia".
He faces charges of terrorism under Articles 313 and 326 of theCriminal Code. His brother Rahman Ibrahimi protests his innocence.
In a separate incident in early March, Bejtulla Etemi's car wasstopped by police on Makedonska Brigada Street in Skopje. He wasarrested on the spot, but he told his wife, Lumnije, to go home, sayinghe was sure this was only a routine check and that he would soon bereleased.
Later, a plain-clothes policeman told his wife that a bomb had beenfound in his car. She tried to get further details of her husband'sarrest at the police station but was sent home and told to await a phonecall from officers.
When the phone did ring it was her husband asking her to find him adefence lawyer. At first she found it strange that he was talking to herin Macedonian, until it became clear that he was being ordered to do so.
His trial was set to start on March 27 but was later postponed.Lumnije believes it was delayed because her husband had been beaten andpolice didn't want him to appear in that condition.
"His lawyer told us that the trial would take place in Shutkaprison," she said, "but I don't see how anyone can be tried inside aprison."
Ever since the latest crisis unfolded, the Macedonian authoritieshave claimed that ethnic Albanian insurgents were not homegrown but camefrom neighbouring Kosovo. This issue of whether they came from Kosovo orMacedonia itself has never been properly explained to the public.
It therefore came as a surprise when the Macedonian police and army,claiming victory after the recent offensive, started rounding upAlbanians from Tetovo and the surrounding region on charges of beinginvolved in "terrorist activities".
Macedonian newspaper reports say 22 Albanians have so far beendetained. According to Albanian lawyers, the figure is much higher:there are reports that over a hundred people have been arrested.
Mirjana Najcevska, president of the Helsinki Committee for HumanRights in Skopje, said she's been told that the police are preventingAlbanian detainees from contacting families and lawyers.
"We have appealed to the authorities to strictly follow proceduresand not breach human rights laws," she said. " We intend to send ourmonitors once we establish where the detained people are being held."
Numan Limani, a lawyer representing some of those detained, alsobelieves the authorities are acting out of hand, referring to the recentarrests as a "dirty game".
One client, primary school teacher Becir Sinani, was detained onMarch 20 and charged with possessing large amount of explosives. ButLimani is convinced he was framed as the policeman who allegedly foundthe material failed to appear at his trial.
Limani's suspicions were further raised when he was denied access tohis clients last week. He alleges that the reason police turned him awayis because they have been beaten. In an atmosphere of growing mutualmistrust between ethnic Macedonians and Albanians, the news of randomarrests is spreading like wildfire amongst the latter. Rumours andspeculation over the number of actual people detained is feeding onpeople's fears
Emin Azemi is publisher and owner of "Fakti", an Albanian independentdaily newspaper in Skopje.
NLA SET FOR LONG HAUL (IWPR) Posted April 5, 2001
http://www.iwpr.net
WELCOME TO IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, NO. 235, April 5, 2001
NLA SET FOR LONG HAUL
The Macedonian authorities seem to be bracing themselves for renewed NLAviolence
By Philip O'Neil in London
Albanian rebels appear to be planning a protracted military struggle toforce the Macedonian government into granting their community majorconstitutional concessions.
The authorities in Skopje have so far refused to agree to a numberof key rebel demands, arguably the most significant being the raising ofAlbanian constitutional status from minority to nation - which thecommunity sees as vital in its struggle to achieve equality with ethnicMacedonians.
The National Liberation Army are demanding that they be directlyinvolved in the ongoing all-party negotiations. The Macedoniangovernment has stressed that it refuses to negotiate with 'terrorists',and will only deal with elected representatives.
Despite the lull in fighting, during which EU chief negotiatorJavier Solana and NATO Secretary General George Robertson have beenurging a peaceful resolution in Skopje talks, the NLA seem to beconsolidating their forces.
The National Liberation Army's decision to set up a war fundtogether with evidence of renewed NLA movement along Macedonia's borderregion suggests that it is prepared to continue to wage war until itsdemands are met.
Though publicly the Macedonian government says it has quashed theinsurgent threat, it is well aware of the danger the rebels pose in thenorth west of the country.
A senior minister was quoted in Le Monde last week as saying, " Thethreat of a new explosion of violence exists. It could break outanywhere: in Debar, Kicevo or Gostivar."
Then a couple of days ago, interior ministry official LjubenBoskovski admitted to state television that guerrillas had been"organizing and acting in the Debar area".
It seems the NLA is preparing to launch several military campaignsin case the government does not meet its demands. Independent sourceshave told IWPR that the rebels has been planning a major springoffensive for months.
Fazli Veliu, president of the overseas branch of the NationalMovement of Kosovo and closely involved with both the former KLA and theNLA, told IWPR that a fund called 'The National Liberation Fund' hadbeen set up to channel international donations to the Macedonian rebels.
Veliu, speaking on behalf of his nephew and NLA leader Ali Ahmeti,also confirmed suspicions that the Tanusevsci fighting in mid-Februrarywas sparked when the army accidentally stumbled on a NLA arms cache.
The NLA claims to have many weapons dumps across the country. If thefour truckloads of weapons and ammunition unearthed by K-for troops inKrivenik last week are anything to go by, the rebels' claims thatthey've been stockpiling over a long period need to be taken seriously.
Considering that many of the key players in the NLA are KLAveterans, this doesn't come as much of a surprise, as the latteremployed the same sort of tactics during their uprising against theSerbs.
According to K-for spokesman Roy Strong, Albanian casualties so farhave been very small. Rebel numbers, meanwhile, independent estimatessay, stand at around thousand and are increasing by the day.
And, although two hundred have been detained by K-for troops whileattempting to cross the Kosovo-Macedonian border, they remain asignificant challenge for the Macedonian army, which comprises around10,000 poorly equipped men.
The NLA seems to be running much like its KLA predecessor. There areseveral loosely coordinated groups based around western Macedonianregion. All are committed to fight until the demands are satisfied.
The most important demand, as indicated by Veliu is that "Macedoniahas to become a state composed of two peoples and the constitutionchanged with the mediation of the international community."
Last week, a letter from "the NLA guerrillas of Tetovo" appeared inthe Pristina daily Koha Ditore accusing NLA leadership of being'cowards' by not resisting the Macedonian offensive.
Whether this shows division or divergence of opinion in NLA ranks itindicates there is a will to fight.
The NLA is busily recruiting in Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo. Someof the recruits are said to be associated with Liberation Army ofPresevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac, UCPMB, and the Kosovo Protection Corps,KPC.
It has generally been accepted that some members of UCPMB have beenswapping insignia to fight over the border. More recently however,involvement of KPC, Kosovo's civilian defense militia have led toexpectations that many are due to be dismissed from the service whichwas drawn up after the disbanding of the KLA.
Students in Pristina were full of stories last week of friendseither going or planning to go over to fight if NLA demands were notmet. One young man spoke of a sizeable number of volunteers leaving fromthe Podujevo region of Kosovo.
This is while the Macedonian military is being forced to hireoutside help. Serbs are allegedly forming part of a sniper andpatrolling brigade near Tanusevci, Ukraine has given four Russian attackhelicopters and it seems that Greece, Bulgaria and Russia have lenttroops, according to independent sources.
Head of the International Crisis Group's office in Pristina, BobChurcher believes the authorities underestimated the strength andresilience of the rebels and should have negotiated with elected partiesto match the guerrillas' demands.
"To my mind the Macedonian offensive was not justified because itplayed into the hands of the extremists, " he said. " It will alsoradicalise the population."
Philip O'Neil is IWPR Assistant Editor
British FM harps on need for dialogue in Macedonia Posted April 5, 2001
Full article:
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010405/1/m43g.html
Friday April 6, 1:01 AM
British FM harps on need for dialogue in Macedonia
SKOPJE, April 5 (AFP) -
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook stressed his firm support Thursday for Macedonia in its fight against ethnic Albanian gunmen, but gave the clearest signal yet that Europe expects Skopje to defuse the crisis through dialogue.
...
But he also gave implicit support to ethnic Albanian demands to be included in Macedonia's constitution as a nation with equal status to Macedonia's Slav majority.
"I hope that any changes to the constitution will not undermine the unity and integrity of Macedonia and will express the principle that all citizens are equal and that no citizen has superior status," he said.
...
Macedonia has argued that changing its constitution could split the nation down ethnic lines as guerrillas, but also moderate Albanian political groups, call for their legal status to match that of the Slav Macedonian majority.
World Pushes for Macedonia Dialogue Amid Disputes Posted April 5, 2001
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010405/ts/balkans_macedonia_dc_1.html
Thursday April 5 2:16 PM ET
World Pushes for Macedonia Dialogue Amid Disputes
By Anatoly Verbin
SKOPJE (Reuters) - The world pressed hard on Thursday for a serious political dialogue between Macedonia's Slav majority and ethnic Albanian minority, but fresh differences showed the latest Balkan crisis was far from over.
Mircea Geoana, the chairman-in-office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation (news - web sites) in Europe, said Macedonian parties should seize the chance of peace offered by the talks.
``All legitimate interests should be presented there and we also feel the need of having some quick success, some quick wins which will give confidence,'' he told reporters.
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook warned that the time left for meeting ``legitimate aspirations'' of the ethnic Albanian minority, one third of the population, might not be long.
``We need to work while there is an interval, when Macedonia is clear of violence,'' he told reporters in Tetovo, Macedonia's unofficial ethnic Albanian capital near which ethnic Albanian rebels fought government troops last month.
``We must create the political conditions in Macedonia where all citizens know they have equal rights and feel they have equal opportunities.''
Cook was speaking after talks with Arben Xhaferi, leader of the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), part of a fragile government coalition.
Xhaferi responded by saying the Slav majority was not serious about the dialogue which opened earlier this week after Skopje said its troops had dispersed the rebels in the northern mountains along the border with Kosovo.
``They are not ready to have a real dialogue. They want to have some kind of a coffee-table discussion without any obligations,'' Xhaferi said.
``If we do not open dialogue, the violence will return very easily. The people did not disappear, they are around us,'' he said in a reference to the rebels who, he said, should not be called terrorists.
For the rebels, who call themselves the National Liberation Army (NLA), a key demand is a change to the constitution, which names Macedonian Slavs as the primary nation in Macedonia.
The emergence of the NLA has radicalized mainstream Albanian parties which have also called for greater language and cultural rights and better representation at all administrative levels.
The West insists that only quick agreement to accommodate Albanians' grievances could avoid a new Balkan war.
Macedonian President Sets Limits To Scope Of Talks
Talks to address the issue got off to a poor start earlier this week, with Slav protests against concessions and a boycott by the main Albanian opposition Party for Democratic Prosperity, which said rebels should be represented in the talks.
Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski ruled out any talks with the rebels or changes in the basic law which would turn the tiny state into a federation.
``We have intensified political dialogue but we will not respond to those who suggest a concept of a federal state,'' he told a meeting of regional defense ministers.
Trajkovski's speech clearly reflected Slav leaders' fears of a backlash from their own constituency if they concede too much.
He repeated Skopje's view that the crisis had been imported from Kosovo, whose ethnic Albanians want independence.
``The agenda of the terrorists is not the internal situation in Macedonia. Their agenda is the situation in Kosovo. Our efforts will be fruitless if the international community does not take care of the roots of the crisis in Kosovo,'' he said.
The European People's Party (EPP), which groups center-right Christian Democratic parties and is the biggest force in the European Parliament, backed the Macedonian government.
``There can be no negotiations with terrorist groups,'' the EPP said in a declaration passed in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. It also urged Albanian leaders in other countries to distance themselves from ``extremist'' groups.
``The EPP urges the setting of a date for elections in Kosovo in order to discuss the future of Kosovo with a democratically elected body,'' it said.
OSCE Seeks Census Delay to Ease Macedonia Tension Posted April 5, 2001
http://www.europeaninternet.com/macedonia/news.php3?id=329771&brief=text
OSCE Seeks Census Delay to Ease Macedonia Tension
SKOPJE, Apr 4, 2001 -- (Reuters) Macedonia should postpone a census planned for the second half of May to avoid inflaming ethnic tensions strained by a rebellion among its Albanian minority, a top international official said on Wednesday.
Max van der Stoel, the OSCE's Minority Rights commissioner, said the census could not be properly prepared and well enough monitored to inspire confidence in minority ethnic Albanians.
It risks repeating the problems of the 1994 count, which ethnic Albanians say was constructed so as to under-represent their numbers and undercut their claims for a greater share of jobs and resources in Macedonia.
A proper census is a key demand of ethnic Albanians who argue their high birth rate means they already number at least around 35 percent of Macedonia's two million people, not the 22.9 percent declared by the 1994 statistics.
But to go ahead with the count so soon after a revolt by ethnic Albanian gunmen along the northern border could be counter-productive. Ethnic Albanians would accept a delay provided a new date was firmly set, said Van der Stoel.
"In the present difficult circumstances everything has to be done to prevent a repeat of the 1994 experience," said the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's official, who has worked extensively to ease ethnic tension in Macedonia.
It was too late to start the necessary information campaign and organize proper foreign monitoring of the census, he told Reuters.
Macedonia has returned to calm after its forces quelled the month-long insurrection by guerrillas it said were bent on breaking up the 10-year-old state. The rebels said they were fighting for greater rights for downtrodden ethnic Albanians.
Now majority Slavs are being urged to be even-handed and to make concessions to ease the ethnic Albanian anger that fuelled the revolt, lest it re-erupt.
The government says it is not currently planning to ask parliament to change the law to permit a census delay.
"We are not afraid of the census but we are ready to listen to the suggestions of the international community," government spokesman Antonio Milosovski told Reuters. "Right now I can't tell you what our final decision will be."
Diplomats say the recent violence has radicalized both sides, pushing them further apart. It will be very hard to maintain the quickened pace of improvements in the position of minorities achieved in the last two years, say Western envoys.
Albanian Rebels Demand Seat at Talks With Macedonian Government Posted April 4, 2001
http://www.europeaninternet.com/macedonia/news.php3?id=329349
Albanian Rebels Demand Seat at Talks With Macedonian Government
NORTH OF LIPKOVO, Apr 4, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) Ethnic Albanian rebels, including a renegade member of parliament, demanded face to face talks with the Macedonian government, rejecting claims that they have been defeated.
"We want to resolve the problems politically," rebel commander Ali Daja -- "Uncle Ali" -- told an AFP reporter who was taken to a secret location in hills norths of Skopje late Tuesday.
"Negotiations can not take place without us," he said, saying direct talks between political representatives of his National Liberation Army and the government should be held.
Daja said rebels were still present in all of Macedonia's majority Albanian villages, along with the capital Skopje.
The Macedonian government said on Saturday the Albanian guerillas had been conquered and that the fighting was over. The border with the neighboring UN-administered Yugoslav province of Kosovo was reopened on Tuesday.
Hisni Shaqiri, a member of the moderate Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) which forms part of Macedonia's coalition government, defected to the rebels last week.
Wearing camouflage fatigues and carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle, she told AFP his decision to give up elected politics had been "a moral obligation."
"The Macedonian army is ravaging Albanian villages and, as an Albanian, I felt the moral obligation to join the rebels. Today, it feels very good, I am at the service of the people," he said.
"Our war is a just one. All we are asking for are equal rights with Macedonians," he said.
His defection last week underscored the growing unease among Albanian politicians in the conflict and prosectors said they had filed charges against him.
He took to the hills a day after hundreds of Macedonian troops used his village as a springboard for an offensive to flush Albanian rebels out of their last remaining strongholds close to the Kosovo border. ((c) 2001 Agence France Presse
Council of Europe Denounces Police Violence in Macedonia Posted April 4, 2001
http://www.europeaninternet.com/macedonia/news.php3?id=328504
Council of Europe Denounces Police Violence in Macedonia
STRASBOURG, Apr 3, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) The Council of Europe on Tuesday expressed concern about police abuse and violence in Macedonia, particularly against the former Yugoslav republic's ethnic Albanian and Roma minorities.
"Although the situation is improving due to efforts of the ministry of the interior, unlawful arrest and detention, excessive use of force and physical ill-treatment of detainees remains a problem," a report by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) said.
The ECRI report, which was adopted in June last year after a fact-finding mission to Macedonia in March, also called on the government to intensify its efforts to improve integration for ethnic minorities, in particular Albanians.
While the report admitted the government was aware of the need to encourage further integration, it said: "The organizations and associations of civil society ... are in large part divided along ethnic lines, as are the political parties."
It also noted that Albanians and other minority groups were greatly under-represented in state-institutions at the national and local level, police and judiciary.
Solana Urges Macedonians to Find "Comfortable" Constitution Posted April 4, 2001
http://www.europeaninternet.com/macedonia/news.php3?id=328167&brief=text
Solana Urges Macedonians to Find "Comfortable" Constitution
SKOPJE, Apr 3, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) The European Union's foreign policy chief refused to be drawn into Macedonia's fierce constitutional reform debate Monday, urging its citizens to choose a constitution they all "feel comfortable" with.
Javier Solana, on a visit to Skopje to discuss an association pact that will put the Balkan republic on the path to EU membership, was speaking as the row about according ethnic Albanians national status intensified.
"The constitution of the country is the supreme law of the country and it is for the people to change it. We may have opinions, but it is for the people of the country to decide on the supreme law of the country," he said.
But in a reference that will be interpreted as a sign that he favors accommodating some of the Albanians' demands, he added: "But it is the supreme law and it should help every citizen of the country feel comfortable as a citizen of the country."
Asked whether the ethnic Albanian party leaders he met Monday were "comfortable" with the constitution, Solana simply said: "They were happy to talk to us today."
Ethnic Albanian politicians have demanded that Macedonia's constitution be altered to accord their people equal status alongside the country's Slav majority.
Last month, a guerrilla group launched an armed rebellion to support what it called "equal rights."
The leader of the Democratic Party of Albanians, which is part of Macedonia's ruling coalition, Arben Xhaferi, describes the constitution as representing a "mono-ethnic vision of the state" and has warned of more violence to come.
But Macedonian opposition politicians have fiercely opposed giving concessions to the Albanians, and a noisy street protest greeted Solana's arrival at Skopje's parliament building, as nationalist students protested what they saw as his interference in Macedonian affairs. ((c) 2001 Agence France Presse)
Rebels Should Join Macedonia Talks Posted April 4, 2001
http://www.europeaninternet.com/macedonia/news.php3?id=329270&brief=text
Rebels Should Join Macedonia Talks
SKOPJE, Apr 4, 2001 -- (Reuters) Macedonia's main Albanian opposition party said on Tuesday representatives of rebel fighters should be included in talks on easing inter-ethnic tension.
Such a proposal is anathema to the country's majority Slavs, and to the West, which has backed the Skopje government's stand that there should be no talks with "terrorists".
"Our main interest is to create stability and start serious dialogue between Macedonians and Albanians. One of the factors that might create that stability is the participation of the NLA (guerrillas)," said Naser Ziberi, of the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP).
"It is out of the question that we negotiate with anybody but legitimate political parties," said President Boris Trajkovski at a news conference with NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, who backed the Macedonian leader's stand.
The National Liberation Army emerged in February to start an armed rebellion along Macedonia's northern border, saying it was fighting for greater rights for the third of the population of ethnic Albanian origin.
Macedonian forces launched an offensive to quell the rebellion by guerrillas it said were crossing its frontier from Albanian-dominated Kosovo to break up the country violently.
Robertson said NATO moves in Kosovo to prevent rebels moving arms and men to the battlefronts had helped Macedonia's military success. The key now was to make political progress, he said.
"The extremists are in retreat but the country avoided dangerous passions, which might have left scars and started another cycle of violence that the Balkans knows only too well," said Robertson.
"It is important to build on military success with political progress," he said, underlining international pressure on Macedonia's Slav leaders to make concessions to Albanians to undercut any backing for a resurgence of rebel activity.
PDP POWER PLAY?
The Party for Democratic Prosperity is the leading opponent of the dominant Albanian DPA party and was part of the ruling coalition from independence in 1991 to 1998.
It refused to take part in cross-party talks launched on Monday by Macedonian President Boris Trajkovksi to find ways to ease inter-ethnic tensions, saying the discussions were poorly prepared and irrelevant.
The DPA, which has joined the Trajkovski forum, accused its rival of using the crisis to try to regain political strength lost since it fell from power.
"The PDP's position will not help. They are just trying to use the crisis to score political points and open the way to securing a place in a broad coalition government," said Iliaz Halimi, vice-president of the DPA.
But the PDP said the NLA deserved a place at the table.
"I think that the NLA is an influential political group because without it the talks would not have started," PDP vice-president Kemal Musliu told a press conference.
Unless there is quick progress in addressing the grievances of ethnic Albanians, who complain of discrimination, the guerrillas may go back on the attack, sparking civil war, say leading Albanian politicians and international observers.
Minorities Mistreated in Macedonia, Report Says Posted April 4, 2001
http://www.europeaninternet.com/macedonia/news.php3?id=328707&brief=text
Minorities Mistreated in Macedonia, Report Says
PARIS, Apr 3, 2001 -- (Reuters) Macedonia's police and media treat ethnic minorities badly, fueling hostility between people of Albanian descent and the majority Macedonian Slavs, the Council of Europe's anti-racism watchdog said on Tuesday.
The European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance said discrimination was widespread and required "urgent attention", even if the Macedonian government had taken action to combat racism.
The commission published its findings in a report completed last June, long before the recent clashes between ethnic Albanian rebels and Macedonian government forces in the north of the country near the border with Kosovo.
But it delayed releasing it until now to give the Macedonian government time to comment on its findings.
The report said police often mistreated ethnic Albanians and Roma after summoning them for interviews described as "informative talks".
"Although the situation is improving due to efforts by the Ministry of Interior, unlawful arrest and detention, excessive use of force and physical ill-treatment of detainees remain problems," it said.
"Critics report that the media coverage of sensitive events tends to be one-sided and overly subjective, fueling tensions in inter-ethnic relations."
The commission also said minority groups were not sufficiently represented in public institutions, and that tensions ran high between the different communities.
"Despite some progress in this field, different ethnic communities still lead parallel existences...and their relations are strained by negative stereotypes and mistrust," it said.
Ethnic Albanians account for roughly one-third of the population of the small Balkan state, created after the break-up of former Yugoslavia.
According to the report, there was also a lack of anti-discrimination legislation on employment, housing and social services.
However, the commission said the Macedonian government had made concerted efforts to address the problem, including plans to reform citizenship laws and the ratification of international treaties combating racism and intolerance.
PDP: NLA SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN EVENTUAL NEGOTIATIONS Posted April 4, 2001
PDP on the crisis in Macedonia
NLA SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN EVENTUAL NEGOTIATIONS
FAKTI 04/04/2001
PDP has set aside the platform presented by President Boris Trajkovski for overcoming the current conflict and demanded the participation of the National Liberation Army (NLA) in talks that have just begun between officials in Skopje and the political parties.
"PDP thinks that all relevant factions should participate in the talks and we think that the NLA is a relevant faction," PDP Vice-President Qemal Musliu stated at a press conference. Other PDP officials are insisting on changes to the Constitution and the creation of a new government based on stronger institutions.
"Trajkovski platform has only justified our stand on not participating in yesterday's meeting," says PDP spokesman Zahir Bekteshi. He added that the actual crisis in the country and how to get through it was not even mentioned in the platform. “”The Platform says nothing about the ways of surpassing this crisis. It only focuses on the achievements of Macedonia regarding the Census operation 1994, ecology related issues, woman rights, reforms in the pension system … but no word on the demands of Albanian factors.”
PDP spokesman said that the members of his party were agreed that talks initiated by President Trajkovski had to be more serious and better organized. "We are preparing a political platform to help overcome the crisis, which will be made public very soon," said Bekteshi. “We condemn the many arrests of ethnic Albanians. According to our statistics, about 600 young Albanians had been arrested, all on behalf of alleged ‘fight against terrorism’.”
Ismet Ramadani MP said that the party has not yet analyzed the Solana demand that PDP officials should attend the signing of the SA Agreement scheduled for April 8th. “Depending on the standings towards our platform, we would decide whether to go to Luxembourg or not,” Ramadani said.
PDP was the only political party in Macedonia to boycott yesterday's meeting, which focused on overcoming the crisis in Macedonian.
Debar (Diber) citizens in fear: TANKS, HEAVY ARTILLERY DEPLOYED TO TOWN (FAKTI) Posted April 4, 2001
Debar citizens in fear
TANKS, HEAVY ARTILLERY DEPLOYED TO TOWN
FAKTI 04/04/2001
Three days ago, Debar citizens witnessed a convoy of military trucks, armored vehicles and trucks carrying tanks and about 20 cannons (150mm).
They paraded through the town and were later deployed to Paresh vicinity, close to village Ballhanze near Debar. Truck also brought the tanks, given as a gift from Bulgaria, six of which were deployed to Paresh, three to Elevce and four others in village Spas on the border with Albania.
Debar citizens consider this as a typical provocation by the Macedonian Army that irritates the local population.
Macedonia's Ethnic Groups Face a Gap of Perceptions Posted April 4, 2001
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35029-2001Apr3.html
Macedonia's Ethnic Groups Face a Gap of Perceptions
Conflict Underlines Albanian Impatience With 'Best Model'
By Peter Finn
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, April 4, 2001; Page A16
SKOPJE, Macedonia -- When a small group of ethnic Albanian guerrillas launched an insurgency in this former Yugoslav republic two months ago, members of the country's Slavic majority felt sucker-punched. They had long believed that their emerging democracy was immune to the violence that has scarred the Balkans in the last 10 years.
When many members of the country's ethnic Albanian minority expressed sympathy for the guerrillas' civil rights rhetoric, although not their tactics, there was genuine shock among Slavs.
And as it became clear that many in the so-called National Liberation Army were indigenous Albanians, there was bewilderment.
"Macedonians are very disappointed," President Boris Trajkovski said in an interview at his office in the parliament building. Macedonia "was the best model in the region," he said. "If you ask me, are there some problems? Yes. Are these problems worth destroying this society? I say no.
"We are working for a society where people live together, work together, love each other," he said. "We are really shocked with what happened."
Just to the west, in the city of Tetovo, Arben Xhaferi, leader of a mainstream political party of ethnic Albanians, said he was not at all surprised by the appearance of gunmen, however much he disapproved of taking up arms.
"There is a great discrepancy between the concept of the state and the reality," said Xhaferi, whose party is a member of the government. "And if we don't open a dialogue on this discrepancy, the situation will complicate."
For 10 years, Madedonia's Slavs and ethnic Albanians have often been deaf to the perceptions and aspirations of each other. Where the majority Slavs saw a country building a true multiethnic society in which Albanians had schools in their language and an increasing share of the spoils of power, the minority community saw the hegemony of Slavs who were reluctant, if not hostile, to the notion of full equal rights.
As Macedonia moves to deal with the insurgency, one of the greatest difficulties it faces is this chasm in perceptions.
Stanjsa Nikolovski is a Slav, an unemployed engineer who notes that he has worked and socialized with ethnic Albanians for years. Artan Skenderi is an ethnic Albanian who is general manager of a television station in Tetovo and has wide contacts in the Slavic community.
Both project open-mindedness, yet scratch beneath the surface of declared respect for the other group and each contains a well of suspicion.
"This country is impossible to divide" said Nikolovski, who doesn't know Skenderi. "I grew up with Albanians. What is the difference between us? We are all the same."
Nikolovski cannot understand the sense of exclusion that animates so much of Albanian discourse here. "My sense is that if they have problems in the country, then their political leaders can raise it in parliament and it will be discussed," he said.
"We have been asking for these things for 10 years and nothing has happened," said Skenderi. "And that's why the people in the hills appeared. No one wants war, but this country has to change."
Nikolovski argues that granting what he calls "special status" to Albanians will only open the country up to similar demands from other minorities including Serbs and Turks and lead to Macedonia's fragmentation. "They are represented in the democracy and they have many rights," he said.
Members of the country's majority population are Slavs but often prefer simply to be called Macedonians, saying they are a distinct ethnic group. They speak a Slavic language written in Cyrillic script; most are Orthodox Christians. Etnic Albanians speak Albanian, which linguists place in its own language group, and are Muslims.
On the numbers, Macedonia can cite genuine progress in integrating Albanians into national life in the last 10 years. Trajkovski pulls a sheet of paper from his desk that lists some of the country's achievements:
Twenty-five of 120 members of the parliament of the Republic of Macedonia are Albanian and 11 of these, from the Democratic Party of Albanians, are members of the governing coalition. Five of 15 cabinet ministers in the current government are Albanians, as are five deputy ministers, including the deputy minister of defense and the deputy minister of internal affairs.
Ethnic Albanians were elected mayor in 26 of Macedonia's 123 municipalities in last year's elections. Ten percent of public administration employees are ethnic Albanian, compared with 3 percent in 1993, and the government is committed to further increasing this percentage, officials said.
"Out of seven generals in the army, three are Albanian," said Trajkovski. "Three years ago, there were none. That's just one example. It's a process. We'll speed up this process. No problem. But it's a process."
Moreover, senior government officials said Macedonia will change its constitution to remove all ethnic references and simply declare the country to be made up of its citizens.
But to many ethnic Albanians, the process of integration has been too slow. Ethnic Albanians are underrepresented across society, said Xhaferi, not least in the official census, which puts their share of the population at 23 percent when Xhaferi and others contend it is closer to 35 percent.
"I suppose in the future I could say I'm proud to be a citizen of Macedonia," said Xhaferi. "But not now. Not until we feel this state is our state."
Such sentiments infuriate Macedonia's Slavic leaders.
"We also have to talk about their loyalty, their obligations, their loyalty towards the state," said Trajkovski. "They have to leave this dream: To have Albanian institutions will achieve their
rights as Albanians. No. When the institutions are democratic and efficient, we will create an atmosphere for everybody to achieve their needs. This is the kind of system we have to create."
The European Union is trying to bring the sides together. During repeated trips to Macedonia in the last two weeks, EU security chief Javier Solana has been pressing the government to begin all-party talks on political reforms. The Europeans have offered a structure for negotiations that they hope will satisfy ethnic Albanians and protect the government from the charge that it is bowing to terrorism.
Under the plan, the Macedonians would convene talks under the rubric of a body called the Commission on Europe and would address economic and political reforms and interethnic relations needed to qualify the country as a candidate for negotiations toward EU membership. Among the steps the EU wants are decentralization of power and some form of official recognition for the Albanian language.
By giving the talks an EU dimension, officials in Brussels say, the government can sell the process to an often skeptical public.
"This is the first time in our mutual history that we have bled and it will undoubtedly leave a scar on our interethnic relations," said Slobodan Casulje, a leading Macedonian newspaper columnist. "We have always been together in our tragedies. These two societies will have to integrate if they want to survive."
STATUS OF ALBANIANS AS A CONSTITUTIVE NATION DETERMINES THE FUTURE OF MACEDONIA WITHIN EU AND NATO Posted April 3, 2001
03 April 2001
FAKTI
STATUS OF ALBANIANS AS A CONSTITUTIVE NATION DETERMINES THE FUTURE OF MACEDONIA WITHIN EU AND NATO
By Emin Azemi
Macedonia cannot integrate itself within international institutions without advancing first the political status of the Albanians. Europe and NATO are not willing to accept problematic member-states as they could be considered in the future as sources of crisis and conflicts. The course of events in Macedonia so far has split in half the standings on finding the way out of the situation.
While the ethnic Macedonian political add intellectual opinion stands against any changes of the Constitution, which would lead to the advancement of the status of the ethnic Albanians, the DPA leader Arben Xhaferi has already warned that Macedonian institutions must open the dialogue with the Albanians in order to 'free' Macedonia of its troubling luggage in the eventual agendas of admission within international institutions. This standing of Xhaferi corresponds with the standings of several western decision-making centers, which nevertheless consider the unresolved status of the ethnic Albanians as the main obstacle to the integration of Macedonia within international bodies, such as EU and NATO. These centers had been suggesting to Skopje during the last few days to urgently start the dialogue with Albanians in order to ensure that their status would be in compliance with the Macedonian pretension to integrate within the aforementioned international institutions.
The second visit of Solana to Skopje only confirms the determined standing of west on removing all the dilemmas and harmonize the Albanian requests with the acceptance of Macedonia within international institutions. It is expected that such harmonization would eliminate the existing differences between Albanians and Macedonians. We learn from diplomatic sources in Brussels and Vienna that the main credit for achieving such a harmony belongs to the Albanian Balkan leader Arbn Xhaferi, who had been persisting from the beginning that the development of events should not move out of the frame of agreement between the Albanians and Macedonians, as the problem has an internal etymology and that the Constitution should be cleaned of dualisms that make this Constitution impossible for implementing in the multiethnic environment, as Macedonia is. In addition, this would also disable the attempts of some of the Macedonian political sources to darken the sky over Macedonia by presenting the crisis as an inter-party problem, instead of as interethnic one. Crvenkovski's theses that the crisis erupted only because his party was not on power, is both ridiculous and illogical and has nothing to do with reality. If his thesis was accurate, then we must ask the question: how were the interethnic relations in Macedonia while his SDSM party was still in power? The answer: Awful!
However, the proper identification of the problem by locating it in the open issues on which the ethnic Albanians persist, is the proper and most rational way of ensuring that Macedonia would become a state with a clear perspective for integrating within EU, NATO ect.
Any other formula that would be imposed by narrow-minded emotions of various Macedonian circles would only push Macedonia away from the horizon of demands to build this country as a strong, dignified and stable state.
Emin AZEMI is the publisher of FAKTI - daily newspaper - Skopje
Macedonia's Political Spokesmen Reject Constitutional Change (RFE/RL) Posted April 3, 2001
http://www.rferl.org/
Macedonia's Political Spokesmen Reject Constitutional Change
By Ron Synovitz
SKOPJE, Apr 2, 2001 -- (RFE/RL) A spokesman for the main party in Macedonia's governing coalition says the party will not accept the demands of ethnic Albanians for changes to the nation's constitution.
At the same time, a government spokesman says it is not considering changes to the constitution. Both statements suggest difficulties ahead when elected officials attempt to resolve Macedonia's interethnic crisis through political negotiations.
Another hurdle to peace in Macedonia has appeared as the country's elected officials prepare for negotiations aimed at finding a political solution to the ongoing interethnic violence.
Igor Gievski, a spokesman for the leading party in the governing coalition -- known by its acronym VMRO-DPMNE -- says that his group will not agree to the demands of ethnic Albanians for changes to the constitution and its preamble. Those demands are at the heart of complaints by ethnic Albanians that they are treated as second-class citizens.
Gievski told reporters last night that the upcoming negotiations will break down immediately if ethnic Albanian elected officials raise the issue of constitutional change.
Gievski said the VMRO-DPMNE rejects allegations that the constitution and its preamble discriminate against ethnic Albanians. He said the constitution does not create problems for any of the country's minority groups or limit the rights of any citizens. He also said that changing the preamble would be akin to changing the history of the Macedonian people and state.
Many ethnic Albanians believe that discrimination against their community is embodied in a portion of the preamble that reads: "Macedonia is constituted as the national state of the Macedonian people [along with] the Albanians, the Turks, the Vlachs, the Roma and the other nationalities who live in the Republic of Macedonia."
They want the preamble revised so that Macedonia has what they consider a citizens' constitution rather than one based on a single dominant nation with minorities. They also seek a change that would reflect two dominant nationalities -- ethnic Albanian and Macedonian Slav -- or even a federation of Macedonian and Albanian mini-states.
But Gievski yesterday ruled out any consideration of a federation, which would imply a right for the ethnic-Albanian dominated western part of the country to secede from Macedonia through a public referendum.
"As for [the creation of] a federation state, there [also] is no possibility for this. This is a basic position of [the VMRO-DPMNE] party. I think that the Albanian political parties and the other minority groups in Macedonia should understand this [from the start], as should the international community."
Gievski said his party also rejects calls for Albanian to be made an official language of Macedonia. He said the only demands that the VMRO-DPMNE will consider are legal changes that would allow greater representation of ethnic Albanians in local government and the creation of a state-funded Albanian-language university.
Gievski does not speak officially for Macedonia's coalition government, which includes five ministers from the Democratic Party for Albanians, or DPA. But his remarks do shed light on the position of the most senior government officials toward the constitutional demands of Albanians. President Boris Trajkovski and Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski are both members of the VMRO-DPMNE.
Government spokesman Antonio Milosovski was asked by Macedonian state television last night to clarify whether the cabinet is considering changes to the constitution. Milosovski said:
"We are open to any kind of questions, but I can say that the government is not thinking about changing the constitution or the preamble. And I think that the government is not the proper forum [for amending the constitution], So it cannot respond to this kind of question."
Under Macedonian law, the government can only initiate the procedures for amending Macedonia's Constitution. Any amendments require the approval of a two-thirds majority of the parliament.
In public remarks this week, Trajkovski has sought to shift the focus of the debate away from the idea of constitutional recognition of two dominant nationalities in Macedonia. Instead, Trajkovski has concentrated on the need to improve individual rights through political and economic reforms.
"I would like my agenda to be directed toward improving the rights of all citizens of the Republic of Macedonia -- not only the Albanians of Macedonia. I also want to discuss the demands -- and means to improve the rights -- of Roma, Serbs, Vlachs, and the rights of Macedonians (that is, Macedonian Slavs) as well -- all citizens who suffer because of the economic difficulties we have been feeling during the transformation to prosperity."
During his recent visits to Macedonia, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana stressed that the EU will not pressure Skopje into changing the constitution. But Solana, who is working as a mediator to get the political dialogue underway, also said that he thinks there is room for Macedonia to change the constitution.
Changing the constitution isn't the only concern of ethnic Albanians. They also complain about an unemployment level in their community that is twice the national average and about a judicial system which they say is biased against them.
Many ethnic Albanians also object to the official use of Slav symbols by the state, particularly depictions of Orthodox Christian churches and icons on banknotes They say that such usage ignores the fact that Macedonia is an ethnically and religiously mixed state.
There also are complaints about the stringency of laws on citizenship, which ethnic Albanians see as a deliberate effort to prevent them from gaining a number of parliamentary seats proportional to the size of their community. Present requirements for citizenship include a minimum 15-year residency in Macedonia, proof of a permanent source of income and the ability to speak the Macedonian language.
Macedonia's Interior Ministry says that as of 1994 -- the last year for which figures are available -- some 150,000 residents of Macedonia, most of them ethnic Albanians, had failed to meet naturalization requirements. Many of those seeking citizenship possessed identity papers from the former Socialist Republic of Macedonia.
According to the last official census, about one-third of the country's two million people is ethnic Albanian. But political leaders of the Albanian community complain the census has been distorted by the rigid citizenship laws and by boycotts on the part of many ethnic Albanians.
Copyright (c) 2001 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio FreeEurope/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
WAR IN THE BALKANS AS A DAILY EVENT (by Ismail BARDHI, Ph.D.) Posted April 2, 2001
WAR IN THE BALKANS AS A DAILY EVENT
Ismail BARDHI, Ph.D.
Shkup, March 20, 2001
During the communism, intellectuals' main desire was the freedom of writing and expression. At that time, we were forced and called upon to live within the “brotherhood-unity”. Any writing that to some extent had any spark of that kind was gladly received without being reviewed within the framework of the scientific codex. We thought a little about the future, while the main concerns were social security, retirement and death. We, especially the most vital generation, during the post-communism era were confronted with a problem that may be named as the war phenomenon.
War is the topic that during the last ten years has preoccupied many cultural centers, educational and strategic institutions, various academies, political parties and states. The destruction of the past with what presently goes on proves our weakness and multicolored falsehood of the political and intellectual figure. The most used sentence during this period was: “I have nothing to say about the war because you have all seen it”. The war was not only seen, but it was experienced as well, and it became a reality in which people started living. However, it is interesting that everyone hated it orally and in writing, starting with the people with small responsibilities, up to those that had greater responsibility. In this process, we notice the war phenomenon in which those who presented peace became heroes of the peace.
All this seemed that Macedonia was not in the Balkans but in New Zealand, as if it did not see the war. Macedonia presented its political problems as if they were war, like for example: by Greece it was not recognized as a state with its name; by Bulgaria as a nation; by all Orthodox Churches as independent Church, problems that to the present day are still not resolved. It is rather interesting that only Albania, the weakest of all states from all aspects, fully recognized it. It is not clear, was it from fear or only for being gentle?
In all of this the problem of Kosova appeared, the one that, unfortunately, still remains and unresolved issue and hangs between heaven and earth, but again everyone says that it is good for there is no war. Macedonia, a country for which seemingly nobody cared, took advantage of every segment, every gap, as if the war was going on in it. It took pride saying that: we hosted the Kosovars, we sheltered them, regardless of what happened at that time and which was seen by the international factors. It would be good if we mention some of those that need no argumentation: the police attitude was out of any worldly accepted norms; people were physically, materially and mentally mistreated by the Macedonian police and army; writings and offenses were of the kind that the Albanian will never forget; misuses of the funds dedicated by the international bodies for the refugees, or better, the robbery whose proportions only God knows; refugee camps resembled places that could not be compared even with prisons. However, the horror of war made everybody pray to the Lord not to allow it to happen. It seems that Macedonia did not learn the lesson from it at all.
Macedonia in fact is a state with strange onset for various reasons, from the historical, cultural and statehood point of view. Although it did everything within its powers to call itself as Republic of Macedonia, including the use of its “national” flag, it happened that in one session of its parliament, all previous decisions were annulled and the will of Greece was accepted.
Now let us turn to the present events. The question arises about whose will was for the war to begin inside Macedonia? We know and believe that there are internal problems with ethnic Albanians inside the country, but not to the extent to spark a war whose end is not being analyzed well. As it is well known, the demands of the Albanians in Macedonia were and still are:
– Changes in the Constitution for becoming a statehood nation;
– The right for superior education in mother tongue;
– Albanian language to become an official language;
– Fully enjoying the rights that derive from the abovementioned.
What did Macedonia do and how it responded to such demands?
This first demand has not been recognized, nor does Macedonia think to do so in any way, although this demand has its high significance for the country itself, because Albanians had the opportunity to say that they don’t want to be a constitutive part of this country/state, but they didn’t act so. So, by being recognized as a statehood nation they could strengthen and safeguard this country.
The second demand was the one through which the Albanian issue was alarmed the most. This issue is a history in itself, for which during communism many education-lovers were imprisoned. After the independence of Macedonia not a single year passed without problems regarding this issue. The case of the University of Tetova seems to be a consequence of the Macedonian policy to have a nonprofessional institution for higher education for Albanians. If a thoroughly analysis is being done to this issue, it will result that it is a covert desire of the Macedonian officials to have new Albanian generations educated in such a way. The government of Macedonia didn’t take any measures to prevent the functioning of that University; until Albanians themselves didn’t succeed to some extent and made Europe do something in this direction and to implement higher standards for such education. We must not forget that the Macedonian state has not done and still not doing anything for improving the conditions in the primary, secondary and high schools in Albanian language, in which Albanian children follow their lessons below any standards. The Macedonian yearly budget provides only the salaries of the teaching staff in these schools and doesn’t set aside any additional funds for their maintenance. The issue of the integration of those children with the others is a problem that is not taken into consideration by the institutions of this country. To summarize, Albanians are being culturally and educationally isolated by the Macedonian state itself. To Macedonians ethnic Albanians are nothing but strangers, a problem that Macedonian state by itself couldn’t possibly resolve without the mediation from outside.
As far as the language problem is concerned, it was “resolved” in a strange way: wherever Albanians are in majority beside the official Macedonian, they may also use the Albanian language. But, even so, in all institutions of the local government where Albanians are majority, Macedonians, who in some parts are only in small percentages, refuse to participate in the meetings if the Albanian language was spoken.
As for the other rights, i.e. the social, employment and alike, if the people didn’t immigrate out of Macedonia, mostly in the West, and if they didn’t engage in agriculture inside Macedonia, the situation of the Albanians would have been catastrophic. Everything that Albanians have and posses is from their own sweat and hardship. The state has not done anything to improve their situation. On the contrary, it has and still is stealing from them in different ways. Proof of this is the low level of participation of the Albanians in distribution of loans, apartments, land and discrimination in employment.
The problem of getting the citizenship is an issue for which best comedies could be written. People whose ancestors and themselves were born in Macedonia cannot get the Macedonian citizenship. On the contrary, to many Albanians the same was taken away after being given earlier. This shows how many vicious anti-constitutional and anti-legal games are being played. Albanians have paid large sum of money for the citizenship they are being deprived from. On the other side, there are Macedonians living in New Zealand, USA, Canada and Australia who do not know a single Macedonian word, and to whom liked it or not the citizenship is being mailed.
The national balance in different government ministries, other offices and institutions is another subject, which like the previous, in some cases is humiliating. For example, when by a decree from the Government in a certain Ministry an Albanian is appointed, he/she is not welcomed by the Macedonians who would end up working for him/her. The most important ones, i.e. the Ministry of Defense, of Interior Affairs, of Foreign Affairs, and even the Ministry of Finance are nests of discrimination. This has become even clearer during these days of war, as Macedonians prefer to say, when everything is being done and decided without the participation of the Albanians. This is an unbearable situation. Naturally, all of the abovementioned makes unconceivable the demand of the Albanians to be a statehood nation.
Today, we have a situation that in the world may easily be named as state of emergency: the limited circulation, routine police and military controls, telephone tapping and surveillance, distribution of arms among the Macedonian volunteers, call for defense directed only to the Macedonians.
Nevertheless, to make all what is happening a little more understandable, we should make a brief survey of the political parties, those in power and in the opposition. The main governmental party, the Macedonian VMRO-DPMNE which is in coalition with the Albanian DPA, unwillingly made some concessions, that brought to a little more calmness in the country. In fact some changes and consents were made, such is the case of the foundation of one institution for higher European education, and alike. But, in meantime, the opposition parties led by SDAM went so far as to announce any measure by the Government as injustice. They, until some times ago didn’t even want to recognize the new president, whom they called simply a citizen. Naturally, they didn’t recognize the government itself by saying that it is corrupted, illegally elected, a criminal one that makes unlawful phone tapping, that makes the Albanization of Macedonia etc. They went so far with their announcements and allegations that could have brought to wide inter-ethnic conflict.
The opposition at one session of the Parliament and before the media uncovered the latest governmental phone-tapping affair. According to the presented papers, among those who have being tapped are the president, political leaders, journalists and some foreign diplomats of Western countries. With this in mind we must not forget that during the previous government led by the SDAM many affairs took place, including the attempt of assassination of the former president Kiro Gligorov, still a mystery, demonstrations against NATO and the US, including the attack on the US embassy, as well as the support for Serbia and Serbs coming from the supporters of SDAM, SP and others. All these have been proved.
Now the question arises: Is it possible that this most advanced opposition party which constantly criticizes the government has forgotten Gostivar, Bit Pazar, Reçica, Ladorishtë, Haraçina, or doesn’t it know what’s going on in Tanusha and now in Tetova’s Sharr Mountain?
In all these events the ordinary citizens were ill-treated, beaten, robbed, arrested, tortured, killed, their homes were raid, they were severely interrogated and announced as undesirable and there is no native or world newspaper or association for protection of human rights and freedoms that was not informed about this matter.
Recently we have the case of the village of Tanusha, some 40 km from Shkupi (Skopje), bordering with Kosova on the day of Kurban Bajram (Eid al-Adha). Why do I mention the Eid? The history teaches us many things. For example, during the World War I and II, during the communism, and even the most recent past tell us that unexpected crimes and massacres were done on this particular day. In the case of Tanusha one young mean was beastly beaten by the Macedonian police, homes were raid, a number of the inhabitants of Tanusha fled for Vitia in Kosova, some of them came to Shkupi, the ward of Kluç with 11 houses in the village was ruined, the young Muzafet Xhaferi was killed.
In this village the new UÇK (National Liberation Army) appeared, whose leadership remains unknown. The Albanian party in government coalition disassociated itself from it, and the other one presently in opposition supports it, maybe for political marketing. It is well known in the world that every army has its rules and regulations, without which it cannot be called an army. Individual defense and protection, the immediate creation of the defense system are something else, but as far as this “army” is concerned it has created a great confusion among the Albanians themselves, because it doesn’t answer to the simple question: why do they fight for the Albanians, when Albanians are not informed about it or why the majority of the Albanians are not included in it. This is the main subject about this self-announced army, which by the government is considered as extremist and terrorist. This needs to be carefully studied and leaves a lot of space for doubt. If we go back to the genesis of such phenomenon, like the year 1981 in Kosova, for which witness is the most vital generation of the Albanian people, and latter the formation of the UÇK also in Kosova, we may realize that something is wrong. The results and consequences of those phenomena are proofs for this. It is obvious that such organization, of this kind, not that it is dangerous but it is also timid, because what we have doesn’t fill the elementary demands of the word army, let alone of the National Liberation Army. Where is presently Kosova, is it really free? Did indeed the year ’81 help Kosova?
I am not trying to say that as a nation we should not have an army, university, and state. On the contrary. But, we must attain and achieve all these in the true meaning and sense of the words, because what is currently going on in Tetova, except for some announcements of a certain headquarter for the foreign media, is incomprehensible. How is it possible that the entire Albanian political block, as well as the Islamic Union in Macedonia, not to have any knowledge about anything. It would be a biological, not to say a political weakness, if we take as an argument the sayings of an Albanian, a compromised former official in ex-Yugoslavia that they are our sons and daughters fighting for our rights.
Politics and defense systems within the state must have a high and very serious coordination, in which every detail would be well analyzed and reviewed so as the final result to be improvement, a victory.
If the current situation is being observed from the opposite angle, the Macedonian block, then from the announcements of the head of the state, government and other instances it becomes clear that terrible things will happen. First of all, the defense system is being comprised entirely by the Macedonians, with the exclusion of the ethnic Albanians. It is true that the state of emergency is not being declared yet, but a synthesis of the Ministry of Interior and Defense is acting as if it was already declared. The open call for arms and fight by the Macedonian civilians is very dangerous for the future of Macedonia.
On the other side we have another political block that tries to score politically and in this dangerous time to resolve unresolved issues. It is not possible to forget the words of the former Minister of Interior and Foreign Affairs, Lubomir Frchkovski, who proved to have various supportable theses, but the consequences of which, on long run, are very dangerous. His main point of view is that today Macedonia must use all military means to crush the terrorists, without waiting for the permission from the West, and if necessary even by disregarding the Constitution of the country. Anything else would lead to the dissolution and federalization of Macedonia. This opinion is being shared and supported especially by the left Macedonian political block.
The future of the people of this country, where many unresolved issues still remain, shows a permanent danger for the ethnic Albanians, because by all means they are humiliated and being presented as destructive element that has to be fought. The words that at the end we will have to live together are being said for the sake of “diplomacy” and fraud. It is not possible for the Albanians to forget all this and to build their future by leaning on a state order that systematically violates their elementary rights.
At the time when I am writing this, there is news for burning houses around Tetova, road blocking, raid, and police hour. All this make the people loose their patience, their trust in the Macedonian interior state politics, and the trust in the reassurances for peace that people in the Balkans lately have heard too much.
Therefore, I wonder if the new UÇK has analyzed well all the abovementioned. What is the result of their actions: Tanusha is today empty, of course from Albanians because Macedonians soldiers are currently positioned there. Latest developments in Tetova’s surrounding resulted with flee of the population towards Albania, Kosova and Turkey. Did they think of this? Why Tetova, whose population is largely Albanian? How is it possible one group to defend the entire population that, in turn, doesn’t know what to do? Why should I down here be defended by someone else up there, who tomorrow will declare himself for a hero, while I know him only through the gun shot and blasts? How is it possible that the large majority, maybe the entire population, including the official and nongovernmental institutions not to know what’s going on? There is a total informational blackout, with the main Albanian political parties, like the DPA, PDP and the new NDP unable to inform the Albanian voters? All these are issues for which someone has to take the responsibility, if we have any political, national or state responsibility.
At the end, we have another problem: world’s opinion on this matter. Naturally, almost all of them support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Macedonia, its peaceful policy and its need to defend itself, including its greatest opponent Greece, which is ready to send military forces to defend it. But, we have also those who stress the need for continuation of the political dialogue and reforms by peaceful means, for the advancement of the Albanian’s position within the state and for achieving general security within the state. Nevertheless, by some international factors Albanians were called as destabilizing factor in the region and, with their actions, are loosing the support of the West. Did these self-called heroes thought about this? Many questions appear regarding these events that give space to the doubts that maybe Greece and Serbia are behind all what is currently going on.
This happens when the “truth” is build upon the untruth, upon the distortion and theft. It is humanity’s aim and destiny to submit to the justice. Human values are created prior to man’s creation. Civilizations and humanity may exist only when the righteousness is fulfilled. For shaping itself in full this country must have into consideration human rights and freedoms, creation of a peaceful and relaxed atmosphere, by enabling the abovementioned rights in their entirety. Finally, who needs the explanations and justifications of the various war experiences after the wars?
PDP Muhamed Halili: OUR AIM EQUAL STATUS FOR THE ALBANIANS IN MACEDONIA Posted April 2, 2001
PDP Muhamed Halili OUR AIM EQUAL STATUS FOR THE ALBANIANS IN MACEDONIA
PDP GenSec Muhamed Halili address at the public tribune on the ‘Situation in Macedonia’ held in Debar.
“The last events clearly proved that the theory on the relaxed interethnic relations in Macedonia, the refusal of foreign monitoring, the claims that everything in Macedonia flourishes due to the Albanian strong party (DPA) in the Government turned to be nothing but a camouflaged claim and a forgery. What the Government kept silent on and the Helsinki Committee alarmed earlier, turned true there are no relaxed interethnic relations, but an accumulated discontent that would strongly erupt one day.”
“We had been attempting for quite a while to convince the international community that what begun in Tanusha, Kumanova and Tetova, was not a simple issue of borders, it was not an aggression from Kosova, but a revolt kept deep inside the hearts of the Albanians against the suppressing of problems by the side of VMRO-DPMNE and DPA. During the last period, this ruling coalition turned into a army-police coalition, as during the last few weeks they had been engaged in a police and army action not only against the rebels, but also against the civilian population.”
“We think that most of the rebels are not imported from abroad. They are dissatisfied citizens of Macedonia, maybe joined by a small group from Kosova. This was not an aggression against the territorial integrity of Macedonia. This was a revolt, discontent with the present constitutional and legal position in this country.”
“Other pol-parties, including DPA, claim these groups should be first isolated politically and then defeated militarily. And only after that the political dialogue between political forces in Macedonia could begin. We differ on that. As a party, we don’t feel threatened and we don’t consider it as something horrible if structures of the rebels would participate in the dialogue.”
“Albanians would not easily forget the army-police assault not only against the rebels, but also against the civilians. The villages around Tetova are not communicating now with this town, as the local population has moved out. Georgievski says his Government has completed the task successfully and now they will establish broad coalition government, as requested by Crvenkovski. We think the present government does not represent neither the Macedonian nor the Albanian majority.”
“PDP stands ready for true negotiations, not chit-chats, small talks. Constitutional changes must be essential and arranged through negotiations led in the presence of a foreign mediator. We did not vote this Constitution, we refused the Referendum, we didn’t vote the Law on Ratifying the Border Demarcation Agreement, and we boycotted the census operation. We consider the Constitution as the crisis generator,” said Halili in his address.
NLA Communiqué Nr. 9 PARTY ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA ARE BANNED IN THE ARMY Posted April 2, 2001
02 April 2001
FAKTI
NLA Communiqué Nr. 9 PARTY ACTIVITIES AND PROPAGANDA ARE BANNED IN THE ARMY
1. Our struggle had gone through several phases so far. The first phase was warning on the danger situation to which the ethnic Macedonian state forces had been leading the country. The second phase marked the beginning of the NLA struggle on the first front lines to protect the attacked population in Karadak (Crna Gora) region and along Gjerme Recica line and Tetova Veice depth. NLA has successfully resisted the ‘torched land’ offensive launched by the Macedonian forces. Now we are entering the phase when the NLA struggle on liberation from the Macedonian state domination would continue with combined forms, suitable to the present military and political situation.
2. We welcome the patriotic act of Hysni Shaqiri MP who joined our ranks. We inform all the MP’s that they are welcomed to join our fight for freedom.
3. NLA is a non-party structure. Therefore, all party activities and propaganda are banned.
4. NLA demands are clear, with an essential demand of changing the Constitution, enabling Macedonia to exist as a state of two equal nations, without denying the rights of the others.
5. NLA stands for negotiations with the Macedonian side. Negotiations are always led between the two conflicting sides. In this case, the conflicting sides are the Albanians and the Macedonians, i.e. the Macedonian Government and the NLA armed forces. Therefore, negotiations without NLA participation would make no sense and would be considered as non-valid.
IN THE MARGINES OF THE ACTUAL CRISIS (By Emin AZEMI) Posted April 2, 2001
Balkanreport.com
IN THE MARGINES OF THE ACTUAL CRISIS
In Tetovo mountain area crossing of the Western and Eastern concepts
By Emin AZEMI
The indoctrination bridge that has linked several Macedonian authors and publicists with their tutors through the lobbies of the official policy, has alienated Macedonia from Brussels and Washington and has approached it towards Moscow, Kiev and Beijing. To fight “the Albanian terrorism” with Ukrainian helicopters, with Bulgarian mercenaries, and with anti-American, anti-British and anti-German vocabulary, shows more about the tests that the official Macedonian policy had to go through.
Different Macedonian authors and analysts have made efforts to re-evaluate and reconsider the political and democratic determination of the Albanian policy in Macedonia, by throwing shades of doubts to every public statement of the Albanian leaders. Neither Xhaferi, neither Thaqi, and neither Imeri were left without misinterpretation, discommended, in order to put their statements in negative connotation, for their daily usage and doubtfully connotation. You get an impression as these authors and analysts do not have that many problems with the armed Albanian groups, as much they have problems with the legitimate Albanian representatives. By wanting to “be more catholic then the Pope itself” they have succeeded to mix up thing that they even indoctrinated the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic that in the last several days are acting more like a separate military department of the civil Government. The last ones, even pose themselves in front of TV cameras in center of Tetovo by which it looks like they want to get self-satisfied in the tight pattern of their semi-sportive wear, but of course always companied by armored faces and forces.
The indoctrination bridge that has linked several Macedonian authors and publicists with their tutors through the lobbies of the official policy has alienated Macedonia from Brussels and Washington and has approached it towards Moscow, Kiev and Beijing. To fight “the Albanian terrorism” with Ukrainian helicopters, with Bulgarian mercenaries, and with anti-American, anti-British and anti-German vocabulary, shows more about the tests that the official Macedonian policy had to go through. Therefore, Macedonian authors and analysts should work more upon this test, instead of dealing with statements of Xhaferi, Thaqi or Imeri, which have in any case been pro-Western and pro-American, not only in their statement but also with their concrete engagements.
As much as Trajkovski, Georgievski, Paunovski etc, appear to be self-satisfactory in their operative action in field, by eliminating DPA and democratic forces of the Albanian opposition in Macedonia from the decision-making, that much they are entering to dead-end. The mission of the visit of Robertson and Solana is linked exactly with the help that they would provide to Macedonian authorities (Prime Minister and the President) in order to get out of the dead-end and to encourage more the Albanian representatives.
In Tetovo mountain area crossing of the Western and Eastern concepts. While in Skopje Georgievski preferred more the Yugoslav approach to resolving the conflict, in Tetovo Xhaferi liked more the democratization of the crisis. The Talibanization of the anti-Western vocabulary of the high Macedonian officials, assisted by failed ex-politicians, like Frchkovski, and several Macedonia apparatus journalists, had detected the civil affinities of the establishments that they represent, by loosing sympathies from countries that have mostly contributed for preserving the stability in Macedonia.
Opening of the institutional dialogue about the open problems, that are not invented now, return Macedonia in the position close to the one that was contested by Albanian political parties. This contesting has been permanent engagement of the political philosophy of Xhaferi, who by locating the etymology of the problem, inside Macedonia, he had preferred the dialogue and historical agreement between Albanians and Macedonians. The first conditions for such a dialogue and agreement has been and will be elimination of the inner dualism of the actual Macedonian Constitution, which as concept and spirit, does not correspond with the multiethnic composition of Macedonia.
Therefore, the first thing that needs to be done id beginning of the process of changing the Constitution, and adaptation of its concept with the environment and inner civilization, socio-cultural, ethnic, demographic relations etc.