DPA MP Shaqiri joins NLA ranks Posted March 29, 2001
DPA MP Shaqiri joins NLA ranks
‘YOU WILL FIND ME ON THE FIRST FRONT LINE’
FAKTI 29/03/2001
DPA MP Hysni Shaqiri has put on hold all his responsibilities in the Macedonian Assembly and joined the National Liberation Army (NLA). The decision came after the last security forces offensive in Tetova area.
"The latest offensive of the Macedonian police and military forces in Tetova was not, as they say, against the NLA but against the Albanian people. This has forced me to join the ranks of this army and to serve with all means at my disposal," Hysni Shaqiri, the DPA deputy from the region of Kumanova.
Shaqiri earlier said in a written statement that he was conscious of what the Albanian people were going through in Macedonia in the current situation and that "a fight for liberation has begun between the NLA and the Macedonian police and military forces." Shaqiri decided to freeze all his parliamentary and party activities in order to join the NLA.
"I call upon all the voters of the region who have elected me to be on the side of the freedom fighters. At the same time, I also call upon senior leaders of the DPA and other Albanian deputies in the Macedonian Parliament to join the freedom fighters," said Shaqiri in his public statement.
Albania: the wild frontier (BY JAMES PETTIFER ) Posted March 28, 2001
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,649-105805,00.html
WEDNESDAY MARCH 28 2001
Albania: the wild frontier
BY JAMES PETTIFER
A plucky country battling its oppressors or a nation of gangsters? As Albanians again become the focus of a Balkan conflict, our reporter charts the turbulent history of a nation whose heroes include Norman Wisdom
You know when you are flying over Albania; the roads in neighbouring Montenegro and Greece seem to come to a full stop and a ruddy moonscape of seemingly uninhabited mountains appears below. The bleak, and barren landscape is largely a legacy of years of isolation when Albania was one of the most Stalinist and secretive lands on earth at the height of the Cold War.
The terrain and decades of obscurity have not been matched by lack of interest from would-be conquerors down the years, however; its location on the Adriatic Sea has made Albania a bridgehead for various nations and empires.
Churchill once said that the Balkans produced more history than they could digest. The question now is whether some Albanians who dream of a Greater Albania will try to bite off more land than their neighbours can stomach.
So do the rebel ethnic Albanians fighting in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and around the Kosovo border have history on their side? The modern state of Albania was born in 1913, emerging from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after the Second Balkan War. Unlike many of its Balkan neighbours, it has not changed borders since it was established. But after Natos expulsion of Serbian forces from Kosovo in 1999, many expansionist ethnic Albanians in the region have been spurred to seek more land.
Albanians, who call themselves sons of eagles are descended from the Ancient Illyrians, who lived all over the southwest Balkans. In Ottoman times they flourished and were a favoured people who gave the Empire many grand viziers (prime ministers). But since its birth, Albania has never been large or economically viable enough to support all the ethnic Albanians in the region. By the end of the First World War large numbers of ethnic Albanians were spread throughout northern Greece, Macedonia and what was then royalist Yugoslavia. Indeed, Britain was among the Great Powers that handed Kosovo to the Serb-led Yugoslavs, a fact that was to become a source of friction for decades until the Nato campaign to drive out hardline Serbs two years ago.
The severe ethnic tensions in towns such as modern Tetovo also date from the post-First World War period. After 1920, more than 100,000 mostly Serb colonists moved into Macedonia and Kosovo and formed a ruling elite above the mostly Albanian Muslim majority. Why did this happen? As always in the Balkans, Great Power rivalries played a role. Serbia was for decades the Balkan nationality favoured by France and Britain, while Bulgaria was linked to Germany. Albanias best friend was Austria; it is possible that without Austrian insistence in 1913 no modern Albanian state would exist. But after the First World War, Albania was left friendless.
Chunks of historic Albanian land, particularly Kosovo and Western Macedonia, with its rich mines, were given to Serbia, so under the Versailles Treaty about half the Albanian population was left outside the new but tiny Albanian state. British and French Balkan policy was intent on building up a strong Serbia as the dominant nationality within Yugoslavia.
That changed after the rise of Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia and the break-up of federal Yugoslavia from 1991. Serbia became a pariah state and, despite the ousting of Milosevic last October, Serbs still have a long way to go before gaining full international approval.
After the Second World War, Albania became the political equivalent of the dark side of the moon during the rule of the Stalinist Enver Hoxha, who died in 1985. It emerged from decades of isolation with the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in 1989 only to descend into near-anarchy, with a reputation as a nation of bandits. This was reinforced by the pyramid savings scandal of 1996-1997, which caused widespread bankruptcy and led to the fall of the Government. Some say todays expansionism is a direct consequence of this collapse: so many Albanians were left destitute that they had to look beyond their borders for economic recovery.
So will the new international orientations bring a change of Albanian borders and a greater Albania? Although the international community says it supports Macedonia, it remains to be seen what this really means. The Albanians have the great advantage of a new economic space, based on the collapse of the communist borders with Kosovo, Montenegro and Macedonia. They also have a young population with hardcurrency income from a diaspora totally committed to the free market world. Serbia and Macedonia have yet to show that they really have this commitment.
Albania, for all its terrible infrastructure and social problems, may have found the key to the future, while the neighbouring Slavs have yet to make a really decisive break with the communist past.
Macedonia to alter constitution for Albanians Posted March 28, 2001
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,464186,00.html
Macedonia to alter constitution for Albanians
Jonathan Steele in Tetovo
Wednesday March 28, 2001
The Guardian
The Macedonian president, Boris Trajkovski, is expected to announce by the end of the week a date for the start of wide-ranging talks on changing the country's constitution to accommodate many of the Albanian minority's demands.
The talks may involve mediation by the EU, which would have a representative at the talks.
With the fighting in the hills largely over, and the dispersal of the Albanian gunmen from the mountain villages above Tetovo, the government is quietly celebrating the victory of its two-day offensive.
In his meetings with government officials and party leaders from both communities yesterday, Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy supremo, urged them not to be triumphalist or use their unexpectedly quick victory as an excuse for delay.
"The president has made it clear he wants to intensify the dialogue," Mr Solana said on a visit to Tetovo to meet leaders of the Albanian minority.
The government is debating whether to accept international mediation for the talks, and what concessions to give.
The prime minister, Ljubco Georgievski, whose party faces elections next year, is from the same party as the president but is known to be more of a hawk.
"I believe President Trajkovski will announce the start of the talks by the end of this week. We have to do it. We cannot play around with Solana and [Nato chiefLord] Robertson," Branko Geroski, chief editor of independent daily Dnevnik, said yesterday.
Mr Geroski said an international presence at the talks would be a way to guarantee the agreement, and provide mediation if problems arose. "We want that sort of role because we need a strong deal which will last," he said.
Tetovo was returning to normal yesterday with most shops open and many people back on the streets. In the hills the army maintained its presence with tanks and armoured vehicles.
The 600-800 gunmen who had emerged in several Albanian populated mountain villages appareared to have melted away, leaving weapons behind. But government officials were aware that the gunmen could re-emerge later if no concessions are made to the Albanian community.
A key grievance is the preamble to the 1991 constitution which describes the country as "the national state of the Macedonian people". This is likely to go, though officials refuse to go into details of possible concessions.
Mr Geroski predicted that the government would allow Albanian to be used as an official language in state institutions, like the courts and government offices, in districts where large numbers of Albanians live. But it would not be official in central government.
Albanian leaders expressed relief that the army's offensive was over. Arben Xhaferi, whose party is in coalition with Mr Georgievski, tried to distance himself from the army offensive. "Troops and weapons did not stop the violence. What did it was the hope provided by the EU that it would intervene in starting political negotiations," he said.
The other main Albanian party, which is in opposition, has not yet lifted its boycott of parliament. "The army and police have destroyed civilian homes, and it is impossible to be in parliament as a democrat at the same time as the forces open fire on civilians," Muhamed Halili, their secretary-general, said yesterday.
The army now has to decide what forces to leave in the mountains. The government plans to buy several helicopters to help patrol its side of the border to coincide with the increase in security by the K-For peacekeeping force.
Yesterday K-For troops detained 18 armed men as they crossed from Macedonia into Kosovo. They were among more than 100 men who crossed the border at midnight. Some said they belonged to the National Liberation Army, the name adopted by the rebels, according to Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Loebbering, a K-For spokesman.
Meanwhile, trouble has flared in southern Serbia, where ethnic Albanian rebels attacked police positions in the Presevo valley area bordering Kosovo on Sunday and Monday, Serb officials said.
MACEDONIAN POLICE INSULTS, CURSE ON ETHNIC BASIS (FAKTI) Posted March 28, 2001
MACEDONIAN POLICE INSULTS, CURSE ON ETHNIC BASIS
FAKTI 28/03/2001
Macedonian police stopped and provoked two UNMIK local staff members on Monday, close to Blace border crossing. R.R. (24) and A.J. (25) were stopped by police and provoked by police. “They kept insulting and cursing us, always on ethnic basis, while pointing their guns at us,” A.J. says.
“When I tried to pull my UNMIK ID card, one of them hit me in the face and didn’t allow me to identify myself.
SOLDIERS SHOOT AT CHILDREN, ‘THINKING’ THEY MIGHT BE TERRORISTS (FAKTI) Posted March 28, 2001
SOLDIERS SHOOT AT CHILDREN, ‘THINKING’ THEY MIGHT BE TERRORISTS
FAKTI 28/03/2001
ARM shot at three children, age 14 to 16, one of which got lightly wounded.
The incident occurred on Sunday, close to Blace village. Police confirmed the incident, explaining it as a mistake, as the reservist soldiers of ARM opened fire, thinking children might be terrorists, although the children were only taking care of cattle.
IMERI: OUR DEMANDS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN IGNORED (FAKTI) Posted March 28, 2001
IMERI: OUR DEMANDS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN IGNORED
FAKTI
In an interview to ‘Der Spiegell’, PDP leader Imeri says that his party had been warning the western countries about the possible conflict. The reason for this conflict lies in the fact that the ethnic Macedonians has traditionally kept an anti-Albanian orientation. “Our demands have been always ignored… We support the independence of Kosova, but we are not for secession. We want to be treated equally as Macedonians, we want the Albanian language to be recognized as official.”
Asked to comment what does he think on the autonomy of Albanians in RM, Imeri said that such autonomy would only strengthen Macedonia.
NLA: WE HAVEN’T MOVE FROM OUR POSITIONS (FAKTI 28/03/2001) Posted March 28, 2001
NLA: WE HAVEN’T MOVE FROM OUR POSITIONS
(FAKTI 28/03/2001)
In a statement given to VOA, one of the NLA Commanders stated that their withdrawal is a strategy that should enable the civilian population to leave the war zones. “There is no doubt that Albanians will continue with their struggle.”
NLA officer says that their appeal to Albanians in RM to join the guerilla was accepted much better than expected. “Now we have more than 4000 soldiers, all of them expecting an order to attack Government police and army forces.”
EU ASSISTANCE WILL NOT LACK (FAKTI) Posted March 28, 2001
EU ASSISTANCE WILL NOT LACK
FAKTI 28/03/2001
Tetova was calm yesterday when Javier Solana arrived for a visit. First to meet with was Xhaferi, at the DPA office. The meeting lasted for about one hour. Next on the schedule was a meeting with PDP. Meanwhile, journalists and interested citizens gathered in front of the local Hall of Culture, where Solana was supposed to address the press.
“The peace in Macedonia was not brought by airplanes and helicopters, but by Solana and the strong pressure of Albanian politicians,” DPA Xhaferi stated.
“One of the main strategic aims of the Albanians in Macedonia is to Europeanize the Balkans, instead of creating new alliances that are against the interests of the Albanians. Any tendency to include Macedonia within European structures is in the interests of EU-sructures and in the interest of Albanians. We requested from Solana to accelerate the process of including Macedonia within the EU-structures. However, it is obvious that we are delaying with cleaning up our own yard, in the field of ethnic relations, and that requires changing the concept of the state, from the ethnic into a real, multiethnic state. Not only with Solana, but also with other international officials we have raised the issue on the new state concept as the main precondition for calming the situation. We have also suggested a dialogue, which should begin by April the latest,” DPA Xhaferi stated.
“I think our words have reached even those the fought in the hills for their ideals. I hope that they have also understood the depth of our arguments. Now the responsibility lies upon us and Europe. If we fail in this and burn this hope, then I believe that the peace would not be achieved as soon as we think,” said Xhaferi.
“Solana will visit us again, next week. He listened carefully to our demands and he will come back with a reply.”
“We mainly spoke about the crisis and the present situation. We also tackled the actions of political factors and state authorities in surpassing the present situation. However, one of the main topics was the PDP decision to ‘freeze’ own participation in the Assembly and Solana’s persistence that we should return to this dome as soon as possible,” PDP MP Nazer Zyberi said after the meeting.
“Solana promised us he would stand more engaged in opening a more serious dialogue. He underlined that his position would be in the function of a EU Special Envoy for opening a dialogue and advance all the open issues that concern the Albanians in Macedonia,” Zyberi said.
“Let me stress in this occasion that I am very honored to be here today with you. My presence here demonstrates the support of European Union to finding a solution to the problems. We are in the 21st Century and in the 21st century, all the problems that one state might have, should be resolved through politics. EU will continue to cooperate and assist in building a state where all citizens shall feel as citizens of Macedonia,” Solana stated to the press.
“I think we made a progress in this situation and we made a progress in a right direction. I had a good meeting with the Prime Minister and we aimed to set a frame to the present situation. As you know, on April 9, your country will sign the SA Agreement and we wish to see this as your success.
Therefore, we will work with you as much as we can in aim to build a multi ethnic society.”
“Changing of Constitution and laws is not our job, but of local leaders.
What I am trying to do in here is to ensure that this country would be as close as possible to EU. Technicalities are up to local politicians, not me,” said Solana, adding that he will continue to exercise pressure for opening a dialogue, as it should be in every democratic society.
Javier Solana in Tetova (FAKTI): XHAFERI HAS AN IMPORTANT ROLE FOR THE ENTIRE NATION Posted March 28, 2001
Javier Solana in Tetova
XHAFERI HAS AN IMPORTANT ROLE FOR THE ENTIRE NATION
FAKTI 28/03/2001
Fakti: Mr. Solana, what is the purpose of your meetings with the two
political parties in Tetova?
Solana: Our aim was to come and visit Tetova, which is a really beautiful town, and meet with the leaders of the two ethnic Albanian political parties, the Mayor of Tetova and give the support of EU to the citizens of this town.
Q: How do you assess the role of Xhaferi in solving the crisis in Macedonia?
A: I think that DPA has a very good leader. A leader that works hard to protect the people and I think he will continue to do so. Xhaferi has a very important role for the entire nation to help the democracy, prosperity and inter ethnic relations. What I want to say is that I have a strong personal respect for Xhaferi.
Q: What is you concrete help to the Albanians in Macedonia?
A: There are two kinds of assistances. First, the political one that has been given to your leaders. The second assistance is the economic one. We want to help the local population to join the European institutions as soon as possible.
Use Words, Not Guns, Balkan Leader Tells Rebels Posted March 28, 2001
March 28, 2001
Use Words, Not Guns, Balkan Leader Tells Rebels
By STEVEN ERLANGER
ETOVO, Macedonia, March 27 — Arben Xhaferi, the leading Albanian politician in Macedonia, says he is "an optimist in a panic." He feels that he has no more than a month to show his constituents that they can improve their lives through political means, before more young Albanians here turn to the gun.
"Just now it is possible to go to bed a patriot and wake up a traitor," Mr. Xhaferi said in an interview here today. "There is a big risk that the ethnic divisions in the society will grow more extreme. But we are stressing only more rights for the Albanians; we want to take away nothing from the Macedonians."
...
"Our reality is multiethnic, but the concept of the state now is ethnocentric," he said. "Which do we change? We can only change the reality by ethnic cleansing, so we must change the concept of the state."
...
Mr. Xhaferi, his own credibility at risk, is openly using the threat of more violent Albanian responses to press for rapid political change in order to satisfy ordinary Albanians, who want stability and prosperity and who say they have little interest in any "greater Albania."
...
Albanians want their language made official. They want more decentralization, a greater role in the security services, an Albanian-language university and constitutional amendments guaranteeing equality to all citizens.
Full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/28/world/28BALK.html?pagewanted=all
Fight in Political Arena, EU Tells Rebels Posted March 27, 2001
Full article:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010327/wl/balkans_leadall_dc_106.html
Tuesday March 27 6:35 AM ET
Fight in Political Arena, EU Tells Rebels
By Rosalind Russell
TETOVO, Macedonia (Reuters) - European Union (news - web sites) security chief Javier Solana visited the flashpoint city of Tetovo on Tuesday, urging ethnic Albanian guerrillas to lay down their arms and fight for their rights in the political arena.
``I think a country has a right to control its territory,'' the Spanish diplomat said when asked whether he supported the military action. ``It has to do so in a manner that is proportionate.''
...
Solana said he was in Macedonia's unofficial ethnic Albanian capital to support the Macedonian people and promote an end to violence that triggered fears of a new Balkan war.
``An important message to rebels is that the best thing they can do is to lay down their weapons and start a political life,'' he said.
...
Robertson praised Macedonia for what he said was commendable restraint in the weekend assault to flush out the rebels. The government had taken the physical high ground, he said, and now it was time to take the political high ground by intensifying talks with Albanian leaders.
...
The rebels say they are fighting to improve the rights of Macedonia's large ethnic Albanian minority, many of whom feel they are treated as second-class citizens.
Suspicious arrests: WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW IN MACEDONIA? (FAKTI) Posted March 27, 2001
WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW IN MACEDONIA?
27/03/2001
Suspicious arrests!
by Emin Azemi, publisher of FAKTI Daly Newspaper
As far as the genesis of the crises is concerned, since the crises began in Tanusha, the evaluation of the Macedonian state structures has been constant: "Terrorists have come from Kosova, conducting invasion in Macedonia".
After the last offensive of the Macedonian police and army, the dilemma whether "the terrorists were from Kosova or from Macedonia still remains unexplained to the public. The last action by arresting many Albanians, either from the cities or those from the upper villages of Tetova, makes this dilemma even more confused.
If this operation continues with the same intensity, another question arises and remains open: Why the Macedonian structures continuously have been accusing the Kosovars for invasion, where in the meantime they are imprisoning The Albanians from Macedonia?
Legal experts, may probably locate sources of the crises precisely, respectively the carriers of the activities, which the court considers them to be "oriented against the integrity and sovereignty of Macedonia".
It would be counter-productive if imposed methods during the overcoming of the situation are activated, methods which by all means want to create a kind of preparatory terrain "to judge the terrorism through unfounded accusations". You get the impression as if particular segments of the state accomplish in the cities what they could not do in the mountains, through arresting people with and without excuses.
What worries is the fact that among those arrested are intellectuals, translators of the foreign organizations, school principals, political parties' activists, teachers, etc. In most of the cases, according to the arrested people's lawyers, we have to do with unfounded and suspicious accusations, setups and accelerated police actions.
It is clear that political parties , especially the Albanian political party at the Government, are in the most difficult position. Nevertheless, it would be quite effective if the intervention of these political parties to stop this furious action of the security organs takes place immediately. The great moral resource of the Albanian political parties in overcoming the crisis would be sufficient as a guarantee for all these innocent individuals who have been arrested.
1001 proofs exist and they talk in favor of the innocence of these people, of which most of them, in the civil life, are known as honorable, loyal and professionally distinguished people.
Emin AZEMI,
publisher of FAKTI Daly Newspaper
CIVILIANS ARRESTED IN TETOVA VILLAGES BROUGHT TO SKOPJE PRISON (FAKTI) Posted March 27, 2001
CIVILIANS ARRESTED IN TETOVA VILLAGES BROUGHT TO SKOPJE PRISON!
27/03/2001 FAKTI
'Fakti’ learned from reliable sources that more than 150 citizens from Tetova hillside villages have been brought and detained at Skopje ‘Shutka’ prison. They had all been forced into a separate block, and now are held in most difficult conditions. One could even say that this is kind of a small concentration camp. The same source says all of the detained are males, probably civilians.
The information could be confirmed by the images from State Television, showing police separating adult males from refugee groups fleeing the war zone. No one knows where they had been taken to. It is possible that the detained are civilians from villages Poroj, Xhepciste, Shemshova etc.
Officials at Shutka prison refused to share any information in relation to this case.
ARM TANKS TURN BARRELS AGAINST ALBANIAN VILLAGES (FAKTI) Posted March 27, 2001
ARM TANKS TURN BARRELS AGAINST ALBANIAN VILLAGES
FAKTI 27/03/2001
Situation in Likova municipality continues to be tensed, as detonations of continuous shelling against the villages in the region stir fear and panic among citizens, especially after the Sunday offensive in Tetova. Likova Mayor Husamedin Halili says the citizens fear that security forces would launch an offensive against their villages. “We fear that such an offensive could result with victims in civilian population.”
“Security forces are digging in, which means that they are preparing for a war. They are equipped with heavy artillery, and their tanks stand with barrels turned in direction of Albanian villages,” says Halili.
NO ARMED GROUPS FROM KOSOVA HAD BEEN ENTERING MACEDONIA (FAKTI) Posted March 27, 2001
NO ARMED GROUPS FROM KOSOVA HAD BEEN ENTERING MACEDONIA
FAKTI 27/03/2001
"It is not true that armed groups have been seen intending to cross from Kosovo into the territory of Macedonia," KFOR spokesman Lt. Colonel Martin Tracey said Monday in Skopje.
According to Tracey, KFOR continues to secure the border between Macedonia and Kosova and is also increasing the number of forces along the border with Kosova. The border is also being monitored by helicopters and troop patrols.
Tracey also said at a press conference that the Multinational Brigade(MNB) (South) had registered 2,902 refugees who had crossed Kosvoa's border in the previous 24 hours. He said that the individuals had been thoroughly searched by KFOR and that any person with links to extremist groups would be arrested and turned over to UNMIK police.
"Four persons were arrested yesterday, who were suspected of having links with extremist groups, and were handed over to UNMIK police in Prishtina," Tracey said.
He added that in eight operations undertaken by MNB (East) Wednesday, 28 persons were arrested and transferred to the American Camp Bondsteel.
Tracey said that NATO will continue to support peace, stability and the territorial integrity of Macedonia.
Interview with Arben Xhaferi (FAKTI) Posted March 27, 2001
Interview with Arben Xhaferi
27/03/2001 FAKTI
WE AIM TO PRESENT THE NATIONAL INTEREST AS AN INTEREST OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
Q: Your opinion on the situation in Macedonia after the offensive of combined police and Army forces of Macedonians. How would you assess the situation?
A: Military intervention cannot solve such ethnic conflicts. Judged by the experience so far, there can’t be no solution if a political solution does not follow. Complications in the future might get very dangerous. This is our opinion and the international community shares our opinion. We managed to spread the idea on opening the reforms in the society. The idea enjoys support by all western factors and this will happen.
Q: According to you, what kind of approach the Macedonian authorities should have followed towards this crisis?
A: According to us, the crisis should have not happened in first place, to begin from Tanusha and onwards. If the political line that we had dictated had been embraced, which is to say a dialogue and democratization of the crisis, then there would have been no crisis at all.
Q: What do you mean by ‘democratizing the crisis’?
A: It means that the crisis that exists in the hills should have been transferred to institutions and ensure the dialogue on demilitarizing the society.
Q: Does that mean that the Albanian legal politics as well as the
institutional policy of the Albanians so far had been caught in the schemes of Albanian militant groups?
A: We don’t want to lose our ideas because of various groups. The ideas opened by different groups are present for a long time and we don’t want to leave these ideas in the hands of various groups. We want and we shall articulate them. And throughout the entire crisis we were the only ones that kept articulating them.
Q: In case of opening a dialogue, would DPA and Xhaferi stand as leading partners in such talks and could such partnership push the armed Albanian groups in the background?
A: We want to facilitate the process of opening the dialogue, which means that we want to speed up the process. It does not mean that this one or than one would be the negotiator. It is important that we must ensure that our program will enjoy support of the international factors. We will work hard on the process of ensuring that our demands will match the demands of the international community. If we ensure that, it would be easy to agree among ourselves who would represent those ideas.
Q: How do you assess the fact that Georgievski and Trajkovski are fighting the Albanian guerilla with helicopters from Ukraine and mercenaries from Bulgaria and keep using a strong anti-western and anti-American vocabulary?
A: I would not like to comment on those things. However, the crisis management and the post-crisis management would be in the hands of westerners, not the Ukrainian helicopters. These are old-fashioned symbolic that speak much more about the local mentality rather than a well-thought project.
Q: Could one expect that the changes can be done with some new partner, or only with those that you have now?
A: changes must take place both with position and the opposition. We don’t want to build secret party alliances. We want to achieve a deep, overwhelming and long-lasting mutual agreement. We don’t want any daily politics, as we aim to ensure a long-term policy that would solve the dilemmas in our society for a longer period of time.
Tetovo Success Could be Pyrrhic Victory Posted March 27, 2001
http://www.europeaninternet.com/macedonia/news.php3?id=321159&brief=text
Tetovo Success Could be Pyrrhic Victory
SKOPJE, Mar 26, 2001 -- (Reuters) The triumph of arms that leads only to defeat is an old ghost in this ancient part of the civilized world.
If Macedonia's military thrust into ethnic Albanian rebel strongholds is not to be a Pyrrhic victory, the mixed-race republic will need some deft politics, and promptly.
The challenge of defeating a committed guerrilla movement is notoriously difficult. Doing so while upholding democratic values is doubly hard.
True to their threat to pop up like the many-headed Hydra after any attempt to snuff them out, rebel gunmen shot up a police patrol near Skopje on Monday, nearly killing one officer.
This underlined the clear risk that seeking a military solution while ignoring the political roots of discontent could invite endless hit-and-run attacks or even urban terrorism.
The cold-blooded murder of a policeman shot in the back while shopping in the capital last week remains unsolved.
"The UCK (National Liberation Army) can stay there for years if dialogue does not start," said a former Yugoslav Army officer of Albanian descent. "I'm not sure they want to, but I think they're prepared to hold out for as long as they need."
So far, Macedonia has refrained from declaring a national emergency or otherwise curtailing rights, other than imposing a curfew on Tetovo.
But the stock of hidden weapons in Albania and Kosovo, plus funding from a hardline Albania diaspora, seems unlimited, as long as there are young men willing to risk using them.
The gunmen deny they are seeking to split Macedonia and annex the majority Albanian lands to Kosovo.
They say they want "federalization" -- which some suspect is only a fancy codeword for separation -- or constitutional reform to emancipate what they say are downtrodden Albanians.
TALKING WITH GUNS
"Reform and guns don't really go together, do they?" said respected Kosovo Albanian publisher Veton Surroi. "But what they are saying is that they are willing to negotiate."
"Throughout our civilization the philosophy has been that people will listen to you if you exert a degree of violence," he told BBC World television.
The West's initial advice to Skopje was not to negotiate with armed extremists. But that has been subtly amended.
"My message to the Albanian extremists is to give up, to realize there is no future in the bullet," NATO Secretary General George Robertson said on Monday. "My advice to them is to lay down their arms and involve themselves in...politics"
"We do not accept anything that can be obtained politically through violence," European Union security chief Javier Solana said. "I think that a sensitive dialogue has to start with the Albanian leaders I have met, and they have been very positive."
U.S. President George W. Bush and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan made similar, carefully balanced appeals.
"We encourage the government to act with restraint and to work closely with elected representatives of the Albanian community to address legitimate concerns, while taking the necessary steps to prevent further violence," Bush said.
"Whilst we support the Macedonian government in its attempts to put down the rebellion, the government has to be careful not to...exacerbate it, throw up refugees and perhaps divide the society even further," said Annan.
These statements recognize a reality imposed by gunfire.
The guerrilla spectacular in the hills above Tetovo for the past two weeks undeniably thrust Albanian demands to the top of the agenda overnight and seized major power attention.
NO EXCUSE, BUT NO AVOIDANCE
Surroi did not excuse the tactic. He said "Macedonia can in no way be compared" to Kosovo under the repressive rule of former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
And its Albanian minority is most unlikely to attract the level of world sympathy that embraced Kosovo Albanians in 1998 and led to NATO's 1999 intervention.
"It's madness. It ought to be stopped now. It ought to be stopped by a negotiated effort," said Surroi, publisher of Kosovo's most influential daily, Koha Ditore.
Macedonia was an electoral democracy which, in its first 10 years, had produced two coalition governments that included Albanian leaders, he pointed out.
"Neverthless, we have reached the limits in which the electoral democracy can produce the protection of minority rights," Surroi maintained. The rebels were reality.
Yet both sides must understand they could not win a war.
Refreshingly for the Balkans, there was no sense of triumphalism among majority Slavs over Sunday's assault.
"Nobody normal wants a military operation, but the offensive was taken in a moment when it was clear there were no other alternatives," said the independent daily Utrinski Vesnik.
The silver lining was that it would "initiate a speeded up political process that will enhance the status of the Albanians", the paper said.
The wisdom of long experience was also imparted with notable modesty by Bush.
"As the United States knows only too well, perfecting such a state, and addressing the legitimate concerns of minorities, is a continuous process," the American president said.
NATO Chief to Push Skopje Government for Political Settlement Posted March 27, 2001
http://www.europeaninternet.com/macedonia/news.php3?id=320725&brief=text
NATO Chief to Push Skopje Government for Political Settlement
LONDON, Mar 26, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) NATO Secretary-General Lord George Robertson said on Monday he would use his visit to Macedonia to encourage the government there to push for a political settlement with the Albanian minority.
Robertson and Javier Solana, the European Union's defense and foreign policy chief, are heading for the Macedonian capital, Skopje.
He told BBC radio before his departure that he wanted the Macedonian government "to get involved in a political discussion with especially the Albanian parties in the parliament, to make sure that now that the rebels have been pushed back, they move onto the political offensive."
The NATO chief said he still supported the efforts of the Macedonian government to defeat an armed insurrection by Albanian rebels in the north-east of the country.
"Javier Solana and I are going to Skopje essentially to give some advice, some reassurance, in many ways commendation to the government in Skopje about what has been going on in the recent past," he said.
Robertson and Solana will meet Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski before flying back to NATO headquarters in Brussels later on Monday, a spokesman for the Alliance said.
Ethnic Albanian rebels, backed by armed groups from over the border in Kosovo, have been waging a guerilla war around Tetovo, in the northeast of Macedonia.
Their stated aim is to achieve equal rights for ethnic Albanians, who are in the majority around Tetovo but form a minority of the population in Macedonia as a whole.
After several days pounding the rebel positions with artillery and gunfire, Macedonian troops launched a ground offensive against the rebels on Sunday and has already dislodged them from many of their positions around Tetovo. ((c) 2001 Agence France Presse)
Albanians Say Insurgency Rooted in Discrimination Posted March 27, 2001
http://www.europeaninternet.com/macedonia/news.php3?id=320728&brief=text
Albanians Say Insurgency Rooted in Discrimination
TETOVO, Mar 26, 2001 -- (Reuters) Macedonia, as an oasis of peace in the war-torn Balkans, seemed to be a success story for inter-ethnic coexistence thanks to cooperation between the majority Macedonian Slavs and ethnic Albanians.
Now the country has been pushed suddenly to the brink of civil war, apparently over long-simmering grievances that were obscured by the more violent dramas in Bosnia and Kosovo.
On Sunday, the Macedonian Army launched the first combat offensive in the 10-year history of the landlocked republic's independence, aiming to dislodge ethnic Albanian guerrillas from the hills above the city of Tetovo.
Albanians want more rights, and they want them now, say the rebels and many radical political voices.
The further you go into the countryside from Tetovo -- the unofficial Albanian capital in Macedonia's northwest -- the stronger their voice becomes and the closer they feel to the people of Albania proper.
"We are discriminated against in education, employment and politics," said Nail Shabani, a middle-aged ethnic Albanian.
"No Albanian can get a job in the government administration."
NOT OUT OF THE BLUE
Road signs may be written in both languages, but the armed guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (NLA) say their friends are languishing in jail for demanding university education in Albanian.
Since independence from old socialist Yugoslavia in 1991, Albanians have cooperated with the main Macedonian Slav parties and the Democratic Party of Albanians led by Arben Xhaferi tips the balance of power in favor of President Boris Trajkovski's coalition government.
Xhaferi is credited with gaining more rights for minority Albanians -- but even he admits it does not go far enough.
Thanks to the participation of Xhaferi's party in government, the Albanians hold five of the 15 cabinet posts and 25 seats in the 120-member parliament. Albanians are entitled to primary and high school education in their own language and have their own papers and media.
"When you compare the human rights and life conditions in this region, you can reach a conclusion that an ethnic Albania would rather choose to live in Macedonia than in Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo or even Albania," government spokesman Antonio Milososki wrote in a letter to the media.
This month's violence, say some Albanians, did not come out of the blue. Macedonian Slavs suspect the real agenda is separatist, and reject any bid to claim legitimacy for the pursuit of constitutional reform with Kalashnikov rifles.
WAR FOR DIPLOMA RECOGNITION?
Even Xhaferi says Albanians still face discrimination and rejects the government line that the current insurgency by ethnic Albanian guerrillas was fomented by extremists in neighboring Albanian-dominated Kosovo.
"The sources of discontent are domestic, we have 10 years of dissatisfaction with this state, we are completely marginalized," he told CNN television at the weekend.
Thousands of ethnic Albanian Macedonian citizens who went to study in Albania's University of Tirana returned home only to find that Macedonia did not recognize their diplomas.
"Our movement started spontaneously -- ever since the protests in 1995 for the creation of an Albanian university," said a NLA regional commander, Sadri Ahmeti.
Eventually, after years of hard lobbying by Albanian Prime Minister Ilir Meta, degrees were recognized a few months ago.
But ethnic Albanians, who say they account for more than 40 percent of Macedonia's two million people although official figures say they are just 23 percent, say there is still some way to go.
REMITTANCE ECONOMY
"Albanians here suffer a repression that is not clear to a visitor on the surface," said NLA commander "Kusha".
The Macedonian government points to the fact that Tetovo's police chief is an Albanian, proof, it says, of its policy of non-discrimination.
But locals are not impressed.
"He may be Albanian but he takes all his orders from Skopje," said Shabani.
Albanians complain they are still excluded from jobs in the state sector and unemployment among their number is high, forcing them to go abroad to seek work.
"Our houses look nice but they have been built with money sent from our people who roam the roads of Europe with a sack on their backs," Shabani said.
"We build our houses here with money sent from every country in the world. Now they want to destroy them," said a businessman called Shaqir.
Veton Surroi, the highly respected Kosovo newspaper publisher, doesn't buy this emotional line of argument.
"It's madness, it ought to be stopped now by a negotiated effort ," he said in a BBC interview on Monday. There was no way in which Macedonia could be compared to Kosovo under the harshly repressive regime of ex-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
West urges Macedonian restraint Posted March 26, 2001
Full article:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/502229.asp
TETOVO, Macedonia, March 26 — After gaining ground against ethnic Albanian rebels surrounding the city of Tetovo, the Macedonian government came under pressure Monday from NATO and the European Union to show restraint in its crackdown, signaling new momentum for a political solution to end the six-week standoff. Western nations feared the conflict could develop into another full-scale Balkan war.
...
U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE Colin Powell signaled Monday that he believed the conflict was far from over.
Powell, speaking at a news conference with French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, said Macedonian forces “had some success getting part way up that hill.”
But he added, “I don’t think the battle is anywhere near over or that the crisis is yet resolved.”
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“I can’t see a military solution. It is absolutely essential to protect the multi-ethnic character of Macedonian society,” Lipponen said
...
“There is a real political hazard in Macedonia, and that is if the governing majority should fall apart,” Kostov said. “That’s why the search for a political solution must take central place.”