Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground
Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground
Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground
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Plural<strong>ism</strong> and us<br />
<strong>Polyparty</strong>-<strong>ism</strong><br />
Ten years after the fall of the socialist system and promotion<br />
of the idea <strong>for</strong> new political restructuring, we are<br />
still at the very outset of the process and far from actual<br />
plural<strong>ism</strong>.<br />
Mirjana Najchevska<br />
One of the main causes of the fall<br />
of the system known as self-managed<br />
social<strong>ism</strong> in the <strong>for</strong>mer Socialist<br />
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as<br />
well as in the Republic of Macedonia<br />
as its federal member, was the predominance<br />
of commonly-defined<br />
meaning and the one-dimensional<br />
nature of political structures and of<br />
wider social structures. Unanimity,<br />
the single-party spirit and monopoly<br />
are terms that describe the relations<br />
and the structures within this system.<br />
A plurality of interests does occur up<br />
to a certain level within its structures.<br />
However, it is constrained and functionally<br />
related to the existence of one<br />
option, one party and one vision.<br />
While changing and defining democracy<br />
and democratization, among<br />
other things, the idea <strong>for</strong> establishing<br />
a multifarious pluralistic system was<br />
introduced. This system would be<br />
based on the ideals of civil society<br />
and would comply with the new<br />
political structuring.<br />
Ten years after the fall of the<br />
socialist system and promotion of<br />
the idea <strong>for</strong> new political restructuring,<br />
we are still at the very outset<br />
of the process and far from<br />
actual plural<strong>ism</strong> (both the one<br />
which rests within us and the one<br />
made manifest in the state and<br />
political structures).<br />
"ETHNIC PLURALISM"<br />
The greatest achievement in the<br />
Republic of Macedonia's pluralistic<br />
re<strong>for</strong>mation is the multiparty system.<br />
Formally, we have come<br />
incredibly far in this dimension of<br />
plural<strong>ism</strong>. More than 40 political<br />
parties have been registered within<br />
Macedonia, which may seem like<br />
broad political diversity, exhibiting<br />
potential <strong>for</strong> the promotion and<br />
development of politically alternative<br />
directions. However, if we<br />
look into the plat<strong>for</strong>ms of particular<br />
parties or moreover into their actual<br />
political engagement and practical<br />
work, we discover little variety<br />
or differing views. The main distinguishing<br />
principle which demarcates<br />
among the particular parties<br />
is the line of ethnicity and ethnic<br />
groups. The parties are ethnically<br />
homogenous enough <strong>for</strong> one to say<br />
that each party is a party of<br />
Macedonians, Albanians, Turks, or<br />
Romas. Unlike the plurality on<br />
paper, we still cannot talk about<br />
real plurality within the political<br />
parties (especially in terms of<br />
diverse ethnic affiliation).<br />
The political parties are so<br />
homogenous and "ethnically clean"<br />
which is patently obvious in their<br />
plat<strong>for</strong>ms. These agendas can be<br />
immediately classified according<br />
to the ethnic affiliation of the members<br />
in that particular party. They<br />
differ among themselves, above all,<br />
based on common ethnic determination<br />
and the different approaches<br />
<strong>for</strong> raising issues and solving<br />
problems).<br />
This is particularly conspicuous<br />
among the parties whose very<br />
names and external party symbols<br />
declare them as belonging to a particular<br />
ethnic group (equally evident<br />
among certain Macedonian,<br />
Albanian, Turkish and Roma parties).<br />
Their basic assumptions,<br />
which can be identified as democratic<br />
and civil, are very often neglected<br />
because of their ethnic<br />
exclusivity and articulation of specific,<br />
ethnically defined interests<br />
and needs. Thus in the overall func-<br />
5<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
6<br />
tioning of the government and in<br />
effecting legislative and executive<br />
power, the collective one-dimensional<br />
interest easily dominates,<br />
while the civil plural<strong>ism</strong> of the<br />
individual interests expressed hardly<br />
comes to the <strong>for</strong>e.<br />
THE INDIVIDUAL<br />
IS ASSIMILATED INTO<br />
THE ETHNIC COLLECTIVE<br />
The ideas of plural<strong>ism</strong> and<br />
alternativ<strong>ism</strong>, which is neglected in<br />
our multiparty system, penetrates<br />
neither in the wider structuring of<br />
the community nor does it successfully<br />
promote the civic ideal as a<br />
basis <strong>for</strong> the new political system.<br />
The individual is still assimilated<br />
into the ethnic collective, which<br />
limits the flexibility of associating<br />
according to interests of policy.<br />
This is one of the main obstacles in<br />
the actual system of plural<strong>ism</strong> in<br />
the Republic of Macedonia.<br />
Namely, diversity is manifested<br />
above all collectively (by the<br />
group) while its promotion and protection<br />
is sought through the work<br />
of the political party. This on one<br />
hand boils down the overall diversity<br />
first of all to ethnic diversity<br />
alone, which unifies the group and<br />
prevents the manifestation of other<br />
<strong>for</strong>ms of plurality and dissent, provided<br />
it is not according to ethnic<br />
differentiation or it goes beyond the<br />
rubrik of ethnic differentiation.<br />
On the other hand, such an<br />
approach gives a monolithic facade<br />
and the apparent absence of plurality<br />
within particular ethnic groups.<br />
When the plural<strong>ism</strong> in the group<br />
runs up against the need of the<br />
group to display a homogenous and<br />
unanimous structure, the plural<strong>ism</strong><br />
disappears, becomes subdued or<br />
even violently destroys itself. The<br />
example of the latest turbulent relations<br />
between the two largest<br />
"Albanian" parties in the Republic<br />
of Macedonia highlights this problem<br />
significantly. In such circumstances<br />
the ideals of democracy and<br />
civic behaviour are implied. They<br />
are reduced to the values of multiparty<br />
systems and multiplicity in<br />
ethnic affiliation, the roads to individualization<br />
become closed, and a<br />
favourable climate is created <strong>for</strong><br />
directives replacing alternatives.<br />
In the absence of actual plurality,<br />
the notion of flexibility of civic<br />
connections is especially endangered.<br />
People are condemned to<br />
experience a certain petrifaction of<br />
ethnic affiliations and they are<br />
restricted in their choice of common<br />
interests only under the shelter<br />
of ethnic affiliation.<br />
This results in another illusory<br />
plurality, which appears within<br />
civil society and civic organizing<br />
among people. Namely, there are<br />
around 2,000 citizens associations<br />
registered in the Republic of<br />
Macedonia. However, this multiplicity<br />
(very similar to the party<br />
structuring) is not at all a reflection<br />
of the diversity of comprised interests<br />
and manifested differences, but<br />
largely due to a very specific and<br />
unproductive practice of establishing<br />
non-governmental organizations<br />
which are ethnically defined.<br />
Each and every non-governmental<br />
organization occurs in several variants<br />
depending on the ethnic affiliation<br />
of its members. (For example:<br />
Organization of Macedonian<br />
Women, Organization of Albanian<br />
Women, Roma women, Turkish,<br />
Vlachs and Serb women.) This kind<br />
of multiplicity once more delimits<br />
and unifies the differences based on<br />
ethnic affiliation. The most terrifying<br />
aspect perhaps is the fact that<br />
the activists thus create an illusion<br />
that they are doing something<br />
"important and justified" and that<br />
they contribute to building a democratic<br />
society. Seldom do we talk<br />
about exhausting ourselves or<br />
being captured within the vicious<br />
circle of mutual denial while the<br />
actual results from the project of<br />
creation, multiplication or<br />
improvement of citizens' social<br />
opportunity disappear from the<br />
horizon. More remarkable is the<br />
fact that, apart from the shifts in<br />
this ethnic-party and ethnic-NGO<br />
plural<strong>ism</strong>, there are no visible<br />
changes in the presentations of<br />
actual situations, relations and<br />
processes tied to this versatility. In<br />
the domains where versatility<br />
should appear in order to create a<br />
clear picture of the issues, or to act<br />
accordingly and to apply the most<br />
appropriate mechan<strong>ism</strong>s, this versatility<br />
is denied or consciously<br />
neglected. This refers especially to<br />
all statistical data, but also to all<br />
<strong>for</strong>ms of representation of the<br />
Republic of Macedonia abroad.<br />
With this development of quasiplural<strong>ism</strong><br />
instead of real diversity,<br />
the Republic of Macedonia loses<br />
one of its greatest advantages and<br />
one of its eminent characteristics.<br />
Macedonia loses the characteristics<br />
of a real multicultural, multinational<br />
and multiconfessional community<br />
which, by its own structure and<br />
its own way of being, is oriented<br />
towards respecting differences and<br />
nourishing plural<strong>ism</strong> at all levels of<br />
its own structuring. At this point it<br />
starts to lag behind in the field of<br />
global individualization, which is<br />
the basis of the concept of human<br />
rights and freedom. Having in mind<br />
that the socialist self-management<br />
did not allow the conceptual individual<br />
to develop consciously, or at<br />
least, declaring that sit was doing it<br />
<strong>for</strong> "noble reasons"-it would be too<br />
much of a luxury should Macedonia<br />
repeat that history-and this time<br />
<strong>for</strong> other reasons, assuredly noble<br />
again.<br />
(The author is a senior<br />
research fellow at the Institute<br />
<strong>for</strong> Social, Political<br />
and Juridical Research)<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
The custom officer<br />
asks the boy<br />
to open the box.<br />
The boy hesitates<br />
<strong>for</strong> a moment.<br />
The order is<br />
repeated. The<br />
boy, having no<br />
choice, opens the<br />
box. Two<br />
Bulgarian<br />
turkeys, that<br />
have "crossed"<br />
undetected "the<br />
soon-to-be<br />
Schengen border,"<br />
pop their<br />
heads out of the<br />
box. The turkeys,<br />
as if released,<br />
utter sharp<br />
shrieks, which<br />
were probably<br />
suppressed <strong>for</strong> a<br />
long time and can<br />
undoubtedly be<br />
heard on the<br />
other side of the<br />
border. The boy<br />
looks at the custom<br />
officer with<br />
fear, but to everyone's<br />
surprise,<br />
the officer laughs<br />
naturally and<br />
sweetly.<br />
Europe and us<br />
The schengen turkeys<br />
Luan Starova<br />
Some time ago, to meet a<br />
respectable Bulgarian writer friend, I<br />
had to travel from Skopje to Sofia<br />
and return on the same day. I decided<br />
to travel by bus. The departure from<br />
Skopje was in the early morning,<br />
whereas the returning from Sofia was<br />
planned <strong>for</strong> the late evening hours. I<br />
did not find the journey to Sofia too<br />
long with a Proleter bus, which was<br />
obviously worn out, most likely from<br />
its "proletarian days." There were<br />
few passengers. Then at the border<br />
crossing we waited less than the<br />
transporter anticipated, so we arrived<br />
in Sofia an hour and a half early. I<br />
had more than three hours available<br />
<strong>for</strong> the meeting with Bulgarian literature<br />
and unavoidable political topics,<br />
especially <strong>for</strong> our "stabilization and<br />
association" within the framework of<br />
the European Union. My friend<br />
talked to me with excitement and<br />
optim<strong>ism</strong> about his country's May<br />
entry in the European Schengen<br />
Zone. Optimistically, but also a little<br />
bit fantasy-prone ( recalling one<br />
diplomatic proverb, which says that<br />
optimists are those who are ill<br />
in<strong>for</strong>med) we both concluded that<br />
happier days are yet to come <strong>for</strong> the<br />
Balkans. Lucky us!<br />
After the wonderful welcome and<br />
the quick tour through beautiful<br />
Sofia, which is adopting the rhythm<br />
of European capitals, we went to the<br />
bus terminal. Here, there was a<br />
chaotic turmoil of busses to all destinations<br />
in the Balkans, Europe and<br />
Asia. Big luxurious busses with all<br />
possible com<strong>for</strong>ts. At the periphery<br />
of the terminal, I found my Proleter,<br />
which looked as if it had pulled in<br />
from some era other than in the present.<br />
I recognized a few of the returning<br />
passengers from this morning.<br />
New passengers arrived and the bus<br />
fills up.<br />
In the dark Balkan night the bus<br />
headed towards the Bulgarian-<br />
Macedonian border. The driver in the<br />
bus couldn't turn the heating system<br />
off, so it becomes hot as hell. He<br />
managed to hit almost every hole in<br />
the road, while we passengers seated<br />
on the clacking seats, felt as if we<br />
were in the rodeo.<br />
Fortunately, there is a pause. Here<br />
we are at the border on the Bulgarian<br />
side. The bus stands <strong>for</strong> a long time<br />
with the engine idling. An order<br />
comes: "All passengers out!" They<br />
line us up, everybody with their own<br />
suitcase or plastic bag, cardboard<br />
box, backpack or a modern travelling<br />
bag. They leave us standing still <strong>for</strong> a<br />
minute, two, three. The two custom<br />
officers keep a close eye on every<br />
passenger, they follow every facial<br />
movement, every suitcase. A young<br />
customs officer with a flashlight in<br />
the dark night checks each corner of<br />
the bus whose luggage compartment<br />
doors are opened upwards. It is unbelievably<br />
quiet at the border. The elegantly<br />
dressed customs officer, as if<br />
he were at a fashion parade beside<br />
the suffering passengers, operates<br />
quickly, in command. With the flashlight<br />
he checks even in coat pockets,<br />
he also checks in the bags. It is <strong>for</strong>bidden<br />
to take anything alive,<br />
uncooked or partially baked across, it<br />
says clearly on the billboard in front<br />
of our eyes. At last the operation<br />
ends. "Safe and sound," we continue<br />
our journey through the speedy passport<br />
control. The ramp is slowly<br />
being lifted upwards at the Balkan<br />
border. A border is always the same,<br />
difficult to change no matter how<br />
much they change it, especially in the<br />
Balkans…<br />
Now, we are on our Macedonian<br />
7<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
8<br />
territory, soon to be "stabilized and<br />
associated" in the European Union,<br />
just as we left the "soon-to-be<br />
Schengen country." Our customs officers<br />
are obviously more relaxed,<br />
more tolerant. But the ritual remains<br />
the same, a border is a border. Pitiful,<br />
we are getting off the bus with our<br />
same small bags, boxes and suitcases.<br />
And again the customs officer quickly<br />
inspects . Everyone has in front of<br />
his feet his own "<strong>for</strong>tune or sin." The<br />
crude Balkan mentality does not<br />
change quickly, especially not when<br />
we await quick salvation in Europe's<br />
embrace.<br />
The customs officer, who is keeping<br />
a watchful eye on the passengers'<br />
facial expressions, stops short in front<br />
of a boy who has a solid, closed cardboard<br />
box with small, almost invisible<br />
holes by his feet. Calmly, he asks<br />
the boy to open the box. The boy hesitates<br />
<strong>for</strong> a moment. The order is<br />
repeated. The boy, having no choice,<br />
opens the box. Two Bulgarian turkeys<br />
that have "crossed" undetected the<br />
soon-to-be Schengen border, pop<br />
their heads out of the box. The<br />
turkeys, as if released, utter sharp<br />
shrieks, which were probably suppressed<br />
<strong>for</strong> a long time and which can<br />
undoubtedly be heard on the other<br />
side of the border.<br />
The boy looks at the customs officer<br />
with fear, but to everyone's surprise,<br />
the officer laughs naturally and<br />
sweetly. The rest of the passengers<br />
laugh too. A young, black-eyed and<br />
elegant female customs officer laughs<br />
sweetly too. Everybody laughs. And<br />
the turkeys are joyful.<br />
The boy and the turkeys are the<br />
real heroes of the moment at the border<br />
between two countries.<br />
We cross the soon-to-be Schengen<br />
border into this part of the Western<br />
Balkans. The turkeys are triumphantly<br />
returned to the luggage compartment<br />
of the bus.<br />
And so on our way from the border<br />
to Skopje, our Schengen turkeys<br />
accompany us, the future Balkan passengers<br />
to Europe.<br />
(The author is a writer)<br />
Ten years later (or a view<br />
from both sides)<br />
Long live<br />
the new Yalta<br />
Guner Ismail<br />
In this instance, some of us at least had the privilege of<br />
viewing history not only from up close, but also from the other<br />
side-at the end of the 1980s and from this side, today!<br />
When the wall was falling down in Berlin, at that time, let's<br />
be frank, we were not even anticipating that in fact the entire<br />
world's geopolitical map was being redefined, albeit temporarily!<br />
We heard it, saw it and read it, thinking all the while that<br />
this was all far away from us, happening to someone else, and<br />
that our perfect, or so-called "good" social<strong>ism</strong>,<br />
despite the difficulties, would survive<br />
and would outlive all the "bad" social<strong>ism</strong>s<br />
and even the "worse" capital<strong>ism</strong>s. If somebody<br />
were to tell us that in less then two<br />
years that our <strong>for</strong>mer motherland would be<br />
knee deep in bloodshed, we would have<br />
declared them a madman or a spy from the<br />
CIA, the KGB or similar headquarters of<br />
evil!<br />
However, when things started progressing,<br />
beyond our own will or fault, and when<br />
certain catastrophic predictions of the<br />
Western historians were fulfilled-who said<br />
that Yugoslavia would go up in flames-it<br />
was already late and impossible to right<br />
ourselves onto a certain civilized course. The world, as it was<br />
drawn up on the famous historical paper napkin in Yalta<br />
(Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt) was collapsing. Many naive people<br />
were anticipating the collapse of the military-political<br />
block, whereas they (that's us) were thinking that with its collapsing,<br />
the reasons <strong>for</strong> the other block's existence would also<br />
cease. Well, weren't we non-aligned?<br />
Of course, this was not an uncontrolled break-up, it was<br />
instead buying time <strong>for</strong> civilization to pull itself together, in a<br />
way <strong>for</strong> everyone to take a short breather and, if at all possible,<br />
to regroup in the muddy waters <strong>for</strong> tomorrow and beyond...!?<br />
Of course, this is just the global part, and in this global<br />
flow, as we all witnessed more or less, the federal and fraternal<br />
Although from my<br />
perspective this<br />
brief history can<br />
be called a history<br />
of missed chances<br />
and opportunities,<br />
we can say that<br />
Macedonia is still<br />
on this side of the<br />
line that Churchill<br />
drew on the<br />
famous paper<br />
napkin<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
Yugoslav state, along with its<br />
nations and ethnicities, made a<br />
huge contribution-with no lesson<br />
<strong>for</strong> the future naturally!<br />
At that time, at least here in<br />
Macedonia, the vast majority of<br />
the population was preoccupied<br />
with their new idol Miloshevich.<br />
Due to the new rhetoric, new topics,<br />
the "merciless" settling up<br />
with the fat cats began. The<br />
lumpen proletariat engaged in<br />
famous yogurt marches. Ferocious<br />
hatred was aimed at the stand-in<br />
Negroes or Jews: Albanians. The<br />
final settling up with the unambiguous<br />
frog spawn in post-Tito,<br />
committee-union-socialist association<br />
structures began.<br />
Miloshevic in the dirtiest possible<br />
way stimulated the lowest individual<br />
and social passions of the<br />
maximally pauperized crowds,<br />
whose minds were undergoing a<br />
final phase of brainwashing with<br />
the help of semiliterate journalists,<br />
as well as the help of the fiery and<br />
frenetic offensive of turbo-folk<br />
music and other kitsch stuff.<br />
Only a handful of people dared<br />
to view the world and what occupies<br />
it differently, and tried to<br />
draft the future differently while<br />
searching <strong>for</strong> the most suitable<br />
patterns or models to prevent the<br />
heartaches that (as we know today<br />
with certainty) the projected chaos<br />
would bring.<br />
It was very clear that there<br />
would be nothing left of the common<br />
fatherland and it was even<br />
clearer that any sudden movement<br />
could produce great uneasiness<br />
among the ranks of the already<br />
angered soldiers, who were managed<br />
by an almost virtual, or best<br />
said, by a distant central command.<br />
Macedonia, being small,<br />
had not been clearly positioned on<br />
that famous paper napkin, as if<br />
Churchill's hand had shook while<br />
drawing the zigzag line, like a<br />
se<strong>ism</strong>ograph.<br />
In all that turmoil and all that<br />
chaos, we still had strength and<br />
plenty of optim<strong>ism</strong> to think of<br />
Macedonia as a country with sufficient<br />
prospects. We made ef<strong>for</strong>ts<br />
within the boundaries of the possible<br />
to further build in the direction<br />
of a new, civil, market-oriented,<br />
NATO-defended, EU-style civilized<br />
state. With all the handicaps<br />
that cling to this neighbourhood of<br />
petty and dirty Balkan imperialists,<br />
ambitious pyromaniacs who<br />
are all nothing more than extended<br />
handshakes of global sharks.<br />
(It became clear that our world<br />
would start at Gevgelija and end at<br />
Tabanovce, that the song "From<br />
Vardar to Triglav" had turned cynical<br />
and that the curse laid upon<br />
people from this area would<br />
become the reality: to be born in<br />
one state and-without ever having<br />
moved from it-to die in their old<br />
age in another state) Over those<br />
several years perhaps we wasted a<br />
lot of time, but we also lost many<br />
human relationships, we lost<br />
many people, we lost sincerity<br />
and, <strong>for</strong>tunately, perhaps even our<br />
naivete!<br />
We believed that Yalta had<br />
broken up, that the Komintern had<br />
broken up and that Warsaw and<br />
Brussels had broken up. We<br />
believed that the murky committee<br />
people and similar socialist<br />
time-wasters had found irreversible<br />
political retirement, that it<br />
was over and done with, all that<br />
ideological-party qualifications<br />
and disqualifications. We believed<br />
that the new world, the new order<br />
of things-despite the degree of<br />
suspicion with which we viewed<br />
it-would still represent the start of<br />
something different and more<br />
beautiful! It was not because we<br />
did not know all the leftist critic<strong>ism</strong>s<br />
of capital<strong>ism</strong>, including all<br />
the moral and immoral aspects of<br />
the world, where the final<br />
accounting begins and ends. We<br />
knew this, but we also understood<br />
that that model, that civilization is<br />
more vital and the worker lives a<br />
much easier and richer life in the<br />
capitalist hell than in the socialist<br />
heaven. Especially not in the<br />
heaven, whose psyche in recent<br />
years was totally ruralized; in<br />
Macedonia it was governed by a<br />
degenerated structure, some kind<br />
of mixture of youth and smalltime<br />
party officials, wheeler dealers,<br />
already deeply and immorally<br />
tied to criminals and "appropriate"<br />
police structures manned according<br />
to criteria of "loyalties"<br />
invented by semi-literate cops<br />
whose horizons never reached any<br />
further than the holes in their outhouses.<br />
This was approximately the<br />
9<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
10<br />
way our cautious, some would say<br />
necessary, optim<strong>ism</strong> looked, a little<br />
more than ten years ago, from the<br />
other side of the things, at the<br />
beginning.<br />
If this were a diary entry or a<br />
more ambitious chronology<br />
(accompanied by commentary),<br />
maybe the reconstruction would<br />
have been more detailed. Even if it<br />
is about fast-paced times, still the<br />
judgment of history will have plenty<br />
of verdicts to make. We are left<br />
with identifying some places where<br />
we can quite openly conclude that<br />
we are walking around in circles or<br />
in a Nietzschean way, which is one<br />
and the same, we will conclude that<br />
things are moving within the syntagma<br />
of "eternal return to the<br />
same!"<br />
At the beginning of the 1920s, a<br />
smart and very conservative<br />
Spanish man, who had a very<br />
strange and long name, said that<br />
when worlds collapse, when great<br />
value systems fall apart, then the<br />
crowd comes to the world's stage,<br />
or as he said: "the masses' uprising<br />
follows," with all that this uprising<br />
assumes: lack of any value system,<br />
lack of any kind of social, psychological,<br />
moral boundaries, lawlessness<br />
in society is an everyday certainty,<br />
because the old laws are no<br />
longer applicable and there are no<br />
new laws, or they are created by<br />
those who do not want to know<br />
about law and order, since their<br />
basic principle is the rule of chaos!<br />
During the days when Macedonia<br />
was destined to become independent,<br />
the independence, the material from<br />
which this state was supposed to be<br />
made, was very modest. As we<br />
already stated, during a period of less<br />
than two years we were supposed to<br />
<strong>for</strong>get dreams that He would do<br />
something <strong>for</strong> the benefit of everybody,<br />
He would settle things with all<br />
those who had "messed up" and<br />
miraculously so-like winning a lottery<br />
jackpot without buying the ticket,<br />
or the resurrection of Josip Broz from<br />
his grave-and that He would lead<br />
Yugoslavia through the Scylla and<br />
Charybdis of history, which is always<br />
tailored by others.<br />
A handful of people felt that a<br />
more systematic, more courageous<br />
action was required, to disable all<br />
possible unreal ambitions, to disable<br />
the deliberate metastases of the society<br />
designed to infect it permanently<br />
(read: to create permanent centres<br />
of instability). They soon got tired.<br />
They were eliminated in the internal<br />
political manoeuvring, or more precisely<br />
intrigues, and out of the lot<br />
that used to be honest, service-oriented,<br />
it was clear that those remaining<br />
live in a mixture of national,<br />
state-building, humanistic, religious,<br />
liberal ambitions and desires.<br />
Yes, quite so: with mixed schedules<br />
and priorities, with confusion, out of<br />
which a state-building capacity<br />
could hardly be <strong>for</strong>eseen or created.<br />
If we take into consideration the<br />
continual interference of our neighbours,<br />
it even becomes unreal that<br />
today, at the end of the year 2000, in<br />
Macedonia we still write things, like<br />
this article, which still bears a certain<br />
optim<strong>ism</strong> towards state-building.<br />
Although from my perspective<br />
this brief history can be called a<br />
history of missed chances and<br />
opportunities, it can be said that<br />
Macedonia is still on this side of<br />
the line that Churchill drew on the<br />
famous paper napkin. When we<br />
look more deeply at those who<br />
lead, or who would like to lead, this<br />
country, desperation becomes our<br />
primary feeling. Still, in Macedonia<br />
the outcomes, as is well known, are<br />
quantified a bit differently. Also the<br />
auditors are others, with less trembling<br />
hands, younger than<br />
Churchill.<br />
Yalta is dead, but I think I here<br />
someone shouting: Long live the<br />
new Yalta. And this is not such a<br />
bad cry after all.<br />
(The author is a columnist )<br />
The international<br />
players should understand<br />
that in addition<br />
to their unambiguous<br />
support <strong>for</strong> global<br />
re<strong>for</strong>ms, they must<br />
also promote intolerance<br />
<strong>for</strong> the practices<br />
of election fraud and<br />
violence in politics<br />
Macedonia - EU - the region<br />
European ambiguities<br />
are multiplying<br />
in the candidate countries<br />
Ljubomir D. Frchkoski<br />
Two key political actions have created<br />
the new political map of<br />
Macedonia in the region. First is the<br />
regime change in Belgrade, which<br />
"unplugged" the communication in the<br />
north of the country so that the country<br />
now satisfies the true meaning of a<br />
crossroads. Second is entering into the<br />
agreement <strong>for</strong> association and stabilization<br />
with the European Union by which<br />
Macedonia gained the "privileged"<br />
position as the first country in the un<strong>for</strong>-<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
tunate region of the western Balkans.<br />
So realistically, opportunities have<br />
been created <strong>for</strong> lines of development<br />
in two directions, but most important of<br />
all-pressure continues <strong>for</strong> harmonizing<br />
the legal system and re<strong>for</strong>ms in accordance<br />
with EU standards.<br />
In this text we will be interested in<br />
only two aspects of that political map:<br />
what are the levels of conflict in the<br />
south Balkans and what are the EU's<br />
political priorities to respond to these<br />
new tensions; and particularly, what is<br />
Macedonia's political capacity to<br />
sketch out its own role in the new political<br />
map of the region in accordance<br />
with EU policy?<br />
The new political tensions in the<br />
region stem from several points: The<br />
overall development of the Federal<br />
Republic of Yugoslavia in relation to<br />
since the removal of Miloshevich.) The<br />
disputes also take place under relatively<br />
strong international presence in different<br />
<strong>for</strong>ms in the region. This in a<br />
way guarantees a more efficient and<br />
more decisive reaction compared to the<br />
usual pattern of involvement.<br />
However, we will start a brief<br />
analysis from a different angle, namely<br />
from the possible negative effects owed<br />
to the ambiguity and the prolongation<br />
of the EU expansion agenda.<br />
It is more or less clear that there<br />
exists a certain nervousness in the EU<br />
countries, when from an abstract idea<br />
<strong>for</strong> EU expansion a shift was made<br />
towards actual expansion as a concrete<br />
process. The basic indicators of this<br />
nervousness are the changing negotiation<br />
rules <strong>for</strong> association and membership-throughout<br />
the negotiation<br />
strengthens them with other,<br />
also European, countries,<br />
instead of producing a more harmonious<br />
policy of liberalization<br />
in stages, with a clear, liberal<br />
direction.<br />
The second paradox is the<br />
EU debate on the lack of democracy<br />
towards <strong>for</strong>eigners and cultural minorities<br />
of guest workers-hand in hand with<br />
clear figures and analysis on the lack of<br />
demography. (There is a clear need <strong>for</strong><br />
a qualified work <strong>for</strong>ce "from the margins,"<br />
outside EU countries).<br />
The third paradox is the one about<br />
insider-outsider problems. Namely, in<br />
the EU itself, as well as among the<br />
countries in the Union, there exists a<br />
so-called Christian club (CDU-CSU,<br />
Heider and others) which views the EU<br />
as an exclusively Western type of<br />
11<br />
Montenegro and Kosovo implies political<br />
dynamics involving new constitutional<br />
solutions or solutions through<br />
international treaties, with greater or<br />
lesser international intervention.<br />
Relations between Croatia and Serbia<br />
imply the middle ground will be cooperation<br />
with the Hague Tribunal and<br />
over the repatriation of Serbs to<br />
Croatia. The so-called Albanian issue<br />
plays out in three dimensions:<br />
Albanian-Serbian, Albanian-<br />
Macedonian, Albanian-Greek. Finally<br />
there is the multidimensional challenge<br />
of multicultural societies and stable<br />
democracy-state-building-as opposed<br />
to strong national<strong>ism</strong>.<br />
The basic characteristic of these<br />
possible disputes is that they are generally<br />
below the level of military confrontations.<br />
(This became apparent<br />
process-and continual adjustments in<br />
the process benchmarks. (A most<br />
recent example is the drifting of the<br />
evolving clauses and the relationship<br />
with the political conditions <strong>for</strong> negotiations<br />
with Turkey.)<br />
Three dominating initiatives are<br />
present in the internal EU dialogue: the<br />
Lisbon debate on economic development;<br />
the military initiative <strong>for</strong><br />
European rapid interventions <strong>for</strong>ces;<br />
and the so-called home affairs from the<br />
meeting in Finland. The greatest dilemmas<br />
occur in home affairs, or police<br />
procedures and the issues of movement<br />
and borders. Namely, with some of its<br />
decisions the EU sets up paradoxical<br />
situations: <strong>for</strong> example "the border paradox."<br />
The EU shrinks or wipes out the<br />
borders between certain countries, and<br />
Christian club of countries, with no<br />
chances <strong>for</strong> other countries to gain<br />
entry.<br />
Simply put, the confusion among<br />
EU countries over these issues multiplies<br />
in candidate countries, which<br />
become frustrated in coping with contrary<br />
political ideas, which is the ultimate<br />
irony of these principles. Put differently,<br />
these principles become a<br />
panacea, a general excuse <strong>for</strong> the political<br />
incompetence of local political<br />
elites <strong>for</strong> badly implemented privatization<br />
and other political manoeuvreswhile<br />
they refer to the EU "conditions"<br />
which by themselves are long-term and<br />
hazy.<br />
A much clearer interim strategy<br />
and integration models are required in<br />
order to set the structure of development<br />
and to monitor the development<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
12<br />
of "candidate" countries, using a<br />
more principled basis, clear timing,<br />
and political accountability.<br />
The process of integration in<br />
Europe should be regarded as<br />
"Europe-ization" WHICH ASSU-<br />
MES CHANGE AND AN ENDOR-<br />
SEMENT OF CERTAIN CIVI-<br />
LIZED VALUES of European civilization,<br />
and not so much as a process<br />
of "EU-ization" or debates about<br />
institutional integration of the internally<br />
unre<strong>for</strong>med political and social<br />
structures (bad elections, criminalization<br />
of the political elite, money laundering,<br />
a quasi-nongovernmental sector<br />
etc.)<br />
We need to move towards an<br />
INCLUSIVE EUROPE, which will<br />
integrate and accept diverse civilized<br />
values and cultures (by which it will<br />
express its real superiority), and not<br />
only towards <strong>for</strong>mal expansion,<br />
which in the end, <strong>for</strong> xenophobic reasons,<br />
is endlessly postponed. When<br />
laying out the standards which they<br />
set <strong>for</strong> the acceptance of candidate<br />
countries, they say: "If we were to be<br />
fair..." so the immediate question is,<br />
"And why would we be fair at all?"<br />
This creates a feeling that the EU<br />
countries in fact sincerely dislike<br />
some of the candidates in their ranks.<br />
This hypocrisy is extremely counterproductive.<br />
In this overall context, what are<br />
the political capacity and the willingness<br />
of Macedonia, or more precisely<br />
of its own political elite, <strong>for</strong> a serious<br />
and intensive implementation of EU<br />
standards in the political system of<br />
the country, superficially called its<br />
capacity <strong>for</strong> re<strong>for</strong>m?<br />
Macedonia, despite having<br />
signed the Agreement <strong>for</strong> Association<br />
and Stabilization with the EU, is<br />
objectively faced with its diminished<br />
importance <strong>for</strong> international players<br />
in the region. This is due to three factors:<br />
a change of international players<br />
in the region-the emphasis has shifted<br />
from the United States to European<br />
countries; confusion and implicit<br />
mistrust of European countries with<br />
regard to the declared concept of stability<br />
in multiethnic societies (supported<br />
by the confusion about what<br />
should be supported and what eliminated<br />
among the practices of states in<br />
the region); and a very weak organizational<br />
and strategic preparedness of<br />
Macedonian authorities <strong>for</strong> promoting<br />
and fighting <strong>for</strong> a relatively<br />
improved position in valuing their<br />
own advantages and achievements.<br />
The first factor is due to the lack<br />
of European diplomatic tradition and<br />
experience with an independent<br />
Macedonian state. Even among the<br />
friendly states dilemmas are arising as<br />
to what definite position to adopt<br />
toward Macedonia in relation to their<br />
traditional Balkan "partners"<br />
(Germany towards us relative to<br />
Albania or Bulgaria; France, relative<br />
to Serbia or Greece; Britain, relative<br />
to Serbia or Bulgaria, etc.) The attitude<br />
regarding Macedonia's stability<br />
constantly lacks real analysis and<br />
counterintelligence data. As a result, it<br />
is under constant pressure from neighbouring<br />
lobbies or "inside" groups.<br />
This division within the EU toward<br />
the Balkans and the topic of stability<br />
in multiethnic and multicultural societies,<br />
together with its lack of political<br />
priorities, weaken the EU's operational<br />
position and actions.<br />
The second factor is due to the<br />
fact that almost all experiences of<br />
democracy in European countries<br />
result from the opposite political<br />
models of those renowned in the<br />
Balkans. They are more familiar with<br />
John Stuart Mill's <strong>for</strong>mulas: ethnic<br />
and cultural homogeneity paired with<br />
liberal democracy.<br />
This also produces a certain<br />
doubt about the longevity of<br />
Macedonia's stability (<strong>for</strong> which, in<br />
fact, those same Europeans produced<br />
about ten apocalyptic scenarios).<br />
While they fixated on our stability,<br />
Albania and Kosovo exploded, and<br />
Serbia lived through a traumatic turnaround.<br />
Within this internal context,<br />
we went through two embargoes<br />
imposed by Greece, one against<br />
Serbia, an assassination attempt on<br />
this country's president, an unbelievable<br />
refugee crisis and countless<br />
attempts by the neighbouring counter-intelligence<br />
services to destabilize<br />
us on interethnic grounds. What<br />
additional proof is needed <strong>for</strong> the stability<br />
of Macedonia? Instead of dealing<br />
with invalid assessments, the EU<br />
should work hard on two axes. They<br />
should assist and monitor institution<br />
building (state building) and strengthening<br />
the states and their civil structures-against<br />
the ethnic national<strong>ism</strong><br />
which threaten the borders and loyalties.<br />
They should also fight tough<br />
against organized crime and corruption<br />
which thrive in the region.<br />
Finally, the political capacity of<br />
authorities in Macedonia in relation to<br />
the EU plan <strong>for</strong> development-comprised<br />
of democracy, human rights<br />
and economic re<strong>for</strong>ms-is somewhat<br />
ambiguous. Namely, the present<br />
authorities in Macedonia managed to<br />
continue strengthening the policy of<br />
interethnic inclusiveness in politics<br />
and relying on NATO and especially<br />
Americans, with a traditional orientation<br />
towards the EU. At the same<br />
time, they enhanced global re<strong>for</strong>ms,<br />
<strong>for</strong> which they enjoy unanimous support<br />
from the international players.<br />
However, at the same time, the global<br />
ef<strong>for</strong>ts <strong>for</strong> re<strong>for</strong>ms on the part of the<br />
ruling political <strong>for</strong>ces granted them a<br />
"line of credit" <strong>for</strong> gradual criminalization<br />
of government authority, inexcusable<br />
election shortcomings and<br />
introducing the use of violence in politics,<br />
unheard of be<strong>for</strong>e in Macedonia<br />
(where there used to be a very low<br />
crime rate).<br />
With development taking such a<br />
direction, the capacity <strong>for</strong> re<strong>for</strong>m will<br />
vanish and it will turn into its own<br />
contradiction: a loss of the authorities'<br />
legitimacy with the risk of destabilization.<br />
The international players<br />
should understand that in addition to<br />
their unambiguous support <strong>for</strong> global<br />
re<strong>for</strong>ms, they must also promote<br />
intolerance <strong>for</strong> the practices of election<br />
fraud and violence in politics.<br />
It must be announced to each<br />
authority that such a thing will not be<br />
tolerated, regardless of what may<br />
have been rhetorical and actual<br />
ef<strong>for</strong>ts in economic re<strong>for</strong>m.<br />
For a country like Macedonia,<br />
which is quite open to international<br />
influence, it is very important to point<br />
to the principles of advocating <strong>for</strong><br />
democracy and bringing concrete<br />
pressure so that the political process<br />
will unfold strictly in that direction.<br />
The EU could contribute greatly in<br />
that realm.<br />
(The author is a professor on<br />
the law faculty of Skopje<br />
University)<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
The phenomen of Macedonia<br />
The impossible<br />
is happening anyway<br />
Ljubisha Georgievski<br />
It is more than certain that the<br />
transition from a totalitarian to a pluralistic<br />
society and accordingly from<br />
a totalitarian into a pluralistic state, is<br />
a process with no objective parameters.<br />
I do not want to believe that this<br />
situation is well-nigh impossible,<br />
although the facts, the logic and the<br />
generally adopted (at least <strong>for</strong> the<br />
If the renovated<br />
government manages<br />
to neutralize<br />
social problems,<br />
then Macedonia<br />
will have a<br />
chance to pull<br />
itself out of the<br />
hellish picture of<br />
the Balkans.<br />
time being) raison d'etre,<br />
confirm just that.<br />
In fact, we are dealing<br />
with a historical phenomenon<br />
that has no<br />
precedent, <strong>for</strong> something<br />
that verges<br />
almost on the edge of<br />
the impossible. No<br />
matter, "let us be realistic-and<br />
search <strong>for</strong> the<br />
impossible!"<br />
Totalitarian<strong>ism</strong>,<br />
according to the rule, fails in a malignant,<br />
ill-fated way, leaving behind<br />
well-rooted inertia from continuing<br />
fear: de<strong>for</strong>med personalities, ugly<br />
moral and intellectual integrity; gossip-oriented,<br />
career-oriented<br />
immorality; dog-like loyalty to the<br />
nomenklatura; Karamazov-style<br />
relationship with God; violent attitude;<br />
ideologically alienated consciousness;<br />
paranoid attitude<br />
towards police institutions and ideological<br />
censorship; radically perverted<br />
attitude towards work, with an<br />
emphasis on laziness as a virtue,<br />
complete lack of greater imagination<br />
or entrepreneurial spirit; reduced<br />
consciousness... And, when on top<br />
of this, the famous negative elements<br />
of the Balkan mentality are added,<br />
then the picture of hell itself fades in<br />
comparison. However that picture is<br />
not completed yet. The picture will<br />
not be completed, by the way, even if<br />
we stitch on it the layers of interethnic<br />
devilment spanning over five<br />
centuries and the fact that all Balkan<br />
states are de facto multiethnic and<br />
multilingual,<br />
regardless of<br />
which or how<br />
many of them<br />
would acknowledge<br />
it. In order<br />
to complete the<br />
image, we have<br />
to add the relativity<br />
or the<br />
absolute youthfulness<br />
of certain<br />
countries<br />
with a crumbled economy.<br />
With such a picture, the question<br />
of how to get out of this situation<br />
becomes Kantian.<br />
Where is the Republic of<br />
Macedonia located in this mosaic of<br />
horror? Above all, among countries<br />
whose governments have confronted<br />
head on the almost impossible question:<br />
how do we strike a balance<br />
between the courage and the wisdom<br />
of the severe re<strong>for</strong>ms as the only way<br />
out, including the increasing social<br />
vulnerability of citizens? Facing this<br />
dilemma, previous governments of<br />
the Republic of Macedonia, as the<br />
country's leadership, behaved opportunistically<br />
<strong>for</strong> many objective reasons<br />
(wars in the neighbourhood,<br />
embargoes, etc.) but also from a certain<br />
voluntary aversion to facing the<br />
problem directly. Meanwhile the<br />
Communist corps was balancing<br />
cosmetically.<br />
The strongly expressed re<strong>for</strong>m<br />
orientation of the current government<br />
most certainly contributes to its<br />
declining favour among the citizens<br />
on one hand, while on the other hand<br />
it is gaining Europe's support, without<br />
which it would not be able to<br />
overcome that situation. I have an<br />
impression that if the now renovated<br />
government of the Republic of<br />
Macedonia manages to better<br />
orchestrate its final re<strong>for</strong>m policy<br />
and if it manages to neutralize the<br />
social problems, then it can start to<br />
pull the country out of the described<br />
picture of hell.<br />
In fact, the Republic of Macedonia<br />
possesses numerous advantages<br />
compared to other countries in<br />
southeast Europe, even though it is<br />
situated in the so-called western<br />
Balkans. Macedonia's clearly peaceful<br />
policy, internal stability, extremely<br />
balanced interethnic relations, as<br />
well as its consensual pro-European<br />
orientation, contribute to the fact that<br />
all political players unanimously recommend<br />
it to the most serious attention<br />
of the Euro-Atlantic structures.<br />
The impossible is happening<br />
anyway.<br />
(The author is Macedonian<br />
ambassador in Sofia)<br />
13<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
14<br />
Stojan Andov<br />
Chronicle of pluralistic democracy<br />
Macedonia made historical<br />
decisions about its future<br />
Due to the difficult economic situation, interest in<br />
fostering the civic status of the individual is lagging<br />
behind and ethnic identity is over emphasized.<br />
The first multiparty elections in<br />
Macedonia were held in the autumn<br />
of 1990, while the first multiparty<br />
assembly in the country was constituted<br />
on 9 January 1991. It was comprised<br />
of 38 deputies from VMRO-<br />
DMPNE, 31 from SKM-PDP, 23<br />
from PDP and NDP, 18 from SRSM<br />
IMDS, 5 from SPM, 2 from the<br />
Yugoslav Party and three independent<br />
deputies. During 1991 the legal<br />
framework was created <strong>for</strong> the new<br />
state order: the Declaration <strong>for</strong> the<br />
Sovereignty of Macedonia was<br />
enacted, the Referendum <strong>for</strong><br />
Independence was held and the new<br />
Constitution of the country was<br />
enacted. Soon after, key laws were<br />
enacted <strong>for</strong> the establishment of the<br />
Macedonian army and <strong>for</strong> monetary<br />
independence of the country. The<br />
Law on the Constitutional Court and<br />
the Law on the Regular Judiciary<br />
were enacted, as well as the Law on<br />
Local Self-Governance. The latest<br />
law that was enacted is the Law on<br />
State Administrative Bodies, by<br />
which, basically, the legal regulation<br />
of the foundations of the democratic<br />
institutions in the state as well as the<br />
administrative policies were completed.<br />
For the overall democratic<br />
process it is important that citizens<br />
can freely express their political will<br />
during elections and, by doing so,<br />
affect their own future and the future<br />
of the country. During elections the<br />
way a country's democratic system<br />
functions becomes visible. How<br />
political parties function also<br />
becomes visible, as well as the<br />
(mis)use of authority, the media's<br />
role, and other mechan<strong>ism</strong>s. During<br />
the last ten years in Macedonia, parliamentary<br />
elections have been held<br />
three times, whereas presidential as<br />
well as local elections have been held<br />
twice. Basically the elections were<br />
acceptable. However, political parties<br />
are gradual strengthening their<br />
ef<strong>for</strong>ts to influence election outcomes<br />
even in an illegal way, which<br />
is noticeable. There<strong>for</strong>e the entire<br />
legislation by which the organization<br />
of parties is regulated, as well as the<br />
functioning of political parties and<br />
the electoral legislation, must be<br />
carefully reviewed.<br />
In the economic arena, state ownership,<br />
fundamental to the so-called<br />
socialist project, has been abandoned,<br />
and the market economy has<br />
been introduced. In that context, in<br />
1993 the Law on Privatization was<br />
enacted, then the Law on Trade<br />
Companies, the Law on Banking and<br />
other financial institutions were<br />
enacted, whereas the Law on<br />
Employment and Social Rights of<br />
Employees was amended and<br />
improved. The Law on<br />
Denationalization and the law on<br />
returning the so-called old <strong>for</strong>eigncurrency<br />
savings were enacted as<br />
well. Also, the <strong>for</strong>eign debt of the<br />
country was regulated, and structural<br />
economic re<strong>for</strong>ms began. The results<br />
have not met expectations and it<br />
seems that to date the country has<br />
paid a high price <strong>for</strong> these re<strong>for</strong>ms. A<br />
real economic stratum has not yet<br />
been created that would take initiative<br />
in economic development and<br />
ensure the economic and political<br />
stability in the country. The main<br />
cause <strong>for</strong> that is the fact that in the<br />
re<strong>for</strong>ms to date, especially in the<br />
realm of privatization, more attention<br />
was paid to the inherited managerial<br />
stratum and its relationships with ruling<br />
party structures. The re<strong>for</strong>ms<br />
were not conducted in a logical way.<br />
It was logical that the privatization<br />
means would ensure the return of<br />
once-expropriated property and of<br />
the frozen <strong>for</strong>eign hard currency. In<br />
such a case, the <strong>for</strong>mer property<br />
resulted out of labour and the economic<br />
activities of previous generations<br />
would have been given back<br />
and we would have had a stable and<br />
legally established economic stratum<br />
in the society. That opportunity was<br />
missed and that is why there is a<br />
decline in economic activities during<br />
the re<strong>for</strong>ms, enormous unemployment<br />
and a lack of sound economic<br />
initiatives by citizens. Great courage<br />
is needed in the further flow of<br />
re<strong>for</strong>ms, especially structural<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
e<strong>for</strong>ms. Otherwise, the re<strong>for</strong>ms<br />
will go on <strong>for</strong>ever, while their<br />
effect will be weak.<br />
There are good conditions <strong>for</strong><br />
managing interethnic relations in<br />
Macedonia. During the ten-year<br />
period of plural<strong>ism</strong>, the conditions<br />
<strong>for</strong> the co-existence of various<br />
ethnic communities have<br />
improved, but there are still problems.<br />
Due to the difficult economic<br />
situation, interest <strong>for</strong> fostering<br />
the civic status of the individual<br />
is lagging behind and<br />
belonging to an ethnic community<br />
is over emphasized. In the further<br />
political and economic<br />
re<strong>for</strong>ms, solutions <strong>for</strong> those problems<br />
will also need to be sought.<br />
In <strong>for</strong>eign policy, since the<br />
beginning, Macedonia has the<br />
right orientation <strong>for</strong> approaching<br />
the Euro-Atlantic integration.<br />
The success of that orientation<br />
will further depend on successful<br />
re<strong>for</strong>ms in the country. Also, the<br />
orientation towards strengthening<br />
and developing co-operation and<br />
trust with neighbouring countries<br />
and countries in the region is on<br />
the right track.<br />
The experience of plural<strong>ism</strong><br />
to date offers enough elements<br />
<strong>for</strong> us to believe that the electorate<br />
in Macedonia is maturing<br />
in an accelerated manner and that<br />
it awaits the future elections in a<br />
completely different, new climate.<br />
The electorate expects all<br />
conditions <strong>for</strong> fair and democratic<br />
elections to be met, they expect<br />
parties to carry on the business of<br />
their own parties, and to leave the<br />
decisions of the elections to the<br />
voters. We can also expect a serious<br />
voter realignment towards<br />
more energetic support <strong>for</strong> parties<br />
in the centre that favour the civic<br />
status of the individual, emphasizing<br />
participation in political<br />
and the overall life of society.<br />
(The author is a Member<br />
of Parliament)<br />
From an idea to a result<br />
The drive towards the<br />
independence began at<br />
the congress of SKJ<br />
Petar Goshev<br />
Prior to the<br />
extraordinary 14th<br />
Congress of the<br />
Communist League<br />
Macedonian communists'<br />
decision<br />
that Macedonia<br />
would not remain<br />
in the SFRY<br />
should any republic<br />
secede, marked<br />
the beginning of<br />
our independence.<br />
of Yugoslavia<br />
(SKJ), which was<br />
scheduled <strong>for</strong> January<br />
20-23, 1990 I<br />
used to regularly go<br />
to the meetings in Belgrade as a<br />
member by function. (The presidents<br />
of the Communist League<br />
of each Republic were members<br />
of the Presidency of the Central<br />
Committee of Communist League<br />
of Yugoslavia, the CK SKJ.)<br />
We used to spend days and days<br />
on one single subject: Which<br />
issues of the SKJ bodies (and<br />
respectively of the congress<br />
itself) would not be subject to<br />
over voting, according to the<br />
one-delegate-one-vote principle.<br />
In other words, on<br />
which issues related<br />
to the adoption of an<br />
position or a decision,<br />
must the principle<br />
of consensus<br />
be implemented.<br />
(Consensus meant a<br />
general accordance<br />
of the delegations<br />
from the Republics).<br />
The answer to this question was<br />
especially sought by the representatives<br />
of Slovenian communists<br />
(M. Kuchan, C.<br />
Ribichich...), but also by<br />
Croatians (I. Rachan), and others.<br />
Serbian representatives<br />
(B.Trufunovich), supported by<br />
the representatives of<br />
Montenegro (M. Bulatovich),<br />
Vojvodina (Sipovac), and<br />
Kosovo (R. Morina), energetically<br />
refused to discuss this<br />
issue. They stated that should<br />
15<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
16<br />
the SKJ adopt such an attitude,<br />
then it would also be incorporated<br />
into the Federal Constitution. By<br />
doing so, they were saying,<br />
Yugoslavia would no longer be a<br />
federal state, but it would rather<br />
move towards a federation of<br />
states. It would thus become a sort<br />
of confederation. Those who advocated<br />
<strong>for</strong> the principle of one person-one<br />
vote, were motivated by<br />
the fact that Serbs comprised more<br />
that half of the total population of<br />
Yugoslavia at that time.<br />
Our (Macedonian) attitude was<br />
articulated by the author of these<br />
lines. And we believed that we<br />
could not allow over voting on<br />
issues of vital interest <strong>for</strong> the<br />
Republics. That, perhaps was the<br />
most unexpected blow to the<br />
Serbian understanding of relations<br />
within post-Tito Yugoslavia. Once<br />
I took that position, I was overwhelmed<br />
with attention and an<br />
unveiled interest in what might be<br />
expected from me.<br />
After many meetings, the<br />
Presidency of the CK SKJ adopted<br />
a position that at the 14th congress<br />
(the early), there would not be over<br />
voting on issues which the republican<br />
delegations consider to be of<br />
vital interest <strong>for</strong> their nationalities,<br />
and their republics respectively.<br />
However, during the congress several<br />
delegates created an over-voting<br />
stampede: from Serbia and<br />
Serbian delegates from the<br />
autonomous provinces, the delegates<br />
from Bosnia and<br />
Herzegovina as well as from<br />
Montenegro. The glass was overflowing<br />
because an amendment<br />
submitted by Slovenian communists<br />
was rejected. It required the<br />
condemnation of the economic<br />
blockade on Slovenia, previously<br />
organized by S. Miloshevich, as<br />
revenge against Slovenians<br />
because they held a different position<br />
towards Kosovo.<br />
Immediately upon the rejection<br />
of the proposed amendment, the<br />
Slovenian delegation left the congress.<br />
Croatian communists also<br />
decided to leave. I called upon the<br />
Macedonian delegates and suggested<br />
we return to Skopje and<br />
review the situation peacefully.<br />
Except <strong>for</strong> muttered whisperings of<br />
the few who disagreed with this<br />
suggestion, the majority of the delegates<br />
reached an understanding<br />
and were agreeable. This act, in<br />
fact, marked the break-up of the<br />
SKJ and the beginning of the dissolution<br />
of the SFRY.<br />
After the return to Skopje, the<br />
most difficult and the most exciting<br />
period of my political life<br />
began. Pressures were multiplying<br />
from all sides: some supported us<br />
going to Belgrade <strong>for</strong> the continuation<br />
of the interrupted congress<br />
without the Slovenians and the<br />
Croatians, but others thought that<br />
we should not even consider it. The<br />
top military of the JNA (Yugoslav<br />
People's Army) pressured me especially.<br />
Several times the top military<br />
people from the JNA came,<br />
several times military delegations<br />
came to have special meetings with<br />
me, led by Admiral S. Bunchich<br />
and Admiral Grubjeshich, General<br />
Jovanovich, Colonel Baucan and<br />
others. At each meeting they openly<br />
threatened: "We will not sit still<br />
with our hands folded!" Then they<br />
started establishing their party, the<br />
SK Movement <strong>for</strong> Yugoslavia. I<br />
asked them: "Why are you doing<br />
this?" They frankly replied: "Just<br />
in case!" As a matter of fact, they<br />
were preparing <strong>for</strong> a military<br />
strike, which <strong>for</strong>tunately, the <strong>for</strong><br />
reasons already known, they did<br />
not carry out. However, secret lists<br />
<strong>for</strong> arrests were already prepared.<br />
There were also ef<strong>for</strong>ts to organize<br />
pressure on me by our opposing<br />
<strong>for</strong>ces. During the 4th session of<br />
the CK SKM (after the interrupted<br />
Yugoslav Congress) M.<br />
Panchevski's and M. Danev's<br />
group planned my replacement.<br />
However, even at the beginning of<br />
the session they saw that they did<br />
not have the strength <strong>for</strong> it. Later,<br />
on another occasion, someone had<br />
sent me a group of top Macedonian<br />
officers who served in Belgrade<br />
and Skopje in order to be<br />
"in<strong>for</strong>med" about our views on<br />
events in the SFRY. They<br />
expressed a great concern about<br />
the possible break-up of<br />
Yugoslavia. The public is<br />
acquainted with the reactions of<br />
the <strong>for</strong>mer Kumanovo party organization,<br />
that directly accused me,<br />
and I was proclaimed a "destroyer"<br />
of Yugoslavia. Along those lines,<br />
there were also some smaller<br />
groups of people from Kichevo<br />
and from some other organizations,<br />
but they were not in a position<br />
to do more.<br />
We held the position that the<br />
SKJ would cease to exist should<br />
even a single republic leave it, that<br />
Yugoslavia could not survive if<br />
even a single republic left, and that<br />
if one of the republics would do so<br />
(at that time it was about Slovenia<br />
and Croatia, connected vessels),<br />
then Macedonia would also seek<br />
its own independent path.<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e, in the program <strong>for</strong> the<br />
1990 elections we wrote that we<br />
would not remain in any abbreviated<br />
federation and we wasted a lot<br />
of energy proving that should that<br />
happen, Macedonia had the<br />
strength to develop as an independent<br />
state.<br />
Be<strong>for</strong>e every 8 September, citizens<br />
can once more recall the<br />
events following the 1990 elections.<br />
(The author is a Member of<br />
Parliament)<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
Plural<strong>ism</strong> and Albanians<br />
From enthusiasm<br />
to disappointment<br />
Ismet Ramadani<br />
The trend towards multiparty<br />
systems in the 1990s<br />
that appeared in eastern<br />
Europe, which at the same<br />
time announced the fall of<br />
totalitarian communist<br />
mon<strong>ism</strong> and the beginning of<br />
democracy, was accepted by<br />
Albanians from Macedonia<br />
with special enthusiasm. This<br />
enthusiasm certainly came<br />
out of a bitter past in which<br />
the Albanians continually<br />
underwent politically persecution<br />
in the <strong>for</strong>mer political<br />
system. Despite their initial<br />
fear, particularly due to that<br />
bitter experience, Albanians<br />
very quickly organized themselves<br />
politically into a strong<br />
party, called the Party <strong>for</strong><br />
Democratic Prosperity (PDP).<br />
Certainly at that time the PDP<br />
was just one political entity in<br />
the mosaic of parties, like<br />
VMRO-DPMNE, SDSM,<br />
Liberal Party, MAAK and<br />
others. It must be said that<br />
another political party besides<br />
PDP appeared a bit later that<br />
same year, as an Albanian<br />
political entity: the National<br />
Democratic Party (NDP).<br />
This marked the beginning of<br />
Albanian political plural<strong>ism</strong><br />
in Macedonia.<br />
As <strong>for</strong> democratic development<br />
and Euro-Atlantic<br />
orientation, he program goals<br />
of the PDP were not in contrast<br />
with the goals of other<br />
Macedonian political parties<br />
from the left or the right.<br />
However, concerning the status<br />
of Albanians (issues related<br />
to language, education and<br />
culture), or more precisely to<br />
equity in these areas, PDP's<br />
program goals were not<br />
accepted by the Macedonian<br />
political parties. They even<br />
created an anti-Albanian public<br />
following through their<br />
political stance.<br />
PDP, along with NDP, participated<br />
alongside the parties<br />
of ethnic Macedonians in the<br />
first parliamentary elections.<br />
The party then presented in a<br />
transparent manner its election<br />
plat<strong>for</strong>m as the main<br />
Albanians in Macedonia<br />
accepted the plural<strong>ism</strong><br />
trend towards plural<strong>ism</strong>,<br />
common in the <strong>for</strong>mer<br />
communist states, with<br />
particular optim<strong>ism</strong>, but<br />
when many of their<br />
expectations were not<br />
realized, disappointment<br />
prevailed among them.<br />
Albanians' activities<br />
reflected this.<br />
17<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
18<br />
Albanian political party.<br />
Albanians in Macedonia welcomed<br />
the plat<strong>for</strong>m with great<br />
enthusiasm, aspiring to full<br />
equality in all areas of life with<br />
Macedonians and with other<br />
ethnic groups in Macedonia.<br />
Regretfully, the Macedonian<br />
parties, led by the then VMRO-<br />
DPMNE (which has been<br />
extensively refined), trod upon<br />
that transparency.<br />
Nevertheless, the first multiparty<br />
Parliament of the<br />
Republic of Macedonia ensued<br />
from the party plural<strong>ism</strong> in the<br />
first parliamentary elections.<br />
PDP, in coalition with NDP,<br />
came out of the elections as a<br />
third party, based on the number<br />
of deputies. This multiparty<br />
parliament in fact was a synonym<br />
<strong>for</strong> the beginning of<br />
democracy and the end of the<br />
single-party system. It should<br />
be emphasized that at that time<br />
Macedonia was establishing<br />
itself as independent from the<br />
Socialist Federal Republic of<br />
Yugoslavia (SFRY).<br />
These events surrounding<br />
the pluralistic activities were<br />
most difficult <strong>for</strong> the PDP-NDP<br />
parliamentary group, since in<br />
the creation of the new state the<br />
group was preoccupied with the<br />
future status of Albanians in<br />
Macedonia. This parliamentarian<br />
group submitted the<br />
"Declaration <strong>for</strong> an Equal<br />
Status of Albanians in<br />
Macedonia" to the President of<br />
the state and to the Prime<br />
Minister of the expert government.<br />
As is known, this declaration<br />
was rejected, causing<br />
indignation among Albanians,<br />
who later did not respond to the<br />
referendum on the independence<br />
of Macedonia.<br />
Simultaneously, the delegation<br />
did not vote <strong>for</strong> the<br />
Constitution, the results of the<br />
census were not accepted, etc.<br />
Albanians' disappointment was<br />
also reflected in the subsequent<br />
activities of PDP-other options<br />
<strong>for</strong> problem-solving started<br />
appearing while institutional<br />
activities weakened. In a word,<br />
Albanians' enthusiasm that the<br />
multiparty system in an atmosphere<br />
of tolerance would solve<br />
the articulated national and<br />
existential issues, started to<br />
decline.<br />
Despite all the dissatisfaction,<br />
PDP with its parliamentary<br />
group and in consultation<br />
with the international community<br />
was not set on unrest and<br />
interethnic conflict, but continued<br />
courageously and wisely its<br />
institutional activities aimed at<br />
step-by-step problem-solving.<br />
This position also arose from<br />
the awareness of the delicate<br />
nature of the situation in the<br />
region (the wars in Croatia and<br />
Bosnia and the occupation of<br />
Kosovo). PDP's activity was<br />
monitored by the international<br />
community with approval, but<br />
by some pro-Macedonian political<br />
parties with a degree of<br />
malice. However, within the<br />
part, especially from an<br />
Albanian perspective, this<br />
activity within the state institutions<br />
caused PDP to factionalize,<br />
resulting in the birth of new<br />
political parties, including the<br />
Democratic Party of Albanians<br />
(DPA), the Republican Party<br />
<strong>for</strong> National Equality (RPNE),<br />
the Albanian Democratic<br />
Alliance-Liberal Party (ADS-<br />
LP) and others.<br />
Anyway, in the political<br />
mosaic that was created in<br />
Macedonia it can not be said<br />
that Albanians did not benefit<br />
from the activities of the PDP<br />
and other political organizations<br />
within the government,<br />
since in that period Albanians<br />
succeeded in becoming a relevant<br />
factor in Macedonia,<br />
which represents one of the key<br />
points in the stability in the<br />
region. At the same time, it<br />
should be accepted that, in fact,<br />
PDP established many political<br />
rules of the game as well as<br />
plural<strong>ism</strong> throughout this<br />
decade, a path which other<br />
Albanian parties have followed.<br />
This decade of multiparty<br />
activity has taught us that,<br />
despite the challenges, we will<br />
survive and we should find the<br />
path that leads towards Euro-<br />
Atlantic integration, and<br />
towards NATO membership,<br />
<strong>for</strong> then the difficulties and the<br />
misunderstandings in all segments<br />
of life, especially multiethnic<br />
ones, will be more easily<br />
solved. We also had the assistance<br />
of the standards that are<br />
practiced within the civilized<br />
world, towards which we also<br />
do strive.<br />
The pluralistic decade can<br />
also be summarized by the<br />
assessment that there are a lot<br />
of things that need to be nurtured<br />
in politics, especially during<br />
electoral campaigns.<br />
Political competition should be<br />
accepted as something progressive<br />
which establishes a system<br />
of real values and joint success.<br />
Regretfully, we often feed<br />
frustrations that lead to personal<br />
and political resistance, even<br />
adding in animosity, which during<br />
the last local elections was<br />
manifested in a very harsh and<br />
tragic way. Let us hope that this<br />
will not happen to us again.<br />
(The author is a Member<br />
of Parliament )<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
Plural<strong>ism</strong> and the economy<br />
The Macedonian transition<br />
is taking too long<br />
Nikola Popovski<br />
The pluralistic "revolution,"<br />
which took place at the end of<br />
the 1980s and the beginning of<br />
the 1990s in Central and Eastern<br />
Europe, gave a lot of hope to<br />
hundreds of millions of people<br />
<strong>for</strong> a general betterment of their<br />
lives. On the wings of this plural<strong>ism</strong><br />
came not only the hope<br />
<strong>for</strong> democracy, human rights and<br />
general freedoms, but also the<br />
hope that economic per<strong>for</strong>mance<br />
in their societies could greatly<br />
improve and, consequently, people<br />
would enjoy a much better<br />
life. It would not be an exaggeration<br />
to say that aspirations <strong>for</strong> a<br />
wealthier life and greater satisfaction<br />
of people's essential<br />
needs were the fundamental<br />
During the first<br />
ten years, plural<strong>ism</strong><br />
did not<br />
respond positively<br />
to many economic<br />
problems<br />
driving <strong>for</strong>ces of the radical<br />
changes that were taking place.<br />
Just this kind of aspiration<br />
also encouraged plural<strong>ism</strong> in<br />
Macedonia. This plural<strong>ism</strong>,<br />
which developed alongside the<br />
process of creating a state,<br />
encouraged the Macedonian<br />
nation to believe that such integral<br />
changes would enable more<br />
prosperity in the future. As to<br />
what was meant by future,<br />
everybody anticipated something<br />
different, but one thing is<br />
certain: nobody anticipated that<br />
even ten years later the transition<br />
would still be at this stage.<br />
There was hope that in three to<br />
four, or perhaps in seven to eight<br />
years, the transition would be<br />
over. Then a period of tranquil<br />
development would begin, more<br />
democratic and-from an economic<br />
point of view-would be<br />
more stable and more prosperous.<br />
However an entire decade<br />
passed, and we can state with<br />
certainty that not only are we<br />
only gradually getting out of the<br />
period of transition, but<br />
Macedonia is facing even more<br />
problems that are typical <strong>for</strong> the<br />
first transitional years.<br />
If we sincerely face some of<br />
the basic indicators of what the<br />
first decade of plural<strong>ism</strong> did<br />
bring to Macedonia in an economic<br />
sense, then undoubtedly<br />
we would say that we are not<br />
moving <strong>for</strong>ward at all: and we<br />
are usually moving in the opposite<br />
direction from development.<br />
In that sense, it is a defeating<br />
fact that we began the plural<strong>ism</strong><br />
period in 1990 with GDP of<br />
USD 4,253 million, whereas in<br />
the tenth year of plural<strong>ism</strong>, or<br />
more precisely in the year 2000<br />
we will end up with a GDP<br />
which is only a bit over USD<br />
19<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
20<br />
3,700 million, only about 87 per<br />
cent of what we produced at the<br />
beginning. The loss of about half a<br />
billion dollars annually from our<br />
GDP is even more dramatic when<br />
you consider that, despite the<br />
decrease, it made sense to expect<br />
that the GDP would display an adequate<br />
positive rate of growth. From<br />
this perspective, the loss is doubled.<br />
For the sake of comparison,<br />
out of all the nations in transition<br />
so far only three of them (Poland,<br />
Slovenia and Slovakia) have bested<br />
their 1990 GDP, and two more<br />
(Hungary and the Czech Republic)<br />
will join them during this year or<br />
the next. With such a negative<br />
growth rate, the per capita income<br />
in Macedonia has decreased from<br />
USD 2,235 in 1990, to just over<br />
USD 1,800 in 2000, which represents<br />
a current annual loss of above<br />
20 per cent. The loss during the last<br />
ten years was even more drastic.<br />
These indicators undoubtedly show<br />
that plural<strong>ism</strong> in Macedonia,<br />
among other things, brought economic<br />
regression and greater<br />
poverty to the population.<br />
Ever more painful is the fact<br />
that this economic regression<br />
resulted in even greater social<br />
problems and differences and in an<br />
unequal distribution of the crisis's<br />
burden among the population. We<br />
will depict this with the fact that at<br />
the beginning of the multiparty<br />
system in Macedonia there were<br />
507,342 employed people (1990)<br />
or about one quarter of the total<br />
population, whereas in 2000 there<br />
are only about 320,000 employed<br />
people, or about one-seventh of the<br />
population. Obviously, one way or<br />
another, about 200,000 jobs were<br />
slashed. With the loss of jobs we<br />
now face an enormous number of<br />
unemployed people, whose number<br />
has increased from 156,323 in<br />
1990 to about 350,000 in 2000.<br />
It is not by accident that the<br />
number of eliminated jobs and the<br />
total number of the newly unemployed<br />
people are approximately<br />
the same. These indicators point<br />
out the high cost of the transition<br />
<strong>for</strong> which the nation has been paying<br />
during the past ten years of<br />
plural<strong>ism</strong> and due to which the<br />
standard of living has drastically<br />
fallen.<br />
We can present many other similar<br />
data, but they all indicate only<br />
one thing, which is that plural<strong>ism</strong><br />
in Macedonia, which marked the<br />
beginning of transition, did not led<br />
to the expected results from the<br />
economic point of view. We will<br />
very likely have to wait <strong>for</strong> a certain<br />
period, which will probably<br />
not be brief. The lesson we all must<br />
learn is that beautiful wishes and<br />
enthusiasm are not enough to<br />
accomplish anything ,and that after<br />
the initial euphoria we should have<br />
been far more careful, wise, and<br />
cautious while using our knowledge<br />
to pave the road to exit from<br />
transitional problems.<br />
Plural<strong>ism</strong> undoubtedly opened<br />
doors and created opportunities <strong>for</strong><br />
rapid economic development.<br />
However, this by definition does<br />
not mean that the opened door and<br />
the opportunities presented will be<br />
used <strong>for</strong> certain. We are now facing<br />
economic problems which the<br />
multiparty system in Macedonia<br />
did not manage to positively<br />
address. At least not during the<br />
first ten years. All we have left is<br />
the hope that perhaps in the second<br />
decade of plural<strong>ism</strong> in Macedonia,<br />
in an economic sense, there will be<br />
far more positive reaction, as well<br />
as solutions that will give credence<br />
to the hopes of the generations<br />
who justifiably-and without making<br />
a single wrong assessment-did<br />
accept and did effect the multiparty<br />
system in Macedonia.<br />
(The author is a<br />
Member of Parliament)<br />
Ten years of plural<strong>ism</strong>, December 2000
The time has come<br />
to do something<br />
Mirjana Najchevska<br />
Flags, slogans and calls to violence sound very attractive,<br />
and we can easily get carried away. Nevertheless,<br />
these are anachron<strong>ism</strong>s, characteristic of another time;<br />
a time that is passing and that can neither bring us closer<br />
to democracy nor replace it.<br />
Finally, everyone has become<br />
aware that interethnic relations in<br />
Macedonia are not relaxed and that<br />
they represent a source of conflict. The<br />
bad side of this is that everyone is dissatisfied<br />
(<strong>for</strong> different reasons but dissatisfied<br />
nonetheless). The good side is<br />
that we have a chance to face reality<br />
and real problems (if we remove the<br />
blinders tied on by political slogans,<br />
demagogues, and rhetorical per<strong>for</strong>mances<br />
by individuals from different<br />
nationalities, sexes, educational levels,<br />
parties, etc.). In such a situation it is<br />
worth reminding ourselves what we<br />
wanted "at the beginning" when<br />
changes in the system seemed<br />
inevitable and indisputable.<br />
The model <strong>for</strong> governance and law<br />
that Macedonia tried to abandon in<br />
1991 was a one-party model in which<br />
the party dominated the law. At least<br />
that is what the so-called leaders of<br />
change said. Over the developments of<br />
the past ten years the one-party system<br />
has been overcome. Very little has<br />
been done, however, to surmount the<br />
domination of political and party aims<br />
at the expense of the development of<br />
the state's legal framework. Not <strong>for</strong> an<br />
instant has the law positioned itself to<br />
challenge the parochial or group interests<br />
of political and party leaders.<br />
This de<strong>for</strong>mation in the development<br />
of newly <strong>for</strong>med state laws has<br />
been fatally reflected in one of<br />
Macedonian society's most sensitive<br />
segments; that is, in interethnic relations.<br />
Namely, establishing a lawful<br />
state and defining the principles <strong>for</strong> the<br />
rule of law and the domination of law<br />
over politics represented one of the<br />
guarantees <strong>for</strong> the existence of<br />
Macedonia as a multiethnic, multicultural,<br />
and multiconfessional state.<br />
These principles promised the general<br />
application of law instead of political<br />
will, an individual rather than collective<br />
approach, and gravitation toward a<br />
civic rather than an ethnic foundation<br />
<strong>for</strong> society.<br />
To become a part of legal regulations<br />
rather than party deal-making,<br />
interethnic relations should have been<br />
put on the agenda. Legislators then<br />
should have identified all problems<br />
interethnic relations could cause and<br />
should have found suitable legislative<br />
solutions.<br />
The first mistake was made when<br />
the framers of Macedonia's constitution<br />
failed to identify interethnic relations<br />
as a priority in operationalizing<br />
the new framework of governance and<br />
law. That failure trans<strong>for</strong>med the constant<br />
creation and solution of interethnic<br />
conflicts into part of the political<br />
game and the fight <strong>for</strong> power. This is<br />
turn led to an unstable balance in<br />
interethnic life that could be destroyed<br />
at any time by any political factor trying<br />
to gain political points and posi-<br />
21<br />
Liberation from war, April 2001
22<br />
tion. Radical extrem<strong>ism</strong>, accompanied<br />
by the means and tactics of terror<strong>ism</strong>, is<br />
only a by-product of such a situation.<br />
Its appearance can be connected to a<br />
complex external situation that<br />
includes:<br />
- the existence of armed <strong>for</strong>mations<br />
that lost their basic modus vivendi in<br />
the vicinity;<br />
- the undefined position of Kosovo<br />
and its status of governance and legal<br />
framework; and<br />
- long-held feelings of insecurity<br />
and menace coming from state institutions.<br />
A generally healthy society can<br />
deal relatively easily with such <strong>for</strong>ms<br />
of non-democracy. Or at least it can<br />
easily identify them as dangerous deviations<br />
from global democratic aspirations.<br />
Our problem is that we have an<br />
unhealthy society due to the constant<br />
avoidance of defining those limits and<br />
parameters that would make it possible<br />
to treat interethnic relations within the<br />
means of a legal state.<br />
The second insufficiency we can<br />
identify is the lack of an efficient,<br />
accessible, and just legal system that<br />
might deal with this matter. This<br />
includes defining an overall concept<br />
and strategy (which should be present<br />
in the Constitution), comprehensive<br />
national legislation, and the creation of<br />
real and relevant implementing mechan<strong>ism</strong>s<br />
(consequent acts, rules, and procedures)<br />
to enact these legal decisions.<br />
Instead, an ad hoc solution was offered;<br />
the leadership acted under crisis and<br />
under pressure, and constantly attempted<br />
to patch things together (although<br />
some people want to present what happened<br />
as modelling and adapting).<br />
The third problem is limited institutional<br />
scope. A state must, in structure<br />
and in deed, provide absolute objectivity<br />
in treating its citizens as equal. That<br />
means that a state must be structured in<br />
a way that will make it possible <strong>for</strong> the<br />
common will and all specific citizens'<br />
needs and interests to be <strong>for</strong>mulated<br />
and reported to all levels of the government<br />
(especially at lower administrative<br />
levels). If 35 per cent of the population<br />
of a state belongs to ethnic<br />
minorities, the idea of a multiethnic<br />
society must be manifested in every<br />
segment of that state.<br />
Within the context of the above<br />
remarks, consistent legal regulation of<br />
interethnic relations represents the<br />
fourth doubtful aspect of how this matter<br />
has been treated. Aspecial problem is<br />
the variability of regulations (in terms<br />
both of contents and terminology).<br />
Legal solutions must become a part of<br />
the general strategic implementation,<br />
instead of party agreements (which<br />
leaves them open to constant manipulation).<br />
The principle of multicultural<strong>ism</strong> is<br />
completely missing from all previous<br />
activities and solutions concerning<br />
interethnic relations. This is a complex<br />
principle that includes the existence of<br />
and respect <strong>for</strong> differences, active tolerance<br />
and creating conditions <strong>for</strong> identifying<br />
and manifesting common needs<br />
and interests. As such it is entirely<br />
absent at all levels of civic education.<br />
Most of what has been achieved (culminating<br />
in Mr. Van der Stoehl's idea of<br />
a private university), leads towards parallel<strong>ism</strong><br />
and social disintegration rather<br />
than toward a civic model.<br />
The possibilities that local autonomy<br />
offers still have not been exhausted.<br />
The excessive concentration of power<br />
in the central structures of state was<br />
another mechan<strong>ism</strong> <strong>for</strong> political party<br />
action that only dealt minimally, if at<br />
all, with citizens' everyday needs and<br />
interests. Regional political and administrative<br />
decentralization is one democratic<br />
measure that could be used to<br />
solve interethnic conflicts and to mitigate<br />
interethnic tension.<br />
To the question, "Are we are in crisis?"<br />
my answer is yes.<br />
To the question, "How did we find<br />
ourselves in this crisis?" my answer is:<br />
This crisis results from an inconsistent<br />
trans<strong>for</strong>mation of the one-party state<br />
into a legal one. This inconsistency is<br />
due to a lack of awareness and the lack<br />
of desire <strong>for</strong> real social democratization,<br />
and due to the de<strong>for</strong>mation of the<br />
civic perspective into an ethnically<br />
defined one.<br />
To the question, "How do we get<br />
out of this crisis?" my answers are:<br />
1. Systematically create a consistent<br />
legal structure;<br />
2. Lend legitimacy to laws through<br />
which the general will shall be grounded,<br />
and which shall be <strong>for</strong>mulated<br />
according to general agreement;<br />
3. Obey democratic procedures and<br />
using democratic mechan<strong>ism</strong>s to reach<br />
desired aims;<br />
4. Gradually promote civic identity<br />
in all areas of public life, but with<br />
enough room <strong>for</strong> ethnic identity.<br />
Democracy is slow and it often<br />
seems inefficient in solving sensitive<br />
questions concerning interethnic<br />
behaviour, especially in conflict situations<br />
arising from relations between<br />
different ethnic groups. Democracy<br />
never offers instant solutions to satisfy<br />
all participants in the democratic<br />
process. Also, democracy does not<br />
release any subject in the society from<br />
responsibility <strong>for</strong> what is happening.<br />
However, on this level of development,<br />
only democracy can enable the creation<br />
of a stable structure in which individual<br />
needs and interests can be situated<br />
and solved (in the domain of individual<br />
ethnic identity and belonging).<br />
We can try to justify our positions<br />
by calling on fear, mistrust, insults and<br />
thousands of other emotions. We can<br />
recall positive and negative examples<br />
from more or less recent history.<br />
However, what remains is the fact that<br />
we have not even tried to use the means<br />
offered by legal mechan<strong>ism</strong>s of the<br />
state <strong>for</strong> solving interethnic relations<br />
and avoiding an insoluble conflict.<br />
Flags, slogans and calls to violence<br />
sound very attractive, and we can easily<br />
get carried away. Nevertheless, these<br />
are anachron<strong>ism</strong>s, characteristics of<br />
another time; a time that is passing and<br />
that can neither bring us closer to<br />
democracy nor replace it.<br />
(The author is a senior associate<br />
at the Institute <strong>for</strong><br />
Sociological, Political, and<br />
Juridical Research, Skopje)<br />
Liberation from war, April 2001
A tragic feeling about<br />
balkan borders<br />
Luan Starova<br />
(A synopsis of an Albanian<br />
family drama and of the borders<br />
from 1941 to 2001)<br />
1941<br />
Two brothers with their families<br />
lived in the town of Pogradec, on the<br />
border between Albania and<br />
Macedonia. The Greco-Italian War<br />
ended. Fasc<strong>ism</strong> created new borders.<br />
People here are used to borders,<br />
but they have always created a<br />
desire to leave. Borders cut water,<br />
souls, nations, and religions.<br />
Leaving could mean salvation. It<br />
was always a time to flee when people's<br />
internal borders trembled with<br />
fear, with anxiety.<br />
1942<br />
Fasc<strong>ism</strong> was spreading throughout<br />
Albania; new partitions, new<br />
illusions, new borders. Every family<br />
either became a <strong>for</strong>tress or prepared<br />
to fly across the border to safety, to<br />
ascend like a cloud between Heaven<br />
and Earth, like on Chagal's canvasses.<br />
The fragile country was in the<br />
grip of fasc<strong>ism</strong> that was accepted by<br />
those deceived by Mussolini's false<br />
and chimerical promises, and rejected<br />
by others who joined partisan<br />
resistance. Families were split; solutions<br />
sought. Only children played<br />
happily with stamps picturing the<br />
previous monarch, and exchanged<br />
them <strong>for</strong> other stamps of the leader<br />
of destroyed countries.<br />
1943<br />
Anxiety overcame the families<br />
of the two brothers. The older one,<br />
who had studied law in Istanbul in<br />
the 1920s, refused to be subjected to<br />
fasc<strong>ism</strong>. Trying to avoid a concentration<br />
camp, he decided to cross the<br />
border through Lake Ohrid at night.<br />
The younger brother, who had studied<br />
in London in the 1920s and had<br />
wanted to introduce the scout movement<br />
to Albania, decided to stay in<br />
his native town. The mother<br />
remained caught between the two<br />
families. The older brother was resolute:<br />
"My dear brother, there is no<br />
future <strong>for</strong> us here!"<br />
"If there is no future in our<br />
native country, then we won't find it<br />
anywhere," answered the younger<br />
brother.<br />
"Fasc<strong>ism</strong> has divided us, made<br />
us quarrel. Some of our people have<br />
decided to join it. Dark days are<br />
coming."<br />
"I'm keeping out of this, brother.<br />
I've done no harm," the younger<br />
brother finished.<br />
They hugged each other <strong>for</strong> the<br />
last time.<br />
1944<br />
The older brother crossed the<br />
unguarded border with his family<br />
that night. He arrived on the other<br />
side, at another destiny, and started a<br />
new life with new people. His legal<br />
trade brought him close to defeated<br />
people, and he helped them in difficult<br />
moments. He lived with his destiny,<br />
with everything he had lost and<br />
left in his native country: the house<br />
and the field; and the vineyard<br />
inherited from his ancestors which,<br />
of course, had never been denationalized.<br />
1945<br />
The war ended. Fasc<strong>ism</strong> was<br />
severely defeated. Nothing, however,<br />
changed in the Balkans! The history<br />
of the borders continued.<br />
Commun<strong>ism</strong> came, and it was greeted<br />
first as the conqueror of fasc<strong>ism</strong>.<br />
Stalin<strong>ism</strong> accompanied it, however;<br />
a new great ideological division.<br />
Borders were paradoxically open <strong>for</strong><br />
the two brothers during Stalin<strong>ism</strong>.<br />
They could cross them easily, in the<br />
name of the free spirit of "proletarian<br />
international<strong>ism</strong>." But they<br />
stayed, each one with his own destiny,<br />
with his own family.<br />
1948<br />
The idyll between Tito and<br />
Stalin did not last long. In fact, it<br />
had never existed. The country<br />
where the older brother lived had<br />
more luck. It opened towards the<br />
world. His children got opportunities<br />
to study in good schools and<br />
faculties, and to have respectable<br />
professions. The younger brother<br />
was taken "to hell" with his family.<br />
Albania became the last bastion of<br />
Stalin<strong>ism</strong>. When borders truly<br />
become ill, they spread a contagion,<br />
and create total isolation. What<br />
starts to function is the system of<br />
looking <strong>for</strong> supposed victims, that<br />
impossible Balkan syndrome of<br />
self-destruction, carried over from<br />
prehistoric times into religions, ideologies<br />
and the impulse <strong>for</strong> power.<br />
The younger brother soon<br />
entered the list of victims. His crucial<br />
fault was his English connection;<br />
that is, his education. He was<br />
arrested, and tortured to "confess."<br />
He disappeared in prison. His family<br />
was in<strong>for</strong>med that he had committed<br />
suicide! A real Golgotha<br />
23<br />
Liberation from war, April 2001
24<br />
began <strong>for</strong> his wife and two little<br />
sons. They became "banned" people.<br />
The mother remained alone, happily<br />
threading the family's destiny<br />
through her needle. The children<br />
grew up. University remained <strong>for</strong>bidden.<br />
1949<br />
The older brother and his family<br />
sorrowfully received the news about<br />
the younger brother's death. Ties had<br />
gradually broken during all those<br />
years. A new invisible border-in<br />
space and in spirit-was created<br />
between them. The older brother<br />
became a citizen of the Federal<br />
People's Republic of Yugoslavia and<br />
the People's Republic of Macedonia.<br />
As a graduate of the university in<br />
Istanbul, he knew the old Turkish<br />
alphabet. He discovered old parts of<br />
the original protocols <strong>for</strong> the kadilik<br />
of Bitola (1607-1912), which were<br />
of great value <strong>for</strong> research into the<br />
past three centuries of Balkan history.<br />
Excessive work and sorrow<br />
exhausted him physically, and he fell<br />
ill with diabetes. His children's success<br />
brought him joy.<br />
1975<br />
Years went by. The border<br />
between Albania and Macedonia<br />
was deserted. Hardly anyone<br />
crossed it. Only elderly people were<br />
granted visas to Albania. The older<br />
brother knew that death would come<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e the border would re-open.<br />
They decided that his wife should<br />
accomplish the family mission and<br />
go back to her roots. Her old age was<br />
her visa. She came back in anguish.<br />
How strong she was to endure it <strong>for</strong><br />
such a long time! She came back<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e her visa had expired…<br />
She passed through the iron gate<br />
covered with barbed wire-the real<br />
Balkan wall. A young soldier said,<br />
"Mother, you're leaving your country<br />
so soon!" She answered quickly:<br />
"Son, my country is where my children<br />
are." The soldier continued to<br />
play innocent: "Mother, are you<br />
leaving your people? Which are<br />
your people?" She answered right<br />
away: "The people I live with, son."<br />
She crossed the border earlier than<br />
she had planned. In her tortured soul<br />
dwelled secrets to fill a hundred<br />
years of family solitude.<br />
1976<br />
The older brother died. He died<br />
exhausted, but happy. His numerous<br />
books and notes in which he sought<br />
a happy Balkan history remained.<br />
He did not live to see it. He believed<br />
that his children would have more<br />
luck. Some day those cursed borders<br />
will open. Europe will be united, as<br />
De Gaulle anticipated, from the<br />
Atlantic to the Urals. In the East<br />
something historically new<br />
occurred: Stalin<strong>ism</strong> was condemned,<br />
but in Albania it grew stronger. The<br />
border lived in the old dream,<br />
Albanian isolation continued. The<br />
younger brother's children lived<br />
their lives in darkness…<br />
1979<br />
The older brother's children<br />
achieved successful professional<br />
careers: doctors, engineers, and professors.<br />
They lived with the memory<br />
of their father and followed his<br />
example. Their mother reminded<br />
them of her last journey's bitter<br />
experience. One of the younger sons<br />
accepted the challenge to visit his<br />
native country. As a writer he competed<br />
to write a play that would be<br />
per<strong>for</strong>med in the Albanian theatre in<br />
Skopje. He was offered a typical<br />
Stalinist socialist-realist poster. He<br />
refused it. He went through a storm<br />
of controversy and came back hurt.<br />
The ideological amalgam against<br />
reality in his native country was horrible.<br />
He did not even think about<br />
visiting the sons his dead uncle who<br />
had been murdered by the very same<br />
Stalinists in power. He came back<br />
with pain in his soul. Later on he<br />
wrote a book, in order not to <strong>for</strong>get.<br />
In his book he touched the depths of<br />
the soul of his tortured people…in<br />
order to emerge into the fresh air of<br />
freedom…<br />
1985-1995<br />
The dictator died. Hope arose<br />
that Albania would emerge from its<br />
half century of isolation. The successor<br />
believed in perestroika<br />
(restructuring). No one could save<br />
him from the explosion of the accumulated<br />
rebellion of the common<br />
people. Huge statues of Stalin and<br />
Enver Hoxha came down. The oneparty<br />
system was abolished. After<br />
that, everyone turned to the borders.<br />
Western embassies were overrun.<br />
The first free elections were held.<br />
The stitches of fifty years of isolation<br />
burst apart. People lived their<br />
freedom in anarchy. Frozen time<br />
was released as if from Pandora's<br />
Box. It was difficult to purge the<br />
soil of old ghosts.<br />
The younger brother's sons followed<br />
the national catharsis. They<br />
believed that better times would<br />
come. If only their poor mother<br />
could have lived to see it. The<br />
younger brother was "rehabilitated"<br />
by the new authorities. He received<br />
Liberation from war, April 2001
a posthumous medal. They wrote<br />
about him in newspapers. His sons<br />
rejoiced about going back to their<br />
old house and about their feelings<br />
of peace and hope. Their father's<br />
sister, who had lived alone in<br />
Pogradec as a tenant in her own<br />
house, was given back her home.<br />
1991<br />
Yugoslavia, where the older<br />
brother had been a citizen, fell<br />
apart. He did not live to see this<br />
time, which he could not have even<br />
imagined. His sons and his daughter,<br />
who once had been immigrants,<br />
then members of the Albanian<br />
"minority," and after that belonged<br />
to the Albanian "nationality,"<br />
became citizens of the new independent<br />
Republic of Macedonia, by<br />
whose constitution they were identified<br />
as a "nationality." History<br />
continued to pass through dark<br />
paradoxes in the Balkans. The<br />
Berlin Wall had fallen, and Europe<br />
started to integrate, while the<br />
Balkans, or more precisely<br />
Yugoslavia-its biggest part-started<br />
to disintegrate at a feverish pace.<br />
New borders were created and pain<br />
and turmoil passed from one to the<br />
other.<br />
Many children of the older<br />
brother, now with respectable families<br />
and successful children,<br />
exhausted by the fast tempo of their<br />
lives, died young. Democracy was<br />
expected to bring new civic values<br />
to the disintegrated countries, values<br />
already achieved in the West.<br />
But the price was too high.<br />
Unbelievable civil wars started in<br />
Europe: Bosnia, Vukovar, Kosovo<br />
… 300,000 dead … millions without<br />
a roof over their heads.<br />
There was too much history to<br />
be mastered by every man, every<br />
family, and every nation. Old contradictions<br />
gathered again on the<br />
borders. They became painful<br />
again. They caused people's deaths.<br />
The older brother's children and<br />
grandchildren tried to keep pace<br />
with the new reality; to find their<br />
place as members of a "minority"<br />
<strong>for</strong> some and of a "nationality" <strong>for</strong><br />
others, in a country they were supposed<br />
to share with the Macedonian<br />
majority.<br />
1998<br />
The country of the younger<br />
brother was shaking, tumultuous<br />
and staggering as never be<strong>for</strong>e.<br />
After the Democrats, the Socialists<br />
came to power. This change of government<br />
was followed by the enormous<br />
eruption of national anger in<br />
the Balkans. Rural Albania, <strong>for</strong>merly<br />
dominant, turned into a concentration<br />
camp, and took revenge on<br />
urban Albania, where the <strong>for</strong>mer<br />
executors of Albania's dictatorial<br />
policy still lived. That passed, but<br />
revolt and anarchy continued and<br />
the situation bottomed out again<br />
until real catharsis was achieved…<br />
The older brother's sons were<br />
facing historical temptation, and<br />
new risks again. They endured it,<br />
hoping.<br />
1999<br />
The Kosovo crisis continued.<br />
Miloshevich's anschluss of Kosovo<br />
was not successful. The most<br />
painful border in Europe became<br />
the one between Kosovo and<br />
Macedonia. More than 350,000<br />
Albanians from Kosovo were rescued<br />
by crossing it. Great solidarity<br />
was shown in a great tragedy. After<br />
the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia,<br />
Yugoslav troops withdrew from<br />
Kosovo, but Albanians also withdrew<br />
from Macedonia.<br />
Better days were expected to<br />
come <strong>for</strong> sure. Albanians took part<br />
in legislative and executive power,<br />
and in other institutions of the system<br />
in Macedonia. With the evolution<br />
of a young democracy, changes<br />
crucial to the position of Albanians<br />
in education and in other institutions<br />
were coming into sight. No<br />
matter how strong a will existed <strong>for</strong><br />
making quick changes, both sides<br />
were burdened with old problems,<br />
especially manifest on the fragile<br />
borders.<br />
2000<br />
Finally, the last dictatorship in<br />
the Balkans ended. Miloshevich's<br />
infamous regime fell. The Kosovo<br />
crisis remained. And it was taken to<br />
the cursed borders again. The circle<br />
of history repeated through paradoxes.<br />
And while borders were disappearing<br />
in the western part of<br />
Europe, borders in the Balkans<br />
were not only multiplying but<br />
becoming even more painful, more<br />
tragic lines of partition, taking new<br />
victims into the new century…\.<br />
The Republic of Macedonia,<br />
which had been previously the symbol<br />
of the "peaceful Balkan oasis,"<br />
hardly managed to preserve its<br />
peace paid with victims on the<br />
northern border. A part of it, according<br />
to official representatives, was<br />
occupied by a group of "extremists,<br />
terrorists and Albanian bandits."<br />
Albanians themselves, mostly condemning<br />
extrem<strong>ism</strong> and terror<strong>ism</strong>,<br />
uttered those words with pain,<br />
frightened by their fatal connotation.<br />
Whatever they are called, history<br />
will, as always, crystallize the<br />
truth. One truth, however, is certain;<br />
that the life shared by Macedonians<br />
and Albanians, up to now without<br />
greater historical conflicts and<br />
hatred, was struck the first serious<br />
blow.<br />
The older brother's children and<br />
grandchildren were seriously worried.<br />
According to some rhythm of<br />
destiny, they were overtaken by the<br />
syndrome of flight. Many friends<br />
from all over the world invited them<br />
to come. They warned them not to<br />
wait till it was too late. A son of<br />
their uncle, who had died long ago,<br />
sent them an e-mail message:<br />
"Don't wait till it's too late, like my<br />
father who didn't listen to yours<br />
when he told him to leave. My<br />
home is your home too!"<br />
The older brother's son, now a<br />
grandfather, deep in his soul felt the<br />
fateful call of flight; the syndrome<br />
of craving to run away from the<br />
enclosing circle, the opportunity to<br />
flee from death... He felt pain, as if<br />
hurt by every bullet shot into the<br />
life common to Macedonians and<br />
Albanians. He felt all his life what<br />
his mother had felt: "My country is<br />
where my children are, and my people<br />
are the people I live with!"<br />
Have so many things changed in<br />
these cursed Balkans, following the<br />
disappearance of his mother and her<br />
wishes, when Europe is so close,<br />
and democracy such a palpable<br />
goal?<br />
(The author is a writer)<br />
25<br />
Liberation from war, April 2001
It is brave ones’ turn<br />
to replace weapons with words<br />
26<br />
Shkelzen Halimi<br />
There may be numerous mysteries<br />
on why the conflict erupted<br />
between Macedonian <strong>for</strong>ces and<br />
armed Albanian groups. Naturally,<br />
depending on the angle from which<br />
the conflict is viewed, there are<br />
numerous interpretations of these<br />
dilemmas. One thing is definite: In<br />
certain places in Macedonia, there<br />
was a real war carried out, whose<br />
scars will remain present <strong>for</strong> a long<br />
time.<br />
One of those mysteries that can<br />
be discussed is: Was this war a consequence<br />
of the fact that the real<br />
Macedonia was not what we had<br />
believed and presented it to be? Or<br />
perhaps on this occasion we had a<br />
clash of two concepts of the internal<br />
order in Macedonia; namely, the<br />
Macedonian and the Albanian. The<br />
Macedonian concept was considered<br />
dominant, whereas the<br />
Albanian one sought certain flexibility<br />
in order to mitigate the position<br />
of the first concept, which<br />
simultaneously ensued from influence<br />
of a completely different democratic<br />
tradition exported out of<br />
Western Europe and the U.S. Over<br />
the past ten years the clash of these<br />
two concepts has been prevented by<br />
a very thin red line that ultimately<br />
became green, signalling that the<br />
time <strong>for</strong> change had come. It was<br />
exactly this change that the<br />
Macedonian side saw as negative<br />
and the Albanian as positive. This<br />
change became the hot potato that<br />
caused what happened, caused us to<br />
still smell the odour of gunpowder.<br />
In every normal human being<br />
reigns the private awareness that<br />
after any war, regardless of its duration,<br />
inevitably there will be a table<br />
at which the most courageous people<br />
will sit to replace weapons with<br />
words. It is a different matter,<br />
though, in situations like this one,<br />
when the normal human being is led<br />
by his ego and stubborn spite.<br />
Historically such spite has always<br />
been fatal.<br />
In this context the concept of<br />
'word' should not be understood<br />
generally, but to the contrary should<br />
serve to find a solution acceptable<br />
to all, since words often are more<br />
dangerous than weapons. We only<br />
have to follow some of the media<br />
One thing is clear: This<br />
spring everyone would prefer<br />
to pick the most beautiful<br />
flowers that the season<br />
brings to the Shar Mountain.<br />
Instead, this spring some<br />
people had to dig graves,<br />
some to collect spent ammunition,<br />
some to collect animal<br />
carcasses. Someone created<br />
an album of horror while<br />
someone else compiled a<br />
journalistic report on victory<br />
and defeat.<br />
Are there really any individuals<br />
among us who prefer<br />
spring with bloodshed as a<br />
leitmotif?!<br />
Liberation from war, April 2001
closely to see how much negative<br />
energy radiates from their words;<br />
words which only a few months<br />
earlier had served only to create<br />
absurd hatred toward Albanians in<br />
general and the Albanians in government<br />
in particular. Using a poisonous<br />
vocabulary creates terrible<br />
walls <strong>for</strong> people trying to find a<br />
common language; people who<br />
have chosen rationality and objectivity<br />
to contribute to creating a<br />
new image <strong>for</strong> the Balkans. And<br />
when they cannot break through an<br />
obstructing wall with their heads,<br />
weapons like mines and grenades<br />
are of great help since they have no<br />
belonging, no feelings, no pain.<br />
Weapons serve a single purpose: to<br />
create new graves and nothing<br />
more.<br />
The table certainly will be<br />
available, if not now then tomorrow;<br />
whether we want it or not. The<br />
Balkans, including Macedonia, are<br />
part of Europe, and Europe will not<br />
tolerate someone disturbing its<br />
peace. There<strong>for</strong>e, it is no accident<br />
that Europe created so many democratic<br />
institutions where the table<br />
and constructive words are seated<br />
at the place of honour.<br />
Advocating <strong>for</strong> peace should<br />
engagement us immediately. Any<br />
other approach will only bring turbulence.<br />
Macedonia's beauty will<br />
emerge from tolerance, understanding,<br />
and multiethnicity. Its beauty<br />
will also emerge by removing mistrust<br />
toward Albanians and by<br />
removing the logic that views<br />
Albanians only as potential enemies;<br />
a logic that is created by certain<br />
conjunctions which, if followed<br />
logically, cause much harm<br />
to the Macedonian population.<br />
And what next? Will we keep<br />
asking <strong>for</strong> absolute help? Or perhaps<br />
we will come to the conclusion<br />
that there is still a way to solve<br />
all problems, a path that will lead<br />
Macedonia to the community of<br />
civilized states in which democratic<br />
principles are the source of benefits<br />
bringing well being to all.<br />
Macedonia may enter the community<br />
of states where there are no<br />
absolute categories, one permanently<br />
giving rights and the other<br />
permanently demanding rights.<br />
Where these two categories exist,<br />
there cannot be permanent peace.<br />
The ice from the North Pole,<br />
which we brought this spring to our<br />
region known <strong>for</strong> its mild climate,<br />
will melt somehow. Goodwill and a<br />
more rational approach is needed,<br />
since people who believe there are<br />
winners and losers are very wrong.<br />
In Macedonia everyone can be winners,<br />
just as much as everyone can<br />
be losers. There is no other alternative.<br />
One thing is clear: This spring<br />
everyone would prefer to pick the<br />
most beautiful flowers that the season<br />
brings to the Shar Mountain.<br />
Instead, this spring some people<br />
had to dig graves, some to collect<br />
spent ammunition, some to collect<br />
animal carcasses. Someone created<br />
an album of horror while someone<br />
else compiled a journalistic report<br />
on victory and defeat.<br />
Are there really any individuals<br />
among us who prefer spring with<br />
bloodshed as a leitmotif?!<br />
(The author is<br />
editor-in-chief of the<br />
Albanian daily newspaper Fakti)<br />
27<br />
Nedzhdet Mustafa<br />
It has been clear <strong>for</strong> the last few<br />
weeks that the Republic of<br />
Macedonia has been in serious danger<br />
of destabilization both politically<br />
and in terms of security. The<br />
whole world considers ideas propagated<br />
by some people to be in contradiction<br />
with European politics,<br />
integration, and cooperation. In<br />
almost every country human rights<br />
remain the crucial segment of all<br />
institutions of the system, the personification<br />
of its choice of democracy,<br />
and its image be<strong>for</strong>e the eyes<br />
The Roma are on<br />
the Macedonia’s side<br />
Nobody needs adventure and regression, which will<br />
estrange us from democracy, civilization, and integration.<br />
As Europe has already offered us help, we should<br />
accept it with no second thoughts.<br />
of the world. The Republic of<br />
Macedonia has been trying to maintain<br />
balance in that field <strong>for</strong> ten<br />
years, setting human rights at a<br />
higher level than many European<br />
countries. That is an indisputable<br />
fact. All minority groups are more<br />
or less integrated into Macedonian<br />
society through the appropriate personnel<br />
in the country's politics,<br />
economy, and culture. We can no<br />
longer discuss basic human rights,<br />
because they have already been<br />
implemented. (Rights concerning<br />
language use, freedom of religion,<br />
education, and the right to <strong>for</strong>m<br />
political associations are recognized<br />
in the constitution.) Now it is<br />
Liberation from war, April 2001
28<br />
time <strong>for</strong> their elaboration.<br />
Macedonia is a rare example of a<br />
country in this region that cares and<br />
knows how to deal with these problems<br />
carefully. I would not like to<br />
go into details and talk about other<br />
ethnic groups in Macedonia. They<br />
themselves should present all the<br />
advantages and disadvantages of<br />
their social position.<br />
Where are Roma in this tangled<br />
bundle? They are somewhere in the<br />
middle, recognized, having all<br />
rights, politically active, but still<br />
economically and socially marginalized.<br />
Many people think that the<br />
Roma are unable to make decisions<br />
in the arena of important political<br />
affairs. Arguments <strong>for</strong> such a policy<br />
are always found. The Roma have<br />
always been loyal citizens of this<br />
country, and they have never<br />
uttered a word that could harm the<br />
state and its politics. In the past,<br />
various people wanted to use that<br />
neutrality and objectivity <strong>for</strong> their<br />
political aims. They presented the<br />
same people as actors in some<br />
demonic processes, organized by<br />
others who consciously pursued<br />
their great ambitions <strong>for</strong> some<br />
movements no longer found in civilized<br />
countries. I will go back to the<br />
events that started two years ago,<br />
together with the Yugoslav drama<br />
about Kosovo. Roma from this<br />
region have never supported using<br />
arms to solve problems. Because of<br />
their neutrality, the Roma may<br />
never have been an important factor<br />
in finding solutions <strong>for</strong> critical situations,<br />
but it is important to mention<br />
that neither have they contributed<br />
to radical<strong>ism</strong> and extrem<strong>ism</strong>.<br />
They turned out to be losers in<br />
the end. They lost their homes.<br />
They live far away from their native<br />
places, estranged and scattered<br />
throughout Europe, including<br />
Macedonia. And all they ever wanted<br />
was peace and harmony.<br />
Someone played with their destiny.<br />
Albanians have always claimed that<br />
the Roma helped the Serbs carry out<br />
their exile from Kosovo. Serbs, on<br />
the other hand, claim that the Roma<br />
cooperated with Albanians in order<br />
to destroy Yugoslavia. Both claims<br />
are false. The Roma have taken no<br />
one's side but their own.<br />
Dark clouds have appeared over<br />
this cursed Balkan region again.<br />
Now it is going to rain on<br />
Macedonia. The conflict that started<br />
a couple of days ago is between<br />
Macedonians and Albanian armed<br />
groups. Among others in<br />
Macedonia also live the Roma, who<br />
stick to their golden line of neutrality<br />
and consistently obey the law<br />
and constitutional decrees concerning<br />
the territorial integrity and sovereignty<br />
of the Republic of<br />
Macedonia. I would not like the<br />
Kosovo scenario to repeat, as far as<br />
the Roma are concerned. They will<br />
support neither the Macedonians<br />
nor Albanians. They will support<br />
the Macedonian state. This is not a<br />
warning. We only want to say in<br />
time what could be expected from<br />
our minority group. The time when<br />
the Roma could be manipulated, or<br />
bribed with a bag of flour and a bottle<br />
of oil, has passed. The Roma as<br />
a nation have developed in fields of<br />
politics, culture, and education as a<br />
part of society. They do not want<br />
and do not accept being treated as a<br />
marginal group that is used only as<br />
a number to support the needs of<br />
one interest group or another. Our<br />
country is at the crossroads of destiny.<br />
We wonder whether to turn to<br />
the left or to the right, while the yellow<br />
light is flashing. I believe that<br />
wisdom will prevail again in everyone's<br />
minds. Nobody needs adventure<br />
and regression, which would<br />
estrange us from democracy, civilization,<br />
and integration.<br />
As Europe has already offered<br />
us help, we should accept it with no<br />
second thoughts. That is an equal<br />
offer of friendship <strong>for</strong><br />
Macedonians, Albanians, Roma,<br />
Serbs, Vlachs, and Turks. It is<br />
offered to everyone. We will all<br />
equally feel its advantages and disadvantages.<br />
As I see it, no one in<br />
this state has special privileges,<br />
which is how it should be. If we<br />
exaggerate and develop in that<br />
direction, we will just become<br />
estranged. A cold rock will be created<br />
between us, which we will be at<br />
great pains to put away. I believe in<br />
Macedonia and all people responsible<br />
<strong>for</strong> it. We mustn't waste ten<br />
years of experience. Fighting is<br />
always possible, but solutions<br />
should be discussed reasonably.<br />
Finally, I will mention a famous<br />
Chinese strategist Sun Tsu Wu, who<br />
said: "The greatest success is not to<br />
win all battles, but to overcome the<br />
enemy without struggle."<br />
(The author is a philosopher)<br />
Liberation from war, April 2001
The big and small<br />
in defense of „the only truth“<br />
The claim that<br />
maximal sincerity<br />
should<br />
not be expected<br />
from the<br />
U.S. towards<br />
states where<br />
their flag and<br />
embassy have<br />
been burned<br />
favours those<br />
who say that<br />
the "world's<br />
<strong>for</strong>emost<br />
policeman" is<br />
involved in the<br />
actions of the<br />
armed<br />
Albanian<br />
groups. It has<br />
nothing to do,<br />
however, with<br />
Washington's<br />
proclamations<br />
or specific<br />
actions regarding<br />
events in<br />
Macedonia<br />
Ilir Ajdini<br />
There are two declarations about<br />
what is happening in Macedonia: The<br />
first more or less is that "suspicious ethnic<br />
Albanian groups wish to destabilize<br />
Macedonian democracy." The second is<br />
that "ethnic Albanians in Macedonia can<br />
no longer withstand pressure from Slav<br />
Macedonians and they have there<strong>for</strong>e<br />
grabbed rifles to accelerate the realization<br />
of their human and national rights."<br />
The truth, however, is probably somewhere<br />
in between these two.<br />
Such is the conclusion reached by a<br />
reputable British newspaper, the one to<br />
which the Macedonian media refer with<br />
great pleasure when they say, <strong>for</strong><br />
instance, that the international community<br />
in Kosovo has not accomplished anything<br />
and has no justification <strong>for</strong> military<br />
intervention. Or, that in this conflict in<br />
Macedonia there is probably an intertwining<br />
of Kosovar, Mafia, Albanian,<br />
German and other conspiratorial interests.<br />
However, ordinary Macedonians, and<br />
even some unusual Macedonians, do not<br />
like the above conclusion at all. Neither<br />
do they like the numerous worldwide<br />
reports and articles that do not state that<br />
responsibility lies with "Albanian<br />
gangs," or at least "Albanian terrorists,"<br />
who strive to destroy the Macedonian<br />
state (where they enjoy their rights<br />
unlike any other minority in the world,<br />
not to mention when comparing their<br />
rights with those of "hundreds of thousands<br />
of Macedonians in Albania"); and<br />
that they are striving to create a "Greater<br />
Albania," or more recently a "Greater<br />
Kosovo!" Thus, as lovers of the truth,<br />
Macedonians have entered in a fierce<br />
war with no compromises against all the<br />
world's media.<br />
And so every single big and small<br />
Macedonian in this country has arisen to<br />
present this truth to the world. To accomplish<br />
this, firstly one needs to show that<br />
all the media are mistaken by not reporting<br />
on "Albanian terrorist gangs" that are<br />
being "exported from Kosovo." For this<br />
purpose, a group of enthusiasts found the<br />
e-mail addresses of hundreds of important<br />
institutions and individuals throughout<br />
the world and compiled texts about<br />
the truth of the conflict with notes about<br />
the biases of various governments and<br />
media toward "Albanian terrorists." This<br />
list of addresses started being sent to<br />
Macedonians, according to the rule of<br />
geometric progression, so that<br />
Macedonians could protest all over the<br />
world. The mission, thus, is to convince<br />
all media, starting with CNN and the<br />
BBC and ending with the TV insert of<br />
the Czech newspaper Dnes, that there is<br />
only one truth. Other enthusiasts hunt<br />
through world reports that the "terrorists<br />
are from Macedonia, and do not come<br />
from Kosovo"; where "Slav<br />
Macedonians" are mentioned. By marking<br />
them "urgent" or "extremely important"<br />
such enthusiasts send these reports<br />
to others in order <strong>for</strong> them to join the<br />
protests against the world.<br />
I had an opportunity to read some of<br />
the replies from people who had received<br />
such protest messages. Here is the<br />
approximate content of these answers:<br />
29<br />
Liberation from war, April 2001
30<br />
"This is an automatic reply to your<br />
message. I am sorry <strong>for</strong> not being able<br />
to respond to you personally, but<br />
should I have time to read what you<br />
are demanding, I may be able to reply.<br />
. ." Several messages were as follows:<br />
"I am sorry <strong>for</strong> not reading<br />
all messages, but if you are<br />
an immigrant from Mexico,<br />
visit the web-site www…<br />
where you will find detailed<br />
in<strong>for</strong>mation about your<br />
rights. Sincerely,<br />
Senator…"<br />
These are the (unofficial)<br />
replies of the world to<br />
the Macedonian protesters.<br />
But this does not impress<br />
them and they will keep<br />
having fun by sending and<br />
re-sending e-mail messages,<br />
internet-addresses,<br />
caricatures, and photomontages<br />
that were meant to be<br />
interesting and funny.<br />
I now recall similar<br />
behaviour displayed by<br />
Macedonians during the<br />
NATO attacks against<br />
Serbia, when moral support<br />
was given to "the pacifist<br />
and indefatigable" Serbian nation,<br />
that once again stood behind<br />
Miloshevich and his crimes against<br />
humanity. (Secondary school students<br />
circulated notebooks in which they<br />
wrote poetry about the Serbian nation<br />
and their "fearless leader" fighting<br />
against "NATO fascists.") There was<br />
support of a different kind as well.<br />
For instance, caravans of Macedonian<br />
taxi drivers who in an organized way<br />
went to Serbia "to donate blood to<br />
victims," but in fact were emptying<br />
their gas tanks (ed: contravening the<br />
UN sanctions against Serbia). This all<br />
means that admiration and solidarity<br />
was expressed <strong>for</strong> a nation that took<br />
part in killing hundreds of thousands<br />
of civilians stretching from Croatia to<br />
Kosovo. When the Serbs realized<br />
what was to their benefit, however,<br />
they started improving their relationship<br />
with the NATO "fascist aggressors,"<br />
and after making a deal about<br />
"American enemy" dollars, they<br />
arrested Slobo. Once they get their<br />
desired price asked <strong>for</strong> in the new<br />
deals, they may deliver him to The<br />
Hague. Macedonians, on the other<br />
hand, were left with the belief that<br />
NATO is a fascist organisation serving<br />
the U.S. and Western Europe,<br />
which since its establishment has had<br />
one goal: to destabilise and destroy<br />
Macedonia. NATO has finally found<br />
allies: Albanian terrorists. In addition,<br />
Macedonia was also spotted as a<br />
place where American and Western<br />
national flags were burned and where,<br />
due to the war against the dictatorial<br />
Serbia of Milosevic, embassies of<br />
three NATO member states were<br />
attacked.<br />
Here I recall the statement of an<br />
American who, I was told, was wellversed<br />
in the politics of his country.<br />
According to him, the U.S. cannot be<br />
expected to be maximally sincere in<br />
its actions towards countries where<br />
the US flag and embassy have been<br />
set on fire. This statement favours<br />
those who say that "the world's <strong>for</strong>emost<br />
policeman" is involved in the<br />
actions of the armed Albanian groups,<br />
both the UCPMB and NLA. It<br />
has nothing to do, however,<br />
with the proclamations or specific<br />
actions by Washington by<br />
which President George W.<br />
Bush and Secretary of State<br />
Colin Powell have condemned<br />
the military actions of ethnic<br />
Albanians or approved brutal<br />
actions by the Macedonian<br />
security <strong>for</strong>ces.<br />
President Bush, <strong>for</strong><br />
instance, stated that "the US<br />
will join its allies and the<br />
United Nations in condemning<br />
the violence of a small group of<br />
extremists who have decided to<br />
destabilize the democratic and<br />
multiethnic government of<br />
Macedonia." The Washington<br />
administration further reported<br />
that it has supplied the<br />
Georgievski government with<br />
unmanned aircraft to monitor<br />
the terrain and gather in<strong>for</strong>mation<br />
about the movements of armed<br />
groups. In addition, control of the<br />
Kosovo-Macedonia border by<br />
American KFOR soldiers will be<br />
enhanced thereby preventing possible<br />
entry of armed groups and weapons<br />
and increasing the number of individuals<br />
captured if they seek shelter in<br />
Kosovo. But this is not enough <strong>for</strong><br />
Macedonians to start trusting the U.S.<br />
or the West, just as it is not sufficient<br />
<strong>for</strong> numerous Macedonian media to<br />
continue writing the chapter entitled<br />
"The Dirtiest Journal<strong>ism</strong> in the World"<br />
<strong>for</strong> a book on the history of contemporary<br />
journal<strong>ism</strong>.<br />
(The author is editor of the<br />
Albanian editorial office of the<br />
Macedonian In<strong>for</strong>mation Agency)<br />
Liberation from war, April 2001
Hostages kept by criminals<br />
What does it matter if the Macedonian flag waves over the Tetovo<br />
<strong>for</strong>tress again if only Albanian flags will be fluttering on the streets of<br />
Tetovo <strong>for</strong> the next national holiday? And what does a story about<br />
flags have to do with what follows?<br />
Goran Mihajlovski<br />
The horrible thing is that all <strong>for</strong>eign<br />
journalists I talked to during<br />
the fighting in Tetovo told me "there<br />
is no end to this story." Even more<br />
horrible is that I have no counter<br />
arguments. I also can see no end.<br />
Macedonia is a hostage being<br />
held by criminals. They have successfully<br />
put <strong>for</strong>ward ethnic questions<br />
behind which they hide their alleged<br />
high national interests they are<br />
defending. They do not care about the<br />
rights of Albanians in Macedonia;<br />
especially not if one of "theirs" is trying<br />
to take over their dirty business<br />
when he realizes he has been cheated<br />
or that someone owes him money.<br />
President Boris Trajkovski<br />
should not deceive himself that<br />
there may be some individuals who<br />
<strong>for</strong>ced Albanians to vote <strong>for</strong> him<br />
among terrorists from Tetovo who<br />
are throwing bombs at his policemen.<br />
He should ask his "big mama"<br />
Dosta Dimovska why she ordered<br />
policemen to withdraw from<br />
Tanushevci, Brest, and Malino as<br />
soon as she became minister of<br />
internal affairs, and why did the<br />
police not patrol the famous Tetovo<br />
<strong>for</strong>tress? Was it because of relaxed<br />
interethnic relations; because Arben<br />
Xhaferi complained that the very<br />
presence of Macedonian police disturbs<br />
Albanian inhabitants? Or was<br />
it to allow <strong>for</strong> smuggling, which<br />
lines the pockets of those who are<br />
allegedly necessary <strong>for</strong> peace in<br />
Macedonia?<br />
Now we've seen them in their<br />
true light. There is no peace with<br />
them in Macedonia, although they<br />
are still trying to present themselves<br />
as politicians and peacemakers.<br />
We have to pay the bill. Law<br />
disappeared from this country a<br />
long time ago. First the SDSM<br />
(Social Democratic Union of<br />
Macedonia) demolished the Hard<br />
Rock Cafe because they hadn't been<br />
paid <strong>for</strong> their "political fieldwork."<br />
Then Ade Ciganot suddenly vanished;<br />
he who had become famous<br />
thanks to the first gangster-style<br />
murder in central Skopje. This continued<br />
with the murders during the<br />
local elections in Kondovo. It<br />
became obvious with the circus<br />
called Minister of Justice Xhevdet<br />
Nasufi, when Xhavid Asani was<br />
exchanged <strong>for</strong> four Macedonian<br />
soldiers kidnapped in Tanushevci.<br />
And with the papers lost <strong>for</strong> Fazli<br />
Veliu's extradition. Wasn't it also<br />
strange when we discovered the<br />
Deputy Minister of Defense's personal<br />
chauffeur had fired at a traffic<br />
policeman and, be<strong>for</strong>e that, the<br />
Deputy Minister of Defense had<br />
accidentally gone to Kondovo<br />
(when a man was shot while voting)<br />
with weapons found in the trunk of<br />
an official vehicle? Did the president's<br />
bodyguard accidentally go to<br />
Ohrid at the time of the armed incident<br />
during the local elections?<br />
Well, when you're in bad company…<br />
Now, when the time has come<br />
<strong>for</strong> Prime Minister Ljubcho<br />
Georgievski to pay, he plays innocent.<br />
He finds other people guilty of<br />
spending his money. He could have<br />
simply read the papers and watched<br />
television. He could have believed<br />
their stories about Tanushevci as the<br />
terrorists' base; about suspicious<br />
uni<strong>for</strong>med individuals walking<br />
down the slopes of the Shar<br />
Mountain; and about unidentified<br />
trucks crossing the border from<br />
Blace toward Kosovo. Now, when<br />
he is blaming the whole world <strong>for</strong><br />
what has happened to him, how can<br />
he expect us to believe that he did<br />
not know?<br />
Poor us. We believed that this is<br />
all about ideology; that someone was<br />
trying to create a Greater Albania;<br />
that someone was fighting <strong>for</strong><br />
Albanian human rights, and that others<br />
were refusing to yield; that<br />
Europe told them to be nice, which is<br />
why they are cooperating. The truth<br />
is that common interests bind them.<br />
And now, when they see that criminals<br />
have endangered their power,<br />
they are trying to present themselves<br />
as the most resolute fighters against<br />
criminals. How ridiculous!<br />
I will mention again the story<br />
about flags from the beginning of<br />
this text. Why is it so that we, the<br />
common people on both sides,<br />
believe in such things, whereas<br />
those who decide our destiny think<br />
about far more concrete things in<br />
their pockets?<br />
The story began with flags, didn't<br />
it? Remember Gostivar?<br />
(The author is editor-in-chief<br />
of the Macedonian<br />
daily newspaper Vest)<br />
31<br />
Liberation from war, April 2001
The water in the deep well<br />
32<br />
Perspective is<br />
not an empty<br />
vessel in<br />
which we put<br />
spices over<br />
and over<br />
again, do<br />
endless<br />
research on<br />
the idea of<br />
rebuilding,<br />
subject to<br />
new cartographic<br />
and<br />
ideological<br />
aims, which<br />
we will incorporate<br />
into<br />
collective<br />
needs.<br />
Perspective is<br />
improvement<br />
on the past,<br />
in which the<br />
structure and<br />
the contents<br />
of the personal<br />
are<br />
modified by<br />
new and<br />
brave testimony.<br />
Krste Chachanski<br />
I live in a film of my own making, in<br />
which I have to play a role that I do not want<br />
to play. But it is a role that I have chosen, and<br />
it is a role with many deficiencies. At the same<br />
time, it includes many significant moments<br />
which are laid upon the building blocks of<br />
what I have created, the building blocks of my<br />
self image. And the role has passed through filters<br />
of lucid consideration <strong>for</strong> others. I wrote<br />
this while trying to distil my own consciousness<br />
out of a collective consciousness. This is<br />
very difficult to do and it is very immoral,<br />
because of reality and all that which inevitably<br />
accompanies reality. It is like the summons to<br />
an artificial game which has in itself all of the<br />
elements of a real war. I believe that the personal<br />
world, the intimate vocabulary dies,<br />
fades, leaving an empty space. Within this<br />
empty space, among other things, are the<br />
thoughts, the pain that others feel, and the general<br />
readiness to put an end to that pain. The<br />
suffering that happens here is a fixed point, a<br />
way of thinking, a way of life and a pressing<br />
need.<br />
All of this has grabbed me with its iron<br />
nails and made me a hostage. Thus, encircled<br />
in the universe of this alchemy, I am able to see<br />
the slightly darkened faces of the people who<br />
take part in my life. But I am never able to see<br />
what it is that separates us - regardless of<br />
whether one of us is Andre and the other is<br />
Miftar. I stand by the idea that we are all born<br />
under the same sun, we all breathe the same air<br />
and drink the same water. We all feel<br />
depressed once a year when we see the Drim<br />
River dry out, and the workers of HPP<br />
Globochica from Struga, cut the grass in the<br />
dry riverbed. Because, regardless of our names<br />
and the crosses we all have to carry, we are all<br />
used to seeing the same river full of God's<br />
beauty and not as a filthy, black chasm.<br />
I write this to tell you that I often find<br />
myself captured <strong>for</strong> hours, like a martyr, in<br />
front of the TV set, looking at it as if it were a<br />
holy icon. I have <strong>for</strong>saken my long established<br />
habit of holding a book in my hands to live vicariously<br />
through my imagined screenplay.<br />
Now I watch the news, aching at the thought of<br />
all the possible and impossible consequences.<br />
All things come from God, it is true. But I<br />
make the ef<strong>for</strong>t to close my eyes to the truth<br />
and to accept the philosophy of the ostrich, the<br />
danger, and the sand, to be truly horrible.<br />
Especially when the tragedy of the black-clad<br />
mothers is very real, and especially when our<br />
Fatherland is in peril. The situation being such,<br />
there are no adequate words or post-modern<br />
phrases that can sweeten the truth or change its<br />
content. Words can not do that because a fluorescent<br />
beam emitted from the media, the<br />
newspapers, and the pictures that stand as a<br />
testimony of the war, are undeniable evidence<br />
of the truth. These images illustrate the statement,<br />
"politics belongs to the marketplace<br />
which has nothing in common with morality."<br />
And politics always wears the poor person's<br />
cloak of spiritual misery. Politics will calculate<br />
their nonexistent problems up to the final<br />
detail, and maybe their real problems, and it<br />
will turn all the logic of a sane mind upside<br />
down. In the end politics will invent war as the<br />
only mean of solving these problems. And<br />
we're up to our knees in scriptwriters and postmodern<br />
cartographers.<br />
I remember something I read years ago.<br />
Humanity has suffered 14,000 wars. I will<br />
multiply this number with the meaninglessness<br />
of the human experience and the warnings<br />
sown into this experience and this number only<br />
multiplies the ice within me. Only one war is<br />
needed to understand the warnings, regardless<br />
of what the philosophers of Fasc<strong>ism</strong> say when<br />
they equate waging a war with personal<br />
hygiene.<br />
What now, June 2001
I remember another thought which<br />
is applicable to what is happening to us.<br />
With all the dogs of war, the butchers,<br />
the satraps and all the evil, there is still<br />
a little light at the end of the tunnel. I<br />
still don't see the critical substance of<br />
evil in inter-ethnic relations, and I think<br />
that living together is still realistic. Life<br />
is the ultimate witness to this.<br />
To be honest, be<strong>for</strong>e Tanushevci, I<br />
used to believe in the stability of our<br />
interethnic relations. Even more so<br />
after the <strong>for</strong>ged coalition. I believed<br />
that all those years of Commun<strong>ism</strong> had<br />
spoiled the good relations between<br />
Macedonians and Albanians and that<br />
the coalition would help to build the<br />
much needed trust and to tear down the<br />
false theatrical scrim of the interethnic<br />
make-believe of the communist past.<br />
The coalition had the potential <strong>for</strong> a<br />
true, original perspective, a fresh<br />
unBalkanlike step <strong>for</strong>ward in the<br />
Balkans. But the very foundation of<br />
that perspective was eaten away by the<br />
Tower of Babel syndrome. Some say<br />
that this crisis used the principle of<br />
joint vessels to spread to Macedonia<br />
from Kosovo. There are analysts<br />
whose scientific apparatus breaks down<br />
the anatomy of events until their last<br />
details. But I aim at the good side of<br />
human beliefs, and I hope, despite<br />
everything that has happened, that our<br />
chances <strong>for</strong> inter-ethnic coexistence are<br />
not spoiled. We haven't hit rock bottom<br />
yet. Isn't this loud scream, while pointing<br />
at the iceberg under the water and<br />
calling it an open Pandora's box,<br />
enough? And can it help the avalanche<br />
of local inconsistencies and everchanging<br />
political views?<br />
I want to believe that this text has<br />
some symbolic or inspirational purpose.<br />
It's certain that one's personal life<br />
is the utmost testament, and in it there<br />
always resides an active and unchanging<br />
schedule of dates, people, events<br />
and happenings. Here I would like to<br />
tell the story of how my parents got<br />
married, just in brief. It will help to tell<br />
you that we're here, together, come rain<br />
or come shine and we do it in our joint<br />
home.<br />
When my father, Petre Jakimoski,<br />
was a young man, he worked in the<br />
brick factory with Asip Demo. He fell<br />
in love with Draganka Jankulovska<br />
from Volino and he was determined to<br />
marry her. Since he was poor, her parents<br />
wouldn't even consider it. With<br />
Draganka's consent, he decided to<br />
elope with her. Fearing the search parties,<br />
he decided to cover his tracks and<br />
spent the first wedding night in the<br />
house of his friend Asip Demo, from<br />
Livada. This is a fact and is still spoken<br />
about. It is something that we respect,<br />
and we found mutual visits normal-a<br />
real joyful occasion. Asip was even<br />
the guest of honour at my wedding. I'm<br />
a writer and this was written by life<br />
itself. I refuse to add or remove anything<br />
from this story. In it you will find<br />
the much needed sound of human joy<br />
and the bread and salt and the hunger<br />
and the need <strong>for</strong> one another and the<br />
need to be one next to each other. This<br />
is the dialogue of the past, and it can<br />
still be heard, because "what once happened<br />
never ceases to happen," as I<br />
once wrote. I was right then, and I am<br />
right now.<br />
In Kundera's vocabulary, remembrance<br />
is not a negation of <strong>for</strong>getting, it<br />
is an eternal dialogue with our soul, our<br />
memory, our being. But it reminds us of<br />
what is happening or could happen. Our<br />
worst fate is interethnic war, which the<br />
Macedonians should not and must not<br />
loose. The Macedonians are simply<br />
deemed to win. When I say<br />
Macedonians, I do it with pride in the<br />
civilization. At the same time, I have<br />
in mind the previously analyzed reality<br />
in which Macedonians are those born in<br />
Macedonia, who consider themselves<br />
such. There are no exceptions here,<br />
whether they calls themselves<br />
Macedonian, Albanian, Turk, Serb,<br />
Armenian or Roma.<br />
I loudly proclaim, "Welcome my<br />
dearest, to the meadows of individual<br />
patriot<strong>ism</strong>-it is a splendid pointer to the<br />
blissful sunrise over my Fatherland. I<br />
would rather not name the opposite.<br />
The opposite is full of consternation,<br />
terror and human misery, in which the<br />
humanity in humans, the Macedonia in<br />
Macedonians, hits rock bottom."<br />
Of course, all of these thresholds<br />
must not be crossed, because of the<br />
world's remembrance and the world's<br />
civilization.<br />
I have tried with words and deeds<br />
to open the bridges of mutual trust and<br />
closeness, to open the door <strong>for</strong> everybody,<br />
no matter what their names and<br />
religions are. This hospitality is the<br />
ticket <strong>for</strong> our mutual home, and the<br />
civility in our mutual relations. This<br />
should be our true and shared perspective.<br />
Perspective is not an empty vessel<br />
in which we put spices over and over<br />
again, do endless research on the idea<br />
of rebuilding, subject to new cartographic<br />
and ideological aims, which we<br />
will incorporate into collective needs.<br />
The perspective is improvement on the<br />
past, in which the structure and the contents<br />
of the personal are modified by<br />
new and brave testimony.<br />
So just to be clear, there is no need<br />
to destroy the old well. Its water has<br />
satisfied the thirst of the thirsty, and it is<br />
a metaphor <strong>for</strong> the quenching of the<br />
thirst of all the Macedonians.<br />
(The author is a writer)<br />
33<br />
What now, June 2001
Despot<strong>ism</strong> and democracy<br />
This is a true, political story of a country which had a long-lived, tireless President<br />
34<br />
Luan Starova<br />
The events I'm about to unravel<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e you really happened and<br />
might still happen in some<br />
Mediterranean or Balkan state. It<br />
could happen in any small country,<br />
free from colonial dependence, that<br />
builds its own future, looking <strong>for</strong> the<br />
real democracy that can be found in<br />
Western countries. A country that is<br />
looking to find what<br />
Churchill called the<br />
least bad institution<br />
of governingdemocracy-a<br />
system<br />
which has had at<br />
least 200 years to<br />
develop successfully.<br />
The Little<br />
Republic I'm going<br />
to tell you about had<br />
a President-<br />
Liberator. He was<br />
also referred to as<br />
"The Supreme<br />
Fighter," the Father<br />
of the Nation.<br />
"You have a<br />
very little state, as<br />
big as a postage<br />
stamp on the globe,"<br />
said <strong>for</strong>eign diplomats<br />
to the<br />
President.<br />
"It's true, it is as<br />
small as a stamp, but<br />
the stamp travels<br />
worldwide. We're as big as the<br />
world," replied the wise President.<br />
And as things sometimes turn out,<br />
the Father of the Nation spent years<br />
and years studying, exiled in the large<br />
colonizing state, against which he<br />
later took up arms and fought <strong>for</strong> his<br />
country's independence. His people<br />
lived with happy and unhappy twists<br />
and turns of fate, together with the<br />
President-Liberator. A decade passed,<br />
then another and another, but the<br />
President showed no signs of letting<br />
go his power. In the end, the<br />
Liberator turned Despot. Everybody<br />
reminded him of his years spent<br />
studying in the prestigious Western<br />
state. But, it turned out that when you<br />
grab hold of power, you don't let go<br />
of it so easily. The President spoiled<br />
his good relations with the president<br />
of an African country, a well-known<br />
poet, who abandoned power to allow<br />
his country to experience democracy.<br />
The president was not naive or<br />
unwise. He could sense his destiny.<br />
He would rule <strong>for</strong> as long as he could,<br />
but it wouldn't last <strong>for</strong>ever. The thing<br />
he feared most was a military coup.<br />
As it often happens in far away<br />
African or South American states, the<br />
President had chosen a group of<br />
smart young men and sent them to the<br />
numerous European and American<br />
universities to study law, economics,<br />
defence and even intelligence and<br />
politics. The President com<strong>for</strong>ted<br />
himself that even if he were to be<br />
overthrown, at least it would be done<br />
by some of his "sons." I will be<br />
peaceful in my old age, he thought.<br />
And so it happened. But that's another<br />
story and we'll talk about that later.<br />
After the third, and at the dawning<br />
of the fourth year of his life, the<br />
once-cherished Father of the Nation,<br />
was revered as the people's despot.<br />
He controlled the only political party,<br />
a monolithic organization of Socialist<br />
character, and he was unable to bear<br />
What now, June 2001
the thought of having a second or<br />
third party. The poor President grew<br />
older and older, but he clung to<br />
power as firmly as he could. He was<br />
determined to stay in power at any<br />
cost and this thought penetrated to<br />
the last atom of his body. He began to<br />
grow senile, and his advisers shamelessly<br />
manipulated the old dictator<br />
and led him to absurd situations.<br />
Western diplomats, primarily the<br />
French and American ambassadors,<br />
advised the ailing President, who was<br />
beginning to loose his clarity, that it<br />
was time to reach out <strong>for</strong> "the least<br />
bad institution of governing which is<br />
already used by the majority of<br />
humanity-democracy." The ambassadors<br />
advised the Father of the<br />
Nation that the first step he should<br />
take would be to abandon the oneparty<br />
system. He first reacted as if<br />
they asked him to align with demons.<br />
His country was a Mediterranean<br />
one, close to Europe. It could even be<br />
a Balkan one. With minor differences.<br />
It could have become the first<br />
"associated" and "stabilized" country<br />
in the southern Mediterranean, if<br />
only the President had opted <strong>for</strong> a<br />
multi-party system. But the old fox<br />
had enough wit to employ his selfpreservation<br />
instincts and to "save"<br />
his people from democracy. In confidence,<br />
he would bring the ambassador<br />
of the world's leading power up<br />
to speed.<br />
"I spent all of my life studying<br />
Western democracy, but you should<br />
trust me when I tell you that my people<br />
are not ready <strong>for</strong> it. They are not<br />
ready to assume the burden of power.<br />
My people are like the dust, if you<br />
blow strongly enough it will spread.<br />
You can blow any way you like, my<br />
people will follow," said the<br />
President.<br />
The Western diplomats were<br />
patient. They waited <strong>for</strong> autumn<br />
when the pear is ripe and falls from<br />
the tree. Large demonstrations<br />
occurred. Men were hungry. The<br />
large country sent ships with wheat.<br />
The President calmed the crowds by<br />
sacrificing a couple of ministers. But<br />
in the end he was <strong>for</strong>ced to allow<br />
more parties into the Parliament. He<br />
called his faithful friend, the<br />
President of the Parliament, to his<br />
palace. The two men were the same<br />
age, past their eighth decade. The<br />
President of the Parliament was a<br />
respected <strong>for</strong>mer writer. They agreed<br />
to assemble the historic session of<br />
Parliament. The Father of the Nation<br />
took a large, com<strong>for</strong>table armchair<br />
right next to the President of the<br />
Parliament. He was always there<br />
when the Parliament convened, just<br />
in case anything went wrong. The<br />
President held a large artificial bouquet<br />
of jasmine flowers.<br />
So the historic day arrived. For<br />
the first time TV cameras were present.<br />
A big occasion. The members of<br />
the government were also there. So<br />
were the diplomats. And the leaders<br />
of the newly founded parties started<br />
to present their programs. It was a<br />
pleasure to listen to them. All their<br />
programs led straight to Paradise.<br />
The old President, the com<strong>for</strong>ted<br />
Father of the Nation, was so happy<br />
he fell asleep. It happened be<strong>for</strong>e, as<br />
if he could control his subjects<br />
through his dreams. But the Devil<br />
was hard at work. He took up the<br />
microphone and spoke up. He yelled!<br />
Banged his fists on the desk. "Well,<br />
this has never happened be<strong>for</strong>e," said<br />
the confused Parliamentarians.<br />
The Father of the Nation woke up<br />
from his quiet Mediterranean dream.<br />
He even dropped the bouquet. Some<br />
interpreted it as a bad omen. After the<br />
speaker calmed down, the Father of<br />
the Nation turned to the President of<br />
the Parliament<br />
"Who is this impostor?" he<br />
asked.<br />
"He's from the new democratic<br />
party. He is elaborating his party's<br />
program."<br />
"Who asked you <strong>for</strong> his program?<br />
Tell me which tribe he is from and I<br />
will understand what he is trying to<br />
say."<br />
That was the end of the<br />
Parliament. The small Mediterranean<br />
state had learned its first lesson in<br />
democracy. The Dictator, while he<br />
still had some reason, managed easily.<br />
All the new parties were full of the<br />
old, unified socialist party spirit.<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e people were under the<br />
impression that there was only one<br />
party in the land. There were numerous<br />
parties, but their essence<br />
remained the same, monolithic.<br />
Everybody took care of his own<br />
tribe.<br />
Soon the President's illness progressed<br />
on to the people. The whole<br />
country was feeling deep pain. The<br />
parties waged wars among themselves.<br />
Who was not with them or<br />
their programs, were considered to<br />
be against them. They even had well<br />
elaborated strategies to proclaim<br />
someone a traitor. The people continued<br />
to suffer. Unimaginable corruption<br />
raged. The ministers changed<br />
after a day or two in office. One was<br />
named minister in the morning and<br />
d<strong>ism</strong>issed in the evening! The Father<br />
of the Nation didn't have the cure. He<br />
was overwhelmed by his illness and<br />
time past and present were all mixed<br />
up in his head.<br />
The coup came, carried out by<br />
one of the President's sons. In fact it<br />
was a "medical coup" since the poor<br />
President was proclaimed unfit to<br />
rule under an article of the<br />
Constitution. The decision was<br />
signed by his personal doctors.<br />
The young new President tried to<br />
rule the land according to his Fathers'<br />
recipe. The old President spent his<br />
days in a villa, surrounded by attention<br />
and medical care. He was nearing<br />
his 100th year. The young<br />
President used to visit him be<strong>for</strong>e<br />
every national holiday. The parties<br />
vegetated, but the strongest one was<br />
the new President's party, inherited<br />
from the Father of the Nation. Just<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e he died, the young President<br />
visited the old one and tried to bring<br />
fresh hope in his unable body.<br />
"When I see you looking so<br />
strong and wise I tell myself that you<br />
can still be of use to this nation," said<br />
the young President. The old<br />
President shook his head and replied,<br />
"Well, if you really think so, my<br />
son, why don't you come here and let<br />
me rule a little while longer..."<br />
(The author is a writer)<br />
35<br />
What now, June 2001
It is absurd to believe<br />
that only ethnically homogenous<br />
countries have a future<br />
36<br />
Mirjana Najchevska<br />
The government of national<br />
salvation was <strong>for</strong>med at the<br />
moment when the society was<br />
shaken by critical problems,<br />
which penetrated into the basic<br />
structure of the country. This<br />
government is thus expected to<br />
show awareness, knowledge,<br />
power and devotion, to help us<br />
preserve the basic structure and<br />
to create the basic conditions <strong>for</strong><br />
a new life within society. This<br />
government could, among other<br />
things, try to set the foundation<br />
<strong>for</strong> a real civil structure within<br />
the country. This includes several<br />
basic directions, which could<br />
define future development.<br />
The first aspect of this new<br />
system is the identification of the<br />
crucial role of plural<strong>ism</strong>.<br />
Plural<strong>ism</strong>, especially the plural<strong>ism</strong><br />
of interests in its civil variant,<br />
includes the <strong>for</strong>mation and<br />
existence of transient spheres<br />
With a certain level of decentralization<br />
within a country, its citizens<br />
will find the means <strong>for</strong> their own<br />
identification in the smaller structures<br />
in which they live, and also<br />
through the global community.<br />
(structures and groups) whose<br />
basic principle remains arbitrary.<br />
People must have <strong>for</strong>mal and<br />
practical opportunities to associate<br />
with each other according to<br />
various interests and needs,<br />
instead of being <strong>for</strong>ced to belong<br />
to certain fixed structures defined<br />
at the moment of their birth.<br />
Stable and impenetrable structures<br />
are incompatible with the<br />
essence of civil rights and freedom,<br />
which are founded on having<br />
the opportunity to choose.<br />
Flexibility in defining social<br />
spheres becomes the modus<br />
vivendi of civil society and<br />
spreads porously through the<br />
community. The inclusion of all<br />
citizens into this civil society<br />
should be according to that which<br />
is general and universal, and not<br />
according to such special characteristics<br />
as citizens' similarities<br />
versus their differences. An<br />
example of this can be seen in<br />
laws and rules that are the same<br />
<strong>for</strong> everyone and applied in the<br />
same way (regardless of individual<br />
and group differences). The<br />
idea that a country cannot exist if<br />
it is not homogenous is opposed<br />
to the fundamental notion of<br />
human rights, which have to be<br />
defined and accepted in the terms<br />
of multicultural, multiracial, and<br />
multi-confessional elements, as<br />
well as through elements of<br />
multi-identity within the conceptual<br />
borders of a country.<br />
This can direct us to a second<br />
possible action, which is the<br />
application of the liberal concept<br />
of the country's neutrality.<br />
Liberal neutrality represents one<br />
of the ways <strong>for</strong> solving conflicts<br />
caused by relatively constant<br />
social, religious, ethnic and other<br />
differences. Such a country aims<br />
to erase differences between people<br />
in public, and to make all<br />
members of a certain community<br />
equal as far as their political<br />
capacity is concerned, despite the<br />
fact that those individuals have<br />
different aspects of development<br />
and identification. That means<br />
that, within the public sphere,<br />
everyone participates according<br />
to his abilities, and is treated as a<br />
citizen like everybody else.<br />
Contradictory opinions are<br />
reconciled by treating the differences<br />
between people, ways in<br />
which they are not equal, and of<br />
their individual or collectively<br />
manifested features, as irrelevant,<br />
in accordance with the liberal tradition.<br />
These differences are<br />
totally displaced to an "expanded"<br />
private sphere of a life. Any<br />
negative influence on a person's<br />
accomplishments, which make<br />
him both an individual and a<br />
member of a wider community,<br />
are prevented.<br />
In order to achieve this, we<br />
must <strong>for</strong>mulate juridical norms<br />
which will make it possible <strong>for</strong><br />
individuals to seek out their own<br />
solutions (individual or within<br />
smaller groups), or in other<br />
words, to act alternatively without<br />
exceeding these norms. This<br />
is possible only if we start with<br />
the assumption that all actions of<br />
legal subjects are not equally<br />
important from a general point of<br />
view (if the whole country or<br />
society are taken into consideration).<br />
Namely, there are many<br />
interests which have no importance<br />
whatsoever <strong>for</strong> the social<br />
(meaning state) system.<br />
As a special issue <strong>for</strong> discussion,<br />
doctrinal democracy can be<br />
mentioned, according to which,<br />
the majority is in favour of something,<br />
there<strong>for</strong>e deeming it good<br />
or just. That kind of democratic<br />
What now, June 2001
fetish<strong>ism</strong> can lead us to a false<br />
impression that "the government cannot<br />
be self-willed as long as it is<br />
elected by a democratic process."<br />
History teaches us that wide national<br />
sovereignty cannot guarantee human<br />
rights. It is a big illusion of democracy,<br />
but also of liberal<strong>ism</strong>, to believe<br />
that human rights and the protection<br />
of minorities can be safely left to the<br />
good intentions of the majority (or<br />
any group or organization in the society).<br />
Other kinds of democratic institutions<br />
and liberal principles must be<br />
found to protect these rights. These<br />
could include special constitutional<br />
decrees and new divisions of power<br />
that will respect differences, among<br />
which a special place belongs to<br />
political and institutional plural<strong>ism</strong>.<br />
This could be especially enhanced if<br />
they are "enriched" with a plural<strong>ism</strong><br />
of interests, values and identity.<br />
A dimension of decentralization<br />
in the concept of a law-abiding state<br />
should probably be included in this<br />
context as something new and, at first<br />
glance, in opposition to the classical<br />
notions of state and law.<br />
Decentralization and disintegration<br />
of a structure are often connected to<br />
systemic inefficiency and rigidity.<br />
However, talking about efficiency<br />
makes sense only if we take into consideration<br />
the clearly defined aims of<br />
this system. If the aim of a law-abiding<br />
state is at least <strong>for</strong>mally defined<br />
as the realization of human rights and<br />
freedom, than its efficiency should<br />
not be measured by dimensions that<br />
are not connected to the individual,<br />
their needs and interests.<br />
Regional political decentralization<br />
can become a factor in rational<br />
divisions of power and bringing government<br />
institutions closer to common<br />
people. The idea of creating a<br />
system of divided power between<br />
centralized and decentralized authorities<br />
embodies the idea of general<br />
participation in power. Functional<br />
treatment of the problem of bringing<br />
the authorities closer to citizens is,<br />
first of all, based on the feeling of<br />
solidarity in the community (which is<br />
directly connected to democracy). A<br />
certain level of decentralization in a<br />
country gives its citizens the means<br />
to identify with the smaller structures<br />
in which they live, and through them,<br />
within the global community. In this<br />
way people have means to express<br />
not only their right to be different, but<br />
also to belong to certain constellations<br />
whose diversity makes them<br />
richer.<br />
When talking about a law-abiding<br />
state, we should not think about<br />
decreasing democracy or any kind of<br />
centralization, but about the mechan<strong>ism</strong>s<br />
of integration of the decentralized<br />
parts. Those mechan<strong>ism</strong>s could<br />
range from simple, spontaneous<br />
"meetings" to complex, developed<br />
matrix <strong>for</strong>ms. It is essential first of all<br />
to define the basis <strong>for</strong> contact, and<br />
then to make a concrete choice about<br />
how to integrate the decentralized<br />
parts.<br />
One of the basic postulates of<br />
political plural<strong>ism</strong> (which the new<br />
government could take into consideration)<br />
is that there is a consensus<br />
about essential elements of social and<br />
governmental structure among dominant<br />
political subjects in the society.<br />
The consensus about basic elements<br />
is identified as an assumption of the<br />
stability of a political system when it<br />
consists of groups and individuals<br />
with very different interests.<br />
Consensus is accepted as the second<br />
way of establishing and dealing with<br />
the relationship between society and<br />
individuals, and as a specific <strong>for</strong>m of<br />
balancing and finding a common<br />
"denominator" <strong>for</strong> actual problems.<br />
However, a consensus can never<br />
include the whole population. No<br />
matter how consistently created and<br />
institutionally <strong>for</strong>med it is, consensus<br />
cannot exclude situations in which,<br />
<strong>for</strong> various reasons, some ethnic or<br />
other groups are marginalized or completely<br />
left out of the dominant consensus.<br />
The solution should be found<br />
in the limited range of the quantity<br />
and contents of the subject matter of<br />
the consensus, or in other words, it<br />
should be applied only to a limited<br />
number of values basically connected<br />
to the system and its foundations.<br />
The second problem regarding<br />
the application of consensus lies in<br />
the fact that every compromise<br />
demands an extremely high level of<br />
professional<strong>ism</strong>, detailed examination<br />
of the question and wide participation<br />
of specialists, in finding an<br />
appropriate solution. Of course, that<br />
is a complex and slow method, and it<br />
is often only partially effective.<br />
However, it makes it possible to<br />
overcome the disregard of people's<br />
interests and their exclusion from<br />
appropriate solutions, which is<br />
incompatible with the modern idea of<br />
a law-abiding state.<br />
It is very difficult, sometimes<br />
impossible, to reach real consensus<br />
when a society is divided into groups<br />
with different interests (concerning<br />
economy as well as other areas),<br />
when there are no obvious common<br />
points of interest, or so called, knots<br />
of unity.<br />
As far as various directions of<br />
development and new structures are<br />
concerned, I am afraid that the new<br />
government will only make a couple<br />
of absurd compromises, and partial<br />
changes in the Constitution and the<br />
legal system. These changes will<br />
perfectly sum up the inconsistency of<br />
our system. They will completely<br />
evade the sphere which lays out the<br />
mechan<strong>ism</strong>s and rules and principles<br />
<strong>for</strong> implementation. The government<br />
representatives will use a lot of<br />
smoke and mirrors to hide their<br />
weakness and inability to look <strong>for</strong><br />
and find solutions that will bring<br />
more happiness to as many people as<br />
possible.<br />
(The author is a senior<br />
associate at the Institute <strong>for</strong><br />
Sociological, Political and<br />
Juridical Research, Skopje)<br />
37<br />
What now, June 2001
Victory of peace<br />
is important <strong>for</strong> the Union<br />
38<br />
Svetlana Jovanovska<br />
The international community<br />
has had enough of Balkan wars.<br />
Javier Solana, chief among the<br />
fifteen European diplomats who<br />
has been flying on the Skopje-<br />
Brussels route <strong>for</strong> three months<br />
now as clearly stated it. Those<br />
who still see him as the leader of<br />
the alliance during the bombing<br />
of Yugoslavia two years ago are<br />
wrong. This is a different man.<br />
This time his political role is different<br />
and the whole strategy has<br />
changed direction. We could also<br />
say it in a simpler and more cynical<br />
way. If it is true that NATO<br />
needed war in the Balkans two<br />
years ago, this time it certainly<br />
needs peace. Maybe not because<br />
of Macedonia, which is after all a<br />
small country with a little more<br />
than 2 million inhabitants and<br />
with no worldly economic<br />
importance. But because of<br />
NATO itself, whose European<br />
future has been placed on the<br />
Balkan table, and because of the<br />
European Union. The Union puts<br />
the credibility of its common<br />
security and <strong>for</strong>eign politics,<br />
which is beginning to expand, on<br />
the same table. Regardless of all<br />
official statements coming from<br />
Europe and the US stating that<br />
action in Kosovo was a success,<br />
it won't be true until all parts of<br />
the Balkans are finally stable.<br />
Until that happens, NATO and<br />
the EU still have a lot of work to<br />
do. Ef<strong>for</strong>ts <strong>for</strong> preserving the territorial<br />
integrity of Macedonia<br />
are neither empty phrases uttered<br />
by Robertson, Solana and all the<br />
Euro-Atlantic leaders, nor a transient<br />
idea that can be changed<br />
under pressure. Preserving the<br />
territorial integrity of Macedonia<br />
is an investment in what is starting<br />
to look like a well-planned,<br />
serious international strategy,<br />
after all the previous good and<br />
bad initiatives offered by the<br />
international community in the<br />
Balkans<br />
UNLEARNT<br />
LESSONS FROM<br />
KOSOVO<br />
Some Albanian circles, and<br />
especially the radical ones in<br />
Kosovo and Macedonia, did<br />
not interpret NATO's intervention<br />
in Yugoslavia correctly.<br />
And they did not learn any lessons<br />
from it, unlike the international<br />
community and other<br />
Balkan countries. They did not<br />
understand that NATO's aim<br />
was, among other things, to<br />
prevent humanitarian catastrophe<br />
and to get the province out<br />
of the clutches of Slobodan<br />
Miloshevich and his cruel<br />
repression. However, the<br />
attempt to defeat the repression<br />
and Serbian national<strong>ism</strong><br />
should not have been interpreted<br />
as a green light <strong>for</strong> independence<br />
and the spread of<br />
Albanian national<strong>ism</strong>, based<br />
on the dream of Greater<br />
Albania.<br />
NATO came to Kosovo<br />
after the bombing, but that<br />
happened after a difficult public<br />
struggle between countriesmembers<br />
of the EU-because it<br />
was not easy to justify a 70<br />
days of bombing of a European<br />
country at the end of the twentieth<br />
century. When NATO<br />
came to Kosovo, it was aware<br />
of two basic things. First, that<br />
it would not leave Kosovo <strong>for</strong><br />
a long, long time. And second,<br />
that they must not allow<br />
confrontation with the<br />
Albanians in which NATO soldiers<br />
would be hostages and<br />
would find themselves in the<br />
same absurd situation as the<br />
blue helmets in Bosnia. That is<br />
why the international community<br />
overlooks Albanian<br />
extrem<strong>ism</strong>, illegal crossing of<br />
What now, June 2001
the border, cadre <strong>for</strong>mation and<br />
arms smuggling which has been<br />
going on unobstructedly <strong>for</strong> two<br />
years now in the area between<br />
Kosovo, Serbia, Albania,<br />
Macedonia and Montenegro.<br />
Many local politicians ignore it,<br />
although not <strong>for</strong> the same reasons.<br />
That is why this organization was<br />
accused of being incapable of<br />
accomplishing what it was supposed<br />
to when it came to Kosovo.<br />
It is not true that it is incapable.<br />
It has simply decided not to lose a<br />
single soldier because it does not<br />
want additional problems. It has<br />
taken a political role in order to<br />
use traditional long-term political<br />
methods, which will not allow<br />
That is why Javier Solana was<br />
granted this position. Now he is<br />
the conductor of the European<br />
chorus, which no longer sings out<br />
of tune.<br />
Fifteen European countries<br />
agreed that Macedonia, as a country<br />
that showed cooperation and<br />
maturity during the Kosovo crisis,<br />
should be rewarded with the<br />
Agreement <strong>for</strong> Stabilization and<br />
Association. This is the first step<br />
in EU admission procedures. The<br />
agreement was signed, and it was<br />
decided that it would serve as the<br />
framework within which the crisis<br />
should be solved. We should not<br />
underestimate the fact that the EU<br />
decided to sign the document<br />
Albanians in Macedonia remain<br />
moderate and that they are aware<br />
that the terror<strong>ism</strong> in the mountains<br />
will not bring them any good in<br />
the future. However, if the conflict<br />
lasts <strong>for</strong> a long time, it will be<br />
more and more difficult to preserve<br />
multiethnic peace.<br />
That is why, when the<br />
Agreement in Luxembourg was<br />
signed in April, the first deadline<br />
was denoted: "the summit in<br />
Goteburg at which Macedonia<br />
should present the first results of<br />
its 'political dialogue.'" This is, in<br />
fact, an interethnic agreement that<br />
should lead to the fulfilment of<br />
legitimate Albanian requests,<br />
which do not include federaliza-<br />
Preserving territorial integrity of Macedonia is an investment <strong>for</strong> what ss starting to<br />
look like a well-planned, serious, international strategy, after all the previous good and<br />
bad initiatives the international community has offered in the Balkans.<br />
another incident similar to the one<br />
in Kosovo. The Kosovo case was<br />
an exemption from the rule that<br />
says: condemnation of violence<br />
and the use of political means <strong>for</strong><br />
achieving aims. The international<br />
community is determined to stick<br />
to that rule in Macedonia, because<br />
among other things, it wants to<br />
prove that it has learnt lessons<br />
from Kosovo and Bosnia.<br />
THE EU'S ROLE IN<br />
THE SITUATION<br />
It is no coincidence that Javier<br />
Solana became in charge of<br />
European diplomacy right after<br />
the bombing and his NATO mandate.<br />
He wants to show that the<br />
European Union has drawn certain<br />
conclusions from the Kosovo and<br />
Bosnian crises. The first lesson, as<br />
far as the Union is concerned, is<br />
that EU offices must no longer<br />
send uncoordinated messages.<br />
despite the obvious fact that the<br />
crisis in Macedonia would be neither<br />
quickly nor easily resolved.<br />
That was the strongest signal sent<br />
to Macedonia guaranteeing its territorial<br />
integrity and sovereignty<br />
and as a proof that the Union really<br />
wants the country to remain<br />
undivided, united and multiethnic.<br />
We also should not overlook<br />
the fact that the EU did not want to<br />
become a mediator or a gobetween,<br />
not even after the second<br />
phase of the crisis in May. Javier<br />
Solana did not accept ideas <strong>for</strong> an<br />
international conference, similar<br />
to Dayton, at which Macedonia's<br />
destiny would be determined. That<br />
is the second signal that the EU<br />
wants Macedonia to be able to<br />
manage its own sovereignty, without<br />
international tutors. However,<br />
it is clear that time may be the<br />
number one enemy in the<br />
Macedonian crisis. Everybody<br />
agrees that the majority of<br />
tion of the country, as George<br />
Robertson emphasized at the<br />
beginning of the crisis.<br />
TIME IS THE ENEMY<br />
Brussels was not and it is not<br />
satisfied with the expedience and<br />
seriousness that Macedonian government<br />
has shown in dealing with<br />
this crisis. Javier Solana was not<br />
very direct when he came to Skopje<br />
in March. His advice was unclear,<br />
wrapped in language of politics and<br />
democracy, and he did not leave<br />
room <strong>for</strong> explanations. The armed<br />
groups did not take it very seriously<br />
when they were warned that their<br />
behaviour would not be accepted,<br />
because it was clear that NATO<br />
would not attack them militarily.<br />
On the other hand, neither<br />
Macedonian nor Albanian politicians<br />
from Skopje managed to send<br />
a message of unity to their voters<br />
and to control dissatisfaction.<br />
39<br />
What now, June 2001
40<br />
Instead, they seemed confused and<br />
even in a panic. They did not manage<br />
to isolate extremists, as they<br />
were asked to do. Instead of focusing<br />
on work in that direction, they<br />
continued with their internal turmoil<br />
and scandals, encouraging extremists<br />
to go on with their actions.<br />
At the beginning of the crisis in<br />
March, Solana mentioned "a secretariat<br />
<strong>for</strong> Europe," a body that<br />
would, according to Brussels, use<br />
the Agreement with the EU <strong>for</strong><br />
interethnic re<strong>for</strong>ms. Skopje could<br />
not carry this out, so with many difficulties,<br />
a <strong>for</strong>um <strong>for</strong> discussion was<br />
<strong>for</strong>med, led by President<br />
Trajkovski. Political leaders from<br />
Macedonia barely managed to agree<br />
to come to the ceremony in<br />
Luxembourg. Un<strong>for</strong>tunately,<br />
Skopje failed to use this first opportunity<br />
the way NATO and the EU<br />
had hoped, and they did not start the<br />
dialogue as they were supposed to.<br />
Terrorists took this chance <strong>for</strong> their<br />
cowardly attack on eight soldiers<br />
and policemen, which resulted in a<br />
new phase of the crisis that brought<br />
military action and the usual calls<br />
<strong>for</strong> a cease-fire. The EU and NATO<br />
condemned the terrorist actions,<br />
using expressions they have never<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e used. The NATO Secretary<br />
General even thought about calling<br />
those people criminals.<br />
LACK OF<br />
PRAGMATISM<br />
The basic idea of the EU in that<br />
crisis was not to create a big coalition,<br />
because such a political instrument<br />
does not leave much space <strong>for</strong><br />
manoeuvres if it fails. Also, such a<br />
political instrument must last <strong>for</strong> a<br />
certain period of time, because it<br />
brings long term risks of the creation<br />
of radical <strong>for</strong>ces around it. However<br />
politicians in Macedonia did not<br />
show enough pragmat<strong>ism</strong>, which<br />
could have helped them finish the job<br />
with the help of the <strong>for</strong>um established<br />
by President Trajkovski. The<br />
crisis became more complex. The<br />
EU and NATO, horrified by the idea<br />
of introducing a state of war, asked<br />
both Albanians and Macedonians to<br />
try the last political instrument. I say<br />
the last because it is hard to imagine<br />
what Albanian and Macedonian<br />
political leaders could do if the big<br />
coalition failed to show the way to<br />
the final solution of the crisis. In that<br />
case, Javier Solana would probably<br />
decide to take his diplomatic gloves<br />
off and to take the role of the mediator.<br />
He would have to take everything<br />
into his hands instead of being<br />
a "helper" as at the beginning. Even<br />
worse, the international community<br />
could decide to organize some kind<br />
of a new Dayton, in order to preserve<br />
the territorial integrity of Macedonia.<br />
But in this case, Macedonia would<br />
have no right to chose interlocutors.<br />
Brussels hopes that this will not<br />
happen and that Macedonia will<br />
prove that it is a country which knows<br />
how to take care of itself. Javier<br />
Solana does not talk in metaphors as<br />
he used to. Now he openly says that<br />
we need an agenda and timing in three<br />
phases. First, we must go to the summit<br />
in Goteburg with the adopted law<br />
of local autonomy, with the firm support<br />
of the University in Tetovo, with<br />
the third TV channel in Albanian, and<br />
with 500 Albanian policemen who<br />
should start their training in order to<br />
be employed later on. The second<br />
phase is in November, when elections<br />
should be scheduled. We will need<br />
new results by then. And finally, the<br />
third phase will be the elections. Only<br />
after that should the famous debate<br />
about changes in the Constitution be<br />
opened. This is nothing especially<br />
new.<br />
What is new and what is expected<br />
is the organization of that dialogue,<br />
and, above all, communication<br />
with common people-even<br />
those who are not interested in politics,<br />
if there are such people in<br />
Macedonia at the moment. We<br />
should do this in order to weaken the<br />
terrorists, to leave them no space <strong>for</strong><br />
manoeuvres, with no other solution<br />
but to lay down their arms, to demilitarize<br />
and to hope that Macedonia<br />
will be generous enough to grant<br />
amnesty to those who have not<br />
killed anybody. It will be something<br />
similar to the recipe given by Robert<br />
Frowick, who, as they say in<br />
Brussels, exaggerated a little bit in<br />
his belief that, like the return of<br />
Yugoslav <strong>for</strong>ces in Preshevo, the<br />
time had come <strong>for</strong> the same thing in<br />
Macedonia. It is also very important<br />
not to leave the impression that<br />
everything is done just because the<br />
terrorists have occupied a few villages<br />
and they keep shooting.<br />
SOLANA'S EFFORTS<br />
ARE NOT ENOUGH<br />
The crisis in Macedonia is entering<br />
a new phase in which NATO and<br />
the EU, as well as the big coalition,<br />
must work very seriously. It would<br />
be good if NATO sent a stronger signal<br />
that its strategy would bring new<br />
strength to this part of the Balkans.<br />
Their chance to do this is during the<br />
emergency summit of NATO countries'<br />
chiefs, planned <strong>for</strong> the middle<br />
of June in Brussels. The EU should<br />
know that Solana's ef<strong>for</strong>ts are not<br />
enough. The Institution should rein<strong>for</strong>ce<br />
its plans about economic and<br />
social help <strong>for</strong> Macedonia through<br />
the European commission. Many<br />
well-in<strong>for</strong>med observers believe that<br />
it is going to happen and that there is<br />
no need <strong>for</strong> pessim<strong>ism</strong>. If<br />
Macedonia falls, it will be the end of<br />
the whole Euro-Atlantic economic<br />
and geo-strategic idea <strong>for</strong> the beginning<br />
of the new century. The price is<br />
too high to let a few hundred or<br />
thousand extremists spoil the game.<br />
(The author is a correspondent<br />
<strong>for</strong> Dnevnik from Brussels)<br />
What now, June 2001
Solve your own problems<br />
A view from Skopje: NATO does very little <strong>for</strong> Macedonia - A view from Brussels: You<br />
should be able to solve your own, internal problems<br />
Daut Dauti<br />
In my opinion, there have been<br />
"certain obstacles" in the communication<br />
between Brussels and Skopje,<br />
or better said, between NATO and<br />
Macedonia <strong>for</strong> the last two years.<br />
The idyll, which lasted <strong>for</strong> almost a<br />
decade, was a little disturbed by the<br />
events in Kosovo<br />
(anti-NATO and anti-<br />
American protests),<br />
and especially this<br />
spring as the lack of<br />
trust toward the<br />
Alliance increased out<br />
of suspicion that it<br />
didn't do enough to<br />
control the border<br />
between Kosovo and<br />
Macedonia. After the<br />
events in Tanushevci,<br />
an avalanche of speculations<br />
and accusations,<br />
which Prime<br />
Minister Ljubcho<br />
Georgievski too nervously,<br />
tactlessly and<br />
undiplomatically<br />
expressed toward two countries<br />
belonging to the alliance (US and<br />
Germany), inevitably led to colder<br />
relations.<br />
Strangely enough, the reaction<br />
that came from the other side was<br />
not identical. It seemed as if NATO<br />
leaders at headquarters tended to<br />
minimize the accusations that came<br />
from the Macedonian side, or, in a<br />
way, silently accepted the remarks.<br />
So, instead of giving an answer, they<br />
continued convincing the<br />
Macedonian public in a diplomatic<br />
manner, and through some concrete<br />
actions, that things are not exactly as<br />
they seem. It was never explicitly<br />
said in those accusations whether it<br />
is NATO as a whole that doesn't do<br />
enough <strong>for</strong> Macedonia, or whether it<br />
is "individual" parts of NATO <strong>for</strong>ces<br />
(German and American soldiers<br />
from KFOR in Kosovo). Answers<br />
came from individual countries,<br />
which were trying to take certain<br />
measures in order to reassure the<br />
Macedonian public and government.<br />
However, NATO has never given<br />
up Macedonia as a partner in the<br />
region. The author of this text had an<br />
opportunity to see with his own eyes<br />
NATO Headquarters, while he was<br />
staying there together with nine<br />
other journalists from Macedonia.<br />
But the journey to Brussels also<br />
proved that there is a certain misunderstanding<br />
concerning the perception<br />
of critical situations, and<br />
NATO's (in)efficiency<br />
in dealing<br />
with them.<br />
Probably<br />
nobody in Macedonia<br />
has any doubts<br />
about the total support<br />
given by the<br />
alliance. But certain<br />
distrust could be<br />
noticed in many<br />
questions put by<br />
Macedonian journalists<br />
to NATO's<br />
political and military<br />
representatives,<br />
including the secretary<br />
general himself<br />
Lord George<br />
Robertson, during<br />
our time spent in Brussels. It seemed<br />
as if the journalists from Macedonia<br />
wanted to tell their hosts, indirectly<br />
or directly, that their support didn't<br />
help much because "they failed to<br />
fulfil their obligations concerning<br />
the defence of the border from the<br />
side where they should have done<br />
so."<br />
Upon hearing those questions,<br />
41<br />
What now, June 2001
42<br />
almost all those who briefed us tried<br />
to persuade the doubting Thomases<br />
that they would rein<strong>for</strong>ce controls of<br />
the border with Kosovo, but also<br />
mentioned that absolute control was<br />
not possible. They emphasized the<br />
exchange of in<strong>for</strong>mation, the usage<br />
of the most sophisticated means <strong>for</strong><br />
controlling the border, and other<br />
things. The message is very clear: we<br />
are doing what is in our authority and<br />
power, but you, as a country must do<br />
the rest.<br />
Through these and other clear<br />
messages, we come to the differences<br />
in diagnosing the situation<br />
(directly or indirectly). NATO, but<br />
also other relevant international<br />
organizations, do not agree with the<br />
Macedonian official attitude that the<br />
crisis was "imported." In that way<br />
they justified the reduction of their<br />
share of "responsibility," stating that<br />
they have no mandate to act in<br />
Macedonia. That is why NATO proclaims<br />
the same thing as other decision-making<br />
centres big (EU, US)-<br />
that problems in Macedonia should<br />
be solved not only by military, but<br />
above all by political means. No<br />
matter how unacceptable they may<br />
sound, these messages indirectly (as<br />
they respect the dominant view, they<br />
will not say it directly) in<strong>for</strong>m a part<br />
of the Macedonian population that<br />
besides terror<strong>ism</strong>, there is a problem<br />
in political relations within the country.<br />
No matter how much NATO disapproves<br />
of the methods used by<br />
armed Albanians, (Robertson repeated<br />
many times that those who use<br />
weapons instead of ballots should be<br />
marginalized) they support ef<strong>for</strong>ts to<br />
discuss the situation in a political<br />
dialogue in order to deprive those<br />
who are armed of all arguments <strong>for</strong><br />
war. Besides, it is clear that the<br />
alliance does not want to participate<br />
in actions similar to those in Bosnia<br />
and in Kosovo, because it is too<br />
expensive, even <strong>for</strong> NATO.<br />
However, there is a misunderstanding<br />
about what Macedonia<br />
expects from NATO, not only concerning<br />
their mandate in the region<br />
(under the auspices of the UN), but<br />
also in <strong>for</strong>mal and legal aspects.<br />
Macedonia should submit a <strong>for</strong>mal<br />
request <strong>for</strong> NATO's possible participation<br />
in solving the crisis. As<br />
Robertson said in the meeting with<br />
journalists from ten in<strong>for</strong>mation<br />
agencies in Skopje in the beginning<br />
of May of this year, such a request<br />
does not exist, and he convinced<br />
them that there is no need <strong>for</strong> such a<br />
thing. That means that the solution of<br />
internal problems should be expected<br />
from our authorities. They prefer<br />
the political way, but they will say,<br />
"The way you are going to deal with<br />
the crisis is your business," and<br />
responsibility, of course. Which<br />
means: solve your own problems.<br />
When talking about the NATO-<br />
Macedonia relationship, or even<br />
wider, the relationship between NATO<br />
and countries that are potential members<br />
of the alliance, things should be<br />
observed pragmatically, the way they<br />
are observed in Brussels. There is no<br />
doubt that countries gain a lot by being<br />
admitted into NATO, namely a system<br />
of collective defence. But admittance<br />
does not depend only on the good will<br />
of those who decide, but also on the<br />
potential of a certain country and its<br />
financial ability to af<strong>for</strong>d such a pleasure.<br />
In other words, the admittance in<br />
NATO shows the ability of a country<br />
to fulfil high standards of defence,<br />
which will be too expensive <strong>for</strong><br />
Macedonia at the moment because of<br />
the level of its development and (lack)<br />
of economic power. Although a strong<br />
desire exists, the NATO-Macedonia<br />
relationship must be realized through<br />
the Partnership <strong>for</strong> Peace. To develop<br />
cooperation in order to include NATO<br />
in solving our internal problems, we<br />
do not need just a request written by<br />
the Government, but also a UN mandate.<br />
The question is whether things<br />
have gone so far that our political<br />
<strong>for</strong>ces cannot find the solution?<br />
(The author is a commentator<br />
in the newspaper Flaka)<br />
History is the best<br />
teacher <strong>for</strong> the future<br />
Erol Rizaov<br />
I often go back to my<br />
childhood memories in<br />
these days of non-existence. I am<br />
looking <strong>for</strong> the origins of distrust,<br />
intolerance, discord and hatred; I<br />
am trying to find a <strong>for</strong>mula <strong>for</strong> common<br />
life and tolerance between different<br />
nations and religions.<br />
I was seven when I used to walk<br />
silently with my parents through<br />
Kochani two times a week, dressed<br />
up like they were taking me to a<br />
doctor. We used to walk with our<br />
heads bowed all the way to the railway<br />
station to see our close relatives<br />
set off to Turkey. Turks were<br />
moving out of Macedonia in great<br />
numbers.<br />
There were always a lot of people<br />
at the railway station. They were<br />
All arguments, tradition<br />
and our entire experience<br />
of the past couple<br />
of centuries show us<br />
that people here have<br />
been living together<br />
without any obstacles,<br />
and that farmers from<br />
Slupchane and Lojane<br />
were no different from<br />
those from Bogdanci<br />
and Strumica<br />
What now, June 2001
all crying: neighbours, relatives,<br />
and friends, almost the whole town.<br />
And we were walking in that procession<br />
<strong>for</strong> months, solemn and<br />
quiet. The whole city walked<br />
toward the railway station two<br />
times a week, like they were going<br />
to a funeral.<br />
I have never found a rational<br />
answer as to why Turks had left<br />
Macedonia. Why did they leave<br />
their properties, their land, houses,<br />
shops, cemeteries, hearths and<br />
dreams? Why, when they had been<br />
born and buried there <strong>for</strong> centuries?<br />
And why did they cry<br />
so much, both those who were<br />
leaving and those who were<br />
staying? They did not go away<br />
to work; they left <strong>for</strong>ever.<br />
Much later I found out that<br />
it had been the same in all<br />
towns in Macedonia. Someone<br />
had decided to go to the<br />
Promised Land, and everyone<br />
followed. I was told that if you<br />
only mentioned that you wanted<br />
to go you were given a passport<br />
and all the necessary documents<br />
within 24 hours. There<br />
were no calls saying: "Stay<br />
here, the sun won't shine so<br />
bright in a <strong>for</strong>eign country!"<br />
The saying: "Wherever Turks<br />
go, the poor Asan will follow,"<br />
dates back to that time. The<br />
message was: "We will go no<br />
matter what happens." Later<br />
on, when I visited Turkey, I<br />
saw many tragedies and traumas<br />
caused by this great migration.<br />
I have never felt any kind of<br />
intolerance or hatred being a Turk<br />
in my neighbourhood or in my<br />
hometown. Macedonians and Turks<br />
did not live according to international<br />
minority rights. Nobody<br />
knew that declarations and charters<br />
existed at all. People in Kochani did<br />
not obey messages from various<br />
speeches about brotherhood and<br />
unity or about equality made by the<br />
new government. They did not follow<br />
the propaganda of anti-fascist<br />
movements. <strong>Common</strong> life had traditional<br />
unwritten rules, according<br />
to which people treated each other<br />
with respect. Relations between<br />
neighbours were the same regardless<br />
of religion or nationality.<br />
Everything was shared-joy <strong>for</strong> a<br />
great happiness and sadness <strong>for</strong> a<br />
great sorrow. We knew how to wish<br />
each other the best on national or<br />
religious holidays. A certain order<br />
existed.<br />
Our next-door neighbours,<br />
Ratka and Boro Bacovi, were our<br />
closest "relatives." All my father's<br />
friends: Koljo Manev, Uncho<br />
Manov, Vane Poslanichki, Anche<br />
Krusharski, Asparuh and Misho<br />
spoke Turkish fluently. Easter,<br />
Christmas and Bajram were celebrated<br />
according to old unwritten<br />
rules, which could serve present<br />
politicians much better than international<br />
documents, if they want to do<br />
something more <strong>for</strong> Macedonia.<br />
Kochani is ethnically clean<br />
today. But believe me, it doesn't<br />
make its citizens happier. They still<br />
have the same problems as everybody<br />
else in Macedonia. If you<br />
don't believe me, go and see <strong>for</strong><br />
yourself.<br />
The very same year when Turks<br />
were moving out, I started to go to<br />
school. My father enrolled me in a<br />
Macedonian school. I wondered,<br />
why should a Turkish boy, the son<br />
of a famous Hadzhi Amdi man from<br />
Kochani-a man who had been<br />
deprived of his property by communists,<br />
who wasn't a member of the<br />
Party, and who was not interested in<br />
career-enrol his son in a<br />
Macedonian school, not in a<br />
Turkish one? When I asked<br />
my father about that later he<br />
gave me the most logical<br />
and simple answer, which<br />
can now help in the battle<br />
<strong>for</strong> education in the mother<br />
tongue. He told me: "I didn't<br />
want my son to be taught by<br />
barbers." I was surprised<br />
when he explained that the<br />
new government had organized<br />
courses to "enable" a<br />
couple of Turks to become<br />
teachers in only a few<br />
months, because, according<br />
to the law, we should have a<br />
school in Turkish language.<br />
He said, "I wanted my son to<br />
be taught by good teachers."<br />
That is why my education<br />
started from my first teacher<br />
Darinka Romanova, who I<br />
will remember all my life.<br />
So, a simple man from<br />
Kochani was aware <strong>for</strong>ty-three<br />
years ago that the point is in the<br />
quality of education, and not in the<br />
language in which it is taught. He<br />
knew that speaking many languages<br />
can only be of use to a person and<br />
their nation. Some of our leaders<br />
know this too, because they were<br />
educated in Belgrade, Zagreb or in<br />
Skopje, which did not make them<br />
become worse Albanians, Turks or<br />
Macedonians…<br />
Just one year be<strong>for</strong>e that, when<br />
my family had decided to go to<br />
43<br />
What now, June 2001
44<br />
Turkey, although it was our destiny<br />
to stay in Skopje, I hoped <strong>for</strong>ever<br />
that the same thing would happen to<br />
me. I have never felt different from<br />
my friends. Turkish Schools existed<br />
even then, but my father enrolled<br />
me in Kole Nedelkovski, because it<br />
was considered to be the best<br />
school, and Natalija Gruevska was<br />
considered to be the best<br />
teacher. The same happened<br />
in the male high<br />
school Cvetan Dimov,<br />
and later on at the faculty.<br />
Much later I found<br />
out that the same things<br />
had happened in all<br />
towns in Macedonia.<br />
Where did then all<br />
that suspicion, distrust<br />
and intolerance come<br />
from? All those feelings<br />
are turning into hatred<br />
after the latest events,<br />
and nobody knows how<br />
this tragic war and this horrible<br />
clash will end.<br />
All arguments, tradition and our<br />
entire experience over the past couple<br />
of centuries show us that people<br />
were living together here without<br />
any obstacles, and that farmers<br />
from Slupchane and Lojane are no<br />
different from those in Bogdanci<br />
and Strumica. Both Albanians and<br />
Macedonians look into the sky<br />
every morning wondering whether<br />
there will be rain or drought this<br />
year. They do not know what is<br />
written in the Constitution, what the<br />
word preamble means or who has<br />
more rights to rule the country,<br />
Albanians or Macedonians. They<br />
have been building the same houses,<br />
ploughing the same fields and<br />
waiting <strong>for</strong> their sons to come back<br />
from abroad with the same anxiety<br />
<strong>for</strong> twenty years. They look <strong>for</strong>ward<br />
to weddings and cry in the same<br />
way when someone they love dies.<br />
That means that it is at academies<br />
and universities, among the<br />
political elite and intellectuals<br />
where suspicion and distrust are<br />
born, where hatred and theses come<br />
from that declare a common life is<br />
impossible, that cultural and religious<br />
differences are huge, and that<br />
Albanians and Macedonians cannot<br />
live together like Turks and<br />
Macedonians,. Where did they live<br />
all those years? Didn't they live<br />
together? Isn't it true that they had<br />
never fought be<strong>for</strong>e?<br />
Macedonia's chance of survival<br />
lies in its traditional laws and experience.<br />
The political elite should go<br />
back to their tradition, to listen to<br />
older people and do what their<br />
fathers and grandfathers used to do.<br />
Respect, honesty and modesty are<br />
characteristic of the people from<br />
this region. Neither Muslim nor<br />
Christian religion advocates hatred<br />
and killing. If this precious experience<br />
finds its place again in everyday<br />
lives of influential and learned<br />
people and of political leaders, who<br />
find strength to visit each other and<br />
listen to each other's problems, as<br />
our ancestors, good hosts and<br />
craftsmen used to do, I think it will,<br />
enriched with 21st-century hopes<br />
<strong>for</strong> a better life, greatly help to<br />
establish necessary communication,<br />
until wounds left by this absurd war<br />
heal, no matter how Utopian and at<br />
first glance unreal it may seem.<br />
Nobody can move his house or<br />
his field, and nobody wants to do so<br />
in Macedonia. Recently-dug graves<br />
and mothers wrapped in black<br />
scarves should serve as a warning to<br />
those who are asking <strong>for</strong> their rights<br />
with guns in their hands not to do it<br />
again. They should ask their fathers<br />
how it was possible live in friendship<br />
with their neighbours, belonging<br />
to different nationalities and<br />
religions. That will be Macedonia's<br />
secret of success. But first the war<br />
must stop, and reasons<br />
<strong>for</strong> this "ordered" clash<br />
must be found.<br />
Talking about<br />
money, we will come to<br />
the source of instability.<br />
Who buys the weapons,<br />
from where, and who<br />
supplies the money? It<br />
will become clear that<br />
someone is trying to<br />
create a new flashpoint<br />
in the Balkans.<br />
Macedonia and its<br />
neighbouring countries<br />
(Greece, Albania,<br />
Bulgaria, Serbia, or even more<br />
broadly, Turkey, Croatia, Bosnia<br />
and Kosovo) are going to spend<br />
millions of dollars to buy arms and<br />
defend themselves from the threatening<br />
danger. I deeply believe that<br />
the source of the crisis can be found<br />
there. That is why I cannot find anything<br />
positive in the whole situation,<br />
although I have always been<br />
optimistic. It seems that the crisis<br />
will last <strong>for</strong> a long time, and that<br />
Macedonia will be turned into<br />
Beirut. There will be no "frontal"<br />
war, but we will have a lot of funerals.<br />
As long as dialogues, discussions,<br />
round tables and negotiations<br />
last, the war will continue.<br />
This war has been imposed<br />
upon Macedonia, and it is not<br />
strong enough to deal with it. The<br />
authorities are incapable of solving<br />
the problems and people are poor<br />
and dissatisfied. While I was writing<br />
about the danger of the division<br />
of Macedonia almost three years<br />
ago, even my friends kindly warned<br />
me that I was exaggerating. Now<br />
we can all see that danger, and we<br />
What now, June 2001
are waiting <strong>for</strong> someone else to<br />
prevent it. Macedonia can be<br />
saved only if those who brought<br />
us to this position are replaced.<br />
Those who were supposed to save<br />
it pushed Macedonia into this war.<br />
They will have to pay <strong>for</strong> it sooner<br />
or later. They are aware of it<br />
and that is why they are now trying<br />
to sell the country.<br />
When Kemal Ataturk put on a<br />
European suit and took of Turkish<br />
woman' veil eighty years ago,<br />
when he abolished Arabic and<br />
introduced the Latin alphabet,<br />
when he saved Turkey from a civil<br />
war and brought it into Europe, he<br />
needed enormous strength to resist<br />
<strong>for</strong>ces that were drawing him<br />
backwards. He often had to use<br />
<strong>for</strong>ce. Today in the 21st century,<br />
Macedonian political leaders have<br />
no strength to talk to their citizens,<br />
to tell them to take their veils and<br />
long coats off, to tell them that we<br />
want to go to Europe, to compete<br />
with our neighbours to find out<br />
who can make it better and faster.<br />
Macedonians, Albanians, Turks,<br />
Roma, Serbs and Vlachs should<br />
start to compete with each other<br />
and see who can give more to and<br />
not who can take more from<br />
Macedonia.<br />
Such messages un<strong>for</strong>tunately<br />
sound like unreal Utopian theories<br />
or images from socialist real<strong>ism</strong><br />
about false brotherhood and unity,<br />
about something impossible,<br />
something that is an illusion.<br />
I am writing this because I<br />
believe that we still have some<br />
genes inherited from our fathers<br />
and grandfathers, something that<br />
will switch on in the last moment<br />
and activate the brains of those<br />
who make big decisions.<br />
I believe that those who agree<br />
with me are still far more numerous.<br />
If it is not so, only God can<br />
help us. "Whoever survives, can<br />
tell the tale."<br />
(The author is the director<br />
of Utrinski Vesnik)<br />
Ilir Ajdini<br />
What should and could<br />
the new government do?<br />
The Macedonian<br />
academics changed<br />
our agendas<br />
If I had written this text about my expectations of the new<br />
Macedonian government a day earlier, I would have certainly repeated<br />
the few phrases which we hear from all four directions, and even<br />
from the very centre, namely the Government of the Republic of<br />
Macedonia. And that would be, more or less, the<br />
need to show fast, even instantaneous, intentions<br />
to solve the problems in the country through political<br />
dialogue and with political decision making.<br />
Next, I would have written about the serious need<br />
<strong>for</strong> the Government to prove that its signatures on<br />
the European Convention on Human Rights and<br />
the other conventions and international bills are<br />
not just a <strong>for</strong>mality that allows us to say that "even<br />
we" are "<strong>for</strong> democracy." But that it is realized<br />
that those signatures carry certain obligations. In<br />
that context I would have certainly proposed an<br />
elaborate suggestion <strong>for</strong> the priority admittance of<br />
ethnic Albanians into the Macedonian police,<br />
which should help with shock-absorption and<br />
eliminating the mutual distrust between a great<br />
number of Albanians and a great number of<br />
policemen in Macedonia. This distrust is based on<br />
the fact that Albanians are convinced that the chief<br />
task of the policemen is to arrest and beat as many<br />
of them as possible. In the meantime, the police<br />
have difficulty distinguishing between an<br />
Albanian and a "terrorist."<br />
But alas, I was a day late with my text, and the agenda of "my<br />
expectations," logically, has changed. Just to make it clear, I, of<br />
course, do not think that the new Government should postponed<br />
what I have mentioned. But a couple of "new developments" have<br />
brought about a new priority. Every subject in the Government<br />
should unambiguously determine whether it is <strong>for</strong> the existence of<br />
Macedonia within its boundaries, or if it has certain other plans, sim-<br />
The latest happenings<br />
in the Tetovo<br />
and Lipkovo-<br />
Kumanovo regions<br />
have shown that<br />
members of the<br />
Macedonian police<br />
need some constitutional<br />
education, or<br />
at least a reminder<br />
of that which they<br />
probably knew and<br />
have obviously <strong>for</strong>gotten.<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e I<br />
suggest that the<br />
Government order<br />
the police chiefs to<br />
ensure their subordinates<br />
read at<br />
least Article 11 of<br />
the actual<br />
Macedonian<br />
Constitution.<br />
45<br />
What now, June 2001
46<br />
ilar to those promoted and defended<br />
by some members of the<br />
Macedonian Academy of Sciences<br />
and Arts. We are talking about<br />
MASA's idea <strong>for</strong> solving the conflict<br />
between the Macedonians and the<br />
Albanians, (which according to<br />
MASA's president is "unsolvable"),<br />
through the exchange of territories<br />
and population between Macedonia<br />
and Albania.<br />
GOVERNMENT'S<br />
CLOSENESS WITH<br />
ACADEMICS<br />
Because of the Government's<br />
closeness with these academics who<br />
offer a "peaceful, cultural, and civilized<br />
solution," <strong>for</strong> the problems in<br />
Macedonia, it would be best if they<br />
would reveal some more details<br />
about the latest idea from these top<br />
learned minds.<br />
For instance, does this plan allow<br />
the Albanians to come to this hypothetical<br />
future Macedonia <strong>for</strong>, let's<br />
say, shopping in Skopje or holidays<br />
in Ohrid or Prespa? Does it allow the<br />
Macedonians to go to that future<br />
hypothetical Albania <strong>for</strong> spa treatments<br />
in Debar or <strong>for</strong> skiing at<br />
Popova Shapka? Furthermore, are<br />
those persons in Albanian-<br />
Macedonian mixed marriages<br />
obliged to divorce? And what would<br />
happen with their children? If bufferzones<br />
are introduced maybe the children<br />
would be settled in there? Or is<br />
there another solution?<br />
It would be good if we knew in<br />
advance how those who refused to<br />
change their country would be treated.<br />
What would happen to Albanians<br />
who were caught as illegal residents<br />
of Macedonia? And I suppose the<br />
same would be true <strong>for</strong><br />
Macedonians, who would be illegal<br />
residents of Albania?<br />
In other words, I think that the<br />
people in this Macedonia should be<br />
given in<strong>for</strong>mation about the future<br />
that is being prepared <strong>for</strong> them. I will<br />
use this opportunity to ask the speaker<br />
of the Macedonian Parliament, Mr.<br />
Stojan Andov, to give such in<strong>for</strong>mation.<br />
Obviously, he is familiar with<br />
the birth, development and the details<br />
of the Macedonian academics' peace<br />
project.<br />
If the members of government<br />
declare that they are all <strong>for</strong> non-violability<br />
of the borders and the territorial<br />
integrity of the Republic of<br />
Macedonia, the responsible institutions<br />
ought to take appropriate measures.<br />
Such measures should be the<br />
same with those that were already<br />
taken against other Macedonian citizens<br />
who were accused of threatening<br />
the territorial integrity and sovereignty<br />
of the Republic of Macedonia.<br />
If the responsible institutions do<br />
not remember what those measures<br />
were, we could easily remind them.<br />
The policemen should (re)read the<br />
Constitution. The latest happenings<br />
in the Tetovo and Lipkovo-<br />
Kumanovo regions have shown that<br />
members of the Macedonian police<br />
need some constitutional education,<br />
or at least some reminding of that<br />
which they probably knew and have<br />
obviously <strong>for</strong>gotten. There<strong>for</strong>e I suggest<br />
that the Government order the<br />
police chiefs to ensure their subordinates<br />
at least read Article 11 of the<br />
Macedonian Constitution. (I am sure<br />
that, in this instance, the Constitution<br />
will not be changed in some parts,<br />
and that this and other articles will<br />
not be changed, so that their reading<br />
will not be in vain).<br />
In case they use the excuse that<br />
they did not have time to find it, I cite<br />
it here:<br />
"The physical and the moral<br />
integrity of the person are non-violable.<br />
Any kind of torture, inhumane<br />
and despicable behaviour and punishment<br />
are <strong>for</strong>bidden."<br />
JOURNALIST SNIPERS<br />
There are many things that have<br />
to be done, especially considering the<br />
'"freshness" of the situation. First of<br />
all, instead of arguing with the BBC<br />
and CNN about whether they misin<strong>for</strong>m<br />
the world public, the government<br />
should proceed with legal sanctions.<br />
In other words, they should<br />
punish the journalists who report<br />
from the "front," spending the night<br />
in military tents, taping themselves<br />
firing cannon grenades at villages<br />
where the civil Albanian population<br />
is living. The journalist should prove<br />
that she saw "terrorists" in the houses<br />
of civilians, with satellite images,<br />
through sniper sights, or some other<br />
method. But she should also prove<br />
that whoever allowed her to shoot,<br />
put her on satellite, and gave her a<br />
sniper sight. She should also have to<br />
prove that she as a journalist had the<br />
right (moral, material, penal, Roman,<br />
Greek, Greek-Roman, Radovan<br />
Karagjich's... any) to destroy and kill.<br />
Because the weapon she used (if I am<br />
not wrong), as shown in part of her<br />
report, doesn't serve modern journal<strong>ism</strong><br />
in any way.<br />
Apart from punishing the journalist<br />
properly (and not arresting and<br />
beating the people who give statements<br />
to the Albanian-language<br />
newspaper Fakti, regardless of how<br />
much the policemen, journalists,<br />
waiters and brickbuilders like the<br />
statements), it should take measures<br />
against media that broadcast such a<br />
journalist's final achievement. And, I<br />
would ask the president of the Forum<br />
of Young Journalists, which publicly<br />
defended the a<strong>for</strong>ementioned journalist,<br />
"What is your profession or<br />
vocation?"<br />
Let me conclude: The question I<br />
have tried to answer was what the<br />
Macedonian Government could and<br />
should do to take the country out of<br />
this crisis. I suppose it should do<br />
what it can, and that it can do what it<br />
should. I think that the things I have<br />
mentioned, in my humble contribution,<br />
are not very difficult to realize.<br />
How right I am, I hope we will see in<br />
future.<br />
(The author is a journalist<br />
and a writer)<br />
What now, June 2001
Respect the differences and you<br />
will see that we are the same<br />
Behixhudin Shehapi<br />
If the role of religious communities<br />
and priests in solving conflict situations<br />
(based on history and experience) was<br />
mentioned under normal circumstances,<br />
it would be a detailed elaboration, which<br />
would include comparative analyses,<br />
scientific facts and illustrations. It would<br />
contribute to further research into the<br />
role of religion in society and seeking out<br />
new dimensions of human spirit. But<br />
under the present circumstances, when<br />
war has exploded again in the Balkans<br />
after only two years, with clashes, xenophobia,<br />
hatred, intolerance, vandal<strong>ism</strong><br />
and chaos reappearing in this region, the<br />
human mind gets blocked. The vision of<br />
the future, the sense of beauty and creativity,<br />
as anthropological categories,<br />
give way to primitive ideas coloured<br />
fact reflected in our everyday lives.<br />
At an international conference in<br />
Ohrid in June last year, as so often<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e, it was proven that religious communities<br />
and priests represent inevitable<br />
factors and authorities in the establishment<br />
of interconfessional and interethnic<br />
relations.<br />
INVENTIVE AND BRAVE<br />
PERFORMANCE<br />
The topic of the conference was<br />
"The exploitation of cultural inheritance<br />
<strong>for</strong> the development of cultural tour<strong>ism</strong>."<br />
Both representatives of the Islamic community<br />
and the Macedonian Orthodox<br />
Church took part. Father Climent, who<br />
gave an excellent lecture, was sitting<br />
next to me. With an inventive and brave<br />
per<strong>for</strong>mance, he filled the hearts of all<br />
people present with exaltation, even<br />
those who were not religious at all. He<br />
mentioned the inappropriate behaviour<br />
of cultural tour<strong>ism</strong> workers towards religious<br />
objects, and their inadequate attitude<br />
towards Orthodox tradition and values.<br />
His courage and transparent critic<strong>ism</strong><br />
of the secular establishment<br />
because of some crucial mistakes in its<br />
attitude towards religious objects gave<br />
me more courage to give my remarks<br />
concerning the preservation of Islamic<br />
cultural monuments. Especially about<br />
tearing down the Imaret mosque in<br />
Ohrid, which was located in the area<br />
where monuments dating back to different<br />
periods have been found, beginning<br />
from the ancient period to modern times.<br />
It is a fact that Macedonia has a<br />
common cultural inheritance, which<br />
belongs to all its inhabitants. The discussion,<br />
which followed my speech, was<br />
zealous and impulsive. Except <strong>for</strong> guests<br />
from abroad and some of my colleagues<br />
and friends from Macedonia, my argumentative<br />
speech was not publicly supported.<br />
I was attacked <strong>for</strong> trying to disturb<br />
the reputation of that international<br />
conference in front of the <strong>for</strong>eign guests<br />
and harming Macedonian interests. I<br />
was the only Muslim in the room. My<br />
colleague from the Monastery Zrze,<br />
Father Climent, congratulated me sincerely<br />
on my presentation, pointing out<br />
that some ideas and relationships inherited<br />
from mon<strong>ism</strong> would have to give way<br />
to the new spirit. Probably because of the<br />
critic<strong>ism</strong> directed towards the current<br />
Ohrid citizens <strong>for</strong> their uncivilized act of<br />
tearing down the Imaret mosque, I<br />
remained alone with an Italian colleague.<br />
It seemed like no one was virtuous<br />
enough to approach<br />
me.<br />
with sceptic<strong>ism</strong> and burdened with mere<br />
survival. The influence of these endemic<br />
feelings and phenomena on people is<br />
immense. They define individual<br />
engagements and cultural and intellectual<br />
frameworks, while people lose their<br />
faith and play minor roles in overcoming<br />
actual problems. I am not trying to justify<br />
the lack of individual intellectual<br />
engagement. I am not trying to find an<br />
explanation <strong>for</strong> such intellectual profiles<br />
or those poor illustrations. In fact, it takes<br />
more skill and competence <strong>for</strong> such<br />
analyses. I want to emphasize a reality<br />
we are all preoccupied with. However,<br />
as a member of the Islamic community<br />
responsible <strong>for</strong> cultural monuments, and<br />
as the director of the humanitarian<br />
organization, El Hilal, I am going to<br />
describe some of my experiences and<br />
give my views on the subject, which is in<br />
DECISIVE STEP<br />
Father Climent<br />
made the decisive step,<br />
seeing the state I was<br />
in, and he stayed with<br />
me until dinner. It was<br />
an extremely important<br />
moment on the margins<br />
of this conference.<br />
On the one hand, we<br />
exchanged experiences<br />
and opinions about our differences and<br />
their values. On the other hand, all our<br />
friends and people who shared our opinion<br />
soon joined us. The other group,<br />
which felt no dissatisfaction concerning<br />
the destruction of the mosque and disagreed<br />
with our reactions concerning the<br />
events connected to this monument, was<br />
all of a sudden much smaller. I had an<br />
impression that we were attracted to<br />
each other by what is common to all people<br />
who feel metaphysical and transcendental<br />
phenomena. The conversations<br />
continued during dinner, with the same<br />
sincerity and mutual respect. It was a<br />
beautiful picture, which gave me optim<strong>ism</strong><br />
concerning present times and<br />
wonderful future under the same sky.<br />
I do not remember what I told Father<br />
Climent, who was very talkative and<br />
demonstrated that he was a severe anti-<br />
47<br />
What now, June 2001
48<br />
communist. I remember we were talking<br />
about the role of religion in modern society,<br />
about our differences, about altru<strong>ism</strong>,<br />
humanity, axiological categories, aesthetics,<br />
and especially about mystical music. Being<br />
aware that there are some people, among<br />
Orthodox priests also, who harmonize their<br />
attitudes with some laic ideas and give initiatives<br />
that destroy universal values (Imaret<br />
mosque <strong>for</strong> example), he agreed with my<br />
statement that if we respect and talk about<br />
our differences, we will learn how to respect<br />
universal values. And that is a treasure that<br />
will overcome all obstacles on the way to a<br />
righteous, common life. That means that we<br />
can do it only if we become aware of differences,<br />
and if we develop a communication<br />
based on a realistic foundation, without<br />
emotions, and what is even more important,<br />
without the feeling of superiority.<br />
CREATION OF A STABLE<br />
CIVIL SOCIETY<br />
Now when we are creating our near<br />
future, especially after the recent events in<br />
Macedonia, a future that has to find its way<br />
towards dialogue and inter-confessional<br />
plat<strong>for</strong>m, it is very important to remember<br />
that beautiful evening in Ohrid. Religious<br />
communities, particularly the Islamic community<br />
and the Macedonian Orthodox<br />
Church certainly represent the most suitable<br />
plat<strong>for</strong>m <strong>for</strong> such a dialogue. They can and<br />
must play a central role in the creation of a<br />
stable civil society in which citizens can feel<br />
safe and secure regardless of their religious<br />
confession. They must make a common<br />
ef<strong>for</strong>t to oppose all kinds of violence,<br />
because human life is sacred according to all<br />
religious traditions. They must totally<br />
respect different religious traditions and not<br />
ignore them. Religion must be a promoter of<br />
dialogue, peace and reconciliation.<br />
However, we must admit that we keep<br />
facing bitter experiences in this region.<br />
Among others, a complex of higher values<br />
also exists in this country. It is also present in<br />
the Macedonian Orthodox Church, which is<br />
trying to show its dominant role among<br />
other religious communities in the country.<br />
Such attempts are especially obvious in its<br />
relationships with state organs and government<br />
institutions, which highly respect the<br />
MOC. It is granted all privileges and all of<br />
its initiatives are approved. Other religious<br />
communities are irritated by this kind of<br />
treatment, especially the Islamic community,<br />
which is treated indolently and without<br />
any interest by the very same institutions.<br />
In order to prevent the dangerous effect<br />
this could have on the population, a dialogue<br />
between religious communities and their<br />
common activities, which could help promote<br />
spiritual values, is necessary.<br />
Especially in these critical situations, when<br />
the intensity of clashes, such as those in<br />
Tetovo and Kumanovo, as well as the events<br />
provoked by them can have un<strong>for</strong>eseeable<br />
consequences. Such events include attacks<br />
by angry, frustrated and hysterical citizens in<br />
which innocent people get hurt, and houses<br />
and religious object are destroyed. This<br />
vandal<strong>ism</strong> has been seen in Bitola and other<br />
cities where Macedonians are in majority.<br />
In such a situation religious communities<br />
can play an historic role. Manifesting<br />
superiority can be fatal, and that is why<br />
interethnic relations must be redefined and<br />
based upon equality, which will help to prevent<br />
new conflicts that cause violence.<br />
Without ignoring historic facts and present<br />
positions, we should identify problems and<br />
try to find solutions <strong>for</strong> their elimination<br />
together, by giving common ideas. If we<br />
analyze those ideas without egot<strong>ism</strong>, narrow-mindedness<br />
and feelings of superiority,<br />
we can make an important contribution to<br />
the process of solving crucial problems.<br />
Because true desire and sincere motives of<br />
religious communities would also show<br />
good ethics, which are the same and precious<br />
in all religious and spiritual traditions.<br />
The Islamic concept of doing good<br />
(merhamet) and the concept of general<br />
good, <strong>for</strong> example, can be a motivation <strong>for</strong><br />
Muslims and their priests to play a leading<br />
role in the situation that preoccupies us all.<br />
THE CONCEPT OF GOOD<br />
There are no obstacles to sincere<br />
actions. All we need is good will. The<br />
parts of the Koran regarding the origin of<br />
humankind, "from a man and a woman,"<br />
and about the division into nations and<br />
tribes in order to know each other better,<br />
reflect the universal character of<br />
humankind. Such decisions create high<br />
ideals and provide a foundation <strong>for</strong> the<br />
coexistence of all those that belong to the<br />
same spring, where they are going to<br />
return one day.<br />
If we start from the fact that Islam, as<br />
God's will, represents a historical phenomenon,<br />
we will conclude that it demands<br />
submission. It is not about passive acceptance<br />
of religious laws, because those laws<br />
would not make any sense if they did not<br />
have a positive effect on all people. Such a<br />
concept is universal, as doing good, understanding<br />
and tolerance are universal. God's<br />
will is exactly what is good, moral and<br />
beautiful.<br />
We can realize all this if we <strong>for</strong>get<br />
about prejudices, mistakes and false explanations<br />
of certain historic and current<br />
events. It could be a long process, which<br />
involves greater flexibility, much wider<br />
knowledge about each other, more culture<br />
and a sense of mutual historic and civil<br />
values and abilities.<br />
REINFORCEMENT<br />
OF HUMANITY<br />
Trying to incorporate itself into all<br />
spheres of society, the Islamic community<br />
of the Republic of Macedonia puts great<br />
ef<strong>for</strong>ts in to preserving peace, understanding<br />
and the stability of the country, constantly<br />
pointing out all negative factors<br />
that could threaten it. There are people in<br />
the Islamic community who can accept<br />
challenges and present Islamic ideas in<br />
order to play a constructive part in the<br />
inter-ethnic and inter-confessional dialogue,<br />
which is obviously very important<br />
<strong>for</strong> Macedonia's future. Islamic priests are<br />
ready to make their contribution and eliminate<br />
all factors that cause discrepancies,<br />
intolerance and isolation, in order to rein<strong>for</strong>ce<br />
humanity, cooperation and tolerance.<br />
If other church dignitaries do the same,<br />
especially those from the MOC, we will<br />
have a bright future. It is not time now <strong>for</strong><br />
medieval romantic<strong>ism</strong>, <strong>for</strong> mythological<br />
images of the past or <strong>for</strong> exclusive rights to<br />
present only one's own values, and to<br />
incorporate them into state structures. The<br />
time <strong>for</strong> exclusiveness has past. The time<br />
of various superiority complexes undermines<br />
attempts to solve problems in this<br />
dangerous situation.<br />
The example of Father Climent,<br />
whom I mentioned at the beginning of this<br />
text, as a model of a true priest, free from<br />
all prejudices, interested in Islamic aesthetics<br />
and music, is the example we<br />
should follow to build a common future,<br />
accepted by everyone, together with our<br />
differences and universal values.<br />
Finally, I would like to quote the wise<br />
Bosnian leader A. Izetbegovic, who,<br />
answering a journalist's question: "How<br />
do you see Bosnia's future after the<br />
Dayton Agreement?" said, "Things are<br />
beginning to stabilize in Bosnia. The time<br />
of drunkenness has passed, now it is time<br />
to sober up. Extreme national<strong>ism</strong>, chauvin<strong>ism</strong><br />
and religious intolerance have been<br />
compromised so much, that they are going<br />
to become history, together with the present<br />
generation."<br />
I sincerely believe that these endemic<br />
problems, currently evident in Macedonia,<br />
will remain deep down in history.<br />
<strong>Common</strong> sense and an ancient wish <strong>for</strong><br />
peace will be stronger and will overcome<br />
all difficulties.<br />
(The author is an art historian)<br />
What now, June 2001
Has anyone asked what a high<br />
school student dreams about?<br />
Elena Mancheva<br />
The several months of military<br />
clashes in my country has destroyed<br />
my strength. The enthusiasm of a<br />
high school girl who hopes to realize<br />
her dreams is jealously hidden deep<br />
in her soul.<br />
I am afraid <strong>for</strong> my future. I am<br />
afraid of the prognoses of the world<br />
politicians. I am afraid of the evil<br />
voices I hear day after day, as if death<br />
has come to my country.<br />
I used to sing, to smile, to enjoy<br />
life, and now I have <strong>for</strong>gotten even to<br />
weep, because tears would mean that<br />
I had surrendered.<br />
The bitter tears would mean that<br />
I had given in to my destiny and<br />
that I have covered with a black veil<br />
all that used to be glorious and mystical<br />
<strong>for</strong> me. Still, there is always a<br />
ray of hope that <strong>for</strong>ces me to go on<br />
in life and to not give in to the evil<br />
<strong>for</strong>ces that hang over my country.<br />
There is a hope that I will be back<br />
in class and that I will again see my<br />
friends, finding my way through the<br />
sweet puzzles that high school life<br />
brings.<br />
The life we live today is life<br />
under occupation. Depression fills<br />
the conscience of youth, accompanied<br />
by a sense of hopelessness and<br />
absence of perspective. The economy<br />
is becoming weaker and weaker, the<br />
army of unemployed persons grows<br />
sky-high, and those who have jobs<br />
receive a minimum or no salary <strong>for</strong><br />
months. Many enterprises have gone<br />
bankrupt; layoffs are happening<br />
every day…<br />
What kind of a choice do young<br />
Deep in my heart I feel<br />
that this small country<br />
will raise itself high and<br />
make all my dreams<br />
come true<br />
people have? What do I talk about<br />
with my friends abroad when the rest<br />
of the world is so far ahead of us?<br />
How? I wanted to do so much. I<br />
wanted to go on high school trips. I<br />
have listened to so many stories<br />
about these trips from the older generations<br />
and my classmates, and I<br />
constantly dreamed about these trips.<br />
What now?<br />
I will probably never know why<br />
these trips are so special. The school<br />
bus will never depart from my school<br />
because human life is above every<br />
other value. Because each one of us<br />
if afraid that somewhere in those<br />
mountains we will hear gunfire or<br />
explosions, and the survivors would<br />
say, "it was just a landmine."<br />
I am already used to living in a<br />
country where violence is normal,<br />
and killings and military clashes are<br />
"simply" an ordinary matter <strong>for</strong> the<br />
state leadership and political leaders<br />
who are obviously unable to resolve<br />
the existing problems, because they<br />
see only their political careers. Their<br />
participation in the government is a<br />
privilege, a chance <strong>for</strong> the realization<br />
of their personal interests, and a goal<br />
to be reached <strong>for</strong> themselves and not<br />
<strong>for</strong> the citizens.<br />
I must learn how to think in a<br />
more rational and mature manner. I<br />
do not know how good I am at doing<br />
that, because at the age of 17, I am<br />
trying to face an unusual situation<br />
where beauty is<br />
excluded and children<br />
do not dance and sing<br />
freely as they used to<br />
when we lived in<br />
peace. I am trying to<br />
act in a manner that is<br />
rational and mature. I<br />
want to remember that<br />
I cannot take everything<br />
<strong>for</strong> granted as I<br />
used to. I am trying to<br />
understand that my<br />
family is in a difficult<br />
economic situation<br />
and that my parents<br />
are concerned about my future more<br />
then ever. I do not want to make the<br />
situation in my family more difficult<br />
by my behaviour. That is at the place<br />
where I want at least to feel peace.<br />
But is that possible without pretending?<br />
Can I ignore the fact that I do not<br />
live in a peaceful country, that this is<br />
no longer Macedonia where I used to<br />
sing loudly because it offered me<br />
49<br />
Youth and crisis, October 2001
50<br />
wonderful opportunities.<br />
I want to continue with my education.<br />
I want to reach all the highs<br />
in the world which represent a challenge<br />
<strong>for</strong> me, as <strong>for</strong> every other<br />
young person. I want to become an<br />
expert in the field that I will research<br />
and which I dream about in these turbulent<br />
days filled with military clashes<br />
and the smell of gunpowder. Can<br />
anyone hear my voice?<br />
I frequently ask myself if my<br />
family and my country will make it<br />
out of this economic crisis, because<br />
that is the only way to continue with<br />
my education and to enter in to the<br />
Western world of technological and<br />
practical wonders. Perhaps I will find<br />
my future in some Western European<br />
country where peace rules and where<br />
all considerations are in compliance<br />
with the 21st century. I want to compete<br />
with knowledge, but it is hard to<br />
get there. Restrictions have been laid<br />
upon me and my generation. The visa<br />
procedures are too complex. How<br />
then, can I think about the future of<br />
those whom I love the most? Peace<br />
and the lives of these people are what<br />
matter most to me.<br />
For how long will this last?<br />
This cannot be <strong>for</strong>ecasted. As long<br />
as the country is led by the sort of<br />
leadership that puts personal interests<br />
above collective interests, above the<br />
interest of all citizens of the country,<br />
we will live in poverty, with no way<br />
out. Youth is the wheel that should<br />
carry society to economic and social<br />
progress. And youth should be given a<br />
chance to lead us to the goal; to a society<br />
where everyone, with no exceptions,<br />
will be pleased and motivated to<br />
create better and more human relations.<br />
To a society where the young<br />
individual is filled with satisfaction<br />
and offers his or her knowledge.<br />
There are things that a human<br />
simply cannot alter. Macedonia is my<br />
fatherland, whether covered in blood<br />
or just the same as it used to be. Deep<br />
in my heart I feel that this small<br />
country will raise itself high and<br />
make all my dreams come true.<br />
(The author is a<br />
high school student)<br />
An anxious summer<br />
One thing is clear: students did not start the war<br />
and they should not be facing the consequences.<br />
If we think this way, we will all be winners, with<br />
no exceptions...<br />
Makfire Ajeti<br />
We just lived through a summer filled with the smell of gunpowder<br />
which was not felt equally by everybody. It was not like previous summers<br />
when we used to make vacation plans. We also had a very difficult<br />
end of a school year; a quiet ending. There were no excursions and<br />
no graduation parties. There was only the phrase "this will be over<br />
soon," which gave us hope that we would not waste the whole summer.<br />
However, things happened the way they happened. The entire summer<br />
passed in a state of anxiety. Now the question follows: what are we<br />
going to do this coming fall?<br />
Our youth cannot accept the present reality, because it is full of<br />
poison. It cannot accept this because the present situation shattered our<br />
youthful dreams, it kept us apart from our friends. We scattered like<br />
flies.<br />
Now that schools are reopening again, the concerns and fears from<br />
the spring return to me. I ask myself, "How will Macedonian students<br />
behave? Has the irrational hatred affected them? Will another incident<br />
occur? Will we be holding short classes or will we be missing classes?"<br />
At that time, it was not pleasant to see policemen regularly wandering<br />
around the school compound.<br />
There will certainly be many students missing, because the war<br />
<strong>for</strong>ced them to move out of Macedonia temporarily. They may very<br />
well return later, but additional ef<strong>for</strong>ts will have to be made to compensate<br />
<strong>for</strong> the lost time. These will certainly be students who were<br />
right up close to the war hot spots. We will most likely have traumatized<br />
students, to whom we would have to pay special attention.<br />
There are rumours that many Albanian students didn't manage to<br />
enroll at secondary schools, in some due to the war. Whereas in other<br />
cases, due to the limited number of available places. I am convinced<br />
that nobody is posing the following question: What will happen to<br />
those who remain out of secondary school? Dreams of going to the<br />
West, as an alternative solution, will become more difficult to realize.<br />
Education, as one of the most significant segments of every society,<br />
continues to be an acute problem in Macedonia, especially <strong>for</strong> ethnic<br />
Albanians. Young Albanians used to enroll in schools where teaching<br />
was in Macedonian. Now, due to the situation, this will happen<br />
very rarely, if at all, because a great division has occurred.<br />
The state must invest more time in thinking about its youth,<br />
because if they are left with no potential, no future, problems will<br />
occur like a chain reaction.<br />
At the very end-one thing is clear: students did not start the war<br />
and they should not be facing the consequences. If we think this way,<br />
we will all be winners, with no exceptions….<br />
(The author is a secondary school student)<br />
Youth and crisis, October 2001
I have become a sick<br />
patient „<strong>for</strong> my own sake“<br />
Aleksandra Tanurova<br />
"My name is Aleksandra Tanurova.<br />
I am 27. I graduated as a journalist by<br />
profession. I have a problem with brain<br />
impotence. In fact, my problem is that<br />
my blood pressure is too low and my<br />
brain cells are starved."<br />
This was my address to a group of<br />
people with the same or similar problem.<br />
The group was multiethnic (I was<br />
told to emphasize this, so it can be<br />
noted that the virus that causes brain<br />
impotence does not discriminate by<br />
ethnicity). Each member of the group<br />
presented his or her problem. The<br />
group was led by top psychoanalysts,<br />
who sat aside and monitored us. They<br />
measured every word we said. They<br />
measured every one of our movements,<br />
every glance, the tempo of our breathing.<br />
They took our pulse. They said<br />
that this was <strong>for</strong> our own sake! That it's<br />
the only way they can be sure to prescribe<br />
the right therapy.<br />
Until a while ago, I was not even<br />
aware that I needed assistance. Most of<br />
the group shared my opinion. I am not<br />
in a condition to think. Someone else is<br />
doing that <strong>for</strong> me. I am here to be<br />
helped. For my own sake! The psychoanalysts<br />
are here with us. Or we are<br />
here <strong>for</strong> them. Doctor would never be<br />
doctors if they had no patients. So, if<br />
they have none-they will create them.<br />
Everyone must do something.<br />
Be<strong>for</strong>e I was sent to psychoanalysis,<br />
I thought I was quite normal. Until<br />
then I had not noticed that I acted<br />
weird. I did not act aggressively or<br />
destructively and I was not paranoid. In<br />
fact, that's not how I act today, but the<br />
experts told me that this behaviour was<br />
all latent, hidden deep inside of me and<br />
sooner or later it would come out.<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e, it's better to prevent than to<br />
cure.<br />
At the beginning, according to the<br />
agenda, they asked me when my brain<br />
impotence first started. I said I had<br />
never had such a problem, that I feel<br />
quite healthy. Obviously, they were<br />
ready <strong>for</strong> such an answer. They immediately<br />
said that no one who is ill<br />
admits he's ill.<br />
The second question was, "Am I<br />
afraid of war?" I had not thought about<br />
the subject until then. I figured war was<br />
something that should be learned in a<br />
history class, something that is happening<br />
far away from here, to someone<br />
else. I had seen shocking video-recordings<br />
and I knew that both sides in the<br />
conflict had realized that they lost more<br />
than they gained. And as I was searching<br />
my brain to find what I knew about<br />
war, I heard strong blasts and I saw<br />
shocking images. As I was shaking<br />
from fear, I heard one of the experts<br />
say, "Hah! You are afraid, you are<br />
afraid!" I was scared to death. I felt my<br />
blood freezing, my guts going up and<br />
down, and my eyes filled with tears. I<br />
wanted to shout but my voice was<br />
gone. At first I felt embarrassed, but<br />
when I realized that everyone in my<br />
group had the same symptoms I felt<br />
relieved. Then they put in my file that I<br />
am not egoistic, that I share my feelings<br />
with the rest of the group and that I act<br />
appropriately. That was my first positive<br />
mark!<br />
The group had many members but<br />
that did not keep us from taking the<br />
sessions seriously. We split into two<br />
groups, so the experts could pay equal<br />
attention to everyone. Both groups participated<br />
in the work equally, but one<br />
against the other. The exercises were<br />
similar to the games that the kids from<br />
your neighbourhood play. "You want<br />
war," or "Bang, bang," or something<br />
like the computer strategy games,<br />
where you first demolish and then you<br />
build. For our sake, they say, because in<br />
this manner we challenge our capabili-<br />
Now I am a<br />
flexible<br />
person<br />
made from<br />
rubber who<br />
can reach<br />
down to the<br />
bottom and<br />
stand up<br />
again by<br />
inertia, a<br />
plant that<br />
vegetates<br />
and survives<br />
thanks only<br />
to photosynthesis<br />
51<br />
Youth and crisis, October 2001
ties, both physical and psychological.<br />
Thanks to this exercise I became<br />
aware of the limits to which a human<br />
being can be pushed and I also realized<br />
that I can take on a greater burden<br />
than what I previously could. I<br />
have become a flexible person made<br />
of rubber, able to reach to the bottom<br />
and stand up again by inertia. I have<br />
become a plant that vegetates and<br />
survives thanks only to photosynthesis.<br />
Excellent!<br />
We also practiced long debates,<br />
negotiations and discussions. We<br />
learned how to speak <strong>for</strong> a long time<br />
using only a limited number of<br />
words. We have excluded words<br />
like: love, feeling, happiness,<br />
dreams, kiss, smile. We started to<br />
speak in only the singular first person.<br />
The exercises are still ongoing. It<br />
seems that the members of our group<br />
will be monitored <strong>for</strong> some time.<br />
"For our sake!" Now I know one<br />
thing-I know nothing. Yet, I know<br />
that my name is Aleksandra<br />
Tanurova. I have… I don't know<br />
what I have.<br />
(The author is journalist)<br />
Bridges<br />
Few Albanians decide to visit some place located on the right side of the city and few<br />
Macedonians decide to visit some place located on the left side of the city. Skopje has<br />
currently lost its human touch. As if someone has given an attribution of "bridge of<br />
division" to the Stone Bridge. Yet when it comes to poets, the bridge has always been a<br />
symbol of love, closeness and warmth. I believe that there are many poets among us…<br />
52<br />
Xhengis Aliu<br />
Every war leaves a painful history<br />
behind.<br />
Regretfully, the consequences of<br />
the war in Macedonia deeply<br />
touched young people, especially<br />
when it came to their relationships,<br />
which became chillier as days went<br />
by. Arctic ice has squeezed in<br />
between the relationships between<br />
young Albanians and Macedonians.<br />
But through no fault of their own.<br />
No matter how hard the young<br />
try to avoid politics, they still cannot<br />
isolate themselves from it. Because<br />
now the politics deals with them.<br />
Nobody feels safe, but at the same<br />
time, everybody is hoping that it will<br />
get better, and that the end to the<br />
problems bothering youth will come<br />
soon. Sedat Abazi, is a17-year-old<br />
from Tetovo and a student at the secondary<br />
school Kiril Pejchinovich in<br />
Tetovo. Talking about interethnic<br />
relations he said, "I live in a Tetovo<br />
suburb, with an ethnically mixed<br />
population. There are Albanians,<br />
Macedonians, Roma and Turks on<br />
our street. I can say that be<strong>for</strong>e the<br />
war, we all used to be well organized<br />
in terms of our mutual relationships.<br />
But this altered significantly when<br />
the war broke out. For the time being<br />
we are not together with our <strong>for</strong>mer<br />
Macedonian friends. They play basketball<br />
separately on one side, and<br />
we play on the other side. I do not<br />
know why, but we tend to run away<br />
from each other. It was different in<br />
the past. This is how the present relationship<br />
looks. I do not know what to<br />
say about the future. There is a saying<br />
that time is the greatest healer,<br />
and I hope that months spent in war<br />
will be <strong>for</strong>gotten and left to the past."<br />
The same image is portrayed by<br />
18-year-old Daniel Stojanovski, a<br />
secondary school student who<br />
resides in Skopje on the left side of<br />
the city in the suburb of Chair. He<br />
also admits that interethnic relations<br />
have significantly altered, compared<br />
to those be<strong>for</strong>e the war, but he is<br />
hopeful <strong>for</strong> better days to come.<br />
"I've lived in this suburb since I was<br />
Youth and crisis, October 2001
orn. This place is populated with<br />
Macedonians and Albanians,<br />
although there are inhabitants of<br />
other ethnicities too. We have good<br />
relationships with Albanians, but<br />
most recently it seems as if we've<br />
grew apart from each other and we<br />
speak very little to each other. It's<br />
not our fault. The guilty are those<br />
who are at the top of the pyramid<br />
who manipulate ordinary people,"<br />
says Daniel.<br />
"The interesting thing is that<br />
after the war we will have to live<br />
together just the way we did be<strong>for</strong>e<br />
to the war. And, since this is quite<br />
clear and unavoidable, than why<br />
should we cherish the hatred so<br />
much? One can divide certain places<br />
where there are only Albanians or<br />
only Macedonians, but I wish that<br />
those people from the famous pyramid<br />
could explain how a building<br />
could be divided where both<br />
Macedonians and Albanians live?<br />
How do we go about splitting the<br />
building? And, it's not just one<br />
building. If there were only one,<br />
things would be a lot easier, but<br />
there are hundreds of them," says<br />
18-year-old Daniel, deeply distressed.<br />
Daniel continues, "I hope this is<br />
the end of all the evil. I hope that<br />
with time things will get back to normal.<br />
I hope that we will improve our<br />
relations once again, because this is<br />
the only way out. Perhaps, we have<br />
finally all understood that we have<br />
no extra people to have them killed<br />
so easily."<br />
Skopje is a city where an ethnically<br />
diverse people live.<br />
There used to be ethnically<br />
mixed restaurants, but nowadays<br />
these are very few,<br />
almost none. Few Albanians<br />
decide to visit some place<br />
located on the right side of the city,<br />
and few Macedonians decide to visit<br />
some place located on the left side of<br />
the city.<br />
Skopje has currently lost its<br />
human touch. As if someone has<br />
given an attribution of "bridge of<br />
division" to the Stone Bridge. Yet<br />
when it comes to poets, the bridge<br />
has always been a symbol of love,<br />
closeness and warmth. I believe<br />
that there are many poets among<br />
us…<br />
(The author is a student)<br />
Ana Shosholchevska<br />
I really feel as if I have been<br />
given a very difficult assignment-to<br />
be a young person living<br />
at this time. I know that this<br />
conclusion will be followed by<br />
statements like, "youth is the<br />
best time of life," "there is<br />
nothing more beautiful than<br />
being young," etc. This is<br />
indeed true. It is beautiful to be<br />
young, because your entire life,<br />
the future, is ahead of you.<br />
When I pronounce this word,<br />
future, I feel an unstoppable<br />
influx of emotions, infinite<br />
sources of ideas, endless positive<br />
energy… And <strong>for</strong> a<br />
moment, I stop my dream. For<br />
a moment, I return to the present-to<br />
the reality we live in.<br />
And I come to the conclusion<br />
that it is beautiful to be young,<br />
What kind of future<br />
can we expect<br />
but not in this day and age, not<br />
here and not under these circumstances.<br />
And un<strong>for</strong>tunately<br />
we cannot stop time, nor can<br />
we wait <strong>for</strong> better days. We do<br />
not have another youth to spare<br />
or an exclusive opportunity to<br />
be spared from the cruel reality.<br />
I often try to create a vision<br />
of my future, because I think<br />
that it lights the way towards<br />
success and self-approval. With<br />
childish joy I try to build my<br />
visions and plans. Thoughts<br />
about my future come rapidly.<br />
First, I would like to complete<br />
my education. Then I plan to<br />
find a job in compliance with<br />
my education that offers the<br />
potential <strong>for</strong> future growth.<br />
And certainly, I plan to contribute<br />
to humanity by <strong>for</strong>ming<br />
a family to whom I will be able<br />
to provide a decent life. Let me<br />
explain. What I mean to say is<br />
that I live a decent and normal<br />
life now, but I think that what I<br />
imagine is in compliance with<br />
some common human standards,<br />
meaning nothing<br />
extreme, nothing our of proportion.<br />
But un<strong>for</strong>tunately, everything<br />
is out of proportion here<br />
in this day and age. It is too<br />
much if you protect and<br />
demand your basic human<br />
rights and freedoms. It is too<br />
much if you demand your right<br />
to freedom, your right to life. It<br />
is too much that you even existthat<br />
you are still aware of your<br />
presence. And under these circumstances,<br />
is my vision <strong>for</strong><br />
the future normal? Is it normal<br />
to ask <strong>for</strong> a decent life in a situation<br />
where you fight <strong>for</strong> your<br />
own existence?<br />
53<br />
Youth and crisis, October 2001
All of my hopes <strong>for</strong> the future from this<br />
perspective seem to be an illusion. They<br />
seem to be a remote reality, almost impossible,<br />
almost unrealistic. And what is next? I<br />
still live in the present, and though I am<br />
young, my attitude <strong>for</strong>ces me to create ideas<br />
<strong>for</strong> myself and <strong>for</strong> the future. But what is<br />
the reality? Can we create the future by ourselves?<br />
Un<strong>for</strong>tunately others do that <strong>for</strong> us.<br />
Others decide on our future. Others have<br />
taken the right to destroy our youth, our<br />
happiness, to determine our path. And<br />
where that path leads to, they do not know.<br />
Have we reached <strong>for</strong> the future of those<br />
who reach <strong>for</strong> our youth now? Who will<br />
inherit the future if our generation takes the<br />
path to self-destruction or if we seek happiness<br />
outside the borders of our country?<br />
You will not find the future if you dial 0500,<br />
the future is within every young person.<br />
(The author is a senior<br />
at the Law Faculty)<br />
To be an optimist? I can still do it!<br />
54<br />
We understand the language of hate, but we do not speak<br />
that language, nor do we want to learn it<br />
Sead Dzhigal<br />
When we are asked, "How<br />
do you, the young people, see<br />
your near future-your tomorrow<br />
that's coming up? What do you<br />
expect your life with others to<br />
be like?" We simply stop and<br />
respond to the elders, Please,<br />
gentlemen, we never learned<br />
that lesson and we cannot<br />
respond to those questions!<br />
Only until yesterday the socalled<br />
others were not the others.<br />
They were us. Until yesterday,<br />
when we were starting a<br />
conversation with somebody,<br />
we did not ask, "What are<br />
you?" If we liked a girl, we did<br />
not wonder, "Is she maybe one<br />
of them?" When we made our<br />
teams to play basketball we<br />
never cared about the identity,<br />
when we shopped at the market<br />
we never asked whose kiosk<br />
that was… That's how it was<br />
yesterday, that's how it will be<br />
tomorrow. If we make it<br />
through today.<br />
It is true that young people<br />
are as confused as everyone<br />
else. It is also true that many of<br />
us, not expecting what happened,<br />
have positioned ourselves<br />
one against the other in a<br />
wicked manner of mutual<br />
hatred. It is also true that reason<br />
has the right to speak after irrationality<br />
gets tired. But please,<br />
why should we fail that exam?<br />
We understand the language of<br />
hate, but we do not speak that<br />
language, nor do we want to<br />
learn it. Hate is a feeling that<br />
denigrates both the subject and<br />
object of the hatred. Hatred is<br />
only a trans<strong>for</strong>mation of feelings<br />
of ignorance and fear of<br />
knowing the other. And we do<br />
not consider ourselves ignorant<br />
or afraid, closed or speechless.<br />
It is illogical <strong>for</strong> us to sit in<br />
front of the computer and to<br />
communicate with people hundreds<br />
or thousands of miles<br />
away from us, and at the same<br />
time not to communicate with<br />
our neighbours, colleagues,<br />
partners, friends. That simply<br />
cannot be. We refuse to take<br />
part in that soundless, black and<br />
white movie of hatred. A movie<br />
of the destruction and horror of<br />
human existence. We want to<br />
eliminate that temptation and<br />
we want to spare our children<br />
from it. We want to erase it<br />
without bothering to send it to<br />
the recycle bin.<br />
Youth and crisis, October 2001
The conscience of young people is strong<br />
enough, although the elders look upon us<br />
with sceptic<strong>ism</strong>. Young people know what<br />
they want and what they don't want. Today,<br />
we, the young people, like no other generation<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e us, can stand in front of the elders,<br />
look them straight in the eyes and say,<br />
"Thank you <strong>for</strong> what you are leaving to us,<br />
but we won't take it wholesale. We will take<br />
only what we will find useful in the future.<br />
We will take only what will make us more<br />
noble as humans, citizens of the world. What<br />
will remind us who we are and where we<br />
come from.<br />
But in no case will we take that which<br />
urges us to hate those who are different from<br />
us. For us, the past is not an assortment of<br />
wars, clashes and destruction. For us, the<br />
past is an assortment of friendship, games<br />
and sharing. We do not accept the elders'<br />
position on the past. We do not need the burden<br />
of the past to remind us of our isolation<br />
from others, especially from our neighbours.<br />
Each one of us will still maintain his or her<br />
differences and identity. But no one will<br />
develop his or her differences in an ef<strong>for</strong>t to<br />
repulse others, to separate themselves from<br />
others, or to alienate others. We will remain<br />
one next to the other, one with the other and<br />
one among the other. Not because of some<br />
irrational outburst of love, but because we all<br />
share the same destiny. That is what bonds<br />
us. If, God <strong>for</strong>bid, we are hit by an earthquake<br />
or flood, we will all suffer equally. If<br />
we need to swallow reduced uranium, we<br />
will all be swallowing it. If the harvest is fertile<br />
we will all enjoy the fruits. The philosophy<br />
of neighbourly relations is a wisdom of<br />
life that the other nations in Europe did not<br />
have the opportunity or privilege of experiencing.<br />
And whenever they speak about us<br />
they wonder, "How can that be?" They find<br />
it weird because they try to see us through<br />
their own experience, an experience that was<br />
not nearly as tolerant as ours. Our recipe <strong>for</strong><br />
tomorrow is quite simple. We will be what<br />
we have been so far, we will respect each<br />
other, we will greet each other, we will trade<br />
freely, we will borrow sugar, class notes,<br />
CDs, basketballs. However, we will take<br />
away the right from "the worst of<br />
Macedonia" to speak and decide on our<br />
behalf.<br />
(The author is philologist)<br />
A bitter dream and<br />
a strange morning<br />
Competition represents a basic principle of the market<br />
economy, which we all strive to achieve. This market<br />
economy, transferred into education, does not recognize<br />
Albanians and Macedonians. It recognizes only<br />
successful and unsuccessful individuals. There<strong>for</strong>e, we<br />
really need to finally "work, work, day and night, to<br />
see a bit of light," because, "the world represents a<br />
field <strong>for</strong> cultural competition among different<br />
nations," doesn't it?<br />
Rilind Kabashi<br />
Should you happen to listen to a conversation among<br />
adults, it will be difficult not to think that when a war<br />
occurs, young people are the ones who lose the most. If you<br />
happen to listen to any warrior, regardless of which side he<br />
fights <strong>for</strong>, the essence of what he would say would be that<br />
he is fighting <strong>for</strong> a better future, <strong>for</strong> a better tomorrow <strong>for</strong><br />
the today's youth. Finally, should you meet up with young<br />
people, they would undoubtedly be encouraged and by all<br />
means they would stand on the side of their own folks, but<br />
at the end they will say that it would've been better it there<br />
hadn't been a war.<br />
Naturally, a student, regardless of his or her ethnic or<br />
religious background, cannot avoid being under the influence<br />
of the recent crisis/war. In times like these, when the<br />
entire state is suffering from a certain psychosis, students<br />
find themselves be<strong>for</strong>e the modified dilemma of Hamlet:<br />
"To be or not to be?"<br />
55<br />
Youth and crisis, October 2001
56<br />
The overall atmosphere, which<br />
prevailed in the state, could easily<br />
be illustrated with the atmosphere<br />
within the faculty, usually with<br />
greater or lesser ethnic mix. At first<br />
glance, everything seems alright,<br />
things are like they used to be. But<br />
on the other hand, in March and<br />
June 2001, <strong>for</strong> example the<br />
amphitheatre or the buffet were<br />
very different from how they were<br />
in March and June of some other<br />
years. Needless to hide things, Now<br />
it's not necessary to hide things.<br />
More than ever be<strong>for</strong>e we can feel<br />
and notice the old unwritten rule<br />
"everybody with his own folks."<br />
Although not every conversation or<br />
discussion is related to the situation,<br />
the topic is mentioned when<br />
the circle of conversation is "clean"<br />
as long as surreptitiously everyone<br />
can assume each other's ethnic<br />
background. This does not mean<br />
that friendships, which really existed,<br />
disappeared at once. It seems<br />
that they have been put on hold.<br />
Even in the past politics used to<br />
be one of the least favoured topics,<br />
so it was rarely possible to find<br />
Albanian and Macedonian students<br />
in political discussions. Now it<br />
seems this has gone by the wayside<br />
and has become a difficult barrier to<br />
overcome, which limits friendships<br />
to a simple "What's up?", "How<br />
have you been?" or "When is the<br />
exam?" There are certainly some<br />
exceptions but they represent nothing<br />
but a drop in the ocean. On the<br />
other hand, sparring aimed at others<br />
has experienced a real "renaissance."<br />
There are indeed some even<br />
more extreme cases. If you are<br />
lucky, you can hear straight from<br />
the lips of academics warm words<br />
such as "I can no longer stay here<br />
where there are Shiptari.<br />
Fortunately, these comments are<br />
rare.<br />
On the other hand, now there<br />
seems to be an extra excuse <strong>for</strong> failing<br />
at exams. Although, quite<br />
frankly, even in the past one of the<br />
excuses was, "I failed the exam just<br />
because I am Albanian." Whereas<br />
now the excuses are somewhat richer,<br />
"He was nervous as a result of<br />
recent events, so he failed the<br />
exam." Realistically speaking, it's<br />
impossible to derive precise conclusions<br />
from this, because only the<br />
student and the professor know the<br />
truth, and they are not always 100<br />
per cent unbiased. There are certainly<br />
cases which contradict this<br />
rule. Thus, it must be said that, in<br />
the heat of the crisis, there were<br />
Albanian students, albeit few, who<br />
passed exams given by the most<br />
problematic professors. There<strong>for</strong>e,<br />
the assessment of this always<br />
remains subjective and it will stay<br />
that way, while the saying "where<br />
there is a smoke, there is fire" continues<br />
to apply.<br />
When talking about exams, students<br />
now long <strong>for</strong> their old studying<br />
conditions, regardless of what<br />
those conditions were like. Now it<br />
has become natural to keep your<br />
head under the book, <strong>for</strong> planes to<br />
fly overhead, to hear detonation<br />
from the battlefield in the vicinity<br />
of the city or to set up your studying<br />
schedule in accordance with the<br />
nightly news. Depending on where<br />
you live, it could well be that you<br />
have no good studying conditions.<br />
For months now students from<br />
Tetovo and Kumanovo regions<br />
couldn't attend lectures, or even sit<br />
<strong>for</strong> exams. Although additional sessions<br />
<strong>for</strong> these students have been<br />
announced, nothing has been done<br />
so far about it. Yet it is often said<br />
that the youth, including students,<br />
represent the most vital segment of<br />
a nation. That's what they say and it<br />
is not far from the truth. The youth<br />
are more optimistic. No matter how<br />
well we adjusted to the omnipresent<br />
atmosphere of greyness, deep down<br />
there was the hope that "it will get<br />
better." It seems as if the August 13<br />
agreement changed many things, as<br />
if to confirm this saying. Although,<br />
it did so in an unnoticeable way.<br />
Leaving aside political calculations,<br />
realistically speaking, students<br />
gained a lot from it. First of<br />
all, and this is applicable to everybody,<br />
it secures a long-term peace<br />
which is something that everybody<br />
desires. In addition, more solid<br />
foundations are laid <strong>for</strong> the future<br />
in which we will all live.<br />
Furthermore, new opportunities are<br />
appearing. For example, higher<br />
education in the mother tongue <strong>for</strong><br />
everybody. Again, regardless of<br />
political colours, a real competition,<br />
a unique competition among<br />
several universities, among different<br />
students, could bring about positive<br />
things. Gates of knowledge are<br />
opening wider <strong>for</strong> the student-especially<br />
the Albanian student-of<br />
today, On the other hand, if there is<br />
an equal start <strong>for</strong> everybody, results<br />
will depend on personal abilities<br />
and skills, and not on ethnic background.<br />
Lastly, competition represents a<br />
basic principal of a market economy,<br />
which we all strive to achieve.<br />
This market economy, transferred<br />
into education, does not recognize<br />
Albanians and Macedonians, it recognizes<br />
only successful and unsuccessful<br />
individuals. There<strong>for</strong>e, we<br />
really need to finally "work, work,<br />
day and night, to see a bit of light,"<br />
because "the world represents a<br />
field <strong>for</strong> cultural competition among<br />
different nations," doesn't it?<br />
(The author is a student at<br />
the Economics Faculty)<br />
Youth and crisis, October 2001
Me, Igor and Macedonia<br />
Zekirija Ibrahimi<br />
After the catastrophic earthquake<br />
in Skopje, when the Butel barracks<br />
were being given away <strong>for</strong> almost<br />
nothing, my family happened to have<br />
a Macedonian family (Uncle Mirko's<br />
family) as neighbours. So my father<br />
and Uncle Mirko established a neighbourhood<br />
that we, their children, were<br />
supposed to inherit <strong>for</strong> sure. When we<br />
were brought to life (around the mid<br />
1970s), Uncle Mirko's and my father's<br />
children could barely be distinguished<br />
from each other-who was whose and<br />
who lived in which house. Often,<br />
Uncle Mirko's only son, Igor, who<br />
was my age, would stay overnight at<br />
our place. We would also sometimes<br />
stay at Uncle Mirko's place.<br />
We were growing up this way,<br />
while the friendship between our families<br />
was becoming ever stronger. It is<br />
true that my father used to help Uncle<br />
Mirko with household chores, but<br />
frankly Uncle Mirko always tended to<br />
match the favours. He always helped<br />
my father with certificates or documents,<br />
which, when it comes to Uncle<br />
Mirko, were the easiest things he<br />
could do <strong>for</strong> us. On the other hand,<br />
Igor lived with us without expecting<br />
to benefit anything. It has happened<br />
so many times that our father would<br />
come to take us to buy new clothes <strong>for</strong><br />
Bayram and Igor would also stick<br />
around. My father, not wishing to hurt<br />
him in any way, would buy clothes <strong>for</strong><br />
him as well. I even recall that Igor<br />
used to wait along with us <strong>for</strong> the<br />
mosque lights to turn on and he would<br />
then run straight home just like us to<br />
announce that the<br />
fast was over <strong>for</strong><br />
the day. Later on,<br />
immediately<br />
after the meal,<br />
we would go<br />
from door to<br />
door, including<br />
Igor's door, and<br />
we would sing<br />
and call up the<br />
other children to<br />
join us in playing<br />
kutujik.<br />
So, this was<br />
the way we were<br />
growing up and<br />
we did not notice that Igor was any<br />
different from us. He made an ef<strong>for</strong>t<br />
to learn Albanian, and we learned<br />
Macedonian language. This helped us<br />
understand each other. Sometimes we<br />
would cut jokes on Igor's account,<br />
since he was not circumcised, but this<br />
didn't bother him much. He knew we<br />
were joking. He would also joke with<br />
us. When Igor's family celebrated, he<br />
would not miss the opportunity to<br />
treat us. So during Easter he would<br />
bring us dyed eggs with which we<br />
played endlessly. This is what our<br />
childhood was alike. They respected<br />
our faith and ethnicity, and we<br />
respected theirs.<br />
Later we enrolled at primary<br />
school. Igor studied in a Macedonian<br />
class, whereas we naturally enrolled<br />
in an Albanian class. This was the<br />
place where Igor started changing<br />
under the new influence. First of all,<br />
there he learned the word shiptar. So<br />
when we would get into fights, as<br />
children do, he would go in his yard<br />
and from there he would yell<br />
"Shiptari!" This concerned uncle<br />
Mirko a great deal, and he would<br />
always, in situations like this, smack<br />
Igor. But things did not end there. Igor<br />
slowly started to remove himself from<br />
us. He started to "understand" that we<br />
were strangers to him.<br />
By the end of<br />
the 1980s, Igor<br />
had many<br />
Macedonian<br />
friends who were<br />
rarely willing to<br />
mingle with us,<br />
except when we<br />
played soccer,<br />
where we would<br />
split between<br />
Albanians and<br />
Macedonians. It<br />
was not only soccer<br />
involved<br />
there. We played<br />
to prove who<br />
were more capable, Albanians or<br />
Macedonians. This was how we completed<br />
our primary school.<br />
We went to the secondary school.<br />
A little bit due to studies and a bit due<br />
to the alienation, we rarely mingled<br />
with Igor. We used to meet on the bus<br />
when we were returning from or<br />
going to school. We usually talked<br />
57<br />
Youth and crisis, October 2001
58<br />
about difficult school lessons we had. On the other hand,<br />
Uncle Mirko and my father kept trying to drink a cup of tea<br />
together, but they had rather a bitter feeling between them.<br />
By the mid 1990s, those days when the massacres carried<br />
out by Serbs were the topic of the day in Bosnia, Igor's<br />
father was married to a Serbian woman. At the same time<br />
Kosovo's days seemed numbered. Our parents kept pretending<br />
they were friends, and it was obvious that they<br />
were putting up an act. Nevertheless, let us return to Igor<br />
and me.<br />
He was a fan of the football team Vardar, while I was a<br />
fan of Sloga. We would both go to the stadium, but along<br />
different paths. He was with Komitas on the western seats<br />
and I was with Smugglers. They were making rude<br />
remarks and we did not fall short. The rude remarks were<br />
considered normal, although it should not be that way.<br />
There were other things which were difficult to swallow. I<br />
felt bad when they would swear at our God and when they<br />
would say to us "Gas chambers <strong>for</strong> the Albanians!" because<br />
I knew that even my Igor was uttering those words.<br />
Immediately after the match we would run headlong away,<br />
to save our necks from Igor's Komitas. Then in the evening<br />
we would run into each other, and through clenched teeth<br />
we would say, "Hi there" in Macedonia.<br />
Then protests started along against the Pedagogical<br />
Faculty. My Igor was standing in the first row. Again in the<br />
evening there would be "Hi there" in Macedonian. We<br />
could only close the doors behind us and burst out of anger.<br />
Whatever happened to us?! We <strong>for</strong>got Ramadan, Bayram,<br />
Christmas, and Easter. Igor and I had now become totally<br />
different people. This was the end of the 1990s. During the<br />
Kosovo events, he was almost dancing with joy because<br />
his uncles were murdering my cousins. Later, when the<br />
conflict started in Macedonia, Igor voluntarily enrolled in<br />
the police ranks. And who knows how many Albanians my<br />
Igor has bashed by now!<br />
Although these are difficult times, I still try to understand<br />
him. However, there is one thing that I cannot understand.<br />
Why does he want to deprive me from feeling that<br />
Macedonia is my motherland?<br />
It may seem put on, but even earlier I sincerely wanted<br />
to be where the Albanian language was not spoken. I have<br />
even run into Igor during some plays and concerts per<strong>for</strong>med<br />
by Macedonians. Igor is fully aware of this. The<br />
last times we met were at Dragan Dautovski's and<br />
Synthesis concerts. However, I never meet Igor at any<br />
Albanian cultural evenings or at any Albanian dramas.<br />
I recall the soccer match between Macedonia and<br />
Croatia, when I was not allowed to join the Macedonian<br />
fans, since Igor and his Komitas would swear "Damn shiptari."<br />
If they were to find out that I was Albanian, I could<br />
have gotten the long end of the stick. I remained watching<br />
the match from the north wing, scared to death when<br />
Macedonia was attacking. Because of this, some Albanians<br />
looked at me with gloom in their eyes-why was I cheering<br />
people who were swearing at my mother?<br />
That very same evening Igor and I greeted each other<br />
with another icy, "Hi there" in Macedonian By now, Igor<br />
had <strong>for</strong>gotten how to say tungjatjeta the Albanian word <strong>for</strong><br />
"hi there!"<br />
(The author is a postgraduate student at the<br />
Philology Faculty)<br />
Irena Shehtanska<br />
Nowhere<br />
is the sun<br />
so bright<br />
2 August (Ilinden 198..and some), a<br />
Macedonian national holiday.<br />
Picnic sites were crowded. You could hear<br />
music and drums from the old St. Ilija monastery<br />
where people were dancing Macedonian folk<br />
dances. The earth trembled under the feet of an old<br />
man called Iljo, who, standing on the drum, defied<br />
his age. He staggered a little, but stood up again,<br />
with the flag in his hand. Pleasant smells of grilled<br />
lamb were everywhere. Everyone rejoiced in their<br />
own way. Everyone had a reason to be happy. Old<br />
people, like Grandpa Iljo, because they could finally<br />
dance Macedonian folk dances and cross themselves<br />
<strong>for</strong> the health and happiness of their family<br />
without fear. Our parents drank to a successful<br />
year, to health and to the victory of their favourite<br />
football club. And the children, who knew what we<br />
were thinking about? I can't remember our desires.<br />
Ilinden 2001.<br />
Streets and old picnic sites are empty. You can<br />
still hear music from St. Ilija monastery, but things<br />
don't seem the same. Voices sound unnatural and<br />
strained. Drumbeats are slower and quieter. And<br />
Grandpa Iljo is not here to dance. I enter the old St.<br />
Panteleimon monastery, and then I go only about<br />
hundred meters further, to pray <strong>for</strong> health and light a<br />
candle. There are more people in the monastery than<br />
outside, dancing. Their eyes are empty, pensive and<br />
directed toward the icon of the Holy Mother. I open<br />
the memory book to write something-to leave a<br />
trace of me behind. Just two lines higher on the<br />
same page, a child wrote in awkward handwriting,<br />
"Dear God, please watch over my daddy, bring him<br />
back alive, and please make them let him come to<br />
my birthday." I put the pen back.<br />
My name is Irena. I am Macedonian, married,<br />
a mother of a three-year-old son, an unemployed<br />
pedagogue and a member of a lost generation. Lost<br />
because of the curse of having to live in two totally<br />
opposite times. Cursed to grow up and be<br />
brought up in a time of happiness, respect and love,<br />
only to develop into a person who must raise her<br />
own child at a time of general crisis (economic,<br />
political and, most terrible, spiritual). I was raised<br />
to love this country and this people. And I did. I<br />
Youth and crisis, October 2001
used to imagine my future here,<br />
among these people, who know how<br />
to love and be happy.<br />
The only reason why I chose this<br />
profession was my love of children. I<br />
want to devote my whole being to<br />
them and their education, because<br />
there is nothing more pure than a<br />
child's soul, and nothing more sincere<br />
than a child's heart. They are clay in<br />
the hands of parents and teachers.<br />
They are everything I love, and all I<br />
wanted was to show them the right<br />
way and give answers to all their<br />
naive questions. I graduated, but I<br />
have still not managed to find a job, at<br />
least not the kind of job I would like,<br />
and the kind I was educated <strong>for</strong>.<br />
In the meantime, I have devoted<br />
all my love to my family, especially to<br />
my three year old son and his education.<br />
But as time goes by there are<br />
more and more questions to which I<br />
cannot find any answers. "Mommy,<br />
why is this man talking to himself?<br />
Why are those women on TV crying?<br />
Why are they carrying a picture of a<br />
soldier?"<br />
How can I explain to him why he can't<br />
go to school, or somewhere on holiday<br />
with his friends? All this would not have<br />
been so tragic if only one man had spoken<br />
to himself, if only one mother had cried<br />
and only one soldier had been buried.<br />
When I used to think about my<br />
future, I always imagined it here, in<br />
this country and among these people.<br />
When a close friend of mine went with<br />
her parents to Canada a couple of<br />
years ago I felt sorry <strong>for</strong> her. I could<br />
not understand her. I could not imagine<br />
my life far away from my family<br />
and friends, from my neighbourhood.<br />
There was no reason good enough to<br />
make me leave. I just wanted my place<br />
in this country, my chance. Today my<br />
friend is a lawyer. She works in a<br />
renowned company in Canada where<br />
she has her own house, drives her own<br />
car and makes plans about her future<br />
and the future of her daughter. I have<br />
been waiting <strong>for</strong> a job <strong>for</strong> three years,<br />
and observing the situation in the<br />
country I live in constant fear <strong>for</strong> my<br />
family's future, about my son's tomorrow.<br />
People usually say: "We should<br />
be patient, and have faith." But I keep<br />
asking: "Patient till when?" and "Faith<br />
in whom?"<br />
I believe in the future of this country<br />
and the wisdom of this people. I<br />
hope that we will soon find a way out<br />
of this dead-end street and start to live<br />
and think like Europeans. This people<br />
and this country deserves it. If it does<br />
not happen, I hope I will have an<br />
opportunity to find my chance in another<br />
place, in another country. But-I must<br />
say this again-I hope that I will not<br />
have to do it. Because, as old people<br />
say, nobody wants to pull up his roots.<br />
Nowhere is the sun so warm and bright.<br />
Nowhere are people so full of love.<br />
Dear God, please help Macedonia.<br />
(The author is a pedagogue)<br />
Politicians are thinking about<br />
the crisis and possible solutions<br />
59<br />
Branko Gjorgjevski<br />
Xhelal Neziri<br />
After several months of participation<br />
in the government of political<br />
unity, SDSM decided to return to the<br />
opposition. Their most serious political<br />
rival, VMRO-DPMNE, called this<br />
move a "desertion in the most difficult<br />
moment <strong>for</strong> Macedonia." The leader<br />
of SDSM, Branko Crvenkovski,<br />
offered the following explanation as to<br />
why their party left the Government,<br />
conclusions they drew from the war,<br />
and their perspective:<br />
"It is true that the security situation<br />
has not been completely brought back<br />
to earlier levels and neither are consequences<br />
of the war resolved. Incidents<br />
and problems with the return of security<br />
<strong>for</strong>ces should be expected in the<br />
future. However, the political framework<br />
has been set and the government<br />
should follow it. From our perspective,<br />
we do not want to be an alibi <strong>for</strong><br />
Ljubcho Georgievski's disastrous politics<br />
any longer because it is a politics<br />
marked by corruption, stealing, personal<br />
profit, and partiality… That<br />
kind of politics brought Macedonia<br />
into this situation and we want to<br />
defeat it," says Crvenkovski.<br />
BRIDGES FOR COEXIS-<br />
TENCE HAVE STILL<br />
BEEN PRESERVED<br />
According to Crvenkovski, the<br />
greatest success is that Macedonia has<br />
escaped general interethnic war,<br />
which could have caused a division of<br />
the country.<br />
"We have managed to escape<br />
interethnic war and division of the territory,<br />
the idea of exchange of people<br />
and territories has been defeated, a<br />
political solution<br />
has been<br />
found, the<br />
support of the<br />
international community has been<br />
gained and interethnic confidence is<br />
being restored," Crvenkovski emphasized.<br />
"The bridges <strong>for</strong> coexistence<br />
have been preserved. But it is necessary<br />
to make them stronger."<br />
"This war did not start because<br />
someone wanted more Albanians to<br />
become policemen or students,"<br />
Crvenkovski continued. "The war<br />
began with people who wanted to put<br />
<strong>for</strong>ward the idea of territorial division<br />
and so they set up conditions <strong>for</strong><br />
secession. Instead of constantly<br />
accusing members of the other side,<br />
the other ethnic group, and the other<br />
religion, someone from the Albanian<br />
political corpus should condemn<br />
Albanian national<strong>ism</strong> and chauvin<strong>ism</strong>,<br />
Return of peace, December 2001
60<br />
just as some from the Macedonian<br />
political body have had the courage to<br />
talk about Macedonian national<strong>ism</strong><br />
and radical<strong>ism</strong>. Such an approach will<br />
rein<strong>for</strong>ce mutual confidence and convince<br />
the other side that there really<br />
are <strong>for</strong>ces which are ready to build a<br />
common life."<br />
Crvenkovski believes that a political<br />
solution must be reached in order<br />
to preserve the bridges of mutual confidence<br />
and provide any kind of international<br />
reputation <strong>for</strong> Macedonia.<br />
"Everything is in vain if we do not<br />
build a bridge of mutual confidence<br />
based on the interethnic plan,"<br />
Crvenkovski said. "You can make<br />
whatever constitution you like, or keep<br />
the old one and make it even more<br />
Macedonian than the previous one. If<br />
it does not hold water, there will be no<br />
coexistence."<br />
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT<br />
TO GAIN SUPPORT OF<br />
THE INTERNATIONAL<br />
COMMUNITY<br />
"SDSM will remain in coalition<br />
with one of the Albanian parties in<br />
Macedonia. The situation in<br />
Macedonia will become much more<br />
stable if everyone takes equal responsibility<br />
<strong>for</strong> it," says Crvenkovski. In<br />
announcing that his party will play a<br />
leading role in responsible politics,<br />
Crvenkovski continued, "Party rating<br />
and reputation are absolutely worthless<br />
if you lose the country." That is<br />
why SDSM entered the Government<br />
of political unity.<br />
"We could not stand aside and<br />
watch Macedonia collapse in order to<br />
prove the triumph of SDSM. If we had<br />
not entered the Government,<br />
Macedonia would have become a new<br />
Bosnia. Far too many adventurous,<br />
insensible, and hasty movements had<br />
been made be<strong>for</strong>e we entered the executive<br />
power. The more rational attitude<br />
that we promoted contributed to<br />
providing and preserving peace,"<br />
claims Crvenkovski.<br />
In that context, he also thinks that<br />
it is important to have the support of<br />
the international community.<br />
"The international community is<br />
not against Macedonia. The idea that<br />
the whole world is against us is tied up<br />
with the mantra that the war is a consequence<br />
of some evil which was<br />
brought from outside and not something<br />
we did on our own. The international<br />
community firmly claims that<br />
Macedonian territorial integrity and its<br />
borders should not come into question.<br />
That attitude is more Macedonian than<br />
the one promoted by some<br />
Macedonian circles about the<br />
exchange of territories and people.<br />
That could have definitely destroyed<br />
Macedonian territorial integrity and<br />
we could have lost our country," thinks<br />
Crvenkovski.<br />
We should take that aspect in consideration.<br />
However, there are a lot of<br />
other things, which should be changed<br />
in Macedonia.<br />
"We must introduce different<br />
moral attitudes and systems of values<br />
in this country. The crucial question is,<br />
what are we all going to do to deal<br />
with criminals and other outlaws?<br />
Evil is greater than we can see, and we<br />
are at a crossroads at the moment: to<br />
accept either a South American or a<br />
European state model," thinks<br />
Crvenkovski.<br />
ROOTS OF THIS CRISIS<br />
LIE DEEPER<br />
Chedo Kralevski, the coordinator<br />
of the largest representative group in<br />
the Parliament, VMRO-DPMNE,<br />
thinks that his party shares responsibility<br />
<strong>for</strong> the implementation of the Ohrid<br />
Agreement, but also that the international<br />
community has broken its own<br />
proclaimed principles in Macedonia.<br />
He is afraid that the Albanian political<br />
factor has taken sides, moderate and<br />
radical, which is not a good sign <strong>for</strong><br />
the relaxation of interethnic tensions.<br />
"The Macedonian example has<br />
showed that it is the international community<br />
which breaks its own principles<br />
regarding international relations,"<br />
says Kralevski.<br />
He explains this thesis by the fact<br />
that Macedonia, as a sovereign state,<br />
has experienced aggression from a<br />
protectorate like Kosovo, which is<br />
under control of the international community.<br />
"The international community<br />
called this aggression by its proper<br />
name-terror<strong>ism</strong>, and Albanian extrem<strong>ism</strong>-at<br />
the beginning. Later the international<br />
community changed their<br />
name to "fighters <strong>for</strong> human rights and<br />
freedom'" and "rebels." That means<br />
that the principle of the protection of<br />
one independent country's sovereignty<br />
has been violated and terror<strong>ism</strong> has<br />
actually been legalized," the coordinator<br />
of the VMRO-DPMNE representative<br />
group commented.<br />
The roots of this crisis, according<br />
to Kralevski, lie deeper than what is<br />
now happening in Macedonia.<br />
"First, the international community<br />
took sides when Slobodan<br />
Miloshevich's regime was in power in<br />
Yugoslavia by approving the NATO<br />
intervention. I think that, in order to<br />
oppose Milosevic, the international<br />
community sided with the Albanian<br />
factor. The creation of the Kosovo<br />
Protection Corps, which was supposed<br />
to represent an institutional <strong>for</strong>m <strong>for</strong><br />
the fighters <strong>for</strong> freedom and rights,<br />
was in fact the creation of a military<br />
organization, which actually continued<br />
to work according to the principles of<br />
the Prizren League," says Kralevski.<br />
"It was allowed to develop ideas<br />
about a greater Albanian country, even<br />
though Miloshevich's ideology about a<br />
great Serbian country had previously<br />
been condemned and punished.<br />
Terrorists were allowed to present<br />
themselves as "fighters <strong>for</strong> human<br />
rights," although it was clear that the<br />
Albanian minority in Macedonia<br />
enjoyed all rights and freedom,"<br />
Kralevski said.<br />
OHRID AGREEMENT WAS<br />
A FORCED SOLUTION<br />
That is how the Ohrid Framework<br />
Agreement came to be, as a <strong>for</strong>ced<br />
solution, which was supposed to prevent<br />
interethnic war on a wider scale.<br />
"That agreement can represent a<br />
good foundation <strong>for</strong> calming down the<br />
situation in the country especially if<br />
we take into consideration statements<br />
made by the Albanian representatives<br />
in the Parliament, such as the one<br />
Abdurahman Aliti made: 'this is more<br />
or less the end of Albanian demands in<br />
Macedonia.' However, activities show<br />
Return of peace, December 2001
that peace has not yet settled down the<br />
sites of the fighting," Kralevski said.<br />
He is afraid that a strategy could be<br />
developed to conquer the Macedonian<br />
territory step by step.<br />
"The military activities of the<br />
Albanian terrorists have not stopped.<br />
Rapes, murders and ethnic cleansing<br />
happen continuously. The Albanian<br />
political factor has divided into parts:<br />
one is moderate and cooperative while<br />
the others are radical. Support <strong>for</strong> the<br />
peace process on the one hand, and<br />
radical<strong>ism</strong>, as practiced by Kastriot<br />
Haxhirexha's NDP, on the other. They<br />
are not establishing a good basis <strong>for</strong><br />
the relaxation of interethnic tensions,<br />
which is the main condition <strong>for</strong> the<br />
country to function," claims Kralevski.<br />
In such a situation, in his opinion,<br />
the Macedonian political block does<br />
not have much space to act. "It is<br />
good that the Albanian political factor<br />
is included in the government, but the<br />
process of constitutional changes<br />
should be carefully realized. In such a<br />
situation, we should insist that the<br />
international actors put pressure on the<br />
Albanians to state clearly that they<br />
dissociate themselves from the activities<br />
carried out by the remaining terrorist<br />
groups. No one wants open confrontation,"<br />
Kralevski stated.<br />
He thinks that coalitions between<br />
the strongest Albanian and<br />
Macedonian parties should continue.<br />
"We should build an economic and<br />
political life together. The roots of the<br />
crisis are deep and date back to the<br />
time when Yugoslavia, in which<br />
Albanians had certain rights, fell<br />
apart. In the last ten years, some<br />
things were kept hidden in Macedonia<br />
and that is why we are surprised. The<br />
escalation of the crisis could not have<br />
happened in just one or two years. We<br />
did not have the potential to deal with<br />
terror<strong>ism</strong> alone, and that is why we<br />
will have to rely on the international<br />
factor."<br />
ALBANIANS FELT<br />
DISCRIMINATED<br />
The Republic of Macedonia has<br />
endured constant tension <strong>for</strong> a long<br />
time because Albanians in this country<br />
felt discriminated against. Their<br />
rights were not fulfilled and they had<br />
to constantly demand their fulfilment.<br />
In order to overcome this conflict<br />
and attempt to solve political problems<br />
in Macedonia, a political agreement<br />
was reached in Ohrid with the<br />
help of the international community.<br />
Representatives of two Albanian political<br />
parties, PDP and DPA, think that<br />
we should not hold onto illusions that<br />
this process will be easily accomplished<br />
and they hope <strong>for</strong> help from<br />
international actors.<br />
They believe that Macedonian<br />
politicians will understand that it is<br />
necessary to implement the agreement<br />
because, in their opinion, it includes<br />
resolving problems in state institutions<br />
in a manner that will establish equality<br />
and stability in Macedonia.<br />
EVERYONE WILL<br />
PROFIT FROM THOSE<br />
REFORMS<br />
PDP Vice-President Aziz<br />
Polozhani said that an important element<br />
in implementing Agreement is<br />
the constant presence of various international<br />
structures. "Besides the consequences<br />
of a ten-month long<br />
interethnic conflict, Macedonia suffered<br />
because of the lack of democratic<br />
influence. The improvement of this<br />
aspect, along with providing conditions<br />
<strong>for</strong> the application of international<br />
values in a democratic atmosphere<br />
and structure in this country, remain<br />
an important task even after the implementation<br />
of the Agreement," he said.<br />
Polozhani hopes that Macedonia is<br />
on its way to establishing consensus<br />
about certain values upon which democratic<br />
institutions will be established.<br />
He thinks that Albanians, through<br />
appropriate reconstruction and organization<br />
based not only upon the Ohrid<br />
Agreement but also upon other values,<br />
could become a factor of stability<br />
which would encourage the country's<br />
integration into the Euro-Atlantic<br />
structures.<br />
"That is why, with support from<br />
the international community in the<br />
economic, development, and investment<br />
spheres, we will provide conditions<br />
<strong>for</strong> our children to live in a country<br />
with greater prosperity and democratic<br />
values."<br />
However, Polozhani claims that<br />
the Ohrid Agreement does not provide<br />
the maximum level of rights, but<br />
implementation will allow <strong>for</strong> greater<br />
development. "From this perspective,<br />
Albanians must understand that a<br />
large part of their aspirations have<br />
been fulfilled with this agreement, and<br />
that they are one step closer to the values<br />
they have accepted as their own. I<br />
want to say that there are no winners<br />
and losers with the implementation of<br />
the Ohrid Agreement. It will bring real<br />
peace, economic prosperity, and faster<br />
integration with the European Union,"<br />
he emphasized and added that everyone<br />
will profit from those re<strong>for</strong>ms. In<br />
his opinion, the Albanian political parties<br />
that oppose the Agreement are<br />
wrong in labelling some people as<br />
patriots and others as traitors because<br />
"what was agreed upon was done in<br />
accordance with the international<br />
community."<br />
YOU CANNOT HAVE TOO<br />
MANY RIGHTS<br />
Polozhani also stated that those<br />
who say that Albanians have too many<br />
rights are wrong. "Generally speaking,<br />
you cannot have too many rights<br />
but there is a limit. Our rights finish<br />
somewhere and someone else's rights<br />
begin. The implementation of the<br />
Agreement does not limit the rights of<br />
Macedonians and that is a fact. The<br />
feeling that they have lost something<br />
is provoked by their mentality based<br />
upon the discrimination against<br />
Albanians and their view that they<br />
have unfairly lost privileges,"<br />
Polozhani claimed. He added that this<br />
psychological stance will be overcome<br />
once Macedonians see that all<br />
ethnic groups feel this country is<br />
shared in common, which is the main<br />
condition of stability <strong>for</strong> both<br />
Macedonia and the whole region.<br />
Additionally, Polozhani stated that<br />
Macedonia will receive help from the<br />
international community in every<br />
phase of the Agreement's implementation<br />
in order to restore its economy<br />
and become closer to alignment with<br />
the North Atlantic structures. "The<br />
first step in this direction is the donor's<br />
61<br />
Return of peace, December 2001
62<br />
conference and it will surely be followed<br />
by other economic injections,<br />
which will improve the living standard.<br />
However, the way these finances<br />
are administered is important because<br />
we have already seen what tension<br />
corruption can cause." Further,<br />
Polozhani expressed his hope that<br />
international monitoring will be provided<br />
<strong>for</strong> the administration of the<br />
donated funds.<br />
He thinks that the central issue of<br />
the Ohrid Agreement is decentralization<br />
because, in his opinion, the country<br />
was too centralized due to political<br />
interests. "One of the ways to make<br />
Albanians equally responsible <strong>for</strong> the<br />
future of this country is decentralization<br />
of power. Complete implementation<br />
of this part of the re<strong>for</strong>m will be<br />
very important <strong>for</strong> the final quality of<br />
changes," Polozhani emphasized. He<br />
hopes that all Albanians in Macedonia<br />
are aware of the importance of this<br />
dimension of the re<strong>for</strong>ms, and will do<br />
anything to put them through.<br />
WE SHOULD NOT<br />
EXPECT ANYTHING<br />
SPECTACULAR<br />
The vice-president of DPA, Ilijaz<br />
Halimi, said that after the implementation<br />
of the re<strong>for</strong>ms included in the<br />
Ohrid Agreement, we should not<br />
expect any spectacular changes in<br />
people's lives, but he also believes that<br />
there will be some improvements.<br />
"When the constitutional changes<br />
are adopted several laws will be<br />
passed, along with a list of the<br />
Parliament's duties and responsibilities,<br />
which will cover the greatest part<br />
of the Ohrid Agreement. Then, other<br />
measures to restore confidence will<br />
be put in place in order to provide<br />
long-term peace in Macedonia. Even<br />
if all of these regulations are passed<br />
as soon as possible, we should not<br />
expect any spectacular changes in<br />
people's lives. However, there will be<br />
certain improvements, especially<br />
concerning the fulfilment of Albanian<br />
rights," Halimi commented.<br />
Halimi believes that Macedonians<br />
will not lose anything with these<br />
changes because they will continue to<br />
"enjoy their rights as af<strong>for</strong>ded in this<br />
work." Halimi continued, "First of<br />
all, if we take into consideration the<br />
donor's conference, which is expected<br />
to bring the financial means <strong>for</strong> the<br />
restoration of the country's economy,<br />
all Macedonian citizens should<br />
expect economic prosperity. This<br />
will also reduce the unemployment<br />
rate and solve other social questions."<br />
Halimi thinks that after the final<br />
implementation of the Ohrid<br />
Agreement we will live in more stable<br />
surroundings because many aspirations<br />
and goals of Albanian political<br />
parties will be realized. "I am satisfied<br />
with this document because it fulfils<br />
the promises that DPA made to its<br />
voters. I do not want to talk about all<br />
the promises that were made be<strong>for</strong>e<br />
we came to power, but we will remind<br />
our voters during the next elections.<br />
In fact, we have accomplished something<br />
of great importance <strong>for</strong> us as a<br />
political party," he said.<br />
According to Halimi, there are<br />
still some outstanding issues that<br />
require solutions. "I am saying this<br />
because you can never get enough ethnic<br />
and civil rights. That means that<br />
those who say that the constitutional<br />
changes completely fulfil Albanian<br />
rights in Macedonia are wrong.<br />
Regardless of what has been accomplished<br />
by the Ohrid Agreement, the<br />
improvement of ethnic and civil rights<br />
must continue, and according to international<br />
standards," he said.<br />
Halimi also stated that obstructions<br />
from various institutions or individuals<br />
are to be expected, but he<br />
thinks that the process will be monitored<br />
by the international community.<br />
"Every obstacle in the implementation<br />
of the re<strong>for</strong>ms included in the<br />
Agreement will be an obstacle to the<br />
integration of Macedonia in international<br />
structures. Taking this into<br />
consideration, I believe that all political<br />
subjects in the country will come<br />
to their senses and understand that<br />
everyone will profit if the re<strong>for</strong>ms are<br />
implemented," emphasized Halimi.<br />
Regarding measures to restore<br />
interethnic confidence, he believes that<br />
we should take into consideration one<br />
very concrete ef<strong>for</strong>t, not only of political<br />
entities, but also state institutions-cooperation<br />
with the international community.<br />
"I am saying this because that is the<br />
only way to understand each other without<br />
prejudice. According to the Ohrid<br />
Agreement, the authorities should make<br />
governance more accessible to common<br />
citizens. I am talking about the laws<br />
connected to the decentralization of<br />
power, which will be adopted in the near<br />
future. Actually, with the law of local<br />
self-government and the law of financing<br />
of the local authorities, municipalities<br />
will have more responsibilities than<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e in the fields of culture, education,<br />
social protection, rural and urban planning<br />
and so on," Halimi said. He thinks<br />
that municipalities will have more<br />
financial means <strong>for</strong> handling these<br />
spheres but always in the interest of citizens<br />
to fulfil of their needs.<br />
IMPROVEMENT OF<br />
LIVING CONDITIONS<br />
Halimi believes that there will be<br />
many positive changes in this dimension,<br />
which will support the interest<br />
of citizens and improvement of their<br />
living conditions. "This will also be<br />
useful <strong>for</strong> the country itself because<br />
central authorities will be exempted<br />
from the many obligations they have<br />
had up until now. Because they were<br />
so busy, central authorities could not<br />
function in all parts of the country,<br />
which will not be the case when the<br />
greatest authority is given to municipalities,"<br />
Halimi emphasized. Halimi<br />
hopes that, with the realization of the<br />
aspirations resulting from the Ohrid<br />
Agreement, our country will fulfil<br />
almost all international standards and<br />
will move quicker towards integration<br />
in the Euro-Atlantic structures.<br />
In his opinion, final membership<br />
in EU and NATO will bring many<br />
good things. Among them, our citizens<br />
would no longer need visas <strong>for</strong><br />
European countries and would be<br />
able to travel freely and exchange<br />
goods. Halimi hopes that after the<br />
implementation of the Agreement,<br />
Macedonia will have many advantages<br />
regarding its membership in the<br />
Euro-Atlantic structures compared to<br />
other countries in the Balkans.<br />
(Branko Gjorgjevski is a journalist<br />
at Dnevnik, Xhelal Neziri is<br />
a journalist at Fakti)<br />
Return of peace, December 2001
Nobody should be afraid to go back home<br />
Igor K. Ilievski<br />
Almost six months after the first<br />
armed clashes in the Kumanovo<br />
region began, Opae is now a place of<br />
unusual commotion. People unload<br />
trucks filled with bricks, tiles, and<br />
roof beams in the middle of the village<br />
and returning inhabitants are<br />
repairing the houses that were damaged<br />
during the battles. A month ago,<br />
this village was nothing but a "fighting<br />
position." Macedonian security<br />
<strong>for</strong>ces and members of NLA had<br />
positioned themselves on opposite<br />
sides of the road from Kumanovo and<br />
Slupchane. During the first four<br />
months, street<br />
fighting occurred<br />
often in<br />
battles that took<br />
place in the<br />
Kumanovo region.<br />
Now life is<br />
slowly coming<br />
back to the village.<br />
By now, a<br />
great number of<br />
inhabitants have<br />
returned to the<br />
village. But<br />
Macedonians<br />
are not among<br />
them. While 1,800 of the village's<br />
2,100 residents have come back, only<br />
three Macedonian families have<br />
returned. The rest are Albanians.<br />
"The door is open <strong>for</strong> Macedonians,<br />
too," said Rexhep Shakiri, the president<br />
of the local council.<br />
Macedonians think that returning<br />
to Opae is not safe <strong>for</strong> them, especially<br />
since the security <strong>for</strong>ces left the<br />
village a month ago. The refugees<br />
are still in the boarding school in the<br />
village Dolno Konjare and in the<br />
hotels Kristal and Kuba in<br />
Kumanovo. Still, what the politicians<br />
failed to do, the villagers are<br />
trying to settle themselves.<br />
A group of Macedonian refugees<br />
arranged a meeting with the Albanian<br />
block in Opae. "We should discuss<br />
the restoration of mutual confidence.<br />
Some of the refugees demand that the<br />
police and army return to the village,<br />
but if we lack mutual confidence, the<br />
police and army cannot help much,"<br />
says Sladzhan Ilievski, a villager<br />
from Opae.<br />
The neighbouring village of<br />
Lopate is one of a few where<br />
Macedonians and Albanians remained<br />
together during the military<br />
action. The inhabitants agreed<br />
together, met the commanders of the<br />
Army and police, organized village<br />
guards, and stayed together until the<br />
end. But Opae had the mis<strong>for</strong>tune to<br />
be in the centre of the fighting.<br />
"Macedonians did not stay in this<br />
village. We could not build mutual<br />
confidence, which could have held<br />
together. Their houses have been<br />
damaged recently," commented Sali<br />
Neziri from Opae.<br />
The bravest ones, who in spite of<br />
everything returned to the village<br />
after a couple of months, did not<br />
escape unscathed. "When someone<br />
goes to the village, the other villagers<br />
Opae inhabitants are trying to heal the wounds<br />
caused by the long months of armed clashes<br />
insult him, and even sometimes<br />
attack him. My mother went to see<br />
the house after seven months and<br />
somebody threw a stone at her," says<br />
one of the Macedonians who was<br />
<strong>for</strong>ced to leave the village. He also<br />
added that, besides the damage done<br />
during the battles, Macedonian houses<br />
in Opae were demolished after the<br />
security <strong>for</strong>ces left the village.<br />
Opae is one of the five villages<br />
included in the pilot project <strong>for</strong> bringing<br />
back police presence. From 10<br />
am to 4 pm., an ethnically mixed<br />
group of three Macedonian and three<br />
Albanian police will be on patrol.<br />
But the Macedonian refugees think<br />
that is not enough <strong>for</strong> safe life in the<br />
village.<br />
"The policemen are there till 4<br />
p.m. and after that the other villagers<br />
demolish our houses. They make<br />
holes in the walls, all the doors and<br />
windows are broken, and all kinds of<br />
things are written on the walls...<br />
Those are threatening messages. I<br />
think that there isn't a single non-<br />
Albanian house where people could<br />
63<br />
Return of peace, December 2001
64<br />
live," says one of the refugees.<br />
At least 130 houses were demolished<br />
in Opae-more than one third of<br />
the village. While Macedonians think<br />
that their fellow villagers destroyed<br />
their houses, the Albanian inhabitants<br />
of Opae believe that Macedonian<br />
security <strong>for</strong>ces destroyed their homes.<br />
"I stayed here the entire time.<br />
There were six people in the village<br />
altogether: Myself, my brother, and<br />
four other men. Macedonian<br />
reservists destroyed my house. They<br />
used to come every two or three days<br />
while the fighting was going on, looking<br />
<strong>for</strong> the NLA. But I have held out<br />
till now," Mr. Neziri said.<br />
ONE OF HIS NEIGH-<br />
BOURS TELLS<br />
A SIMILAR STORY:<br />
"I returned to the village three<br />
weeks ago. I discovered that seven of<br />
eight houses belonging to our family<br />
had been demolished. It was not the<br />
NLA which destroyed my house, it<br />
was the reservists," says an older<br />
Albanian from another part of the village.<br />
Everyone tells their own story and<br />
the negative role always belongs to<br />
the other ethnic group.<br />
"My house was demolished after<br />
the army and police had left the village.<br />
I used to come regularly while<br />
the battle was being fought. Together<br />
with some other Macedonians, I used<br />
to bring bread, oil, and cigarettes to<br />
our neighbours, who are Albanian and<br />
stayed in the village. Now the very<br />
same neighbours broke into my house,<br />
stole everything and demolished it,"<br />
says a Macedonian from Opae.<br />
The inhabitants from Opae, both<br />
Macedonian and Albanian, think that<br />
politicians and their personal interests<br />
are responsible <strong>for</strong> everything that<br />
happened to the village.<br />
"Everyone will have to answer <strong>for</strong><br />
this. It was all because of five or six<br />
people and their political interests.<br />
First they took what is ours and than<br />
they left us on the street," says one of<br />
Opae's inhabitants.<br />
Macedonians and Albanians from<br />
Opae decided to meet in the village in<br />
order to talk about mutual confidence<br />
and restoring normal life. OSCE will act<br />
as a go-between in the beginning. OSCE<br />
representatives had separate meetings<br />
with both Albanians and Macedonians<br />
from Opae during which they discussed<br />
the return of the refugees.<br />
"Everyone should decide <strong>for</strong> himself<br />
whether to come back or not. If<br />
we have guarantees that we will be<br />
safe, and if confidence is restored, I<br />
will go back with my family," says<br />
Mr. Ilievski.<br />
His neighbour offers him encouragement.<br />
"Macedonians should come<br />
back. There is no reason to be afraid<br />
because they will be coming back to<br />
their own homes. Nobody should be<br />
afraid to come back home," says Mr.<br />
Neziri.<br />
Life is slowly coming back to<br />
Opae. UNHCR has donated building<br />
material <strong>for</strong> the reconstruction of<br />
demolished houses to help the villagers.<br />
The reconstruction of the<br />
electrical system is in progress. The<br />
villagers are repairing the destroyed<br />
houses and waiting <strong>for</strong> the promised<br />
firewood. The village school has<br />
been restored. For a moment, the<br />
laughing children emerging from a<br />
freshly painted school building disperses<br />
the shadows gathered around<br />
the hole-ridden facades and burned<br />
rooftops of the neighbouring houses.<br />
The inhabitants of Opae are trying to<br />
rebuild their homes and their lives.<br />
(Igor K. Ilievski is a journalist<br />
at Dnevnik)<br />
Arachinovo - example of good neighbourhood<br />
but not of the relationship<br />
between the state and its citizens<br />
Laura Papraniku<br />
Of the 14,000 inhabitants in the<br />
Arachinovo municipality, only 6 per<br />
cent are non- Albanian. The majority<br />
ethnic group always respected the<br />
Macedonians, Serbians, and<br />
Bosnians who live in Arachinovo<br />
and neighbouring villages. Life<br />
between the different groups was not<br />
disturbed during the war, nor was it<br />
once the war was over. During the<br />
most severe fighting, from the morning<br />
of 22 June until the evening of<br />
24 June 2001, Arachinovo was<br />
bombed from both the air and the<br />
ground. A significant number of<br />
Macedonians, mostly the elderly,<br />
took refuge in their basements. The<br />
NLA did not disturb them.<br />
Albanians looked after their welfare<br />
and brought them food and medicine.<br />
Beyond the humanitarian<br />
dimension, this example is a sign of<br />
the common life and mutual respect<br />
between people belonging to differ-<br />
Unlike the<br />
Albanians, who have<br />
almost all returned to<br />
Arachinovo,<br />
Macedonian inhabitants<br />
have not yet returned to<br />
their homes. Except<br />
those who did not leave<br />
their homes at all, others<br />
return to<br />
Arachinovo only during<br />
the day, clean their<br />
houses or work in their<br />
backyards, and then go<br />
back to their temporary<br />
shelter. They do not stay<br />
after the sun goes down<br />
Return of peace, December 2001
ent religious and ethnic groups who<br />
live in Macedonia. "We have<br />
always had a good life with<br />
Albanians. They have always<br />
helped when we were in trouble and<br />
we have never had any problems<br />
with them," said Macedonians about<br />
their Albanian neighbours and vice<br />
versa.<br />
DISCONTENT PRO-<br />
VOKED BY THE WAR<br />
Then who made the Albanians<br />
take up arms and fight?! "The<br />
state," answered Reshat Ferati,<br />
mayor of Arachinovo. Until two<br />
years ago, he explained, except <strong>for</strong><br />
regular police, special police patrols<br />
were rare. In fact, there was no need<br />
<strong>for</strong> such a thing. "Police should act<br />
only when there is a problem.<br />
Besides, people do not feel com<strong>for</strong>table<br />
if police are always present,"<br />
Ferati offered. Two years ago three<br />
policemen were shot at the entrance<br />
to Arachinovo, which proves that<br />
the presence of police patrols in this<br />
region brings bad luck, according to<br />
Ferati. "On the other hand, it seems<br />
that the Ministry of Internal Affairs<br />
intended to completely destroy<br />
Arachinovo. To achieve that goal,<br />
as it was confirmed later, the state<br />
set up the policemen's murder,"<br />
claimed Ferati.<br />
Under the pretext of finding the<br />
murderers (who have never been<br />
found), special police units were<br />
brought into Arachinovo. Many<br />
houses were searched; innocent citizens<br />
were tortured, beaten, and<br />
arrested. One person, Sabri Hasani,<br />
died. On 11 January 1999, when the<br />
policemen were murdered, Hasani<br />
was in his cottage in Mavrovo,<br />
almost 100 kilometres from the<br />
scene of the crime. "All this,"<br />
explained Ferati, "has contributed to<br />
the negative experience that the<br />
local inhabitants have had with<br />
policemen, soldiers, and the state<br />
itself."<br />
Since 1992, the inhabitants of<br />
Malino, Brest, and Tanushevci<br />
(along the border between<br />
Macedonia and Kosovo) have faced<br />
various kinds of pressure, first from<br />
Serbian and then from Macedonian<br />
soldiers. This problem caused people<br />
to move to Arachinovo from<br />
other villages. The discrimination<br />
continued and consequently the villagers'<br />
hatred toward state institutions<br />
grew. Thus, in Arachinovo as<br />
in the other critical regions, the<br />
"NLA appeared as a response to the<br />
repression experienced by the local<br />
Albanians," commented Ferati.<br />
FEAR OF A SET-UP<br />
INCIDENT<br />
"People were afraid that the state<br />
would set another trap in<br />
Arachinovo and under the guise of<br />
searching through the houses, torture<br />
and arrest people," said Haxhi<br />
Imeri. "And that's why we were<br />
<strong>for</strong>ced to organize ourselves <strong>for</strong> our<br />
defence, in case the state decided to<br />
attack," he explained. The experience<br />
from the burned and destroyed<br />
villages where NLA had appeared<br />
was still fresh. What happened in<br />
Tanushevci, Malino, Brest and<br />
Gushince (on Skopska Crna Gora),<br />
Vaksince, Slupchane, Orizari,<br />
Matejche (near Lipkovo), Selce,<br />
Gajre and Lavce (on Shar<br />
Mountain) confirms this claim.<br />
Many inhabitants of Arachinovo,<br />
feeling that war was approaching,<br />
left their homes. Many went to<br />
Skopje and others to Kosovo. The<br />
greatest number of Albanians who<br />
temporarily left the country passed<br />
through the border crossing at<br />
Blace. According to UNHCR, the<br />
number of refugees was over<br />
56,000.<br />
ALBANIANS HAVE<br />
RETURNED TO ARACHI-<br />
NOVO, MACEDONIANS<br />
HAVE NOT<br />
Severe battles were fought,<br />
according to the inhabitants of<br />
Arachinovo. Additionally, they<br />
were under constant shellfire, but<br />
<strong>for</strong>tunately there were no civilian<br />
casualties. On 26 September 2001,<br />
during the second phase of the disarmament<br />
of <strong>for</strong>mer NLA members,<br />
five de-mining units removed unexploded<br />
mines, making it possible <strong>for</strong><br />
refugees to return to Arachinovo.<br />
The damage was enormous.<br />
According to Mayor Ferati, 1,600 of<br />
2,000 houses were damaged. The<br />
electric, water, and telephone systems<br />
no longer worked.<br />
The installation of electricity-a<br />
project costing 3 million German<br />
marks and financed by the European<br />
Union-should be completed by<br />
December. The problem with electricity<br />
will be solved <strong>for</strong> the next 30<br />
years. The houses belonging to the<br />
first and second category were<br />
repaired. "I am sorry to in<strong>for</strong>m you<br />
that, <strong>for</strong> the time being, we do not<br />
have enough means to repair the<br />
most severely damaged houses,<br />
which means 183 of the third category<br />
and 249 houses of the fourth<br />
category remain unrepaired," Ferati<br />
commented.<br />
In spite of the difficult conditions<br />
that Arachinovo inhabitants<br />
must face at the moment, a semblance<br />
of normal life has returned.<br />
Although they are almost destroyed,<br />
with nylon sheeting instead of windows<br />
and snow and rain dripping<br />
through the ceiling in every room,<br />
the people of Arachinovo decided to<br />
spend this winter in their homes.<br />
Among other successes, a new<br />
school that holds 750 pupils has<br />
been re-opened. Children are <strong>for</strong>ced<br />
to study in classrooms that have tarpaulins<br />
instead of windows.<br />
Although the weather is cold and<br />
rainy, "still, it is important to go to<br />
school," says Shkelzen, a sixthgrade<br />
pupil.<br />
Not a day goes by without a wall<br />
fixed or part of a roof repaired. The<br />
number of families who have finished<br />
all preparations to spend the<br />
winter in their homes grows every<br />
day. There are also families that<br />
will stay with their relatives this<br />
year because they cannot make<br />
repairs in time. "We could have<br />
stayed in Kosovo longer," said<br />
65<br />
Return of peace, December 2001
66<br />
Anife, "but we will spend this winter<br />
more calmly if we are closer to our<br />
homes."<br />
Unlike the Albanians, most of<br />
whom have returned to Arachinovo,<br />
Macedonian inhabitants have not<br />
returned to their homes. Except <strong>for</strong><br />
those who did not leave their homes<br />
at all, others come to Arachinovo<br />
only during the day, clean their<br />
houses or work in their backyards,<br />
and return to their temporary shelters.<br />
They do not stay after the sun<br />
goes down.<br />
MINISTER BALKOVSKI<br />
PROMISES FLATS FOR<br />
MACEDONIANS IN SKOPJE<br />
Kruna Pavlova, a 58-year-old<br />
Macedonian, is one of the few<br />
Macedonians who remained in<br />
Arachinovo during the war. "I<br />
stayed hidden in the basement of an<br />
Albanian house during those days,<br />
because my house is very old and<br />
does not have a basement," she<br />
explained. "All of my neighbours<br />
are Albanians, and I have never<br />
quarrelled with them since we came<br />
to live here. They belong to a different<br />
religion and different nationality,<br />
but Albanians are people with<br />
a warm heart and they don't break<br />
their word," said Kruna.<br />
She lives alone in a two-room<br />
house. She was born in Vranje in<br />
Serbia. Forty-four years ago, she<br />
married a man from Arachinovo.<br />
"My husband died a long time ago<br />
and the only son that I had lived <strong>for</strong><br />
only four months," says this woman<br />
about her unhappy life. "Thank God<br />
that I've got such wonderful neighbours<br />
like Sahin and his wife. Every<br />
day they leave some food <strong>for</strong> me or<br />
give it to their children to bring to<br />
me," she continued. "The day the<br />
bombing began, early in the morning<br />
around seven o'clock, I decided<br />
to go out and see what was going on.<br />
As soon as I opened the door, I saw<br />
a young boy that I know. I think he<br />
was keeping watch over my house. I<br />
remembered that he was the boy<br />
from the market place, who always<br />
let me choose the best potatoes that<br />
he was selling. Let me tell you honestly,<br />
I scolded him," said Kruna.<br />
"Get away from here," I said, "a<br />
shell might hit you." He shook his<br />
head and told me to go to someone's<br />
basement. I did not tell Sahin's wife<br />
about seeing him in the street."<br />
This woman, who was sheltered<br />
in the basement of an Albanian<br />
house, finished her story. "I did not<br />
leave Arachinovo because I had no<br />
reason to leave my house. There are<br />
a few Macedonians here and<br />
Albanians have never hurt us. Even<br />
those who were armed would have<br />
never done me any harm, although<br />
they knew I was Macedonian," says<br />
this woman convincingly.<br />
There are many reasons why<br />
Macedonians are not coming back,<br />
according to Ferati. "The Minister of<br />
Transport and Connections, Ljupco<br />
Balkovski, promised to give apartments<br />
in Skopje to all the<br />
Macedonians from Arachinovo," he<br />
claimed. "When Minister Balkovski<br />
visited Arachinovo on 10 August<br />
2001, he did not visit a single<br />
Albanian home and did not even find<br />
time to visit my office," said Ferati.<br />
FEAR OF WHAT<br />
TOMORROW'S DAY<br />
MIGHT BRING<br />
Since the war ended, at least thirteen<br />
Albanians have been arrested<br />
around Arachinovo. All were<br />
accused of terror<strong>ism</strong> yet criminal<br />
charges have not been brought<br />
against them even though legally,<br />
charges should be discussed within<br />
30 days of an arrest.<br />
"On 26 November 2001, it will<br />
be three months and a week since my<br />
son was arrested," said Shefkie, Ali<br />
Nuhiu's mother. "Together with his<br />
brother and his sister-in-law, Ali<br />
went to Skopje to buy some food,"<br />
Shefkie explained. "Kenan and his<br />
wife came back quickly. Their faces<br />
were sombre. I felt that something<br />
bad must have happened." In recalling<br />
the earlier events of 20 August<br />
2001, Shefkie continued, "They told<br />
me that Ali had been arrested,<br />
although I still cannot understand<br />
what act of terror<strong>ism</strong> my son could<br />
have committed while we were all<br />
refugees in Kosovo. We returned to<br />
Arachinovo, together with Ali, when<br />
the war was over."<br />
"I could not bear it," Musa, Ali's<br />
father, interjected. "With my other<br />
son, we took a taxi to the police station<br />
Avtokomanda, where I suspected<br />
that my son was being held."<br />
"My sons did nothing against the<br />
law," says Shefkie. "Ali's wife was<br />
pregnant when he was arrested, and<br />
she stayed at home with her nineyear-old<br />
daughter Agnesa. The other<br />
daughter Aida was born while Ali<br />
Nuhiu was still in prison in Shutka,<br />
near Skopje. His family has only<br />
one hope left-the amnesty law.<br />
Maybe once they pass the law, he<br />
will be released." Along with her<br />
son, the police have also arrested her<br />
brother Ismail Murtezani and two<br />
nephews, Ramadan and Belul.<br />
"Even now that the war is over,<br />
the state is trying to construct incidents<br />
that present Arachinovo in a<br />
bad light," Mayor Ferati stated. The<br />
latest occurred when three Albanian<br />
civilians were wounded on<br />
21November 2001 near the village<br />
of Mojance. "They went to the<br />
mountain to gather some wood,"<br />
said Ferati. People with horses,<br />
laden with axes, saws, and other<br />
tools, were called terrorists and<br />
accused of attacking a police patrol.<br />
Putting this misin<strong>for</strong>mation into the<br />
public sphere is wrong. "The<br />
Albanians were wounded in the village<br />
of Mojance, on their way<br />
toward the mountain. According to<br />
the pilot project <strong>for</strong> bringing back<br />
police <strong>for</strong>ces into critical zones, the<br />
police are not supposed to enter this<br />
village <strong>for</strong> the time being,"<br />
explained Ferati. Besides, the<br />
inhabitants are embittered by the<br />
attitude of paramilitary and military<br />
<strong>for</strong>ces at police checkpoints, and<br />
they are afraid that something even<br />
worse might happen in Arachinovo.<br />
(The author<br />
is a journalist at Fakti)<br />
Return of peace, December 2001
Matejche three months after the war conflict<br />
The police is back; the confidence<br />
is still in a proces of <strong>for</strong>ming<br />
Isen Saliu<br />
Sashko Dimevski<br />
After 8 months, the police have<br />
returned to Matejche, but un<strong>for</strong>tunately<br />
the process of reestablishing the trust<br />
among the local Albanian, Macedonian<br />
and Serbian population still needs a lot of<br />
ef<strong>for</strong>ts. It is not extremely important<br />
whether these ef<strong>for</strong>ts will be coming<br />
from the state representatives, the representatives<br />
of different political parties, the<br />
local authorities or even the international<br />
organization. What is truly important is<br />
that the reestablishment of the trust<br />
among common people, despite their ethnic<br />
diversity, needs to be approached seriously.<br />
This was stated with the intention<br />
to present the lack of alternative in the<br />
process of returning of the dislocated<br />
families to their homes and to their normal<br />
way of living, which now <strong>for</strong> a lot of<br />
them seems rather impossible.<br />
On Sunday, January 26th the police<br />
has returned to Matejche. One mixed ethnic<br />
patrol has started its three-and-a-half<br />
hours of patrolling through the main<br />
streets of the biggest village in the municipality<br />
of Lipkovo. On the fifth day of the<br />
patrolling, during our visit to the village,<br />
the police officers, from which one was<br />
Macedonian and the other three were<br />
Albanians, had identical evaluations<br />
about the situation - it's stabile, and they<br />
are accepted well by the local people.<br />
The culmination of the war conflict<br />
in June 2001 was the main reason <strong>for</strong> the<br />
complete desertion of the village by all its<br />
inhabitants: Albanians, Macedonians and<br />
Serbs. Soon after that period, the<br />
Albanians were the first ones that started<br />
returning to their homes or to what has<br />
left of them, while Macedonians and<br />
Undoubtedly, Matejche is<br />
the most important test<br />
<strong>for</strong> testing the functioning<br />
of the newly established<br />
multicultural and multiethnic<br />
concept in the area<br />
of Kumanovo<br />
Serbs were still scattered around different<br />
refugee shelters throughout Kumanovo.<br />
For the time being, they don't have homes<br />
to come back to. Albanians are embittered<br />
and disappointed, Macedonians and<br />
Serbs are frightened. The first ones are<br />
embittered because of the destroyed<br />
homes and they've come up with several<br />
terms that need to be realized be<strong>for</strong>e they<br />
will allow their orthodox neighbors to<br />
return to the village; among those terms is<br />
also the passing of the amnesty law or a<br />
complete realization of the Ohrid agreement.<br />
The second ones are too frightened<br />
to return to their homes, which are now<br />
ruined, burned and robbed, <strong>for</strong> which<br />
they blame their Albanian neighbors. All<br />
of these events together create a hard-todeal-with<br />
obstruction <strong>for</strong> the returning of<br />
the dislocated families to their homes and<br />
their common lives by which the village<br />
was well known. Although, this is a period<br />
of crisis and distrust among people, it<br />
has to be admitted that the people from<br />
Matejche nostalgically remember events<br />
from the past, from the real, politically<br />
liberated, mutual everyday life that they<br />
had once. Even though, now, from this<br />
point of view, this idyllic and, up until<br />
now, realistic picture, looks so strange<br />
and distant, once, not so long ago, it was<br />
visible in every corner of the every day<br />
life.<br />
The scars from the war, the loss of the<br />
members of the family or friends, the loss<br />
of homes and everything else that was<br />
built and cherished <strong>for</strong> years, are the main<br />
reasons that effect negatively the process<br />
of reestablishing the trust and the harmony<br />
that Albanians, Macedonians and<br />
Serbs from Matejche had until recently.<br />
The devastation that the war brings<br />
with itself still can be felt in this village.<br />
There is not a single house in the village<br />
that hasn't been attacked, burned and<br />
damaged in the military actions. A great<br />
number of houses are still without roofs,<br />
with damaged facades and broken windows,<br />
and another solid number of other<br />
facilities is partially or completely<br />
destroyed. The only mosque in the village,<br />
built two years ago, is now without<br />
its top part called minaret, and its interior<br />
is completely ruined. The rituals now take<br />
place in the adapted basements. The old<br />
Culture house is now nothing but a huge<br />
ruin. The same picture can be seen in the<br />
police station yard where only burned<br />
and destroyed vehicles can be found. The<br />
church from the outside doesn't appear<br />
like it has suffered a great damage,<br />
though its interior is equally demolished<br />
as a testimony of the horrible war. The<br />
main attraction, though, is in the center of<br />
the village and is the upturned and<br />
destroyed military vehicle.<br />
At the entrance of the village, we<br />
were encountered by the fitters that were<br />
installing the new electricity poles. The<br />
village has a lack of electricity from May<br />
6th, 2001, when the electricity grid was<br />
completely destroyed. The new installations<br />
are built with the help of some <strong>for</strong>eign<br />
humanitarian organizations, and the<br />
construction work was done mainly by<br />
67<br />
Will there be peace?, February 2002
68<br />
the people from the village. The village<br />
water aqueduct, on the other hand, is in a<br />
good condition, but water can be provided<br />
only <strong>for</strong> 20 minutes during the day.<br />
People explain that the reason <strong>for</strong> this is<br />
the insufficient quantity of water in the<br />
main piping. The phone lines are also not<br />
in use, except <strong>for</strong> the cell phone lines,<br />
which function perfectly. The state ambulance<br />
is in a stage of reconstruction and<br />
<strong>for</strong> now only the private medical units can<br />
offer their services.<br />
70% from the total of 650 houses in<br />
the village are ruined - says Dzhevdet<br />
Ramani, manager of the Crisis headquarters<br />
in Matejche.<br />
"The village until the beginning of the<br />
crisis was inhabited by 3600 people, <strong>for</strong>m<br />
which 3200 were Albanians and the rest<br />
of them were Macedonians and Serbs.<br />
At this moment, with the exception of<br />
the dislocated Macedonians and Serbs,<br />
only around 20 Albanian families haven't<br />
returned to their homes. With the help of<br />
the humanitarian organizations 320 houses<br />
with smaller damages are now in a<br />
process of repairment, and the reconstruction<br />
of the completely damaged ones is<br />
expected to start in the spring.<br />
The central elementary school, built<br />
in 1923, is a story of itself. Half of the<br />
building is repaired with the MCMS<br />
funding and the other half is absolutely<br />
dreadful: drooped ceiling; rotten floors in<br />
the classrooms, broken windows and roof<br />
tiles, and because of the lack of electricity<br />
the class breaks are being announced by<br />
an old bell. Otherwise, schoolbooks <strong>for</strong><br />
896 pupils <strong>for</strong> this school year were provided<br />
by UNICEF at the beginning of the<br />
second semester. The first grade pupils<br />
haven't received books yet. Although the<br />
school is bilingual, this year the classes<br />
are attended only by Albanian children,<br />
because the children of Serbian nationality<br />
are dislocated - explained the director<br />
of the school, Semi Shakiri, who also said<br />
that so far the school hasn't received any<br />
financial help from the Ministry of education.<br />
The Serbian children attend classes<br />
in two different schools in Kumanovo.<br />
- We are in a stage of negotiation<br />
with OSCE and TFF <strong>for</strong> the returning<br />
of the dislocated Macedonians and Serbs<br />
to their houses. We have made several<br />
agreements <strong>for</strong> 5+5 meeting in the municipality<br />
building in Lipkovo, but it was not<br />
realized because the 5 Serbs and<br />
Macedonians, <strong>for</strong> unknown reasons didn't<br />
appear on the meeting - says Dzhevdet<br />
Ramani. This teacher from the elementary<br />
school, claims that the road to<br />
Matejche is now free and that everyone<br />
can come to the village to his house, but<br />
he also admits that even though there are<br />
requests from the Serbs and<br />
Macedonians, their complete returning is<br />
not safe enough and is also impossible<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e the passing of the amnesty law.<br />
- The dislocated Serbs and<br />
Macedonians from Matejche are located<br />
in three refugee shelters: the hotels<br />
"Kuba" and "Kristal", as well as the student<br />
dorm in Konjare. On the second<br />
floor of the hotel "Kristal" in the center of<br />
Kumanovo, we met a larger group of dislocated<br />
people. The hotel rooms with<br />
dimensions of few square meters and with<br />
two or three beds and a sink (which<br />
means that there is only one bathroom on<br />
each floor), <strong>for</strong> these people, used to the<br />
wide-open places in their villages, are<br />
nothing more than a prison. These emotionally<br />
tensed people now live following<br />
the rules of the hotel, made by its manager.<br />
That is the reason why one can hear<br />
people saying that they cannot live like<br />
this anymore. They have a feeling like<br />
they are <strong>for</strong>gotten by the rest of the world.<br />
So far nobody, not even politicians or the<br />
representatives of the international organization,<br />
has visited these poor people or<br />
has suggested a returning to their homes,<br />
on top of that they refute that anyone has<br />
organized a meeting with the Albanian<br />
neighbors. Despite all tormenting, we<br />
were surprised that most of them, the<br />
returning to their village, don't even consider<br />
as an option. The reason <strong>for</strong> that is<br />
the fear or the feeling of insecurity, despite<br />
the fact that the police has started its<br />
patrolling in the village. They say that one<br />
should stay overnight to see how it really<br />
is.<br />
One of the few, if not the only one that<br />
has succeeded at least <strong>for</strong> a while, to see<br />
his house and the rest of his property, is<br />
the 71-year-old Aksentie Kostik - a retired<br />
electrician, who, as he says, was known<br />
by all the people from the village of<br />
Lojane to the village of Nikushtak.<br />
- On October 12th, I went to the village<br />
incognito and I was surprised by<br />
what I saw. The house and the barn were<br />
completely ruined, and all of the furniture<br />
was either stolen or destroyed. How can I<br />
come back there when I have nothing to<br />
come back to? From a rich village family<br />
now I've come down to a two-bed room<br />
in a hotel.<br />
The women that joined the conversation<br />
said that they meet their old neighbors<br />
on the streets of Kumanovo almost<br />
every day. Some of them greet them; others<br />
just turn their heads away. Some have<br />
even sent messages in which they say that<br />
they feel like they don't belong to<br />
Matejche anymore. They are afraid.<br />
- I was thrown out of my house and<br />
my property by 10 terrorists and now not<br />
even a 100 of them can bring me back -<br />
says Radovan Petrovik. "The war traumas<br />
has provoked my kidney disease and now<br />
I have to go to kidney dialyze every day.<br />
The doctors say that they can't go all the<br />
way to Matejche, so how can I go back to<br />
the village. I will stay here, I am not going<br />
back." - says this disappointed man.<br />
One of the old ladies, who is also<br />
afraid to go back to the village because of<br />
the safety, requested of the state to make a<br />
separate location in Kumanovo <strong>for</strong> the<br />
dislocated people; another old lady asked<br />
<strong>for</strong> social care; another one <strong>for</strong> health<br />
insurance….<br />
The younger ones are even more daring<br />
in making their requests. One of them,<br />
a reservist in the police <strong>for</strong>ces, is strict and<br />
decisive in his request: "Coexistence with<br />
Albanians is possible only through a<br />
shooting mark." According to him, every<br />
agreement with Albanians is possible<br />
only through politicians and through a<br />
direct communication with the neighbors.<br />
"If they really wanted us to come back to<br />
the village, they would have invited us to<br />
go back with them three months ago,<br />
when they were returning to the village."<br />
Undoubtedly, Matejche is the most<br />
important test <strong>for</strong> testing the functioning<br />
of the newly established multicultural and<br />
multiethnic concept in the Kumanovo<br />
area. If this test really succeeds in the<br />
mixed ethnic community of Matejche,<br />
there will be no obstacles <strong>for</strong> its success in<br />
other villages in the conflict region, as<br />
well.<br />
That is the reason why our feeling is<br />
that, only with an extremely serious<br />
approach to this issue, the resistance of the<br />
local people can be eliminated.<br />
(The authors are journalists in the<br />
newspapers "Fakti" and<br />
"Utrinski vesnik")<br />
Will there be peace?, February 2002
Tearce: the returning of the coexistence<br />
What one fool can spoil, not even a<br />
hundred smart people can mend it<br />
Xhelal Neziri<br />
Igor K. Ilievski<br />
The mixed ethnic Local community<br />
of the village of Tearce, in<br />
the Tetovo area was <strong>for</strong>med on<br />
December 6th, 2001. Jusuf<br />
Huseini, a Turk, was elected <strong>for</strong><br />
its president; Pavle Todorovski,<br />
Macedonian, was elected <strong>for</strong> its<br />
vice president and Safet Khamili,<br />
Albanian was elected <strong>for</strong> a secretary.<br />
Tearce is inhabited by 4200<br />
people, from whom 2500 are<br />
Albanians, 1100 are<br />
Macedonians, 500 are Turks and<br />
about 70 people are Romas.<br />
- This initiative was realized<br />
with the help of the OSCE monitors.<br />
The main objective of this<br />
body is to create the needed conditions<br />
<strong>for</strong> the returning of the<br />
dislocated families from the village,<br />
most of which are<br />
Macedonians. They have abandoned<br />
their homes on their own<br />
will. As the members of the leadership<br />
of the Local community of<br />
Tearce, we are obliged to in<strong>for</strong>m<br />
our people, which are currently<br />
not in the village, that there are<br />
conditions <strong>for</strong> their return and <strong>for</strong><br />
the safety in their home village -<br />
claims Safet Khamili, the secretary<br />
of the Local community of<br />
Tearce.<br />
He adds that be<strong>for</strong>e the war in<br />
Tearce, there were two Local<br />
communities - one consisted only<br />
of Macedonians and the second<br />
one consisted of the members of<br />
the other ethnicities in the village.<br />
The village also had two<br />
football teams.<br />
- During the war, the Ministry<br />
of internal affairs has mislead our<br />
Macedonian neighbors by giving<br />
them weapons and encouraging<br />
them to use them against their<br />
Albanian neighbors, and un<strong>for</strong>tunately<br />
that is exactly what it happened.<br />
But, besides all of these<br />
separations and anomalies that<br />
have appeared in the multiethnic<br />
relations be<strong>for</strong>e the war and now,<br />
we will make ef<strong>for</strong>ts to reestablish<br />
the coexistence and we will<br />
try to put everything that happened<br />
during the war, behind us -<br />
declared Khamili.<br />
The Macedonian story is different,<br />
quite the opposite from<br />
the one that we heard from the<br />
Albanians. Macedonians claim<br />
that during the fights they were<br />
driven out of their homes by<br />
some armed Albanians. But, they<br />
also want to leave those things in<br />
the past and to continue with their<br />
lives.<br />
In the tea-restaurant in the<br />
center of the village, Joshe<br />
Ristovski and some other retired<br />
inhabitants of Tearce are waiting<br />
to collect their pension money.<br />
Some Macedonian pilgrimers<br />
have asked Ristovski to take care<br />
of the houses they have left<br />
behind. Last week one of those<br />
hoses was robbed and Joshe was<br />
planning to make an inspection<br />
on the spot, <strong>for</strong> which he called<br />
the police, OSCE and the NATO<br />
officers from the TFF.<br />
- Tensions are slowly easing,<br />
but there still some incidents happen.<br />
Last Saturday in the next village,<br />
in the middle of the day,<br />
four people were seen robbing a<br />
house. The robbers were familiar<br />
to the people in the village. Two<br />
of them were wearing fire<br />
weapons and the other two - axes.<br />
They robbed the house, didn't say<br />
anything to anyone and they left.<br />
Now the police are here and <strong>for</strong><br />
now it's safe, but people are<br />
afraid that there are going to be<br />
other fights - says Joshe<br />
Ristovski.<br />
Alirami Seljmani works as a<br />
postman <strong>for</strong> the villages of<br />
Tearce, Prshovce and Slatino, <strong>for</strong><br />
more than<br />
two years.<br />
Up until two<br />
moths ago,<br />
he was carrying<br />
the mail<br />
by a motorcycle,<br />
but<br />
now, because<br />
of the snow<br />
he has to go<br />
Albanians and<br />
Macedonians<br />
have different<br />
stories <strong>for</strong> the<br />
reasons of their<br />
separation, but<br />
they are all trying<br />
not to think about<br />
the bad things<br />
and to continue<br />
building their<br />
future together<br />
by foot.<br />
Recently, one<br />
of his colleagues<br />
was<br />
attacked and<br />
robbed while<br />
he was carrying<br />
money.<br />
- So far,<br />
thank God, people have always<br />
been fair to me. Maybe someone<br />
has strayed from his path and has<br />
picked up the wrong way in life,<br />
like the ones that have robbed my<br />
colleague. People are different<br />
and one should really be careful -<br />
Alirami while giving the pension<br />
money to the people in Tearce.<br />
He proudly says that even though<br />
he walks, he can still manage to<br />
distribute the money in only three<br />
days, one day per one village.<br />
People from the village recognize<br />
him and when they hear that he<br />
69<br />
Will there be peace?, February 2002
70<br />
has arrived, they gather in one place,<br />
so that he can distribute the money<br />
easily.<br />
- It's so nice when people know<br />
you. It's funny that they like me when<br />
I'm bringing them money, but then<br />
they are mad when I am bringing them<br />
bills. I never argue with them. I am the<br />
link between them and the institutions<br />
- says the postman.<br />
That same day, the police have<br />
started their patrolling on the regional<br />
road Tetovo-Jazhince.<br />
- There are no major problems in<br />
the process of the police patrolling.<br />
We are in good relations with the local<br />
people and we have a great<br />
cooperation. We are now on a<br />
level of our duty of maintaining<br />
the peace and the security<br />
in this region, which is in<br />
the favor of all people,<br />
despite their ethnic or religious<br />
diversity. The police<br />
patrols are consisted of three<br />
Macedonians and three<br />
Albanians and in their realization<br />
of this process we<br />
received a great help from<br />
the OSCE monitors and TFF<br />
- stated Isamilhaki Abdulai,<br />
the chief of the police station<br />
in Tearce.<br />
The police in Tearce has<br />
started its patrolling with the passing<br />
of the pilot-plan <strong>for</strong> returning of the<br />
police <strong>for</strong>ces in the conflict regions.<br />
But, unlike the situation in the village<br />
of Leshok, where the plan was implemented<br />
successfully, in Tearce everything<br />
was happening extremely slowly.<br />
- In the beginning there were<br />
blockades by the local village people,<br />
because they haven't been in<strong>for</strong>med<br />
well with the rights and duties of the<br />
police <strong>for</strong>ces. But, with the help of<br />
OSCE, TFF and the chief of the police<br />
station in Tearce we held a meeting<br />
with the local people where we have<br />
strictly and clearly explained and<br />
in<strong>for</strong>med the people about the implementation<br />
of the pilot-plan. From this<br />
moment <strong>for</strong>ward, the plan is being<br />
realized with no obstructions, whatsoever,<br />
because we have fulfilled these<br />
requests: reactivating the police officers,<br />
who were given countermand<br />
during the war, providing mixed ethnic<br />
police patrols with police officers<br />
from this region. Every problem with<br />
the local authorities and the international<br />
factor in Macedonia, that might<br />
occur, we will try to solve it as effectively<br />
as possible - says Khamili and<br />
adds that they have realized a meeting<br />
with the special representative of the<br />
EU, Alen Le Roa. All Local communities<br />
from Drenovce to Jazhince took<br />
participation on this meeting; it was<br />
realize in a good atmosphere of a<br />
mutual understanding and a will <strong>for</strong><br />
coexistence.<br />
The vice president of our Local<br />
community, Pavle Todorovski, who<br />
suffered the consequences <strong>for</strong> it,<br />
shares this opinion also. He was proclaimed<br />
as a traitor of the Macedonian<br />
interests only because on this meeting<br />
with Le Roa, he had criticized the<br />
Prime Minister Ljubcho Georgievski<br />
and the minister of internal affairs,<br />
Ljube Boshkovski, as the main<br />
obstruction of the peace process.<br />
Undoubtedly, this incident will affect<br />
negatively the process of returning the<br />
peace to these regions. Some extremists<br />
in the government of the Republic<br />
of Macedonia with this act have<br />
demonstrated that they are not happy<br />
with the returning of the trust and<br />
coexistence among the people in the<br />
region - stated Khamili.<br />
A group of, so far, unknown<br />
aggressors have attacked and injured<br />
the vice president of the Local community<br />
- the veterinarian, Pavle<br />
Todorovski. He is still recovering<br />
from the attack at his home and his<br />
family believes that this is not the<br />
appropriate moment to talk about the<br />
incident. Their message was that all<br />
people are humans, despite their ethnic<br />
origin and that we all have to participate<br />
in the creation of our future.<br />
- The Local community of Tearce<br />
is now negotiating with the international<br />
humanitarian organization <strong>for</strong><br />
migration - IOM, <strong>for</strong> the final solution<br />
to the problem with the water supplies,<br />
<strong>for</strong> both drinking and irrigation.<br />
I believe that soon this problem will<br />
be overcame so that the<br />
farmers will be able to per<strong>for</strong>m<br />
their duties more<br />
effectively and to hope <strong>for</strong><br />
a bigger profit from it. As<br />
another our activity that<br />
deserves attention is the<br />
project <strong>for</strong> organizing<br />
courses in in<strong>for</strong>matics <strong>for</strong><br />
the students of the elementary<br />
school "Kiril<br />
Pejchinovik" in Tearce,<br />
which will be financed by<br />
the USAID - says Khamili.<br />
Dzhelal Elmazi is a 42-<br />
year-old unemployed electrician<br />
from Tearce. - The<br />
Albanian population in<br />
Tearce has never made any problems.<br />
The source and the initiator of the<br />
conflicts is he government only,<br />
because, instead of keeping the peace<br />
and coexistence throughout the state,<br />
they are constantly increasing the tension.<br />
We didn't have any problems<br />
with our Macedonian neighbors even<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e the war. Even in the time of<br />
war we have tried to keep the bridges<br />
of trust with the agreement that we<br />
have made <strong>for</strong> the civilians not to be<br />
involved in the military actions.<br />
However, some Macedonians have<br />
agreed to get armed by the government<br />
and they started attacking us. We<br />
are still those people that wanted to<br />
keep the peace and coexistence. We<br />
want everything to be as it used to,<br />
thus the dislocated people can return<br />
to their homes and we can continue<br />
leading a normal life. But, it appears<br />
that some people in the government<br />
Will there be peace?, February 2002
are not satisfied with this process and<br />
the brutal attack on our neighbor -<br />
doctor Pavle Todorovski, testifies <strong>for</strong><br />
that.<br />
It has to be admitted that, at the<br />
beginning the process of returning of<br />
the police <strong>for</strong>ces was not well accepted,<br />
mostly because they were tormenting<br />
us and shooting at us during the war<br />
conflict. Nevertheless, the situation has<br />
changed now. Yet, there are more conditions<br />
to be satisfied, which will<br />
become a kind of guarantee <strong>for</strong> a<br />
peaceful future, and this can be reached<br />
only by passing the amnesty law. For<br />
the time being, we don't feel safe even<br />
at our homes, because we are afraid<br />
that the police might frame us and<br />
arrest us without any particular reason.<br />
The Council's chairman of the<br />
municipality of Tearce, Sali Jonuzi<br />
says that the main goal of the Local<br />
self-government is the returning of the<br />
normal life and creating an atmosphere<br />
that will allow the return of the<br />
dislocated families, the repairing of<br />
the damaged facilities and providing<br />
safety <strong>for</strong> all of the inhabitants of the<br />
village of Tearce. During the military<br />
actions, the number of the dislocated<br />
families from 13 villages in the<br />
municipality of Tearce has reached<br />
6000, from which 4500 are Albanians<br />
and 1500 are Macedonians.<br />
- Generally speaking we can be satisfied<br />
with the results so far, having in<br />
mind the circumstances that we have<br />
faced. Until now, almost all dislocated<br />
Albanian families and most of the<br />
Macedonian families have returned to<br />
their homes. What is also positive is<br />
that the number of the Macedonian<br />
families deciding to stay in their homes<br />
is constantly increasing. Lately,<br />
interethnic incidents occur very rare,<br />
almost never - says Jonuzi. He also says<br />
that one of the problems that the municipality<br />
is also facing is the damaged<br />
facilities. The process of reconstruction<br />
comprises around 250 less damaged<br />
facilities and that is also the situation<br />
with 33 facilities with larger damage.<br />
Another problem is the economic<br />
crisis. Around 20 % of the families use<br />
social help, around 50% of the population<br />
earned money on their own. The<br />
biggest part of the population are<br />
farmers and they were not able to<br />
work on their land because of the conflict.<br />
According to the data given by<br />
the Commission <strong>for</strong> estimating the<br />
damages in the agriculture, the population<br />
in the municipality has lost<br />
around 2 million Euros, from the<br />
fields of around 650 ha that they were<br />
not able to work on. On top of that,<br />
around 850 inhabitants of the municipality<br />
are ex-employees from the factory<br />
"Jugohrom" and they haven't<br />
received any salary in the last six<br />
months - says Jonuzi. Until last<br />
November, the International Red<br />
Cross was the leading organization <strong>for</strong><br />
supplies. Jonuzi says that from<br />
December, the number of users of<br />
humanitarian aid in the municipality<br />
has been reduced <strong>for</strong> 60-70%.<br />
According to the last registration<br />
of the population, Tearce has around<br />
21000 inhabitants, from which 83%<br />
are Albanians, 13% Macedonians, 2%<br />
Turks and 2% other nationalities.<br />
From 13 inhabited areas, 7 have<br />
mixed ethnic population, 4 are inhabited<br />
only by Macedonians and 2 only<br />
by Albanians.<br />
- If it weren't <strong>for</strong> the politicians,<br />
there wouldn't have been any problems.<br />
We have always lived together<br />
and we can continue doing that in the<br />
future - says Jonuzi.<br />
The police, so far, are patrolling in<br />
every village from the municipality,<br />
but according to Jonuzi the people<br />
request from the government to<br />
remove the police points in the neighboring<br />
municipalities of Vratnica and<br />
Jegunovce. He requested a passing of<br />
the amnesty law, which will allow the<br />
ex members of NLA to continue with<br />
their normal life.<br />
- If those people return to the social<br />
life and they are put under control there<br />
are no chances <strong>for</strong> them to work against<br />
the society or the state. The amnesty is<br />
important and necessary <strong>for</strong> controlling<br />
the safety. It is also requested of the<br />
police to become a reflection of the ethnic<br />
diversity in the region and the police<br />
officers to be inhabitants of the same<br />
region - says Jonuzi.<br />
(The authors are journalists<br />
in the newspapers<br />
"Fakti" and "Dnevnik")<br />
71<br />
SURVEY: Journalists and the crisis in Macedonia<br />
The media have not initiated<br />
and cannot stop the war<br />
Zhaklina Gjorgjevik<br />
Aco Kabranov, editor in chief in<br />
the TV station A1<br />
The war in Macedonia was neither<br />
prepared nor arranged by the media<br />
and the journalists. That is, the war in<br />
this country has occurred because it<br />
Macedonian journalists<br />
have maintained their<br />
contrasts even in their<br />
estimations of the role of<br />
the media in the unraveling<br />
of the crisis<br />
has been projected in someone's head.<br />
It wasn't prevented, because we have<br />
irresponsible authorities, that instead<br />
of an aggressive response to the<br />
provocations at Tanushevci, they have<br />
come up with a map <strong>for</strong> ethnic cleansing<br />
and reshaping of Macedonia. I<br />
think that the media have played an<br />
Will there be peace?, February 2002
72<br />
important and positive role in the<br />
exposure and interruption of this "project",<br />
even the ones that have published<br />
it, like the newspaper "Vecher".<br />
Maybe the split and the media stand<br />
taking, was a logical move. It was followed<br />
by a lot of amateur<strong>ism</strong>, hysteria,<br />
murder of truth and murder of profession.<br />
Un<strong>for</strong>tunately, infiltrated "journalists"<br />
have appeared among us in the<br />
media, trying to stimulate a final clash<br />
between the Macedonians and the<br />
Albanians, guided by the money they<br />
have received. I think that when all of<br />
this will come to an end, there won't be<br />
a place in the Macedonian media <strong>for</strong><br />
such "journal<strong>ism</strong>" and distribution of<br />
cheep police stories. I am sure that the<br />
truth about the "patriotic" media and<br />
the "traitors" (the ones who hasn't<br />
joined the game of the authorities <strong>for</strong><br />
building a false patriot<strong>ism</strong> among people<br />
in order to achieve their dream by<br />
causing direct damage to the citizens<br />
and the state.) will be revealed. Until<br />
then, there still might be a space <strong>for</strong><br />
presenting cheep stories of some<br />
"police guys" that un<strong>for</strong>tunately are<br />
presenting themselves as journalists.<br />
Shkeljzen Halimi, editor in chief of<br />
the newspaper "Fakti"<br />
On one round table discussion<br />
organized recently in Skopje, our colleague<br />
Aco Kabranov, talking about<br />
the media in the context of the current<br />
events in Macedonia, among the rest,<br />
said that some journalists have become<br />
simple "note-takers of police stories". I<br />
completely agree with his statement.<br />
These stories that are completely<br />
unconfirmed, in the last months have<br />
"poisoned" the Macedonian public and<br />
now there is a need <strong>for</strong> greater ef<strong>for</strong>ts<br />
on the behalf of those media that were<br />
publishing that kind of stories <strong>for</strong> the<br />
needs of a certain conjuncture, to create<br />
a new public opinion, free from the<br />
irrational hate accumulated in it.<br />
The present situation is not convenient<br />
<strong>for</strong> dangerous "sensations"<br />
that contribute most to the increasing<br />
of the circulation. It is completely<br />
unethical of some media to earn<br />
money playing with this fire. Least of<br />
all we need fire that can burn us all.<br />
We should put an end to the invention<br />
of dangerous in<strong>for</strong>mation warranted<br />
by some sources from the Ministry of<br />
Internal Affairs, familiar only to the<br />
editors. Because, from what we have<br />
already seen, it appears that the<br />
employees at the Ministry of Internal<br />
Affairs are the most agile assistants to<br />
the Macedonian media. On top of<br />
everything, at least until now none of<br />
those predicting in<strong>for</strong>mation, based on<br />
the sources fro the Ministry of Internal<br />
Affairs, have proved to be true. And at<br />
the very end, the Macedonian media<br />
would have to stray from the logic that<br />
they have created, according to which<br />
the Albanians should be seen only as<br />
"terrorists", which will create better<br />
climate <strong>for</strong> stabilizing the situation.<br />
What can the media do to prevent the<br />
announced spring aggression? If they<br />
are willing, they can do a lot, as not to<br />
give space to the police stories, but to<br />
the every day reality that the<br />
Macedonian citizens are facing.<br />
Spring should come also <strong>for</strong> those<br />
media that used to be "dimmed" and it<br />
should not be bloody, but blossomed<br />
by the truth.<br />
Goran Mihajlovski, editor in chief of<br />
the newspaper "Vest"<br />
The media didn't do anything to<br />
prevent the war, and I have a feeling<br />
that sometimes they have even<br />
increased the tension. No matter how<br />
hard we try to avoid admitting it, I<br />
think that the media were also divided<br />
to Macedonian and Albanian block, as<br />
it happened with the people in terms of<br />
crisis and every day life. Because of its<br />
conception "Vest" has tried to avoid<br />
taking sides, by presenting the news<br />
only by photographs. When on the<br />
front page we would have published a<br />
photograph of the members of the<br />
NLA or have even just mentioned the<br />
name of Arben Dzhaferi, often we<br />
received a number of phone calls by<br />
our readers that were threatening us by<br />
saying that they will stop reading and<br />
buying our newspaper. Willing or not,<br />
we had to be coordinated with the<br />
needs of our readers and subconsciously<br />
we entered the general media<br />
split even by publishing a usual news<br />
report.<br />
Branko Trichkovski, editor in chief<br />
in the newspaper "Utrinski vesnik"<br />
The military conflict in Macedonia<br />
has one serious controlling dimension.<br />
The media, on a general level, have not<br />
crossed that line, despite of all mistakes<br />
they have made. There were<br />
examples of instrumentalization, of<br />
overemphasized national tone, of tendentiousness<br />
and provocation. But, as<br />
a general critical group, the media<br />
have hold that line of controlling the<br />
situation, more than they have played<br />
the role of generators of some war<br />
option. On the other hand, they were<br />
lacking a more active role in the prevention<br />
of the things that were happening,<br />
because most of them were<br />
con<strong>for</strong>mists. The media should not be<br />
separated <strong>for</strong>m the general situation<br />
and the other participants in it. It<br />
should not be <strong>for</strong>gotten that by using<br />
real resources, all of the authorities<br />
have lead their politics that could not<br />
have ended in a different way. Then<br />
the media should be selective.<br />
"Utrinski vesnik" from the beginning<br />
has represented the antiwar option<br />
energetically and risk taking. Others<br />
have represented populist and the current<br />
popular stands, according to the<br />
public mood. As we all know, there<br />
were, and there still are, media that<br />
believed in a vulgar and primitive way<br />
of solving the problems, by bloodshed<br />
from both sides.<br />
Branko Geroski, editor in chief of<br />
the newspaper "Dnevnik"<br />
The idea that the media have a special<br />
role or a mission within the social<br />
movements really does sound attractive,<br />
but it is completely opposed to<br />
the trends of the modern journal<strong>ism</strong> on<br />
the West, which is definitely and completely<br />
commercially oriented.<br />
Consequently, my opinion is that the<br />
media have no obligations or rights to<br />
create or prevent wars. War or peace,<br />
the journalists are obliged to do their<br />
job professionally and that means that<br />
they should report instantly, accurately<br />
and responsibly. That goes <strong>for</strong> the<br />
world media giants, like CNN or BBS,<br />
but also <strong>for</strong> the Macedonian media and<br />
all the other local media throughout<br />
the world.<br />
According to my opinion, the<br />
media in Macedonia, even in the<br />
moments of war, have accomplished<br />
their task quite professionally. They<br />
gave enough important and crucial<br />
in<strong>for</strong>mation to the people, and then<br />
people will articulate their own political<br />
will.<br />
Faik Mustafa, editor in chief of the<br />
newspaper "Flaka"<br />
During the war, media almost<br />
Will there be peace?, February 2002
couldn't be differed from the every<br />
day politics, according to the party<br />
they have belonged. There<strong>for</strong>e, their<br />
contribution could not get a positive<br />
mark, especially if we take into consideration<br />
the journalist's ethics based<br />
on the new European standards. This<br />
is the situation with the Macedonian<br />
media, who have failed on the test.<br />
They created affairs out of a little<br />
insignificant incident. They did not<br />
choose lines that would lead towards<br />
coexistence with the other nationalities.<br />
On a contrary, they have "served"<br />
the Macedonian political parties in a<br />
fanatic way. Instead of finding common<br />
ground, the Macedonian media<br />
have run after politic and state aims.<br />
One sad, but true example is the one of<br />
the newspaper "Nova Makedonija"<br />
that was a representative of two different<br />
types of politics. In that way, the<br />
Albanians have defended their own<br />
interests, while the Macedonians were<br />
defending theirs.<br />
Marijan Gelevski, assistant chief<br />
editor of the newspaper "Vecher"<br />
The media have not started the<br />
war and consequently they couldn't<br />
have prevented it. Un<strong>for</strong>tunately, during<br />
the crisis, some media have lost<br />
their sense of reality and in the attempt<br />
to take a side; they have turned themselves<br />
into even greater initiators.<br />
"Vecher", on the other hand, was trying<br />
to reach maximum objectivity and<br />
accuracy in reporting by avoiding giving<br />
personal comments or stigmatizing<br />
one side.<br />
Risto Lazarov, editor in chief of the<br />
TV station "Telma"<br />
For all of us in "Telma", a decisive<br />
part is the fact that from everything<br />
that was happening to us, we came out<br />
with clear conscience. In the fight <strong>for</strong><br />
high professional standards, we<br />
haven't been tempted; we haven't lit<br />
any fuse that might have caused additional<br />
media detonation. We became a<br />
TV station in which people believe<br />
and that fact is of major importance<br />
<strong>for</strong> us. On the other hand, the question<br />
about the (dis)possession of the<br />
power of the media and the<br />
Macedonian public in general, has<br />
appeared with all its cruelty in this<br />
dramatic period. One can write as long<br />
as one wants, one can discover and<br />
present facts, but the authorities "don't<br />
give a damn" <strong>for</strong> it. They have filled<br />
their pockets with <strong>for</strong>tune. And this is<br />
the defeating fact: complete marginalization<br />
of the public influence on the<br />
political life. The authorities more and<br />
more believe that nothing can harm<br />
them and they are acting according to<br />
that belief. The only thing that's left<br />
<strong>for</strong> the people is fear.<br />
In the normal world everything is<br />
different, but we are here in<br />
Macedonia, where the spring is<br />
announced with aggressions and not<br />
with snowdrops.<br />
Jadranka Kostova, editor in the TV<br />
station "Kanal 5"<br />
There is no consensus <strong>for</strong> the reasons,<br />
character and all the other features<br />
of this war. Then the answer to<br />
this question will depend on the<br />
answer to the previous ones. If we<br />
accept the theses that this was a war <strong>for</strong><br />
human rights and that the Constitution<br />
is the generator <strong>for</strong> the war crisis, than<br />
all the media that <strong>for</strong> the past 10 years<br />
have conspired the not changing of the<br />
Constitution in this sense, have really<br />
initiated the war. To be clearer, if the<br />
media <strong>for</strong> the past 10 years have insisted<br />
to change the Constitution, maybe<br />
they would have prevented the war.<br />
For those who thought that the<br />
weapons are illegal instruments <strong>for</strong><br />
achieving any kind of goals, no matter<br />
if it is about Ali Ahmeti and his followers<br />
or Zhivko Tolevski with the<br />
members of the Syndicate, it can be<br />
said that all media that were approving<br />
the war actions, directly or indirectly,<br />
have also encouraged the war. On the<br />
other hand, it is a fact that in the past<br />
period, a good part from the media<br />
have warned about the presence of<br />
training caps in Macedonia and of<br />
KLA fighters preparing an aggression<br />
in Macedonia. Nevertheless, nothing<br />
of this has reached to the authorities.<br />
Despite of the conscientiously accomplished<br />
task, they have prevented nothing.<br />
The media in Macedonia have not<br />
provoked the war, but maybe they<br />
have had some influence on the<br />
increasing of the tension in the multiethnic<br />
relationships. With this I don't<br />
try to imply certain comments or publishing<br />
policies, but on the other hand,<br />
a good part of the news from the front<br />
have caused this type of effect. Every<br />
funeral of one of our guardians has<br />
provoked greater tension between the<br />
citizens. And this kind of effect could<br />
not have been provoked by a single<br />
comment.<br />
Zoran Ivanov, editor in the<br />
TV station "Sitel"<br />
We - the journalists in Macedonia<br />
and their media, during the crisis, generally<br />
have demonstrated maturity and<br />
responsibility <strong>for</strong> the security and the<br />
destiny of this country influenced by<br />
the institutions of the system (the<br />
President of the state, the<br />
Government, the Prime Minister, the<br />
Parliament, its President and most of<br />
its members). We have demonstrated<br />
greater maturity and responsibility<br />
than the leaders of the political parties,<br />
as well. First of all, we lied less than<br />
any one of them. Second, our words<br />
didn't cause any additional tension in<br />
the war atmosphere. Third, we demonstrated<br />
greater human, citizen and<br />
especially multiethnic and multinational<br />
tolerance than the ones with<br />
state and political functions. Fourth,<br />
we believed, which ahs proved to be<br />
truth, in the preparedness of the common<br />
people to live together in one<br />
country, town and village, a simple,<br />
common, every day life and to develop<br />
and nourish the tolerance in their<br />
relationships despite the ethnic, religious<br />
and social differences. Fifth, we<br />
didn't sell our country, unlike the people<br />
chosen and responsible <strong>for</strong> the<br />
security, the development of the relationship<br />
between its people; we didn't<br />
sell false patriot<strong>ism</strong>, a cheap, familiar<br />
demagogical patriot<strong>ism</strong>.<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e I think that, generally<br />
speaking, the journalists and the media<br />
in Macedonia, despite their ethnic,<br />
national orientation or the language as<br />
the media's instrument <strong>for</strong> expressing,<br />
have demonstrated greater maturity and<br />
responsibility in the most critical days<br />
of the Republic of Macedonia. If you<br />
remember, that wasn't the situation with<br />
the media in the <strong>for</strong>mer Yugoslav<br />
republics devastated by the wars they<br />
had, because of the ethno-national<br />
aggressiveness concentrated in the insolent<br />
propaganda, which have supported<br />
the conflicts and raised the national<br />
zeal, directing them towards merciless<br />
wars and ethnic cleansings. Fortunately,<br />
Macedonian media and journalists have<br />
prevented such shameful act.<br />
(The author is journalist in<br />
"Utrinski Vesnik")<br />
73<br />
Will there be peace?, February 2002
Who controlls the crisis<br />
The war ends with<br />
Tearce and Kosovo<br />
74<br />
Panta Dzhambazovski<br />
That day in January, last<br />
year, when at the evening I was<br />
watching news with my family,<br />
there was a report that the police<br />
station in Tearce was bombed. (At<br />
that point no one new about the<br />
announcement of the organization<br />
called NLA). I told my wife: "It's<br />
time to leave this country". She<br />
looked at me amazed by what I<br />
said, because I have never said<br />
anything like that ever be<strong>for</strong>e and<br />
particularly because she couldn't<br />
imagine a life far away from<br />
Skopje.<br />
I explained: "Soon we will be saying<br />
that we've just had a good<br />
week with only 2-3 attacks on the<br />
police stations".<br />
At that point, I wasn't aware how<br />
much I was right, although, I was<br />
actually believing that we were<br />
entering the zone of an increasing<br />
terror<strong>ism</strong>, similarly to Spain,<br />
Ireland or even France or Greece.<br />
Have I ever thought of a war? God<br />
<strong>for</strong>bid! Leaving Skopje - never!<br />
Few months later, I went to Tetovo<br />
on a press-conference, where PDP<br />
announced" "If the giant crucifixion<br />
is built on the top of the Kale<br />
(<strong>for</strong>tress), we will be <strong>for</strong>ced to<br />
destroy it."<br />
I didn't believe in those words,<br />
because that type of actions is not<br />
typical <strong>for</strong> this political party. But,<br />
one cannot beat one's profession,<br />
so my photographer and I climbed<br />
on the top of this <strong>for</strong>tress in<br />
Tetovo to take some pictures of<br />
the place where the issued crucifixion<br />
was to be posted. We took a<br />
lot of pictures and <strong>for</strong> the time we<br />
spent there we encountered several<br />
small groups of strange persons<br />
wearing black clothes. They were<br />
watching us. We felt unpleasant,<br />
but we had to finish our job. I wish<br />
now, we have at least assumed that<br />
those unfriendly figures were<br />
armed or that they could be a part<br />
of some illegal army (NLA!).<br />
Un<strong>for</strong>tunately, we haven't!<br />
This adventure on the Kale happened<br />
right be<strong>for</strong>e Tanushevci.<br />
Even afterwards (that means even<br />
after Tanushevci and March 14th,<br />
when the actual conflict started), I<br />
remembered everything.<br />
The next-coming war seemed that<br />
couldn't be stopped. Least with the<br />
help of the international community,<br />
because it looked like they<br />
also participated in its escalation.<br />
George Robertson came to Skopje<br />
12 times, Xavier Solana - 23, during<br />
the war conflict. I believe that<br />
they haven't visited their homes<br />
this much. With the TFH - the<br />
"Harvest", hundreds of Albanians<br />
were put in line to submit their<br />
weapons. The ones who are familiar<br />
with the Albanian mentality<br />
will know what I mean.<br />
They signed the Ohrid agreement<br />
and after that, each day was<br />
increasing the coldness around<br />
Ohrid. Albanian military and<br />
political leaders started giving<br />
more careful and secured statements,<br />
expressing hope <strong>for</strong> peace<br />
and the returning of the coexistence.<br />
They were always ending<br />
their statements with the words:<br />
"But, unless….".<br />
The statements of the political factors<br />
in the Macedonian government<br />
were nothing but adventurous.<br />
Those media that didn't just<br />
count the shootings<br />
and weren't hurrying<br />
to distribute the in<strong>for</strong>mation<br />
of this kind:<br />
from our sources, we<br />
discovered……, were<br />
vary rare, but <strong>for</strong>tunately<br />
influencing.<br />
Only a few of them<br />
remained faithful to<br />
the good old profession<br />
rule to hear and<br />
present both sides,<br />
without adding different<br />
epithets, which<br />
should be <strong>for</strong>bidden<br />
<strong>for</strong> the sake of the<br />
objective in<strong>for</strong>ming.<br />
The government has<br />
lost its chance of<br />
implementing the Ohrid agreement<br />
in a classy manner, but<br />
instead has allowed going backwards.<br />
Then, under the intimidations<br />
by sanctions, the government<br />
agreed to complete its obligations.<br />
(Remember the amnesty,<br />
the retreat of the "Lions"….). The<br />
Republic of Macedonia didn't<br />
make a political aggression in<br />
terms of the crisis, but it has created<br />
some dreadful intern fights <strong>for</strong><br />
For the international<br />
community,<br />
Macedonia<br />
is a good test<br />
<strong>for</strong> testing the,<br />
yet to be solved<br />
problems on<br />
the relations<br />
Belgrade-<br />
Podgorica and<br />
Belgrade-<br />
Prishtina<br />
Will there be peace?, February 2002
gaining power, between the parties. What <strong>for</strong>?<br />
Finally, why has the <strong>for</strong>eign factor emphasized<br />
their ef<strong>for</strong>ts to deal with the crisis so much, when<br />
we are just a small country with a population<br />
close to one of an average European town?<br />
Do we have to admit that this strategy didn't<br />
work here? What has then left <strong>for</strong> the other far<br />
bigger and more complex regions and countries<br />
around the world? Or, how can be solved the<br />
problem with Kosovo within Yugoslavia, which<br />
<strong>for</strong> Europe and USA is far more important country<br />
on the Balkans?<br />
The world, simply, doesn't allow us to fight<br />
against each other, and I think that we were<br />
capable of destroying each other as we did in<br />
Bosnia. According to my opinion, <strong>for</strong> the international<br />
community Macedonia is a good test <strong>for</strong><br />
testing the, yet to be solved problems on the relations<br />
Belgrade-Podgorica and Belgrade-<br />
Prishtina. I wander what kind of Constitution<br />
should be arranged, what kind of laws (<strong>for</strong> the<br />
human rights, the economic relations…) should<br />
be brought, if they want an eternal stability in<br />
this part of the Balkans. It is no coincident that<br />
SRJ is the main preoccupation of the EU and<br />
Solana in person.<br />
If our crisis has started with the bomb attack in<br />
Tearce, it shouldn't surprised us that the attack<br />
over Pavle Todorovski, the man that symbolizes<br />
the returning of the peace and stability in this<br />
country, has happened there also. The experiences<br />
show that those types of actions are desperate<br />
and almost always, fail to provoke another<br />
war.<br />
In that sense, Kosovo and Yugoslavia are the<br />
regions of origin of the last wars on the Balkans<br />
and probably the places where there are going to<br />
end. A new war between the Serbs and the<br />
Albanians might not be repeated, but everything<br />
indicates that the <strong>for</strong>eign <strong>for</strong>ces will use their<br />
weapons to settle down the situation, and then to<br />
impose the final solution to the problem. That will<br />
create terms <strong>for</strong> the final rearrangement of SRJ.<br />
Although the war doesn't ask too much (a few<br />
"hot shots" and one or two major incidents) I<br />
think that a war is not going to happen to<br />
Macedonia…<br />
…That night, after midnight, few hours after the<br />
last arrival of George Robertson, I was awaked<br />
by the noise of the helicopters. I thought: they<br />
are taking the Lord <strong>for</strong> a sleep. And maybe not,<br />
maybe it should just look like that. Actually,<br />
where does he stay overnight when he is in<br />
Skopje, and does he really stays where we<br />
believe he does? Should everything be left over<br />
to the coincidence?<br />
(The author is an editor in<br />
the local TV station "Telma")<br />
Why a spring offensive<br />
is not possible<br />
Ohrid can<br />
solve all the<br />
problems<br />
Daut Dauti<br />
Nobody in Macedonia<br />
has an interest of creating<br />
a new conflict, the beginning I would like to state<br />
Be<strong>for</strong>e I start elaborating, at<br />
because there is no my thesis: I don't believe that the<br />
dispute, no contrasting<br />
sides, and no sup-<br />
possible. It is more of a "testing<br />
so-called "spring aggression" is<br />
port by the international<br />
factor. The in-country extremist <strong>for</strong>ces and<br />
balloon" used by all sides - by the<br />
elections truly seem<br />
also by the <strong>for</strong>eign factor, in order<br />
reasonable, but to<br />
to attain a certain motivating goal<br />
<strong>for</strong> those that need to per<strong>for</strong>m<br />
slaughter the ox <strong>for</strong><br />
their duties regulated with the<br />
only one steak, is too<br />
Ohrid agreement signed in August<br />
big of a price<br />
by the four sides represented by<br />
their political leaders. Maybe this<br />
approach looks too idealistic and even naive and is also not<br />
encouraged by great strategies and concealed scenarios, but<br />
this is my opinion and I would like to believe in it.<br />
Why?<br />
There have to be some certain assumptions <strong>for</strong> a spring<br />
aggression, which in this case are not yet realized. There<br />
should be a certain clash and sides that would be involved<br />
in it; there should be a certain political target <strong>for</strong> each of the<br />
sides in this clash: one should fight <strong>for</strong> it and the other<br />
against it. And what do we have fro all of these things? In<br />
fact, there is no conflict! Yes, there is a political target, but<br />
it doesn't involve the sides in a conflict: that is the Ohrid<br />
agreement and it should not provoke major clashes. And<br />
even if it does, they should not be major and would not<br />
incite aggressions of any kind. There is a timing that should<br />
be <strong>for</strong>ced, there are still points, which are not brought into<br />
question, that need to be developed into laws (even the<br />
amnesty law, which would have a relaxing influence on the<br />
conflict regions), there is a plan <strong>for</strong> the returning of the<br />
police and the dislocated families to the conflict regions and<br />
all of them are being implemented successively. Both the<br />
internal and the external factors are clearly familiar with the<br />
path that they should follow. The thing that makes this plan<br />
75<br />
Will there be peace?, February 2002
76<br />
even more endurable is the fact that it<br />
is supported by the most relevant (and<br />
legitimate) representatives of the<br />
main ethnic communities (the political<br />
parties of Georgievski, Imeri,<br />
Crvenkovski, Dzhaferi); that it is<br />
achieved with the help of the most<br />
relevant global factors (EU, USA,<br />
NATO) and is being implemented<br />
under their surveillance. Finally, it<br />
was accepted by the members of<br />
NLA, as well, which is also a very<br />
important element in favor of my theses.<br />
Nevertheless, there are still those<br />
ones that are making some other plan,<br />
but whose hands are <strong>for</strong>tunately tied<br />
at this time. Because, if one tries to<br />
harm the Ohrid agreement, in which<br />
the relevant <strong>for</strong>eign and domestic factors<br />
have put a lot of energy and<br />
ef<strong>for</strong>ts, one would be taking a great<br />
risk.<br />
These are my evidences.<br />
I will start with the Albanians. It<br />
is not in their interest to harm the<br />
Ohrid agreement and to pronounce<br />
themselves guilty, which will turn<br />
them against the international community.<br />
Even the most extreme <strong>for</strong>ce,<br />
that doesn't agree with Dzhaferi,<br />
Imeri and Ahmeti's plat<strong>for</strong>m, wouldn't<br />
create an image like this one <strong>for</strong> its<br />
own people. I think that even this<br />
coordinative body, <strong>for</strong>med by the<br />
political subjects together with the<br />
political leader of the ex NLA, is<br />
sharing the same goal: to implement<br />
the agreement after which the members<br />
of the NLA would be reintegrated<br />
in the social life. With its fieldwork,<br />
this body would influence the<br />
decrease of the tension and dissatisfaction<br />
and the possible extreme incidents<br />
made by small groups or individuals<br />
with "big plans". I think that<br />
the Albanians are most of all aware<br />
and familiar with the meaning of the<br />
cooperation with the international<br />
factor, on one side or being against<br />
all, on the other. They have learned<br />
that from the experience that the<br />
Serbs had believing and blindly following<br />
their leader Slobodan<br />
Miloshevich. Consequently, if the<br />
Albanians initiate an aggression of<br />
that kind, the main reasons <strong>for</strong> it<br />
would be gaining territories and not<br />
gaining rights. And which one of the<br />
<strong>for</strong>eign factors would stand behind<br />
them and support them in their intention?<br />
And have Macedonians learn<br />
their lesson? I believe that even the<br />
ones that are in a war mood manifest<br />
their extrem<strong>ism</strong> only in a verbal way.<br />
They do prepare <strong>for</strong> a spring aggression,<br />
but <strong>for</strong> an election one.<br />
Concerning the elections, they should<br />
be presented in a different light,<br />
because, as it was noticed by one<br />
author: the citizens would hardly ever<br />
trust the promises <strong>for</strong> $1 billion,<br />
thousands of employments, higher<br />
pensions, and standard…. They have<br />
only left one chance: to warn about a<br />
danger, to proclaim themselves the<br />
only guardians of our country…, so<br />
they could attract more people and<br />
increase their electing body. Those<br />
are the speeches made during an election<br />
year, when everybody wanders<br />
whether the people will praise their<br />
deeds once again.<br />
Of course, the suspicion would be<br />
confirmed, if the media has so far<br />
realized so much commercials and<br />
publishing announcing the spring<br />
aggression. Maps of some big and<br />
some small countries, borders of this<br />
and that kind, different conspiracies<br />
<strong>for</strong> dissection, were being mentioned,<br />
so it can be said that this could be a<br />
part of some strategy of the power<br />
centers. If the conflicted sides want to<br />
follow that line, even if their chances<br />
are bigger than last year<br />
and if there is a real strategy,<br />
the international factor<br />
would have allowed<br />
it. Supposedly, it is of<br />
someone's interest the<br />
things to go that way?<br />
Would the involved sides<br />
achieve their goals? The<br />
Albanian side would certainly<br />
not! What would<br />
be the use of it, if thee<br />
lose Skopje and<br />
Kumanovo with one<br />
third of the Albanian<br />
population? And those<br />
who do not believe in the<br />
coexistence with the<br />
Albanians and think that we should<br />
solve the clashes about the<br />
Macedonian interests once and <strong>for</strong> all.<br />
Even if that becomes the final solution,<br />
they are not convinced that their<br />
people would allow them to join others.<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e, they all seriously<br />
approach the message from Brussels<br />
that was directed towards the most<br />
aggressive ones: you have an agreement,<br />
implement it! And nothing else.<br />
That would help the things to go<br />
back as they used to be.<br />
(The author is a writer<br />
and a journalist in<br />
the newspaper "Flaka")<br />
Will there be peace?, February 2002
To <strong>for</strong>get the past<br />
<strong>for</strong> the sake of the future<br />
Xhengis Aliu<br />
Six months ago, there was a huge<br />
pessim<strong>ism</strong> about when and how will<br />
Macedonia exit from the war that had<br />
engulfed us. Today, that pessim<strong>ism</strong> has<br />
turned into a reality full of hope.<br />
Although there are things that have not<br />
changed at all and that will not change<br />
<strong>for</strong> a long time (due to their very<br />
nature), the overall environment has<br />
started normalizing. Now, it seems that<br />
things have started improving.<br />
Everyone sees the future differently,<br />
better and full of hope.<br />
As every war, this one that happened<br />
to us also has its own consequences.<br />
These consequences are now<br />
becoming visible in every field. Its<br />
greatest effect is on the young people -<br />
they suffered most since they still seem<br />
to be confused. Ever since the beginning<br />
of this crisis they were in the middle.<br />
Willing or not, they had to face<br />
with the surrounding reality. However,<br />
it did not look like the way they wanted.<br />
It did not coincide with their mentality<br />
and philosophy. In many cases,<br />
they had to break up their contacts with<br />
friends or neighbors… since much<br />
attention was paid to ethnicity… The<br />
greatest irony of the created situation<br />
was that the young people had no guilt<br />
at all, except <strong>for</strong> being young and easy<br />
to manipulate with. They became victims<br />
of misin<strong>for</strong>mation, of provoking<br />
titles in newspapers and electronic<br />
media, which were in<strong>for</strong>ming with such<br />
a high tone, that it seemed as if they<br />
were competing which one of them will<br />
present the reality in a darker and louder<br />
way, and with more victims. They<br />
were competing which one of them will<br />
present more victims while in<strong>for</strong>ming!<br />
The young people were expected to<br />
do the worse but, in fact, they turned to<br />
The biggest irony of the<br />
created situation was the<br />
fact that the young people<br />
had no guilt, except <strong>for</strong><br />
being young and easy to<br />
manipulate with<br />
be quite different, stronger and smarter<br />
from what was expected. They<br />
remained calm and hoping that no matter<br />
what happens, it will be better, no<br />
matter how bad the situation was, there<br />
will come better days, no matter how<br />
distant they were becoming from one<br />
another, still there will be a day in the<br />
future when they will extend their hand<br />
to one another and will live along with<br />
each other. Although they were maximally<br />
confused, they were certain that a<br />
day will come which will bring a different<br />
life to the young people.<br />
And that is what happened. The war<br />
is over, the worst is gone.<br />
If we talk to the young people<br />
today, they speak of the war as something<br />
that should never be repeated<br />
again. Let the mistakes that were made<br />
six months ago as a result of the decisions<br />
of some political and state leaders<br />
be a lesson learned <strong>for</strong> the young people<br />
about how should we build a future<br />
of a joint life, regardless of the ethnic or<br />
religious background.<br />
The following represents the message<br />
of the young people to all those<br />
who used their positions to show their<br />
own patriot<strong>ism</strong>: let them trans<strong>for</strong>m<br />
this patriotic energy into an energy<br />
that will improve social conditions and<br />
solve social problems the state is facing,<br />
let them engage in creating new<br />
job opportunities. Should they adhere<br />
to the old saying that the state remains<br />
to the youth, we will not care about the<br />
state as it is today, since with such a<br />
state we can never have a certain<br />
future.<br />
The hope of young people <strong>for</strong> a better<br />
future is based on the fact that each<br />
new day brings new things, each new<br />
day brings us a future in which we will<br />
have a better life and a greater prosperity.<br />
(The author is a journalist)<br />
77<br />
What is happening to us?, May 2002
The bazaar that does not exist anymore<br />
Free falling<br />
78<br />
What do the<br />
craftsmen and<br />
what do the rest of<br />
the citizens think<br />
about the Old<br />
Bazaar in Skopje<br />
- The penetration<br />
of trade - devastating<br />
<strong>for</strong> the craftsmanship,<br />
whereas<br />
the revitalization<br />
measures appear<br />
to be too slow<br />
Daut Dauti<br />
The Old Bazaar of<br />
Skopje - in the past,<br />
present and future - is<br />
a story that can barely<br />
be <strong>for</strong>etold. It is so<br />
complex, so rich in<br />
layers, so much part of<br />
the past, that it seems<br />
that its present and its<br />
future still depend on<br />
its past, or, in other<br />
words, depend on<br />
whether it will go back<br />
to its roots.<br />
THE DISAPPEAR-<br />
ANCE OF CRAFTS<br />
"When I speak about the Old<br />
Bazaar, my heart hurts", says the<br />
popular filigree silversmith,<br />
Dzeladin Hasani, best known as<br />
a comedian (uncle Dzelo) and a<br />
newly fledged actor (from the<br />
series "Our neighborhood").<br />
- It hurts me, since I do not<br />
want to see it the way it is - he<br />
added in a rather upset manner,<br />
when we paid him a visit in his<br />
workshop, which was no bigger in<br />
size than few square meters. On<br />
the other hand, his neighbor, situated<br />
just a few shops away from<br />
him, in the "Belgradska" street<br />
(the main street often referred to<br />
as "the covered bazaar"), the hat<br />
maker Pero Trajkovski, even started<br />
crying while talking on this<br />
sensible topic.<br />
"Yeah, the bazaar is not what<br />
it used and what it is supposed to<br />
be", every shop owner in this<br />
bazaar would say...<br />
The destruction of the image<br />
of the Bazaar started with the<br />
spontaneous re-orientation of<br />
activities. When the Old Bazaar<br />
of Skopje is mentioned, the first<br />
thought that comes to ones mind<br />
is its crafts. This is exactly where<br />
its downhill starts. Many crafts<br />
have become fewer represented.<br />
Out of a variety of crafts that<br />
were represented be<strong>for</strong>e through<br />
tens and hundreds of shops, only<br />
a handful have remained today.<br />
There are fewer tailors, sleeper<br />
makers, shoe makers and blacksmiths.<br />
- The trading entered in<br />
the Bazaar - said the hat maker<br />
Trajkovski. In the past,<br />
almost everybody used to be<br />
craftsman, whereas at present<br />
everybody likes to become a<br />
trader. In the past, there were<br />
about fifteen hat makers, and<br />
now there are only two to three<br />
of us who have remained. There<br />
are no longer guildsmen.<br />
Everybody appears to be attracted<br />
by opportunities of getting<br />
rich quickly, that trading offers -<br />
he says, and also adds that over<br />
half a century he has been working<br />
in his own craft, and that he<br />
is happy that, unlike other older<br />
craftsmen, he has somebody<br />
whom he can leave this skill in<br />
inheritance. These are his two<br />
sons. Just like everybody else in<br />
the Bazaar, he believes that the<br />
crisis is taking the tall. "There<br />
are no customers with ample<br />
cash. People think a lot more<br />
about a loaf of bread than of a<br />
hat, but, still, I do not complain.<br />
I managed to build four houses<br />
with these two hands of mine.<br />
What else could I have done with<br />
honest work? He and the other<br />
craftsmen emphasized another<br />
aspect - there is no bulk buying<br />
anymore. Due to the changes that<br />
were caused in the region, there<br />
are no longer traders coming<br />
from Kosovo and Novi Pazar,<br />
who used to be regular customers.<br />
One of the classic crafts of<br />
the bazaar is blacksmithing,<br />
which is still upholding thanks to<br />
the enthusiasts such as Ajdar<br />
Zekir, twenty year old young lad,<br />
who, along with his brother<br />
Nehat, as he puts it, is continuing<br />
his family tradition. Their father,<br />
Ibrahim Zekir, fifty year old,<br />
managed to pass on the love <strong>for</strong><br />
this craft to both sons.<br />
- Our grandparents used to be<br />
blacksmiths - cartwrights, but<br />
since today there are fewer carts,<br />
our crafts must go through certain<br />
modifications. At present,<br />
due to the fact that we are no<br />
longer repairing carts, because<br />
the new technology has done<br />
what it has done, we are now<br />
making new products - says<br />
Ajdar Zekir, who owns one of<br />
the remaining six blacksmith<br />
workshops (long time ago there<br />
were fifteen of them).<br />
"We remained with this craft<br />
because we wanted to retain the<br />
family tradition, and because it<br />
never leaves one hungry", added<br />
A. Zekir.<br />
In all that our interlocutor<br />
said, the dominant topic was the<br />
time factor. Argetim Nagavci is<br />
the owner of one of the remain-<br />
What is happening to us?, May 2002
ing four quilt maker shops (there were<br />
over thirty of them in the past). This is<br />
how he explains the downhill of the<br />
bazaar:<br />
- The bazaar was falling down in<br />
continuity. In the past, the bazaar<br />
belonged to craftsmen, whereas now it<br />
belongs to traders. Generations have<br />
changed. The bazaar is slowly dying<br />
along with the old craftsmen, because<br />
there are very few of them that desire to<br />
inherit the old craftsmen skills. The<br />
crafts are dying. These activities are in<br />
deficiency and, on the other hand, there<br />
are too many shops with other activities.<br />
The most distressing of all is the fact that<br />
the value of the labor is rapidly decreasing,<br />
which in the past was valued a lot.<br />
On the other hand, the shift towards trading<br />
does not have many effects, because,<br />
as it was explained by Kemal Usein -<br />
Bekce, the Chairman of the Association<br />
of craftsmen and other independent businessmen<br />
of Skopje, too many shopping<br />
malls were built in the city and there are<br />
also shops almost in every building, so<br />
that one does not need to buy things only<br />
in the Old Bazaar.<br />
- The profit is smaller almost in<br />
every single activity, which is reflected<br />
in the low rents <strong>for</strong> the shops. Now,<br />
these are even few times smaller than<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e. If in the past one used to pay<br />
2000 DM (1000 euro) <strong>for</strong> a shop, now<br />
he can barely pay 500 DM (250 euro) -<br />
confirmed the silversmith Irfan Bushi.<br />
BAZAAR WITHOUT A<br />
BAZAAR ATMOSPHERE<br />
"Even the Bit Pazar became a real<br />
burden <strong>for</strong> the bazaar. The traditional<br />
female market has expanded so much,<br />
that it represents a miniature bazaar in<br />
itself", says Argetim Nagavci, adding:<br />
The disloyal competition from the Bit<br />
Pazar counters has decreased the product<br />
value to such levels that even Da<br />
Vinci's Mona Lisa would be offered<br />
<strong>for</strong> sale <strong>for</strong> very little money.<br />
In such a situation, everybody concludes<br />
that the typical atmosphere of<br />
the Bazaar was lost and with it, all the<br />
material effects.<br />
- Many factors, be they objective<br />
or subjective, are determinants <strong>for</strong> the<br />
Bazaar.<br />
Some things also have to do with<br />
the culture of behavior - said Dzeladin<br />
Are there any prejudices<br />
about the Old Bazaar?<br />
Hasani and Argetim Nagavci. The sitting<br />
of the shop keepers in front of<br />
their shops, loud speaking, harassing<br />
the passing women, the deficiency of<br />
saleswomen, the lack of hygiene maintenance…<br />
represent some of the factors<br />
which depend on the residents of<br />
the bazaar. Maybe some customers,<br />
especially female ones, were kept<br />
away from the bazaar because of the<br />
above reasons. The night bazaar<br />
atmosphere is something which is<br />
missing in the Old Town, as this area<br />
of the city of Skopje is referred to as.<br />
- In the evening, here it is like<br />
being in a grave - says with a dose of<br />
despise Dzeladin<br />
Hasani, who believes that this situation<br />
is a result of the wrong approach by<br />
the key city people. Each person coming<br />
to a key city position would initiate<br />
something, just <strong>for</strong> the sake of saying<br />
"I am afraid to go to the other side",<br />
says a Macedonian friend of mine.<br />
"The bazaar has lost its glitter,<br />
because it is located on the left bank of<br />
Vardar, and the state is deliberately<br />
destroying it by doing nothing about",<br />
this is what a considerable number of<br />
Albanians think Even one of my interlocutors<br />
was trying to convince me that<br />
the reconstruction of the Stone Bridge<br />
was deliberately postponed in order to<br />
stop the massive movement of people<br />
from the right to the left side of Vardar.<br />
Are these prejudices or reality?<br />
It is very difficult to answer these<br />
questions through few contacts and discussions,<br />
but it is also difficult even if<br />
there were relevant facts available. In<br />
order to answer these questions, the<br />
"List" agency in co-operation with<br />
Klime Babunski, conducted a survey last<br />
year.<br />
To one of the questions put <strong>for</strong>ward<br />
to the craftsmen, three quarters (75%) of<br />
the surveyed individuals gave a negative<br />
response about the divisions of customers<br />
along ethnic lines. In fact, the following<br />
was the question: do the majority<br />
of customers have the same ethnic background<br />
as the shop keepers? The answer<br />
was that there were no such divisions.<br />
84% of the surveyed shop keepers coming<br />
from different ethnic background<br />
believe that they were safe. But, although<br />
the majority (nine out of ten surveyed)<br />
responded by saying that during the past<br />
three years the safety was not jeopardized,<br />
two thirds among them do not<br />
oppose the establishment of the security<br />
services, especially <strong>for</strong> the late evening<br />
hours, whereas about 22 % of them<br />
believe that this is the job <strong>for</strong> the police.<br />
During the survey with the citizens<br />
of Skopje, some 44% rarely or, more precisely,<br />
once in several months visit the<br />
bazaar, 29 % at least once a week do this,<br />
while 27% at least once a month go<br />
there. In relation to the gender, the bazaar<br />
remains more attractive <strong>for</strong> men (38%),<br />
in comparison to women (19%).<br />
Regarding the ethnic background,<br />
the difference is noticeable. Up to 85%<br />
of the surveyed Albanians visit the<br />
bazaar at least once a week, whereas only<br />
52% of the surveyed Macedonians do<br />
the same.<br />
Based on the survey results, the most<br />
visited time is the period between 12.00<br />
and 15.00 (29%), while the least visited<br />
hours are between 19.00 and 24.00<br />
(2.5%). Regarding the visits in late<br />
evening hours, similar answers were<br />
given both by Macedonians (2%) and<br />
Albanians (6%). The following was said<br />
in one of the survey explanations: it is<br />
indicative that those living closer (under<br />
two kilometers from the bazaar)<br />
responded by saying that they did not<br />
feel safe, compared to those living further<br />
away (over 8 kilometers). Based on<br />
the ethnic background, after 20.00 the<br />
Albanians (89%) and Turks (83%) felt<br />
safer, whereas the Macedonians felt less<br />
safer (40%).<br />
that he cares about this area, but the situation<br />
does not change at all, says<br />
Hasani, who highlights the fact that the<br />
dark comes very quickly in the evening,<br />
since there is a lack of available city<br />
lighting, which results in reduced movement<br />
of people. Well, how could there<br />
be movement, when the youth was virtually<br />
thrown out of the bazaar. In the<br />
past, there were coffee shops where<br />
young people used to assemble, but as<br />
business was getting lesser, they started<br />
shutting down and now the Bazaar is<br />
deserted during the night, without any<br />
atmosphere. It seems as if somebody<br />
wanted to create an impression that this<br />
part of the city was unsafe, which certainly<br />
is not true. This part of the city is<br />
just like any other part. He is not viewing<br />
with any empathy the two centers<br />
<strong>for</strong> rehabilitation of drug dependents,<br />
which are located here. Why on earth?<br />
79<br />
What is happening to us?, May 2002
80<br />
Is it just because of these centers and the<br />
people moving around, who do not<br />
belong here, that one gets the impression<br />
<strong>for</strong> the bazaar being a nestle of this<br />
type of people?<br />
"Fine, there should be centers like<br />
this, since they are useful, but they<br />
should be located elsewhere", says<br />
Hasani. He suspects that whenever<br />
something is done in and around the<br />
bazaar, it seems that there is some<br />
background to it, because it is just<br />
located on the left bank of Vardar.<br />
At night, it is deserted because the<br />
coffee shops are not working. And the<br />
coffee shops in general have less work,<br />
not only in the bazaar, but in the other<br />
part of the city as well, because it<br />
became a dangerous place.<br />
Take <strong>for</strong> instance the shooting in the<br />
middle of the city, explains Dane<br />
Stojkovski, Chairperson of the<br />
Association of craftsmen and other independent<br />
businessmen of Skopje. The<br />
bazaar was neglected in many ways, he<br />
thinks, and he mentions the communication<br />
links, hygiene, technical, but also<br />
the cultural aspect. According to him,<br />
not only those involved in activities, but<br />
also those who by law have legal obligations,<br />
should take a greater care about<br />
the bazaar.<br />
There were initiatives <strong>for</strong> introducing<br />
some kind of guildsmen order, <strong>for</strong><br />
maintaining contacts with the city and<br />
with the Institute <strong>for</strong> protection of cultural<br />
monuments. We, being guildsmen,<br />
could do a lot more <strong>for</strong> the craftsmanship,<br />
but other factors should carry the<br />
responsibility when it comes to the revitalization<br />
of the Bazaar, as an area which<br />
has cultural and historical significance.<br />
However, the initiatives of wellmeaning<br />
people are to be supported.<br />
Thus, the silversmith Dzeladin Hasani<br />
submitted to the Association a list of<br />
recommendations, which should bring<br />
about changes that would improve the<br />
situation in the Bazaar. Through these<br />
recommendations, he is asking <strong>for</strong> a<br />
strict adherence to business hours during<br />
the winter and summer periods, as<br />
well as during the month of Ramadan,<br />
<strong>for</strong> imposing limitations on motor<br />
vehicle traveling inside the bazaar, <strong>for</strong><br />
shops to be closed during official state<br />
and religious holidays, <strong>for</strong> the hygiene<br />
to be maintained in front of each shop,<br />
<strong>for</strong> shop keepers to behave decently<br />
with customers and passing people,<br />
<strong>for</strong> standardizing the display of merchandize<br />
in front of the shops, <strong>for</strong> not<br />
allowing loud music to be played, <strong>for</strong><br />
introducing designated fire distinguishing<br />
points etc. Such recommendations<br />
are similar to those made by<br />
Argetim Nagavci, who, when it comes<br />
to business hours, even recommends<br />
an afternoon break. Thus, both shops<br />
and cafeterias would be working and<br />
there would also be more light <strong>for</strong><br />
those taking a stroll down the bazaar.<br />
REVITALIZATION-YES,<br />
BUT HOW TO GO ABOUT IT?<br />
The problem is, there<strong>for</strong>e, multidimensional.<br />
It seems that this is where<br />
all aspects are interwoven, related to the<br />
(under)represented activities, but also to<br />
the cultural and historical. The image of<br />
the bazaar should be derived even from<br />
its architecture, which, at present, looks<br />
more ancient than what it should look<br />
like. Argetim Nagavci, an independent<br />
manufacturer of quilt, provided some<br />
ideas about the way the glitter of the<br />
bazaar should be returned. He believes<br />
that new ideas and projects are needed,<br />
perhaps something which has not been<br />
seen be<strong>for</strong>e, in order to encourage the<br />
handcraft manufacturing, because in<br />
environments similar to this, that is<br />
what brings success. Last year, the<br />
Council of City of Skopje and the<br />
agency "List" organized a public debate<br />
addressing these topics. Many distinguished<br />
people from the city expressed<br />
their views on how to improve the situation.<br />
The agency "List" put <strong>for</strong>ward the<br />
idea of creating a pedestrian zone, in<br />
order to overcome the conversion of the<br />
bazaar into a ghetto, to regain the interest<br />
of the young population and to<br />
diminish the prejudice that this is not a<br />
safe place. The Chairperson of the<br />
Jewish Council, Viktor Mizrahi, among<br />
other things, put <strong>for</strong>ward an idea <strong>for</strong><br />
clarifying the dilemma about who does<br />
the bazaar belong to (does it belong to<br />
the city or to the municipality Center)<br />
and that the property should be returned<br />
to their <strong>for</strong>mer owners, whereas the<br />
bazaar should regain its multiethnic life,<br />
since, according to him, the recent<br />
impression is that the bazaar is<br />
Albanian. The representative of the<br />
Macedonian Orthodox Church, the<br />
priest Kosta Stanoevski, said that the<br />
artistic characteristic is significant in the<br />
endeavor to return the interest towards<br />
the bazaar and that this represents an<br />
even higher priority than its commercial<br />
side. The photographer Koco Tomovski<br />
recommended certain measures in order<br />
to prevent the destruction of the area,<br />
that should be taken care by the craftsmen<br />
themselves. He believes that the<br />
bazaar is a safe place and it should not<br />
be identified as Albanian, due to its multiethnic<br />
nature. During this debate,<br />
Mimoza Nestorova -Tomik, an architect,<br />
agreed with the initiative <strong>for</strong> the<br />
revitalization of the Old Bazaar. She<br />
believes that one of the ways of returning<br />
the attractiveness to this place, especially<br />
<strong>for</strong> the young population, is by<br />
organizing various per<strong>for</strong>mances of any<br />
nature - artistic, street, cooking etc. "It<br />
would be interesting if some old products<br />
returned, which should perhaps be<br />
the task of the Chamber of craftsmen",<br />
she said. The actress Nada Geshovska,<br />
believes that the bazaar should be a<br />
place where young artists should present<br />
their work. The silversmith<br />
Dzeladin Hasani, in his discussion,<br />
among other things, asked <strong>for</strong> funding<br />
<strong>for</strong> the crafts segment and said that the<br />
bazaar belongs to all citizens, regardless<br />
of their ethnicity. The Mayor of Skopje,<br />
Risto Penov, was not of the opinion that<br />
the decrease of the interest <strong>for</strong> the<br />
bazaar was due to the infrastructure<br />
(water supply and sewage), but he<br />
believed that festivals and exhibitions<br />
could immensely increase its attractiveness.<br />
"Once all cultural and artistic work<br />
aimed at increasing the interest <strong>for</strong> the<br />
bazaar, are completed, then only certain<br />
infrastructure modifications<br />
should be carried out", said the Mayor.<br />
During discussions which we had<br />
in the Old Bazaar, the President of the<br />
Association of craftsmen and other<br />
independent businessmen, among<br />
other things, threw the ball to the state,<br />
which, according to him, should take a<br />
greater care <strong>for</strong> something that is<br />
authentic in this area.<br />
One of the most relevant players to<br />
call upon is the Institute <strong>for</strong> the protection<br />
of cultural monuments of the city of<br />
Skopje, which is located in the bazaar's<br />
complex (in the church of Sveti Spas).<br />
The architect - conservator who works<br />
What is happening to us?, May 2002
there, Konstantin Dimitrovski, while<br />
talking about things which need to be<br />
done, emphasized the architectural<br />
aspect. According to the urban plan,<br />
plans need to be drafted <strong>for</strong> each cell,<br />
since in this way, levels of buildings,<br />
facades, details in the shop windows,<br />
materials etc. will be defined. To<br />
Dimitrovski's opinion, the slow progress<br />
of all these works is due to the reluctance<br />
of the shop owners to invest in<br />
such plans. Some of them give up and<br />
they start constructing unapproved<br />
extensions, <strong>for</strong> which we regularly intervene<br />
through inspection authorities. He<br />
anticipates that with the enactment of<br />
the law <strong>for</strong> the protection of cultural<br />
monuments, a certain order <strong>for</strong> intervening<br />
will be established in the bazaar.<br />
"Very little is required to regain the<br />
authentic image" says Dimitrovski,<br />
deeply convinced.<br />
Aneta Tanevska, an architect-conservator,<br />
is responsible <strong>for</strong> the cultural<br />
monuments dating back to the<br />
Ottoman period, which are located in<br />
the bazaar.<br />
- Certain interventions are underway,<br />
which should result in making them<br />
more attractive <strong>for</strong> tourists and other<br />
interested parties. At present, in the<br />
Chifte Hamam (the double public bath),<br />
there is a reconstruction under way and<br />
re-adaptation of the area into an artistic<br />
gallery (this should be completed be<strong>for</strong>e<br />
the summer). Some minor reconstructions<br />
of the gates and the internal part of<br />
the cover are completed and additional<br />
work is ongoing in the Kapan An. In the<br />
Mustafa Pasha mosque, the cemetery<br />
was reconstructed and the court of the<br />
mosque was rearranged, whereas in<br />
Kurshumli An it is necessary to erect<br />
protection grille <strong>for</strong> the gates. In fact,<br />
some interventions were already made to<br />
the sanitary and the lighting. In the interior,<br />
a lapidarium was opened and it is<br />
accessible <strong>for</strong> tourists. Kurshumli An<br />
needs investment <strong>for</strong> its maintenance,<br />
and the money <strong>for</strong> this will be requested<br />
from the Ministry <strong>for</strong> Culture - said<br />
Tanevska.<br />
What can be said at the end? The<br />
future of the Old Bazaar of Skopje is<br />
still connected with its past. In other<br />
words, the more it returns to its sources,<br />
from the architectural point of view and<br />
by its purpose, the more attractive it<br />
will become <strong>for</strong> everybody and it will<br />
represent valuable cultural, historic,<br />
commercial and tourist wealth.<br />
(The author is<br />
a journalist in "Flaka)<br />
Tanushevci is<br />
awaiting its "soul"<br />
Now, when almost all the displaced people have returned back in their<br />
homes, the Tanushevci residents are still wondering around Skopje and<br />
Vitina streets. In the evening, they go back to the basements, since there is<br />
no other place <strong>for</strong> them to go<br />
Ismail Sinani<br />
Sitting at the corner of the room,<br />
with a pipe in his hand, constantly<br />
smoking, we met Shefki in over seventies,<br />
who was just waiting <strong>for</strong> a<br />
"mercy" to return to his homeland,<br />
the village of Tanushevci.<br />
"My son, the stone weighs only in<br />
its own place", addresses us this old<br />
man with a noble heart, by letting us<br />
know that he was sick of everything.<br />
He stops again. In a large room in<br />
the Vizbegovo settlement in Skopje,<br />
where he<br />
has been accommodated <strong>for</strong> over<br />
a year now, Shefki looks with a heavy<br />
look and utters words one by one. "I<br />
cannot understand what is in fact<br />
happening with us". These are the<br />
words by which the old man expresses<br />
his astonishment, about the impossibility<br />
of returning to Tanushevci,<br />
where, as everywhere else, the spring<br />
has already started.<br />
While Shefki was shaking his<br />
head from the pain because of not<br />
being able to do anything and while<br />
he was groaning, from the other corner<br />
of the room, surrounded by magazines,<br />
his older son, who is a headmaster<br />
of the village school, joins the<br />
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What is happening to us?, May 2002
82<br />
discussion. "Believe us, our patience<br />
has reached its peak. We cannot stand<br />
this any longer. Hundreds of village<br />
inhabitants are still living in the basements<br />
in the town of Vitina in<br />
Kosovo, whereas the other part are<br />
here in Vizbegovo", repeats his words<br />
again Ismail, explaining to us that<br />
every day his school's students send<br />
letters to him, asking <strong>for</strong> a possibility<br />
to go back where they are supposed to<br />
be, by the school desks.<br />
"We went to the village a few<br />
days ago", Ismail's uncle, Brahim,<br />
joins the discussion. He described the<br />
way they found the village after 14<br />
months. He further talked about<br />
human soul, which can never be<br />
defeated.<br />
THE SCHOOL SOLDIERS<br />
"We didn't believe at all that we<br />
will find our houses complete.<br />
However, we were lucky <strong>for</strong> finding<br />
most of them not damaged from outside",<br />
says Brahim, continuing the<br />
conversation by telling that the current<br />
residents of the village, the ARM<br />
soldiers, had demolished everything<br />
they found.<br />
"However, that does not matter",<br />
joins Ali, Ismail's brother. "We will<br />
reconstruct them so that they will be<br />
even more beautiful from what they<br />
were be<strong>for</strong>e", expresses his willingness<br />
Ali, dressed in warm clothes, as<br />
if he wanted to say, "Although I am<br />
here in Skopje, my soul is still in<br />
Tanushevci".<br />
Word after word, conversation<br />
after conversation, and the room was<br />
constantly becoming smaller because<br />
of the residents of Tanushevci, who<br />
wanted to say something regarding<br />
what they saw a few days ago in their<br />
<strong>for</strong>gotten village.<br />
"Where the knowledge should be<br />
blossoming, where there must not<br />
enter the iron weapons, there were<br />
soldiers placed. How is this possible?",<br />
asks the headmaster of the<br />
school, Ismail.<br />
"When I arrived in the village the<br />
other day, I experienced the biggest<br />
surprise in my life, when I saw that at<br />
the desks where there used to be my<br />
students, now there were sitting soldiers<br />
with automatic machine guns in<br />
their hands", expresses his astonishment<br />
Ismail.<br />
The village school, which used to<br />
have the name "Liria", and which is<br />
now called "Mihail Grameno", a few<br />
years ago was completely built from<br />
the foundations to the roof, by the village<br />
people, without any assistance.<br />
The conversation about the school<br />
made the Tanushevci residents <strong>for</strong>get<br />
about their houses. One of them said<br />
that the pencil should not be replaced<br />
with weapons, the other one said that<br />
it is about a sacred temple, the third<br />
one said that it was the temple of<br />
knowledge, and they went on and on,<br />
eventually ending up in silence…<br />
As a village leader, Ismail has a<br />
large burden to carry over his shoulders.<br />
"I am also a president of the<br />
local municipality. I am exhausted<br />
from the requests sent to politicians,<br />
ministers and international organizations…<br />
but, all in vain", he says.<br />
Now, when almost all the displaced<br />
people have returned back in<br />
their homes, the Tanushevci residents<br />
are still wondering around Skopje and<br />
Vitina streets. In the evening, they go<br />
back to the basements, since there is<br />
no other place <strong>for</strong> them to go.<br />
THE DESERTED VILLAGE<br />
Although the war is over, the<br />
Tanushevci fields are deserted. They<br />
make phone calls to the MPs, ministers,<br />
OSCE, the International<br />
Committee of the Red Cross,<br />
UNHCR, the Fox… but they never<br />
get down on their knees and humiliate<br />
themselves.<br />
"If we do not return to our village<br />
now, then us going back in June will<br />
make no sense. It is now the time <strong>for</strong><br />
us to tillage our wonderful soil." -<br />
says Hasan, another inhabitant of<br />
Tanushevci, almost at the same age as<br />
Shefki.<br />
Ismail takes the floor again. This<br />
time in the role of the village leader<br />
he asked<br />
how is it possible <strong>for</strong> elections to<br />
be organized without the displaced<br />
people returning to their homeland.<br />
He asked how is it possible to have<br />
census without placing everyone in<br />
their homes. He asked other questions<br />
as well with a higher voice, but mostly<br />
he asked when most of the<br />
Tanushevci residents will be issued<br />
their citizenship, those that have not<br />
been taken into Macedonia's<br />
"bosom".<br />
"Neither last, nor this year we<br />
requested anything but equality. In<br />
fact, the last year's conflict resulted<br />
from inequality", we heard Brahim's<br />
voice, who was trying to find reasons<br />
<strong>for</strong> the inequality that was caused to<br />
his family and to his village people.<br />
Having heard all of this, one more<br />
time we asked them when they plan to<br />
return to their age-long homeland. As<br />
if this question one more time<br />
enflamed the fire and the sorrow <strong>for</strong><br />
the motherland.<br />
And again stories, the talking<br />
going back to the school and the four<br />
hundred students of Tanushevci,<br />
Brest and Malino, which are in a triangle<br />
located at the peak of Skopska<br />
Crna Gora, 50 kilometers north of<br />
Skopje.<br />
Be<strong>for</strong>e the war, there used to be<br />
nine schools in this triangle, but now<br />
there is only the Tanushevci school<br />
left, inhabited with soldiers, who<br />
instead of pencils , carry cold<br />
weapons in their hands…<br />
"Except <strong>for</strong> the school building in<br />
Tanushevci, all other buildings are<br />
turned into ash", said at the very end<br />
the director of the school without students,<br />
Ismail Ibrahimi, not being able<br />
to answer the question what will happen<br />
to the Tanushevci people.<br />
As if the appeal of Tanushevci villagers<br />
to those that consider themselves<br />
being at "important" positions<br />
terminates here.<br />
"We ask everyone not to leave us<br />
<strong>for</strong>gotten in abyss. We ask everyone<br />
to enable us to return. We ask everyone<br />
to help us so that we could also<br />
enjoy the life in this world… We<br />
ask…"<br />
(The author is journalist in "Fakti)<br />
What is happening to us?, May 2002
The Donors Conference came and went, the<br />
social problems remained<br />
Money Doesn't Grow on Trees<br />
Mirche Jovanovski<br />
"The Donors Conference is the<br />
best proof that there isn't any spring<br />
war offensive", almost cried the<br />
President Boris Trajkovski on the<br />
joint press-conference with the<br />
Austrian President, Tomas Clestil,<br />
on May 11 of this year in Skopje. He<br />
also appealed at the same time to the<br />
businesspersons from that membercountry<br />
of the European Union, to<br />
invest in Macedonia. In this honest,<br />
and a little bit emotional gust of the<br />
Macedonian<br />
President,<br />
practically lies<br />
the point of<br />
the future<br />
development<br />
of Macedonia:<br />
peace and<br />
investments.<br />
Perhaps it<br />
sounds too<br />
much like a<br />
slogan but it is<br />
the <strong>for</strong>mula<br />
that the country<br />
can draw<br />
out of the political madness in<br />
which corruption, crime, social misery,<br />
common insecurity, distrust and<br />
unhealed wounds of last year's war<br />
conflict reign. And of course, the<br />
construction of institutions that will<br />
carry that out. On the contrary, there<br />
is a greater possibility <strong>for</strong> the country<br />
to be joined with the group of<br />
countries <strong>for</strong> which the African<br />
standards apply and to the number<br />
of 1.2 billion people, who, as it is<br />
The fear of a spring war offensive is smaller, but instead of<br />
the wanted economic offensive, an offensive of the socially<br />
deprived can easily happen<br />
estimated, live in extreme poverty,<br />
instead of joining the European<br />
Union. With that President<br />
Trajkovski and the Finance Minister<br />
Nikola Gruevski had the opportunity<br />
to be in<strong>for</strong>med in detail on the<br />
first Conference of Financing the<br />
Development, which was held from<br />
the 19 to the 23 of March in the<br />
Mexican city Monterey, under the<br />
auspices of the Organization of the<br />
United Nations.<br />
The fear of a spring war offensive<br />
is smaller, but instead of the<br />
wanted economic offensive, an<br />
offensive of the socially deprived<br />
can easily happen. Money, that is,<br />
doesn't grow on trees. No matter<br />
how much the domestic politicians<br />
try to put the results of the donor's<br />
conference in their account, this<br />
won't help them enough in the talks<br />
with the everyday bigger number of<br />
the social cases. Even worse, the<br />
present Government showed that it<br />
doesn't know how, or doesn't even<br />
want to talk to these despaired people.<br />
Instead of talks, it delivered<br />
whacking to the few thousand angry<br />
workers whose enterprises, where<br />
they have been registered as<br />
employed, are threatened to be<br />
closed, while, the workers do not<br />
ask <strong>for</strong> nothing more than work and<br />
an honest valorization of their labor.<br />
Since they do not want to talk<br />
anymore, it can hardly be expected<br />
from our officials to ensure conditions<br />
of any kind <strong>for</strong> the economical<br />
effectuation of these enterprises and<br />
an atmosphere where every employee<br />
would feel at least a little dignity<br />
and that what he has obtained he has<br />
earned honestly, and not that somebody<br />
gives him charity. From a government<br />
which has been branded as<br />
corrupt from several reports produced<br />
by relevant international<br />
organizations, it is questionable<br />
whether there will be any different<br />
behavior at all.<br />
The outburst of social dissatisfaction<br />
happened almost a month<br />
later from the donor's conference in<br />
Brussels where, to everyone's surprise,<br />
Macedonia was promised far<br />
more money that even themselves<br />
had been asking from the rich club<br />
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What is happening to us?, May 2002
84<br />
in conjunction with the international<br />
financial institutions. Hand in hand<br />
with the promises <strong>for</strong> the money the<br />
government was also handed so far<br />
unseen critic<strong>ism</strong> regarding the size<br />
of the corruption, which, according<br />
to the International Crisis Group,<br />
endangers the survival of the country<br />
itself.<br />
One would say that the developed<br />
world has once again put in<br />
practice its well known and proven<br />
policy of the carrot and the stick.<br />
The juicy carrot in this case<br />
weighs 307 million euros, as much<br />
as Macedonia was promised in<br />
Brussels, fifty more million from<br />
what was asked from the donors.<br />
The icing on top of this is over 200<br />
million euros in the <strong>for</strong>m of additional<br />
financial help, which would<br />
be effectuated bilaterally, on the<br />
basis of offered projects from the<br />
Macedonian side to specific countries.<br />
Shortly, half a billion euros, as<br />
much as the donors package is<br />
worth, it is an imposing sum of<br />
money even <strong>for</strong> much larger<br />
economies than ours and certainly, a<br />
clear signal <strong>for</strong> the support of our<br />
country from the international community,<br />
after everything that was<br />
experienced last year and <strong>for</strong> the fulfilling<br />
of many conditions, imposed<br />
by its most powerful representatives.<br />
Little tampering under the surface<br />
of this valuable "carrot" one is<br />
left with a different perception. The<br />
majority of the means are donations<br />
and grants, it means that they are<br />
given without the obligation to be<br />
returned, with or without interest. As<br />
it was presented from the European<br />
Commission, 73 million euros are<br />
credits out of the 307 million total,<br />
while 234 will be grants. The message<br />
that one can clearly see comes<br />
out of the fact that important transfers<br />
of the sums are seen in the parts<br />
of the donors package that deal with<br />
the reconstruction of the destroyed<br />
buildings in the course of war activities<br />
as well as the implementation<br />
of the framework agreement. The<br />
grants are to deal with specifically<br />
these things. There is a different picture<br />
regarding the support <strong>for</strong> the<br />
paid balance, <strong>for</strong> which less money<br />
was granted from what was demanded,<br />
the majority of which are appropriate,<br />
but still credit means. This,<br />
according to the experts, does not<br />
mean anything else but a disagreement<br />
with the last year's expenditures<br />
from the budget, where the<br />
majority was used <strong>for</strong> armament.<br />
The role of the stick is to warn<br />
that such a large level of corruption<br />
and organized crime in the country<br />
cannot continue anymore. The<br />
uniqueness, and the proximity of the<br />
evaluations of various international<br />
institutions and organizations, have<br />
reached such a level that they no<br />
longer can be answered with justifications<br />
that these things happen<br />
because of evil-intended individual<br />
cases. The continuity of the reports<br />
and the events only complement<br />
such conclusions: starting from the<br />
shocking report of ICG published on<br />
the day of the donor's conference in<br />
the influential Wall Street Journal,<br />
then the scanning and the evaluation<br />
of GRECO, an institution with the<br />
Council of Europe which among<br />
other things deals with the corruption<br />
in certain countries, all the way<br />
to the evaluations from the European<br />
Commission regarding the implementation<br />
of the Agreement <strong>for</strong><br />
Stabilization and Association, where<br />
in the part of the Balkans, corruption<br />
was marked as one of the key problems,<br />
and <strong>for</strong> Macedonia it was also<br />
added that the solution of the issue<br />
of the enterprises which have gone<br />
bankrupt, the non-transparent<br />
process of privatization and the feeble<br />
banking sector, will be postponed.<br />
The illegal activities from<br />
smuggling of goods, weapons, drugs<br />
and people, especially women,<br />
because of the spreading of prostitution,<br />
add to the general image of<br />
Macedonia, leaving the country<br />
without a clear strategy how to fight<br />
against these illegal activities.<br />
If we add to this the level of<br />
unemployment, the stage of poverty<br />
and lack of social programs or again,<br />
the possibilities <strong>for</strong> self-employment,<br />
the perspectives of the local<br />
economy are not rosy at all. Having<br />
in mind these conditions, it is difficult<br />
that a serious investor from<br />
Austria or some other country will<br />
respond to the invitation of<br />
President Trajkovski to invest in our<br />
country.<br />
The donor's conference as a one<br />
way act of promising financial help<br />
and especially as a strong political<br />
signal it has played its role. Now the<br />
ball is on our turf. The question is<br />
whether the current team, regardless<br />
of how much influence they may do<br />
through <strong>for</strong>ming offices to fight<br />
against corruption, writing criminal<br />
charges against <strong>for</strong>mer ministers or<br />
sending hundreds of inspectors to<br />
close down trade centers under the<br />
slogan 'fight against the grey economy',<br />
it has a true will and a moral<br />
integrity to engage in war with<br />
essential problems, or perhaps the<br />
whole action is only a campaign<br />
reflection <strong>for</strong> the international critic<strong>ism</strong><br />
which it receives every day.<br />
Finally, one has to bear in mind<br />
that regardless of how big they are,<br />
the means from the donors cannot be<br />
a substitute of what we ourselves<br />
should do to improve the conditions<br />
in the country. Less and less people<br />
fell <strong>for</strong> cheap tricks, empty replies<br />
and false promises. The majority are<br />
clear that no donations will help the<br />
country, if they end up in the gray<br />
channels of corrupt officials and<br />
functionaries. People employed in<br />
the bankrupt enterprises know this<br />
best, who cannot seek answers <strong>for</strong><br />
their problems somewhere else but<br />
from the members of Parliament and<br />
the Ministers in the Government.<br />
Regardless if in return <strong>for</strong> this they<br />
will get (as they themselves say) a<br />
loaf of bread or a beating.<br />
(The author is a journalist in<br />
"Utrinski Vesnik")<br />
What is happening to us?, May 2002
When the one way- ticket is the only way out<br />
The politicians have<br />
<strong>for</strong>gotten the young people<br />
Goran Trpenovski<br />
The young people should develop<br />
a feeling that they belong to same<br />
state, which is a precondition <strong>for</strong><br />
their mutual cooperation. It is important<br />
to mitigate the<br />
prejudices and<br />
oppositions that<br />
they feel between<br />
each other. The<br />
surveys have<br />
shown that the current<br />
situation that<br />
concerns the ethnic<br />
problems among<br />
young people is<br />
not good. The<br />
politicians are the<br />
ones to be blamed.<br />
The young people<br />
Instead of trying to change<br />
the Balkan political mentality<br />
of the old politicians<br />
with their vanguard influence,<br />
the political youth<br />
wings rapidly melt into<br />
their machiavellian, personal<br />
and profitable logic<br />
which has only one aim and<br />
that is power, power and<br />
nothing but power… by<br />
any means.<br />
should have proper education,<br />
employment, sport, cultural and<br />
other activities in order to spread the<br />
common spirit among them.<br />
Un<strong>for</strong>tunately, this, in many aspects,<br />
is influenced by politics that is holding<br />
the basic levers<br />
of power.<br />
PDP believes<br />
that in this moment<br />
the party is not in a<br />
position to strongly<br />
influence in the<br />
overcoming of the<br />
divisions and problems<br />
among the<br />
young people. "We<br />
now hardly manages<br />
to push the<br />
most important<br />
issues <strong>for</strong> the functioning<br />
of the state, let alone to<br />
direct out attention to the problems<br />
that concern the young people. With<br />
our possible future participation in<br />
the Government we will try to solve<br />
the numerous problems <strong>for</strong> the<br />
youth. Achieving greater and better<br />
results <strong>for</strong> bringing the young people<br />
together mainly depends on the economic<br />
development. For instance, to<br />
start organizing events that are not<br />
very expensive but are productive<br />
<strong>for</strong> building trust among young people.<br />
PDP will insist on developing a<br />
program that will encompass its own<br />
activities in this aspect", said Mr.<br />
Mersel Bilali, PDP Member of<br />
Parliament.<br />
Inspired by the desire to access<br />
and apply the European standards in<br />
all spheres of the political and social<br />
life, the Liberal Party will work<br />
towards overcoming the differences<br />
and solving the problems among the<br />
young people by improving the civil<br />
society.<br />
"We are lead by the desire to give<br />
our own contribution to the stability<br />
and development of the Republic of<br />
Macedonia as a modern, judicial and<br />
democratic state with special<br />
emphasis on the welfare of the individual<br />
and development of the political<br />
culture among the young people"<br />
said Mr. Ivon Velichkovski,<br />
Leader of the young liberals. Based<br />
on the ideas <strong>for</strong> democracy and<br />
invulnerability of the personality, the<br />
freedom of the personal initiative,<br />
creativity and personal responsibili-<br />
85<br />
What is happening to us?, May 2002
86<br />
ty, he thinks that the Liberal Party<br />
will insist on respect of "its holy"<br />
fundamental rights and citizen's freedom.<br />
In our opinion, the essence is<br />
not to stress the differences among<br />
the young people as a basic concept<br />
of division, but to know our differences<br />
as a basis of building tolerance,<br />
the cohabitation of citizens of<br />
the Republic of Macedonia in the<br />
political, economic, cultural and<br />
social aspect of life", emphasized<br />
Mr. Velichkovski.<br />
According to the liberal democrats,<br />
there is no real multiethnic crisis<br />
in Macedonia. This attitude is<br />
based upon the fact that there is no<br />
genesis of interethnic animosity and<br />
hatred among the young people.<br />
"Through decades our nation has<br />
lived its simple, modest and calm life<br />
that adheres to one principle and that<br />
is mutual understanding, nothing<br />
more and nothing less", says the<br />
President of the young liberal<br />
democrats, Mr. Veko Temov.<br />
The liberal democrats believe<br />
that the today's burden through<br />
which we live is only a fruit of<br />
immature ethnic, moral, economic<br />
and extremely corrupted system. In<br />
the race <strong>for</strong> a greater profit we lost<br />
the most important thing-being<br />
human.<br />
"The ordinary people who are<br />
only asking <strong>for</strong> better life are not to<br />
blame". The guilty are those who<br />
very skillfully know how to make<br />
their own political and financial<br />
profit under the nomenclature:<br />
"fighters <strong>for</strong> human rights". The<br />
guilty are those who have <strong>for</strong>gotten<br />
what they promised, the politicians<br />
who have <strong>for</strong>gotten their people",<br />
said Mr. Temov and added: "Better<br />
future can be reached only by an<br />
honest and sincere approach with no<br />
prejudices. It is time to start working<br />
on the problems that concern the<br />
young people".<br />
On the other hand, the ruling<br />
party, VMRO-DPMNE, condemns<br />
all acts of multiethnic animosity in<br />
the Republic of Macedonia.<br />
"Cohabitation of people from different<br />
ethic background is one of the<br />
pillars of the state, and every damage<br />
of the pillar jeopardizes the country<br />
existence", said Mr. Vladimir<br />
Gjorchev, spokesperson of VMRO-<br />
DPMNE.<br />
According to him, the multiethnic<br />
tensions and conflicts among the<br />
young people should stop because<br />
they are of no interests <strong>for</strong> anybody,<br />
and the XXI century should be a century<br />
of the European integration and<br />
promotion of the European principles<br />
and tolerance in the Balkans.<br />
VMRO-DPMNE believes that the<br />
state should and has to focus on the<br />
bad situation that the young people<br />
are facing with and all other cases of<br />
ethnic extrem<strong>ism</strong> and chauvin<strong>ism</strong><br />
should be severely punished. Thus,<br />
it is important <strong>for</strong> the Ministry of<br />
Interior to undertake some measurements<br />
<strong>for</strong> punishing the actors of<br />
such actions." By having sectioned<br />
them all further attempts <strong>for</strong> destruction<br />
of the civil concept of the<br />
Republic of Macedonia will be in<br />
vain" emphasizes Mr. Gjorchev.<br />
The opposition party SDSM considers<br />
the corps of freedom and<br />
rights as basic measurement <strong>for</strong><br />
defining the level of democratization<br />
of the society. SDSM accepts the fact<br />
that the minorities apart from the<br />
basic civil rights have special minority<br />
rights and their accomplishment<br />
is a must towards creating open society.<br />
According to them, the level of<br />
minority participation in society is<br />
insufficient and that damages their<br />
integrity.<br />
"SDSM will fight <strong>for</strong> achieving a<br />
real participation and equality of all<br />
young people regardless their ethic<br />
background. Thus, we think that the<br />
implementation of the framework<br />
agreement is of a great importance,<br />
not only <strong>for</strong> the stabilization of the<br />
country, but also <strong>for</strong> improving the<br />
constitutional citizen's concept,<br />
political and cultural rights, as well<br />
as determinations <strong>for</strong> absence of discrimination<br />
and creating measures<br />
<strong>for</strong> their protection", said Mr. Igor<br />
Ivanovski, President of the SDSM's<br />
youth.<br />
Apparently, the old story is<br />
repeating <strong>for</strong> the young people too.<br />
The politicians are very much concerned,<br />
they pluck their hear and<br />
shade bitter tears <strong>for</strong> the problems<br />
that concern the young people, especially<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e the elections. However,<br />
the reality is different. A great number<br />
of young people are waiting in<br />
front of the Bureau of Employment,<br />
the number of delinquency increases,<br />
the drug addiction rapidly rises, and<br />
all these anomalies result from the<br />
irresponsibility of the elders. Or, to<br />
put it a different way, the dominant<br />
political philosophy is implied in the<br />
message: "Don't look what I do, listen<br />
what I say!"<br />
Un<strong>for</strong>tunately, the greater part of<br />
the young politicians instead of trying<br />
to change the Balkan political<br />
mentality of the old politicians, they<br />
melt rapidly in their machiavellian,<br />
personal and profitable logic which<br />
has only one aim and that is power,<br />
power and nothing but power… by<br />
any means.<br />
Is there a worse confirmation <strong>for</strong><br />
this situation by putting a sign of<br />
equality between the young politicians<br />
and the old politicians observing<br />
the last student elections? The<br />
elections haven't finished yet and<br />
there are slight chances <strong>for</strong> them to<br />
be finished. The question is under<br />
what conditions the new student<br />
leader will achieve his goals. Will<br />
that be another fierce fight that concerns<br />
the issue of the students' and<br />
the young people's dignity who<br />
should be the most developed component<br />
and the vanguard of each<br />
society. Thus, a great number of talented<br />
young people, knowing that<br />
the country does not care about<br />
them, more often are trying to make<br />
their only choice <strong>for</strong> solving their<br />
existence. A one-way ticket to a <strong>for</strong>eign<br />
country.<br />
(The author is a journalist<br />
with the daily newspaper VEST)<br />
What is happening to us?, May 2002
What future does the pre-election period promise?<br />
Macedonia will succeed only<br />
if it overpowers the<br />
syndrome of a land-junction<br />
Ljubomir D. Frckoski<br />
In the "Macedonian political<br />
establishment", the content<br />
of the framework agreement is<br />
not as contentious as the frustration<br />
about the manner and<br />
the state of its adoption.<br />
For the majority of<br />
Macedonians it represents a<br />
way of awarding violence; and<br />
model <strong>for</strong> protection and promotion<br />
of minority rights, <strong>for</strong><br />
which Macedonia was considered<br />
to be a unique, successful<br />
example in the Balkans <strong>for</strong> a<br />
long time.<br />
The second psychological<br />
"dam" <strong>for</strong> the agreement is<br />
mistrust; the belief that it will<br />
terminate or convert the<br />
aggressive ethno-rhetoric and<br />
nothing can ever be solved<br />
without international mediation.<br />
Has the Ohrid agreement,<br />
which is constantly<br />
being re-interpreted and distorted<br />
so as to elicit new<br />
demands (as well as to question<br />
the part of one signatory<br />
member), put an end to<br />
"Albanian demands"?<br />
The Macedonians encountered<br />
another grave problem:<br />
the limited governing elite at<br />
the present moment, which has<br />
altogether lost orientation <strong>for</strong> a<br />
coherent democratic and<br />
national policy, and would<br />
87<br />
What are the political consequences<br />
of the implementation<br />
of the framework agreement in<br />
post-conflict Macedonia and<br />
how does that reflect on the<br />
pre-electoral constellations<br />
among the political parties?<br />
gives the impression that the<br />
international community<br />
would readily apply double<br />
standards, or verify a "de<br />
facto" state, ignoring their proclaimed<br />
principles. This would<br />
be done, in particular, in light<br />
of emphasizing the successful<br />
military approach of parts of<br />
the Albanian political elite,<br />
which makes use of international<br />
arbitration and intervention,<br />
deliberately bringing<br />
mediation to absurdity, so as to<br />
demonstrate that Macedonia is<br />
a de facto protectorate and that<br />
readily enter scandalous compromises<br />
at the expense of<br />
these "Macedonian fears",<br />
intentionally obstructing the<br />
redeployment of the police in<br />
all previously crisis-affected<br />
regions and, thus, violating the<br />
Ohrid agreement, in the most<br />
Elections <strong>for</strong> peace, July 2002
88<br />
delicate point: the return of safety<br />
and a legal state.<br />
The accumulated rage caused by<br />
these obstacles, the frustration with<br />
"our own kind", and fear <strong>for</strong> the<br />
future are reflected by the<br />
Macedonians through means of<br />
clear-cut, and new, aloofness from<br />
their co-citizens - the Albanians;<br />
leading to a potential intolerance <strong>for</strong><br />
the motives of the international factors<br />
in Macedonia.<br />
Nevertheless, the majority of the<br />
electorate still "holds" that state of<br />
frustration under control, providing<br />
surprising support <strong>for</strong> the implementation<br />
of the framework agreement<br />
(at times more IMPLICITLY than<br />
explicitly).<br />
The Albanians and their electorate<br />
have undergone stronger<br />
re<strong>for</strong>m from the new political players<br />
since last year's clashes. The<br />
establishment of two political blocks<br />
is perceivable, having fifty a percent<br />
impact on their electorate; namely,<br />
the block revolving around DPA,<br />
and the one around Ali Ahmeti.<br />
After the initial shock caused by<br />
the clashes, the leaders of the DPA<br />
and PDP recovered during the<br />
lengthy Ohrid negotiations. At the<br />
time, they were still attached to Ali<br />
Ahmeti by an umbilical cord; but<br />
soon they regained strength in order<br />
to stand on "the wind of demands"<br />
and enter with a new political card<br />
which promised better chances than<br />
those offered at the beginning of the<br />
conflict. Two powerful blocks in the<br />
"Albanian camp" mean a stabilizing<br />
political tendency. First of all, <strong>for</strong><br />
the first time, Albanians will face a<br />
situation where all parties should be<br />
recognized as such; namely, as legitimate<br />
representatives of various<br />
political alternatives, and not as<br />
means <strong>for</strong> mutual indictments <strong>for</strong><br />
spying on certain departments or<br />
unlawful tendencies that lead to violence<br />
and murders during elections.<br />
Second, it is a means to achieve a<br />
relatively stable configuration <strong>for</strong><br />
shuffles in the governing coalitions<br />
without having to disturb the baseline.<br />
However, the problem that is<br />
getting more conspicuous with the<br />
Albanians is that it does not stand to<br />
reason that a part of them (the DPA<br />
and Arben Xhaferi) could exert new<br />
post-ethnic politics. They belong to<br />
the past, or a time that passes in<br />
front of us. These politicians clutch<br />
at their post-socialist ethno-discourse,<br />
without which they are incapable<br />
of swimming in political<br />
waters. They are, of course, terrified<br />
at the end of the cruel ethno-story<br />
(with the framework agreement) and<br />
they already proclaim in panic that,<br />
in fact, it is not the end, that they<br />
will still act in same movie, which<br />
will continue to run. Thus, they<br />
become a problem in themselves.<br />
They can not be a part of the solution<br />
to the upcoming problems; they<br />
would rather reproduce the old ones.<br />
I consider those politicians, and<br />
organized crime, to be, undeniably,<br />
the biggest problem in contemporary<br />
Albanian political discourse in<br />
Macedonia. The Macedonian preelectoral<br />
home front is comprised of<br />
old actors with new roles. On one<br />
hand, stands the completely limited<br />
governing elite of VMRO-DPMNE -<br />
fatigued with power, engulfed in<br />
serious crimes and corruption and,<br />
most important, gravely responsible<br />
<strong>for</strong> the war and <strong>for</strong> not being efficient<br />
in preventing its happening<br />
(which was possible).<br />
That burden brought to light the<br />
darkest conspiracies amongst them,<br />
such as the exchange of population<br />
and territory with Albania and<br />
Kosovo; the subordination of the<br />
MOC under the Serb church; and the<br />
total economic and political dependence<br />
on Greece.<br />
Even <strong>for</strong> the in<strong>for</strong>med, the oscillation<br />
of VMRO-DPMNE around<br />
the Serbian-Greek axis and<br />
rearrangement of a program on the<br />
basis of adventurous, gloomy passing<br />
ideas and caprice, will remain<br />
without due explanation.<br />
By means of a "great financial<br />
boost", they attempt to mitigate the<br />
inevitable electoral defeat; but, also,<br />
by resorting to dangerous provocation<br />
and spurring war psychosis, and<br />
anti-western hysteria and isolation<strong>ism</strong>,<br />
which are regarded as a good<br />
pre-election environment.<br />
SDSM is hibernating, attempting<br />
a basic door-to-door approach to<br />
compensate <strong>for</strong> national politics and<br />
the need to take a stand regarding<br />
the national issues they personally<br />
witness, as if they feel indifferent to<br />
the state they will rule when they<br />
come to power, or what sort of passport<br />
the citizens will possess in their<br />
country.<br />
The new electoral model, proportioned<br />
without a lower limit, will<br />
create an opportunity <strong>for</strong> a larger<br />
number of parties in the Parliament<br />
and the establishment of political<br />
blocks. It will inevitably expand the<br />
procedure <strong>for</strong> creating a<br />
Government and its per<strong>for</strong>mance,<br />
and it will strengthen the role of the<br />
President to balance the executive<br />
power.<br />
Is the adoption of this electoral<br />
model a case of a calculated or a random<br />
consequence? The author cannot<br />
tell.<br />
However, it is obvious, from this<br />
point of view, that security and the<br />
issue of territorial integrity will<br />
remain outstanding <strong>for</strong> the new<br />
Government.<br />
Then, the issues of balancing the<br />
impact of Greece and the steady<br />
development of the north-south,<br />
east-west axis will follow, by means<br />
of which Macedonia could maintain<br />
permanent stability. Promotion of<br />
inclusive politics, hand-in-hand with<br />
the new and strong rule of law and<br />
the struggle against organized crime,<br />
are the priorities next in line.<br />
Macedonia stands a chance only if it<br />
remains an open country, a country<br />
that has an understanding of the<br />
"cross-land discourse" syndrome.<br />
(The Author<br />
is a columnist <strong>for</strong> Dnevnik)<br />
Elections <strong>for</strong> peace, July 2002
The <strong>for</strong>mer leader of the NLA founded<br />
a political party - did this have to happen now?<br />
Ahmeti didn’t want to become<br />
a „general without an army“<br />
Daut Dauti<br />
Ali Ahmeti, a leader of a political<br />
party and, on top of everything, with a<br />
residence in Skopje!<br />
Macedonians were taken by surprise<br />
by the new Albanian political<br />
party, lead by the <strong>for</strong>mer political<br />
leader of the NLA - Ali Ahmeti. Isn't<br />
this an act of provocation and impudence,<br />
now, when the "wounds of war"<br />
still hurt, and Ali Ahmeti is coming to<br />
be our first neighbor? Did he have to<br />
do this now, and in the capital city of<br />
our country?<br />
That is what Macedonians think<br />
about the "unwanted guest from<br />
Shipkovica". And Albanians have a<br />
completely different feeling about the<br />
whole situation.<br />
We have to get used to these "different"<br />
feelings, because we had different<br />
views on the things that were happening<br />
last year. But, I think the question<br />
should be this: did Ali Ahmeti<br />
choose the right moment to enter political<br />
life, and is he not losing the status<br />
of an "integrating person" among the<br />
Albanians, which he wished <strong>for</strong> so<br />
long?<br />
The answer is very simple - he had<br />
to. He wasn't left any other choice. He<br />
was even late with this solution.<br />
THIS SHOULD HAVE<br />
HAPPENED IMMEDIATE-<br />
LY AFTER THE SIGNING<br />
OF THE OHRID AGREE-<br />
MENT<br />
The entrance of Ali Ahmeti into<br />
He couldn't have accepted<br />
the role of an "English<br />
queen" - to be a symbol of<br />
unity among Albanians<br />
while letting others have<br />
direct influence<br />
political life was, more or less, expected.<br />
It was only a matter of time and<br />
finding a way of doing it. I was one of<br />
those who thought that he should not<br />
hasten this after the events from last<br />
year, considering the revolting feeling<br />
of the Macedonian public towards<br />
him, as towards the man most responsible<br />
<strong>for</strong> the war in our country. On the<br />
other side, I considered the trans<strong>for</strong>mation<br />
of the NLA into political party<br />
against principle, because it would turn<br />
the gains of war into political aims.<br />
Probably Ali Ahmeti and his colleagues<br />
and other advisers were thinking<br />
the same way. This kind of thinking,<br />
at least according to the flow of<br />
events, has turned out to be the wrong<br />
strategy. It has shown that, after the<br />
actual ending of the war crisis, those<br />
who advised Ahmeti to found a political<br />
party were right.<br />
There were many possibilities <strong>for</strong><br />
his engagement in politics. Besides the<br />
founding of his party, the other option<br />
was to join one of the existing ones<br />
(every party would gain from his presence<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e the elections in autumn).<br />
Based on these open possibilities, one<br />
of the Albanian parties, the National<br />
Democratic Party of Kastriot<br />
Hadzhiredzha, had a great advantage<br />
because there were some rumors that it<br />
was a party of the NLA and that it was<br />
only a question of time be<strong>for</strong>e Ali<br />
Ahmeti became its leader. The popularity<br />
that this party had is only a<br />
reflection of those rumors. But,<br />
Ahmeti chose a different and, eventually,<br />
wrong way.<br />
The <strong>for</strong>mer leader of the NLA, following<br />
different advice and suggestions,<br />
some of which were <strong>for</strong>m <strong>for</strong>eign<br />
factors, decided to wait. In order<br />
to stay in the focus of political events,<br />
he founded the Coordinative Council<br />
of Albanian Political Subjects, from<br />
which he could have gained different<br />
things. He could have become a political<br />
leader of "all Albanians" in<br />
Macedonia; he could have been the<br />
coordinator of all political decisions<br />
<strong>for</strong> the implementation of the Ohrid<br />
agreement; and, as it was stated by the<br />
leader of DPA in an interview on<br />
Macedonian national TV, with this<br />
Council Ali Ahmeti could have joined<br />
politics in the safest way. It was considered<br />
that this Coordinative body of<br />
an in<strong>for</strong>mal character would assure<br />
Ahmeti and his people a strong position<br />
in the institutions as well, followed<br />
by anticipated and very realistic<br />
participation in the elections. But,<br />
Ahmeti was wrong about that too. The<br />
outside "players" have made their<br />
plans <strong>for</strong> a stronger position, which has<br />
caused a weakening in the Council's<br />
activity; so, eventually, it lost its previous<br />
goal - unity, and the mutual coordination<br />
of Albanian subjects.<br />
Obstacles<br />
A situation like that provoked cer-<br />
89<br />
Elections <strong>for</strong> peace, July 2002
90<br />
tain events that have announced the fall<br />
of the Council. The dangerous events<br />
in Rechica (five dead, of whom four<br />
were <strong>for</strong>mer members of the NLA), as<br />
well as the attack on the restaurant<br />
owned by Menduh Tachi, which was<br />
considered as the alternative center of<br />
the DPA, have ruined the idyllic picture<br />
of relations and cooperation among<br />
Albanian subjects. As it is already<br />
known, the call of the DPA to the other<br />
members of this Council to distance<br />
themselves from some the statements<br />
given by Dzhevat Ademi and Mersel<br />
Biljali about, according to<br />
them, "fighting as a result of<br />
criminal motives", left the<br />
PDP and NDP without words.<br />
That has made the DPA<br />
temporarily "freeze" their participation<br />
in the work of the<br />
Council. Soon after that, the<br />
DPA started to break from<br />
some of the things determined<br />
by Ali Ahmeti. This party<br />
started to work seriously on<br />
the next elections and to create<br />
a new election technique.<br />
They gave preference to the<br />
cooperation with VMRO-<br />
DPMNE over other subjects,<br />
even blaming some of them <strong>for</strong> an<br />
attempt to break that union. Besides<br />
that, the DPA included in their lines<br />
many <strong>for</strong>mer and very popular commanders<br />
and fighters of the NLA -<br />
which has constantly weakened<br />
Ahmeti's position.<br />
WHO IS A BIGGER<br />
RADICAL?<br />
As a result of this flow of events,<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e becoming a "general without an<br />
army", Ali Ahmeti had to draw a red<br />
line under which he could not allow the<br />
loss of more of his people. He could<br />
not have played the role of an "English<br />
queen", a symbol of the unity among<br />
Albanians (which has proven false),<br />
and allow others to have the real influence.<br />
The old-new leader of the PDP,<br />
even be<strong>for</strong>e Ahmeti founded the party<br />
named "Democratic Unity <strong>for</strong><br />
Integration" offered him the leadership<br />
of the PDP, while the DPA was also<br />
hoping <strong>for</strong> his cooperation. The<br />
unpleasant situation that has arisen<br />
among these parties now has a different<br />
nature, which raised the following<br />
question. Is Ahmeti going to be used as<br />
an instrument by some party against<br />
the others? As a result of that, the mystery<br />
of how the <strong>for</strong>mer leader of NLA<br />
will cooperate with other Albanian parties<br />
is still not revealed because, in that<br />
case, he would be given the leading<br />
role and all the others would become<br />
simple props.<br />
From what was being stated during<br />
the founding of the new political party,<br />
the main goal was to implement the<br />
Ohrid agreement. Without "mouth-filling"<br />
statements, Ahmeti left the<br />
impression of a person that has dealt<br />
with war methods and is supporting the<br />
democratic processes, integration, and<br />
the gaining of rights in an institutional<br />
way. This approach of Ali Ahmeti has<br />
made the DPA "wake up" its "innate<br />
radical<strong>ism</strong>".<br />
"We expected more from the new<br />
political party; we are the real radicals,"<br />
commented the leader of DPA,<br />
Dzhaferi. His political party, with the<br />
transfer of some <strong>for</strong>mer commanders<br />
and fighters of the NLA, is trying to<br />
prove that the gains from the war<br />
belong to them, because the commanders<br />
were DPA activists even be<strong>for</strong>e the<br />
war crisis; i.e., they went to the mountains<br />
to fight as the party's activists.<br />
The silent rivalry between the DPA<br />
and the party of Ali Ahmeti could<br />
increase the rate of plural<strong>ism</strong> among<br />
Albanians; but, at the same time, it<br />
could present a hidden danger if it<br />
reaches the point of "to be or not to be".<br />
While the DPA is fighting using the<br />
attraction of <strong>for</strong>mer commanders of the<br />
NLA and through a very famous person<br />
- Daut Redzhepi, known as commander<br />
Leka (who was the leader of<br />
the branch of this political party in<br />
Tetovo) - Ali Ahmeti is quiet. The role<br />
of "falcon" in the fight with Dzhaferi's<br />
people was taken over by Dzhezair<br />
Shakiri, one of the most famous commanders<br />
of the NLA, known by the<br />
nickname, Hodzha. He has not joined<br />
the new party yet, though he is very<br />
close to Ahmeti. His verbal war against<br />
Dzhaferi's party has its ideological, as<br />
well as personal, motives; his accusations<br />
in the media can have a positive<br />
or a negative influence on<br />
either one of these two political<br />
parties.<br />
The DPA started its preparations<br />
<strong>for</strong> elections very early,<br />
while Ahmeti's party needs<br />
first to expand its branches,<br />
and then join the election campaign.<br />
The DEI is still a party<br />
in development, as can also be<br />
seen from the work on the<br />
building near Sauk Cheshma,<br />
which is going to be their seat.<br />
I started this text with the<br />
Macedonian feeling of revolt<br />
and I would like to finish this<br />
text with that also. No matter,<br />
whether they like their new neighbor or<br />
not, weather the Macedonian political<br />
parties like Ahmeti's profile or not, they<br />
should accept the reality of his presence<br />
here - especially if he wins the<br />
bigger number of Albanian votes. Then<br />
his relevance could not be neglected.<br />
The leaders of the political parties<br />
should not rush with statements that<br />
they will not cooperate with "<strong>for</strong>mer<br />
terrorists", because the situation imposes<br />
cooperation between them and the<br />
Macedonian political parties. SDSM<br />
is cooperating with the party whose<br />
secretary was prosecuted <strong>for</strong> organizing<br />
the "paramilitary <strong>for</strong>ces", and many<br />
of its activists participated in the NLA;<br />
VMRO-DPMNE is in coalition with<br />
the DPA, whose member is commander<br />
Leka, etc. There<strong>for</strong>e, I am sure that<br />
<strong>for</strong> the Macedonians, a lot more<br />
acceptable option is Ahmeti's presence<br />
in Skopje, rather than somewhere up<br />
there in Shipkovica.<br />
(The author is a writer and a journalist<br />
<strong>for</strong> the newspaper "Fljaka")<br />
Elections <strong>for</strong> peace, July 2002
The essence of the Macedonian<br />
problem is poverty<br />
Ljupcho Zikov<br />
Economic problems are becoming<br />
predominant in the citizens' behaviour,<br />
suppressing ethnic relations; this is the<br />
result of the "cold peace" present in the<br />
country <strong>for</strong> more than several months.<br />
Even people from the crisis<br />
regions, in the surveys of the public<br />
opinion, have put unemployment, and<br />
economic and social uncertainty on the<br />
top of the ranking lists.<br />
"There is a whole list of mutual<br />
problems, concerning all ethnic groups:<br />
the corruption of the government,<br />
organized crime, etc. There are some<br />
joint stands, <strong>for</strong> instance, about possible<br />
violent actions during the elections,"<br />
says Emilija Simovska from the<br />
Institute of social and political research.<br />
MACEDONIANS AND<br />
ALBANIANS SHARE THE<br />
SAME PROBLEMS<br />
Preparing the government strategy<br />
<strong>for</strong> a "fight" against poverty has shown<br />
that 24.6%, i.e. every fourth person, in<br />
this country is poor.<br />
The poverty trend has been constantly<br />
increasing <strong>for</strong> the last 15 years<br />
and, according to the in<strong>for</strong>mation, last<br />
year, during the Kosovo crisis, it<br />
reached its highest level.<br />
According to Trajko Slavevski,<br />
professor at the Economic School and a<br />
national coordinator <strong>for</strong> preparing a<br />
strategy <strong>for</strong> fighting against poverty,<br />
the rate of poverty in our capital is<br />
much higher than average, and the rate<br />
in the rural settings is the highest;<br />
regarding the ethnic aspect, the Roma<br />
population suffers most.<br />
The life standard in the country is<br />
constantly decreasing. From an average<br />
salary, after purchasing all the necessary<br />
food products <strong>for</strong> one average<br />
family of four, only 3% is left, with<br />
which it is necessary to pay the electricity,<br />
water, telephone and other bills.<br />
Comparing prices shows a fair rise in<br />
prices from three years ago, with very<br />
small exceptions. For instance, the<br />
price of bread has increased by 26%,<br />
the price of milk - 11%, the price of<br />
eggs - 24%, the price of electricity -<br />
9%, central heating - 18%. Or, in other<br />
words, with an average salary today,<br />
Macedonians and<br />
Albanians are on the<br />
way to identifying a<br />
"mutual burden"<br />
one can buy 36 kg of bread less than<br />
one could buy three years ago.<br />
The situation in Macedonia in 2002<br />
shows that from a total number of<br />
50,000 active enterprises almost one<br />
half (around 30,000) have blocked<br />
accounts. As a result of the decrease in<br />
industrial production, during the last<br />
ten years the country has been moving<br />
backwards in an economical sense. The<br />
small rise in the full amount of social<br />
production in 1999 and 2000 was interrupted<br />
by the war at the beginning of<br />
2001.<br />
Today there are 360,000 unemployed<br />
persons in Macedonia (32% to<br />
33%): Macedonians, Albanians, Turks,<br />
Vlachs, Serbs and Roma.<br />
On the other hand, the facts about<br />
Macedonia reveal that the central government<br />
in these past years has demonstrated<br />
their incapability of creating<br />
normal conditions to solve the existential<br />
problems of its citizens, regardless<br />
of their ethnic background. The problem<br />
of unemployment is getting worse,<br />
and it seems like people have lost their<br />
fight with poverty. Being involved in<br />
different transitional processes, the previous<br />
governments observed the problems<br />
of the common people from a different<br />
perspective; this has created a<br />
subtle barrier that has not allowed state<br />
employees to really feel the problems.<br />
A great part of the managing elite,<br />
as a result of the process of privatisation<br />
in Macedonia, and incapable of<br />
overcoming new markets <strong>for</strong> their<br />
products, have become "saboteurs" of<br />
their own development and "generators"<br />
of problems, in conjunction with<br />
party interests and its exponents. The<br />
country was constantly avoiding the<br />
discussion about the real problems.<br />
After the endless fights <strong>for</strong> power<br />
between opposing managerial groups,<br />
between different managerial teams<br />
and employees, and among different<br />
political parties, today, the largest companies<br />
have depressed basic means, old<br />
technology, huge debts, worsening<br />
human relations, incapable management,<br />
a loss of markets, and bad-quality<br />
personnel.<br />
OTHER LIMITING<br />
FACTORS OF THE<br />
MACEDONIAN ECONOMY<br />
The analyses show that the<br />
Macedonian economy is in a phase of<br />
strong recession as a result of at least<br />
three things: a block in production and<br />
exports because of last year's war;<br />
recession of the world economy after<br />
the events on September 11th, 2001, as<br />
well as the interruption of the re<strong>for</strong>ms<br />
in the country as a result of the following<br />
parliamentary elections; and, finally,<br />
the increase in expenditures from the<br />
Budget made by the current government.<br />
The following year will be one of<br />
91<br />
Elections <strong>for</strong> peace, July 2002
the hardest in the post-socialist period<br />
in Macedonia. The IMF and the<br />
Macedonian government did not agree<br />
on an arrangement and we are well on<br />
our way to losing our arrangements<br />
with the World Bank. The re<strong>for</strong>ms have<br />
stopped, and the government is spending<br />
a lot of many to pay the administration<br />
and the pensioners in order to gain<br />
their votes <strong>for</strong> the upcoming elections<br />
on September 15th.<br />
Besides the "wounds" from the war<br />
and vague political instability, the following<br />
parliamentary elections will also<br />
have a negative impact on development.<br />
The restoration of lost trust among<br />
Macedonian customers and investors<br />
will be of a great importance <strong>for</strong> the<br />
country in 2002. That will be hard to per<strong>for</strong>m,<br />
because people will save their new<br />
Euros to spend them in "better days".<br />
Foreign investors will "flee"<br />
Macedonia, except maybe those from<br />
Greece, who are not afraid of the instable<br />
working circumstances in<br />
Macedonia.<br />
For a long time it was claimed that<br />
the war was the main reason <strong>for</strong> the<br />
worsened circumstances in the textile<br />
industry - which is not entirely accurate.<br />
Now, it is obvious that the recession<br />
movement in the World market, the<br />
interrupted re<strong>for</strong>ms, as well as the state<br />
of our economy, will continue to present<br />
a big obstacle to the awakening of<br />
the investment cycle and the provision<br />
of new employment opportunities.<br />
(The author is editor in cheef<br />
of the weekly „ Kapital“)<br />
An essay on the stone bridge<br />
92<br />
Danilo Kocevski<br />
The Stone Bridge on the<br />
river Vardar in Skopje conceals its<br />
origin like a real wise man: it does not<br />
reveal it; so that nobody can call it its<br />
own and attribute it to himself?<br />
Beauty belongs to everybody. The<br />
Stone Bridge belongs to all the citizens<br />
of this city, irrespective of who<br />
built it or finished it : Justinian, Murat<br />
the Second, Mehmed the Second,<br />
Huma Shah Sultan, Czar Dushan; or<br />
according to the legends, even King<br />
Marko! The various stories around its<br />
building are known among the people<br />
as "tavatura". Such beauty cannot<br />
remain without legends, without<br />
numerous stories that excite the spirits:<br />
everybody wants to approach<br />
beauty, to touch it, to feel its power<br />
and magic.<br />
Plus, the beauty and the grandeur<br />
of the Stone Bridge are unique.<br />
Each city has a genetic code, and<br />
the genetic code of Skopje is the<br />
Stone Bridge.<br />
Famous revolutionaries met on<br />
the Stone Bridge, new acquaintances<br />
and loves were born; however, rebels<br />
were executed on the same bridge<br />
too. Life and death intermingled.<br />
They became one, as the eternal<br />
waters of Vardar flowing underneath.<br />
In order to give your life a timeless<br />
dimension, you must touch eternity:<br />
take a picture on the Bridge,<br />
under the arcs or the shores and<br />
quays: in the background stand the<br />
officer's residence, People's Bank,<br />
The Fortress, the Bazaar…<br />
Life should not only be made eternal,<br />
it should be challenged and, at<br />
times, defied: during the summer<br />
heat, jump in the river, be a bird and a<br />
fish at the same time, be a local hero<br />
who is pointed at afterwards.<br />
Bridges connect, they never<br />
divide. There<strong>for</strong>e, evil people, in evil<br />
times, ruined the bridges first. But the<br />
bridges can never be destroyed.<br />
Since, as much as they are material<br />
and physical, they<br />
are deep within<br />
us. They are a part<br />
of man and<br />
humanity, and<br />
they cannot be<br />
destroyed.<br />
No bridge<br />
leads in one direction.<br />
Bridges connect,<br />
they never<br />
separate. A bridge<br />
with a ruined part<br />
leads nowhere.<br />
Thus, the bridge<br />
loses meaning; but, those living in its<br />
vicinity have no meaning either.<br />
Shores looking onto themselves have<br />
lost their meaning too.<br />
The Bridge always leads to the<br />
other, the opposite side - the different.<br />
Yet, the Other and the Opposite are<br />
but ourselves. Unity of differences.<br />
Linking directions, space, spiritual<br />
wealth - without this fundamental<br />
philosophy bridges would not exist.<br />
Whichever direction you take, wherever<br />
you step on the Bridge, you certainly<br />
go to the Other, as to yourselves.<br />
The two shores become one: a<br />
bridge. And the bridge holds itself out<br />
to the shores: difference.<br />
Since ancient times, the Stone<br />
Elections <strong>for</strong> peace, July 2002
Bridge has been connecting the left<br />
and the right shore of Vardar. It connected<br />
people, artisans, trade, civilizations.<br />
They all put a single stone<br />
in the bridge, building it they made it<br />
timeless.<br />
It is not accidental that the Bridge<br />
opposed every evil and natural catastrophe:<br />
floods, earthquakes, wars.<br />
The wisdom of its endurance is kept<br />
deeply inside. And it's not a case of<br />
luck or mis<strong>for</strong>tune, but a case of destiny;<br />
it was our destiny <strong>for</strong> it to be the<br />
genetic code of the city and to teach<br />
us the incomparable language of the<br />
shores.<br />
Those who live long, have a long<br />
memory: the Stone Bridge recalls<br />
many stories referring to its history.<br />
One by one, they disappeared; in<br />
spite of that, the Bridge is timeless.<br />
Men have left their traces, and then<br />
disappeared: the Bridge fostered his<br />
spirit, his yearn <strong>for</strong> eternity. Man and<br />
Bridge - what a strong bond, what a<br />
profound desire to defy space and<br />
time, the fading and the transitory.<br />
One of the last inscriptions on the<br />
Stone Bridge was one dated 1911, the<br />
time of the visit of the sultan,<br />
Mehmed Reshad the Fifth.<br />
The bridge was then expanded<br />
and the iron fence was set up.<br />
Nowadays, after almost a hundred<br />
years, the same fence is being<br />
replaced again with- a stone fence.<br />
Many waters will flow and fences<br />
will change, but the Bridge will<br />
remain the same.<br />
The inscription referring to its<br />
history has vanished, as well as many<br />
others: the one about the restoration,<br />
from 1579/80 (987 by the Hijdra),<br />
during the rule of Sultan Murat the<br />
Third; one during the restoration<br />
from 1817/18, during the rule of<br />
Ahmed Ejub pasha; or the one from<br />
1890…<br />
During the numerous restorations,<br />
some of the stone arcs were<br />
replaced with brick, which is visible<br />
today as well. However, it is just a<br />
scratch on the face of one facing eternity.<br />
The inscriptions disappear; however,<br />
the descriptions live longer.<br />
Almost every writer-traveler that<br />
passed this city admired and<br />
described the Stone Bridge.<br />
Bridges are fascinating, in particular<br />
those that are powerful and beautiful,<br />
like the Stone Bridge in Skopje.<br />
This is how Evlija Chelebija, from<br />
the mid-17th century, describes it:<br />
"On the river Vardar there is a<br />
bridge with fourteen arcs, out of<br />
which four have been destroyed, but<br />
are now refurnished and finished.<br />
The year of their restoration was registered<br />
in this description: those that<br />
have seen the restoration of this unrivalled<br />
bridge praised it saying that it<br />
is much better than the previous one.<br />
The people approved of this restoration.<br />
The date was put by Helali: the<br />
repairer of the Stone Bridge."<br />
Chelebija and the Stone Bridge. A<br />
Bridge that is unrivalled.<br />
That is why this bridge is the<br />
genetic code of the city.<br />
In 1878, the traveler Leon Igone<br />
wrote: "One antique and rather old<br />
high bridge connects the shores of<br />
Vardar. The edgy arcs are made of<br />
stone, the one in the middle is higher<br />
than the rest. According to Turkish<br />
architecture, the floor with the two<br />
bended arcs <strong>for</strong>ms a reef similar to a<br />
roof." The Bridge has been described<br />
by J.G Han, Arthur Evans, and many<br />
famous, less known or anonymous<br />
travelers.<br />
However, bridges are not only a<br />
crossing, they are wisdom accumulated<br />
in years. One cannot do without<br />
the other: endurance is wisdom, and<br />
wisdom is an indelible trace. The<br />
Stone Bridge conceals its origin, but<br />
reveals its wisdom to us. Will we<br />
accept that wisdom, as be<strong>for</strong>e, or will<br />
we close our eyes to it?<br />
The wisdom of the Stone Bridge<br />
is the wisdom of existence from<br />
which we have to learn.<br />
(The author is a writer)<br />
93<br />
According to<br />
OSCE and EU<br />
observers, even<br />
though the greatest<br />
part of the<br />
peace process is<br />
successfully implemented,<br />
time is<br />
still needed to<br />
return the trust<br />
between the mixed<br />
ethnic local communities,<br />
as well<br />
as the trust of the<br />
Albanians in the<br />
Macedonian police<br />
Macedonia „licks“<br />
its wounds from the war<br />
Irfan Agushi<br />
Emil Zafirovski<br />
The process of reintegration<br />
of the crisis regions<br />
is slowly coming to an end.<br />
The mixed police patrols<br />
have entered the last villages<br />
from the crisis<br />
regions in Tetovo and<br />
Kumanovo. The police<br />
teams have, <strong>for</strong> some time,<br />
been patrolling in the villages<br />
of Shipkovica,<br />
Slupchane, Brodec, Gajre,<br />
Rasadishte, Lisec, Veshala<br />
and Bozovice, <strong>for</strong>mer centers<br />
of the paramilitary<br />
group, the NLA.<br />
After the fights, and at<br />
the beginning of the<br />
process of reintegration, the<br />
police succeeded in entering<br />
more of the villages<br />
around Kumanovo, which<br />
was not the case with the<br />
villages around Tetovo.<br />
The people there manifested<br />
great resistance towards<br />
the mixed ethnic police<br />
patrols; this was especially<br />
the case with the village of<br />
Shemshevo, where the<br />
Albanian population is still<br />
not satisfied, and occasionally<br />
provokes smaller inci-<br />
Elections <strong>for</strong> peace, July 2002
94<br />
dents. Because of that, OSCE has<br />
recently warned the local community of<br />
Shemshevo, "If people do not stop acting<br />
irresponsibly, communication with<br />
the village will be interrupted."<br />
The plan <strong>for</strong> the return of the police<br />
<strong>for</strong>ces had police <strong>for</strong>ces enter 139 communities.<br />
So far, with help from OSCE<br />
and the "Amber Foxes" from the NATO<br />
<strong>for</strong>ces, the police have succeeded in<br />
establishing 24-hours patrols in 65 villages.<br />
According to OSCE and EU<br />
observers, even though the greatest part<br />
of the peace process is successfully<br />
implemented, time is still needed to<br />
return the trust between the mixed ethnic<br />
local communities, as well as the<br />
trust of the Albanians in the Macedonian<br />
police. Allen Le Roi, the special representative<br />
of the European Union, says<br />
that things are moving in a positive<br />
direction.<br />
"When we planned the process <strong>for</strong><br />
the entrance of the police <strong>for</strong>ces in the<br />
villages of the crisis region, a lot of people<br />
didn't believe in the success of this<br />
mission. From a total of 139 villages,<br />
the police are back completely in 132.<br />
During the following weeks, I hope that<br />
the police teams will establish control in<br />
the rest of the villages, where now there<br />
are still no conditions <strong>for</strong> safe travel. I<br />
am thinking primarily of the regions of<br />
Skopska Crna Gora. But, that is only the<br />
first phase of the plan, and we will continue<br />
working on the complete reintegration<br />
of the crisis regions", says Le<br />
Roi.<br />
He emphasized that the return of<br />
dislocated people and refugees is also<br />
very successful.<br />
"At the beginning of the conflict,<br />
more than 170,000 abandoned their<br />
homes. So far around 155,000 have<br />
returned to their homes, and soon we<br />
will create better conditions <strong>for</strong> the<br />
return of the rest of these people," says<br />
the special representative of EU.<br />
According to Florin Pasniku, the<br />
spokesman of OSCE, the peace plan is<br />
being implemented even earlier than<br />
expected.<br />
"The general plan <strong>for</strong> the patrolling<br />
of the police is proceeding splendidly.<br />
The fact that there were only a small<br />
number of incidents is also very encouraging.<br />
It indicates that people are in<br />
favor of peace. People support the return<br />
of the police and that gesture is a proof<br />
that peace is their only option," emphasized<br />
Pasniku.<br />
The part of the Macedonian people<br />
that during the crisis abandoned their<br />
homes is returning progressively. But,<br />
the number of those who are still living<br />
in the refugee centers/shelters throughout<br />
Macedonia is still big. In the villages<br />
on Shar Planina, above the Tetovo-<br />
Jazhince road, mainly only the older<br />
Macedonian inhabitants are returning to<br />
their homes. The younger ones live in<br />
the shelters. They refuse to come back<br />
because of "fear of the local Albanian<br />
people".<br />
It is not safe. There are shootings<br />
every day, and the <strong>for</strong>mer terrorists are<br />
still controlling the region. There are no<br />
other laws except <strong>for</strong> those of the<br />
KLA/UCK. We demand that the government<br />
secure our villages and repair our<br />
ruined homes. After that, we can go<br />
back," say some of the dislocated people<br />
from Tetovo, now living in the shelters<br />
in Skopje.<br />
According to the State Coordinative<br />
Body <strong>for</strong> Dealing with Crisis, the reconstruction<br />
of the destroyed houses, the<br />
return of the police and the deactivation<br />
of the minefields are the main terms <strong>for</strong><br />
the return of the dislocated people.<br />
"We work intensively to help the<br />
return of the people to their homes. But,<br />
it is necessary first to create safe conditions<br />
and to reconstruct the ruined houses.<br />
The slower process of reconstruction<br />
is delaying the return of the dislocated<br />
people, because they simply do not have<br />
anywhere to come back to," says Zoran<br />
Tanevski, spokesman of the<br />
Coordinative Body <strong>for</strong> Dealing with<br />
Crisis.<br />
President Boris Trajkovski has<br />
recently met the European ambassadors<br />
and has asked them to hasten the process<br />
of reconstruction. After the meeting, the<br />
German ambassador, Werner Burghard,<br />
said that they would use the necessary<br />
methods to hasten the reconstruction of<br />
the houses. Besides the reconstruction<br />
of the houses and the return of the<br />
police, one of the main priorities in the<br />
peace process is the deactivation of the<br />
minefields. According to the peace plan,<br />
it would allow additional security <strong>for</strong> the<br />
people that are planning to come back.<br />
In that sense, special teams of Bosnian<br />
experienced experts are working intensively<br />
at the moment on that matter. Last<br />
year they cleaned the region around<br />
Tetovo and Kumanovo. They discovered<br />
and destroyed two different types<br />
of mines, as well as 149 non-detonated<br />
devices used in the military actions.<br />
These are the so-called special ITF<br />
groups (International Fund <strong>for</strong> Helping<br />
the Victims of Mines). The group consists<br />
of 36 experts, divided into three<br />
teams of 12 people. The number of people<br />
in this group will be increased<br />
through the training of domestic experts.<br />
The entrances of all the villages in the<br />
crisis regions are expected to be cleaned<br />
from the non-detonated devices by the<br />
end of the fall. There are still some<br />
regions in Skopska Crna Gora that are<br />
not cleaned from the mines. When that<br />
is finished, it will be safe <strong>for</strong> the police<br />
to go back there. Abejdin Zimberi, president<br />
of the local community of the village<br />
Slupchane around Kumanovo (one<br />
of the last villages the mixed ethnic<br />
police patrols entered), emphasized that<br />
peace is coming back to our country and<br />
that in the future we will have to work<br />
more on strengthening trust and coexistence.<br />
"The entering of the police in<br />
Slupchane and the other crisis regions is<br />
proving that the situation is stabilizing.<br />
The war is over and is not coming back<br />
any more. The process of returning the<br />
police was a bit delayed in the village of<br />
Slupchane, but it was not ill-intentioned.<br />
We had to secure the region first, as well<br />
as cooperate with the local people to<br />
assure them that the police need to<br />
patrol in this village. That was very<br />
important <strong>for</strong> avoiding possible incidents,<br />
which can be fatal and can bring<br />
us back to where we started," says<br />
Zimberi, <strong>for</strong>mer head of the NLA military<br />
police in the area of Kumanovo.<br />
According to him, the situation in the<br />
region of Lipkovo and Kumanovo is<br />
more than satisfying at the moment.<br />
"It will stay like that in the future<br />
as well. We are ready to control this<br />
region and we will not let anyone take<br />
peace away from us," he says. A large<br />
number of inhabitants of the Lipkovo<br />
region were left without a home during<br />
the crisis. Now they are facing poverty<br />
and misery, living only on social support.<br />
They are revolted because, as they<br />
say, they receive only little humanitarian<br />
help.<br />
Elections <strong>for</strong> peace, July 2002
"This war has taken away everything<br />
I had. I was working and earning<br />
all my life in order to build a house <strong>for</strong><br />
my family. Now my home is gone. All<br />
that's left of it is ruins. I live with my<br />
family in the basement of my brother's<br />
house. It is very hard. I don't have any<br />
money or a job to earn it. I used to be<br />
the most famous producer of tobacco in<br />
Kumanovo. Be<strong>for</strong>e the war, I even won<br />
a gold medal <strong>for</strong> the quality of my<br />
tobacco. I lived a very normal life.<br />
There were times when I was happy and<br />
laughing, but now I feel like crying. I<br />
am completely broke, and I still have to<br />
take care of the 14 members of my family.<br />
We live only on social help, the<br />
2800 denars that we receive from the<br />
state," said Ljutvi Ismaili from the village<br />
of Matejche in the area of<br />
Kumanovo.<br />
His neighbor Elmi Azizi lives with<br />
the same problems:<br />
"Matejche is the only village in the<br />
region of Lipkovo and Kumanovo with<br />
a mixed ethnic population. For more<br />
than 50 years, we lived together with<br />
the Macedonians, as brothers, friends<br />
and good neighbors. I cannot understand<br />
where this hate came from. God<br />
damn this war and the ones that caused<br />
it! I think that the politicians have the<br />
largest share of guilt. They have<br />
"cooked" this mess, so that now they<br />
can fill their pockets with some more<br />
money. The war is over, but it didn't<br />
bring anything good to us - only ruined<br />
homes, misery and even worse poverty.<br />
Everybody talk about the return of the<br />
dislocated people, but no one has come<br />
to see the conditions in our village of<br />
Matejche. Where can the orthodox people<br />
from the village return to when their<br />
homes are completely destroyed?" he<br />
said.<br />
Ethnic crossroads<br />
Mirjana Najchevska<br />
In 2001 on the territory of the Republic of<br />
Macedonia an interethnic conflict broke out.<br />
Irrespective of how we define and name the<br />
sides in the conflict, its ethnic dimension is<br />
uncontested (considering both the immediate<br />
participants, the content of the conflict and the<br />
mediated participation of many groups of people<br />
clustered on the basis of ethnic background.<br />
The conflict was deemed to be due to<br />
interethnic relations. While it lasted, it was<br />
regarded as a clash between members of different<br />
ethnicities and finally resulted in<br />
changes in the interrelationship of various ethnicities<br />
(in terms of both structure and social<br />
interaction). The interethnic component outlines<br />
the starting and finishing line of the conflict.<br />
The question arising today is: have we<br />
succeeded in stepping out of the closed circle<br />
of conflict and have we set the grounds <strong>for</strong><br />
reviving democracy, or have we prepared the<br />
ground <strong>for</strong> further conflicts?<br />
BRUTALIZATION OF SOCIETY<br />
We have had the opportunity to see and<br />
feel that proclaiming good interethnic relations<br />
is not sufficient, neither is coalition between<br />
parties sufficient, nor the allocation of the<br />
highest political and state positions. The many<br />
years of inappropriate politics and the actual<br />
treatment of interethnic relations, have created<br />
conditions <strong>for</strong> manipulation of unprecedented<br />
scale which, in its turn has led to brutalization<br />
of society, an attempt to militarize it, and finally<br />
to open violence. At the moment, we are<br />
given the opportunity to see a the complex of<br />
determinants underlying the current situation<br />
in the Republic of Macedonia. For example:<br />
the economic collapse, corruption, lowered<br />
standard of living, lack of control over the government,<br />
the dissolution of legal structures,<br />
and the inability of democratic institutions to<br />
function. Of these, interethnic relations still<br />
holds first place and is regarded as a basis <strong>for</strong><br />
mobilizing citizens. Should we accept interethnic<br />
relations as being primary in building democratic<br />
structures, institutions and relations,<br />
then, one should take into account the following:<br />
what are they, which direction are they<br />
going, what do citizens have at their at disposal<br />
to improve them?<br />
Interethnic conflicts usually have deep<br />
roots in the sense of identity and the actual distribution<br />
(or perception of distribution) of economic,<br />
social and political resources of the<br />
state. In the post-conflict period in the<br />
Republic of Macedonia, the issue of identity<br />
and fears related to its possible violation are<br />
still considered taboo. Members of various<br />
ethnic communities are not willing to listen to<br />
the fears, desires and opinions of the "others."<br />
Everyone remains enclosed within their own<br />
group, which is also closed and thus it augments<br />
fears and can not offer a solution to the<br />
mutual problem. Both sides have a feeling that<br />
We have had<br />
the opportunity<br />
to see and<br />
feel that proclaiming<br />
good<br />
interethnic<br />
relations is<br />
not sufficient,<br />
neither is<br />
coalition<br />
between parties<br />
sufficient,<br />
nor the allocation<br />
of the<br />
highest political<br />
and state<br />
positions<br />
95<br />
A new beginning, November 2002
96<br />
their identity is jeopardized. (These are<br />
manifested as a need to identify and<br />
glorify new heros who fought on opposite<br />
sides in the conflict; a <strong>for</strong>ced display<br />
of religion, by means of building<br />
bigger monuments; emphasizing ethnic<br />
symbols with clear-cut delineation of<br />
ethnic borders; defining "evil" with<br />
clear ethnic connotation, which is mostly<br />
apparent in the act of "revealing" the<br />
link between particular criminal acts<br />
and a specific ethnic community.) Such<br />
manifestations serve only to deepen the<br />
gap and incapacitate communication.<br />
The openly manifested identity of<br />
the "other," expressed difference, the<br />
posed demand, are perceived and experienced<br />
as a direct attack on the space<br />
where I manifest "my" identity, as confinement<br />
of my particularity and as an<br />
inability to realize my requests. In the<br />
previous post-conflict period an ef<strong>for</strong>t<br />
has not been made to expand the common<br />
space so as to fit difference, selfidentity,<br />
and meeting different interests<br />
and needs, nor have alternative solutions<br />
been offered that will open the<br />
way to the civil option. In this area<br />
interethnic relations are stuck in a deadend<br />
which offers nothing but a new conflict.<br />
EMOTIONS IMPEDE<br />
NEGOTIATIONS<br />
One feature of interethnic conflicts<br />
is their highly emotional charge, which<br />
approaches the very essence of identity<br />
and can accumulate much collective<br />
energy. The already existing negative<br />
emotions add up to the feeling of injustice,<br />
as a usual inheritance of brutal<br />
internal conflicts. Emotions, feeling of<br />
injustice, and remembrances from<br />
severe violations of human rights during<br />
armed clashes impede negotiations<br />
and stall the process. Differences in<br />
how victims of the conflict have been<br />
perceived and the nurturing of collective<br />
memories deepen the gaps between<br />
members of ethnic communities, while<br />
collective and individual traumas have<br />
been provoked over and over without<br />
offering a suitable treatment. The lack<br />
of any sort of post-conflict therapy <strong>for</strong><br />
all participants in armed activities<br />
enables the creation of a mass of disoriented<br />
malcontents who do not stand a<br />
chance to fit into everyday life. Without<br />
the equal, unbiased and fair exercising<br />
of justice, without explanation and<br />
transparency in making political decisions<br />
aimed at tackling the conflict, and<br />
without a serious engagement towards<br />
socializing the conflicted sides, one can<br />
not expect unity and confidence-building.<br />
On this issue, we are again in a<br />
dead-end that does not offer a way out<br />
except through a new conflict.<br />
The long-term strategy to lessen<br />
interethnic tensions comprises ability of<br />
the appropriate democratic structures to<br />
function and creation of a democratic<br />
atmosphere on the overall social and<br />
political scene. Is consistent building<br />
and respecting of the democratic institutions<br />
(even when it seems petty,<br />
unnecessary and trivial, or when it<br />
seems like we could find simpler and<br />
more efficient solutions) the only guarantee?<br />
A mechan<strong>ism</strong> capable of managing<br />
conflicts also needs to be established.<br />
The democratic system has to have<br />
features such as: legitimacy, inclusiveness,<br />
flexibility and capacity to constantly<br />
adjust as a pre-requisite <strong>for</strong> managing<br />
deeply rooted conflicts.<br />
Promotion of such underlying democratic<br />
values as plural<strong>ism</strong>, tolerance,<br />
negotiation and compromise, are considered<br />
to be essential in building a dam<br />
<strong>for</strong> potential armed solutions to a conflict.<br />
Contrary to this, in the previous<br />
period citizens received a message that<br />
nothing can be achieved by means of<br />
state organs and institutions, while<br />
political and any other sort of violence<br />
is a quite efficient means. This message<br />
only brings us closer to a new conflict.<br />
DESTROYING ALL<br />
CHANCES FOR<br />
INTERPERSONAL<br />
COMMUNICATION<br />
Long-term democratic development<br />
is constantly thwarted by requests <strong>for</strong><br />
quick and visible changes. The constant<br />
pressure <strong>for</strong> quick fixes (according to<br />
the principle, now and everything), taking<br />
into account different and opposing<br />
aspirations and objectives of particular<br />
ethnic communities, leads to a complete<br />
denial of the structure and the legal system.<br />
In such cases speed does not usually<br />
correspond to quality, and <strong>for</strong>m<br />
remains an empty shell without suitable<br />
content. Agreements should be a result<br />
of negotiation, finding common points<br />
and joint solutions, they are to offer<br />
alternative solutions and should reach<br />
consensus generally as well as <strong>for</strong> each<br />
point in particular. Only this type of<br />
agreement can be efficiently implemented<br />
in practice. The solution to the<br />
interethnic tensions in Republic of<br />
Macedonia has been questioned to a<br />
great extent especially because of the<br />
agreement known as the Ohrid<br />
Framework Agreement.<br />
Due to the urgency of the matter<br />
and various pressures (in particular<br />
from the international community) an<br />
agreement was prepared that does not<br />
satisfy the negotiating parties. It contains<br />
a great number of inconsistencies<br />
and as such implies extensive political<br />
voluntar<strong>ism</strong> in tackling legal issues that<br />
will appear in the course of its implementation.<br />
This implies that in the<br />
implementation stage many crucial<br />
issues should be tackled but such shifts<br />
in the legal system make it unstable and<br />
inconsistent. Thus, the process of<br />
implementation is constantly postponed,<br />
which in its turn creates insecurity,<br />
distrust of the system and a sense<br />
among the citizens of prolonged instability<br />
of the state. Applying the slowfast<br />
principle in solving conflicts, a new<br />
source of interethnic tensions is created.<br />
The way out of the cycle of conflict is<br />
blocked, so negative behavior of one<br />
side is felt as a provocation and a pretext<br />
<strong>for</strong> a suitable response which, in the<br />
long run, terminates with a request <strong>for</strong><br />
political intervention and justification<br />
<strong>for</strong> not obeying laws.<br />
The unfavorable economic situation<br />
lays a foundation <strong>for</strong> expanding<br />
interethnic tensions and inciting conflicts.<br />
Shortly after the armed conflict in<br />
the Republic of Macedonia, not only<br />
did the economy indicators not<br />
improve, but also production slackened,<br />
all aspects of the economy deteriorated,<br />
and living standards fell.<br />
Impoverishment is omnipresent and<br />
disregards ethnicity. However, it is not<br />
considered a common problem, and<br />
instead it is used as a tool <strong>for</strong> inciting<br />
interethnic tensions. Violence in the<br />
economy damages all citizens, although<br />
it is often successfully portrayed as ethnically<br />
tainted or defined. For example,<br />
"the others" avoid paying taxes, "the<br />
A new beginning, November 2002
others" enjoy the benefits from tax revenue,<br />
the grey economy is in the hands<br />
of the ethnically defined mafia, members<br />
of one ethnic community are<br />
sacked so the "others" can be<br />
employed, until we come to the old<br />
saying, "If I can't have it, you won't<br />
either." Under conditions of enormous<br />
unemployment, poverty of catastrophic<br />
dimensions and a lack of economic<br />
progress, there is no room to discuss<br />
improvement of interethnic relations.<br />
The need <strong>for</strong> survival and elementary<br />
existence <strong>for</strong>ce people into isolated<br />
groups defined by ethnicity and prepare<br />
the conditions <strong>for</strong> a new conflict.<br />
And, finally, the last stroke to cut<br />
the branch we are sitting on: the<br />
"killing" of the young generation. In the<br />
post-conflict period, there wasn't a single<br />
issue handled with such consistency,<br />
insistence and dedication, as the<br />
destruction of all chances <strong>for</strong> the new<br />
generation to find a way to communicate<br />
among themselves, to meet somewhere,<br />
to respect each other, and (God<br />
<strong>for</strong>bid!) to fall in love. In that action,<br />
parents, educators, state structures, parties,<br />
media, religious communities and<br />
some nongovernemental organizations<br />
are included. Schools are divided, faculties,<br />
bars, playing grounds are divided.<br />
Banners, demonstrations, art,<br />
speeches, organizations.<br />
They all serve to use children and<br />
young people as a tool of interethnic<br />
impatience and obedient soldiers <strong>for</strong> a<br />
future conflict.<br />
(The author is a legal advisor)<br />
Wounded dignity<br />
never heals. Those<br />
who cause the<br />
wounds <strong>for</strong>get them<br />
quickly, if they<br />
notice them at all,"<br />
as a French intellectual<br />
would have<br />
written. That is<br />
exactly the feeling<br />
that encircles and<br />
worries all of us in<br />
Macedonia, especially<br />
after all that happened<br />
to us in 2001.<br />
Many of those who<br />
are faced with such<br />
feelings are probably<br />
asking themselves: Is<br />
Macedonia going to<br />
survive; is there any<br />
future <strong>for</strong><br />
Macedonia? To<br />
make things easier<br />
<strong>for</strong> us and <strong>for</strong> those<br />
who are still torturing<br />
themselves with<br />
such dilemmas (some<br />
of them are even<br />
under sedation), we<br />
should give one<br />
explanation: THE<br />
FUTURE IS A<br />
GRAMMATICAL<br />
FICTION, some<br />
would add: …OR<br />
UTOPIA<br />
Gjorge Ivanov<br />
Macedonia and<br />
the future!?<br />
"Wounded dignity never heals.<br />
Those who cause the wounds <strong>for</strong>get<br />
them quickly, if they notice them at<br />
all," as a French intellectual would<br />
have written. That is exactly the feeling<br />
that encircles and worries all of us<br />
in Macedonia, especially after all that<br />
happened to us in 2001. Many of<br />
those who are faced with such feelings<br />
are probably asking themselves:<br />
Is Macedonia going to survive; is<br />
there any future <strong>for</strong> Macedonia?<br />
To make things easier <strong>for</strong> us and<br />
<strong>for</strong> those who are still torturing themselves<br />
with such dilemmas (some of<br />
them are even under sedation), we<br />
should give one explanation: THE<br />
FUTURE IS A GRAMMATICAL<br />
FICTION, some would add: …OR<br />
UTOPIA.<br />
If we try to present the future with<br />
some kind of plan, project, party or<br />
government program (programs we<br />
are waiting <strong>for</strong> so impatiently these<br />
days), we will face some unexpected<br />
surprises: we can't see the future<br />
clearly from the present. On the other<br />
hand, if we ignore the future and leave<br />
it in dim unpredictability, then we<br />
might face the danger of these fictions<br />
becoming our unbridgeable hindrances.<br />
Wise people, who have seriously<br />
dealt with such issues, are suggesting<br />
one possible preventive -the ecology<br />
of ignorance- distinguishing between<br />
the different layers of recognized<br />
ignorance and the ignorance that<br />
"doesn't exist" simply because it is<br />
unrecognized. The unrecognized<br />
ignorance that we face in "post-<br />
Ohrid" Macedonia is, actually, what<br />
we should be concerned about.<br />
"Evolution has always had a<br />
destructive influence," wrote<br />
Luhman, trying to explain Kun's thesis<br />
about the dim discontinuities of<br />
evolution: "Once-present attitudes can<br />
only be reconstructed by means of<br />
many deduced fictions, there is simply<br />
no other way to do it." Taking into<br />
account "discontinuity of evolution"<br />
the question about Macedonia's future<br />
can be answered neither from a transcendental<br />
point of view (that our destiny<br />
was "written in the stars") nor in<br />
a positivist one, in which we would<br />
discover the future conditions of the<br />
state while still in the present, as if the<br />
present were a seed of the future and a<br />
97<br />
A new beginning, November 2002
98<br />
fruit of the past.<br />
To avoid any confusion, we<br />
should clarify: the seed and the fruit<br />
are the same thing. They are different<br />
only in their functions. The one who<br />
puts them to use has no guarantee<br />
which of the two functions they are<br />
going to per<strong>for</strong>m. Every farmer, who<br />
has this existential paradox (seedfruit)<br />
in his hands out in the field,<br />
knows that.<br />
Instead of exhausting ourselves<br />
with questions about the past, the<br />
present and the future of Macedonia (a<br />
question that has always been more<br />
interesting to our neighbors than to<br />
us), we have to ask ourselves how to<br />
behave towards ignorance in both its<br />
<strong>for</strong>ms: the recognized and the unrecognized.<br />
So from our present<br />
(hermeneutic) situation, we can only<br />
see one side of the problem, whereas<br />
the other side remains unmarked, and<br />
this unmarked side of the problem,<br />
with its anonymous nature determines<br />
our "destiny." The unmarked place is<br />
not the same as the ignorance in<br />
Socrate's postulate: "I know that I<br />
don't know anything." The ignorance<br />
is the other, recognized side of knowledge.<br />
The unmarked place, however,<br />
is inaccessible <strong>for</strong> the modality<br />
knowledge/ignorance.<br />
Let us simplify. When we face<br />
such terms as intersubjectivity, alter<br />
ego, inclusion or incorporation of the<br />
other, responsive ethics, blindfold of<br />
ignorance, unmarked space, then we<br />
are in the field of the ecology of ignorance.<br />
(These terms until recently<br />
were present only in the theory of politics,<br />
yet today they are part of the<br />
everyday reports and projects about<br />
our country.)<br />
That is why we should finally realize<br />
that the origins and the future of<br />
Macedonia (like every other country)<br />
are also an existential paradox, an<br />
issue that deserves the attention of<br />
every citizen, and especially the attention<br />
of every public servant in the<br />
country (of course, if there are any).<br />
Namely, the future of Macedonia is<br />
not hidden in fictions called past or<br />
future, but in our ability to face those<br />
fictions. The usual theorizing and<br />
manipulating with ready plans, wishes,<br />
interests and invented identification<br />
strategies will permanently lead<br />
us towards a dead end. Our destiny, as<br />
an elderly person would say, isn't any<br />
different than the destiny of those<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e us. The same thing that happened<br />
to the self-understanding and<br />
the cultural <strong>for</strong>ms of "the world of<br />
life" in the past will happen to today's<br />
society too. There is no doubt about it.<br />
Our world will go through the same<br />
things as the other worlds in the past.<br />
We shouldn't ignore this lesson while<br />
discussing our future.<br />
However, something else is<br />
important at the moment. Namely, a<br />
state that is legitimate regarding<br />
human rights (and that indeed is<br />
Macedonia after "Ohrid") is an open<br />
state by definition, since the list of<br />
human rights is not, and it can not<br />
be, closed. It is in fact open.<br />
According to human rights, everyone<br />
can be, i.e., can become a citizen<br />
of the state, because the state<br />
doesn't determine who is human; on<br />
the contrary: the person determines<br />
how the state is going to look. At<br />
least we have felt that, and we know<br />
best: if you have corrupt people<br />
leading the country--then your country<br />
will be corrupted too. If you have<br />
honest people--you will have an<br />
honest country too. (As far as those<br />
who have used hard times to gain<br />
power are concerned, ordinary people<br />
shouldn't be preoccupied with<br />
them. In politics, just like in life,<br />
there always comes a time when the<br />
laws of nature start to function: you<br />
per<strong>for</strong>m evil deeds--you acquire<br />
evil. There is no escaping that, as<br />
our people would say, "the evil will<br />
follow you in your offspring as far<br />
as the ninth generation.")<br />
The political community which is<br />
identified by the innovation of adherence<br />
to protecting human rights<br />
(which is basically what the changes<br />
in our Constitution consist of) is no<br />
longer explicable within the traditional<br />
notion of citizens' state, closed in<br />
terms of territory and time (like our<br />
neighboring countries). For the time<br />
being, that is exactly what the people<br />
in Macedonia, who have remained<br />
patriots, are worried about. The state<br />
that can no longer be identified with<br />
some constancy (the innovations are<br />
unpredictable and, thus, out of their<br />
control) stops being a suitable <strong>for</strong>m of<br />
political community that we are familiar<br />
with nowadays. Thus, right in front<br />
of our eyes, we have the establishing<br />
of some amorphous community that<br />
looks upon innovation as an unconditional<br />
presumption <strong>for</strong> its survival.<br />
That is, in fact, our future; the believers<br />
would add--our destiny, or k<strong>ism</strong>et,<br />
according to the Muslims.<br />
Praxis is in itself the best media<br />
through which humanity should act.<br />
Thus, the next move is in the hands of<br />
the people to whom these innovations<br />
refer. Or, to put it plainly: the<br />
Albanian minority in Macedonia<br />
should finally become the advocate of<br />
the Macedonian minority in Albania.<br />
As soon as this is achieved, the present<br />
innovations will begin to function<br />
to their full capacity, and the future<br />
will become, more or less, predictable.<br />
Nonetheless, if the present<br />
arrogant and ignorant attitude towards<br />
this issue continues, the future will<br />
stay naked fiction. We can't continue<br />
claiming (as it happened on one plat<strong>for</strong>m<br />
in Skopje recently) that if the<br />
minority doesn't ask <strong>for</strong> their rights,<br />
they shouldn't receive them; that the<br />
quality of the rights depends on the<br />
quantity of the minority. Such racist<br />
attitudes are only going to increase the<br />
gap and will cause hatred and rage<br />
that (if they overflow) can drown us<br />
all living in this territory.<br />
What are we supposed to do now?<br />
Weber would say: "It all depends<br />
on the decidedness and the strong will<br />
of one nation not to let their leaders<br />
treat them as a herd of sheep."<br />
Giddens would add: "You are<br />
about to face a kind of 'cultural revolution'<br />
which demands that every individual<br />
during his lifetime behave like<br />
a manager who possesses access to<br />
different fields from the market and<br />
who holds responsibility <strong>for</strong> her<br />
achievements as well as <strong>for</strong> her downfalls".<br />
To our health!<br />
(The author is a professor at<br />
the Faculty of Law in Skopje)<br />
A new beginning, November 2002
Elections 2002<br />
Sasho Cholakovski<br />
There was the great coming of age<br />
of electoral democracy on the subject<br />
of peaceful handover of power. There<br />
was the unquestionable, not just winning<br />
but triumphant outcome <strong>for</strong> the<br />
"For Macedonia" coalition and <strong>for</strong><br />
DUI. Then there was the phenomenon<br />
of the turnout, and the fiasco of the<br />
third option. All these<br />
elements marked the<br />
2002 parliamentary elections<br />
in Macedonia.<br />
After two electoral<br />
cycles regarded as devastating<br />
<strong>for</strong> democracy, on<br />
the 15th of September<br />
Macedonian democracy<br />
came of age, and the will<br />
of the citizens triumphed.<br />
During parliamentary<br />
elections in 1998, the ruling<br />
coalition SDSM-PDP<br />
handed over power in<br />
almost Swedish style.<br />
Generally, in the<br />
2002parliamentary elections,<br />
VMRO-DPMNE<br />
and DPA demonstrated<br />
that Macedonia has<br />
acquired the electoral<br />
stamina and the first<br />
level of democratic culture,<br />
despite all the difficulties<br />
caused by the<br />
grave implications of<br />
constructed incidents.<br />
The bad scenarios may<br />
have failed due to the downfall of the<br />
ruling parties, which was apparent<br />
already the morning of the elections,<br />
and possibly due to the oblivious state<br />
of the ruling parties and the lack of<br />
Macedonian priorities are<br />
a legal state, then democracy!<br />
rational perception of the true electoral<br />
mood. There<strong>for</strong>e, it seems apparent<br />
that prevention is better than a cure.<br />
If the previous ruling parties are to<br />
be thanked, it is only <strong>for</strong> the fact that<br />
they mobilized the civil factor as a<br />
third public eye: the nongovernmental<br />
sector and media. These two segments<br />
have had a key role as citizen's whip<br />
<strong>for</strong> the authorities. In principle, they<br />
There is an old<br />
democratic<br />
maxim that the<br />
British adore:<br />
Power corrupts,<br />
absolute<br />
power corrupts<br />
absolutely!<br />
function as such in<br />
modern states if the<br />
state and the system<br />
start serving the ruling<br />
party instead of<br />
the people. Finally,<br />
only last year did the<br />
public started to<br />
strengthen as an<br />
institution with a<br />
capital P, responsive<br />
to the media signals,<br />
which likewise<br />
grounded their legitimacy on public<br />
support and feedback. The other key<br />
preventive link were the representatives<br />
of the international community.<br />
With their presence in the field, especially<br />
at the anticipated crisis locations,<br />
the internationals created psychological<br />
and physical shields against incidents.<br />
Most noteworthy, however, is that<br />
the Republic of Macedonia primarily<br />
helped itself! These parliamentary<br />
elections have definite historic importance.<br />
The atmosphere in the city<br />
squares on Sunday night during the<br />
voting, demonstrated a cathartic<br />
release of the spirit, which the citizens<br />
needed as an outlet <strong>for</strong> the compressed<br />
build-up. Both <strong>for</strong> the ones infected<br />
with politics and the apolitical ones.<br />
Everybody needed victory. In order not<br />
to mystify whether this was a vote <strong>for</strong><br />
or against: this was not a victory <strong>for</strong><br />
SDSM or VMRO-DPMNE - this was a<br />
victory <strong>for</strong> Macedonia. The parliamentary<br />
elections completed an historic<br />
phase in the development of democracy<br />
in Macedonia: a new political<br />
image, essential to the future of the<br />
state, is being created. The new political<br />
attitude will be legitimate and legal,<br />
obtained by the will of the majority of<br />
voters, and that is exactly where the<br />
previous ruling party fell short very<br />
quickly. And it is good that Macedonia<br />
proceeds apace with the handover of<br />
power, which proves that nobody is<br />
eternal, that the people can punish, and<br />
they can also award.<br />
There is one notable point with<br />
regard to these elections. It is the<br />
defeat of the right, radical, oligarchic<br />
clerical<strong>ism</strong> that was strengthened in<br />
the last two years of Ljubcho<br />
Georgievski's Government. It is the<br />
defeat of the post-modern concept<br />
exercised by the Coalition VMRO-<br />
DPMNE, DPA and LP, of imposing a<br />
false projection of reality as opposed to<br />
99<br />
A new beginning, November 2002
100<br />
the objective reality. In addition, there<br />
is the penalty by the Albanian electorate<br />
<strong>for</strong> the corrupt establishment of<br />
DPA. There is an ancient democratic<br />
saying that the British adore: Power<br />
corrupts, absolute power corrupts<br />
absolutely!<br />
The second important electoral<br />
outcome is the fiasco of the so-called<br />
third option, that is the one that does<br />
not belong to either of the two strong<br />
political blocks. Many are convinced<br />
that <strong>for</strong> Macedonia in the current constellation<br />
a proportional model with six<br />
electoral units is the most suitable one,<br />
although it is exceptionally unfavorable<br />
to the smaller parties. In slightly<br />
different security and economic constellations,<br />
possibly in one or two mandates<br />
from now, the electoral model<br />
should undergo changes, where it will<br />
be approved, or rather assured, that<br />
parliamentary participation will be provided<br />
<strong>for</strong> smaller bodies as well. Not<br />
only as a democratic nicety but as an<br />
essential quality. In this regard, Darko<br />
Markovich has given the most appropriate<br />
definition: "The third way is not<br />
constructed with second-rate people!"<br />
These political factions demonstrated<br />
an envious level of omnipotent destruction,<br />
unfavorable <strong>for</strong> them too. Many<br />
of these third-way political players,<br />
incapable of making objective judgments<br />
about their power, did not succeed.<br />
They did not gain a single seat in<br />
the Parliament, with the exception of<br />
Dzingo of course, who remains as a<br />
one-man-show. Apart from the inconveniences<br />
in the electoral system, "the<br />
third way" pointed out a leadership crisis,<br />
as an inability to seriously assess<br />
the strength of each member and that of<br />
the whole. Some of these players attest<br />
that 225,000 votes would be sufficient<br />
to gain 12 seats in the Parliament.<br />
The centrist political analysts, have<br />
assessed the downfall of smaller parties<br />
as a critical moment <strong>for</strong> society and<br />
democracy as well! In all likelihood<br />
that is true, however, it is also true that<br />
the fiasco is a consequence of the great<br />
ambitions of small-party leaders. They<br />
requested room in the community, not<br />
according to the interests and the needs<br />
of the citizens, but according to personal<br />
interests and the interests of leading<br />
groups. Those parties lacked a substantial<br />
social base. If this is viewed in the<br />
context of internal policy, social, security<br />
and other constellations, then in the<br />
context of neighboring and external<br />
state positions, many believe that the<br />
results from the elections truly reflect<br />
the needs of Macedonia. Finally, with<br />
our modest pluralistic experience, it is<br />
not at all easy to establish, stabilize and<br />
develop a third political <strong>for</strong>ce between<br />
the two mastodonic political blocks of<br />
SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE. For the<br />
time being, this is due to the fact that<br />
Macedonia is not a modern stratified<br />
country. The middle class is not yet<br />
established in sufficient quantities nor<br />
with definitive qualities. Macedonia is<br />
a poor state, with a large number of<br />
unemployed people, low wages, modest<br />
resources, semi-established institutions,<br />
with a vulnerable existence, contingent<br />
upon politics and state organs.<br />
All of that creates political instability<br />
and impatience amongst people. They<br />
would like to become members of the<br />
winning party as soon as possible, that<br />
is, immediately after casting their vote.<br />
They take aim at the party promising<br />
victory by means of which they would<br />
find solutions to their existential problems.<br />
Regarding the "Thirds" the fact<br />
that there will be another election is<br />
encouraging.<br />
As far as the electoral results are<br />
considered in the Albanian party camp,<br />
they were more or less <strong>for</strong>eseeable.<br />
These were definitely DUI's and Ali<br />
Ahmeti's elections. The institutionalized<br />
NLA, now DUI, used primarily<br />
last year's crisis <strong>for</strong> political trans<strong>for</strong>mation,<br />
and secondly the internal structure<br />
of NLA as a good ground <strong>for</strong> party<br />
infrastructure. Now, we are to see<br />
whether Ahmeti's star as a human<br />
rights fighter will shine on the political<br />
cloud, where traffic is denser. With<br />
only political promotion, he is no<br />
longer protected as a pan-Albanian<br />
icon, so instead of a Kalashnikov, he<br />
will have to face competition by political<br />
means. Of course the large number<br />
of votes <strong>for</strong> DUI is particularly due to<br />
Ahmeti's char<strong>ism</strong>a and the conflict that<br />
he and his associates launched high in<br />
the Macedonian political sky. A rather<br />
closed Albanian society in Macedonia<br />
contributed to that end as well, which is<br />
more responsive to the nationalistic<br />
nerve than to other political initiatives.<br />
However, that's reality and it should be<br />
respected, although this complex of<br />
issues does not reflect the internal and<br />
modern political stratification in its<br />
entirety. There are no doubts that the<br />
crisis, that was at least complementary<br />
with the failing ruling parties, will take<br />
the development of democracy several<br />
cycles back. However, from a political<br />
point of view the state now needs to<br />
make 7-mile-high steps in order to surmount<br />
the vacuum.<br />
Because of con<strong>for</strong>mity and their<br />
com<strong>for</strong>table armchairs of power, DPA<br />
was punished by the voters. The selfsame<br />
party was one of the key generators<br />
of the crisis, as it became a part of<br />
the ethnically structured power, which<br />
still had covert personal interests.<br />
Finally, these were not PDP's elections<br />
and the party was very well aware of<br />
that fact. They payed the tax of participating<br />
in first this and then that government.<br />
PDP remains as a party <strong>for</strong> some<br />
future election cycle, if it overcomes<br />
the <strong>for</strong>thcoming problems safely.<br />
In the next few days, the new executive<br />
authority will be established. Its<br />
responsibilities should sober up the<br />
holders of the new mandate. Frenzy<br />
has to be replaced by sobriety. "We<br />
have to work," Crvenkovski used to<br />
say in the pre-election campaign. He's<br />
got the chance. He should make use of<br />
everyone's enthusiasm that Macedonia<br />
can be a normal state. Un<strong>for</strong>tunately,<br />
the new government will not have a<br />
hundred days of amnesty from public<br />
critic<strong>ism</strong>. What should be done is to<br />
establish the pillars of the legal state. It<br />
may sound rough but what is more<br />
important than democracy is the functioning<br />
of law and the legal system in<br />
Macedonia. Without them, there is no<br />
democracy. The second thing is to<br />
show that crime and corruption-until<br />
now and from now on--do not pay.<br />
This is the key homework of the<br />
new government, if it's not properly<br />
dealt with in the very beginning, we<br />
can not expect to set new grounds <strong>for</strong> a<br />
new and different Macedonia.<br />
(The author is a journalist at<br />
Utrinski Vesnik)<br />
A new beginning, November 2002
Elections 2002<br />
The Albanians drew a new political map<br />
Daut Dauti<br />
Was it victory <strong>for</strong> "Together <strong>for</strong><br />
Macedonia" (Social Democratic<br />
Alliance) and the Democratic<br />
Union <strong>for</strong> Integration (DUI), or<br />
defeat <strong>for</strong> VMRO-DPMNE, the<br />
Liberals (LP) and the Democratic<br />
Party of the Albanians (DPA)?<br />
Whatever we say it was, the result<br />
was more or less anticipated, especially<br />
as far as the Macedonian<br />
block of parties are concerned. The<br />
considerable triumph of DUI over<br />
the other Albanian parties, however<br />
, was far beyond expectations.<br />
Amongst all these discrepancies,<br />
the thing that stands out is the<br />
political downfall of the first, and<br />
so far the biggest, Albanian party -<br />
the Party <strong>for</strong> Democratic<br />
Prosperity (PDP) as well as that of<br />
the other Macedonian parties that<br />
did not succeed in securing seats in<br />
Parliament. The only party to succeed<br />
in doing so was the Socialist<br />
Party, and the everlasting Ljubisav<br />
Ivanov - Dzingo.<br />
Of course, the 60 members of<br />
parliament of the coalition headed<br />
by SDSM were no surprise if we<br />
take into consideration the unfavorable<br />
atmosphere and the<br />
tremendous public discontent due<br />
to the 4-year-long rule of VMRO-<br />
DPMNE and DPA. This coalition<br />
is being held accountable <strong>for</strong><br />
everything: beginning with the dissipation<br />
of public money, the selling<br />
of companies <strong>for</strong> enormous<br />
commissions, organized crime,<br />
bribery and corruption, and ending<br />
with the war. Without the slightest<br />
intent to defend this coalition and<br />
its (negative) activities, the blame<br />
<strong>for</strong> all that has been happening can<br />
be put on the previous<br />
Governments as well:<br />
Crvenkovski invented the<br />
"Octopus," the causes <strong>for</strong> the war<br />
date from when he was governing<br />
Having to choose between<br />
PDP and DPA, the<br />
Albanians decided to<br />
choose DUI because they<br />
were the only ones to take<br />
part in the elections as a<br />
result of their own merits,<br />
meaning the changes that<br />
resulted from the activities<br />
of the NLA, whose people<br />
joined DUI<br />
(he did nothing about Albanian<br />
requests). These as well as other<br />
negative phenomena lost him the<br />
elections in 1998. Maybe the particulars<br />
lie exactly in that relationship<br />
between the guilt of the two<br />
biggest political parties in the<br />
Macedonian political block and the<br />
variable mood of the electorate<br />
towards them. However, since<br />
strong feelings were created<br />
towards the governing of both parties,<br />
there was no room left <strong>for</strong><br />
finding something "in-between,"<br />
i.e., <strong>for</strong> finding the so-called "third<br />
path" or "third alternative". The<br />
party that has inserted the "alternative"<br />
in its program and in its<br />
name, Cile's DA (Democratic<br />
Alternative of Vasil Tupurkovski),<br />
has ruined its chances and the<br />
chances of every other third-party<br />
candidate, by failing to realize the<br />
project with the "billion." Neither<br />
the Democratic Alliance of the<br />
always ambitious but politically<br />
anemic Pavle Trajanov , nor Boris<br />
Stojmenov's VMRO (hoping <strong>for</strong><br />
10 parliamentary seats) succeeded<br />
in passing the magic doorstep.<br />
Oliver Romevski (the spokesperson<br />
of VMRO-Macedonian), notes<br />
something interesting: that party<br />
was the only one to affect the<br />
defeat of VMRO-DPMNE, since<br />
some of the members of<br />
Georgievski's party allegedly had<br />
voted <strong>for</strong> Stojmenov. But still<br />
there is very little respect <strong>for</strong> such<br />
ambitious parties. Looking <strong>for</strong> the<br />
key reason <strong>for</strong> such a lack of<br />
respect, it was probably the psychological<br />
disappointment with<br />
Vasil Tupurkovski's party. He had<br />
offered money, the people believed<br />
him and they gave their support to<br />
the coalition "For Changes" in<br />
great numbers. However, the<br />
Taiwan adventure made people<br />
change their minds. Nevertheless,<br />
covert political offers can hardly<br />
succeed with people who have<br />
already been deceived once.<br />
Another significant fact should be<br />
mentioned here: the voters generally<br />
did not support the parties<br />
which asked <strong>for</strong> revision of the<br />
Ohrid Agreement.<br />
Regarding the Albanian political<br />
block, having to choose<br />
between the two most powerful<br />
parties so far (PDP and DPA) , the<br />
voters favored DUI, i.e. the<br />
"demobilized" Ali Ahmeti. By<br />
doing so, the Albanians have found<br />
their "third path." Arben Xhaferi,<br />
the leader of the "honestly defeat-<br />
101<br />
A new beginning, November 2002
102<br />
ed" DPA (who has still the respectable<br />
number of 7 MPs), expressed his<br />
reservation by resigning from his<br />
function as an MP, observing that the<br />
Albanians voted as they did due to<br />
their "immense love of war." Maybe<br />
the Albanians didn't vote <strong>for</strong> war, but<br />
they sure did vote <strong>for</strong> its goals. As<br />
Gezim Ostreni, head of DPA's electoral<br />
headquarters, would state in one<br />
of his interviews: "It's not DUI that<br />
has won the elections, but their plat<strong>for</strong>m<br />
regarding the battle of the<br />
NLA." We have to look truth squarely<br />
in the eye and say that PDP and<br />
DPA entered the elections without<br />
any significant trumps. Their poor<br />
trumps were their previous mandates,<br />
during which, according to the<br />
Albanians themselves, they realized<br />
very little, or almost nothing they had<br />
promised. Unlike them, DUI enrolled<br />
without many promises. The implementation<br />
of the Ohrid Agreement is<br />
already a completed task, resolved<br />
amongst the four most relevant political<br />
bodies so far, but the true tribute<br />
<strong>for</strong> it goes to the NLA, and the NLA<br />
belongs more to DUI.<br />
The political mosaic regarding the<br />
Albanians who participated in the<br />
elections was simplified: the two<br />
most powerful parties so far (DPA<br />
and PDP ) took part and so did the<br />
two new ones--DUI and Kastriot<br />
Haxhirexha's NDP (National<br />
Democratic Party). With the emergence<br />
of DUI, there was no reason to<br />
reactivate some of the minor parties<br />
(the almost <strong>for</strong>gotten organizations of<br />
Nevzat Halili and Xhemail Idrizi).<br />
With the abolishment of the<br />
Coordinating Council of the Albanian<br />
political bodies, the chances of joint<br />
participation according to some kind<br />
of mutual <strong>for</strong>mula that the leaders<br />
would agree on, have also failed. Had<br />
they done so, the number of Albanian<br />
MPs would be much higher than 26<br />
(one MP more than the maximum<br />
achieved so far), which can be proven<br />
by the <strong>for</strong>ty thousand "burned" votes<br />
of the defeated parties! With more<br />
than 30 MPs, their presence in the<br />
Parliament would have had symbolic<br />
significance, showing that after the<br />
Ohrid Agreement the Albanian factor<br />
would have been strengthened in all<br />
spheres.<br />
Still, what is important <strong>for</strong> the<br />
pre-electoral campaign is the fact that<br />
DPA has understood its role, i.e., that<br />
it is going to be DUI's main competition.<br />
This party was the main reason<br />
<strong>for</strong> the abolishment of the<br />
Coordinating Council (due to the<br />
attack on the restaurant Dora in April,<br />
and to the lack of "distance" on the<br />
part of PDP and NDP from the statements<br />
made by some of their<br />
activists). This is why DPA wrongly<br />
assessed that their position would be<br />
stronger should they take part in the<br />
elections on their own, and that is<br />
why they appeared alone. With<br />
Menduh Thachi's statement that there<br />
was never a word about any joint<br />
appearance on the elections, DPA<br />
opened the road towards an independent<br />
pre-electoral battle. But that was<br />
the moment when it determined its<br />
meritorious opponent DUI, too. In<br />
order to become a rival equivalent to<br />
Ahmeti's party (<strong>for</strong>med in June 2002),<br />
DPA included several ex NLA-commanders<br />
in its ranks (Daut Rexhepi,<br />
Ruzhdi Matoshi) which was supposed<br />
to convince the Albanians that DPA<br />
had greater credentials from combat<br />
activities. On the other hand, despite<br />
the signature of its leader, it moved<br />
away from the Ohrid Agreement, saying<br />
that that was not the end of<br />
Albanian requests. As icing on the<br />
cake came some even more radical<br />
statements, deliberately placed in an<br />
ambiguous context, like the one about<br />
the dream of all Albanians - ethnic<br />
Albania. Parallel to that, there was<br />
direct critic<strong>ism</strong> addressed to DUI <strong>for</strong><br />
their alleged lack of radical<strong>ism</strong>.<br />
DUI didn't respond to DPA's<br />
accusations. Its leaders right from the<br />
start of the campaign have stated that<br />
they won't deal with the opponents,<br />
but with their political plat<strong>for</strong>m. They<br />
didn't even have to explain their own<br />
plat<strong>for</strong>m, because they are a party that<br />
is made up of <strong>for</strong>mer NLA structures,<br />
whose activities last year have<br />
brought significant changes in the<br />
position of Albanians in the legislative<br />
system and the Constitution.<br />
They didn't even react aggressively to<br />
the hindrances (announcements <strong>for</strong><br />
detentions, barricades <strong>for</strong> Ali Ahmeti)<br />
placed on them by the government,<br />
and they even gave up their plan <strong>for</strong><br />
their leader to appear on the scheduled<br />
pre-electoral meeting in the capital.<br />
On the other hand, DUI and DPA<br />
were the two extremes <strong>for</strong> the<br />
announced incidents be<strong>for</strong>e and after<br />
the elections. Luckily they were never<br />
realized, neither in the Albanian nor<br />
the Macedonian block of parties. The<br />
incidents included the murder of the<br />
policemen in Gostivar, Bogovinje, the<br />
kidnapped Macedonians in Leshnica,<br />
and the bombs in the Skopje headquarters<br />
of DUI and NDP. Regardless<br />
of the fact that some of the un<strong>for</strong>tunate<br />
episodes seemed to be part of<br />
some scenarios, they didn't succeed in<br />
interrupting the election results.<br />
Between DUI and DPA, it was unrealistic<br />
to expect a better result <strong>for</strong><br />
PDP and NDP, who had based their<br />
strategies on the motto, "Together<br />
with DUI against DPA." When that<br />
anti- DPA battle failed, because Ali<br />
Ahmeti stated that he didn't want any<br />
conjunctural coalitions, the disappointment<br />
of the other two parties<br />
was immense, because they had very<br />
little time to recuperate. DUI had military<br />
credentials, DPA had money and<br />
a developed party structure. Even if<br />
they wanted to they couldn't go<br />
aggressively against DUI, while at the<br />
same time DUI itself was quietly battling<br />
against DPA. The money that<br />
they had from the support of the NLA<br />
was not sufficient <strong>for</strong> them to draw<br />
greater number of supporters and, on<br />
top of it, PDP was facing a defection<br />
of their members to DUI.<br />
According to this logic, DUI's<br />
victory with 16 seats is a little bit<br />
beyond expectations <strong>for</strong> the new<br />
political map. DPA with its 7 MPs<br />
escaped defeat, thus securing its political<br />
future, provided Arben Xhaferi<br />
stays as leader. PDP experienced the<br />
biggest defeat, since it's too optimistic<br />
to expect that it will heal soon<br />
with its two MPs, no matter whether<br />
they join the new government or not.<br />
NDP's experience wasn't any better<br />
considering the notorious opinion that<br />
was created during the war that they<br />
were a political wing of the NLA. The<br />
only NDP MP won as a result of his<br />
popularity during the war, not as a<br />
result of his membership in this party.<br />
Whether the established relationship<br />
between the Albanian parties<br />
will to be the same after four years<br />
will greatly depend on how DUI will<br />
carry out its obligations in relation to<br />
the executive power. It will also<br />
depend on whether they will repeat<br />
the mistakes of PDP and DPA, whose<br />
presence in the government so far<br />
hasn't significantly changed the position<br />
of Albanians.<br />
(The author is a writer and a<br />
commentator with "Flaka")<br />
A new beginning, November 2002
Seething secondary schools<br />
Little Ljubchos, Brankos,<br />
and Ahmetis waved flags<br />
Cvetin Chilimanov<br />
The October<br />
protests in Skopje<br />
took place after a<br />
dirty war, when<br />
everyone's passions<br />
had been heated to<br />
a boiling point; and<br />
we all lived through<br />
an election campaign<br />
that started<br />
with killings of<br />
police officers and<br />
hostage dramas<br />
Macedonian high school<br />
students have been divided <strong>for</strong><br />
more than a year. They cite legal<br />
procedures as the official reasons<br />
<strong>for</strong> that rift-both unions of<br />
high school students claim that<br />
they represent all students, and<br />
that they possess court decisions<br />
to support that claim. But since<br />
the rift, and especially with the<br />
events that have erupted recently,<br />
it becomes<br />
clearer that the<br />
genuine reasons<br />
<strong>for</strong> the rift are<br />
the political<br />
interests and<br />
patronages<br />
which have entered<br />
the unions`<br />
management.<br />
To the<br />
already traditional<br />
rift between<br />
VMRO-<br />
DPMNE and<br />
SDSM, which<br />
has been reflected<br />
in the unions,<br />
a new rift has<br />
been added this year:<br />
Macedonians and Albanians.<br />
The third union of high school<br />
students, Lehtisimi ("Relief"),<br />
does not even strive to represent<br />
all students. Its leader,<br />
Faton Kruezi, points out that it<br />
is a union of Albanian students<br />
exclusively. The students cannot<br />
benefit from such a rift,<br />
which can be clearly seen from<br />
the fights and nocturnal clashes<br />
which have, un<strong>for</strong>tunately,<br />
become a part of their daily<br />
existence.<br />
It is a good thing that the<br />
unions take a critical attitude<br />
towards the government.<br />
However, they do not do it<br />
because that position is in the<br />
students` interest , but because<br />
it is in the interest of the predetermined<br />
policy of the political<br />
option of that union.<br />
"Jovana Bazerkovska`s<br />
Union of High School Students<br />
consists of her and two other<br />
students who participate<br />
because of their individual<br />
interests," says Aleksandar<br />
Nikolovski, who is, if we are to<br />
be honest, a first-year student<br />
of political science at the<br />
Faculty of Law himself.<br />
"Behind Aleksandar<br />
Nikolovski`s High School<br />
Students` Union lie political<br />
interests," replies Bazerkovska<br />
who, however, does not want to<br />
identify the political option<br />
behind Nikolovski.<br />
Nevertheless, there is a<br />
record of her accusations that<br />
Nikolovski is the leader of a<br />
union <strong>for</strong>med with <strong>for</strong>mer<br />
Minister Novkovski`s blessing,<br />
and on his request, so that he<br />
can allegedly control his area<br />
of responsibility more easily.<br />
Bazerkovska is constantly<br />
complaining that while<br />
Novkovski was minister of<br />
education, the Ministry`s doors<br />
were closed to her union.<br />
However, Nikolovski claims<br />
that Novkovski has not contacted<br />
him either, although the<br />
minister jumped to protect the<br />
student leader after the<br />
announcement from his rivals<br />
from the coalition "For<br />
Macedonia"--Risto Penov and<br />
Trifun Kostovski--that they<br />
were going to bring charges<br />
against the union's leader <strong>for</strong><br />
the protests he had organized.<br />
Novkovksi appraised the<br />
announcements of a law suit<br />
against Nikolovski as "a monstrous<br />
attack" and asked the<br />
state attorney to deal with<br />
Penov i Kostovski.<br />
Bazerkovska, on the other<br />
hand, supported Penov's<br />
charges against Nikolovski,<br />
and announced that she was<br />
going to bring charges against<br />
Nikolovski herself. All in all, a<br />
students' rift was created in<br />
which it is obvious who stands<br />
on whose side. Still, it all<br />
becomes clearer when we see<br />
where the bombarding with<br />
paragraphs and accusations is<br />
directed.<br />
At the beginning of this<br />
year we had a situation when<br />
the Union of High School<br />
Students of Macedonia, led by<br />
Jovana Bazerkovska (publicly<br />
accused <strong>for</strong> her closeness with<br />
the Social Democratic Party of<br />
Macedonia and the Liberal<br />
Democratic Party) severely<br />
condemned the violence<br />
towards the students of a high<br />
school in Negotino. This union<br />
103<br />
A new beginning, November 2002
supported the students who were victims<br />
of the principal Bajatovska`s<br />
autocracy, a VMRO adherent of the<br />
minister Nenad Novkovski. At that<br />
time, the more recent High School<br />
Students` Union of Macedonia, led by<br />
Aleksandar Nikolovski, was nowhere<br />
in sight. This union's silence regarding<br />
the behavior of the Negotino principal<br />
helped to label it as "VMRO's"<br />
and "Novkovski's union."<br />
The change of government and<br />
SDSM's coming to power revealed to<br />
the High School Students` Union of<br />
Macedonia the beauty of<br />
acting in the opposition;<br />
suddenly it turned into<br />
the main supporter of<br />
students' rights. It<br />
rebels against everything<br />
and anything: the<br />
still unappointed minister<br />
of education, the violence<br />
against Albanian<br />
students in Tetovo,<br />
Shemshevo, Chair<br />
neighbourhood, etc.<br />
Meanwhile the once<br />
104 severe union has now<br />
decided to "give the new<br />
government a chance,"<br />
and thinks that the<br />
future minister, Aziz Polozhani,<br />
should be given an opportunity to<br />
show what he knows. We may be<br />
unfair to Bazerkoska and Nikolovski<br />
by linking them to SDSM and<br />
VMRO respectively, but their public<br />
appearances and their vocabulary,<br />
which seems to borrow from the<br />
politicians` dictionary, make their<br />
indirect duels look like a bad caricature<br />
of the Crvenkovski-Georgievski<br />
duels. Even the interaction of the<br />
three student leaders follow the same<br />
line of development as the coalition<br />
bargainings. Bazerkovska and<br />
Kruezi (on whose protests the Skopje<br />
coordinator of DUI was seen) would<br />
sit down and discuss, but they both<br />
refused any contact with VMRO`s<br />
Nikolovski. "Nikolovski is only<br />
interested in creating tensions," says<br />
Kruezi. Bazarkovska has a similar<br />
accusation: "Our responsibility as<br />
high school students is to build a<br />
mutual life. Nikolovski destroys it,"<br />
she says.<br />
The misuse of young people <strong>for</strong><br />
political purposes has been massively<br />
in practice since 1997, when the<br />
opposition VMRO-DPMNE used the<br />
student protests against higher education<br />
in Albanian at the Pedagogical<br />
Academy, and used the high school<br />
students from Skopje to make the<br />
protests more massive. Experience<br />
shows that it is enough to show a finger<br />
to the high school students to<br />
make them leave the classrooms.<br />
During the protests <strong>for</strong> support of<br />
Macedonians in Shemshevo, comments<br />
from the crowd sounded like<br />
these :"In some village a school was<br />
named after an Albanian," "I'll be<br />
here until I meet all my friends, then<br />
I'm going home," or "I don`t know<br />
what we are protesting <strong>for</strong>. We get<br />
out of classes." However, the traumatic<br />
events in the country and the<br />
appeals <strong>for</strong> righteousness may bring<br />
the protests to a boiling point.<br />
Comments such as: "What do you<br />
mean, why are we on the streets?<br />
They killed our man in Tetovo,"<br />
could be heard on the streets of<br />
Skopje on 23 October.<br />
The perfidious murder of Vancho<br />
Josifovski provoked a strong reaction<br />
among high school students, while<br />
the previous attack on a group of<br />
Macedonian students in the market<br />
"Bit Pazar" by a group of Albanians<br />
turned the protests of 23 October into<br />
complete chaos and anarchy. The<br />
protests were followed by a string of<br />
fights around the city. The public<br />
transport authorities were powerless<br />
and they could not count the number<br />
of demolished buses. In Butel 2, a<br />
Macedonian high school student was<br />
shot in his legs with two bullets. The<br />
Albanian high school students were<br />
victims of violence as well. After<br />
Kruezi`s decision to rein<strong>for</strong>ce the<br />
protests in front of "Cvetan Dimov"<br />
and to block John Kennedy<br />
Boulevard, he was kidnapped, brutally<br />
beaten up, and got an<br />
"L" carved on his stomach<br />
with a knife. Two of his<br />
fellow students and<br />
activists in "Lehtisimi"<br />
ended up even worse, and<br />
the police are still searching<br />
<strong>for</strong> the attackers.<br />
The 1997 protests<br />
ended without any serious<br />
peace and safety violations<br />
in the country; but they did<br />
help VMRO-DPMNE in<br />
the election campaign the<br />
following year. Very few<br />
of the protest organizers,<br />
after fasting in front of the<br />
Parliament, did not sit<br />
down to eat meat in governmental<br />
armchairs later. However, those<br />
protests were conducted on a more<br />
significant intellectual basis, and<br />
Macedonia was then still an "oasis of<br />
peace."<br />
The October protests in Skopje<br />
took place after a dirty war, when<br />
everyone's passions had been heated<br />
to a boiling point. We lived through<br />
a dirty campaign as well, which started<br />
with killings of police officers and<br />
hostage dramas. The Macedonians<br />
are still trying to swallow the inclusion<br />
of terrorists in governmental<br />
institutions. If somebody wants to<br />
disturb the peace, they will certainly<br />
continue to use the "always available<br />
agitators and demonstrators" from<br />
the high schools.<br />
The question is, what will be<br />
achieved by that?<br />
(The author is a journalist<br />
at Dnevnik)<br />
A new beginning, November 2002
The internally desplaced<br />
Everyone hopes <strong>for</strong> the best<br />
Emil Zafirovski<br />
"Be patient, let the winter<br />
go by and we will<br />
repair your ruined<br />
homes," is what the<br />
internally displaced<br />
Macedonians are being<br />
advised to do by the<br />
Ministry of Labor and<br />
Social Affairs and by<br />
the internationals in<br />
charge of the reconstruction<br />
of the damaged<br />
homes<br />
According to the last re-registration<br />
of internally displaced persons<br />
(IDPs), carried out by the<br />
International Committee of the<br />
Red Cross (ICRC) one month ago,<br />
there are about 8,000 IDPs in the<br />
country, with a tendency <strong>for</strong> this<br />
number to decrease.<br />
Earlier, the number of temporarily<br />
displaced citizens was<br />
about 13,400.<br />
We are talking about inhabitants<br />
of the <strong>for</strong>mer crisis regions in<br />
Tetovo, Skopje and Kumanovo ,<br />
who were <strong>for</strong>ced to leave their<br />
dwellings.<br />
Most of them are accommodated<br />
at their relatives' and friends'<br />
homes throughout the country, and<br />
around 2,500 are sheltered in collective<br />
centers.<br />
Suzana Paunovska, coordinator<br />
of the International Committee of<br />
the Red Cross, explains that the<br />
number of IDPs will decrease consistently<br />
due to the fact that conditions<br />
<strong>for</strong> their return are being<br />
improved daily:<br />
"The number is expected to<br />
decrease as the weeks go by.<br />
Building reconstruction is ongoing<br />
and as the homes are being reconstructed,<br />
new conditions will be<br />
created <strong>for</strong> the IDPs to go back to<br />
their villages. We have already<br />
concluded that many citizens have<br />
returned home, though they have<br />
continued to receive benefits as if<br />
they were still IDPs. This is not<br />
correct from the donators standpoint,<br />
because they are only interested<br />
in helping the persons who<br />
really need their help," adds<br />
Paunovska.<br />
In her opinion, the<br />
International Committee of the<br />
Red Cross expects that help will<br />
continue to be distributed to the<br />
IDPs until springtime.<br />
The re-registration was carried<br />
out at the request of the European<br />
Union, which is the main donator,<br />
with the suspicion that many IDPs<br />
are abusing their status in order to<br />
get free food and other help.<br />
Most of the displaced<br />
Macedonians claim that they can't<br />
return to their villages because they<br />
feel unsafe there. Some of them, on<br />
the other hand, claim that the main<br />
reason <strong>for</strong> their status is the severely<br />
demolished houses. Fear of the<br />
Albanian population is mostly<br />
present among the displaced<br />
Macedonians from Arachinovo and<br />
Kumanovo regions. They refuse to<br />
go back and demand that the state<br />
provide them with new temporary<br />
dwellings.<br />
"There is no way we are going<br />
back. There is no life left <strong>for</strong> us in<br />
our birthplace-Arachinovo. We<br />
can't live with the people who have<br />
chased us off our homes using<br />
threats, insults and guns pointed at<br />
us. They are talking about cohabitation<br />
with the same people who<br />
robbed our houses and are still<br />
doing that. They rob, demolish and<br />
blow up our houses. One<br />
Macedonian who decided to go<br />
back after the war was killed by a<br />
bomb set in his house.<br />
It is a lie if someone thinks that<br />
the Macedonians from Arachinovo<br />
can go back," says B.J., a displaced<br />
person from Arachinovo.<br />
The IDPs from Arachinovo<br />
gathered around the association<br />
Zora ("Dawn"), demanding that the<br />
government provide them with<br />
new dwellings. Jana Petrushevska,<br />
the president of Zora, says that the<br />
status of the Macedonians from<br />
this village must be solved.<br />
"We can't go on like this. The<br />
government has to help us, enable<br />
us to resolve our living conditions.<br />
I wonder how long they are going<br />
to keep us in the shelters. Two<br />
years have gone by, and nothing<br />
has been done so that we can go<br />
home. Our houses have not been<br />
repaired, nor it is safer. I'm telling<br />
you sincerely. There are constant<br />
provocations and threats aimed at<br />
the Macedonians. Should we go<br />
back and risk our lives just to support<br />
the lies? We won't give up on<br />
the plan to receive temporary<br />
homes, because <strong>for</strong> now we don't<br />
see any other way out," says<br />
105<br />
A new beginning, November 2002
Petrushevska.<br />
There are 600<br />
Macedonians from<br />
Arachinovo who are displaced<br />
from their homes<br />
at the moment. Most of<br />
them are accommodated<br />
in the shelter center<br />
"Senich" in the settlement<br />
Avtokomanda in Skopje.<br />
Ljubcho Georgievski's<br />
Government made a plan<br />
<strong>for</strong> the construction of<br />
new dwellings <strong>for</strong> the<br />
Macedonians from<br />
Arachinovo. The new<br />
homes were supposed to<br />
be built on a location in<br />
the settlement Hipodrom in Skopje,<br />
but after the idea was publicly<br />
announced, the plan received severe<br />
critic<strong>ism</strong> and was called "an act of<br />
weakness that helps the ethnic cleansing<br />
of the Macedonians." The whole<br />
project was stopped immediately.<br />
More than a thousand orthodox<br />
inhabitants of the Kumanovo crisis<br />
region have been living as IDPs <strong>for</strong><br />
106<br />
one year now. They are accommodated<br />
in the collective centers Kristal<br />
and Cuba, two hotels in Kumanovo.<br />
They are villagers from nearby Opae<br />
and Matejche. They refuse to go back<br />
to their villages because, as they say,<br />
they are afraid of the Albanian population<br />
who are behaving violently<br />
towards the youth who were members<br />
of the Macedonian security <strong>for</strong>ces<br />
during the conflict. These IDPs asked<br />
the Government to provide them with<br />
new dwellings. According to the<br />
Kumanovo IDPs, some inhabitants of<br />
Opae have already started to sell their<br />
houses to their Albanian neighbors.<br />
"We are not going back. That is<br />
<strong>for</strong> sure. Our children who joined the<br />
army and the police are receiving<br />
threats from the local Albanians,<br />
advising them never to come back. I<br />
have two sons who fought during the<br />
crisis. If they can't go back to<br />
Matejche, there is nothing <strong>for</strong> me to<br />
go back to there," says one older villager<br />
<strong>for</strong>m Matejche.<br />
The conditions in the public shelters<br />
are desperate, they claim<br />
"There are five of us sleeping in<br />
one room, and sixty of us using the<br />
same bathroom. That is not life, it is<br />
torture. We are not guilty <strong>for</strong> what<br />
happened in Macedonia and we are<br />
looking <strong>for</strong> help. We can't go back<br />
because, first of all, our houses are<br />
demolished and also it is not safe. The<br />
State has to resolve our situation and<br />
build us new homes," - says M.S.<br />
from the village of Opae.<br />
The IDPs staying at the hotel<br />
Cuba say that the living conditions<br />
there are endangering their health.<br />
" The roof is leaking, it's wet<br />
everywhere. We got bronchitis. The<br />
hygiene is terrible. Tens of us are<br />
using the same toilet. We are washing<br />
by hand, in plastic buckets, but they<br />
haven't given us washing powder <strong>for</strong><br />
more than two months now," complains<br />
a displaced woman from<br />
Matejche, who together with her husband<br />
and her three children has been<br />
living in the hotel Cuba <strong>for</strong> more than<br />
a year .<br />
The doctors are warning that the<br />
number of psychological and cardiovascular<br />
diseases is increasing among<br />
1,833 IDPs in the country. In addition,<br />
many are also suffering from<br />
chronic bronchitis.<br />
"The conditions in which they<br />
live are unusual and that is why it is<br />
possible that some of them may catch<br />
tuberculosis," says Dr. Nikola<br />
Milanovski from the Institute <strong>for</strong><br />
Pulmonary Diseases<br />
in Skopje.<br />
The situation of<br />
the IDPs from Tetovo,<br />
who live in the Shar<br />
Planina mountain villages<br />
located above<br />
the Tetovo-Jazhince<br />
highway, is similar.<br />
Most of them are staying<br />
at the collective<br />
centers in Skopje.<br />
"My house is<br />
razed to the ground, I<br />
have no place to go<br />
back to. I live with my<br />
family in the student<br />
dorm Stiv Naumov in<br />
Skopje. The internationals keep lying<br />
to us about the reconstruction of our<br />
houses. They are only promising and<br />
announcing, without realizing anything.<br />
Even if they build our homes<br />
we wouldn't have a chair to sit on, or<br />
a bed to lie in. Everything we had has<br />
been damaged or stolen," says B.S.,<br />
an IDP from Tetovo region.<br />
IDPs from Tetovo, Kumanovo<br />
and Skopje regions have been away<br />
from their homes <strong>for</strong> a year and a half<br />
now. They say it is high time the state<br />
resolved their situation , so that they<br />
can continue with their normal lives.<br />
According to the authorities<br />
responsible <strong>for</strong> IDPs at the Ministry<br />
of Labor and Social Affairs, the situation<br />
is improving and the IDPs are<br />
expected to return to their homes<br />
soon. Similar assessments are carried<br />
out by the internationals who are in<br />
charge of implementing reconstruction<br />
of the damaged homes.<br />
"We know they are having a difficult<br />
time and we understand their<br />
troubles. That is why we would like<br />
to apologize <strong>for</strong> the accidental delay<br />
of the reconstruction activities. We<br />
are doing our best to help them return.<br />
We have provided the money <strong>for</strong> the<br />
reconstruction, and by the end of the<br />
spring all the houses will be reconstructed,"<br />
says EU Counselor Vasilis<br />
Maragos.<br />
(The author is a journalist<br />
with Dnevnik)<br />
A new beginning, November 2002
Unbelievable and<br />
different are the<br />
personal destinies<br />
of the people who<br />
are eating in the<br />
national kitchens<br />
in Skopje, and the<br />
hunger connects<br />
all of them<br />
National kitchens of poverty<br />
Macedonians, Albanians, Serbs,<br />
and Roma together at lunch<br />
Dragi Jankovski<br />
Mire Slaveski from Skopje is a<br />
highly qualified technician in electrical<br />
engineering with 23 years of<br />
working experience in the steel factory,<br />
who has been wandering the<br />
streets of Skopje <strong>for</strong> almost 12 years.<br />
While he was working, he was paying<br />
the bills and the rent <strong>for</strong> the apartment,<br />
and he was providing food <strong>for</strong><br />
his family. In 1990, he was laid off,<br />
his wife left him, and his two sons had<br />
been taken into the orphanage.<br />
Every working day at 1 p.m.<br />
sharp, Mire, Fizeta, Isljam, Miodrag,<br />
Blagoja, Goran, Igor, Sabri,<br />
Sheherezada, Svetlana, and another<br />
three hundred people from Skopje<br />
have lunch together in the two national<br />
kitchens in Skopje. They come<br />
from different parts of the city, speak<br />
in different languages and belong to<br />
different religions and nationalities.<br />
They are all united in one place by<br />
their hunger and their poverty.<br />
About twenty volunteers from the<br />
association Gjakonija provide their<br />
single joint lunch and try to make<br />
them feel welcome, to feel the<br />
atmosphere of a home while<br />
they get a piece of bread and<br />
warm soup. The national<br />
kitchens are located in the<br />
premises of the churches St.<br />
Petka in the settlement Crniche<br />
and Sts. Petar and Pavle in the<br />
settlement Gjorche Petrov.<br />
Mire says that he is most<br />
sorry <strong>for</strong> his two sons, who cannot<br />
find a job since they<br />
returned from completing their<br />
military service.<br />
"The older son, Zlatko, is<br />
21 years old, speaks fluent<br />
English and has computer skills, but<br />
he cannot find a job. The younger son,<br />
Marjan, was beaten up during his stay<br />
at the orphanage, and now he suffers<br />
psychological consequences. Social<br />
Services have in<strong>for</strong>med us that in<br />
April we will have to move from the<br />
social housings in which we have<br />
lived <strong>for</strong> almost two years. I will<br />
have to return to the streets together<br />
with my children," says Mire .<br />
He explains that when the<br />
kitchens are closed, he does not eat<br />
<strong>for</strong> several days. Apart from having<br />
lunch in the kitchen himself, Mire<br />
also takes food <strong>for</strong> his two sons.<br />
For more than two years now,<br />
Isljam and Fizeta Ihmet have been<br />
coming to the national kitchen. Two<br />
years ago, Fizeta left her husband and<br />
her two children and moved from<br />
Bitola to Skopje. Her husband, she<br />
says, was maltreating her and was living<br />
with her only <strong>for</strong> the money that<br />
her mother from Sweden and her relatives<br />
from Australia were sending to<br />
her. When she arrived to Skopje, she<br />
was all alone. She came to the national<br />
kitchen with her female friend .<br />
There she met Isljam Ihmet, with<br />
whom she now has a one-month-old<br />
baby boy. She explains that during the<br />
last two years, she and her husband<br />
have survived thanks to the food and<br />
help they have been receiving at the<br />
kitchen. Fizeta says that they will<br />
raise their son with the help of the<br />
volunteers of Gjakonija who have<br />
given her diapers, food and have<br />
helped her provide documents to get<br />
social care and health insurance.<br />
15-year-old Miodrag Zivkovich,<br />
his mother and his sister are also coming<br />
to the kitchen in St. Petka.<br />
Miodrag is in the eighth grade in the<br />
primary school Rajko Zhinzifov in<br />
the settlement Topansko Pole. He<br />
says that he wants to continue his<br />
education and become a qualified car<br />
mechanic. Miodrag says that his family<br />
survives thanks to the good will of<br />
the people at the national kitchen and<br />
the money he gets from the sales of<br />
old paper and from begging .<br />
"My wife and my daughter used<br />
to say to me: Do not go back to<br />
Macedonia, you will starve there.<br />
Still, I love my country and I wanted<br />
to be there at any cost, even<br />
if I had to live on the streets.<br />
I never thought that I would<br />
really live on the streets.<br />
After 30 years of work in<br />
Serbia and Croatia, I was<br />
looking <strong>for</strong>ward to going<br />
back to my family house<br />
built by my father. When I<br />
came back there, my brother<br />
and my step-mother kicked<br />
me out because they have<br />
taken the whole house <strong>for</strong><br />
themselves. I was left alone<br />
on the street, I started drinking<br />
and now I live wherever<br />
107<br />
Life on the margins, February 2003
108<br />
I can. I carry along the package with<br />
cans that the people from the<br />
kitchen gave me <strong>for</strong> the New Year<br />
holidays," says Blagoja Janevski.<br />
He is a baker who has spent his<br />
entire working life making bread,<br />
and now, as he says, in order to survive<br />
he has to beg and to come to<br />
get food in the kitchen .<br />
During the New Year holidays,<br />
Gjakonija distributed packages with<br />
food <strong>for</strong> several days to everyone<br />
who eats in the kitchen. Packages<br />
including clothes and footwear,<br />
donations from citizens and firms,<br />
are given to poor people.<br />
"The kitchen's doors are wide<br />
open <strong>for</strong> all well-intended people.<br />
We opened the dining rooms of<br />
love, as we call them, in 1998. Since<br />
then, we prepare food <strong>for</strong> everyone<br />
five times a week, we do not make<br />
any distinction based on sex, age,<br />
ethnic origin or religion . People<br />
come who have no money, who are<br />
homeless, old and exhausted, people<br />
that nobody takes care of. Young<br />
people who live on the streets come<br />
very often, too. We also prepare<br />
meals <strong>for</strong> people who are not able to<br />
come on their own to have lunch in<br />
the kitchens," says Angelina<br />
Dzadzu, president of the<br />
Association.<br />
She says that Skopje needs at<br />
least one kitchen in every bigger<br />
settlement and one in every bigger<br />
city. Aunt Angelina's biggest wish is<br />
that Gjakonija gets its own premises<br />
where food could be distributed<br />
several times a day and to a greater<br />
number of people.<br />
The kitchens are now located in<br />
the premises of the Skopje bishopric<br />
of the Macedonian Orthodox<br />
Church.<br />
The Association Gjakonija, as<br />
Aunt Angelina says, works with the<br />
blessing and the help of Bishop<br />
Agatangel of Bregalnica and the<br />
archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia<br />
Gospodin Gospodin. Stefan and all<br />
the donors, who have unselfishly<br />
donated money and other resources<br />
in order to keep the kitchen working.<br />
In spring, the Association is<br />
going to open a national kitchen in<br />
Stip also, supported by the local<br />
municipal authorities and Bishop<br />
Agatangel.<br />
(The author is a<br />
journalist in Dnevnik)<br />
Tales from the streets<br />
of Skopje<br />
The sky is a roof <strong>for</strong><br />
the people with no adress<br />
Aleksandra M. Mitevska<br />
Tome spends another night under a market booth in one suburb of<br />
Skopje. And when a new day rises, too gray and cold to go outside<br />
without a coat, this sixty-year old man, whose eyes stray far away,<br />
goes <strong>for</strong> another walk dressed in torn clothing worn to shreds. Begging<br />
and digging through the garbage-bins are his weapons in the battle <strong>for</strong><br />
existence. At first sight you will probably say that he is one of the<br />
vagrants who are a common backdrop in the capital, begging <strong>for</strong> the<br />
bare minimum of resources to survive another day faced with "naked"<br />
poverty.<br />
This time, however, the story is a little bit different.<br />
He doesn't want to speak much, but if<br />
Until five or six<br />
years ago he had a someone could manage to gain his trust, he<br />
stable marriage would recount that this is how he has always<br />
and raised two imagined his life. The hero of this story became<br />
kids, but suddenly a man with no address, with the street <strong>for</strong> a home<br />
something broke and the sky <strong>for</strong> a roof <strong>for</strong> the past few years. Five<br />
inside him and or six years ago he had a stable marriage and<br />
made him sever raised two kids, but suddenly something broke<br />
his ties with his inside him and made him sever ties with his family<br />
and become a homeless man by choice, thus<br />
family and become<br />
leaving behind his wife, a clerk, and his two sons,<br />
a homeless man by<br />
both intellectuals.<br />
choice. Abandoned Tome is just one of the many homeless men,<br />
train cars are whose number rises from day to day, especially<br />
home <strong>for</strong> a brother in Skopje. There are plenty of other cases of people<br />
who live wherever they can, though they do<br />
and sister, who<br />
were <strong>for</strong>ced to it <strong>for</strong> different reasons. At the abandoned lot<br />
leave the orphanage<br />
on their 18th family lives in a cardboard hut. Both the mother<br />
under the main railway station a three-member<br />
birthday<br />
and the two juvenile daughters stroll and beg in a<br />
battle <strong>for</strong> mere survival. Not that far away, abandoned<br />
train cars are a home <strong>for</strong> Ljupcho (27) and<br />
his younger sister. To them, the 18th birthday was not a once-in-a-lifetime<br />
celebration when you finally step into the world of the adults, but<br />
a step into great uncertainty. Because on that date they had no choice,<br />
they had to leave the orphanage. These two young people, who had<br />
never met their parents, usually have their meals at the public kitchen<br />
and sometimes they get food and clothes from good people they meet.<br />
But when from time to time, they happen to have nothing to eat, they<br />
are also <strong>for</strong>ced to beg.<br />
Life on the margins, February 2003
"ROMA TENTING"<br />
Thirty-year-old Dushko was a<br />
patient at the psychiatric clinic at<br />
Bardovci and now, when he has to<br />
return to normal life, he has nowhere<br />
to go because his family won't accept<br />
him. And while he counts the last<br />
days he can spend in the hospital, he<br />
probably knows that he has no alternative<br />
but to join the ranks of people<br />
with no address.<br />
While Dushko wants to return<br />
home but is unable to, several Roma<br />
families, who are said<br />
to have decent houses<br />
in Prilep, are caravaning<br />
across the country.<br />
In summer, but<br />
also in winter, they<br />
are accustomed to<br />
sleeping "in nature"<br />
or seeking handouts<br />
from passers-by.<br />
These life stories<br />
are just some of the<br />
many stories fate has<br />
written on the streets<br />
of the capital. It is<br />
hard to establish the<br />
accurate number of<br />
people who live under the blue sky<br />
from someone's charity. Social workers<br />
note that homeless people are not<br />
just the ones we see sleeping on the<br />
streets, parks and bus stations. Many<br />
of them live far away from public<br />
sight. These people present a particularly<br />
difficult problem, precisely<br />
because it is so hard to find them in<br />
the city and the suburbs. These examples<br />
illustrate that, despite the common<br />
presumption, poverty is the<br />
main but not the only reason <strong>for</strong> people<br />
to become homeless. In spite of<br />
many initiatives, the capital is without<br />
a single care center <strong>for</strong> the homeless,<br />
although these people need help<br />
to be brought back into the society<br />
that left them on its margins.<br />
Science treats homelessness in its<br />
medical, economic and social<br />
aspects. Homelessness is defined as a<br />
consequence of past events, such as<br />
unemployment, exile or domestic<br />
abuse, but also as an incapacity to<br />
provide a home. Although homeless<br />
people are classified in a particular<br />
social group of heterogeneous individuals<br />
with various economic and<br />
social structures, most of them come<br />
from the working class or from poor<br />
families and they have no secondary<br />
education.<br />
However, homelessness is not<br />
always a permanent condition. Apart<br />
from being chronic, it can also be frequent,<br />
episodic or temporary.<br />
Chronic homelessness usually occurs<br />
among people that are unable to provide<br />
either social or financial support.<br />
These homeless people often suffer<br />
from disturbed social relations and<br />
serious illnesses. Episodic homelessness<br />
is a result of short-term crisis<br />
periods or problems, whereas some<br />
families or individuals are becoming<br />
temporarily homeless due to natural<br />
disasters. There are also cases when<br />
women or children become homeless<br />
due to sexual or physical abuse in the<br />
family.<br />
HOMELESS FAMILIES<br />
Last summer, the Social Services<br />
Center of Skopje surveyed 52 homeless<br />
persons from the streets, chosen<br />
by chance. The results of this survey<br />
show that 63 percent of the homeless<br />
in the capital are men and 37 percent<br />
are women, says Ljupcho Cvetkovski<br />
from the Center's department <strong>for</strong><br />
analysis and research. Most of them,<br />
52 percent, were in the age group of<br />
30-45 years, slightly more than the<br />
percentage in the 15-30 year age<br />
group. 63 percent were not educated<br />
at all, followed by those with primary<br />
education only. Some 63 percent<br />
were Roma, 28 percent Macedonians<br />
and 9 percent were Albanians. The<br />
marital status of the surveyed people<br />
was various, says Cvetkovski, but<br />
there were many couples, which<br />
points to a special category of "homeless<br />
families." These families are a<br />
serious social problem in the country<br />
and, what makes matters even worse,<br />
their number is rising sharply. As<br />
many as 56 percent of homeless people<br />
lost their home due to financial<br />
reasons and 47 percent of them had<br />
their own home be<strong>for</strong>e they were<br />
<strong>for</strong>ced to leave <strong>for</strong> the streets. Their<br />
financial situation was clearly the<br />
most common cause <strong>for</strong> their homelessness<br />
since all of them were unemployed.<br />
The other significant causes<br />
were family conflict, illness, and<br />
leaving the orphanage, but also<br />
migration: 28 percent came from<br />
other cities.<br />
According to the survey results,<br />
59 percent of the homeless visit a<br />
doctor, and the same percent suffer<br />
from some illness, says Cvetkovski.<br />
He adds that providing medical care<br />
<strong>for</strong> homeless people is difficult<br />
because they don't have any documents.<br />
Some 55 percent of the homeless<br />
were hospitalized because of<br />
psychological disorders, which<br />
demonstrates that mental imbalance<br />
is one of the most common causes <strong>for</strong><br />
homelessness. On the other hand, 61<br />
percent said that they cared about<br />
their hygiene, but they didn't have<br />
conditions to maintain it. Some 55<br />
percent get permanent social aid and<br />
the others get through in life as they<br />
know best, most usually picking food<br />
from the garbage-bins.<br />
The survey showed that homeless<br />
people can be found literally everywhere<br />
in the city, as the term "homeless"<br />
itself is used <strong>for</strong> a person without<br />
a permanent address. Cvetkovski,<br />
though, says the most of them are<br />
concentrated in the municipalities<br />
Centar and Kisela Voda. Their traditional<br />
shelters are the bridges on river<br />
Vardar, the river bank, the area under<br />
the railway station and the city park,<br />
where, on the benches, the homeless<br />
spend their nights.<br />
(The author is a journalist in<br />
Nova Makedonija)<br />
109<br />
Life on the margins, February 2003
A Day with a Displaced Family from Tanushevci<br />
When Desires and Dreams<br />
Lose Their Meaning<br />
110<br />
"I remember it<br />
like it was<br />
today. The war<br />
in Tanushevci<br />
began with the<br />
holiday of<br />
Bajram. My<br />
mother had<br />
prepared<br />
baklava and<br />
we could hardly<br />
wait <strong>for</strong> the<br />
moment to sit<br />
on the table<br />
together and<br />
try the sweet.<br />
And do you<br />
know what<br />
happened: we<br />
never tried<br />
that baklava,"<br />
says Shaip<br />
from the village<br />
of<br />
Tanushevci<br />
who together<br />
with his family<br />
was <strong>for</strong>ced to<br />
leave the village<br />
and his<br />
home<br />
Valdete Ismaili<br />
"We were not so poor<br />
when we lived at our home<br />
in Malina, but with the start<br />
of the war we were <strong>for</strong>ced to<br />
hit the road not knowing<br />
where we might end up. It<br />
has been two years that we<br />
have been changing<br />
dwellings in Skopje trying to<br />
find a refuge from cold, from<br />
destitution, from hunger…"<br />
This is how Ferat Nebiu<br />
explains his experience as a<br />
resident of the village of<br />
Malina, who together with<br />
his family are living in a<br />
rented place in Gazi Baba.<br />
This seven-member family,<br />
because of the conflict<br />
that started in February<br />
2001, moved like many other<br />
families from the village of<br />
Malina and temporarily<br />
moved to a house in Vizbeg.<br />
"We had never experienced<br />
a colder winter than<br />
the one during our time at<br />
that house. It was only then<br />
that I realized how serious<br />
cold can be. My big toe<br />
blackened from frostbite,<br />
because we did not have anything<br />
to heat ourselves with.<br />
We spent a whole winter<br />
without any heating fuel.<br />
Only God knows how we<br />
made it," says Ferat Nebiu.<br />
This winter the Nebiu<br />
family is spending their winter<br />
with two cubic meters of<br />
wood, provided by compassionate<br />
people. He thanks<br />
them saying that "this winter<br />
will be warmer compared to<br />
the previous ones."<br />
Out of four rooms in the<br />
two-story decrepit house, the<br />
family was able to put to use<br />
only one room. Everyone<br />
who has had the opportunity<br />
to see where this family<br />
lives, has concluded that it is<br />
impossible <strong>for</strong> a human to<br />
live here. However, it is here<br />
that the Nebiu family from<br />
Malina are <strong>for</strong>ced to seek<br />
refuge.<br />
The Nebiu family pays<br />
25 euros a month in rent <strong>for</strong><br />
the half-ruined house. The<br />
yard of this house contains a<br />
large open area of garbage,<br />
which look as if you are<br />
present in a fully ruined<br />
house. The outer appearance<br />
is terrifying, just as the interior<br />
one is, where seven souls<br />
reside. In the second floor<br />
railing there are boxes where<br />
the family keeps their scarce<br />
clothing.<br />
Ferat Nebiu's spouse,<br />
Mukades, says that she does<br />
not have anywhere to properly<br />
fold the family's clothes.<br />
She also says that she has no<br />
place to put the kitchen utensils,<br />
which are few. They<br />
cannot sleep com<strong>for</strong>tably in<br />
their only room. We can only<br />
imagine seven members of a<br />
family lying down in one<br />
room.<br />
"We have breakfast like<br />
every other family. We<br />
spread the table, we put in<br />
the middle a plate with urda,<br />
bread and tea. Maybe in the<br />
future we will have better<br />
days," says Mukades, while<br />
hoping to give hope to her<br />
three children, who have<br />
been following our discussion<br />
the whole time with particular<br />
attention.<br />
"Since days are short<br />
now and the nights are long,<br />
we only eat twice a day.<br />
Well, truly that is how often<br />
we eat during summer as<br />
well. We have supper with<br />
whatever we find. The neighbors,<br />
humanitarian associations,<br />
from time after time<br />
they open their hand to offer<br />
us food. We spent the month<br />
of Ramadan not so badly. We<br />
thank the newspaper Fakti<br />
who made our painful situation<br />
public. We were helped<br />
by known and unknown people,<br />
so that we welcomed the<br />
festival of Bajram in true<br />
happiness," says Mukades,<br />
while adding that "in Malina<br />
Life on the margins, February 2003
we had good conditions, we were not<br />
to be pitied, but war broke out and<br />
problems and stresses began so we<br />
ended up in this state. There we<br />
planted potatoes and other vegetables.<br />
We never suffered <strong>for</strong> food."<br />
The oldest son, Shaip, finds work<br />
as a loader in the markets of Skopje.<br />
"I earn a little just to soften the pain,"<br />
says Shaip, adding "Malina is truly<br />
far away from the city, but <strong>for</strong> us it<br />
was the best place on earth."<br />
Among the members of this family<br />
is Ferat's uncle, Emin Abazi, an old<br />
man. Ferat says "I consider Uncle Emin<br />
as a very close member of my own<br />
family. He has no children, and his wife<br />
died 15 years ago. Ever since then I<br />
have undertaken to look after him. We<br />
look after him as much as we can."<br />
Ferat just a few months ago had<br />
surgery done on his right toe. "My toe<br />
has gone rotten," he says. "Doctors<br />
said that it is from the cold.<br />
Sometimes I have enormous pains.<br />
Sometimes, from the huge pain, my<br />
whole leg stiffens, but I have to be<br />
patient," he says.<br />
Merheme, the only girl in this<br />
family, together with her brother Sali<br />
study at Liria high school. She has<br />
<strong>for</strong>gotten long time ago what dreams<br />
and desires are. You can read on her<br />
face desperation, pain, sincerity but<br />
mostly you can read destitution.<br />
Like many other internally displaced<br />
persons, Ferat has no identification<br />
document, and what is worst<br />
has no money. "I don't even have a<br />
medical card," he adds.<br />
Shaip speaks of the elementary<br />
school in Malina. "I finished my primary<br />
school there, but now I have no<br />
document, because together with my<br />
house, all of the certificates got burned."<br />
He says that he had really wanted<br />
to continue his schooling, but his situation<br />
do not allow him anything like<br />
this. "I cannot, because I have to<br />
work to secure something to eat."<br />
During our conversation we were<br />
drawn to the memories when the conflict<br />
began. "I remember it like it was<br />
today," says Shaip. "The war in<br />
Tanushevci began with the holiday of<br />
Bajram. My mother had prepared<br />
baklava and we could hardly wait <strong>for</strong><br />
the moment to sit on the table together<br />
and try the sweet. And do you<br />
know what happened: we never tried<br />
that baklava. War broke out and we<br />
were <strong>for</strong>ced to leave hastily."<br />
In the house where they live at the<br />
moment, the members of the Nebiu<br />
family are faced with many problems.<br />
"Every time it rains," says<br />
Mukades, "raindrops fall from the<br />
ceiling. I want to clean, to keep order<br />
as one would do in a true house, but I<br />
have no detergent nor other things<br />
necessary to keep it clean. This is<br />
what happens when you are <strong>for</strong>ced to<br />
think only about food. If we only had<br />
a little more money, this house would<br />
have been different."<br />
In the village of Malina, according<br />
to other <strong>for</strong>eign organizations and<br />
initiative has been undertaken to<br />
rebuild houses in the villages of the<br />
Skopje Karadak mountain, the house<br />
of Ferat Nebiu will be rebuilt this<br />
summer.<br />
Everyone hopes in this family<br />
that with the coming of summer their<br />
Golgotha will end and that they will<br />
return to Malina which, according to<br />
Shaip, is the most beautiful place in<br />
the world.<br />
(The author is a journalist<br />
with Fakti)<br />
111<br />
Internally displaced people have<br />
become prisoners caught<br />
between fear and hopelessness<br />
Around 550 internally displaced<br />
citizens have lived <strong>for</strong><br />
more than a year and a half in<br />
the so-called "women's block"<br />
of the campus dormitory "Stiv<br />
Naumov" in the Skopje district<br />
of Avtokomanda.<br />
Families consisting of four or<br />
more people spend their days,<br />
eat and sleep in rooms of a few<br />
square meters<br />
Emil Zafirovski<br />
Two years have passed<br />
since the war crisis in<br />
Macedonia, but the refugee<br />
shelters are still filled with<br />
internally displaced people who<br />
are not returning to their<br />
homes. Some of them don't<br />
have a home to return to anymore,<br />
because their homes<br />
were destroyed, and some of<br />
them do not want to return<br />
because they say they do not<br />
feel safe in their homes in the<br />
crisis areas. According to the<br />
latest re-registering of displaced<br />
people from the crisis<br />
regions, there are 9,000 citizens<br />
that live out of their homes.<br />
About 2,500 of them are<br />
accommodated in the 12<br />
refugee shelters around the<br />
country and the rest are staying<br />
with their relatives or friends.<br />
Around 550 internally displaced<br />
citizens have lived <strong>for</strong><br />
more than a year and a half in<br />
Life on the margins, February 2003
112<br />
the so-called "women's block" of the<br />
campus dormitory "Stiv Naumov" in<br />
the Skopje district of Avtokomanda.<br />
At the beginning of the crisis there<br />
were 900, mostly Macedonians from<br />
the villages of Tearce, Neproshteno<br />
and Leshok, all from Tetovo region.<br />
There are also a few families from<br />
Arachinovo near Skopje and one<br />
Roma family from the village of<br />
Radusha.<br />
Saddening and uncertain-this is<br />
how we can best describe the fate of<br />
these people. They are predominantly<br />
young people who have recently<br />
established their families and built<br />
their homes. But, as they say, the war<br />
wreaked havoc with their lives and<br />
their fate, and what concerns them<br />
most are their gloomy prospects.<br />
The everyday life of the people in<br />
this shelter is not the most pleasant.<br />
Families consisting<br />
of four or more<br />
people spend the day,<br />
eat and sleep in rooms<br />
of just a few square<br />
meters. There are only<br />
two washing machines<br />
on each floor. The<br />
women line up and<br />
argue about who will<br />
wash the dirty laundry<br />
first. They wait in<br />
lines to go to the toilet.<br />
They have not seen a<br />
warm bath <strong>for</strong> months,<br />
and these days they<br />
say that they don't get any hot water<br />
in the shelter. They get their meals in<br />
the canteen after they have shown<br />
their coupon. They had been receiving<br />
humanitarian aid on a regular<br />
basis in the past, but now this trickle<br />
has dried up. They don't have any<br />
money because they can't earn it.<br />
Some of them have lost all their property<br />
and their family businesses,<br />
while others lost their jobs. They say<br />
they wait <strong>for</strong> the Government to help<br />
them mend their lives, to help them<br />
rebuild their houses, to speed up the<br />
economic development in the Tetovo<br />
region and to improve the security situation<br />
in the villages, which they<br />
assert is still very bad.<br />
The displaced Macedonians living<br />
in "Stiv Naumov" are ashamed of<br />
their situation, but they want to<br />
remain anonymous in their contacts<br />
with the media, because they are<br />
afraid. During the crisis those that<br />
spoke publicly about their doom have<br />
suffered because of it.<br />
"Thos who would tell their names<br />
and surnames <strong>for</strong> the media would<br />
find their houses burned down and<br />
plundered the same day. Forgive us,<br />
but the fear has remained," they say.<br />
The displaced people from the<br />
Tetovo region have not seen their<br />
homes <strong>for</strong> two years.<br />
"What we are living through is<br />
worse than torture. For a year and a<br />
half we've lived in a hellish nightmare.<br />
It is the same routine every day:<br />
wake up, eat, go to bed. We can't<br />
stand it anymore! The situation in the<br />
shelters is awful. The only thing we<br />
receive on regular basis is the food.<br />
We prefer that we didn't-so that we<br />
could die soon and get rid of the trouble.<br />
Everyone <strong>for</strong>got us: the<br />
Government, the Red Cross, the<br />
humanitarian organizations. Be<strong>for</strong>e,<br />
they were giving some aid. Now there<br />
is no milk, no detergent, no hygienic<br />
packages, no diapers. And almost<br />
every family has a baby or a small<br />
child. We get one sack of washing<br />
powder a month, and we spend it in a<br />
few days. Only two years ago we<br />
lived com<strong>for</strong>tably, but now we have<br />
no money. We all had businesses,<br />
good jobs and good salaries," one<br />
man from Neproshteno village conveys<br />
with sorrow.<br />
They live with gloomy prospects.<br />
They say they wait <strong>for</strong> the day when<br />
they will return the keys of the campus<br />
rooms, pack up and return home.<br />
"Every morning when I wake up<br />
and open my eyes, the first thing I<br />
think of is how to improve my life<br />
and the lives of my wife and children.<br />
I feel hopeless, but I still hope I might<br />
get back to the normal world. I eat<br />
quickly and I go to the city. I run<br />
around from ministry to ministry,<br />
from door to door, from one officer<br />
worker's window to the next. I look<br />
<strong>for</strong> help of any kind. Alas, it is useless-nobody<br />
wants to hear about some<br />
other man's sorrow. Then I go to<br />
many firms in Skopje and to the green<br />
markets and I try to find some work,<br />
to earn a penny, to earn enough <strong>for</strong><br />
milk and diapers, to earn enough to<br />
buy detergent. But work is<br />
hard to find. I come back to<br />
the dormitory sad and<br />
depressed. There, all of us<br />
men gather and tell each<br />
other how we spent the day.<br />
This is my everyday life<br />
since I had to flee my home<br />
village," says a Macedonian<br />
man from Tearce.<br />
While their husbands go<br />
to the ministry buildings and<br />
look <strong>for</strong> work in Skopje,<br />
their wives run the household<br />
chores "at home."<br />
"I have two small children.<br />
One of them is only three<br />
months old. The room is tiny, but you<br />
have to keep it clean, you have to<br />
wash the clothes. Then I sit inside<br />
these four walls and I cry. I cry all day<br />
long, because I can't stand it anymore.<br />
The health of my children worries me<br />
most, because the level of hygiene is<br />
very low here and we are afraid of<br />
diseases. My older child can't wait to<br />
return to our village. He is not used to<br />
living in a confined space. In Tearce<br />
he was running and playing in the<br />
open and it is withering here. I would<br />
like to go back but I'm afraid. My<br />
husband was a reserve policeman.<br />
Now we are afraid to return because it<br />
only takes once <strong>for</strong> the worst to hap-<br />
Life on the margins, February 2003
pen," says a Macedonian woman<br />
from Tearce, with tears in her eyes.<br />
The displaced Macedonians from<br />
the Tetovo region say they will return<br />
to their villages when the<br />
Government will provide the necessary<br />
conditions. Until then they say<br />
they are <strong>for</strong>ced to stay here, and they<br />
ask <strong>for</strong> better care and more attention<br />
from the Government institutions.<br />
"The first thing the Government<br />
should do is collect the illegal<br />
weapons. There is too much of it in<br />
Tetovo. Even the Albanians are not<br />
safe. Even if I would come back,<br />
there is no life <strong>for</strong> me and my family<br />
there, because nobody can live in that<br />
kind of fear. How could I let my child<br />
play on the street or go to school,<br />
when, even if everything is peaceful,<br />
I would fear the possibility that a<br />
stray bullet fired at a wedding could<br />
end up in their body? Not to mention<br />
the everyday shootouts between the<br />
criminal gangs in Tetovo region. The<br />
rule of law is absent there. Force and<br />
weapons still rule there. The<br />
Government should help us economically,<br />
help us stand on our feet, it<br />
should evaluate the damage and help<br />
us restore our houses, shops and businesses.<br />
Only then will the region live<br />
as it did be<strong>for</strong>e the war. Only then<br />
will we return home," say the internally<br />
displaced persons from the<br />
Tetovo region who temporarily live<br />
in the Skopje district of<br />
Avtokomanda.<br />
According to the European<br />
Agency <strong>for</strong> Reconstruction, the institution<br />
responsible <strong>for</strong> the reconstruction<br />
of the damaged houses in the crisis<br />
regions, the reconstruction in the<br />
Tetovo, Skopje and Kumanovo<br />
regions should be finished by the end<br />
of this summer. Besides improving<br />
the security, rebuilding homes was<br />
one of the main preconditions <strong>for</strong> the<br />
return of the internally displaced. So<br />
far, most of the slightly damaged<br />
houses (from the first and second category)<br />
have been reconstructed. The<br />
houses that were destroyed or burned<br />
down are now waiting their turn.<br />
(The author is a journalist in<br />
Dnevnik)<br />
The bazaar means<br />
encounter, not separation<br />
113<br />
Danilo Kocevski<br />
Everything that is important in the<br />
life of a person, and of a society, needs<br />
to be constantly cared <strong>for</strong>, built and<br />
rebuilt, to be permanent. It has to be<br />
conquered constantly, every day. There<br />
is nothing that is given once and <strong>for</strong> all,<br />
which stays unchanged with the passage<br />
of time. Even those things that<br />
have a long and rich tradition are not<br />
immune to spiritual and material erosion.<br />
Those are exactly the ones that<br />
should be given special care and attention.<br />
One of the many reasons, which<br />
have brought the Stara Charshija, or old<br />
town of Skopje to the condition it is in<br />
today, is the lack of understanding or<br />
observance of those principles. We<br />
believe that, provided something has<br />
tradition, it will survive by itself without<br />
our care, without taking into<br />
account the basic parameters of sharing<br />
a common life, history, trade, craftsmanship,<br />
culture and multiculture. No.<br />
Nothing in this world exists on its own,<br />
without care, without work, without<br />
love and creative vision.<br />
Etymologically speaking, the word<br />
'charshija' (bazaar) means encounter,<br />
not separation. The Turkish word<br />
'charshi-su,' which comes from the<br />
Pehlevian and Persian languages,<br />
means meeting, interception, the crossing<br />
of two streets, also the intersection<br />
Etymologically speaking,<br />
the word 'charshija'<br />
('bazaar') means<br />
encounter, not separation.<br />
The Turkish word<br />
'charshi-su,' which comes<br />
from the Pehlevian and<br />
Persian languages, means<br />
meeting, interception, the<br />
crossing of two streets, or<br />
the intersection of many<br />
streets, lanes and paths,<br />
spiritual and material<br />
of many streets, lanes and paths, spiritual<br />
and material. Nowadays, the paths<br />
and alleyways in the old town are not<br />
divided. Far from it, we still meet old<br />
friends there, we can see the few<br />
remaining craftsmen and shopkeepers,<br />
but its spirit seems to be dying away<br />
and extinguishing itself. We are all<br />
guilty, because the old town is a natural<br />
parliament whose disrepair, even temporary,<br />
affects us all.<br />
So sitting together with my friends,<br />
we want to believe that we are the<br />
same, even though years have passed.<br />
Well, we are the same, even with the<br />
passage of time, the setting, the atmosphere<br />
is the same, but the liveliness isn't<br />
like it was be<strong>for</strong>e.<br />
A long time ago, be<strong>for</strong>e the earthquake,<br />
we would hear a shrill whistle<br />
which was a sign that everyone from<br />
the neighborhood should gather at the<br />
meeting place: that whistle echoed<br />
through the market place to the narrow<br />
lanes of the old town, and we knew that<br />
someone "from the gang" was calling.<br />
Nowadays, I ask Tanas (who works in<br />
Meetings, not divisions, June 2003
114<br />
the fishmonger's in the Bit Pazar, and<br />
who still lives today in his house in the<br />
narrow lane by the Nationalities'<br />
Theatre), where he learned that whistle<br />
which he handed down to us, since he<br />
was the first to use it. Tanas gives a<br />
wide smile and says: I think we took it<br />
from some guys who were selling nuts<br />
in the Stara Charshija. They used it first,<br />
then it became our "property." And we<br />
used to gather to that call: in front of the<br />
cinema Napredok or the sweetshop<br />
Bash Pelivan, at times in front of the<br />
maple tree, where there is an emergency<br />
ward now. Then we had to go to the<br />
river banks or to one of the cinemas:<br />
Bratstvo, the puppet theater, Mladina,<br />
Balkan, Kultura. Or we went to play<br />
soccer, to Kale, or to the cleaning of the<br />
livestock market in Chair. Tanas and<br />
Aco, Dzhavid and Edip, Dime and<br />
Vase, Sefer and Uska, Ljube, they<br />
would all come, later on the younger<br />
ones came too. But, we didn't even<br />
have to go that far: it seems incredible<br />
now, but our first ever "soccer stadium"<br />
and field was the area around Isa Beg<br />
mosque. And that was right at the old,<br />
eternal graveyard which still exists<br />
today. There was enough green space<br />
around them <strong>for</strong> a real soccer match.<br />
Our main soccer master, then, was<br />
Mustafa. (He worked <strong>for</strong> some editorial<br />
board at Nova Makedonija <strong>for</strong> a while,<br />
then he left to live abroad.) Out came<br />
Avram and Stevo, Sem and Milosh,<br />
Erol and Copola. From all that space,<br />
now only the small, yellow house<br />
belonging to the producer Ivan<br />
Mitevski-Copola-remains). But the<br />
thing which is especially un<strong>for</strong>gettable<br />
from that time is that our mothers<br />
observed our childish soccer game sitting<br />
on little stools in front of the houses<br />
in the alley, chatting in the summer<br />
evenings.<br />
The movies Vera Cruz and Mother,<br />
listen to my song, the comedies with<br />
Toto and Fernandel we used to watch in<br />
the cinema Bratstvo. The Nationalities'<br />
Theatre and the un<strong>for</strong>gettable library<br />
Cvetan Dimov were in the same building.<br />
The cinema and theatre halls were<br />
used <strong>for</strong> different events: folklore<br />
ensembles per<strong>for</strong>med, and right be<strong>for</strong>e<br />
the earthquake theatre amateurs per<strong>for</strong>med<br />
the play Kuzman Kapidan. The<br />
library was a special delight: we started<br />
discovering a new kind of literature different<br />
from the one on offer in primary<br />
school: Zilahi, Zola….<br />
We went to the river bank via<br />
Dukjandzhik and Topaana, then we<br />
would cross to the right side of Vardar.<br />
We would get to the beach in Madzhar<br />
Maalo near the iron bridge between<br />
Krnjevo and Karadak Maalo, the old<br />
military hospital and the then wooden<br />
bridge.<br />
In front of the good, old cinema<br />
Napredok there was an un<strong>for</strong>gettable<br />
sight: a fat Roma man was standing at<br />
the entrance door dressed in a complete<br />
general's uni<strong>for</strong>m: with a general's hat<br />
and a general's coat. It was as if we were<br />
going into a majestic theatre or palace.<br />
And once inside, of course the movies<br />
Mangala, Forever thirsty, or Hercules.<br />
By day in the old town: crowds,<br />
shouting, yelling. Life. Woodwork<br />
shops, tanners, carpenters, tailors, shoemakers,<br />
slipper-makers, painters' shops,<br />
blanket-makers, coppersmiths, nut-sellers,<br />
kebab shops, clock repairmen,<br />
smithies, fur makers…<br />
Sometimes we would all go to<br />
Merkez with our fathers. They would<br />
drink brandy with olives, we would<br />
drink Gazoza.<br />
Yes, the old town is a meeting<br />
place, life, eternal change and<br />
exchange. Not a wasteland and separation.<br />
So sitting in that fashion with my<br />
friends, we realize that we are still the<br />
same, and yet many things have<br />
changed.<br />
The old town, April 2003.<br />
About ten years ago it was full to<br />
the brim with young people, nowadays<br />
even the old ones avoid it. It is empty<br />
after 5 in the afternoon.<br />
But those of us who have felt the<br />
dust of its cobblestones, its narcotic<br />
scents all blended into one, know <strong>for</strong><br />
sure it will never die. On the contrary,<br />
it will always exist. However, people<br />
today have the right to be concerned.<br />
And how can someone not admire<br />
the words of Abdula Ramadan, of<br />
Albanian nationality, one of my peers,<br />
with whom I am having a conversation<br />
in the Bezisten:<br />
"Tell me, how is the old town supposed<br />
to go on living, when people are<br />
out of work, when nothing in it works,<br />
without crafts, with bad lighting, without<br />
enough hygiene" he says. "The old<br />
town makes the nation, without people<br />
it resembles a graveyard. The old town<br />
is the face of the world, it should be as<br />
clean as our pride. And would you say<br />
this is our pride? Up until now, we all<br />
drank and ate together. Everything was<br />
sweet, from the little, tasty peppers that<br />
we ate, to the conversations we had.<br />
And now we have come to see each<br />
other as the wolf and the sheep. Of<br />
course, nothing good can come out of<br />
that. Just look at how many craftsmen<br />
stay on in the old town. I have worked<br />
in tea houses my whole life. I still can't<br />
get over the fact that nowadays young<br />
people, the students, don't visit the old<br />
town anymore. I want them to come<br />
here again, even if they don't have<br />
enough money: does it matter if it is<br />
paid or not? The most important thing<br />
is to revive the old town."<br />
I part with Ramadan promising him<br />
that I will go visit him in his tea house<br />
in the Bezisten next week.<br />
He mentioned the craftsmen and<br />
artisans. It is true, there are very few<br />
left. Well, let's start with the legendary<br />
craftsman of the old town, Master<br />
Zhelo. He is found right next to the<br />
Bezisten. There is a sign saying:<br />
"Goldsmith Zhelo, Asani Z. Xheladin."<br />
He is one of the best, the leading master<br />
of his trade, but what can he do on his<br />
own in the Stara Charshija, when buyers<br />
and passersby are more and more<br />
rare. And such examples of survival in<br />
the old town can be counted on one<br />
hand: hatmaker, painter, shoemaker, tinsmith…<br />
In the store that was once upon a<br />
time under the ownership of Tuna, now<br />
an exchange office, I look <strong>for</strong> my<br />
friend, Master Suljo, one of the best <strong>for</strong>mer<br />
modern designers who existed in<br />
the old town and the city. Once, on our<br />
old street from be<strong>for</strong>e the earthquake in<br />
Skopje, only one wall separated us from<br />
master Suljo's family. His younger<br />
brother Erol, who left <strong>for</strong> Turkey a few<br />
years ago, is my age. All of a sudden,<br />
due to bad conditions and empty streets<br />
in the old town, Suljo had to rename his<br />
store several times. (It is situated across<br />
from the House of Crafts.) First it was<br />
a design salon, then a textile store, an<br />
exchange office…. He usually takes me<br />
to Galerija 7 <strong>for</strong> tea. Good old Galerija<br />
7. Since I didn't find him in the<br />
exchange office, I went to Galerija. I<br />
Meetings, not divisions, June 2003
was welcomed by one of its ex-hosts,<br />
an old acquaintance: Master Suljo goes<br />
out only in the afternoons, nowadays,"<br />
he says "you can only find him here<br />
until 8 pm at the latest."<br />
"What are we going to do with<br />
Galerija," I ask him "is there a chance<br />
to bring back its old splendor? For a<br />
start, let's organize a meeting in<br />
Gallery, in Bagdad caffe or in Caffe 21?<br />
He smiles at me: "I am up to date<br />
with everything that you do <strong>for</strong> Skopje.<br />
Of course, there is a chance. The old<br />
town lost its core, that is the problem,<br />
but, trust me, there are people who love<br />
to work, and do work there, and they<br />
would be extremely happy to see the<br />
shine come back. They want to do<br />
something, but often, they do not know<br />
how. It's very hard work, but I like to<br />
be an optimist."<br />
The old town, April 2003.<br />
I pass by the old legend of Skopje,<br />
the old cinema Napredok. At once my<br />
heart starts pounding from excitement.<br />
The roof of the cinema is torn down,<br />
the walls are falling apart, and the blue<br />
sky can be seen through the ruins and<br />
broken windows. Napredok is being<br />
renovated. I go "inside" what was once<br />
the hall. Wreckage, rubble, bricks,<br />
ruin. That cinema will never again be<br />
what it once was. In these moments,<br />
one cannot but feel sorrow in the heart.<br />
The most sentimental and delicate<br />
moments and years of our lives become<br />
lost, they vanish. Farewell, Napredok!<br />
Still, we should not feel such sorrow: a<br />
new cinema Children's Theatre Center<br />
will be born, or so it says on the board<br />
put up on one of the half-ruined walls<br />
of the cinema. New generations will<br />
appear, new artistic excitement. Those<br />
generations will have their own theatre<br />
center, which<br />
will, maybe<br />
have the same<br />
fate one day.<br />
Across from<br />
the cinema<br />
being renovated<br />
there still<br />
proudly stands<br />
the sturdy store<br />
<strong>for</strong> musical<br />
instruments,<br />
owned of my<br />
childhood and<br />
primary school<br />
friends: Ljube<br />
and Dime. What will they say about<br />
the disappearance of the cinema?<br />
Again, out soaking up the April<br />
sun, we sit in the sweetshop Ohrid:<br />
Rade and Xhavid come, Xhingis<br />
comes, some new faces appear, but also<br />
the old, dear and familiar ones.<br />
Yes, the old town is an encounter,<br />
life, change and exchange, and not<br />
wasteland and separation. This is a<br />
small bit of once-upon-a-time and the<br />
current tale of the Charshija.<br />
The story continues….<br />
(The author is a publicist)<br />
115<br />
The curse of separations<br />
Luan Starova<br />
Part 1<br />
When the<br />
wraith of separation flutters over the<br />
Balkans, the people, as if by fatal reflex,<br />
immediately feel the curse, the damning,<br />
unrelenting Balkan refrain. They see a<br />
wraith confident as it strengthens borders,<br />
extends them and changes them.<br />
And now, in these last few years, here<br />
in Macedonia, in the natural heart of the<br />
Balkans, with an even more powerful<br />
response recently, a young, defeated generation<br />
of "politicians" spreads this desperate<br />
wraith of separation. The wraith is<br />
alone, luckily alone, as it provokes the<br />
sick demand <strong>for</strong> dividing with new borders.<br />
Playing by the rules of the nationalistic-chauvinistic<br />
option (never mind its<br />
defeats in Europe and the Balkans), playing<br />
naive with inconceivable ease and<br />
arrogance, not only do they appeal to the<br />
fragile identities in these regions, but they<br />
also encourage drawing borders around<br />
the ones and the others, separating everyone<br />
into Us and Them. Never be<strong>for</strong>e has<br />
the desperate and impertinent arrogance<br />
of a young generation of politicians of<br />
authority played with the destiny, the history<br />
and the hard-preserved values of a<br />
nation in such an unscrupulous manner<br />
and with such vandal<strong>ism</strong>.<br />
Hasn't European civilization in the<br />
last few years offered numerous guiding<br />
paradigms to show the deadliness of the<br />
nationalistic-chauvinistic ideas, no matter<br />
where they occur?<br />
A day over the<br />
border! It is as<br />
long as a whole<br />
human life. For<br />
how long has<br />
that piteous border<br />
blocked<br />
sharing among<br />
people, among<br />
families, destinies<br />
and of compatriots<br />
of that same<br />
country, the<br />
country of life<br />
Meetings, not divisions, June 2003
116<br />
Reading the paranoid cries <strong>for</strong><br />
"salvation through hatred," "salvation<br />
through separation of people,<br />
families, destinies…" in Macedonia,<br />
after the tragic war (no war brings<br />
happiness), the thoughts from a reaction<br />
by the famous French writer<br />
Andre Gide gushed inside me (from a<br />
lecture that I repeatedly give to my<br />
French literature students). This was<br />
Gide's reaction to the nationalisticchauvinistic<br />
work of another famous<br />
French writer Maurice Barres. This<br />
author, experiencing the tragic<br />
German occupation of his native<br />
Lorraine (with Alsace) in the 1880s,<br />
wrote the novel Uprooted, in which<br />
he plots the thesis of absolute "ethnic<br />
distinction." Devoted to this idea of<br />
rediscovering their native roots, his<br />
uprooted heroes end up guillotined in<br />
Paris.<br />
The wraith of fasc<strong>ism</strong> in the heart<br />
of France had been defeated by the<br />
heroic engagement of Emil Zola<br />
whose historical cry "I accuse"<br />
(J'accuse), would not only save the<br />
unjustly sentenced Jewish officer<br />
Dreyfus, a victim of the nationalisticchauvinistic<br />
euphoria, but would also<br />
cause the fall of the then French<br />
Republic. That republic had been the<br />
greatest victory over fascist national<strong>ism</strong><br />
in Europe, a victory of democracy<br />
and hope, a victory of humanity.<br />
Another paradigm from European history<br />
is also known, which, had our exstatesmen<br />
been familiar with it, they<br />
would not have gotten wrapped up in<br />
the "calculating galimatias" that our<br />
ex-prime minister (at least he is unofficial<br />
now) offered as an alternative.<br />
Moreover, Andre Gide has a<br />
famous reply to the extreme nationalist<br />
ideas, delineated in his book<br />
Pretextes, where he addresses his<br />
colleague from the other side of the<br />
mental barricade: "Born in Paris,<br />
with a father from Uzet (southern<br />
France) and a mother from<br />
Normandy (northern France), where<br />
are my roots, Monsieur Barres?"<br />
During the fierce First World War,<br />
when in the conflict with the<br />
Germans there were over 1,500,000<br />
casualties on the French side,<br />
Romain Roland in his novel "Jean-<br />
Christophe" had the courage to create<br />
a German protagonist, modelled after<br />
Beethoven,. And after so many wars<br />
and demarcations and so many tragic<br />
boundaries-even the fabled Maginot<br />
Line-hasn't it all resulted in permanent<br />
reconciliation, almost to a disappearance<br />
of the borders between<br />
Germany and France within the<br />
European Union?<br />
And indeed, as the old Latin<br />
proverb says, history is a good<br />
teacher of life, but un<strong>for</strong>tunately, it<br />
has tragically bad students, especially<br />
in the Balkans, as we have seen in<br />
recent years.<br />
Part 2<br />
There is a long borderline<br />
between Albania and Macedonia, a<br />
border with a long and unfinished<br />
history, a border that has marked the<br />
life of my family and many other<br />
families from both its sides. In the<br />
south, the border divides two lakes,<br />
in the north it divides rivers and valleys<br />
and most of it is marked by high<br />
mountaintops (the border that was<br />
crossed by my family, without me<br />
even remembering it, was a simple<br />
"walk" from one part of the lake to<br />
the other, no longer then 20-30 kilometres).<br />
This border was strengthened<br />
by ideologies; wider geostrategic<br />
influences strengthened the<br />
hatred.<br />
Often, when I have looked at the<br />
other side of the lake, at my country<br />
across the border, since my youth my<br />
relation to this border has occasionally<br />
taken mythological dimensions.<br />
As I grew up I gained an awareness<br />
to explain and understand that border.<br />
Even with the first reading I took<br />
to heart Alphonse de La Martine's<br />
verses, an adorer of another lake, <strong>for</strong><br />
different motives: "Why should<br />
hatred part us, / why are there borders<br />
in these waters?/ Is there a wall, a<br />
limit to the sky?"<br />
It is usually said that borders,<br />
entered on the geographical maps<br />
and marked on the ground are points<br />
of incidents! Established with agreements,<br />
they accumulate the human<br />
uneasiness of many generations from<br />
both sides.<br />
Paul Valery adds that agreements<br />
brought new worries and discords<br />
that didn't stop the wars, but rather<br />
strengthened them even more. Those<br />
damn borderlines! Victor Hugo, who<br />
had tasted the bitterness of exile, didn't<br />
see the borders spatially, but in the<br />
human character, in the person alone;<br />
later, they project into space and<br />
among people easily. And individual<br />
truly finds themselves in hell when<br />
surrounded by new borders, when the<br />
hatred spreads within the person and<br />
Meetings, not divisions, June 2003
among or towards others.<br />
Someone who has suffered from<br />
borders is surely the first who would<br />
want them to disappear. Captured by<br />
worldwide and native thoughts about<br />
the myth and the reality of borders<br />
and left as the last from my family,<br />
whose members crossed the border a<br />
long time ago, I was one of the last<br />
inheritors of both the good news and<br />
the bad. And the bad news was<br />
already coming from the other side<br />
of the invisible and painful border of<br />
the lake, between my native town<br />
Pogradec (considered the idee fixe<br />
<strong>for</strong> exchange) and Macedonia.<br />
Not long ago, the notice of the<br />
death of my father's sister Fatmira<br />
("good <strong>for</strong>tune") arrived. What an<br />
irony, what fate, when she, the proud<br />
old lady, experienced all the<br />
tragedies of my family's leaving, all<br />
the family separations justified by an<br />
appeal to better <strong>for</strong>tune. And so she<br />
would come, the poor thing, the last<br />
one left from my family on the other<br />
side of the border, she came to all<br />
happy events, funerals, mostly to this<br />
side of the border. She came to<br />
soothe our family's pains, to bring<br />
compassion, and she didn't have time<br />
or a desire to speak about her own<br />
troubles. And so great those troubles<br />
were, they couldn't be greater. After<br />
the war she had been thrown out of<br />
her home and so she had been a tenant<br />
in her own house! She had lived<br />
to see her brother die, who had been<br />
liquidated by Enver's regime,<br />
allegedly <strong>for</strong> some "English" connection.<br />
Studies in England! What a<br />
severe punishment <strong>for</strong> crossing the<br />
borders-death!<br />
So now the notice of the death of<br />
Aunt Fatmira, the last from my<br />
father's generation from both sides of<br />
the border, comes to me, being the<br />
oldest and amongst the last. A sad<br />
voice from the other side: "Poor<br />
Fatmira has abandoned us. The funeral<br />
is in Pogradec tomorrow at 11<br />
o'clock." And that was all. Another<br />
call in the history of the sad chronicle<br />
from the other side of the border.<br />
I leave early the next day, with<br />
one of the grandsons, towards the<br />
Albanian-Macedonian border at<br />
Sveti Naum, an issue so important in<br />
the family history. We do not have a<br />
"green card" <strong>for</strong> the car; due to our<br />
sudden leaving all the <strong>for</strong>malities<br />
haven't been completed. They show<br />
understanding at both sides of the<br />
border.<br />
The red Rover stops at the<br />
Albanian border. The young border<br />
guard looks at the passport; "We<br />
carry the same last name. We are<br />
family," he says…"You must know<br />
my father. You are here <strong>for</strong> Aunt<br />
Fatmira's funeral, <strong>for</strong> sure. Hurry up,<br />
you don't have much time."<br />
"There is always time <strong>for</strong> death,"<br />
I say to myself, as we descend the<br />
hill towards Pogradec.<br />
I'm arriving on time to see my<br />
Aunt Fatmira, the last from my<br />
father's family tree. Death hasn't<br />
changed her tawny face. The lines of<br />
life are still alive. They tell me that<br />
she had dreamed of my father, her<br />
brother, only a few days ago. She had<br />
been preparing to go. With my<br />
grandson we follow the procession<br />
together with other friends and family.<br />
I see them <strong>for</strong> the first time; they<br />
see me <strong>for</strong> the first time. And at a<br />
burial even. They put Aunt Fatmira<br />
in her grave. They cover the grave<br />
with fresh flowers. Our Fatmira is<br />
gone now! Our good luck!<br />
I'm looking <strong>for</strong> my ancestors'<br />
graves. The close ones. Only a few<br />
have left. One of the older relatives<br />
is next to me: "You can't find the<br />
graves you are looking <strong>for</strong>. They are<br />
destroyed," he says. "The dead here<br />
have died <strong>for</strong> a second time."<br />
I was speechless!<br />
We passed by the grave of the<br />
famous lakeside poet Lasgush<br />
Poradeci, one of the greatest poets of<br />
Albanian poetry. He remained proud<br />
and straight, didn't retreat be<strong>for</strong>e<br />
Enver's regime, he didn't write a single<br />
syllable in his honour. We bow in<br />
front of his grave. On departure we<br />
receive a gift - Lasgush Poradeci's<br />
booklet about the beginning of<br />
"Albanian schooling in the beginning<br />
of the twentieth century in<br />
Pogradec," published posthumously<br />
by his daughter. They point out that<br />
Fatmira's father and her brother are<br />
among the originators of this schooling.<br />
Our sorrow from the loss of the<br />
late Fatmira and our gladness, the<br />
honour, mix together.<br />
We spend only a little time over<br />
the border. Our relatives from the<br />
funeral accompany us. A close<br />
cousin from Korcha is there also, I<br />
see her <strong>for</strong> the first time, she sees me<br />
<strong>for</strong> the first time. And it has been<br />
more then half a century. We hug<br />
each other strongly: "Don't wait <strong>for</strong><br />
another funeral to come here. And<br />
you can never be sure about death.<br />
God's will! Here and there! Like<br />
there is no border! But, it is still<br />
inside of us. Some border it is!<br />
Stronger then death itself…"<br />
****<br />
A day over the border! It is as<br />
long as a whole human life. For how<br />
long has that piteous border blocked<br />
sharing among people, among families,<br />
destinies and compatriots of the<br />
same country, the country of life.<br />
We cross back over the Albanian-<br />
Macedonian border. The people on<br />
both sides of the border feel compassion<br />
<strong>for</strong> pain. They comment: We<br />
have stayed there only <strong>for</strong> a while!.<br />
They are right. And we hurry to get<br />
back! Hurry! We do not feel com<strong>for</strong>table<br />
with the borders! With their<br />
anxiety which they have accumulated<br />
<strong>for</strong> years, <strong>for</strong> centuries…<br />
We stop with my grandson at the<br />
Sveti Naum monastery. I recognize<br />
the peacocks in the miraculous landscape.<br />
They raise their feathers. I<br />
notice a white peacock. My grandson<br />
is also confused. The colourful rainbow<br />
is missing. The beauty of varieties.<br />
I look to the other side of the<br />
lake, over the invisible border.<br />
There, in nearby Pogradec, the heart<br />
of Fatmira beats no more.<br />
Over that border…<br />
(The author is a writer)<br />
117<br />
Meetings, not divisions, June 2003
Along the dividing lines<br />
Macedonians and Albanians<br />
are willing to continue<br />
the lives they led be<strong>for</strong>e the war<br />
118<br />
Emil Zafirovski<br />
Isen Saliu<br />
We survived wars, casualties,<br />
people pushed out of their homes.<br />
We witnessed torment, tears, and<br />
suffering. And when many us<br />
expected that interethnic relations<br />
would get so much worse that the<br />
Macedonians and the Albanians<br />
wouldn't want to look at each<br />
other any more, the ordinary citizens<br />
are unanimous: The war did<br />
scare us, but it didn't separate us.<br />
Life goes on in the spirit of tradition,<br />
the way our <strong>for</strong>ebears have<br />
done. Perhaps because we simply<br />
have no other country and we have<br />
to go on living together…The war<br />
hasn't been going on only in the<br />
crisis regions of Tetovo,<br />
Kumanovo and Skopje. Citizens<br />
from other parts of the country<br />
also dealt with it <strong>for</strong> days. People<br />
ask, the crisis left such marks on<br />
people's lives, did it manage to<br />
spread hatred and tension among<br />
ordinary people? In the Veles<br />
region Macedonians are far more<br />
numerous then Albanians, who<br />
live in only a few villages. They<br />
live in Jabolchishte, Slivnik,<br />
Klukovec, Buzalkovo, Gorno<br />
Vranovci. The Macedonians say<br />
that the war in the country hasn't<br />
affected good interethnic relations,<br />
which have existed <strong>for</strong> years, and<br />
that they would not allow them to<br />
The regions of Veles, Bitola, Ohrid, Struga,<br />
Kichevo, Gostivar do not <strong>for</strong>give the politicians<br />
whom they think are most to blame <strong>for</strong><br />
the crisis<br />
be damaged. "Relations have not<br />
changed. The war did confuse us<br />
all a little, but it didn't influence<br />
relations between the Albanians<br />
and the Macedonians here. Maybe<br />
that's because the Albanians are<br />
the minority here. But honestly,<br />
we live in peace here. I've been<br />
working as a postman <strong>for</strong> more<br />
then thirty years. I've passed<br />
through all the villages where<br />
Albanians live. I have not heard a<br />
single bad word from anyone. I<br />
haven't insulted an Albanian<br />
either. We communicate and cooperate<br />
every day. The Macedonians<br />
trade and cooperate with the<br />
Albanians more then they do with<br />
the Macedonians. The proof of<br />
that is that the most of us buy our<br />
produce at the market in<br />
Jabolchishte rather then at the one<br />
at Veles, says Aleksandar<br />
Janakievski from the nearby village<br />
of Chaska. His fellow villager<br />
Ljuben Jankovski shares the same<br />
opinion. According to him,<br />
Macedonia has been and should<br />
stay a country of all citizens.<br />
"There have been no problems,<br />
really. During the war and afterwards<br />
the relations here remained<br />
unaffected. What happened two<br />
years ago was madness caused by<br />
the politicians. I see no reason<br />
why we shouldn't go on living<br />
together. This country, as much as<br />
it's ours, it is theirs too. Why<br />
should we hate each other, fight<br />
and separate? That brings evil and<br />
misery, and we all live and hope<br />
<strong>for</strong> happiness and prosperity,"<br />
Ljuben says. The Albanians also<br />
say that they have had no problems<br />
with the Macedonians,<br />
although during the crisis they<br />
were terrified because they felt<br />
unprotected. "We got telephone<br />
threats. Anonymous people called.<br />
They spoke Macedonian. They<br />
threatened that they will come in<br />
the village and massacre us. But it<br />
only went that far. We were not<br />
directly caught up with the battles.<br />
While the war in the crisis regions<br />
lasted, we didn't have problems<br />
either with the army or the police.<br />
We were scared because we didn't<br />
know what was going to happen to<br />
us. Macedonians are the majority<br />
here. We thought, who shall<br />
defend us if the Macedonians<br />
Meetings, not divisions, June 2003
attack," says Kiazim Jashari from<br />
Gorno Vranovci. The inhabitants<br />
from this village say that life after the<br />
crisis normalized. "The conditions in<br />
which we live today are far better<br />
than those be<strong>for</strong>e 1990, when a common<br />
mindset ruled. We were threatened<br />
on a daily basis only because we<br />
were Albanians. The police threatened<br />
they would move us out and<br />
transfer us to Kosovo. But, that was<br />
then. It is better nowadays," Haxhi<br />
Sabibi says. The villagers from<br />
Gorno Vranovci tell us that the greatest<br />
problems come in autumn, when<br />
the chestnuts get ripe. At that time, as<br />
they say, the Macedonian inhabitants<br />
from the nearby villages come and<br />
steal their chestnuts. The Albanians<br />
consider that is not an interethnic<br />
problem, although some of the<br />
thieves threatened: "This is<br />
Macedonian land and we shall do<br />
what we want." The people of the village<br />
where the first printing house of<br />
"Nova Makedonija" was established<br />
complain that the state takes minimal<br />
care of the village.<br />
From Veles region, we transfer to<br />
Bitola. Although it is a town far from<br />
the regions where fighting took place,<br />
the citizens haven't been spared from<br />
the religious and nationalist hatred<br />
that seized the country. After some<br />
people from Bitola got killed in an<br />
ambush during the fighting around<br />
Tetovo, thousands of Macedonians,<br />
mostly young people and adolescents,<br />
took to the streets. They<br />
burned and destroyed the houses and<br />
shops of Albanians. Many Muslim<br />
Macedonians also suffered. People<br />
thought the crowd would go to the<br />
outskirts of town, near the villages<br />
where Albanians live. Fortunately<br />
that did not happen. Two years after<br />
those events, the Albanians and the<br />
Macedonians from Bitola have<br />
unpleasant memories of those days<br />
and they say: "It happened, it has<br />
passed, and, God willing, it will<br />
never happen again!"<br />
According to what we have seen<br />
in the Bitola region, the war and the<br />
unpleasant events haven't left a trace<br />
in the exceptional relations between<br />
Albanians and Macedonians. The village<br />
Graeshnica is ten kilometers<br />
from Bitola. Half of the residents are<br />
Albanians, half Macedonians.<br />
Graeshnica is an example of cohabitation.<br />
At the entrance to the village<br />
children are running and playing<br />
football on the muddy turf of an<br />
improvised football field,. They dribble,<br />
kick and laugh from the heart<br />
when one of them falls over in the<br />
mud. "Come and see. Those are our<br />
children. Little Albanians and<br />
Macedonians. Just try and stop them<br />
from being friends. No! Nothing's<br />
been changed and, God help me,<br />
nothing should. This is a village with<br />
a tradition of seeking their <strong>for</strong>tune<br />
abroad. People have been leaving to<br />
make money far from their native<br />
places and haven't come back in<br />
years. They've left homes and families.<br />
It was a custom that neighbors,<br />
whether Albanians or Macedonians,<br />
would watch their houses and help<br />
others of the family. That kind of life<br />
has kept on here until nowadays. We<br />
were scared during the crisis. Not of<br />
each other, but of what was happening.<br />
After the events in Bitola, we<br />
were a little scared to move. Who<br />
knows what may happen to you in<br />
that madness? My child was at school<br />
in Bitola then. Everyday a<br />
Macedonian taxi driver took him and<br />
brought him back," says Zubri<br />
Llimani. According to him, the evil<br />
caused by the war in Macedonia hasn't<br />
altered good relations between<br />
Macedonians and Albanians at all.<br />
"No, we didn't feel the crisis. The<br />
way we live now is the same as<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e, and we hope to continue living<br />
that way," says he. Llimani was<br />
the owner of the first house we<br />
approached when we visited<br />
Graeshnica. After we told him we are<br />
reporters interested in interethnic<br />
relations, he told us with a wide<br />
smile: "I just spoke to Mirko<br />
Miloshevski, a friend from my childhood.<br />
He called from Canada only to<br />
make sure I'm safe and sound. So,<br />
you can judge <strong>for</strong> yourself now,"<br />
Both his sons study in Tetovo. The<br />
older is a student at the Southeastern<br />
European University, and the<br />
younger one is at Mosha Pijade, the<br />
agricultural high school. He says that<br />
during the crisis he was concerned<br />
about his sons' destiny because the<br />
times, still, were risky and violent.<br />
The cohabitation and harmonious<br />
relations between the Macedonians<br />
and the Albanians can be felt in<br />
Graeshnica. That can be seen from<br />
the fact that people don't concern<br />
themselves too much about interethnic<br />
issues. They are simply occupied<br />
with the usual daily problems. They<br />
worry about the cattle. They talk<br />
about milk production, about the<br />
troubles they encounter, and about, as<br />
they say, "the state's negligence in<br />
ensuring top quality milk products in<br />
the country." They complain about<br />
increased taxes, from the valueadded<br />
tax, about the low selling price<br />
119<br />
Meetings, not divisions, June 2003
120<br />
<strong>for</strong> their milk, about the bad country<br />
road, about the "big" sum of money<br />
they have to give <strong>for</strong> their children's<br />
education.<br />
That's what both Fikri Limani and<br />
Mile Chikarovski say. "We have been<br />
here <strong>for</strong> generations. Fathers, grandfathers,<br />
great-grandfathers have<br />
shared food. We live together and<br />
share the sadness and the happiness.<br />
We celebrate both Bajram and Easter<br />
and all the other holidays according<br />
to tradition. My house is always open<br />
to him; I am welcomed in his home as<br />
in my own. Is there anything better<br />
than that? You saw the young ones.<br />
They mingle and play. We, the older<br />
ones, gather in front of the small village<br />
shop. We chat; we tell each other<br />
our troubles about life and the cattle.<br />
We sometimes sit down and play<br />
cards, Albanians and Macedonians<br />
together, says Chikarovski. Dimche<br />
Dimitrovski adds: "It's great <strong>for</strong> the<br />
time being. The war brought distress,<br />
but it didn't spoil relations. The politicians<br />
are trying to spoil our harmony.<br />
They want to make us quarrel, so they<br />
can collect votes at the elections more<br />
easily. They won't succeed, because<br />
people have already seen through<br />
their intentions," laughs Dimitrovski.<br />
People in Ohrid agree. Most likely,<br />
the war hadn't disturbed the<br />
interethnic relations there either.<br />
"During the crisis there was growing<br />
distrust, but it only got to a certain<br />
point. Macedonians, Albanians, and<br />
Turks live in Ohrid. There has never<br />
been hatred and unease between us.<br />
There have been and there will be<br />
extremists and nationalists. Both<br />
among the Albanians and the<br />
Macedonians. But, in Ohrid they have<br />
never managed to incite hatred,<br />
because the mentality of Ohrid people<br />
is special. I think that <strong>for</strong>eign culture<br />
has had its influence. For thirty years<br />
<strong>for</strong>eigners have visited the city en<br />
masse. I think that encouraged Ohrid<br />
people to develop a positive attitude<br />
and mutual respect, to develop cultural<br />
principles, regardless of religious<br />
and national differences," says Gjoko<br />
Mojsovski from Ohrid. Elmaz<br />
Huseini lives in Voska Maalo, an old<br />
Ohrid neighborhood inhabited by<br />
Macedonians, Albanians and Turks.<br />
"What problems? We all know and<br />
respect each other. Many nationalities<br />
live in Ohrid, but there were never<br />
interethnic problems. Not even during<br />
the crisis. Ohrid is a UNESCO city<br />
and it would be a disgrace if people<br />
fall under any influence that would<br />
cause mutual animosity," says<br />
Huseini. The only incident that could<br />
damage the interethnic relations in<br />
Ohrid took place during the crisis,<br />
when a Molotov cocktail was thrown<br />
at the mosque. But, according to the<br />
Albanians, that was carried out by<br />
people who do not live in the neighborhood.<br />
Unlike Ohrid, there were incidents<br />
in Struga, manifested through fights<br />
between Albanians and Macedonians.<br />
Mass fights between fellow students,<br />
Albanians and Macedonians, took<br />
place at Niko Nestor high school a few<br />
months ago. The riots lasted only a<br />
few days and some occurred on the<br />
streets of Struga, too. A few vehicles<br />
were destroyed then. The people from<br />
Struga say that that is the past. "Now<br />
things are alright. For the time being.<br />
There was tension and uneasiness, and<br />
incidents as well. However, it did not<br />
lead to hatred. You will see that<br />
Albanians and Macedonians sit in the<br />
same cafes in the center of town. This<br />
tells you that there was and there will<br />
be cohabitation. Maybe the young<br />
people display more anxiety, but it's<br />
not so easy <strong>for</strong> them. They are nervous.<br />
They don't have work, money, nor<br />
does the state offer them any way to<br />
start a life," says Veselin Markovski<br />
from Struga. Ihmet Ajdisovski suggests<br />
to the politicians that they <strong>for</strong>get<br />
their own interests <strong>for</strong> a while and start<br />
taking care of people. "They should<br />
stop talking about how they have done<br />
so much work to ease interethnic relations.<br />
They should do something to<br />
help the hungry people. They can<br />
leave the interethnic relations to us, the<br />
citizens. They were excellent until the<br />
politicians started 'relaxing' them,"<br />
protests Ajdisovski. Dushko Djorgan<br />
from Struga thinks that relations are<br />
not as they used to be. "Everything got<br />
all mixed up once global democracy<br />
came in. That so-called democracy,<br />
with no morality or respect. Nothing.<br />
Only politicians' appetites <strong>for</strong> staying<br />
in power longer, got bigger. The new<br />
democracy spoiled our relations. I<br />
recall how it used to be ten years ago.<br />
A lot of time will have to go by <strong>for</strong> that<br />
kind of life to come back. I've sat with<br />
Albanians and made conversation.<br />
Now the same people see me in the<br />
streets, and they ignore me. They do<br />
not even want to say hello. If we want<br />
something to be changed, the politicians<br />
should be the first thing on the<br />
list, since the fish smells from the<br />
head," says Dushko. According to<br />
Shefki Dauti, relations are not good<br />
and distinctions are still made on an<br />
ethnic basis. "Recently, a whole truck<br />
full of chemical fertilizer which was<br />
brought in as humanitarian help <strong>for</strong> the<br />
Struga villages was distributed only to<br />
Macedonians in the village of<br />
Morovishta. Not a single bag was<br />
given to Albanians. I begged them to<br />
give me one, I was even prepared to<br />
pay, but they didn't give me one,<br />
because I'm Albanian. They only gave<br />
to the inhabitants of Morovishta, settled<br />
by Macedonians. Not a single bag<br />
has been distributed to the inhabitants<br />
of Radolishta, settled by Albanians.<br />
Kichevo is another ethnically<br />
mixed city in western Macedonia.<br />
During the crisis, there was no conflict<br />
between the citizens there.<br />
Kichevo folks tell how they haven't<br />
felt the war psychosis that caught up<br />
the rest of the country. "The situation<br />
was good all the time. Almost the<br />
same as it was be<strong>for</strong>e the war. I work<br />
as a taxi-driver. I drive both<br />
Albanians and Macedonians. I never<br />
felt that some Macedonian didn't<br />
want me to drive him because of my<br />
ethnic origin. We live to survive<br />
because the conditions are rough.<br />
There are Macedonians here also, and<br />
we think together every day to find<br />
out a way to earn more. We are not<br />
interested in politics, especially when<br />
it is misused to gain political points,"<br />
says Adnan Salifovski. Sasho<br />
Trajkovski is a Macedonian from<br />
Kichevo. He is Adnan's colleague.<br />
Meetings, not divisions, June 2003
"Frankly, there were no problems<br />
here. During the crisis, I drove in<br />
Zajas and the other villages where<br />
Albanians live with no problem. I<br />
think that mutual respect kept the<br />
relations as they were be<strong>for</strong>e the crisis.<br />
We, the young ones, continue that<br />
life, too. I hope it shall go on like<br />
that," says Trajkovski. There was no<br />
crisis in Gostivar either, but that town<br />
is only twenty kilometers from the<br />
Tetovo region, one of the fiercest battle<br />
areas during the crisis. The citizens<br />
say they have managed more or<br />
less to maintain good neighborly<br />
relations. "We were frightened. We<br />
were watchful and scared <strong>for</strong> the<br />
future. It's all right now. Life goes on<br />
the same as be<strong>for</strong>e. I am an Albanian,<br />
but I have many Macedonian friends,<br />
Turks and other nationalities. The<br />
young people in Gostivar are divided<br />
though. They don't socialize and they<br />
go out to different cafes.<br />
Un<strong>for</strong>tunately, a great deal of time<br />
will have to pass <strong>for</strong> that to change.<br />
However, we do not complain<br />
because it is fine the way it is now.<br />
We respect each other and that is the<br />
most important thing," says Alajdin<br />
Beqiri. Snezhana Aleksievska, a<br />
woman from Gostivar, says there<br />
have not been problems in Gostivar<br />
and that the crisis did not influence<br />
interethnic relations. "There was fear<br />
during the war, but that has passed.<br />
People shut themselves up inside<br />
their homes then. They didn't move<br />
about town or communicate so much.<br />
It's alright now. Relations and communications<br />
are great. I am<br />
Macedonian and my employer is<br />
Turk. All the shopkeepers around me<br />
are Albanian. We are fine, at least, <strong>for</strong><br />
the time being," says Aleksievska.<br />
(Emil Zafirovski is a journalist<br />
at Dnevnik, Isen Saliu<br />
is a journalist at Fakti)<br />
Fear or business<br />
For several<br />
months now<br />
apartment owners<br />
of<br />
Macedonian ethnicity<br />
have been<br />
selling their<br />
apartments in the<br />
districts on the<br />
left side of the<br />
Vardar River.<br />
Based on public<br />
opinion collected<br />
from the<br />
Albanian inhabitants,<br />
we learn<br />
that their<br />
Macedonian<br />
neighbours are<br />
unexpectedly putting<br />
out ads to sell<br />
their apartments,<br />
although the relationship<br />
between<br />
the two sides have<br />
been good<br />
Valdetet Ismaili<br />
According to public<br />
opinion from a large number<br />
of Albanian citizens, inhabitants<br />
of the districts on the<br />
left side of the Vardar River,<br />
we learn that their<br />
Macedonian neighbours<br />
have been migrating in large<br />
numbers, moving to the right<br />
side of the Vardar.<br />
Among the neighbourhoods<br />
where the phenomenon<br />
of migration and the<br />
high-priced sale of apartments<br />
are highest is that of<br />
Skopje Sever. Sashe<br />
Jordanovski, once a resident<br />
of the above-mentioned<br />
neighbourhood, sold his<br />
apartment to an Albanian<br />
five months ago.<br />
"Together with my wife<br />
and two children we moved<br />
to Novo Lisiche. I didn't<br />
migrate from Sever because<br />
of bad relations with the<br />
Albanians, but because at the<br />
moment I saw a reasonable<br />
opportunity <strong>for</strong> such an<br />
action."<br />
Extinguishing his cigarette<br />
with his foot on the<br />
ground, Jordanovski indirectly<br />
mentions the chilling<br />
memories of war. After a<br />
silence, he says that he is<br />
afraid of old history repeating<br />
itself. "Unconsciously, I<br />
feel that I have planted in<br />
myself a certain dose of mistrust<br />
of people. It's not that<br />
Sever has become a 'thorn in<br />
my eye,' but it is an issue of<br />
com<strong>for</strong>t and security, which<br />
I feel in the place where I<br />
live now," says Jordanovski.<br />
Jordanovski sold his tworoom<br />
apartment <strong>for</strong> 39,000<br />
euros. "I think that the apartment<br />
that I sold to the<br />
Albanian didn't sell <strong>for</strong> a high<br />
price, but I didn't have another<br />
opportunity," he says. His<br />
neighbours and himself, as<br />
Jordanovski explains, with<br />
the end of the war in 2001<br />
moved to the neighbourhoods<br />
of Hipodrom, Centar, Vlae<br />
and Karposh.<br />
While we were looking<br />
<strong>for</strong> someone of Macedonian<br />
background to ask about<br />
their moving out from the<br />
districts where Albanians<br />
live, we spoke with 50-yearold<br />
Mehdi Luta, an inhabitant<br />
of Sever. He tells us of<br />
his "transfer" from<br />
Aerodrom to Sever.<br />
As we learned, he had<br />
realized his idea of moving<br />
from his previous neighbourhood<br />
through exchanging<br />
apartments with Dragan,<br />
who moved to Mehdi's<br />
apartment.<br />
"At the end of 2002, I<br />
exchanged my apartment in<br />
Aerodrom with Dragi. He<br />
used to live in the apartment<br />
that I have today, while he<br />
now lives in my previous<br />
apartment over there. I also<br />
121<br />
Meetings, not divisions, June 2003
gave him 7,000 euros, because his<br />
apartment was bigger," says Mehdi.<br />
As <strong>for</strong> why he transferred to<br />
Sever, Mehdi says that "even be<strong>for</strong>e<br />
the war started in Macedonia I wanted<br />
to sell my two-room apartment<br />
granted to me by the state with the<br />
mediation of my employer, where I<br />
still work. All my brothers and my<br />
sister live in Gazi Baba, Sever and<br />
Serava, so I wanted to be closer to<br />
them."<br />
Later on, Mehdi said that a considerable<br />
number of Macedonians<br />
have migrated from their neighbourhood<br />
and that the prices of the apartments<br />
are very high. "My neighbour<br />
Berat stresses that he bought a threeroom<br />
apartment <strong>for</strong> 65,000 euros<br />
from a Macedonian. While wanting to<br />
talk more about his reason <strong>for</strong> moving<br />
to Sever, which had been the only<br />
solution according to Mehdi, he said<br />
that "be<strong>for</strong>e the war, but nowadays as<br />
well, everyone believed that the<br />
Macedonians who were selling their<br />
apartments on the Albanian side, did<br />
so because they do not trust their<br />
Albanian neighbours. The Albanians<br />
who lived, so to say, on the<br />
Macedonian side have the same<br />
motives <strong>for</strong> moving as well."<br />
Mehdi adds, "during these last<br />
months as well, the same trend is continuing,<br />
even when two years have<br />
already gone by since the end of the<br />
war in Macedonia."<br />
While we were speaking with<br />
Mehdi and his Albanian neighbour,<br />
Lulzim Rustemi, about their lives<br />
with their Macedonian neighbours,<br />
they never <strong>for</strong>got to add the fact that<br />
"apartments being sold by<br />
Macedonians have high prices. Our<br />
neighbour Faik bought his 75-squaremeter<br />
apartment <strong>for</strong> 48,000 euros."<br />
Real estate agents say, "the agency<br />
has been selling only those apartments<br />
that are listed by the owners of the apartments<br />
or houses. They put it on the market<br />
with us and we represent their real<br />
estate. We have nothing in common with<br />
the apartments that are sold with the selfinitiative<br />
of the owners." The same, in<br />
order to remain anonymous, said that the<br />
"apartment owners in the neighbourhoods<br />
of Sever, John Kennedy and<br />
Topansko Pole have not said that they<br />
are moving into Macedonian majority<br />
neighbourhoods, attempting to find<br />
security there, but that's implicit."<br />
(The author is a journalist at<br />
the daily newspaper Fakti)<br />
122<br />
Macedonians move to the<br />
left side of the Vardar<br />
I am selling a three-bedroom<br />
apartment in chair <strong>for</strong> a onebedroom<br />
apartment in Karposh<br />
Daniela Trpchevska<br />
"Selling a two-bedroom apartment<br />
in Skopje Sever." "Sellingexchanging<br />
an apartment in Chair."<br />
"Selling an apartment in Topansko<br />
Pole. Urgent!"…These are the most<br />
frequent advertisements you can see<br />
leafing through the newspapers. Real<br />
estate agencies in the city supplement<br />
this initial picture, pointing out<br />
that the biggest range of apartments<br />
<strong>for</strong> sale is in the region from Center<br />
to Radishani, which includes the settlements<br />
Bit-Pazar, Chair, Topansko<br />
Pole, Skopje Sever, and Butel 1 and<br />
2. The data also shows that 90% of<br />
the population selling property in<br />
this part of the city is Macedonian<br />
and 10% are members of the other<br />
communities in the country.<br />
MIGRATION LASTING<br />
MORE THAN TWO<br />
DECADES<br />
The problem with the migration<br />
from one side of Vardar to the other<br />
has become severe. This process has<br />
been going on <strong>for</strong> more that two<br />
decades, intensifying in the 1990s,<br />
then accelerating as a consequence<br />
of the post-conflict period and the<br />
disrupted interethnic trust. The main<br />
reason <strong>for</strong> so many people moving<br />
out which began in the 1990s,<br />
according to the citizens is that there<br />
is no central heating in Chair, says<br />
Ace Milenkovski, the Mayor of<br />
Chair municipality. And now?<br />
"We need some balance<br />
in the city's<br />
investments. There<br />
are 70,000 inhabitants<br />
of Chair, who should<br />
feel that they live in<br />
Skopje, that they are<br />
part of the city. The<br />
last big investment in<br />
this part of the city<br />
was back in 1974 with<br />
the construction of<br />
the apartment buildings<br />
in Skopje Sever,"<br />
says the mayor of<br />
Chair, Aco<br />
Milenkovski<br />
Meetings, not divisions, June 2003
The problem is complex, it isn't<br />
just based on ethnicity but also on the<br />
neglecting of the municipality. In the<br />
last two years, interethnic trust has<br />
been undermined, but such problems<br />
did not exist be<strong>for</strong>e. By 2001, the reason<br />
given was the authorities' neglect<br />
of the municipality. As an illustration,<br />
I can point out that by 1999, there<br />
was no central heating in the municipality<br />
at all, and a year later the heating<br />
plant in Skopje-Sever came into<br />
use, states Milenkovski.<br />
According to survey in<strong>for</strong>mation<br />
received from the municipality, the<br />
reason given <strong>for</strong> the migration<br />
from this part of the city<br />
in 1998 was the feeling that<br />
"Chair is at the end of the<br />
world."<br />
The Macedonians are<br />
selling their apartments and<br />
houses from that side of the<br />
Vardar and they want to buy<br />
new, smaller ones in the area<br />
from Karposh to Novo<br />
Lisiche, in accordance with<br />
their abilities. The real<br />
estate agencies state that<br />
three-bedroom apartments<br />
are sold, and one-bedroom<br />
apartments are bought on<br />
this side of the Vardar. The<br />
apartments in Gjorche<br />
Petrov, Novoselski Pat and<br />
Hrom are mainly in<br />
demand, since they are<br />
cheaper. There is a remarkable<br />
demand <strong>for</strong> apartments<br />
in Novo Lisiche as well.<br />
Exchanging apartments is very<br />
rare, say the real estate agencies,<br />
because it is very difficult <strong>for</strong> people<br />
to reach an agreement about the<br />
price, since there is a big difference<br />
in the prices on the left and the right<br />
side of the Vardar. In average, on<br />
"that side" of the Vardar the prices of<br />
the apartments go as high as 500<br />
euros per square meter, whereas the<br />
price on "this side" can reach twice as<br />
high, or 1,000 euros per square meter.<br />
Some of the agencies in Skopje do<br />
not deal with buying and selling of<br />
real estate on the other side of the<br />
Vardar, using the excuse that there<br />
are no interested clients (?!).<br />
GHETTOIZATION,<br />
PROS AND CONS<br />
In Chair, Topansko Pole and<br />
Skopje Sever, sheets of paper are<br />
stuck on the building entryways, on<br />
shops, advertising the sale of some<br />
apartment or house within. It so happens<br />
that in some buildings with 16<br />
apartments total, only a few are<br />
Macedonian, state the citizens of<br />
Chair. So a problem arises in the<br />
schools, especially in the primary<br />
schools Vasil Glavinov and Cvetan<br />
Dimov, where the number of<br />
Macedonian children is diminishing<br />
and classes can't be <strong>for</strong>med.<br />
"Parents are taking their children<br />
to school that tend to be towards<br />
Center or in the settlements where<br />
they go to work," say the people from<br />
Chair. The old inhabitants, who have<br />
been living there with generations, do<br />
not want to move but some of them,<br />
feeling pressure as their closest<br />
Macedonian neighbors begin to move<br />
out, are thinking about selling their<br />
own houses. Trajche has a house on<br />
John Kennedy Avenue, where his<br />
family has been living <strong>for</strong> decades.<br />
Like his neighbors, he is also considering<br />
selling his family house.<br />
"I am one of the first inhabitants<br />
along with my relatives, who <strong>for</strong> generations,<br />
since 1937 to be more precise,<br />
have lived in this house. I have<br />
two granddaughters from my son,<br />
who go to the primary school Nikola<br />
Vapcarov, where in one class there<br />
are only seven Macedonian children.<br />
Two years ago there weren't enough<br />
children to <strong>for</strong>m a class and in<br />
September the situation is probably<br />
going to worsen, he says, pointing<br />
out that this is the biggest problem<br />
they are facing.<br />
"The neighbors are selling their<br />
houses; Albanians are going to move<br />
in here. The time will come when,<br />
whether we like it or not, we will<br />
have to move. "Right now there is<br />
some kind of harmony," says Trajche,<br />
who lives in a neighborhood in Chair<br />
with fifteen Macedonian houses. His<br />
neighbors have not sold their houses<br />
yet, but are being constantly visited<br />
by Albanian buyers. They can't reach<br />
an agreement about the price, but<br />
sooner or later, someone is going to<br />
pay the price they are asking and the<br />
houses are going to be sold," says<br />
Trajche.<br />
While some of the citizens from<br />
that part of the city across the Vardar<br />
prove the ghettoization that has been<br />
going on <strong>for</strong> a decade, others think<br />
that it is nonsense to divide the city<br />
into a left and right side, into this or<br />
that side of the Vardar. Precisely on<br />
that side of Vardar are the vital buildings<br />
in the city, like MANU, The university<br />
and its library, the courts, the<br />
TV-radio building, which means that<br />
that part of the city is not neglected.<br />
"Those buildings are on this side<br />
of the Vardar, but consider their location,<br />
all in the center, alongside the<br />
Vardar. In Chair there are no state or<br />
government institutions. On the other<br />
side, Chair feels very urban unlike<br />
the other part," says Milenkovski.<br />
According to him, the part of Skopje<br />
123<br />
Meetings, not divisions, June 2003
124<br />
from the other side of the Vardar<br />
lacks buildings like the supermarkets<br />
Vero and Tinex, McDonalds<br />
restaurant, etc. "We need some<br />
balance in the city's investments.<br />
There are 70,000 inhabitants living<br />
in Chair, who should feel that<br />
they live in Skopje, that they are<br />
part of the city. The last big<br />
investment in this part of the city<br />
was back in 1974 with the construction<br />
of the apartment buildings<br />
in Skopje Sever. For thirty<br />
years now nothing else has been<br />
built," reckons the mayor of this<br />
municipality. "The area is emptying<br />
out and we can't accuse anyone<br />
but ourselves, because we<br />
have neglected this part of the<br />
city. 12,000 Albanians live on<br />
Dizhonska Street and that's a<br />
ghetto created decades ago.<br />
FOR HOW LONG<br />
AND HOW FAR?<br />
The state's attitude towards<br />
this part of the city has to change,<br />
development has to begin. Chair<br />
has no police station, no fire<br />
brigade; people live according to<br />
a certain sub-standard. If the state<br />
begins to invest equally across the<br />
city, maybe something will<br />
change. That's the attitude of the<br />
mayor of Chair, around which the<br />
settlements Topansko Pole,<br />
Skopje Sever, Butel 1 and 2, and<br />
Radishani revolve.<br />
He proposes that the State<br />
should press big investors to build<br />
restaurants and buildings on that<br />
side of the city as well, because<br />
"we can't concentrate on the<br />
length and alongside the river<br />
Vardar only." "We belong here<br />
and we can't move out from<br />
Chair. We should sit down and<br />
discuss and solve the problems,<br />
and not sell our property following<br />
the principle of least resistance,"<br />
say the people of Chair.<br />
(The author is a journalist<br />
at the daily newspaper<br />
Utrinski vesnik)<br />
Our parents<br />
knew how<br />
to handle<br />
these things<br />
Gordana Duvnjak<br />
I recently heard a famous<br />
Macedonian intellectual stating that<br />
the appetites of the Albanians do not<br />
end with the Ohrid Framework<br />
Agreement. The thesis that he goes<br />
on to develop is an old and famous<br />
one: their goal is to unite into a<br />
greater Albanian state through federalization<br />
and separation. Whether<br />
they are going to achieve that is<br />
another question, concludes this philosophy<br />
professor.<br />
A day be<strong>for</strong>e that, another professor<br />
who is known to be<br />
an expert in democracy<br />
and civil society,<br />
straight<strong>for</strong>wardly<br />
refused my plea to write<br />
an article <strong>for</strong> the last<br />
issue of Multiethnic<br />
Forum about the twoyear<br />
anniversary of the<br />
Ohrid Agreement and<br />
the future horizons <strong>for</strong><br />
Macedonia. "I don't<br />
want to write about it<br />
because I don't believe<br />
in the Ohrid<br />
Agreement!" stated<br />
firmly my interlocutor.<br />
"All right," I assured him calmly,<br />
"you are entitled to an opinion. Write<br />
that!" But he seemed as if he didn't<br />
hear what I was saying, and my<br />
words echoed. "I don't want to be a<br />
black sheep. Full stop!" he replied<br />
shortly, while he coldly put the phone<br />
down. Almost at the same time, a<br />
newly elected party leader mentioned<br />
another punctuation mark, this time<br />
the comma. "The Ohrid Agreement<br />
must be implemented to the last<br />
comma," yelled furiously this new<br />
member of the opposition, who was<br />
believed to be a moderate Albanian<br />
until recently. Self-determination is<br />
Why have we<br />
<strong>for</strong>gotten to listen<br />
to each other, let<br />
alone understand<br />
each other? Did<br />
we contribute to<br />
what has happened<br />
to us or<br />
was it someone<br />
else's fault? It's<br />
not that important<br />
any more<br />
very popular these days amongst different<br />
political phenomena, as if<br />
there was a scratched vinyl record<br />
that goes on, and on, and on…<br />
Maybe we should worry. Do<br />
these people see what we cannot, do<br />
not want to see, or are we all in a collective<br />
delusion? We believe in some<br />
kind of a Utopia called the Ohrid<br />
Agreement, which is being served up<br />
to us by the international community,<br />
offered as the only alternative to save<br />
the state. Let us hope that we are not<br />
a part of some kind of a massive hypnosis<br />
that lives in virtual reality with<br />
blindered perceptions<br />
…And this is so only<br />
because we want to<br />
believe that the Ohrid<br />
Agreement, though not<br />
flawless, no matter how<br />
much we think it<br />
imposed on us and not a<br />
result of sincere wishes,<br />
is nevertheless some<br />
kind of a solution to our<br />
long-standing encumbering<br />
problems. A<br />
replacement <strong>for</strong> what<br />
we have missed, <strong>for</strong> the<br />
lack of political conscience<br />
that things cannot<br />
remain as they were ten years<br />
ago. Regardless of whether it will be<br />
a short-term solution and a transitional<br />
period or a long-term solution that<br />
will depend on the ability and the<br />
capacity of the state to maintain its<br />
existence.<br />
We, the ordinary people, have<br />
somehow got used to exploiting the<br />
jargon of the politicians and using it<br />
everywhere, promoting moderate<br />
optim<strong>ism</strong>. Not because it's our real<br />
mood, but more as a defense mechan<strong>ism</strong><br />
against the fear that something<br />
unpredicted might happen. Ever since<br />
then, we still look at each other with<br />
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003
eserve and we don't believe each other<br />
enough. The whole world moves <strong>for</strong>ward<br />
and we go backwards like crabs! It<br />
would be in vain to shout: "Stop World,<br />
let us get on board!" They won't hear us,<br />
they'll already be too far away.<br />
I often wonder how our parents and<br />
grandparents managed to live together<br />
and to respect each other. Were they<br />
smarter, more patient, were the times<br />
different, or, were the people different?<br />
I still remember the stories that my<br />
grandfather Petre used to tell me when<br />
I was a child about those days when the<br />
only thing that mattered was who you<br />
were, not what you were. When the<br />
most important thing was to be honest,<br />
and it was not important which religion<br />
or which party you belonged to. I<br />
remember talks about the close friend<br />
from Debar, about the house in the market,<br />
about their frequent visits, the staying<br />
<strong>for</strong> the night on the way home,<br />
about the days when Granny Arslanica<br />
washed the feet of the tired guest, as a<br />
sign of the greatest respect and friendship.<br />
The night was too short <strong>for</strong> the<br />
stories that the old friends -of different<br />
religions, but sharing heart and understanding-wanted<br />
to tell each other.<br />
Where are the two sons of Arslanica<br />
now and what are they doing? Do the<br />
children of uncle Sali from Samokukji<br />
contact and visit the Christians as they<br />
used to be<strong>for</strong>e, as well as the children<br />
of that Albanian from Papradishte<br />
whose name I don't know, who is<br />
buried on the premises of my distant<br />
childhood, when during the summer I<br />
anxiously waited <strong>for</strong> him to unload his<br />
bags full of ripe pears. If there is a<br />
smallest bit of understanding left<br />
between them, and us, then we have a<br />
future, a common one!<br />
Why have we <strong>for</strong>gotten to listen to<br />
each other, let alone understand each<br />
other? Did we contribute to what has<br />
happened to us or was it someone else's<br />
fault? It's not that important any more.<br />
What is important now is that we learn<br />
slowly! It seems that the majority of<br />
Albanians have nothing more important<br />
in their lives than the Ohrid Agreement<br />
-not the poverty, nor the unemployment,<br />
nor the crime, nor the fact that the sanitation<br />
containers get stuffed with bombs<br />
instead of garbage. Many Macedonians<br />
are still full of anger. First they put the<br />
blame on Ljupcho, then on Branko,<br />
because they "give too much to the<br />
Shiptars" even though this is our country!<br />
As if we are alone on this peace of<br />
land, and, as if we don't share the same<br />
destiny! And what is going to happen,<br />
once what has been agreed upon in<br />
Ohrid is fulfilled to the last full stop or<br />
comma, whatever? Will the Albanians<br />
become more loyal towards their own<br />
country and will they finally feel it to be<br />
theirs? Will the Macedonians divest<br />
themselves of the complex that someone<br />
is stealing something from them<br />
and wants to take something from them<br />
by <strong>for</strong>ce? And what about those who<br />
don't belong to either of these groups,<br />
according to their ethnic code, and also<br />
have a right to a better life!<br />
There is no other way out, we just<br />
need to remind ourselves how our parents<br />
and grandparents managed to live<br />
together.<br />
(The author is a member of the<br />
editorial board of Multiethnic Forum<br />
and editor of Utrinski Vesnik)<br />
125<br />
The Agreement Looks<br />
<strong>for</strong> its Frame<br />
Georgi Barbarovski<br />
Macedonia overcame the horror, it<br />
went through the rage, it left its grief<br />
behind and entered a new phase of<br />
changes dictated by the Ohrid<br />
Agreement, known to the public as the<br />
Framework Agreement. Two years<br />
ago, immediately after the conflict,<br />
there were problems both with the ratification<br />
of such an agreement as well<br />
as with its contents. Once its language<br />
was brought into the Constitution and<br />
several laws, the implementation<br />
revealed a new problem-its framework.<br />
Possibly the creators of that<br />
document have left more space in the<br />
section where the interethnic "rubbing"<br />
is most emphasized, so that they<br />
can mollify and minimize the hard<br />
blows. But political pragmat<strong>ism</strong> is on<br />
its way to making a surrogate even<br />
If it's true that the energy of an era is measured by the<br />
number of creatures who suffer and that every political<br />
credo is substantiated by the very victims it creates, then<br />
Macedonia is on its way to fulfilling the obligations created<br />
by the Ohrid Agreement<br />
from the<br />
healthy tissues, and through improvisation<br />
to carve new loopholes in the<br />
tight parts, where the changed organ<strong>ism</strong><br />
of Macedonian society is functioning<br />
well. Who made the mistake,<br />
the creators of the agreement or those<br />
who are supposed to bring it to life?<br />
This ambiguity can last only a while.<br />
Two leaders of opposition political<br />
parties are trying to raise their<br />
standing and those of the parties they<br />
lead with one extracted half-sentence<br />
from the preamble, so they draw an<br />
alleged right of self-determination <strong>for</strong><br />
the members of their ethnic community.<br />
Of course, they are "encouraged<br />
by the non-realization of the Ohrid<br />
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003
Agreement." One of them wasn't satisfied,<br />
so he asked "to change the<br />
state symbols in the spirit of the<br />
agreement." We can suppose that with<br />
such action they will emphasize the<br />
double benefit: a referendum and<br />
plenty of work <strong>for</strong> the tailoring industry<br />
that will be engaged in the additional<br />
ornamentation of the state flag.<br />
The parties in power are not far<br />
behind. Although the territorial division<br />
and the authorization of local selfgovernment<br />
are two independent areas,<br />
the government majority is trying to so<br />
intertwine them that one cannot function<br />
without the other. Such interpretations<br />
vulgarize the Ohrid Agreement,<br />
which emphasizes human rights and<br />
cultural identity in the society.<br />
To be clear, the following are not<br />
an issue here: more extensive language<br />
rights, the functioning of<br />
Badenter's majority on both the state<br />
and local levels and the decentralization<br />
of government authority.<br />
Nevertheless, despite the willingness<br />
to move <strong>for</strong>ward, some postulates of<br />
that agreement require time while<br />
none of them endanger the unitary<br />
character of the state.<br />
If it's true that the energy of an era is<br />
measured by the number of beings who<br />
suffer and that every political credo is<br />
substantiated by the very victims it creates,<br />
then Macedonia is on its way to<br />
fulfilling the obligations created by the<br />
Ohrid Agreement. There are many people<br />
still suffering from the conflict<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e the agreement, and the number of<br />
direct victims was not trivial either.<br />
Macedonia is in a time of tolerance. The<br />
greater good deed that the world has created.<br />
And that good deed cannot be the<br />
worst evil at the same time!<br />
(The author is a member of the<br />
editorial board of<br />
Multiethnic Forum and deputy<br />
editor-in-chief of Dnevnik)<br />
How are things going when they<br />
are not moving at all in the first place?<br />
Hope keeps us going even<br />
when things are not well<br />
126<br />
Ferid Muhich<br />
How's everything?<br />
Great!<br />
Don't worry, that will end soon!<br />
It is very clear that we are not<br />
doing so will. But does that mean that<br />
this situation will not come to an end?<br />
Anyway, how do things stand in<br />
Macedonia? If not great, are they on<br />
the verge of disaster? If they are not<br />
as we want them to be, are they worse<br />
than circumstances permit?<br />
To evaluate the problems in a<br />
country objectively is the most difficult<br />
of tasks, especially if you evaluate<br />
them as a whole, integrally, with<br />
all the relevant aspects coordinated in<br />
a logically organized system. It<br />
requires strong interpretive capacity<br />
and an extensive in<strong>for</strong>mation network.<br />
Focused upon one aspect only,<br />
this estimation can suggest certain<br />
valid insights, with a plausible base of<br />
in<strong>for</strong>mation <strong>for</strong> making additional<br />
insights, applicable even <strong>for</strong> a general<br />
diagnosis. The neuralgic marks of the<br />
state of interethnic relations and their<br />
urgent need <strong>for</strong> stabilization present<br />
sufficient arguments <strong>for</strong> choosing that<br />
very segment from the conglomerated<br />
complex of social, political, security<br />
and economic segments in the country.<br />
SOME RESULTS<br />
1. From disagreements, through<br />
tensions, to conflict.<br />
The most remarkable indicator of<br />
the situation in the Republic of<br />
Macedonia during the last decade has<br />
been the issue of interethnic relations.<br />
Interethnic relations have colored the<br />
atmosphere from the first day of<br />
Conditions in Macedonia have undoubtedly changed <strong>for</strong><br />
the better, with clear awareness that they were never as<br />
bad as we were afraid they were, and that they could be<br />
even better than we hope they might be<br />
establishing full statehood and sovereignty,<br />
even immediately after the<br />
completion of that process, especially<br />
with the disagreements regarding the<br />
<strong>for</strong>mulation of the issue <strong>for</strong> which the<br />
referendum was staged. After the<br />
refusal of the ethnic Albanian political<br />
parties and most of the ethnic<br />
Albanian citizens to vote <strong>for</strong> the first<br />
Constitution of the Republic of<br />
Macedonia, the problematic relations<br />
escalated to become actual tensions.<br />
Eventually, at the beginning of the<br />
new millennium, in January 2001, the<br />
interethnic relations progressed from<br />
tensions to radicalization and resulted<br />
in direct armed conflict on the frontline,<br />
with the ethnic Albanian population<br />
on one side and the state security<br />
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003
<strong>for</strong>ces on the other.<br />
2. Three numerical indicators<br />
The dry-as-dust language of statistics<br />
always stimulates radical disagreement<br />
and humorous remarks.<br />
The classic example says that,<br />
according to statistics, a man with<br />
one hand in the oven and the other in<br />
the refrigerator will experience the<br />
average ideal temperature!<br />
Nevertheless the numbers tell us<br />
something that is empirically tangible,<br />
a fact that could be verified at<br />
least in its own context, if not applicable<br />
outside of it.<br />
The organization PEV<br />
Makedonija (Project <strong>for</strong> a <strong>Common</strong><br />
Vision of Macedonia) in 2002 per<strong>for</strong>med<br />
extensive field surveys<br />
throughout Macedonia, dissected the<br />
country into 15 parts <strong>for</strong> the convenience<br />
of this study. One of the central<br />
hypotheses was interethnic relations<br />
(primary along the line ethnic<br />
Macedonians vs. ethnic Albanians)<br />
are the most important factor <strong>for</strong> the<br />
birth of the conflict the year be<strong>for</strong>e.<br />
SURPRISING ANSWERS<br />
From the long list of factors, three<br />
seem most important in this instance.<br />
Using them, the intensity of the ethnic<br />
distance, that is to say, the <strong>for</strong>ce<br />
of mutual trust, was estimated. Here<br />
are the questions we asked:<br />
1. Do you believe that after the<br />
conflict trust between ethnic<br />
Macedonians and ethnic Albanians<br />
will return?<br />
2. Do you think that the ethnic<br />
Macedonians and ethnic Albanians<br />
have a common future in the<br />
Republic of Macedonia?<br />
3. Do the citizens have power?<br />
The answers <strong>for</strong> the whole of the<br />
population were: 1. YES - 71%; 2.<br />
YES 81%; 3. YES - 63%.<br />
3. Interpretation, controversies,<br />
logical context:<br />
The interpretation of those<br />
responses is the most interesting part,<br />
as is always the case with statistics.<br />
Some people considered these numbers<br />
highly optimistic, and in<br />
essence, very probable; to others they<br />
seemed highly optimistic and not<br />
very probable; some considered them<br />
pessimistic but probable; and finally<br />
there was a group who considered<br />
them pessimistic and improbable.<br />
The questions tended to contrast with<br />
the personal experience that some<br />
people brought with them, and they<br />
considered these results not very<br />
probable, whether they read them<br />
with an optimistic or a pessimistic<br />
slant.<br />
But what exactly do these results<br />
say? This not very rhetorical question<br />
has a simple aim, to define what the<br />
statistical data realistically means,<br />
and to what extent we can estimate<br />
the situation in a given segment of<br />
public life based on them. The fact<br />
that there are those who see these<br />
affirmative and positive percentages<br />
as too high, namely not harmonized<br />
with their perception, should be carefully<br />
analyzed. Individual perception,<br />
as a rule, notwithstanding how precise<br />
and concrete it is, is always more<br />
restricted and limited in comparison<br />
with a survey conducted on a huge<br />
territory. In general, the citizens who<br />
will read this article should understand<br />
that their personal opinion,<br />
even if it does match the mentioned<br />
results, basically does not correspond<br />
with them.<br />
Then there is no actual debate.<br />
Simply, there is direct incongruence<br />
in dimension. The quarrels in this<br />
case, notwithstanding how productive<br />
they can be, are an example of<br />
shooting the wrong guy. If a citizen<br />
claims that in his or her area the<br />
results are, let's say, just the opposite,<br />
and that the greatest number of people<br />
with whom he or she communicates<br />
would answer "no" to these<br />
questions where we got "yes," then<br />
the member of PEV Makedonija who<br />
would contest that would make a<br />
mistake. The mistake would be as<br />
great as one made by someone who<br />
would contest the results of the study<br />
based on personal experience which<br />
does not subsume more varied social,<br />
ethnic, educational etc. contexts.<br />
THE MAJORITY DETER-<br />
MINES THE DIRECTION<br />
Let's make things clear! There is<br />
no real controversy, because we have<br />
two very disparate bodies of in<strong>for</strong>mation<br />
<strong>for</strong> which there is no logical precondition<br />
<strong>for</strong> valid comparison. The<br />
participants in this quasi-conflict are<br />
blind to the fact that both sides could<br />
really unqualifiedly be right, without<br />
questioning the truthfulness of each<br />
of the facts. If 70 per cent of, let's say,<br />
2 million people answer "yes" <strong>for</strong><br />
something, at the same time it means<br />
that 30 per cent say "no" <strong>for</strong> the same<br />
thing. And 30 per cent of two million<br />
is 600,000 people! There<strong>for</strong>e, from<br />
the perspective of those who are<br />
skeptical about the above results,<br />
considering them too high, it is quite<br />
possible that there are those from<br />
environments where the negative<br />
answer comprises 90%.<br />
Theoretically, it is possible to get 100<br />
per cent negative answers on all three<br />
questions when surveying 600,000<br />
people in the Republic of Macedonia<br />
if by chance you reach only those 30<br />
per cent who hold this negative position!<br />
On the other hand, 70 per cent of<br />
the same two million people equals<br />
1,400,000 people who said "yes."<br />
Theoretically it is possible to get 100<br />
per cent positive answers if you surveyed<br />
that two thirds of the population<br />
of the Republic of Macedonia.<br />
Put into their logical context,<br />
these indicators have meaning only<br />
when they are interpreted numerically.<br />
The statistics in this case reflect<br />
the overall distribution of positive<br />
feelings in relation to the extremely<br />
sensitive problem of interethnic relations.<br />
It suggests that the citizens in<br />
general, closely to the given proportions,<br />
also believe in a common country,<br />
and also in the possibility and<br />
feasibility of mutual trust. That is,<br />
they believe in the possibility <strong>for</strong> citizens,<br />
through their own ef<strong>for</strong>ts, with<br />
their own work and strength, to<br />
become the most important factor in<br />
the creation of a long-term strategy<br />
127<br />
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003
128<br />
<strong>for</strong> the stability and integrity of the<br />
country.<br />
In that context, it seems that the<br />
most constructive and thought-provoking<br />
ground <strong>for</strong> serious thinking<br />
could be among those citizens <strong>for</strong><br />
whom the given results are realistic,<br />
and do not come as a surprise because<br />
they con<strong>for</strong>m with their experience<br />
from their everyday environment.<br />
However-and this is most important!-<br />
those results do not justify outstanding<br />
optim<strong>ism</strong>; on the contrary, they<br />
justify maximum precaution and even<br />
prolonged concern.<br />
This realization is really worrying:<br />
from every ten citizens of<br />
Macedonia three have lost their faith<br />
in the possibility of living together in<br />
the same country with the ethnic<br />
group with whom they have lived <strong>for</strong><br />
longer than their family tradition can<br />
remember,. The theoretical number of<br />
600,000 such cases in a population of<br />
2 million, only further intensifies the<br />
worry and justifies it!<br />
THE POWER OF<br />
THE CITIZENS<br />
The citizens of the Republic of<br />
Macedonia, even after such fierce,<br />
organized, systematic, media-rich,<br />
political, armed irritations, are still<br />
the most mature factor, and simply<br />
have not entered into a wider conflict<br />
whereas every other society (it is easy<br />
but also superfluous to offer arguments<br />
on that at the moment) would<br />
surely have entered into a bloody<br />
civil war, The fact that they are such a<br />
mature factor is a first-class argument<br />
in favor of the relatively high percentage<br />
of "yes" answers to the three<br />
questions! Also the power of the citizens,<br />
their self-awareness and their<br />
political sobriety are surely confirmed<br />
in the electoral results, in<br />
which the most militant political<br />
<strong>for</strong>ces experienced a real Waterloo;<br />
they were defeated with an astonishingly<br />
high concentration of clearly<br />
expressed disagreement with their<br />
saber-rattling . The citizens have<br />
shown the same surety in their power<br />
with their spontaneous and perfectly<br />
harmonious action against the ideas<br />
and calls <strong>for</strong> civil war, i.e. <strong>for</strong> the act<br />
of dividing people and territories, and<br />
they have given a lesson to the institution<br />
with the highest intellectual<br />
and moral authority in every country -<br />
the national academy!<br />
Finally, if on the basis of this we<br />
ask ourselves how things stand in the<br />
Republic of Macedonia, we could,<br />
with ample evidence, conclude that the<br />
epidermis of interethnic relations in<br />
our country is seriously wounded and<br />
that even the deep wound has become<br />
scar tissue. But the core of the civil<br />
vital capacity is firm enough, and able<br />
to return to its previous mien, to regenerate<br />
the scars. Their clear critic<strong>ism</strong><br />
towards government institutions and<br />
the actions of the politicians, their<br />
fierce verdict on corruption and nepot<strong>ism</strong>,<br />
are marked indicators which on<br />
all bases completely nullify the primary<br />
relevancy of the fragmentation<br />
resulting from the ethnic distribution,<br />
and unite the ethnic Macedonian and<br />
ethnic Albanians, and also the representatives<br />
of the Turks, the Serbs, the<br />
Roma, the Bosnians, the Vlachs into a<br />
single grouping of civil and political<br />
citizenry of Macedonia.<br />
Said directly: Conditions in<br />
Macedonia have undoubtedly<br />
changed <strong>for</strong> the better, with clear<br />
awareness that they were never as bad<br />
as we were afraid they were, and that<br />
they could be even better than we<br />
hope they can.<br />
(The author is a<br />
university professor)<br />
Two years later<br />
Balance of<br />
ethnocultural identities<br />
The Ohrid Agreement<br />
exhausts the Albanian<br />
option that even a violent<br />
clash may serve<br />
as a political plat<strong>for</strong>m,<br />
whereas<br />
Macedonians accepted<br />
the agreement<br />
regardless of the feeling<br />
that it has been<br />
imposed by war<br />
Ljubomir D. Frchkoski<br />
Why do certain agreements, although<br />
logical and justified, fail while others,<br />
which are not so good, survive? What is<br />
agreement sustainability based upon?<br />
When transitional conflicts are taken<br />
into consideration, there are generally<br />
two types:<br />
Strategic conflicts, which comprise<br />
the usual political conflicts of interest<br />
within the state and conflicts of<br />
geostrategic importance with neighbors;<br />
and identity conflicts that relate to the<br />
collective, cultural identity of the conflicting<br />
parties. Most often the two types<br />
are mixed into a concrete political constellation<br />
of their resolution or crisis.<br />
The point of the matter is that the<br />
presence of identity conflicts significantly<br />
complicates and makes the transitional<br />
politics of democratic stabilization<br />
more difficult, at times even extremely<br />
violent. The <strong>for</strong>mer Yugoslavian con-<br />
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003
flicts contained significant elements<br />
of such identity conflicts: Bosnia was<br />
extremely violent, Kosovo less so,<br />
and Macedonian managed to avoid<br />
violence often in spite of the war of<br />
2001. The first two conflicts resulted<br />
in the failure of the multicultural<br />
political project and ended with a<br />
reversible ethnonational<strong>ism</strong> and ethnic<br />
cleansing. Until now, the last<br />
conflict has been a unique example of<br />
still functioning democratic politics<br />
of a multicultural society. The essence<br />
of identity conflicts and the instruments<br />
<strong>for</strong> solving them are a special<br />
subject in international politics: negotiation<br />
techniques between identities.<br />
MACEDONIAN MODEL<br />
OF MULTICULTURAL<br />
SOCIETY<br />
What makes these experiences<br />
(let's focus only on them) so similar<br />
and at the same time so different?<br />
What is it that in one set of circumstances<br />
multicultural<strong>ism</strong> is reduced to<br />
the meanest violence, whereas in<br />
another it sustains efficiency and<br />
democracy? Macedonia has a significantly<br />
different setting of multicultural<br />
society and democracy. History has<br />
been "kind" regarding bloodshed<br />
between the groups of people living<br />
on the territory of ethnic Macedonia.<br />
There were clashes with occupying<br />
<strong>for</strong>ces, but no similar clashes between<br />
the ethnicities (in that context the<br />
Macedonian-Albanian discourse differs<br />
greatly from the Serbian-<br />
Albanian). The role of the church is<br />
more tolerant because the<br />
Macedonian Orthodox church, due to<br />
its exclusion from the family of<br />
Orthodox churches, learns how to live<br />
alongside other religions in a milder<br />
way, unlike the rest of the Orthodox<br />
churches, and inclines toward the<br />
Vatican rather than towards Moscow<br />
or Constantinople. The syndrome of a<br />
country of crossroads "teaches"<br />
Macedonia and keeps it open to an<br />
international presence which has<br />
become a part of everyday life, and<br />
has an important stabilizing role in<br />
interethnic conflicts and dialogues in<br />
a <strong>for</strong>m of "soft" mediation. So the<br />
country's open stance is a good start.<br />
At the time of the initial establishing<br />
of democracy and independence the<br />
political elite was functioning on a<br />
higher level compared to the other<br />
examples above, and they emphasized<br />
the positive side of the history<br />
of interethnic relations. Thus precious<br />
time was gained when establishing<br />
democratic institutions and<br />
during their initial start-up. The international<br />
context favored internal<br />
cohesion to a significant degree<br />
(which was not the case regarding<br />
international recognition of the country),<br />
namely, the Serbian project <strong>for</strong> a<br />
larger state was (non-pashic) focusing<br />
westward towards western Serbs,<br />
who are far more numerous.<br />
Macedonia gained time, which it took<br />
advantage of while acquiring its independence<br />
and pulled itself out without<br />
a war. The Macedonian Albanians, a<br />
relatively small group among the<br />
Albanians in the region, have their<br />
own internal dynamics and interests<br />
that contain the following paradoxes:<br />
they have the best economic-political<br />
state and culture and an appropriately<br />
significant international position,<br />
stronger by far relative to their number.<br />
Can their leaders be as important<br />
as those in Kosovo and Albania? That<br />
wouldn't be possible if they were<br />
closer to the Kosovars. They would<br />
be sucked into the far larger mass of<br />
more violent Kosovars and would disappear<br />
as a semi-subject (Macedonian<br />
Albanians). There<strong>for</strong>e Macedonian<br />
Albanians have special interests all<br />
their own: to maintain rhetorical solidarity<br />
with their "brothers," but to<br />
maintain their distance as long as possible.<br />
For that reason they cooperate<br />
with the Macedonian authorities, not<br />
because they are coerced nor because<br />
they are "special Albanians."<br />
THE CONSTITUTION<br />
PROVIDES SOLID<br />
GROUND<br />
In order to translate this into an<br />
effective, relatively stable and democratic<br />
policy, a global political frame<br />
had to be designed which would be<br />
(indirectly) internationally guaranteed.<br />
The1991 Constitution of<br />
Macedonia provided the base and the<br />
Ohrid Agreement completed it in certain<br />
important details. The Ohrid<br />
Agreement can be successful and stable,<br />
namely due to the grounds it is<br />
built on, and of course, due to some of<br />
its conceptual principles.<br />
We will focus on a few key principles<br />
contained therein. There are<br />
roughly three solution pillars in the<br />
Ohrid Agreement. One is the extension<br />
of the most painless, and at the<br />
same time most tangible, cultural benefit<br />
<strong>for</strong> the minority ethnic communities:<br />
language rights. The second is a<br />
new parliamentary procedure<br />
(Badinter's majority) <strong>for</strong> enacting<br />
laws, in order to guarantee protection<br />
from the majority outvoting the laws<br />
that directly refer to minority rights;<br />
and the third is the timeframe <strong>for</strong><br />
staffing up public administration with<br />
employees from the minority ethnic<br />
communities.<br />
The agreement, as is obvious<br />
now, lacks a more precise (and not<br />
only analogous) regulation of the<br />
same multiethnic principles that governs<br />
it to be carried out at the local<br />
level. Although so-called local<br />
democracy is highly emphasized<br />
(which is also highly emphasized in<br />
Badinter's conceptual scheme), it hasn't<br />
been elaborated in the major procedures,<br />
except <strong>for</strong> the election of certain<br />
police officials. For the time<br />
being the agreement steps all over the<br />
major political benefits of the<br />
Macedonian experience, although the<br />
actors that signed it were each down<br />
<strong>for</strong> the count. The Albanians were<br />
uncertain of what HQ and the other<br />
Albanian parties would say (despite<br />
relying mostly on American guarantees<br />
that the Agreement was all right);<br />
VMRO-DPMNE, in general confusion<br />
over the poorly governed<br />
"defence" policy, was frustrated and<br />
overcome by anger; the SDSM members<br />
took a greater authoritative role<br />
than they actually possessed, but they<br />
had the most solid understanding of<br />
the framework and potential solu-<br />
129<br />
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003
130<br />
tions; the President of the Republic<br />
practically led the discussion with his<br />
team being superior to the other representatives<br />
of the Macedonian political<br />
entities.<br />
INTERNATIONAL<br />
GUARANTEES<br />
International guarantors of the<br />
agreement (and this is a rule <strong>for</strong> successful<br />
agreements) must possess<br />
enough authority to establish a framework<br />
and a lasting agreement. They<br />
should provide what is known as carrot-and-stick<br />
measures. They provide<br />
clear-cut and decisive threats which<br />
effectively penalize and marginalize<br />
any violators of the agreement. They<br />
also provide some sort of assistance<br />
package and further international integration<br />
<strong>for</strong> successful implementation<br />
of the agreement.<br />
In spite of much critic<strong>ism</strong> entangled<br />
in the mist of frustration stemming<br />
from the war, the Ohrid agreement<br />
creates a win-win combination.<br />
During normal assessments there are<br />
no losers and there are standard, legal,<br />
international grounds <strong>for</strong> balancing<br />
ethnocultural identities. The<br />
Agreement does not set <strong>for</strong>th solutions<br />
<strong>for</strong> minority rights beyond what is<br />
considered standard and all solutions<br />
can be traced to the framework convention<br />
of national minorities or in the<br />
Council of Europe's Charter <strong>for</strong><br />
Minority Languages. It affirms the<br />
unity of the state, sets up grounds <strong>for</strong><br />
significant power sharing, puts individual<br />
human rights first with a significant<br />
level of protective rights <strong>for</strong> cultural<br />
identity (that have collective<br />
implementation), etc.<br />
Soon after the signing and the<br />
implementation of the constitutional<br />
amendments it was concluded that the<br />
civil dimension of the political system<br />
had not been jeopardized.<br />
The extremists were disappointed<br />
and the criminal Albanian gangs continued<br />
to unsettle the mostly Albanian<br />
population in the villages with kidnappings,<br />
murders and robberies. The<br />
capacity of those destabilizing factors<br />
is not so great as to jeopardize the stabilization<br />
based on the new relations<br />
established with the Agreement.<br />
Those "new" relations were not so<br />
new that they had to be understood as<br />
such. They promoted a new Albanian<br />
political presence and exhausted the<br />
option of violent clashing as a political<br />
plat<strong>for</strong>m. Most importantly, the<br />
agreement engaged the international<br />
community, actors who require a successful<br />
outcome. The situation is still<br />
the same, and it is being promoted<br />
with the same attention. The<br />
Macedonians accepted the agreement<br />
regardless of the feeling that it has<br />
been imposed by war. In essence it<br />
strengthened the state internationally,<br />
although it weakened its control over<br />
the area while it was in the renewal<br />
phase.<br />
The most important short-term<br />
objectives of the implementation of the<br />
Ohrid Agreement would be: to<br />
strengthen the efficiency of the state's<br />
control over the area and so-called<br />
human security; to guarantee the rights<br />
of those "new" minorities in the municipalities<br />
in which Albanians are a<br />
majority; to continue the political<br />
struggle <strong>for</strong> full implementation<br />
together, including the marginalization<br />
of ethnonationalists who feed on<br />
bizarre interpretations of the agreement<br />
provisions and the slow pace of the<br />
implementation of some of its parts.<br />
(The author is a<br />
university professor)<br />
Why doesn't the<br />
Albanian population in<br />
Skopje lead a cultural life?<br />
Ali Aliu<br />
Albanian demographers think<br />
that Skopje's urban centre alone<br />
has approximately 100,000<br />
Albanian citizens, while together<br />
with the surrounding area, the<br />
number doubles. With occasional<br />
absences, I have lived in Skopje<br />
since the end of the '50s of the<br />
past century. Even then, Skopje<br />
had a teacher's college, Albanian<br />
drama under the rubric of the<br />
Theatre of Nationalities, the<br />
weekly newspaper Flaka and the<br />
Albanian program on Radio<br />
Skopje.… Of course, the number<br />
of Albanian citizens would be<br />
smaller then. Years after that, the<br />
editorial staff of Flaka founded a<br />
publishing department and the<br />
literary magazine Jehona.<br />
These were all the cultural,<br />
educational and media organs that<br />
covered Skopje and the Albanian<br />
population in Macedonia. If we<br />
observe carefully, we will notice<br />
that the same scheme and structure-in<br />
culture, education and media-has<br />
remained unchanged <strong>for</strong> Skopje<br />
and in large part <strong>for</strong> all the<br />
Albanians in this country, with<br />
minor variations.<br />
* * *<br />
I have asked myself on several<br />
occasions why Skopje, with so<br />
many Albanians, doesn't succeed<br />
in creating the ambience <strong>for</strong> cultural,<br />
educational and media life<br />
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003
according to the number of citizens it<br />
has and according to the future perspective<br />
the capital has? And I say to<br />
myself that <strong>for</strong> Skopje to look like a<br />
cultural centre according to the number<br />
of citizens, it should have several<br />
high schools, several faculties and<br />
institutes, at least one developed theatre<br />
(<strong>for</strong> children, puppets theatre) a<br />
publishing house, a gallery<br />
<strong>for</strong> visual arts, a concert hall,<br />
a sports hall, a cultural centre,<br />
a public library, a developed,<br />
transparent and independent<br />
press, clubs etc.<br />
* * *<br />
However, Albanian<br />
Skopje continues to have one<br />
semi-theatre, which <strong>for</strong> 50<br />
years has stood as an oasis in<br />
the middle of the Bit Pazar,<br />
and which instead of having<br />
an influence as an institution<br />
that would educate the surroundings,<br />
does the opposite.<br />
We have one pedagogical<br />
faculty, which, according to<br />
public opinion surveys published<br />
in the media, "firmly"<br />
stands in the middle of corrupted<br />
structures. We have<br />
two daily newspapers with<br />
unsustained and confused<br />
orientation and structure,<br />
that stagger constantly from<br />
side to side. We have several<br />
publishing houses (none of<br />
them appropriate and likely<br />
to be closed) that are unable<br />
to open the channels of circulation<br />
<strong>for</strong> literary values<br />
on a national level, with one<br />
semi-literary magazine without influence<br />
which playing no meaningful<br />
role. And that's it. That's all.<br />
Albanian political parties should<br />
contribute to Albanian Skopje<br />
remaining a cultural, educational,<br />
and media centre on a national level:<br />
besides the lack of projects and a<br />
clear vision <strong>for</strong> the cultural illumination<br />
of the city, and while insisting<br />
on the realization of those projects,<br />
our parties have even withdrawn<br />
from Skopje physically. So, by isolating<br />
and barricading themselves in<br />
their own villages, where they feel<br />
more important than they are, they<br />
have in fact helped in the process of<br />
making Skopje an ignored periphery.<br />
* * *<br />
In the middle of this bunch of<br />
I have asked myself on several occasions, why<br />
doesn't Skopje, with so many Albanians, succeed<br />
in creating the ambience <strong>for</strong> cultural,<br />
educational and media life according to the<br />
number of citizens it has and according to the<br />
future perspective the capital has? And I say<br />
to myself that <strong>for</strong> Skopje to look like a cultural<br />
centre according to the number of citizens, it<br />
should have several high schools, several faculties<br />
and institutes, at least one developed theatre<br />
(<strong>for</strong> children, a puppets theatre) a publishing<br />
house, a gallery <strong>for</strong> visual arts, a concert<br />
hall, a sports hall, a cultural centre, a<br />
public library, a developed, transparent and<br />
independent press, clubs etc.<br />
(Albanian) issues in the above-mentioned<br />
fields, which should be the<br />
object of continuous debate, one of<br />
the most disturbing issues seems to<br />
be the Albanian Section of<br />
Macedonian Television (MTV)<br />
because it's the only media that<br />
reaches the greater part of Albanian<br />
areas in Macedonia. Some months<br />
ago I heard that someone from the<br />
governing parties had offered the<br />
position of the editor of this program<br />
to someone nationally eminent in the<br />
area of Albanian literature and publishing<br />
and who rightfully requested<br />
that the section (Channel 3) become<br />
independent, at least on the same<br />
level as Channels 1 and 2. He as the<br />
editor-in-chief (the director) could<br />
then employ and fire journalists,<br />
award and punish, and could independently<br />
provide minimal conditions<br />
regarding the technical<br />
side of the work… Almost one<br />
year has passed since DUI<br />
became part of the<br />
Government, and they haven't<br />
done anything in this irreplaceably<br />
important sector. It seems<br />
that the activists of this party,<br />
dealing with high, global politics<br />
are not satisfied with the<br />
small things mentioned here …<br />
And, we have some kind of<br />
Section, where, <strong>for</strong> years on<br />
end, the majority of the journalists<br />
are volunteers working<br />
freelance and without salary.<br />
The wealthier ones are obligated<br />
to loyally serve<br />
"the bosses" of the<br />
governing political<br />
parties. Their moral<br />
and professional<br />
degradation, from<br />
mandate to mandate,<br />
has made their words,<br />
the moral and professional<br />
reputation of<br />
this company (especially<br />
one part of it),<br />
lose their depth. The<br />
individuals that don't<br />
agree with this situation<br />
withdraw, fall<br />
silent or get fired…<br />
Since the 1960s until<br />
now, it seems that only the available<br />
editorial space has expanded, moreover-a<br />
space with which they seem to<br />
have trouble-they don't know what to<br />
do with it.<br />
The Albanian turmoils in<br />
Macedonia, their dynamic life in all<br />
areas couldn't be documented even if<br />
we had several TV channels, but we<br />
are witnessing-especially during the<br />
summer season-that the most of the<br />
programs being aired are already<br />
aired programs.<br />
131<br />
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003
As if it were yesterday!<br />
132<br />
Gjuner Ismail<br />
What a phenomenon! After only<br />
two years of the Agreement it seems<br />
that many years have passed. In fact, we<br />
are looking at five hundred and some<br />
odd days, and when we reflect a little<br />
bit, sober up, see through the mist of the<br />
intensive everyday life, we realize<br />
defeated that we are more tired, poorer,<br />
and more desperate! On the eve of the<br />
"little jubilee of the agreement," one of<br />
the United Nations agencies in<strong>for</strong>med<br />
us that one third of the population in the<br />
Republic of Macedonia is "on the<br />
verge" of poverty, and as <strong>for</strong> the region,<br />
we are the poorest! If one third of the<br />
population is below the line of poverty,<br />
that means that a decent number of citizens<br />
has joined them, there<strong>for</strong>e, when<br />
you open your eyes in the morning,<br />
regardless of the enthusiastic voices of,<br />
that can be imagined in the Balkan laboratories<br />
<strong>for</strong> Balkan primitiv<strong>ism</strong>, we<br />
were ready and we wanted peace to<br />
happen, we even had energy while<br />
bringing peace to put an astonishing<br />
amount of wisdom, a sound real<strong>ism</strong>, an<br />
atypical sobriety <strong>for</strong> Balkan people in a<br />
Balkan pub. And? No sooner did we<br />
reach the agreement that we asked ourselves:<br />
what now?<br />
Just as a reminder: we expected a<br />
lot from that Agreement, even what was<br />
not stated therein and what was not hidden<br />
potential. Namely we all knew, perhaps<br />
it was already stated somewhere,<br />
that this agreement was only bringing<br />
those to the table who in the past tenodd<br />
years, together with their criminal<br />
associates, tarnished this country and<br />
made it look like a slut, where all sorts<br />
of Ljubes, Thachis, Ljubchos, Brankos<br />
could even organize a war or, not to be<br />
exploring all the good sides of the<br />
Agreement, we polished our languages,<br />
cleaned and refreshed the vocabulary in<br />
various venting conferences, round<br />
tables, workshops. We washed ourselves<br />
clean from all the dirt we took<br />
part in, partly afraid, instructed and a bit<br />
blinded, from what happened in our<br />
garden-a war-we took the road we all<br />
knew (although we are smart, the <strong>for</strong>eigners<br />
prepared a roadmap <strong>for</strong> us), the<br />
path towards the remedial exam, the<br />
path of our last chance! That is the bitterness<br />
of everyone caught red-handed,<br />
caught in ignorance, which is sweetened<br />
by little, intimate, hidden explanations<br />
and assumptions such as "what<br />
would have happened if I did (not) do<br />
this or that?" And then we knew, as<br />
even now we know, that one of the best<br />
scholars of manipulation, the mastermind<br />
of manipulation Xhaferi, knows<br />
The autumn of 2001 was spent in exploring all the good sides of the Ohrid<br />
Agreement, we polished our languages, cleaned and refreshed the vocabulary in<br />
various venting conferences, round tables, workshops. We washed ourselves clean<br />
from all the dirt we took part in, partly afraid, instructed and a bit blinded, from<br />
what happened in our garden-a war-we took the road we all knew (although we<br />
are smart, the <strong>for</strong>eigners prepared a roadmap <strong>for</strong> us), the path towards the remedial<br />
exam, the path of our last chance!<br />
the default optimists, morning radio<br />
announcers, be aware that half of the<br />
population in this country have woken<br />
up desperate!<br />
However, that wasn't the plan nor<br />
did we expect something like that to<br />
happen. In all honesty, two years ago<br />
our visions were different, more precisely<br />
we had a different horizon in<br />
view-the war horizon. Then in the fury<br />
of war, an exceptionally dirty, instructed,<br />
directed and modeled one, in a way<br />
too harsh, let someone organize it! We<br />
believed that the time had come to "pull<br />
the rug out from under" the one and<br />
only and extremely compromised political<br />
elite, though divided among various<br />
political parties, which we elect out<br />
of lack of courage or sheer ignorance,<br />
we will steal the topics (stealing, lying,<br />
selfishness, servility, etc) and we will<br />
provide a new topic-and we won't care<br />
at all! And so things went, <strong>for</strong> a short<br />
time. The autumn of 2001 was spent in<br />
best that:<br />
Albanians believed that too little<br />
has been gained, in comparison with<br />
what could have been gained!<br />
Macedonians believed that they<br />
were exposed to humiliation since they<br />
were bereft of what they didn't want to<br />
give, or would have given but somewhat<br />
later!<br />
However, be as it may: after the<br />
frustrating autumn of 2001, the<br />
Constitution was revised, the amnesty<br />
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003
implemented, the disarmament as well,<br />
so the second part of the operation was<br />
undertaken. The 2002 elections-were<br />
ahead of us! But mind you: although<br />
the enumeration seems simple, and at<br />
first sight there aren't any crucial<br />
events, far be it from us to consider<br />
fatigue a consequence of a disease. A<br />
lot of water passed under the Stone<br />
Bridge. Many things happened to us.<br />
Piles of (seemingly) less important<br />
events, perhaps account <strong>for</strong> why the<br />
timeframe from August 2001 to August<br />
2003 seems so long. High frequency,<br />
high but exhausting, wastes our lives,<br />
in vain!<br />
Furthermore. Not only <strong>for</strong> the sake<br />
of truth, but <strong>for</strong> the sake of using a realistic<br />
approach, we should be aware of<br />
the following: they who brought<br />
Macedonia to this situation did not<br />
want ,and still don't want, to give in<br />
easily. All of them, the locals and the<br />
internationals. However, the locals are<br />
in the limelight now. They soon <strong>for</strong>got<br />
the signature on the documents, as they<br />
surely believed they were expected to<br />
do so! In their delinquent world, the<br />
word and the signature mean nothing,<br />
especially to the Balkan delinquents,<br />
ready to play all the <strong>for</strong>eign double,<br />
triple, multiple games.<br />
This, of course is not a plea that<br />
will produce an alibi <strong>for</strong> anybody, especially<br />
not <strong>for</strong> the ones in government,<br />
however, it should be clear to us that<br />
the human material with which we<br />
compose the government is that onethe<br />
same-and in that sense we are not<br />
talking about an alibi, but instead about<br />
a doubt, a sound one too! So in the end,<br />
this is a small country, we all know<br />
each other!<br />
SO, BACK TO THE<br />
AGREEMENT!<br />
The Parliament, that ratified the<br />
Agreement after the adoption of the<br />
Constitution, the amnesty law and a<br />
sequence of essential laws, mostly by<br />
means of a recognized imported technique<br />
"STAP", left the political scene<br />
after the 2002 autumn elections. After<br />
the elections the political scene was<br />
also missing the political clique that<br />
ruled Macedonia with the manners of a<br />
brutal primitive accumulation (more<br />
precisely stealing!). If you would ask<br />
those million desperate people today,<br />
they will respond that they would put<br />
up with Branko-Ali <strong>for</strong> many (incapable,<br />
taunting) years to come, only to<br />
prevent "the other guys" from coming<br />
back. For the sake of clarity, this refers<br />
to everyone from be<strong>for</strong>e, Albanians and<br />
Macedonians. Some (partly due to the<br />
authorities' inability, partly to the corruption<br />
of the court system, the prosecutor's<br />
office, and partly owing to the<br />
proverb dog does not eat dog..) slightly<br />
fidgeted in the investigation prison<br />
of the "new government," however, to<br />
sum up, they will remain unrepeatable.<br />
Or so at least the citizens of this and<br />
that side of the agreement hope.!<br />
If this can be attributed as a merit to<br />
the Agreement, and perhaps due to the<br />
entire, new circumstances, I think that<br />
the Agreement fulfilled one of the<br />
(un)expected objectives. A paradox, isn't<br />
it? The Constitution (the single relevant<br />
document according to which all political<br />
elites ought to adhere) does not state<br />
anywhere who or what should not be<br />
considered as serious political alternatives.<br />
However, all analyses, surveys<br />
demonstrate that brutal kleptocrates,<br />
provincial warlords, intellectual bluffers,<br />
such as the duo Ljubcho-Arben are<br />
already behind. Even if they relied on a<br />
"short memory," in Washington they<br />
have a longer memory!<br />
And furthermore, the "agreement"<br />
brought some things to Macedonia,<br />
that, surprisingly, we are proud of.<br />
Recently, I was talking with a <strong>for</strong>eigner,<br />
whose country is considering<br />
whether to join the EU, so I described<br />
our situation. I neither praised nor criticized,<br />
I was rather neutral. And he,<br />
with an air of disbelief in his voice,<br />
asks me: So, an Albanian now rises and<br />
speaks Albanian in your Parliament?<br />
He couldn't but feel stunned, not<br />
because of my affirmative answer, but<br />
because of my calm tone of voice and<br />
the additional statement that the<br />
Parliament is "ours," and not only mine<br />
or his! Then he continues to be surprised<br />
because there is an ethnic channel<br />
on the state media and to a heap of<br />
other things which two years ago were<br />
"a living tragedy and a reason to slice<br />
open veins" and are regarded as commonplace<br />
now in Macedonia.<br />
However, we are about to reach the<br />
point. Since the "civilized" encounter<br />
"certain difficulties" with some of their<br />
citizens, I suggested to them, in all<br />
honesty, and not with cynic<strong>ism</strong> as<br />
Macedonian chauvinists do, the model<br />
of the Agreement! Why not?<br />
MANY THINGS<br />
ARE CHANGED<br />
Although we are (in this text) in the<br />
phase of exploring some positive benefits<br />
from the Agreement, we mustn't<br />
allow ourselves to swim in the waters<br />
of optimistic propaganda. Yes, it is correct<br />
that many things are not the same<br />
anymore, some are even better, some<br />
have remained the same and other have<br />
deteriorated. However, it is also true<br />
that many of the "good" things "hardly"<br />
work and still contain a fair amount of<br />
explosive charge. If you put those<br />
"hardly" things in the hands of the<br />
many evil people, or allow <strong>for</strong> routine<br />
and inertia to take over, then very easily<br />
parallel agendas are created from all<br />
those who see and used to see the<br />
Balkans only as a place <strong>for</strong> rolling up<br />
our sleeves and charging bills made<br />
elsewhere and <strong>for</strong> other goals.<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e, always and at every occasion,<br />
I repeat, YOU can be sure: we are<br />
the most responsible <strong>for</strong> the implementation<br />
of the Agreement, however I add<br />
that <strong>for</strong> the destiny of the Agreement,<br />
you the guarantors are even more<br />
responsible!<br />
Macedonia is not the same anymore<br />
and regarding this issue, at least as far as<br />
the normal citizens of this country are<br />
concerned, no one shows any dissatisfaction.<br />
However, un<strong>for</strong>tunately, the<br />
expected, true Macedonia, is not able to<br />
reach any sort of agreement, since the<br />
subject matter is different. Macedonia<br />
that would not wake up in despair,<br />
calamity, poverty and without any<br />
future prospects not contained in the<br />
agreement! It does not begin nor does it<br />
end with the amicable talks between Ali<br />
and Branko, nor with the secret whispers<br />
of their associates with God knows<br />
whom. One thing is certain. Macedonia<br />
will not have situations where the ones<br />
that destroy (our) chances will sit down<br />
together at a table again.<br />
(The author is a publicist)<br />
133<br />
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003
134<br />
A slow but secure train?<br />
Daut Dauti<br />
The Ohrid Agreement started as an<br />
express train and is now continuing as a<br />
regular local train!<br />
This analogy seams to get closest to<br />
the truth. Because two years after its signing,<br />
the Ohrid Framework Agreement is<br />
moving like a train which is neither<br />
express nor fast. In railway terminology<br />
there is another type of train, a local train.<br />
When passengers get on this train, they<br />
should know what to expect-one long ride<br />
with many station stops. If an express train<br />
Skopje-Thessalonica would stop only in<br />
the bigger cities, a local train would collect<br />
passengers at every village station.<br />
THE ABANDONING<br />
OF THE "ITINERARY"<br />
Two years are enough to evaluate one<br />
process. If that process has its own implementation<br />
plan, whose greater or lesser<br />
failures are noted, then the evaluations <strong>for</strong><br />
its success fade.<br />
The Ohrid Agreement, taken in context,<br />
is one of the more dramatic events in<br />
the recent history of the country. It was<br />
preceded by a limited conflict which greatly<br />
resembled an ethnic conflict. Due to the<br />
local character of the crisis, this conflict<br />
didn't worsen ethnic relations, there<strong>for</strong>e<br />
the chances are more realistic that after the<br />
Ohrid Agreement a more harmonious society<br />
might be built. Its essence lies in the<br />
fact that it was achieved with a consensus<br />
of the most relevant parties in the country<br />
(VMRO-DPMNE, DPA, DPP and SDUM)<br />
and it was endorsed without reserve by all<br />
international organs (UN, EU, NATO,<br />
USA). One of the present political leaders,<br />
Ali Ahmeti (DUI), would declare these<br />
days that the history of Macedonia starts<br />
with the Ohrid Agreement. No matter how<br />
much negative critic<strong>ism</strong> it gained in some<br />
media and political circles, it contains one<br />
truth: that this agreement really established<br />
one foundation <strong>for</strong> a <strong>for</strong>tress, which,<br />
if built without architectural mistakes, will<br />
survive all the windstorms and earthquakes<br />
of the time.<br />
But apparently some of its architects,<br />
from the moment they failed to achieve<br />
their goal of remaining in power, have<br />
started behaving rather dishonestly. The<br />
ex-leader of VMRO-DPMNE promotes<br />
the idea of territorial separation; Arben<br />
Xhaferi promotes the idea of ethnic states<br />
(articulated at the DPA congress in July as<br />
the right <strong>for</strong> self-determination). These<br />
actions prove that the challenges to full<br />
implementation of the Agreement haven't<br />
been completely overcome. Some mistakes<br />
happened on the way towards implementation,<br />
which gave the radical <strong>for</strong>ces<br />
an excuse to think that it can't be implemented.<br />
The first mistake was made at the<br />
beginning. Because of the unnecessary<br />
political quarrels (from fear of loosing the<br />
elections), some very sensitive items of the<br />
achieved agreement were revised.<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e, the constitutional changes do<br />
not correspond fully with the agreement<br />
signed in Ohrid.<br />
The second mistake was delaying the<br />
timeframes. Some laws that should have<br />
been voted on by the parliament even<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e the elections were delayed. The initial<br />
delay created space <strong>for</strong> timeframe<br />
delays to seem normal as well as delays in<br />
establishing the new executive and legislative<br />
authorities.<br />
The third mistake is the tendency to reexamine<br />
what has already been achieved<br />
by interpretation and new expertise. An<br />
example is the approval of the regulation<br />
of the work of the Parliament. There, the<br />
right to officially use the Albanian language<br />
was limited to discussions only, and<br />
not in the leading of the meetings. (In the<br />
Ohrid Agreement these kinds of limitations<br />
are not present.) Rightfully addressed<br />
at the political parties in power, DPA has<br />
said that unnecessary bargaining is going<br />
on over issues already defined in Ohrid.<br />
The fourth is some discrepancies in<br />
hiring within the public administration.<br />
The opposition parties (VMRO-DPMNE<br />
It started<br />
"turbo,"<br />
with<br />
appointed<br />
timeframes,<br />
some shorter<br />
some longer.<br />
The UCK<br />
disarmament<br />
and the constitutional<br />
changes were<br />
realized<br />
within the<br />
optimal<br />
deadline, but<br />
everything<br />
else is crawling.<br />
No matter,<br />
the<br />
chances that<br />
the realization<br />
of the<br />
Ohrid<br />
Agreement<br />
will fail are<br />
small,<br />
because<br />
there is both<br />
an internal<br />
and external<br />
political consensus<br />
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003
and DPA) have strongly criticized the<br />
government as far as employment practices<br />
in the administration and public<br />
institutions are concerned. Public<br />
administration, which needs to be<br />
reduced by half, must also employ<br />
more Albanians in order to reach the<br />
"appropriate" number of them. DPA has<br />
criticized DUI as a party in power <strong>for</strong><br />
allowing Albanians to be fired from<br />
their jobs as well, since their percentage,<br />
as <strong>for</strong>eseen by the agreement, hasn't<br />
been reached. The arguments of the<br />
current government are reasonable: a<br />
large number of the appointments are<br />
made according to political criteria and<br />
many of the employees didn't have<br />
appropriate agreements with the<br />
employee. But firing an Albanian (even<br />
to replace him with some other<br />
Albanian), speaks loads about the discrepancies.<br />
As far as this problem is<br />
concerned, this is Government's indifference<br />
towards explaining to citizens<br />
that the Macedonians are not being<br />
fired from their positions in public<br />
administration so that the Albanians<br />
can get in, but that the International<br />
Monetary Fund is dictating this based<br />
on their reviews of all the budget<br />
parameters. On the other hand, it needs<br />
to be explained more clearly that<br />
Albanians are coming into the administration<br />
in order to realize a right which<br />
has been denied <strong>for</strong> decades. As the<br />
leaders of DUI report, what can be considered<br />
a success is the unprecedented<br />
presence of Albanians in the higher<br />
third echelon.<br />
Five: there have been and there are<br />
still ef<strong>for</strong>ts to ignore the Amnesty Law<br />
by some judges and public prosecutors,<br />
as well as by the police earlier when<br />
Ljube Boshkovski was minister of<br />
internal affairs. Some procedures did<br />
not get to their appropriate court epilogue.<br />
THE OHRID AGREEMENT<br />
CANNOT FAIL<br />
Despite all the possible critic<strong>ism</strong>s<br />
regarding the implementation dynamics,<br />
the Ohrid Agreement is a political<br />
project with a negligible chance of failure.<br />
Regardless of the obstructions at<br />
the beginning, all the obligations are<br />
being passed one by one to the<br />
Parliament <strong>for</strong> voting, albeit a bit late.<br />
At the beginning, only the disarmament<br />
of the NLA (as a symbolic political gesture)<br />
and the constitutional changes<br />
were done in time, whereas everything<br />
else has been moving along at a very<br />
slow pace. This was obviously influenced<br />
by some very dramatic movements<br />
within the opposition parties:<br />
Ljubcho Georgievski's resignation, the<br />
resignations of Arben Xhaferi and<br />
Menduh Thachi and DPA's moratorium<br />
from political life, which lasted from<br />
April until July this year. Their absence<br />
was not so productive, but their readiness<br />
to see their obligations through<br />
gives us hope that there won't be any<br />
other serious obstructions. VMRO,<br />
with its new leader, Nikola Gruevski<br />
supports the agreement (contrary to<br />
Georgievski, whose position was problematic<br />
from time to time). DPA's ultimatums,<br />
and DPP's subsequent ones,<br />
created additional complications, but I<br />
think the complications were mostly in<br />
the eyes of the public rather than actual<br />
ones. Both of them request full and<br />
timely implementation of the<br />
Agreement. DPA has announced that it<br />
will start working towards the creation<br />
of national states according to the principle<br />
of self-determination, while DPP<br />
says that it will activate political and<br />
territorial autonomy available since<br />
1991. From this stance of extreme ultimatums,<br />
which contains many elements<br />
of political posturing, it is clear<br />
that they haven't given up on the Ohrid<br />
Agreement after all. Harsh critic<strong>ism</strong>s<br />
from the OSCE, the EU, and the US<br />
towards the positions of DPA's congress<br />
on self-determination, clearly<br />
underlines that the maneuvers to get out<br />
of the political frame inaugurated in<br />
Ohrid are quite minor. Any party that<br />
would distance itself from the obligations<br />
that come out from the signatures<br />
of their leaders, risks marginalization<br />
and isolation, especially by the international<br />
institutions.<br />
If we want to find out whether we<br />
are happier then be<strong>for</strong>e, the answer is<br />
problematic. Contrary to all the challenges<br />
and the fragility of security in<br />
the country, the situation in general can<br />
be considered promising. We are far<br />
from saying that the goal has been<br />
achieved. One succession of negative<br />
events, such as the large number of<br />
criminal acts (murders, robberies, kidnappings…),<br />
especially in the Albanian<br />
surroundings, indicates the need to<br />
work harder on getting back to normal<br />
life. The upcoming autumn action <strong>for</strong><br />
weapons collection may be very useful,<br />
but it will soon be proved that it will not<br />
be fully realized either. The authorities<br />
need to act more energetically (both the<br />
police and judicial system) on the<br />
investigation of the cases and punishment<br />
<strong>for</strong> all criminal acts that have<br />
already taken place or will happen in<br />
the future.<br />
As a conclusion, let us get back to<br />
the trains. It is not the same, travelling<br />
in an express or local train. The difference<br />
is even more obvious if the passengers<br />
board an express noticing only<br />
later that the driver is stopping at every<br />
local station. The passengers bought a<br />
ticket <strong>for</strong> an express, so every delay<br />
causes anxiety and brings on impatience.<br />
The only satisfaction <strong>for</strong> the<br />
passengers could be the conductor's<br />
guarantee that no matter what the delay,<br />
and though it was due in the morning,<br />
the train will arrive by dusk.<br />
The important thing is that it arrive.<br />
(The author is a<br />
journalist at Flaka)<br />
135<br />
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003
Tradition should be<br />
conquered continuously<br />
136<br />
Danilo Kocevski<br />
With the new situation created<br />
after the 2001 conflict,<br />
many people, mainly the<br />
good-willed, remained confused:<br />
hey, haven't we lived<br />
together in this region, do we<br />
have to be taught to live<br />
together now?<br />
Tradition, like freedom, is<br />
not permanent, it must be<br />
asserted time and again. Some<br />
elements of a certain tradition<br />
remain, another disappears, a<br />
third should be updated. Many<br />
misunderstandings are justly<br />
created by the fact that today,<br />
in the beginning of the twentyfirst<br />
century and the new millennium,<br />
the international<br />
community is about to instruct<br />
us how to live together! And<br />
so it will, since we unreasonably<br />
and without any grounds<br />
introduce "disorder in the system,"<br />
we cut off and question<br />
tradition. The reason why certain<br />
civilizations at times suddenly<br />
fail, are not always fully<br />
accounted <strong>for</strong>. Apparently, in a<br />
broader macro-dimension a<br />
spiritual, economic, moral or<br />
social impediment obstructs.<br />
And then, everything must<br />
start again, although certain<br />
aspects from previous<br />
achievements and tradition<br />
remain in some <strong>for</strong>m. The<br />
stronger the tradition, the<br />
more chance that its elements<br />
may "survive," may trans<strong>for</strong>m<br />
themselves into new <strong>for</strong>ms. At<br />
times the <strong>for</strong>ces of destruction<br />
can't destroy everything, but<br />
they question things to a great<br />
extent and seek new ways of<br />
revision that are inevitable.<br />
If one takes into account<br />
the tradition of cohabitation in<br />
the past two centuries, it is<br />
obvious that there have been<br />
oscillations, ups and downs.<br />
Forces of progress and<br />
destruction have continuously<br />
changed places. However<br />
<strong>for</strong>ces of progress have prevailed<br />
here. In that sense and<br />
spirit I wrote my article in the<br />
previous issue of Multiethnic<br />
Forum, "The Bazaar means<br />
encounter, not separation."<br />
This text is only its logical<br />
succession. For, if the tradition<br />
of cohabitation is strong <strong>for</strong> a<br />
longer period, it will survive<br />
more easily all the shattering<br />
and re-examinations. Today<br />
we are obviously under such<br />
shattering and re-examinations.<br />
After my text was published<br />
in Multiethnic Forum, a<br />
friend Z. from Skopje whom I<br />
have known since be<strong>for</strong>e the<br />
earthquake encounters me in<br />
the Bazaar, riding his bicycle.<br />
I admire him because each<br />
weekend, he rides through the<br />
hills surrounding Skopje by<br />
bike.<br />
"We read your article in<br />
Multiethnic Forum", he says,<br />
S. did too (he is our mutual<br />
childhood<br />
friend, an<br />
Albanian).<br />
He believes<br />
that children<br />
should read<br />
it and<br />
remember it<br />
as well. To<br />
make them<br />
see how life<br />
used to be<br />
be<strong>for</strong>e.<br />
And that<br />
is exactly<br />
what we<br />
need: if tradition<br />
is<br />
strong, it<br />
can not be<br />
overlooked<br />
or <strong>for</strong>gotten.<br />
Destruction<br />
can not<br />
undermine<br />
or obliterate<br />
it.<br />
I often sit by the fountain,<br />
in the heart of<br />
the Old Bazaar, under<br />
the shadows of the<br />
huge oak tree and the<br />
water that gurgles<br />
pleasantly in the middle<br />
of the fountain<br />
between the restaurant<br />
tables set all<br />
around. I order a cup<br />
of coffee, but coffee is<br />
no good without a cigarette.<br />
My pack is<br />
empty. Opposite me a<br />
gentleman sits and<br />
smokes the same<br />
brand . As soon as he<br />
notices my problem,<br />
he kindly offers me<br />
cigarettes, we<br />
exchange a few words<br />
and he invites me to<br />
sit at his table<br />
All of<br />
this brought<br />
memories of<br />
our old family<br />
friendships with Albanians,<br />
and not only with them, but<br />
with close people from other<br />
ethnic communities. Do you<br />
remember the last time you<br />
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003
ead an article about such family<br />
friendships? I am sure you don't.<br />
Not about childhood friendship,<br />
nor about un<strong>for</strong>gettable street<br />
friendship, but about mutual<br />
respect and visits between families?<br />
And those are the stories written<br />
exactly from life itself. There<br />
are many of them here. We shouldn't<br />
<strong>for</strong>get them.<br />
Right after the earthquake, we<br />
were moved from the old part of<br />
Skopje to the newly established<br />
residential area. One of those<br />
areas, built by Slovenians, was<br />
Vlae. During a stay in the State<br />
hospital, a family member made<br />
friends with an Albanian, J., the<br />
latter coming from a beautiful village<br />
behind Vodno. The friendship<br />
turned into a family friendship and<br />
later visits: he stayed at our home<br />
with his family and we stayed at<br />
his in the village behind Vodno.<br />
The closeness was so strong<br />
that J. started addressing us using<br />
our nicknames, as we addressed<br />
each other in everyday family<br />
communication!<br />
In the mid 1970s, while serving<br />
in the army in Samobor near<br />
Zagreb, I made friends with Z, an<br />
Albanian from the village<br />
Kopanica (the "last post office of<br />
Bojane" as we used to call it)<br />
which afterwards turned into a<br />
family friendship.<br />
When I visited him and his<br />
family I brought him presents,<br />
when he visited me he brought<br />
presents too, beautiful skillfully<br />
knitted woolen socks. The friendship<br />
with Z. lasted <strong>for</strong> a long time,<br />
since he worked in a department of<br />
the Goce Delchev printing company,<br />
the one in the centre of Skopje,<br />
which no longer exists today! One<br />
article can hardly grasp the authenticity<br />
of friendships and respect we<br />
had with Albanians, Turks, Vlachs,<br />
Serbs, Bosnians, Roma in Skopje.<br />
My best friend from high school,<br />
J.T., at the end of the 1960s took<br />
me to Krushevo <strong>for</strong> the first time,<br />
in his family house with a great<br />
and rich Vlach tradition. His<br />
grandmother, still alive at the time,<br />
told us about Ilinden and the day<br />
Krushevo succumbed. She even<br />
remembered details, although she<br />
was a girl at that time. I made<br />
friends with T.M. there, who later<br />
became a prominent skier, and J.,<br />
who studied French.<br />
Apart from T. who was into<br />
sports, we would visit the restaurant<br />
in the centre, held by the well<br />
known caterers J. and P., who later<br />
took over the Writers' Club in<br />
Skopje. We would go down into<br />
the monastery woods, and sang the<br />
song "Dafino, vino<br />
crveno"(Dafina, red wine) we<br />
would first go red from the wine<br />
and then got pale and white as the<br />
beautiful bed covers from<br />
Krushevo. What can I say about<br />
friendship with the Turks, we were<br />
like brothers, since our houses<br />
were separated by only one garden<br />
door. What can I possibly say<br />
about the mutual family visits with<br />
Romot-a porter first in<br />
Kooperativa, later in Vardar and<br />
after that in Tehnometal Vardar?<br />
He came <strong>for</strong> Easter, we visited <strong>for</strong><br />
Gjurgjovden in Topaana, never<br />
thinking that we could miss the<br />
great holiday!<br />
Well, that is life! That is the<br />
grandeur and uniqueness of life.<br />
That's how we were, that was our<br />
destiny, and nobody can change it.<br />
Regardless of whether somebody<br />
suppresses or assists us.<br />
Nowadays, it is called "multiethnic<br />
living," "cohabitation between ethnic<br />
communities," "multicultural<br />
living" or the Framework<br />
Agreement. Fine. But it all sounds<br />
so pale and unconvincing.<br />
Artificial. And it is our fault.<br />
Because tradition is not permanent,<br />
it should be continuously<br />
cherished, updated, renewed. Like<br />
freedom, like wooing the woman<br />
you love, like something sacred<br />
and precious. Nothing is given <strong>for</strong><br />
good, unchanged. We must be<br />
wary of destruction as it preys on<br />
us at each step. And if the framework<br />
means progress, and not<br />
destruction, can anyone speak<br />
against it? Of course not, provided<br />
we do not confuse the terms<br />
progress and destruction. Not to<br />
confuse them and advocate real<br />
values.<br />
My story about the family<br />
friendships was not accidental. It<br />
137<br />
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003
138<br />
is only an introduction of what follows<br />
below, depicting a part of the<br />
current situation.<br />
I often sit by the fountain, in the<br />
heart of the Old Bazaar, under the<br />
shadows of the huge oak tree and the<br />
water that gurgles pleasantly in the<br />
middle of the fountain between the<br />
restaurant tables set all around.<br />
I order a cup of coffee, but coffee<br />
is no good without a cigarette.<br />
My pack is empty. Opposite me a<br />
gentleman sits and smokes the same<br />
brand. As soon as he notices my<br />
problem, he kindly offers me cigarettes,<br />
we exchange a few words and<br />
he invites me to sit at his table.<br />
I take a seat, we talk, and I try to<br />
recognize in him a face that probably<br />
lives near the Bazaar whom I might<br />
have met be<strong>for</strong>e.<br />
No, we haven't met be<strong>for</strong>e - he<br />
smiles. I am Albanian and I live in<br />
Arachinovo. I find it pleasant here so<br />
I often come.<br />
He tells his story. For years he<br />
has been teaching in the school in<br />
Arachinovo. He is retired now.<br />
Doesn't look like a retiree though, he<br />
looks bold and energetic. We<br />
exchange opinions about the current<br />
situation. We skip nothing. Not even<br />
the most sensitive problem. He is a<br />
pleasant and tolerant talker.<br />
In the course of the conversation<br />
I asked him a question, expecting to<br />
confuse him. It turned out that the<br />
question did not confuse him but he<br />
was rather glad.<br />
"May I visit you at home in<br />
Arachinovo?" I asked. "I have never<br />
been there, except to pass through. I<br />
will afterwards invite you to my<br />
home.<br />
"Why not?" he smiled. "It will<br />
be my pleasure. I will now explain<br />
how we can meet in the best way."<br />
And he started explaining which<br />
bus I should take to arrive in<br />
Arachinovo, provided I don't have a<br />
car. He pointed where exactly the<br />
bus stops in the village. He would<br />
meet me at the bus stop which is not<br />
far away from his house.<br />
And most importantly: he left his<br />
full name, his mobile and his fixed<br />
phone number. I wrote down in my<br />
notebook: I.S, mobile, home number.<br />
After that, events happened, only<br />
a few days after our conversation:<br />
the murder of the Albanian while the<br />
police were trying to arrest him in<br />
the Chento area, then the assault on<br />
the journalists, the blocking of the<br />
police station.<br />
Of course, our meeting was temporarily<br />
delayed. But it wasn't cancelled.<br />
It is because contacts must be<br />
alpha and omega in this region.<br />
Without them everything will fall<br />
down like a tower of cards, and they<br />
can contribute the most to taking<br />
down the masks and bringing back<br />
our confidence.<br />
Tradition should be upgraded and<br />
affirmed time and again and nothing<br />
is a given <strong>for</strong> ever, especially not in<br />
crisis situations. We said the<br />
Framework Agreement can be<br />
accepted only as progress <strong>for</strong> everybody,<br />
not as destruction. But we<br />
must clarify what is progress and<br />
what is destruction. If progress is a<br />
setback <strong>for</strong> one party and destruction<br />
<strong>for</strong> the others, and if destruction is<br />
progress and promotion <strong>for</strong> the others,<br />
then we haven't done anything.<br />
And it seems at the moment this is<br />
exactly what is happening to us. We<br />
are still on the dangerous swing<br />
between trust and distrust, under<br />
which a dangerous abyss sprawls.<br />
Tomorrow all peacekeepers will<br />
leave and we will remain with each<br />
other. And with tradition, our noble<br />
one, the one we can rely on which is<br />
a result of the life processes, contradictory,<br />
complex, nonetheless<br />
remains open <strong>for</strong> new, constructive<br />
movements and affirmations.<br />
Sitting in the Bazaar and sitting<br />
in Arachinovo (with the internally<br />
displaced safely returned) should not<br />
differ. It should be like be<strong>for</strong>e. And<br />
that benefit should be renewed again.<br />
All together.<br />
(The author is a publicist<br />
and a journalist)<br />
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003