[Prishtina-E] Things are changing though....

[Imer Berisha]

Dear friend and compatriots,

It is not as bad as it looks   /hello to Mentor Mala: some politicians
                                are shortsighed....let them be..../

A part from an article in the Guardian that shows the changes as anticipated 
towards undersending the reasions why the Albanians are fighting and, that a 
solusion is for Macedonian Govrnment to accept negotioations and change its 
policy.

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Nowhere near the brink (Guardian, March 19, 2001) Posted Monday, March 19, 
2001

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,458971,00.html

Nowhere near the brink

Ignore the hysteria. Macedonia is not about to spark a Balkan
conflagration

Jonathan Steele
Monday March 19, 2001
The Guardian


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If the gunmen are to remain isolated, a heavy responsibility now
rests on the local politicians of both sides as well as, to a lesser
extent, on western governments. The Albanian leaders in Macedonia and in
Kosovo must go beyond their public condemnations of the gunmen and start
serious discussions with them and their leaders for a ceasefire.

The gunmen have made a point but they must now leave room for political
talks by elected leaders to go forward.

By the same token, the Macedonian military and police must avoid any
escalation. It is clear that Nato is not going to get involved with
troops, beyond a belated tightening up of security on the border between
Kosovo and Macedonia. It is also apparent that the Macedonian security
forces do not have the men, the equipment, or the sophisticated training
to take the gunmen on by themselves. Blasting mortar rounds into
forested hillsides serves little purpose other than as a temporary,
though spurious, morale-booster for Macedonia's Slav majority. But it
carries the risk of civilian casualties which would only serve to
radicalise a wider segment of the Albanian population. The Macedonian
military must avoid the use of excessive force which the Serbs wielded
in Kosovo in 1998, turning the whole Albanian community against them.
If a ceasefire can be achieved quickly, then all sides must be ready
for wide-ranging talks and reasonable concessions.

A decade after its hasty and unprepared independence, Macedonia needs to 
take a deep breath and work out a new dispensation. Albanian leaders must 
make anunequivocal declaration that they do not want to split the state. 
Theymust also renounce federalisation, at least for a 10-year period, in 
return for progress in opening public service jobs to Albanians.

The constitution needs to enshrine multiracialism instead of its current 
assumption of Slav supremacy. Albanian must be recognised as an 
officiallanguage for parliament, the courts and public service. A minority 
as large as a third of the population, as the Albanians are thought to 
be,deserve no less. With common sense in Macedonia, and less hysteria 
outside it, solutions can be found.
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Yes, more and more people do understand the reasons, and the way out from 
this crises, Macedonian Gov., will sooner or later change its mind too.

It might only "need" more time, because for them it is difficult to talk 
with Albanians as equal negotiating party, but they will learn this, I'm 
sure.

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