NEED FOR BETTER INTEGRATION OF MACEDONIAN ALBANIANS (RFE/RL) Posted March 26, 2001
http://www.rferl.org
...NEED FOR BETTER INTEGRATION OF MACEDONIAN ALBANIANS.
In his interview with the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" of 26
March, Solana stressed that the conflict in Macedonia can be contained. He pointed out that the three most important Kosovar leaders have condemned the violence (see below) and that the overwhelming majority of Kosovars voted for moderate candidates in last October's local elections. He added that the Albanian government has pledged to respect Macedonia's frontiers and that there is "no dream of a Greater Albania" in government circles. Solana stressed that the resolution of ethnic difficulties in Macedonia will not come through military means, but by improving the integration of the ethnic Albanians in national political life. He added that the Albanians are not yet fairly represented in all spheres of political life. PM
INTERNATIONALS WILL REALIZE THAT WE ARE WAGING JUSTIFIED WAR (FAKTI) Posted March 26, 2001
INTERNATIONALS WILL REALIZE THAT WE ARE WAGING JUSTIFIED WAR
FAKTI 26/03/2001
Interview with one of the NLA commanders, nicknamed ‘Sokoli’.
Q: What is happening in Tetova hillside?
A: The clashes begun in early morning hours when a group of Special Forces from Ukraine and Bulgaria was set on action. We have information that they had been surrounded and we expect some of them to surrender, while others are already killed. We destroyed five armored vehicles, three of which tanks. There are many killed and wounded soldiers. So far we have three wounded. Their soldiers are deserting, and this can be seen by the footage of Croatian and Danish TV crews.
Q: How do you know that the Special Forces are Ukrainians and Bulgarians?
A: They, about 30 of them, had been transferred to the fortress with two helicopters. We know this as we could here them talking from our positions.
Q: Which villages are under the control of Macedonian forces?
A: None of them.
Q: Are there any victims in civilian population?
A: I have no information about that.
Q: Were helicopters used in this attack?
A: They had been used for civilian, non-military purposes?
Q: What are your next military steps?
A: We warned earlier that this war or wide military engagement of the Macedonian Army would cause damage to the Macedonian Government first, and especially the Albanian political parties that have not fenced itself from this Government.
Q: How do you comment on the USA promises to offer military assistance to Macedonia?
A: USA are not that naïve to provide assistance to a government that exercises violence and bombards villages and civilian targets and does not wage a war that matches the international conventions.
Q: However, all relevant international factors, especially USA, say they will help Macedonia to protect its sovereignty?
A: That does not mean that their standings would not change. I think they will change soon, as the Macedonian government is using its entire military potential against the civilians.
Q: The Government and the President of RM claim the dialogue could begin after a ceasefire. What do you think about it?
A: We told all the media that we are not the ones that want to expand the war, it is the Macedonian government that wants that. So far we did not attack any civilian target. There is no argument at all, not one argument that would prove that we have done anything of that kind, meanwhile that the Macedonian government is doing that in front of TV cameras.
Q: Do you think of expanding the conflict?
A: If the Government continues in this manner, we will react as we have potentials to do that.
Q: How do you think to continue further now that all Albanian political parties in Kosova, Albania and Macedonia have fenced themselves from you?
A: They have fenced itself for this moment, as they don’t properly understand the aims of our war. I think that as of tomorrow, both the international community and the Albanian political parties will realize that we are waging a justified war. We are not threatening any civilian, regardless of which ethnic group he might belong to.
Q: Is it true that you are holding the local population as hostages in Tetova hillside?
A: such claims are nothing else but manipulations. This can be confirmed by foreign informative services that had visited the villages. The local population has abandoned own villages after the attack was launched.
POLICE MOLESTING CITIZENS IN KUMANOVA, LIKOVA (FAKTI) Posted March 26, 2001
POLICE MOLESTING CITIZENS IN KUMANOVA, LIKOVA
FAKTI 26/03/2001
Situation in Kumanova and surrounding was calms. Former Mayor of Likova Vahid Saiti was released on Saturday, as well as the two guardians who were abducted earlier by NLA. However, citizens complain on police molesting, as it is the case with IDP Tamiz Zimberi from Goshinca who was maltreated by two policemen after leaving the Red Cross offices.
Qenan Memetovski and two other Albanians were arrested and mistreated by police after crossing the border with Kosova in Bllace. They were beaten in a police van and then taken to a police station. They were released day after.
*** ALERT*** Macedonian Police Attacks Civilians Posted March 26, 2001
Full article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1242000/1242770.stm
Hundreds of refugees have fled ethnic Albanian villages in the area, some saying they had come under attack from Macedonian forces.
...
However, hundreds of refugees fled across the border into Kosovo after a 12-hour night trek through snow-covered mountain passes.
Some said they had come under fire.
...
"While walking through the hills, helicopters came above our heads and started firing into the woods which were filled with refugees," 35-year-old Arif Azemi told the Associated Press news agency.
Hilltops Conquered, Now Time to Talk, Says West Posted March 26, 2001
Full article:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010325/ts/balkans_leadall_dc_19.html
Sunday March 25 5:42 PM ET
Hilltops Conquered, Now Time to Talk, Says West
By Kole Casule
SKOPJE (Reuters) - Major western powers will press the Macedonian government Monday to pocket the military gains from its Tetovo offensive and open serious talks with ethnic Albanian leaders on their people's grievances.
...
Western diplomatic sources expressed dismay Sunday as Macedonia, ignoring calls for restraint, launched an all-out assault on ethnic Albanian rebel positions in the above the city of Tetovo.
...
``Our message tomorrow will be: you've made your military move, now remember it has to be a twin-track strategy and please start talking to the moderate Albanians.''
...
The spectacular confrontation, which kept Macedonian forces pinned down in and around the city since March 13, thrust the Albanian case for a fairer share in the running of the 10-year-old republic right to the top of the agenda.
Long-smoldering resentment, obscured by Western assurances that Macedonia was a ``model'' of multi-ethnic government in the Balkans, surfaced with a vengeance, threatening to push the moderate Albanians who share in government to the sidelines.
...
The West's urgent aim now is to help Macedonia implement rapid improvements for the one-third Albanian minority to defuse the crisis and prevent any significant return of the insurgents for a renewed military challenge to the government.
...
Another Balkan Battle: Higher Learning (New York Times) Posted March 25, 2001
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/25/world/25MACE.html?searchpv=nytToday&pagewanted=print
March 25, 2001
Another Balkan Battle: Higher Learning
By STEVEN ERLANGER
TETOVO, Macedonia, March 24 - A new Albanian-language university, sponsored and financed by the international community, was supposed to be a significant response to the grievances that have underpinned the Albanian rebellion now building in the hills above Tetovo and threatening the cohesion of the Macedonian state.
But the new private university, due to open in October on land donated by the government, has instead created a political storm that shows the fissures in this fragile, multi- ethnic state and the complications that surround the good intentions of foreigners.
The new school has been attacked by many Albanians as an effort to destroy the unofficial University of Tetovo, seen by many Macedonian Slavs as a hotbed of radical nationalism and rebellion that helped shape the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Yet the University of Tetovo, despite its symbolism in the Albanian political struggle, remains uncertified and its diplomas unrecognized, providing no benefit to job seekers in the larger state.
The rector, Fadil Sulejmani, charges that the Macedonian state has conspired with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is sponsoring the new school, to destroy the University of Tetovo and to damage Albanian self- reliance.
"They want to destroy this school and cause fear and panic among the population," Mr. Sulejmani said in an interview here. "We're not against opening this new college, but it's not honorable, democratic or human to open one school in order to shut another."
The state should finance and accredit the University of Tetovo, he said, rather than support a private school that Albanians cannot afford.
Max van der Stoel, the O.S.C.E.'s Commissioner for Minority Rights and the driving force behind the new Southeast Europe University, which will also teach in Macedonian and English, in turn attacks Mr. Sulejmani as a radical with a political agenda and ties to the rebels.
"Mr. Sulejmani belongs to the most extreme wing of the Albanian population," Mr. Van der Stoel said in a telephone interview, stressing that the main Albanian party in the government supports the new university. "He is well known for his extremist views and his dislike for Macedonia, and there are close links between him and the new party that backs the rebels."
Underneath the furor are both real and perceived grievances on which the rebels feed.
The issues of Albanian education, access to state services and equal or civil rights have been crucial in the politicization of ordinary Albanians in Kosovo, Macedonia and southern Serbia. Citing official discrimination, Albanians have pressed civil disobedience and built parallel, unofficial structures, from governments to schools, while more radical Albanians, citing slow progress, have turned to the gun to press their case for self-rule and independence.
Albanians represent perhaps 30 percent of Macedonia's two million people, and while there has been Albanian-language secondary education, there has been no Albanian- language university to serve them. Students who could afford it once studied at the University of Pristina in Kosovo, but the Serbian government led by Slobodan Milosevic shut down Albanian-language education there in 1991. And degrees from Albanian universities in Albania itself were not recognized in Macedonia until 1996.
Even today, despite slow improvements since 1993, only about 16 percent of the students at Macedonia's two official universities, which teach only in Macedonian, are minority.
The University of Tetovo was opened unofficially in December 1994, a response to the closure in Pristina, and the Macedonian government then moved quickly and clumsily to try to stop it.
In February 1995, the police raided two villages near here, Poroj and Mala Recica, where classes were going on, some in a mosque, and shut them down. In clashes with 5,000 Albanians, the police used tear gas and killed one civilian, injuring about 15 (Mr. Sulejmani says 60), while 70 police officers were also hurt and police cars were destroyed.
Mr. Sulejmani himself was arrested along with four other organizers of the school and served nine months in prison.
The school was politicized from the start, but the Macedonian reaction intensified its symbolic importance to ordinary Albanians. It was always a crucial question for the Albanian political parties here and caused the oldest, the Party for Democratic Prosperity, to fracture.
The Democratic Party of Albanians, led by Arben Xhaferi, was formed in 1994 to press for faster, more radical change and less compromise with the Macedonian Slavs. Many of its members had studied in Kosovo and had close ties with similar movements in Kosovo that became allied with the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Mr. Xhaferi's party is now the largest Albanian party and he is in a coalition with the current government, which has supported the new university and does nothing to block Mr. Sulejmani from operating his school, which he says has more than 10,000 students enrolled in various courses. The government has also passed a law allowing private universities and making it easier for Albanians to enter regular state schools by passing exams.
But the victory of the Albanians in Kosovo, riding on NATO's air war against the Serbs, has renewed calls for faster change in Macedonia and sparked this rebellion. Mr. Xhaferi's own position and credibility with his voters is being undermined, one reason that he has warned the government that a large military offensive against the rebels would cause him to pull out of the coalition.
Mr. Sulejmani, in the interview, attacked his old ally, Mr. Xhaferi, and called for dialogue with the political leaders of the rebels, which the government refuses to engage in, saying it will speak only to elected leaders.
"People do not trust Xhaferi, who manipulates, lies and deceives, and who only wants to keep his chair," Mr. Sulejmani said. "For 10 years these politicians did nothing. He is losing his electorate and should leave the government and make way for dialogue." As for "Stoel's school," as many Albanians call it, Mr. Sulejmani is angry, but says he must oppose another university for the Albanian people.
While the cornerstone for the new university has been laid, Mr. Van der Stoel said, the fighting in Macedonia could delay the university's opening. After a long effort to find the necessary $21 million in financial backing, the sudden crisis in Macedonia has brought money pouring in.
"Unfortunately," said an aide to Mr. Van der Stoel, a project "designed to be for confidence-building and conflict prevention" has become caught up in the conflict it was intended to help prevent.
Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
Isa Blumi: The Question of Identity, Diplomacy and Albanians in Macedonia: Has the Rain Come? Posted March 25, 2001
Isa Blumi
The Question of Identity, Diplomacy and Albanians in Macedonia: Has the Rain Come?
http://www.albanian.com/IJAS/vol1/is1/art4.html
"The Macedonian Question presents, on the one hand, such a medley of jarring races, long standing animosities, and ever-recurring atrocities, and, on the other hand, such a jumble of ethnographical uncertainties, unreliable statistics, assertions and counter-assertions flatly contradictory on every point, that one almost despairs of an idea as to how it ought to be settled, of the hope of ever seeing it settled at all."
C.H. Haskins and R.H. Lord
in Some Problems of the Peace Conference
1. LOCAL IDENTITY AND WESTERN DIPLOMACY
Manchevski's cinematic documentation of the seemingly timeless conflict between Slavs and Albanians in Macedonia has become one of the most evocative Western manifestations of its fascination with the "incomprehensible" Balkans. The movie Before the Rain resurrected emotions in the West which helped justify its diplomatic blunders and debilitating cynicism in the course of the recent Bosnian war. The cinema became a powerful medium for the articulation of the West's sense of helplessness as it confronted mass rape, concentration camps and ethnic cleansing with moral posturing and behind-the-scenes diplomacy. Tied to the cinematic representations of the Balkan madness was the reiteration of long-held stereotypes of the Balkans, long ago codified by Western literature's greatest voices. These links between the West's collective memory concerning the Balkans and the dismal diplomatic record of the international community are too numerous to dismiss.
Although the Clinton and Bush administrations'efforts to employ a collective security solution to contain 'ethnic' conflicts, deserve criticism, I am more concerned that the academic and diplomatic communities directly involved in analyzing the tensions in the Balkans have misinterpreted the meaning of the single most emphasized issue in the Balkans: ethnic identity. Western misconceptions of Macedonia, for instance, as being the next "ground zero" have been hardened by a pseudo-academic, cultural entity which explained the carnage seen on CNN with quick and often overly simplistic notions of an essential Balkan ethos. In the case of Macedonia, it is the ancient hatreds between monolithic ethnic communities-Slavs and Albanians-which created the artistic and theoretical template for war. Susan Woodward and Misha Glenny, among others, have reached all too familiar conclusions-albeit with variant persuasiveness-that suggest war between 'ethnic communities' in Macedonia would automatically spread over its borders into neighboring countries.
I am concerned the literature that has emphasized such tensions overstep the meaning of ethnicity in the Balkans and create the atmosphere within an academic and policy making milieu that has been uncritically presented by the mass media productions which focused on the issue. Our misconceptions of Macedonia as being "ground zero" have been hardened as European-financed films and misguided journalists incorrectly paint the region's conflicts along generational and historical lines that cannot be judged by the West's all too human and relativist morality. As a reaction to such determinism, the academic communities' theoretical responses have been less than productive, in fact, they have often been tainted by this logic of irreconsibility to the point of obstructing enlightened diplomacy.
Some theories have posited that ethnicity and crisis behavior lay within a synthesis of rationalized models of engagement while others submit all comprehension is unlikely to be possible in these "primordial" confrontations which are fundamentally alien to the pluralistic, Western world. By asserting that the storm brewing on Macedonia's horizon has a quality of inevitability-one could say a force of nature-the West finds the psychological space to provide itself a self-congratulatory air of neutrality by placing their "peace-keepers" between rivals in such doomed heterogeneous societies. In the same breath, the synthesis of "artistic and journalistic" representations with academic determinism suggests communal animosities in isolated regions of the world are resurrections, "ghosts" that haunt the dreams of regional leaders such as Milosevic who rely on ethnic appeals to mobilize support. The rational actions of a Milosevic, bordering on the madness of a Balkan spontaneity, suggest that his choice to mobilize national hatreds across borders is actually justified in light of an impending Islamic (read: nationalistic) swarm. Both the West's "systemic level" paradigms and the well-received artistic endeavors chronicling Balkan life juxtaposed to Western civility have clearly left the West more than comfortable with its sense of powerlessness. This analysis seeks to remind us that because of the misrepresentations of an essential Balkan character, the West's resulting impotence has dangerous and often explosive consequences in local conflicts such as Macedonia's. Part of the problem is the imposition of universal patterns of political and social action. "Nations" are expected to follow identifiable scenarios set within ahistorical essentializations of what constitutes a nation. Policy decisions are often based on these anticipations of communal interaction, in this case, Macedonia, which inherently expand the parameters of the conflict to political arenas which do not necessarily have the immediate links Western analysts assume. Aside from reminding us of the West's moral duty, there appears to be an opportunity (one the West, I am afraid, will tragically miss), to address future Balkan conflicts in a more responsible, historically conscious, manner. In this context, this analysis attempts to expose the fallacy of the West's understanding of a specific Balkan conflict by insisting that the conflict between Albanians and Macedonians is first and foremost a Macedonian problem and not necessarily a part of a regional pathology or an ethnic conflict that crosses international borders. I insist on isolating the Macedonian conflict between Slavs and Albanians in an attempt to discourage the West's reduction of Balkan politics to one of ethnic hatreds and its rational exploitation by demagogues. Instead, I hope to demonstrate that while a storm does loom ominously-a storm that uniquely covers Macedonia-it is not likely to spread over the Shar mountains or into Bulgaria as has been predicted. Rather, the confrontation between Albanians and Slav Macedonians is to remain, as long as the West itself does not encourage its expansion, within Macedonia. Ultimately, I hope to conclude that local conflicts such as this one, throughout the Balkans, are not dangerous sparks that ignite the powder keg of Western nightmares but outbreaks that should be policed by the world community in the confined arena of the actual adversaries. By theoretically keeping these conflicts within a regional arena, active diplomacy and purposeful arm-twisting on a local level could render these storms harmless, not only in places like Macedonia but the Balkans as a whole. To better understand why this is so, I dedicate much of this article to the history of the Albanian community in Macedonia and its relationship with various governing bodies since the formation of Yugoslavia during the interwar period. In conjunction, I will demonstrate why the West fails to understand the important cultural and economic divisions that exist between national groups, be it Serbs, Croatians, or in the case of this paper, Albanians in the Balkans. Simplifying this diverse community by making it a "national unit" that answers to the current regime in Tirana, is a problem that transcends the West's policies in the Balkans. Whether it has its origins in the arrogance of the colonial period or elsewhere, the misguided interpretation of national identity wrecks havoc to indigenous mechanisms of conflict management. We have regional specialists today influencing policy with overly exaggerated notions of nationalist sympathies that most probably blind politicians and career diplomats to the level of disjuncture between regional communities. Take Duncan Perry's observation on Macedonia:
"Macedonia, the population of which is roughly one-third Albanian, is in a delicate and precarious position. Should the Albanians, who are already seeking functional autonomy, decide that the republic is not viable, they could try to unite with Albania along with the province of Kosovo in Serbia [sic] whose population is 90 percent Albanian. This could lead to a Balkan war, for neither Serbia nor Macedonia would stand quietly by as their territories were dismembered."
Such simplifications dehistoricize the local conflicts and create a reference which obscures local mechanisms of conflict resolution. Albanians in Macedonia could never rely on other Albanians in areas historically distinct from their own. To insist on using the ethnic composite as the means of identification, one is very likely to obscure the differences that exist between communities in Kosova, Macedonia and Albania itself. Thus, Western efforts to "contain" ethnic conflicts are often rendered hostage to reactionary discourses emanating from Tirana, Skopje and Belgrade, mistakenly integrating outside elements into a decisively local issue. Understanding the different historical trajectories of Albanian and Slavic populations may help influence Western conclusions about the inevitable spread of regional conflicts, hopefully dissuading Western diplomats from essentializing the role of national identity and focusing their attention to local options of conflict resolution.
2. THE ROOTS OF THE CURRENT TROUBLES IN MACEDONIA
This leads us to the immediate causes of the current conflict in Macedonia. I draw a direct link to the inherent weaknesses of the Albanian community in Macedonia with the persistent tensions between the Slav and Albanian communities over the definition of state power. I believe it serves no theoretical or diplomatic purpose to separate the effects of a demystified notion of communal identity and its inherent weaknesses from the action taken by a rival community seeking to exploit those weaknesses. Institutionalized distrust between Albanians in their respective communities and their Slavic neighbors became a function of state repression and a spark to ignite nationalist fears as late as the 1980s throughout Slav-dominated Yugoslavia. Historiographically, these tensions have taken international dimensions. The West's understanding of intercommunal relations in Yugoslavia have been largely shaped by authors who have used such mythologies as rhetorical devices. By understanding the inherent divisions among Albanian communities, the Yugoslav state made effective use of disunity to help promote state projects throughout the postwar years and project images of adequate force for outside audiences which spoke of impending ethnic clashes. These same policies found coherence in the independent republics after the fall of Federal Yugoslavia. In the 1950s, preliminary attempts to form a Soviet-style society in the Balkans aided Tito's head of security, Aleksandar Rankovic, in asserting a new pattern of institutionalized violence on the non-Slavic populations. The distinctive area in Western Macedonia, while composed of an overwhelming majority of Albanians, was not administratively joined to Kosova (reflecting historical boundaries) due to a clear objection on the part of Slav Macedonians who challenged the historicity of linking the two regions, an argument that suited Tito's interests in having not an Albanian dominated political entity within Yugoslavia. The administrative boundaries, inherited more or less from the Ottoman period, served well to divide Albanians at the very moment they began to express firm distrust in Partisan and subsequent Yugoslav political forces especially after the massacres committed by special forces in 1945-1946 in Kosova and other territories populated with Albanians. Rankovic understood that Albanians, historically detached by these boundaries, would not likely coalesce politically when they, again, constituted different political entities within the Yugoslav federal system. As a consequence, a history which extends to the interwar period of harassment continued throughout the repressive years of Rankovic's reign with little or no collective all-Albanian response.
There are theoretical considerations to be made that may help illuminate the level of institutional interference levied on the Albanian population in Macedonia. The logic behind this article is to generate a tone from which contemporary issues may have greater meaning for those interested in resolving these tensions. I hope I have established the fact elsewhere that Albanians of the prewar period had little history of communal harmony nor experience in what may be called national cohesion. The lack of homogeneity as well as turbulent internal politics informed by tribal and/or economic rivalries often manifested themselves into political regimes of "disunity." Respective historical actors, from Rankovic to the Gligorov coalition government, have reinforced divisive threads between Albanian communities for the general purpose of political hegemony in their particular contexts.
In conjunction with an institutional project to sustain a viable singular state, beneath the surface there were nefarious racial and nationalist agendas at play. Of the many policies of Rankovic, forced emigration has been particularly challenging to document. There were attempts by Belgrade and the leaders of Macedonia to dilute the level of Albanian and Turkish populations throughout the Republic. Through a series of agreements signed with the Turkish government, "voluntary" repatriation would take place in an official attempt to ethnically purify Slav-held lands. As official statistics suggest, this policy of the "repatriation" of ethnic Turks really constituted expulsions of large numbers of Albanians (purposefully labeled Turks) for a period of over 15 years. Ethnic cleansing, forced migration, or "repatriation" are nothing new to the former Yugoslavia. What made this particular version successful was its seemingly "voluntary" nature. By now we know that this was just the façade and the pressures on Albanians to migrate to Turkey or elsewhere were unbearable.
Somewhat paradoxically, in an effort to placate Macedonian Albanians remaining in Yugoslavia and strengthen the Federal government's efforts to use ethnic rivalries to maintain a peaceful coexistence (and central power), Belgrade and then a largely unwilling Skopje enacted a cynical policy of 'Brotherhood and Unity' which granted Albanians access to limited Albanian language education and cultural rights. By all measures this policy would seem to satisfy any reasonable Albanian in Macedonia. By 1981, always according to the official data, there were 287 Albanian language elementary schools with over 74,000 pupils in Macedonia. In addition to this apparent success, there were Albanian language radio and television programs, a newspaper and cultural associations in Macedonia.
By all measures, the picture in Macedonia was not quite so harmonious as it would seem. Discrimination was prevalent in the educational system and employment and representation in all party agencies were numerically low. The problem of education was of particular concem since its role in Yugoslavia at the time was an indoctrinating one. Without access to the halls of party power, closely linked to the successful passage through the educational system, Albanians in Macedonia had no hope of participating in the decision-making process of their society. As is the case today, the central issue in education was the use of Albanian as a language of instruction. Instruction at the university level in the Albanian language was offered only in the teacher's training school. More profoundly, Macedonian enjoyed a secure place as the national language and reciprocal language learning was hardly encouraged in non-Albanian schools. Therefore, while cultural divides persisted, the clear pattern of discrimination reached the highest levels of daily life. Due to the lack of higher-level educational services, finding meaningful employment was next to impossible and influence in Party decisions was all but non-existent for Albanians. Until 1965 not one Albanian or Turk was included in the Macedonian Party executive committee. In 1959, almost 85 percent of the Party members were Slav Macedonian although their "nationality" represented less than two-thirds of the population. Albanians and Turks, combined, represented only 2.29%. This pattern of institutional isolation has found resilience and persists today. For example even in the areas that are overwhelmingly Albanian only four per cent of the police forces are Albanians. There are no Albanian members of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences, neither in any of the Institutes that study their culture and history. In more than 40 scientific Institutes and three major Universities work only three Albanian assistant profesors. Therefore, while Albanians were granted a degree of constitutional protection, the use of Albanian language contradicted with other, clear ethnic policies of division.
Throughout the postwar period, the institutional dominance by Slav party members pursuing watered-down ethnic and cultural politics weighted, in particular, Albanian and Slav relations. While it may be argued that Albanians mistrusted the hegemonic Communist Party, as many Albanian revisionist will swear was the case, the fact remains that extensive mistrust and a fear bordering on paranoia reflected Slav attitudes towards Albanians, not only in Macedonia but throughout Yugoslavia, both within the state and throughout the population, while many Albanians were eager to integrate into the system. The Slav Macedonian state, for one, justified its discriminatory policy by accusing those Albanians who demanded a greater role in society to be puppets for Enver Hoxha's regime. Comparing this attitude with conversations today we see time does not change the dynamic of the relationship between the state and the Albanian community. In due time, periodic tensions became expressions of violence. After such periods of violence, attempts by the central government to rectify some of the underlying discrepancies usually resulted in only encouraging a greater level of frustration since these reforms were never sincerely implemented. The events of 1968, for instance, may provide useful examples of this systemic failure to resolve inherent problems during the Federal Republic. This period may also serve as a reminder to Western policy makers that contrary to their understanding of "nationalism" Albanians in Yugoslavia had distinctively local agendas and rarely interacted in constructive ways against the repressive state.
Reflecting the shifting dynamics of domestic politics, in 1968 Belgrade granted Albanians the right to fly their own flag alongside the Yugoslav flag, (all other national groups had won that right years earlier). On November 27, a day before Albania's independence day, serious riots broke out in Prishtina, the capital of Kosova. As these riots took place, in neighboring Macedonia, calm prevailed, all but ignoring the spirit of the Kosovars struggle to the North. A period of mass arrests resulted in an exodus of Kosovar Albanians and Albanians from Macedonia that lived in Kosova to the relatively quiet Macedonia in search of sanctuary from Serb and Yugoslav "security" forces. On December 22, riots broke out in Tetova, constituting a "nationalist" display never before seen in the Macedonian Republic. Albanian flags flew from minarets and shop windows as troops from the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) were sent in to restore order.
There are two observations to be made of these events in 1968. First, I would be willing to submit that many of the principal actors in the Tetova riots were actually Kosovars who had fled Prishtina three weeks earlier. If this is true, it would suggest a level of collaboration between members of both communities but paradoxically, I would suggest it also demonstrates how distanced the two Albanian communities really were. So little of the "passion" and sense of resentment that resonated in Kosova registered in Tetova at the time of the 1968 riots in Prishtina. The fact that riots of a similar nature took place in Tetova three weeks later is probably a reflection of the new influx of Kosovar activists rather than a sign of a new sense of activism on the part of local Albanians. This remarkable lack of cohesiveness would surface repeatedly as Kosovars continued to confront Serb oppression while Albanians in Macedonia sat passively on the sidelines. Contrary to Duncan Perry's assertion in the quote I cited above, the violence in Kosova in 1981, 1986, and 1990 never inspired a response from Macedonia. Viewing this, the West must learn to react to situations in Kosova as separate from those in Macedonia.
An explanation for this lack of coherence is solidly located in the persistent historical boundaries levied by various states Ottoman, Yugoslav and Macedonian. These boundaries aided in the solidification of distinctive communal characteristics which manifested themselves most vividly in the disparities in how each community confronted the state. Unlike Albanians in Kosova, Albanians in Macedonia have relied much more on the mechanism within Macedonian party politics (despite their limited influence) and the state to express their local concerns. From party functionaries in the Communist era to Party for Democratic Prosperity (PPD) leaders today, community leadership has never demonstrated a will to join a greater Albanian conflict with Slav forces. In the late 1960s, Azem Zulfiçari, the Albanian member of the Yugoslav Communist Party's (LCY) Central Committee from Macedonia counseled Albanians of Macedonia that they should not seek their interests and their rights outside the S.R. Macedonia but within it "...in active participation and efforts for strengthening the material basis and developing socialist, democratic and self- management relations." Today, Albanian moderates within the PPD seek to maintain similar contact with the Macedonian state through constructive dialogue and forming a key part to the Gligorov coalition government. This direct approach contradicts the parallel state formed by the Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) in Kosova. To any outside observer, this is a model of "disunity" and to Belgrade and Skopje respectively, this is a very welcomed sign of weakness. As a result, Albanians today are isolated in Macedonia. Without productive and informed diplomacy, attempts by the West to resolve future tensions in Macedonia may result in violent failure, in part because it invariably focused its attention to 'larger' constituencies.
A second observation one can make about the 1968 events is the general (and convenient) conclusion by Serb and Slav Macedonian authorities that Enver Hoxha was behind the violent uprising. Through a vigorous anti-Hoxha (and thus anti-Albanian) campaign, Slav Macedonian civilians had been fed racist and inflammatory remarks about Albanians, a practice of institutionalized hatred which transcends historical eras. Another clear example of such attacks appeared when "communal" tensions again took a negative turn after the uprising in Kosova in 1981. Macedonian officials made unprovoked public attacks against many individuals despite the fact there had been no significant political disturbances in Macedonia. Those attacks ultimately led to the imprisonment of Albanian cultural figures who had been articulating Albanian concerns within peaceful forums. The federal state, through the LCY organ, Borba, tied threats to national security with arrests like these and often demanded a renewed effort to quell Albanian demands for a separate education. Such demands took precedence in Macedonian ethnic policies. Following an earlier law stipulating that secondary classes with Albanian as the language of instruction could only be created if over 30 Albanian pupils enrolled, the state began an aggressive enforcement campaign. The impact of this law is clear: in 1981 there were 8200 pupils attending Albanian classes, by the end of 1988 that figure dropped to 4221. Many of the students and instructors participating in such Albanian language courses which did not fit the requirements boycotted the Macedonian-only courses taught in their place. While Kosova at the time still had Prishtina University and a functional secondary school system for its Albanian citizens, Macedonian authorities took an active part in incarcerating those who refused to accept the sudden reversal of educational policies towards non-Slav Macedonian groups. It is fruitful to make these observations in the context of Gligorov's failure to supplant a policy of communal harmony without institutional changes in state policy: the Communist-era oppression of Albanian educational needs is still being institutionally persecuted today.
Aside from education, which has become the central point of confrontation in an independent Macedonia, a concerted anti-Muslim campaign first began in 1980 and quickly degenerated into a vociferous attack on the permissibility of Islam in the Balkans. Seen as traitors, stereotypes of Muslims matured into dangerous accusations and violent repression of their religious practices. Laws were amended to restrict access to organized religious instruction and in Macedonia they were especially harsh. These laws were clearly meant for Muslims since the Macedonian Orthodox Church never faced police harassment before or after the break up of Yugoslavia; one might say that it was the official policy to help it take roots. For Muslims, and the majority of Albanians living in Macedonia, the destruction of "unauthorized" mosques and the violent break-up of "illegal" religious gatherings were becoming precursors to a new level of social and economic division. Throughout the 1980s, the aim of "Brotherhood and Unity" legitimized by Tito had been completely usurped by Macedonian nationalist efforts. The active campaigns of both Macedonian and Serb anti-Albanian attacks since 1986 resulted in increased alienation and subsequently disunity throughout Yugoslavia. In 1989, the Macedonian authorities added to the atmospherics of chauvinism, by amending the republic's constitution to redefine the Yugoslav Socialist Republic of Macedonia as a 'nation-state of Macedonian people' instead of the previous formulation which defined it as a collective state with Macedonian people and Albanian and Turkish minorities. A history of systemic inadequacies and enfeebled institutional resilience resulted in the rescinding of even the façade of ethnic cohabitation for the growing Albanian population in Macedonia. While there has been a history of persistent state pressure on the Albanian population in Macedonia, the reasons I share fears with others about Macedonia lie in a combination of factors that currently shape how the Macedonian state chooses to handle its domestic problems in the context of how events unfolded to the North. The enormous specter of human tragedy in the Balkans has undergone periods of inexplicable obscurity on the world scene. Occupied by Hollywood trials, a disinterested public had hardly noticed the cultural purification of Croatia and Bosnia solidified by the Dayton accords. It may be years before we fully see the extent of the damage done to the integrity of heterogeneous communities like Bosnia-Herzegovina but the acquiescence to "ethnic purification" instigated by the international community with elections have long term effects on the southern Balkans, especially, on Macedonia.
As may be surmised from the popularized histories being read, there is both stagnation and a dynamism to Macedonian history. With the signing of an agreement between Macedonia and Greece, the international conflicts that threatened the Macedonian state and their significance to Slav Macedonians and a large Albanian minority have been dramatically affected. The resolution of President Gligorov's single most challenging problem may have consequences that resonate for years as a renewed sense of confidence among Slav Macedonians emerges. A part of this new confidence emanates from the events occurring in Bosnia. As of yet locked behind the doors of diplomatic tact, I suggest new standards in chauvinism and inflammatory rhetoric have begun emerge from the legitimized halls of state power in Skopje. In conjunction to the rhetoric, Slav Macedonians may actively seek to restore or strengthen Communist-era restrictions on ethnic minorities in Macedonia as their political agenda changes to reflect a new air of confidence.
3. RECENT SIGNS OF THE STORM
Since the formal break from the Yugoslav Republic, the signs of such ethnic chauvinism have been numerous. On November 6, 1992 at Bit Pazar in Skopje, the Macedonian police shot dead three Albanians in an incident that would exemplify the willingness of Macedonian security forces to use violence against Albanians. While the confrontation at Bit Pazar was not representative of the central problem between Albanians and the state, it did magnify the tolerance level of the Macedonian authorities for violence towards Albanians. In fact, that willingness to use deadly force has been manifested on several other occasions. The most telling point of contention between the communities has been in the resurrection of old confrontations on Albanian culture and education. As stated earlier, Albanians have had demands in Macedonia for an Albanian language education since the 1950s. Unfortunately, despite the fact that President Gligorov was faced with economic catastrophe if tensions between the state and Macedonia's Albanians escalated, he did not risk confronting his own radical constituents by addressing fundamental Albanian demands on education, and administrative and economic issues. In another example of a dangerous stalemate, early in 1995, Skopje took another step towards communal conflict by literally destroying the building which housed the Albanian-language university at Tetova. While the building was not "authorized" by the state for such purposes, the subsequent incarceration of university leaders and the shooting death of an Albanian protester heightened tensions between Albanians and the Slav state. In a typical reaction, a furious round of Western journalism and diplomacy followed as all signs pointed to the spreading of the Bosnian conflict into Macedonia. Unfortunately, one of the most glaring failures in these Western overtures as peace-brokers has been its lack of historical analysis. The attention the West gave to outside figures such as Sali Berisha, the now-deposed president of a harmless Albanian state, has exaggerated the role of such "national" leaders, undermined the legitimacy and effectiveness of local leaders and focused the attention of EU and UN negotiators on external, not necessarily related issues. Slav Macedonians have used to great effect this reinforced imagery of irredentist neighbors and "Islamic Fundamentalism" to deflect criticism of abuse. We can expect more violent confrontations between Skopje and Macedonia's Albanians in light of the combined pragmatism and fatalism of the Bosnian affair. The Western public celebration and self-congratulatory attitudes over the final months of the war do not fool those in the Balkans. Among those with whom I have communicated in the Balkans, they all, from Croats in Zagreb, Albanians in Peja, to Slav Macedonians in Struga, have learned a very important lesson from Bosnia: The West is incapable and politically unwilling to defend its liberal ideals nor punish those who exploit this weakness. Ultimately, the clouds over Macedonia may bleed because the West cannot apply direct pressure.
As recent as August of 1995, before the Dayton Accords, the embargo on Macedonia to the South and the de facto embargo to the North left the Gligorov regime and Slav Macedonians little choice but to open and sustain trade routes with Bulgaria and Albania. The irony has to be pointed out that both Bulgaria and Albania, probably the two most stable countries in the region at the time were, according to most analysts, the principal threats to the nascent Macedonian Republic. In reality, Sali Berisha and Zhelyu Mitev Zhelev had proven to be the most responsible and cooperative Balkan leaders in a crisis instigated by a member of the European Union and NATO, Greece. Rather than exploit Macedonia's weaknesses and gain major concessions for their own presumed nationalistic goals, the two countries opened their borders without making unreasonable demands, seeking greater regional cooperation (neither had any choice I might add) rather than heightened tensions. No doubt these reliable Balkan allies were pressured by their economic benefactors; however, the cooperation and ultimately, Macedonia's rescue was a Balkan effort made between presumed enemies. It is telling that by reading the prognosis coming from the West, we were all resigned to seeing the war in the Balkans spread because of Macedonia's vulnerability, in part due to its internal weaknesses and external nationalistic pressures. None of this happened in large part because the dynamics of power in the Balkans resides first and foremost in immediate geographical and historical terms. Communal identity and interests has conformed to what history has given its participants. The West, on a consistent basis, has exaggerated the voracity of a variety of "social" and "historical" forces in the Balkans. As outside observers, we are left to believe the savagery of Zeljko Raznjatovic (Arkan) the prototype of the Serb warrior in Bosnia is synonymous with Albania, Bulgaria and Macedonia, which simply diverts our attention from the internal mechanisms available to Western brokers of peace which could be activated to avert local war. Despite the positive signs of regional cooperation, hardly mentioned in the Western press, there still remain the significant failures for which Gligorov and his Albanian counterparts must take responsibility. Generally, the most telling factor in Macedonia's problems is Gligorov's policies towards the large minority groups in Macedonia. In a period of muted desperation, Gligorov had an opportunity, with radical nationalists silenced by embargoes, economic chaos and war next door, to create a viable relationship with his Albanian counterparts. Instead, among other abuses, he threw leaders of the Albanian community in jail for their activities surrounding the university in Tetova, began to reinstitute Communist-era restrictions on the press and religious practices among, primarily, Muslims and condoned violent repressive measures on the part of the Macedonian police force. Case in point are the massacres of the July 1997 in Tetova, where the Macedonian Special Forces killed several Albanian activists and beat and arrested hundreds of others. There will be little hope for Macedonia as a heterogeneous state if the ethnic tensions, historically evident and immortalized in popular histories of the region, are allowed to rise to the surface. Gligorov initially treaded the thin line between his own virulent nationalist constituents and Albanians who, by-and-large, foresaw Skopje's vulnerability as an opportunity for greater autonomy, and a larger role in Macedonian politics. Unfortunately, as I demonstrated above, Gligorov did not go far enough. It was enough for him to keep the vital borders open by handing over four ministerial seats to Albanians and relying on the influence of the likes of Mirhat Emini.
It is at this juncture that we find the core of the southern Balkans' problems and probably its solution. While these two communities have been rivals since at least the turn-of-the century, neither can rely on neighboring states or "fellow nationals" to help their cause. Unfortunately, the West is not able to internalize such a reality. The West is so consumed by the myth of ethnic tensions and the force of nationalism in the Balkans, that it is impossible for their diplomatic corps to understand shuttle diplomacy does not work in these cases. Albanians in Macedonia would never have responded to Sali Berisha as they did to Mirhat Emini. It is for this reason that the West should double its efforts within Macedonia rather than rely on outside Balkan leaders. Rather than merely restating the West's moral duty, there appears to be an opportunity to successfully address future Balkan conflicts through a deeper understanding of the nature of ethnicity in diverse societies such as Macedonia.
This article attempted to expose the fallacy of the West's understanding of a specific Balkan conflict by emphasizing several important points. First, the issues facing the Skopje government and its rivals are a Macedonian problem. In other words, while the West has essentialized ethnicity and identity to the point that the tensions in Macedonia amount to the next stage of the inevitable clash between "civilizations," there is strong historical evidence to suggest ethnic identity does not necessarily suggest it expands beyond international boundaries. The tensions between Slav Macedonians and their Albanian fellow-citizens are not products of the primordial animosities between "tribes" nor are they extensions of ethnic tensions that can stake universalist claims. They are certainly tensions which are constructed around ethnic signifiers, often stated in essentialist terms by the communities themselves, but one can observe that the parameters of the conflict are closely defined by administrative boundaries which have specific historical as opposed to ethnic significance. Therefore, I insist on isolating the Macedonian conflict between Slavs and Albanians in an attempt to discourage the international communities tendency to simplify conceptions of Balkan politics to one of ethnic hatreds and its (ir)rational exploitation by irredentist demagogues. Instead, I hopefully have demonstrated that while a storm does loom ominously-a storm that uniquely covers Macedonia-it is not likely to spread over the Shar mountains, into Bulgaria, or reflect the "Clash of Civilizations" as has been predicted. Rather, the confrontation between Albanians and Slav Macedonians is to remain threatening over the horizon, as long as the West itself does not encourage its expansion within Macedonia. I conclusively stated that local conflicts such as this one, throughout the Balkans, are not dangerous sparks that ignite the powder keg. Rather, these conflicts are examples of important conflicts of interest, often exaggerated by structural advantages solidified by time and local opportunistic leaders that are containable with intelligent and informed diplomacy and, when necessary, effective bullying, as demonstrated by a combination of Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke's forceful diplomacy and NATO's delayed bombing. In other words, the tensions in Macedonia should be policed by the world community in the confined arena of the current adversaries and not through the heavy involvement of third parties.
Notes (not available in online edition)
Macedonia: a pattern of inequality Posted March 25, 2001
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/03/21/macedonia.albanians.primer/index.html
Macedonia: a pattern of inequality
March 22, 2001 Web posted at: 2:46 AM EST (0746 GMT)
By Altin Raxhimi
Macedonian society is characterised, among other things, by a rich ethnic and cultural diversity. However, the current crisis in the country has underlined the danger that this diversity can also become a source of tension and potential conflict.
The following summary tries to highlight some of the political, social and cultural characteristics underlying the current crisis in Macedonia.
Economic divisions
After the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, ethnic Albanians in Macedonia were regularly denied jobs in state administration. In fact, those ethnic Albanians who previously held jobs in state enterprises were often laid off, or were barred from management posts.
This led to high unemployment: while the average jobless rate is 30 percent, it is twice that figure among ethnic Albanians -- this in a situation where the state is the main employer.
However, this situation also has had its benefits as it forced many ethnic Albanians to live and work abroad, which in turn brought money back into Macedonia to help start private businesses. Those businesses now represent Macedonia's most vibrant private enterprise sector.
Different language, religion and identity
Albanians are ethnically very different from Macedonian Slavs. They are believed to have come from the Indo-European Illyrian tribes who inhabited the Balkan Peninsula in classical times; Macedonians, on the other hand, largely come from the migrations of Slavic tribes into the Balkans after the 6th century.
Macedonian Slavs and ethnic Albanians are also divided by religion. Most ethnic Albanians in Macedonia are Muslims, while virtually all Macedonian Slavs are Christian Orthodox. During the Ottoman Empire, from the 15th to the early 20th century, Muslim Albanians were much more privileged than the Christians. The legacy of this historic past is still being felt in the region today.
Macedonian is the language closest to Old Slavic, which was developed for church matters. The Albanian language is completely different and marks a separate branch of the Indo-European tree of languages.
Albanians in Macedonia say they should be taught and educated in their own language and that training in Macedonian is putting them at a disadvantage.
Demands for parity status
At the political level, the ethnic Albanian parties in Macedonia, and also the ethnic Albanian guerrillas of the National Liberation Army, have demanded constitutional parity with the majority Macedonians.
Ethnic Albanians say they represent more than the official 23 percent stated by the Macedonian authorities.
Ethnic Albanians do not have the opportunity for higher education in their own language, except for a teacher-training department at the University of Skopje.
They say that their under-representation in state administrative bodies is not only based on discrimination by the majority Macedonian Slavs but also because ethnic Albanians have to study business administration, public administration or law in the Slavic Macedonian language, rather than Albanian.
Reform and compromise
The Macedonian government has reacted to some demands made by ethnic Albanians. The number of ethnic Albanian policemen, for instance, has been increased, but they do not make up more than 10 percent of the police force overall. In fact, some observers say the figure is probably closer to five percent.
The government has also agreed that ethnic Albanians should have their own university, but that it should be a private rather than a public institution.
Those measures are seen by ethnic Albanians as small steps of progress, reached through compromise.
The Albanian-language media are largely free, and there are many newspapers and television stations run by ethnic Albanians for ethnic Albanians. And national public television runs a full programme that is largely uncensored but produced along ethnic lines.
Fighting Escalates in Macedonia Posted March 24, 2001
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010324/ts/balkans_fighting_122.html
Saturday March 24 3:48 PM ET
Fighting Escalates in Macedonia
By DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press Writer
TETOVO, Macedonia (AP) - Macedonian helicopters fired rockets in a sweep just south of downtown Tetovo on Saturday as fighting escalated between government forces and ethnic Albanian rebels besieging the country's second-largest city.
Two MI-24 attack helicopters thundered over Mount Sar Planina, the focus of attacks southwest of the city's center, firing several rockets that sent up a large plume of dirt and smoke. It was not immediately clear what the choppers were targeting or whether anyone was wounded.
The late afternoon bombardment came a few hours after the rebels fired two shells into a Slavic neighborhood of Koltuk near a police checkpoint, spraying shrapnel through a cobblestone alley and injuring four people.
The rebel artillery blasts peppered the alley with twisted metal fragments and ripped through a red brick house. A trail of blood 100 feet long stained the main street.
Local residents pointed to the craters, screaming: ``Terrorists! Terrorists!'' Using the same label for the rebels, police spokesman Stevo Pendarovski said ``terrorist groups'' in the hills above Tetovo were responsible for that attack.
The escalation in the fighting followed the Macedonian prime minister's warning that his government's drive to repel the rebels was not over. As if to underline the point, the distant boom of heavy artillery on another front could be heard outside Skopje, 20 miles to the east.
The rebels say they are fighting for more rights for ethnic Albanians within Macedonia, but the government accuses them of seeking independence and drawing on the neighboring Serb province of Kosovo for fighters and weapons.
Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski suggested late Friday that the military had not yet carried out its threatened operation to ``neutralize and eliminate'' the insurgents. He said the former Yugoslav republic's poorly equipped military was rapidly arming itself and biding its time.
``The (political) decision has been made. Now it is up to the military to judge when conditions are right for a successful operation,'' Georgievski said. ``It could be one hour, or one day, or one week - it is completely up to the military.''
It remained unanswered, however, why the Macedonian government has held the military in check from an all-out offensive to reclaim lost ground. The intensity of the attacks has remained relatively constant for nearly a week after an initial phase of heavy bombardment.
The rebels seemed defiant in the face of government pledges of action.
``The number of fighters in the mountains is growing enormously,'' Imer Imeri, head of the ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity, told the German weekly Der Spiegel. ``By now they are also finding broad support among the population.''
``I fear that if our demands continue to be ignored, a major offensive will develop this spring and the Albanian population will also take up arms,'' he was quoted as saying.
In Gajre, 21/2 miles outside the center of Tetovo, it was clear the insurgents had neither retreated nor advanced. Rebels and Macedonian gunners exchanged fire on several occasions in the early afternoon.
Brisk and focused, militiamen walked around the town as children played outdoors in yards, kicking around a soccer ball. The deafening blasts of heavy fire thundered from just 300 feet away.
Although they feel reasonably secure in the village because it hasn't been an army target, people confined travel to muddy forest paths, and used rugged terrain away from major routes to give the fighting a wide berth.
``Ninety percent of us are staying,'' said one villager, Geudet Dehari. ``Only a few of the women and small children are leaving.''
A man who would give only his first name, Blerim, said he, too, had no intention of leaving the area.
``If I leave, will the Macedonian government guarantee that my house will not be destroyed?'' he asked. ``The answer is no. This is why we are staying.''
Despite a strong statement by President Bush (news - web sites) backing the Macedonian government, Dehari and others ethnic Albanians in the village expressed an unswerving faith that the United States eventually will rally behind their crusade.
``We will never be against America,'' he said. ``America will come to realize the worthiness of our cause.''
In Tetovo itself, people noted that Saturday was the anniversary of NATO (news - web sites)'s intervention in Kosovo two years ago, and speculated whether the alliance would again find it necessary to step in to keep the peace.
``They should have done something earlier,'' said Divna Bozinovska, 61, as she examined the spinach in a half-empty local marketplace. ``We are hostages to these rebel groups.''
Attack choppers join Macedonian battle Posted March 24, 2001
http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2001/03/24/tetovo
Attack choppers join Macedonian battle
WebPosted Sat Mar 24 19:14:57 2001
TETOVO, MACEDONIA - Fighting escalated between government forces and ethnic Albanian rebels by the city of Tetovo Saturday as Macedonian helicopters fired rockets at rebel strongholds.
It was the first time helicopters have joined the fray.
Two MI-24 attack helicopters were called into action after rebel artillery fire hit a street in downtown Tetovo, spraying a cobblestoned alley with shrapnel and injuring at least four men.
"Their wounds are not life-threatening," said Tetovo hospital director Raim Thaci. But the attack launched by ethnic Albanian rebels in the surrounding hills, has led to more fighting between Macedonian forces and the guerrillas.
Government helicopters fired rockets into an area where the guerrillas are believed to be, though it is unclear exactly what they were targeting. The sound of heavy artillery fire could also be heard in a second area about 35 kilometres east of the capital Skopje.
The latest fighting comes after Macedonian's prime minister said the fight against the rebels is not over.
The rebels say they are fighting to improve the rights of Macedonia's ethnic Albanians. They have been fighting with Macedonian troops for almost two weeks.
Macedonia's president, ethnic Albanian leader speak out Posted March 24, 2001
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/03/24/amanpour.interv/index.html
Macedonia's president, ethnic Albanian leader speak out
March 24, 2001 Web posted at: 9:53 PM EST (0253 GMT)
SKOPJE, Macedonia (CNN) -- Macedonia's president, faced with continued fighting between the army and ethnic Albanian rebels, told CNN Correspondent Christiane Amanpour Saturday that he was willing to intensify dialogue with ethnic Albanian political leaders as a way to ease tensions.
But the leader of the ethnic Albanian party, who also spoke with Amanpour, vowed that his party would withdraw from the government if the army uses excessive force against ethnic Albanian citizens in their battles against the rebels.
Although the rebels in Macedonia say their aim is more rights for ethnic Albanians within Macedonia, the government accuses them of seeking independence -- as the Kosovo Liberation Army did in Kosovo -- and drawing on Kosovo for fighters and weapons.
"We are ready now to talk to them and we are ready to resolve any outstanding problems," Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski told CNN. "But we have to keep this fabric of the relations and not only to have ad-hoc solutions ... We'd like to have a constant dialogue."
Arben Xhaferi, leader of the Democratic Party of Albanians, said his group does not support the violence and would rather tackle the nation's ethnic conflict by political means.
"Yes, because we have a lot of bad experiences from a former time in the Yugoslav period," Xhaferi told CNN, referring to Macedonia's former status as a member of the Yugoslav federation. "The Yugoslav army has -- Macedonian army now -- has not a lot of professional skills to fight against guerrillas. Their frustration will be against the civilians. We saw this in Yugoslavia and we don't want to see it in Macedonia," he said, referring to Yugoslavian ethnic Serb troops in the 1990s accused of oppressing ethnic Albanians there.
During his CNN interview, the Macedonian president would not talk about military plans, but he did speak of his plan to isolate the rebels.
"We have to develop an isolation strategy, which will be combined political means and military means," Trajkovski said. "But first of all we are rather close to the political isolation and we are happy that the international community and all friends and allies have supported us and we're seeing an overall condemnation of these people."
European Union leaders, winding up a two-day summit in Sweden, said Saturday they support the Macedonian government's stance, but also said the Balkan country must tackle the grievances of its ethnic Albanian population.
In a statement issued a day after meeting Trajkovski in Stockholm, the leaders also urged ethnic Albanian leaders in Macedonia and neighboring Kosovo to shun violence and use only political methods.
"We reaffirm our solidarity with you in the current crisis and urge you to continue to respond with restraint. Every effort should be made to prevent an escalation of military activity," the 15 leaders told Macedonia in their statement.
"Effective internal political reforms and consolidation of a true multi-ethnic society are indispensable," they said, adding that the EU would provide help in areas such as border management, aid for refugees and judicial reform and training.
The rebels, branded by Macedonia as "terrorists," say they are fighting to improve the lot of all ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, where they make up about a third of the population.
The EU statement commended ethnic Albanian leaders in the region for distancing themselves from the guerrillas.
"To the Albanian political leaders in Kosovo, we call on you to continue to dissociate yourselves unambiguously from the extremists, to condemn violence unconditionally and to respect the principle of the inviolability of borders," it said.
On Friday, Trajkovski ruled out negotiating with the rebels, but conceded his tiny ex-Yugoslav republic of two million still had some way to go to integrating its Albanian citizens.
CNN International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Helicopters Fire on Macedonia Posted March 24, 2001
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010324/ts/balkans_fighting_120.html
Saturday March 24 12:39 PM ET
Helicopters Fire on Macedonia
By DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press Writer
TETOVO, Macedonia (AP) - Macedonian helicopters fired rockets in a sweep just south of downtown Tetovo on Saturday as fighting escalated between government forces and ethnic Albanian rebels besieging the country's second-largest city.
Two MI-24 attack helicopters thundered over Mount Sar Planina, the focus of attacks southwest of the city's center, firing several rockets that sent up a large plume of dirt and smoke. It was not immediately clear what the choppers were targeting or whether anyone was wounded.
The late afternoon bombardment came a few hours after the rebels sent two shells slamming into a Slavic neighborhood near a police checkpoint, spraying shrapnel through a cobblestone alley and injuring four people.
The rebel mortar blasts peppered the alley in the Koltuk neighborhood with twisted metal fragments and ripped through a red brick house. A trail of blood 100 feet long stained the main street, named for an early 20th century Macedonian hero who led the fight for statehood against the Ottoman Empire.
Local residents pointed to the craters, screaming: ``Terrorists! Terrorists!''
Using the same label that the government has hung on the rebels, police spokesman Stevo Pendarovski said ``terrorist groups'' in the hills above Tetovo, the country's second largest city, were responsible for the attack.
The attack came after Macedonia's prime minister warned that his government's drive to repel the rebels was not over.
As if to underline the point, the distant boom of heavy artillery on another front also could be heard outside Skopje, 20 miles to the east.
The ethnic Albanian struggle in Macedonia has been linked to the war in Kosovo. Although the rebels in Macedonia say their aim is more rights for ethnic Albanians within Macedonia, the government accuses them of seeking independence and drawing on Kosovo for fighters and weapons.
Talks are urged in Balkan conflict Posted March 24, 2001
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/083/nation/Talks_are_urged_in_Balkan_conflict+.shtml
Talks are urged in Balkan conflict
NATO official says rebels driven back
By Kevin Cullen, Globe Staff, 3/24/2001
LONDON - NATO Secretary General George Robertson yesterday said Macedonia had driven ethnic Albanian rebels back far enough to end its military offensive and should begin talks to address Albanian grievances about discrimination.
In an interview, Lord Robertson vowed that the Western powers would not be drawn into the conflict in Macedonia, which threatens to ignite another Balkan war. He said the ethnic Albanian rebels had been marginalized, and saw no reason for the Macedonians to escalate the conflict.
''I don't think there is going to be another Balkan war,'' he said.
He also said that the Yugoslav Army has abided by NATO's rules since it began returning troops to the 3-mile-wide buffer zone along the Serbia-Kosovo border, and that it would probably be allowed to return to the more contentious parts of the zone.
Speaking at the Royal Air Force Club here, Robertson said he had talked with Macedonia's president, Boris Trajkovski, and was confident that the response to the insurgency would be restrained, rather than the all-out offensive Trajkovski promised earlier this week.
Macedonia, heavily dependent on Western aid, had been given the green light by the United States and European Union to fight back against the rebels. But Robertson's comments suggested that the West has warned Macedonia not to escalate the 10-day-old conflict.
''The conditions for a political initiative have been created,'' Robertson said. ''The unilateral cease-fire offered by the extremists was a sign of weakness, not strength. The country is still on a knife edge, but the government has regained confidence, ground, and the initiative. There is an opportunity for a political breakthrough, and I am urging the Macedonian government to seize that opportunity.''
Robertson said a new opportunity to replace the fighting with negotiation began following the start of talks yesterday in Serbia between ethnic Albanians and Serbian authorities about similar issues of civil rights and equal representation for the Albanian minority. He said that if the Serbs and Albanians could sit down despite their history, there was no reason the Macedonians and Albanians could not do the same.
He said yesterday's agreement by Albanian parties in Kosovo to call for an end to Macedonia's violence had isolated the rebels in Macedonia.
While Trajkovski had on Wednesday talked of ''wiping out'' the estimated 200 to 300 rebels in the hills above Tetevo, Macedonia's second-largest city, Robertson said he expected the Macedonians to heed appeals from NATO and the European Union to avoid civilian casualties while flushing out the rebels.
Macedonia wants to join both NATO and the European Union and is wary of alienating either organization. Robertson said the EU had just pledged $40 million to help rebuild Macedonia, including money to address such ethnic Albanian grievances as the lack of an official Albanian-language university.
This story ran on page 6 of the Boston Globe on 3/24/2001. © Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.
Powell Urges Macedonians To Act Posted March 24, 2001
Full article:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010323/pl/powell_1.html
"Powell said the United States and other friendly countries ``have been saying to the Macednonian government that this is the time to show what a multiethnic government can do, to start to look at those points of irritation that exist within your society within the Albanian minority.''"
"In addition to constitutional changes, he suggested that adjustments might be made to enable Albanians to use their native language more outside the home."
200 inocent civilians injured from latest bombardment Posted March 24, 2001
Full article:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2001/0323/balkans.html
"A spokesman for the KFOR peacekeeping force has said that between 150 and 200 civilians were injured overnight in a Macedonian artillery barrage against ethnic Albanian rebel-held villages near the Kosovo border. He said that the injured civilians crossed the border into Kosovo this morning seeking medical attention. KFOR said that Macedonian government forces had used machine guns, mortars and artillery in the bombardment. Ethnic Albanian rebels took control of several villages north of the town of Tetovo nine days ago."
NAAC Calls on President Bush to Appoint Special Envoy To Macedonia Posted March 23, 2001
National Albanian American Council
2000 L Street, N.W., Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036
(202) 416-1627
Fax: (202) 416-1628
Email: NAACDC@aol.com
______________________________________________________________________
Press Release
NAAC Calls on President Bush to Appoint Special Envoy To Macedonia
Washington, March 22, 2001: The National Albanian American Council released the below letter to President George Bush regarding the situation in Macedonia:
Dear Mr. President:
We to urge you to appoint a high-level special envoy to help resolve the current escalating conflict in Macedonia. Peace in the Balkans is in our national interest, but it is currently being threatened.
We condemn violence on all sides in Macedonia and urge immediate dialogue. The current conflict is very harmful to the lives and interests of Albanians and Macedonians, and threatens peace in the region. We firmly believe that the problems that plague Macedonia should be resolved peacefully and democratically. To that end we are encouraged by recent efforts to convene all party talks next week to address the many inequities and injustices suffered by the Albanians in Macedonia. As the duly elected representatives of the people, the Albanian political parties have a critical role to play during the all party talks. They should cooperate to ensure a peaceful end to the conflict. We were pleased that the National Liberation Army announced a cease-fire this past week, but very disappointed that the Macedonian government initially responded with force. The government should now announce a unilateral cease-fire of its own to allow the dialogue to proceed.
The talks should address the heart of the problem, which is the constitution. The constitution states that Macedonia is essentially a state of Slavic Macedonians. This has perpetuated systematic and institutionalized discrimination against ethnic Albanians who make up between 33 and 40 percent of the population of the country. As a result, Slavic Macedonians are the privileged class in Macedonia. Despite representing only slightly over 50 percent of the population, they have over 90 percent of the public sector jobs. Macedonian is the official language even in the Albanian, western part of the country, and only Macedonian-language universities enjoy public funding. Albanians have substandard schools, bad roads, poor health facilities, yet little local administrative control to address these and other problems.
Albanians are also disenfranchised. The Macedonian government uses an old Yugoslav law that results in 100,000 Albanians not being recognized as citizens. An earlier census was so flawed that nearly 20 percent of Albanian residents of Macedonia were not counted. Without international oversight and involvement, Albanians have no reason to believe that the census, which will be conducted this year, will be conducted fairly and accurately. Moreover, parliamentary districts have been drawn to reduce the number of Albanian deputies. On average, an Albanian deputy represents about 18,000 people, while a Slavic Macedonian represents about 7,000. These and other inequities must be addressed immediately and without violence.
We agree wholeheartedly with a Washington Post editorial earlier this week that "stability in Southeastern Europe is an important interest of the United States, and in trying to achieve it, there is no substitute for direct American involvement." Without that involvement, we fear that the Macedonian government may not be willing to consider the fundamental changes needed to prevent a deterioration of the situation. Should the all party's talks fail, Macedonia could slide into a civil war and destabilize the entire region and Europe itself.
The United States, as the leader of NATO and as a good friend of both Albanians and Macedonians, is uniquely positioned to facilitate a resolution of the current conflict. We respectfully urge you, Mr. President, to appoint a special high-level envoy to Macedonia as soon as possible. Strong and decisive American diplomacy now may prevent a significant loss of life later. We stand ready to assist you in achieving a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
*** ALERT *** Albanian Daily in Macedonia Banned! Macedonian security banns the distribution of FAKTI international edition Posted March 23, 2001
ALERT!!!
Announcement from Shkupi daily newspaper on Albanian language FAKTI
Macedonian security banns the distribution of FAKTI international edition.
- Shkup, 23. 03. 2001 -
The Editor of Shkupi-based daily newspaper on Albanian language FAKTI informs the public that the Macedonian State Security has banned the distribution of the international edition of this newspaper to some of the west European countries.
The entire circulation of the FAKTI-International, dedicated to Switzerland, was confiscated amd banned for further distribution on March 22, 20001 ate 0700hrs at the International Airport in Shkupi.
This is the first time that the Macedonian security forces would ban the distribution of some newspaper. Therefore, the Editor of FAKTI demands from the Macedonian authorities to respect the Article 16 of the Constitution of Macedonia and Article 10 of the European Human Rights Convention that guarantee freedom of obtaining and transmitting informations or ideas, without interference by state institutions and regardless of state borders and allow the free distribution of FAKTI from Skopje to Zurich.
Daily Newspaper FAKTI
EU Asks Restraint by Macedonia Posted March 23, 2001
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/23/world/23BALK.html
March 23, 2001
Europe Union Asks Restraint by Macedonia
By STEVEN ERLANGER
ETOVO, Macedonia, March 22 — Top European Union officials urged the Macedonian government today to exercise restraint against ethnic Albanian militants and to step up discussions with elected Albanian politicians about political change.
In response, the Macedonian government appeared to pull back from a vow made late Wednesday night to "neutralize the armed terrorists" before serious political discussions. Further, Macedonian forces in and around this mostly Albanian town did not carry out a promised attack on the rebels, who call themselves the National Liberation Army.
But in a grisly incident here that frightened Slavs and Albanians alike, the Macedonian police shot and killed two Albanians carrying grenades. The Albanians, in a tiny Suzuki, were stopped at a checkpoint, and appeared to pull grenades when the police demanded to search the car. The police responded with automatic weapons fire. The grenades did not explode.
The police said they had clashed with armed rebels who suddenly appeared in Gracani, a village near the Kosovo border, 10 miles northwest of Skopje and well east of Tetovo. At least one policeman was wounded, and the town was sealed. There were reports that the rebels might be holding it. Another policeman was wounded in a grenade attack on the outskirts of Skopje, the police said.
The Macedonian president, Boris Trajkovski, is scheduled to attend the European Union's summit meeting in Stockholm on Friday. The E.U.'s top diplomats came to the capital, Skopje, to support the elected government, to condemn the rebels and to try to ensure that the summit meeting was not overshadowed by the shelling of ethnic Albanian villages by Macedonian troops.
NATO, at the same time, urged member governments to send more troops to Kosovo to try to seal its border with Macedonia. The Macedonian government says most of the Albanian rebels have entered the country from Kosovo and have their main bases and sources of arms there.
Having vowed to crush the rebels, the Macedonian government is facing more pressure from the majority Slavs to act. But senior Western diplomats believe that the ill-trained Macedonian forces cannot win any easy victory from the rebels, who can melt away to fight again, and that serious shelling of villages is likely to cause many civilian casualties that may only feed the insurrection.
The diplomats are urging Mr. Trajkovski and the government to take Albanian grievances more seriously and move quickly to make Albanian an official language, to decentralize local government and to create more jobs in Albanian areas. And they are urging the Albanian politicians, both in the government and in the opposition, to continue to work within the democratic system.
Late Wednesday night, as an ultimatum expired for the rebels to disband, Mr. Trajkovski announced, "After the end of the operation to neutralize the armed terrorists, we have agreed to intensify the political dialogue with all legitimate political parties on the open questions in inter-ethnic relations."
Macedonia clashes spread Posted March 23, 2001
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1237000/1237121.stm
Friday, 23 March, 2001, 02:20 GMT
Macedonia clashes spread
Rebels have attacked in several places
Fighting appears to be spreading across Macedonia's northern borders as its army continued its offensive against ethnic Albanian rebels near the country's second largest city, Tetovo.
Two Macedonian policemen were reported injured in separate attacks reaching the outskirts of the capital, Skopje.
President Boris Trajkovski has given field commanders full authority to take whatever action they consider necessary to bring the insurgency to an end.
The situation in Macedonia is expected to dominate a European Union summit beginning in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, on Friday. President Trajkovski has been invited to attend.
The United States is sending spy planes to monitor the rebel activities.
Clashes spread
The latest clashes follow threats by ethnic Albanian guerrillas that they would spread the conflict if the Macedonian authorities rejected their unilateral offer of a truce.
In one attack, police spokesman Stevo Pendarovski said mortar rounds were fired from nearby Kosovo at a police checkpoint near the village of Gracane, 25km (16 miles) north-east of Tetovo. Fires were raging in Gracane hours after the event.
Police also reported that an officer had been wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade near Skopje, and there has been fighting between rebels and police and special army anti-terrorist units in the town of Caska outside the capital.
In Tetovo itself, two ethnic Albanians were shot dead by Macedonian troops on Thursday.
They were killed when they apparently tried to throw a grenade at a police post near the town's main barracks.
Following a sustained bombardment of guerrilla positions overlooking Tetovo, Macedonian officials said their forces had made some advances, sending the rebels into retreat.
However, the offensive appeared to have no immediate effect and a BBC correspondent in the city says the Macedonian army is not generally considered to be sufficiently well-equipped to pursue the rebels in the mountainous area between Tetovo and the Kosovo border.
International efforts
As the hostilities spread, Macedonian and ethnic Albanian political leaders repeated their calls for an end to the rebellion.
After meeting a top EU delegation in Skopje President Trajkovski said his country was committed to deal with "terrorism".
The leader of the Democratic Party of Albanians - junior member of the governing coalition - Arben Xhaferri said his party supported "joint efforts for peace, dialogue and for helping Macedonia".
And Ymer Ymeri - leader of the opposition ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity - called for international mediators to talk to the rebels "to discourage them from using force".
But Western leaders have refused to talk to what they have described as "terrorists".
Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson - current president of the EU - said the summit in Stockholm would reaffirm support for the Macedonian government.
"Weapons won't rule" in the Balkans, he said.
Nato boost
Nato has agreed to boost its presence on Macedonia's border with Kosovo where the rebels are believed to receive their supplies.
The United States has ordered spy planes to be deployed in the area.
Pentagon spokesman Craig Quigley said two or three ground-controlled Predator planes would be sent to monitor the movement of the rebels.
He added however that the US would not despatch additional troops to the Balkans.
Around 20,000 people have fled the conflict so far.
MSNBC: Ethnic Albanian civilians shot by Macedonian police forces Posted March 23, 2001
http://www.msnbc.com/news/502229.asp
Macedonia ethnic tensions escalate
Ethnic Albanian civilians shot by Macedonian police forces
A Macedonian policeman gestures over the bodies of two ethnic Albanians shot dead in Tetovo on Thursday.
TETOVO, Macedonia, March 22 — Macedonia’s multi-ethnic population was on edge on Thursday after government shot dead two civilians in the center of the country’s second-largest city. The deaths came after the Macedonian government refused to negotiate with ethnic Albanian guerrillas launching an insurgency, and stepped up army attacks on rebel positions.
Maceda reports from the scene of the shooting in Tetovo. Maceda on the new offensive against Macedonian rebels.
NBC’s JIM MACEDA reported from the scene of the shooting in Tetovo that the area remained tense after police cordoned off the city center. Macedonian police stopped a car during the morning and opened fire when its occupants appeared to hurl an object that looked like a hand grenade at a sandbagged position.
The two men were killed on the spot, riddled with bullets.
Flak-jacketed police cradling submachine guns later set up roadblocks and were searching all vehicles entering and leaving the town.
Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski, who is invited to attend an EU summit in Stockholm on Friday, said the main political parties agreed in late-night talks “on the need to neutralize the terrorist threat quickly.”
Macedonian guns started firing on rebel-held hills, ignoring a unilateral cease-fire declared by the guerrillas Wednesday in an effort to delay a threatened government assault.
A rebel spokesman contacted by Reuters denied Macedonian police claims that the guerrillas were retreating without a fight and had abandoned village strongholds to withdraw over the mountain border into Kosovo.
A Macedonian special policeman fights with a man in Tetovo on Thursday. Shortly after the scuffle, the man was shot and killed by Macedonian forces.
The village of Gracani, northwest of Skopje, appeared to be in rebel hands after a substantial force entered overnight, residents in the vicinity said.
Police sealed off Gracani after one officer was wounded in the shooting that ensued. The rebels said one of their number was also hit. The village is close to the border with Kosovo, about 10 miles from Skopje and well east of Tetovo.
The rebels say they are fighting to improve the rights of the large ethnic Albanian minority. Macedonia says they are separatists from neighboring Kosovo.
CEASE-FIRE A GLIMMER OF HOPE A ministerial delegation from the European Union arrived in Skopje as the government bombardment resumed.
The boom of detonations could be heard at the airport 25 miles away, but the EU still saw some glimmer of hope that the spiraling violence could be halted.
“I think that a cease-fire is always a positive thing. We were very pleased when we heard yesterday that the people from the mountains called a cease-fire,” EU security chief Javier Solana told a news conference.
“But clearly in this region we’ve seen a lot of statements about cease-fires,” he added.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called on the rebels to engage in dialogue. “They should heed the call of the Security Council, which yesterday unanimously condemned extremist violence, including terrorist activities, and appealed for dialogue among all legitimate parties,” Annan told a news conference, during which he announced he would seek a second, five-year term as secretary-general.
Artillery fire in the stretch of mountainous territory bordering Kosovo began Thursday morning and appeared to be a rejection of the “unilateral, unlimited cease-fire” proposed by the rebel National Liberation Army Wednesday night.
Reporters heard a steady series of impacts, apparently targeting rebel rear positions in the Sar Planina range.
The rebel offer stopped short of meeting Macedonian demands that the guerrillas pull out of mountain villages and positions they had occupied.
Wednesday’s guerrilla truce, hard on the heels of statements of defiance, was a surprise.
It presented the government and the West with the difficult choice of acquiescing in rebel control of territory for the sake of calm, or carrying on fighting and risk alienating the Albanian community in fragile, multiethnic Macedonia, a former Yugoslav republic of about 2.1 million people.
U.S. TO SEND PREDATORS
The government appeared to have been given a green light for tough action earlier this week by Western powers, which have strongly condemned the rebels as a small group of extremists bent on fomenting civil war in pursuit of separatist aims.
Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini said six major powers that had dealt with Balkan crises for most of the past decade would show “zero tolerance” for deliberate ethnic violence.
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld approved a deployment order for a unit of Predator unmanned aerial vehicles to the Balkans, at the request of NATO. Pentagon officials said the unit consists of 2 or 3 UAVs, plus 80 additional people to run, repair and control them.
Spokesman Rear Adm. Craig Quigley said no decision has been made yet on where the unit will be based in the region. It is expected, however, the UAVs will become part of NATO operations in Kosovo near the border with Macedonia.
The UAVs are expected to arrive in theater next week. Pentagon officials said part of the reason to introduce UAVs now, aside from the NATO request, is due to weather conditions. During winter months, cloud cover obscures much of the terrain, making it nearly impossible for the Predators to operate.