[ALBSA-Info] Tension mounts in FYROM

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

WS & COMME
Tension mounts in FYROM
Suspicion between Slavs, Albanians turns to hatred as dead are mourned

By Stavros Tzimas
Kathimerini

SKOPJE - The funeral of three soldiers killed on the border in clashes with 
Albanian insurgents received wide radio and television coverage yesterday in 
FYROM, raising tensions among Slav-Macedonians.

At the funerals not a few voices called for revenge; and the next day, dozens 
more citizens came to the park on Macedonia Square in the center of Skopje 
and the lawn at the entrance to Parliament, leaving lighted candles to the 
memory of the fallen soldiers who have already become heroes to the 
Slav-Macedonians. 

Relations between Slavs and Albanians in FYROM have never been good, but now 
suspicion has turned to hatred. The Slav-Macedonians are mourning their dead, 
and bloodshed has separated the two sides. The Albanians have been mourning 
their dead since the mid-1990s, when they rose up in Tetovo and Gostivar, 
claiming the right to fly the Albanian flag on city halls, only to be fired 
on by the police.

The Kosovo war and the West's intervention on behalf of the Albanians sparked 
fears among the Slav-Macedonians in FYROM as to what the future would bring 
for their own country. But now that an armed Albanian secessionist movement 
has emerged on their own territory, this concern has been surpassed by 
anxiety for the very existence of the state. 

Nationalism is growing rapidly among the Slav-Macedonian population, which 
believes that the West openly favors the Albanians, thus facilitating their 
secessionist plans. Following the events at Tanusevci, young Slav-Macedonians 
turn up every day at municipal military offices and volunteer to fight the 
Albanians. The American Embassy on Partizanska Avenue has become a fortress, 
while Slav-Macedonians who work for Western nongovernmental organizations and 
services are resigning in protest at what they see as Western tolerance of 
Albanian extremism.

The Slavs are suffering from losers' complex, which triggers anti-Western and 
anti-Albanian feelings. The press follows public opinion, demanding that the 
government crush the rebels, regardless of whether that might spread the 
conflict.

"Whatever the outcome is, Tanusevci will harm relations between the two 
ethnic groups," said government newspaper Nova Macedonia yesterday, warning 
that "the Macedonian public has lost its patience." The mass circulation 
Vetser took a tougher stance, saying "the line of self-control and inaction 
has disastrous consequences for Macedonia," and it urged the government to 
adopt what it says is the only alternative solution: "An immediate tough 
military operation to get rid of the lawbreakers."

The feeling in FYROM is that it will be difficult for the two communities to 
coexist harmoniously in the future. Western diplomats say the crisis may be 
resolved at leadership level, but no solution will be viable when an 
unbridgeable chasm divides the two communities.

Slav-Macedonians avoid shopping at Bit Pazar, the central food market in 
Skopje, which is controlled by Albanians. A few days ago a Slav-Macedonian 
police officer was killed in cold blood during rush hour by an Albanian whose 
identity he tried to check. None of the dozens of Albanian eyewitnesses gave 
the police any information. 

Tetovo, Kumanovo, Gostivar and other predominately Albanian suburbs have been 
strangely calm for the past few days. Ordinary people seem pleased by the 
Kosovars' struggle for national liberation, and equally moved by the 
achievements of the fellow-countrymen in southern Serbia. But they avoid 
speaking for or against the armed secessionist movement within FYROM, which 
they explain as a natural consequence of the oppressive policy of the 
Slav-Macedonian state, even if they do not support it.

"I don't think any Albanian would not react if the army and police started 
cleansing operations on the border against one and all, as happens in such 
cases," commented an Albanian journalist from Tetovo. The Albanians dislike 
the FYROM army and the police, which they see as being in the service of the 
Slav-Macedonians. The government's biggest worry is how to act when they have 
to put their security forces on the border.

The Albanian leadership seems divided. So far the party which is in the 
governmental coalition has maintained a cautious attitude to the dramatic 
developments. The other party, in the parliamentary opposition, has come out 
openly in favor of the extremists. Political observers predict that the party 
in the government will soon have to reject Prime Minister Boris Trajovski's 
policy on the Albanian issue, which would have the effect of further 
radicalizing the Albanians.