Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

Pluralism and us 

Polyparty-ism 

Ten years after the fall of the socialist system and promotion 

of the idea for new political restructuring, we are 

still at the very outset of the process and far from actual 

pluralism. 

Mirjana Najchevska 

One of the main causes of the fall 

of the system known as self-managed 

socialism in the former Socialist 

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as 

well as in the Republic of Macedonia 

as its federal member, was the predominance 

of commonly-defined 

meaning and the one-dimensional 

nature of political structures and of 

wider social structures. Unanimity, 

the single-party spirit and monopoly 

are terms that describe the relations 

and the structures within this system. 

A plurality of interests does occur up 

to a certain level within its structures. 

However, it is constrained and functionally 

related to the existence of one 

option, one party and one vision. 

While changing and defining democracy 

and democratization, among 

other things, the idea for establishing 

a multifarious pluralistic system was 

introduced. This system would be 

based on the ideals of civil society 

and would comply with the new 

political structuring. 

Ten years after the fall of the 

socialist system and promotion of 

the idea for new political restructuring, 

we are still at the very outset 

of the process and far from 

actual pluralism (both the one 

which rests within us and the one 

made manifest in the state and 

political structures). 

"ETHNIC PLURALISM" 

The greatest achievement in the 

Republic of Macedonia's pluralistic 

reformation is the multiparty system. 

Formally, we have come 

incredibly far in this dimension of 

pluralism. More than 40 political 

parties have been registered within 

Macedonia, which may seem like 

broad political diversity, exhibiting 

potential for the promotion and 

development of politically alternative 

directions. However, if we 

look into the platforms of particular 

parties or moreover into their actual 

political engagement and practical 

work, we discover little variety 

or differing views. The main distinguishing 

principle which demarcates 

among the particular parties 

is the line of ethnicity and ethnic 

groups. The parties are ethnically 

homogenous enough for one to say 

that each party is a party of 

Macedonians, Albanians, Turks, or 

Romas. Unlike the plurality on 

paper, we still cannot talk about 

real plurality within the political 

parties (especially in terms of 

diverse ethnic affiliation). 

The political parties are so 

homogenous and "ethnically clean" 

which is patently obvious in their 

platforms. These agendas can be 

immediately classified according 

to the ethnic affiliation of the members 

in that particular party. They 

differ among themselves, above all, 

based on common ethnic determination 

and the different approaches 

for raising issues and solving 

problems). 

This is particularly conspicuous 

among the parties whose very 

names and external party symbols 

declare them as belonging to a particular 

ethnic group (equally evident 

among certain Macedonian, 

Albanian, Turkish and Roma parties). 

Their basic assumptions, 

which can be identified as democratic 

and civil, are very often neglected 

because of their ethnic 

exclusivity and articulation of specific, 

ethnically defined interests 

and needs. Thus in the overall func- 

5 

Ten years of pluralism, December 2000

6 

tioning of the government and in 

effecting legislative and executive 

power, the collective one-dimensional 

interest easily dominates, 

while the civil pluralism of the 

individual interests expressed hardly 

comes to the fore. 

THE INDIVIDUAL 

IS ASSIMILATED INTO 

THE ETHNIC COLLECTIVE 

The ideas of pluralism and 

alternativism, which is neglected in 

our multiparty system, penetrates 

neither in the wider structuring of 

the community nor does it successfully 

promote the civic ideal as a 

basis for the new political system. 

The individual is still assimilated 

into the ethnic collective, which 

limits the flexibility of associating 

according to interests of policy. 

This is one of the main obstacles in 

the actual system of pluralism in 

the Republic of Macedonia. 

Namely, diversity is manifested 

above all collectively (by the 

group) while its promotion and protection 

is sought through the work 

of the political party. This on one 

hand boils down the overall diversity 

first of all to ethnic diversity 

alone, which unifies the group and 

prevents the manifestation of other 

forms of plurality and dissent, provided 

it is not according to ethnic 

differentiation or it goes beyond the 

rubrik of ethnic differentiation. 

On the other hand, such an 

approach gives a monolithic facade 

and the apparent absence of plurality 

within particular ethnic groups. 

When the pluralism in the group 

runs up against the need of the 

group to display a homogenous and 

unanimous structure, the pluralism 

disappears, becomes subdued or 

even violently destroys itself. The 

example of the latest turbulent relations 

between the two largest 

"Albanian" parties in the Republic 

of Macedonia highlights this problem 

significantly. In such circumstances 

the ideals of democracy and 

civic behaviour are implied. They 

are reduced to the values of multiparty 

systems and multiplicity in 

ethnic affiliation, the roads to individualization 

become closed, and a 

favourable climate is created for 

directives replacing alternatives. 

In the absence of actual plurality, 

the notion of flexibility of civic 

connections is especially endangered. 

People are condemned to 

experience a certain petrifaction of 

ethnic affiliations and they are 

restricted in their choice of common 

interests only under the shelter 

of ethnic affiliation. 

This results in another illusory 

plurality, which appears within 

civil society and civic organizing 

among people. Namely, there are 

around 2,000 citizens associations 

registered in the Republic of 

Macedonia. However, this multiplicity 

(very similar to the party 

structuring) is not at all a reflection 

of the diversity of comprised interests 

and manifested differences, but 

largely due to a very specific and 

unproductive practice of establishing 

non-governmental organizations 

which are ethnically defined. 

Each and every non-governmental 

organization occurs in several variants 

depending on the ethnic affiliation 

of its members. (For example: 

Organization of Macedonian 

Women, Organization of Albanian 

Women, Roma women, Turkish, 

Vlachs and Serb women.) This kind 

of multiplicity once more delimits 

and unifies the differences based on 

ethnic affiliation. The most terrifying 

aspect perhaps is the fact that 

the activists thus create an illusion 

that they are doing something 

"important and justified" and that 

they contribute to building a democratic 

society. Seldom do we talk 

about exhausting ourselves or 

being captured within the vicious 

circle of mutual denial while the 

actual results from the project of 

creation, multiplication or 

improvement of citizens' social 

opportunity disappear from the 

horizon. More remarkable is the 

fact that, apart from the shifts in 

this ethnic-party and ethnic-NGO 

pluralism, there are no visible 

changes in the presentations of 

actual situations, relations and 

processes tied to this versatility. In 

the domains where versatility 

should appear in order to create a 

clear picture of the issues, or to act 

accordingly and to apply the most 

appropriate mechanisms, this versatility 

is denied or consciously 

neglected. This refers especially to 

all statistical data, but also to all 

forms of representation of the 

Republic of Macedonia abroad. 

With this development of quasipluralism 

instead of real diversity, 

the Republic of Macedonia loses 

one of its greatest advantages and 

one of its eminent characteristics. 

Macedonia loses the characteristics 

of a real multicultural, multinational 

and multiconfessional community 

which, by its own structure and 

its own way of being, is oriented 

towards respecting differences and 

nourishing pluralism at all levels of 

its own structuring. At this point it 

starts to lag behind in the field of 

global individualization, which is 

the basis of the concept of human 

rights and freedom. Having in mind 

that the socialist self-management 

did not allow the conceptual individual 

to develop consciously, or at 

least, declaring that sit was doing it 

for "noble reasons"-it would be too 

much of a luxury should Macedonia 

repeat that history-and this time 

for other reasons, assuredly noble 

again. 

(The author is a senior 

research fellow at the Institute 

for Social, Political 

and Juridical Research) 


The custom officer 

asks the boy 

to open the box. 

The boy hesitates 

for a moment. 

The order is 

repeated. The 

boy, having no 

choice, opens the 

box. Two 

Bulgarian 

turkeys, that 

have "crossed" 

undetected "the 

soon-to-be 

Schengen border," 

pop their 

heads out of the 

box. The turkeys, 

as if released, 

utter sharp 

shrieks, which 

were probably 

suppressed for a 

long time and can 

undoubtedly be 

heard on the 

other side of the 

border. The boy 

looks at the custom 

officer with 

fear, but to everyone's 

surprise, 

the officer laughs 

naturally and 

sweetly. 

Europe and us 

The schengen turkeys 

Luan Starova 

Some time ago, to meet a 

respectable Bulgarian writer friend, I 

had to travel from Skopje to Sofia 

and return on the same day. I decided 

to travel by bus. The departure from 

Skopje was in the early morning, 

whereas the returning from Sofia was 

planned for the late evening hours. I 

did not find the journey to Sofia too 

long with a Proleter bus, which was 

obviously worn out, most likely from 

its "proletarian days." There were 

few passengers. Then at the border 

crossing we waited less than the 

transporter anticipated, so we arrived 

in Sofia an hour and a half early. I 

had more than three hours available 

for the meeting with Bulgarian literature 

and unavoidable political topics, 

especially for our "stabilization and 

association" within the framework of 

the European Union. My friend 

talked to me with excitement and 

optimism about his country's May 

entry in the European Schengen 

Zone. Optimistically, but also a little 

bit fantasy-prone ( recalling one 

diplomatic proverb, which says that 

optimists are those who are ill 

informed) we both concluded that 

happier days are yet to come for the 

Balkans. Lucky us! 

After the wonderful welcome and 

the quick tour through beautiful 

Sofia, which is adopting the rhythm 

of European capitals, we went to the 

bus terminal. Here, there was a 

chaotic turmoil of busses to all destinations 

in the Balkans, Europe and 

Asia. Big luxurious busses with all 

possible comforts. At the periphery 

of the terminal, I found my Proleter, 

which looked as if it had pulled in 

from some era other than in the present. 

I recognized a few of the returning 

passengers from this morning. 

New passengers arrived and the bus 

fills up. 

In the dark Balkan night the bus 

headed towards the Bulgarian- 

Macedonian border. The driver in the 

bus couldn't turn the heating system 

off, so it becomes hot as hell. He 

managed to hit almost every hole in 

the road, while we passengers seated 

on the clacking seats, felt as if we 

were in the rodeo. 

Fortunately, there is a pause. Here 

we are at the border on the Bulgarian 

side. The bus stands for a long time 

with the engine idling. An order 

comes: "All passengers out!" They 

line us up, everybody with their own 

suitcase or plastic bag, cardboard 

box, backpack or a modern travelling 

bag. They leave us standing still for a 

minute, two, three. The two custom 

officers keep a close eye on every 

passenger, they follow every facial 

movement, every suitcase. A young 

customs officer with a flashlight in 

the dark night checks each corner of 

the bus whose luggage compartment 

doors are opened upwards. It is unbelievably 

quiet at the border. The elegantly 

dressed customs officer, as if 

he were at a fashion parade beside 

the suffering passengers, operates 

quickly, in command. With the flashlight 

he checks even in coat pockets, 

he also checks in the bags. It is forbidden 

to take anything alive, 

uncooked or partially baked across, it 

says clearly on the billboard in front 

of our eyes. At last the operation 

ends. "Safe and sound," we continue 

our journey through the speedy passport 

control. The ramp is slowly 

being lifted upwards at the Balkan 

border. A border is always the same, 

difficult to change no matter how 

much they change it, especially in the 

Balkans… 

Now, we are on our Macedonian 

7 


8 

territory, soon to be "stabilized and 

associated" in the European Union, 

just as we left the "soon-to-be 

Schengen country." Our customs officers 

are obviously more relaxed, 

more tolerant. But the ritual remains 

the same, a border is a border. Pitiful, 

we are getting off the bus with our 

same small bags, boxes and suitcases. 

And again the customs officer quickly 

inspects . Everyone has in front of 

his feet his own "fortune or sin." The 

crude Balkan mentality does not 

change quickly, especially not when 

we await quick salvation in Europe's 

embrace. 

The customs officer, who is keeping 

a watchful eye on the passengers' 

facial expressions, stops short in front 

of a boy who has a solid, closed cardboard 

box with small, almost invisible 

holes by his feet. Calmly, he asks 

the boy to open the box. The boy hesitates 

for a moment. The order is 

repeated. The boy, having no choice, 

opens the box. Two Bulgarian turkeys 

that have "crossed" undetected the 

soon-to-be Schengen border, pop 

their heads out of the box. The 

turkeys, as if released, utter sharp 

shrieks, which were probably suppressed 

for a long time and which can 

undoubtedly be heard on the other 

side of the border. 

The boy looks at the customs officer 

with fear, but to everyone's surprise, 

the officer laughs naturally and 

sweetly. The rest of the passengers 

laugh too. A young, black-eyed and 

elegant female customs officer laughs 

sweetly too. Everybody laughs. And 

the turkeys are joyful. 

The boy and the turkeys are the 

real heroes of the moment at the border 

between two countries. 

We cross the soon-to-be Schengen 

border into this part of the Western 

Balkans. The turkeys are triumphantly 

returned to the luggage compartment 

of the bus. 

And so on our way from the border 

to Skopje, our Schengen turkeys 

accompany us, the future Balkan passengers 

to Europe. 

(The author is a writer) 

Ten years later (or a view 

from both sides) 

Long live 

the new Yalta 

Guner Ismail 

In this instance, some of us at least had the privilege of 

viewing history not only from up close, but also from the other 

side-at the end of the 1980s and from this side, today! 

When the wall was falling down in Berlin, at that time, let's 

be frank, we were not even anticipating that in fact the entire 

world's geopolitical map was being redefined, albeit temporarily! 

We heard it, saw it and read it, thinking all the while that 

this was all far away from us, happening to someone else, and 

that our perfect, or so-called "good" socialism, 

despite the difficulties, would survive 

and would outlive all the "bad" socialisms 

and even the "worse" capitalisms. If somebody 

were to tell us that in less then two 

years that our former motherland would be 

knee deep in bloodshed, we would have 

declared them a madman or a spy from the 

CIA, the KGB or similar headquarters of 

evil! 

However, when things started progressing, 

beyond our own will or fault, and when 

certain catastrophic predictions of the 

Western historians were fulfilled-who said 

that Yugoslavia would go up in flames-it 

was already late and impossible to right 

ourselves onto a certain civilized course. The world, as it was 

drawn up on the famous historical paper napkin in Yalta 

(Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt) was collapsing. Many naive people 

were anticipating the collapse of the military-political 

block, whereas they (that's us) were thinking that with its collapsing, 

the reasons for the other block's existence would also 

cease. Well, weren't we non-aligned? 

Of course, this was not an uncontrolled break-up, it was 

instead buying time for civilization to pull itself together, in a 

way for everyone to take a short breather and, if at all possible, 

to regroup in the muddy waters for tomorrow and beyond...!? 

Of course, this is just the global part, and in this global 

flow, as we all witnessed more or less, the federal and fraternal 

Although from my 

perspective this 

brief history can 

be called a history 

of missed chances 

and opportunities, 

we can say that 

Macedonia is still 

on this side of the 

line that Churchill 

drew on the 

famous paper 

napkin 


Yugoslav state, along with its 

nations and ethnicities, made a 

huge contribution-with no lesson 

for the future naturally! 

At that time, at least here in 

Macedonia, the vast majority of 

the population was preoccupied 

with their new idol Miloshevich. 

Due to the new rhetoric, new topics, 

the "merciless" settling up 

with the fat cats began. The 

lumpen proletariat engaged in 

famous yogurt marches. Ferocious 

hatred was aimed at the stand-in 

Negroes or Jews: Albanians. The 

final settling up with the unambiguous 

frog spawn in post-Tito, 

committee-union-socialist association 

structures began. 

Miloshevic in the dirtiest possible 

way stimulated the lowest individual 

and social passions of the 

maximally pauperized crowds, 

whose minds were undergoing a 

final phase of brainwashing with 

the help of semiliterate journalists, 

as well as the help of the fiery and 

frenetic offensive of turbo-folk 

music and other kitsch stuff. 

Only a handful of people dared 

to view the world and what occupies 

it differently, and tried to 

draft the future differently while 

searching for the most suitable 

patterns or models to prevent the 

heartaches that (as we know today 

with certainty) the projected chaos 

would bring. 

It was very clear that there 

would be nothing left of the common 

fatherland and it was even 

clearer that any sudden movement 

could produce great uneasiness 

among the ranks of the already 

angered soldiers, who were managed 

by an almost virtual, or best 

said, by a distant central command. 

Macedonia, being small, 

had not been clearly positioned on 

that famous paper napkin, as if 

Churchill's hand had shook while 

drawing the zigzag line, like a 

seismograph. 

In all that turmoil and all that 

chaos, we still had strength and 

plenty of optimism to think of 

Macedonia as a country with sufficient 

prospects. We made efforts 

within the boundaries of the possible 

to further build in the direction 

of a new, civil, market-oriented, 

NATO-defended, EU-style civilized 

state. With all the handicaps 

that cling to this neighbourhood of 

petty and dirty Balkan imperialists, 

ambitious pyromaniacs who 

are all nothing more than extended 

handshakes of global sharks. 

(It became clear that our world 

would start at Gevgelija and end at 

Tabanovce, that the song "From 

Vardar to Triglav" had turned cynical 

and that the curse laid upon 

people from this area would 

become the reality: to be born in 

one state and-without ever having 

moved from it-to die in their old 

age in another state) Over those 

several years perhaps we wasted a 

lot of time, but we also lost many 

human relationships, we lost 

many people, we lost sincerity 

and, fortunately, perhaps even our 

naivete! 

We believed that Yalta had 

broken up, that the Komintern had 

broken up and that Warsaw and 

Brussels had broken up. We 

believed that the murky committee 

people and similar socialist 

time-wasters had found irreversible 

political retirement, that it 

was over and done with, all that 

ideological-party qualifications 

and disqualifications. We believed 

that the new world, the new order 

of things-despite the degree of 

suspicion with which we viewed 

it-would still represent the start of 

something different and more 

beautiful! It was not because we 

did not know all the leftist criticisms 

of capitalism, including all 

the moral and immoral aspects of 

the world, where the final 

accounting begins and ends. We 

knew this, but we also understood 

that that model, that civilization is 

more vital and the worker lives a 

much easier and richer life in the 

capitalist hell than in the socialist 

heaven. Especially not in the 

heaven, whose psyche in recent 

years was totally ruralized; in 

Macedonia it was governed by a 

degenerated structure, some kind 

of mixture of youth and smalltime 

party officials, wheeler dealers, 

already deeply and immorally 

tied to criminals and "appropriate" 

police structures manned according 

to criteria of "loyalties" 

invented by semi-literate cops 

whose horizons never reached any 

further than the holes in their outhouses. 

This was approximately the 

9 


10 

way our cautious, some would say 

necessary, optimism looked, a little 

more than ten years ago, from the 

other side of the things, at the 

beginning. 

If this were a diary entry or a 

more ambitious chronology 

(accompanied by commentary), 

maybe the reconstruction would 

have been more detailed. Even if it 

is about fast-paced times, still the 

judgment of history will have plenty 

of verdicts to make. We are left 

with identifying some places where 

we can quite openly conclude that 

we are walking around in circles or 

in a Nietzschean way, which is one 

and the same, we will conclude that 

things are moving within the syntagma 

of "eternal return to the 

same!" 

At the beginning of the 1920s, a 

smart and very conservative 

Spanish man, who had a very 

strange and long name, said that 

when worlds collapse, when great 

value systems fall apart, then the 

crowd comes to the world's stage, 

or as he said: "the masses' uprising 

follows," with all that this uprising 

assumes: lack of any value system, 

lack of any kind of social, psychological, 

moral boundaries, lawlessness 

in society is an everyday certainty, 

because the old laws are no 

longer applicable and there are no 

new laws, or they are created by 

those who do not want to know 

about law and order, since their 

basic principle is the rule of chaos! 

During the days when Macedonia 

was destined to become independent, 

the independence, the material from 

which this state was supposed to be 

made, was very modest. As we 

already stated, during a period of less 

than two years we were supposed to 

forget dreams that He would do 

something for the benefit of everybody, 

He would settle things with all 

those who had "messed up" and 

miraculously so-like winning a lottery 

jackpot without buying the ticket, 

or the resurrection of Josip Broz from 

his grave-and that He would lead 

Yugoslavia through the Scylla and 

Charybdis of history, which is always 

tailored by others. 

A handful of people felt that a 

more systematic, more courageous 

action was required, to disable all 

possible unreal ambitions, to disable 

the deliberate metastases of the society 

designed to infect it permanently 

(read: to create permanent centres 

of instability). They soon got tired. 

They were eliminated in the internal 

political manoeuvring, or more precisely 

intrigues, and out of the lot 

that used to be honest, service-oriented, 

it was clear that those remaining 

live in a mixture of national, 

state-building, humanistic, religious, 

liberal ambitions and desires. 

Yes, quite so: with mixed schedules 

and priorities, with confusion, out of 

which a state-building capacity 

could hardly be foreseen or created. 

If we take into consideration the 

continual interference of our neighbours, 

it even becomes unreal that 

today, at the end of the year 2000, in 

Macedonia we still write things, like 

this article, which still bears a certain 

optimism towards state-building. 

Although from my perspective 

this brief history can be called a 

history of missed chances and 

opportunities, it can be said that 

Macedonia is still on this side of 

the line that Churchill drew on the 

famous paper napkin. When we 

look more deeply at those who 

lead, or who would like to lead, this 

country, desperation becomes our 

primary feeling. Still, in Macedonia 

the outcomes, as is well known, are 

quantified a bit differently. Also the 

auditors are others, with less trembling 

hands, younger than 

Churchill. 

Yalta is dead, but I think I here 

someone shouting: Long live the 

new Yalta. And this is not such a 

bad cry after all. 

(The author is a columnist ) 

The international 

players should understand 

that in addition 

to their unambiguous 

support for global 

reforms, they must 

also promote intolerance 

for the practices 

of election fraud and 

violence in politics 

Macedonia - EU - the region 

European ambiguities 

are multiplying 

in the candidate countries 

Ljubomir D. Frchkoski 

Two key political actions have created 

the new political map of 

Macedonia in the region. First is the 

regime change in Belgrade, which 

"unplugged" the communication in the 

north of the country so that the country 

now satisfies the true meaning of a 

crossroads. Second is entering into the 

agreement for association and stabilization 

with the European Union by which 

Macedonia gained the "privileged" 

position as the first country in the unfor- 


tunate region of the western Balkans. 

So realistically, opportunities have 

been created for lines of development 

in two directions, but most important of 

all-pressure continues for harmonizing 

the legal system and reforms in accordance 

with EU standards. 

In this text we will be interested in 

only two aspects of that political map: 

what are the levels of conflict in the 

south Balkans and what are the EU's 

political priorities to respond to these 

new tensions; and particularly, what is 

Macedonia's political capacity to 

sketch out its own role in the new political 

map of the region in accordance 

with EU policy? 

The new political tensions in the 

region stem from several points: The 

overall development of the Federal 

Republic of Yugoslavia in relation to 

since the removal of Miloshevich.) The 

disputes also take place under relatively 

strong international presence in different 

forms in the region. This in a 

way guarantees a more efficient and 

more decisive reaction compared to the 

usual pattern of involvement. 

However, we will start a brief 

analysis from a different angle, namely 

from the possible negative effects owed 

to the ambiguity and the prolongation 

of the EU expansion agenda. 

It is more or less clear that there 

exists a certain nervousness in the EU 

countries, when from an abstract idea 

for EU expansion a shift was made 

towards actual expansion as a concrete 

process. The basic indicators of this 

nervousness are the changing negotiation 

rules for association and membership-throughout 

the negotiation 

strengthens them with other, 

also European, countries, 

instead of producing a more harmonious 

policy of liberalization 

in stages, with a clear, liberal 

direction. 

The second paradox is the 

EU debate on the lack of democracy 

towards foreigners and cultural minorities 

of guest workers-hand in hand with 

clear figures and analysis on the lack of 

demography. (There is a clear need for 

a qualified work force "from the margins," 

outside EU countries). 

The third paradox is the one about 

insider-outsider problems. Namely, in 

the EU itself, as well as among the 

countries in the Union, there exists a 

so-called Christian club (CDU-CSU, 

Heider and others) which views the EU 

as an exclusively Western type of 

11 

Montenegro and Kosovo implies political 

dynamics involving new constitutional 

solutions or solutions through 

international treaties, with greater or 

lesser international intervention. 

Relations between Croatia and Serbia 

imply the middle ground will be cooperation 

with the Hague Tribunal and 

over the repatriation of Serbs to 

Croatia. The so-called Albanian issue 

plays out in three dimensions: 

Albanian-Serbian, Albanian- 

Macedonian, Albanian-Greek. Finally 

there is the multidimensional challenge 

of multicultural societies and stable 

democracy-state-building-as opposed 

to strong nationalism. 

The basic characteristic of these 

possible disputes is that they are generally 

below the level of military confrontations. 

(This became apparent 

process-and continual adjustments in 

the process benchmarks. (A most 

recent example is the drifting of the 

evolving clauses and the relationship 

with the political conditions for negotiations 

with Turkey.) 

Three dominating initiatives are 

present in the internal EU dialogue: the 

Lisbon debate on economic development; 

the military initiative for 

European rapid interventions forces; 

and the so-called home affairs from the 

meeting in Finland. The greatest dilemmas 

occur in home affairs, or police 

procedures and the issues of movement 

and borders. Namely, with some of its 

decisions the EU sets up paradoxical 

situations: for example "the border paradox." 

The EU shrinks or wipes out the 

borders between certain countries, and 

Christian club of countries, with no 

chances for other countries to gain 

entry. 

Simply put, the confusion among 

EU countries over these issues multiplies 

in candidate countries, which 

become frustrated in coping with contrary 

political ideas, which is the ultimate 

irony of these principles. Put differently, 

these principles become a 

panacea, a general excuse for the political 

incompetence of local political 

elites for badly implemented privatization 

and other political manoeuvreswhile 

they refer to the EU "conditions" 

which by themselves are long-term and 

hazy. 

A much clearer interim strategy 

and integration models are required in 

order to set the structure of development 

and to monitor the development 


12 

of "candidate" countries, using a 

more principled basis, clear timing, 

and political accountability. 

The process of integration in 

Europe should be regarded as 

"Europe-ization" WHICH ASSU- 

MES CHANGE AND AN ENDOR- 

SEMENT OF CERTAIN CIVI- 

LIZED VALUES of European civilization, 

and not so much as a process 

of "EU-ization" or debates about 

institutional integration of the internally 

unreformed political and social 

structures (bad elections, criminalization 

of the political elite, money laundering, 

a quasi-nongovernmental sector 

etc.) 

We need to move towards an 

INCLUSIVE EUROPE, which will 

integrate and accept diverse civilized 

values and cultures (by which it will 

express its real superiority), and not 

only towards formal expansion, 

which in the end, for xenophobic reasons, 

is endlessly postponed. When 

laying out the standards which they 

set for the acceptance of candidate 

countries, they say: "If we were to be 

fair..." so the immediate question is, 

"And why would we be fair at all?" 

This creates a feeling that the EU 

countries in fact sincerely dislike 

some of the candidates in their ranks. 

This hypocrisy is extremely counterproductive. 

In this overall context, what are 

the political capacity and the willingness 

of Macedonia, or more precisely 

of its own political elite, for a serious 

and intensive implementation of EU 

standards in the political system of 

the country, superficially called its 

capacity for reform? 

Macedonia, despite having 

signed the Agreement for Association 

and Stabilization with the EU, is 

objectively faced with its diminished 

importance for international players 

in the region. This is due to three factors: 

a change of international players 

in the region-the emphasis has shifted 

from the United States to European 

countries; confusion and implicit 

mistrust of European countries with 

regard to the declared concept of stability 

in multiethnic societies (supported 

by the confusion about what 

should be supported and what eliminated 

among the practices of states in 

the region); and a very weak organizational 

and strategic preparedness of 

Macedonian authorities for promoting 

and fighting for a relatively 

improved position in valuing their 

own advantages and achievements. 

The first factor is due to the lack 

of European diplomatic tradition and 

experience with an independent 

Macedonian state. Even among the 

friendly states dilemmas are arising as 

to what definite position to adopt 

toward Macedonia in relation to their 

traditional Balkan "partners" 

(Germany towards us relative to 

Albania or Bulgaria; France, relative 

to Serbia or Greece; Britain, relative 

to Serbia or Bulgaria, etc.) The attitude 

regarding Macedonia's stability 

constantly lacks real analysis and 

counterintelligence data. As a result, it 

is under constant pressure from neighbouring 

lobbies or "inside" groups. 

This division within the EU toward 

the Balkans and the topic of stability 

in multiethnic and multicultural societies, 

together with its lack of political 

priorities, weaken the EU's operational 

position and actions. 

The second factor is due to the 

fact that almost all experiences of 

democracy in European countries 

result from the opposite political 

models of those renowned in the 

Balkans. They are more familiar with 

John Stuart Mill's formulas: ethnic 

and cultural homogeneity paired with 

liberal democracy. 

This also produces a certain 

doubt about the longevity of 

Macedonia's stability (for which, in 

fact, those same Europeans produced 

about ten apocalyptic scenarios). 

While they fixated on our stability, 

Albania and Kosovo exploded, and 

Serbia lived through a traumatic turnaround. 

Within this internal context, 

we went through two embargoes 

imposed by Greece, one against 

Serbia, an assassination attempt on 

this country's president, an unbelievable 

refugee crisis and countless 

attempts by the neighbouring counter-intelligence 

services to destabilize 

us on interethnic grounds. What 

additional proof is needed for the stability 

of Macedonia? Instead of dealing 

with invalid assessments, the EU 

should work hard on two axes. They 

should assist and monitor institution 

building (state building) and strengthening 

the states and their civil structures-against 

the ethnic nationalism 

which threaten the borders and loyalties. 

They should also fight tough 

against organized crime and corruption 

which thrive in the region. 

Finally, the political capacity of 

authorities in Macedonia in relation to 

the EU plan for development-comprised 

of democracy, human rights 

and economic reforms-is somewhat 

ambiguous. Namely, the present 

authorities in Macedonia managed to 

continue strengthening the policy of 

interethnic inclusiveness in politics 

and relying on NATO and especially 

Americans, with a traditional orientation 

towards the EU. At the same 

time, they enhanced global reforms, 

for which they enjoy unanimous support 

from the international players. 

However, at the same time, the global 

efforts for reforms on the part of the 

ruling political forces granted them a 

"line of credit" for gradual criminalization 

of government authority, inexcusable 

election shortcomings and 

introducing the use of violence in politics, 

unheard of before in Macedonia 

(where there used to be a very low 

crime rate). 

With development taking such a 

direction, the capacity for reform will 

vanish and it will turn into its own 

contradiction: a loss of the authorities' 

legitimacy with the risk of destabilization. 

The international players 

should understand that in addition to 

their unambiguous support for global 

reforms, they must also promote 

intolerance for the practices of election 

fraud and violence in politics. 

It must be announced to each 

authority that such a thing will not be 

tolerated, regardless of what may 

have been rhetorical and actual 

efforts in economic reform. 

For a country like Macedonia, 

which is quite open to international 

influence, it is very important to point 

to the principles of advocating for 

democracy and bringing concrete 

pressure so that the political process 

will unfold strictly in that direction. 

The EU could contribute greatly in 

that realm. 

(The author is a professor on 

the law faculty of Skopje 

University) 


The phenomen of Macedonia 

The impossible 

is happening anyway 

Ljubisha Georgievski 

It is more than certain that the 

transition from a totalitarian to a pluralistic 

society and accordingly from 

a totalitarian into a pluralistic state, is 

a process with no objective parameters. 

I do not want to believe that this 

situation is well-nigh impossible, 

although the facts, the logic and the 

generally adopted (at least for the 

If the renovated 

government manages 

to neutralize 

social problems, 

then Macedonia 

will have a 

chance to pull 

itself out of the 

hellish picture of 

the Balkans. 

time being) raison d'etre, 

confirm just that. 

In fact, we are dealing 

with a historical phenomenon 

that has no 

precedent, for something 

that verges 

almost on the edge of 

the impossible. No 

matter, "let us be realistic-and 

search for the 

impossible!" 

Totalitarianism, 

according to the rule, fails in a malignant, 

ill-fated way, leaving behind 

well-rooted inertia from continuing 

fear: deformed personalities, ugly 

moral and intellectual integrity; gossip-oriented, 

career-oriented 

immorality; dog-like loyalty to the 

nomenklatura; Karamazov-style 

relationship with God; violent attitude; 

ideologically alienated consciousness; 

paranoid attitude 

towards police institutions and ideological 

censorship; radically perverted 

attitude towards work, with an 

emphasis on laziness as a virtue, 

complete lack of greater imagination 

or entrepreneurial spirit; reduced 

consciousness... And, when on top 

of this, the famous negative elements 

of the Balkan mentality are added, 

then the picture of hell itself fades in 

comparison. However that picture is 

not completed yet. The picture will 

not be completed, by the way, even if 

we stitch on it the layers of interethnic 

devilment spanning over five 

centuries and the fact that all Balkan 

states are de facto multiethnic and 

multilingual, 

regardless of 

which or how 

many of them 

would acknowledge 

it. In order 

to complete the 

image, we have 

to add the relativity 

or the 

absolute youthfulness 

of certain 

countries 

with a crumbled economy. 

With such a picture, the question 

of how to get out of this situation 

becomes Kantian. 

Where is the Republic of 

Macedonia located in this mosaic of 

horror? Above all, among countries 

whose governments have confronted 

head on the almost impossible question: 

how do we strike a balance 

between the courage and the wisdom 

of the severe reforms as the only way 

out, including the increasing social 

vulnerability of citizens? Facing this 

dilemma, previous governments of 

the Republic of Macedonia, as the 

country's leadership, behaved opportunistically 

for many objective reasons 

(wars in the neighbourhood, 

embargoes, etc.) but also from a certain 

voluntary aversion to facing the 

problem directly. Meanwhile the 

Communist corps was balancing 

cosmetically. 

The strongly expressed reform 

orientation of the current government 

most certainly contributes to its 

declining favour among the citizens 

on one hand, while on the other hand 

it is gaining Europe's support, without 

which it would not be able to 

overcome that situation. I have an 

impression that if the now renovated 

government of the Republic of 

Macedonia manages to better 

orchestrate its final reform policy 

and if it manages to neutralize the 

social problems, then it can start to 

pull the country out of the described 

picture of hell. 

In fact, the Republic of Macedonia 

possesses numerous advantages 

compared to other countries in 

southeast Europe, even though it is 

situated in the so-called western 

Balkans. Macedonia's clearly peaceful 

policy, internal stability, extremely 

balanced interethnic relations, as 

well as its consensual pro-European 

orientation, contribute to the fact that 

all political players unanimously recommend 

it to the most serious attention 

of the Euro-Atlantic structures. 

The impossible is happening 

anyway. 

(The author is Macedonian 

ambassador in Sofia) 

13 


14 

Stojan Andov 

Chronicle of pluralistic democracy 

Macedonia made historical 

decisions about its future 

Due to the difficult economic situation, interest in 

fostering the civic status of the individual is lagging 

behind and ethnic identity is over emphasized. 

The first multiparty elections in 

Macedonia were held in the autumn 

of 1990, while the first multiparty 

assembly in the country was constituted 

on 9 January 1991. It was comprised 

of 38 deputies from VMRO- 

DMPNE, 31 from SKM-PDP, 23 

from PDP and NDP, 18 from SRSM 

IMDS, 5 from SPM, 2 from the 

Yugoslav Party and three independent 

deputies. During 1991 the legal 

framework was created for the new 

state order: the Declaration for the 

Sovereignty of Macedonia was 

enacted, the Referendum for 

Independence was held and the new 

Constitution of the country was 

enacted. Soon after, key laws were 

enacted for the establishment of the 

Macedonian army and for monetary 

independence of the country. The 

Law on the Constitutional Court and 

the Law on the Regular Judiciary 

were enacted, as well as the Law on 

Local Self-Governance. The latest 

law that was enacted is the Law on 

State Administrative Bodies, by 

which, basically, the legal regulation 

of the foundations of the democratic 

institutions in the state as well as the 

administrative policies were completed. 

For the overall democratic 

process it is important that citizens 

can freely express their political will 

during elections and, by doing so, 

affect their own future and the future 

of the country. During elections the 

way a country's democratic system 

functions becomes visible. How 

political parties function also 

becomes visible, as well as the 

(mis)use of authority, the media's 

role, and other mechanisms. During 

the last ten years in Macedonia, parliamentary 

elections have been held 

three times, whereas presidential as 

well as local elections have been held 

twice. Basically the elections were 

acceptable. However, political parties 

are gradual strengthening their 

efforts to influence election outcomes 

even in an illegal way, which 

is noticeable. Therefore the entire 

legislation by which the organization 

of parties is regulated, as well as the 

functioning of political parties and 

the electoral legislation, must be 

carefully reviewed. 

In the economic arena, state ownership, 

fundamental to the so-called 

socialist project, has been abandoned, 

and the market economy has 

been introduced. In that context, in 

1993 the Law on Privatization was 

enacted, then the Law on Trade 

Companies, the Law on Banking and 

other financial institutions were 

enacted, whereas the Law on 

Employment and Social Rights of 

Employees was amended and 

improved. The Law on 

Denationalization and the law on 

returning the so-called old foreigncurrency 

savings were enacted as 

well. Also, the foreign debt of the 

country was regulated, and structural 

economic reforms began. The results 

have not met expectations and it 

seems that to date the country has 

paid a high price for these reforms. A 

real economic stratum has not yet 

been created that would take initiative 

in economic development and 

ensure the economic and political 

stability in the country. The main 

cause for that is the fact that in the 

reforms to date, especially in the 

realm of privatization, more attention 

was paid to the inherited managerial 

stratum and its relationships with ruling 

party structures. The reforms 

were not conducted in a logical way. 

It was logical that the privatization 

means would ensure the return of 

once-expropriated property and of 

the frozen foreign hard currency. In 

such a case, the former property 

resulted out of labour and the economic 

activities of previous generations 

would have been given back 

and we would have had a stable and 

legally established economic stratum 

in the society. That opportunity was 

missed and that is why there is a 

decline in economic activities during 

the reforms, enormous unemployment 

and a lack of sound economic 

initiatives by citizens. Great courage 

is needed in the further flow of 

reforms, especially structural 


eforms. Otherwise, the reforms 

will go on forever, while their 

effect will be weak. 

There are good conditions for 

managing interethnic relations in 

Macedonia. During the ten-year 

period of pluralism, the conditions 

for the co-existence of various 

ethnic communities have 

improved, but there are still problems. 

Due to the difficult economic 

situation, interest for fostering 

the civic status of the individual 

is lagging behind and 

belonging to an ethnic community 

is over emphasized. In the further 

political and economic 

reforms, solutions for those problems 

will also need to be sought. 

In foreign policy, since the 

beginning, Macedonia has the 

right orientation for approaching 

the Euro-Atlantic integration. 

The success of that orientation 

will further depend on successful 

reforms in the country. Also, the 

orientation towards strengthening 

and developing co-operation and 

trust with neighbouring countries 

and countries in the region is on 

the right track. 

The experience of pluralism 

to date offers enough elements 

for us to believe that the electorate 

in Macedonia is maturing 

in an accelerated manner and that 

it awaits the future elections in a 

completely different, new climate. 

The electorate expects all 

conditions for fair and democratic 

elections to be met, they expect 

parties to carry on the business of 

their own parties, and to leave the 

decisions of the elections to the 

voters. We can also expect a serious 

voter realignment towards 

more energetic support for parties 

in the centre that favour the civic 

status of the individual, emphasizing 

participation in political 

and the overall life of society. 

(The author is a Member 

of Parliament) 

From an idea to a result 

The drive towards the 

independence began at 

the congress of SKJ 

Petar Goshev 

Prior to the 

extraordinary 14th 

Congress of the 

Communist League 

Macedonian communists' 

decision 

that Macedonia 

would not remain 

in the SFRY 

should any republic 

secede, marked 

the beginning of 

our independence. 

of Yugoslavia 

(SKJ), which was 

scheduled for January 

20-23, 1990 I 

used to regularly go 

to the meetings in Belgrade as a 

member by function. (The presidents 

of the Communist League 

of each Republic were members 

of the Presidency of the Central 

Committee of Communist League 

of Yugoslavia, the CK SKJ.) 

We used to spend days and days 

on one single subject: Which 

issues of the SKJ bodies (and 

respectively of the congress 

itself) would not be subject to 

over voting, according to the 

one-delegate-one-vote principle. 

In other words, on 

which issues related 

to the adoption of an 

position or a decision, 

must the principle 

of consensus 

be implemented. 

(Consensus meant a 

general accordance 

of the delegations 

from the Republics). 

The answer to this question was 

especially sought by the representatives 

of Slovenian communists 

(M. Kuchan, C. 

Ribichich...), but also by 

Croatians (I. Rachan), and others. 

Serbian representatives 

(B.Trufunovich), supported by 

the representatives of 

Montenegro (M. Bulatovich), 

Vojvodina (Sipovac), and 

Kosovo (R. Morina), energetically 

refused to discuss this 

issue. They stated that should 

15 


16 

the SKJ adopt such an attitude, 

then it would also be incorporated 

into the Federal Constitution. By 

doing so, they were saying, 

Yugoslavia would no longer be a 

federal state, but it would rather 

move towards a federation of 

states. It would thus become a sort 

of confederation. Those who advocated 

for the principle of one person-one 

vote, were motivated by 

the fact that Serbs comprised more 

that half of the total population of 

Yugoslavia at that time. 

Our (Macedonian) attitude was 

articulated by the author of these 

lines. And we believed that we 

could not allow over voting on 

issues of vital interest for the 

Republics. That, perhaps was the 

most unexpected blow to the 

Serbian understanding of relations 

within post-Tito Yugoslavia. Once 

I took that position, I was overwhelmed 

with attention and an 

unveiled interest in what might be 

expected from me. 

After many meetings, the 

Presidency of the CK SKJ adopted 

a position that at the 14th congress 

(the early), there would not be over 

voting on issues which the republican 

delegations consider to be of 

vital interest for their nationalities, 

and their republics respectively. 

However, during the congress several 

delegates created an over-voting 

stampede: from Serbia and 

Serbian delegates from the 

autonomous provinces, the delegates 

from Bosnia and 

Herzegovina as well as from 

Montenegro. The glass was overflowing 

because an amendment 

submitted by Slovenian communists 

was rejected. It required the 

condemnation of the economic 

blockade on Slovenia, previously 

organized by S. Miloshevich, as 

revenge against Slovenians 

because they held a different position 

towards Kosovo. 

Immediately upon the rejection 

of the proposed amendment, the 

Slovenian delegation left the congress. 

Croatian communists also 

decided to leave. I called upon the 

Macedonian delegates and suggested 

we return to Skopje and 

review the situation peacefully. 

Except for muttered whisperings of 

the few who disagreed with this 

suggestion, the majority of the delegates 

reached an understanding 

and were agreeable. This act, in 

fact, marked the break-up of the 

SKJ and the beginning of the dissolution 

of the SFRY. 

After the return to Skopje, the 

most difficult and the most exciting 

period of my political life 

began. Pressures were multiplying 

from all sides: some supported us 

going to Belgrade for the continuation 

of the interrupted congress 

without the Slovenians and the 

Croatians, but others thought that 

we should not even consider it. The 

top military of the JNA (Yugoslav 

People's Army) pressured me especially. 

Several times the top military 

people from the JNA came, 

several times military delegations 

came to have special meetings with 

me, led by Admiral S. Bunchich 

and Admiral Grubjeshich, General 

Jovanovich, Colonel Baucan and 

others. At each meeting they openly 

threatened: "We will not sit still 

with our hands folded!" Then they 

started establishing their party, the 

SK Movement for Yugoslavia. I 

asked them: "Why are you doing 

this?" They frankly replied: "Just 

in case!" As a matter of fact, they 

were preparing for a military 

strike, which fortunately, the for 

reasons already known, they did 

not carry out. However, secret lists 

for arrests were already prepared. 

There were also efforts to organize 

pressure on me by our opposing 

forces. During the 4th session of 

the CK SKM (after the interrupted 

Yugoslav Congress) M. 

Panchevski's and M. Danev's 

group planned my replacement. 

However, even at the beginning of 

the session they saw that they did 

not have the strength for it. Later, 

on another occasion, someone had 

sent me a group of top Macedonian 

officers who served in Belgrade 

and Skopje in order to be 

"informed" about our views on 

events in the SFRY. They 

expressed a great concern about 

the possible break-up of 

Yugoslavia. The public is 

acquainted with the reactions of 

the former Kumanovo party organization, 

that directly accused me, 

and I was proclaimed a "destroyer" 

of Yugoslavia. Along those lines, 

there were also some smaller 

groups of people from Kichevo 

and from some other organizations, 

but they were not in a position 

to do more. 

We held the position that the 

SKJ would cease to exist should 

even a single republic leave it, that 

Yugoslavia could not survive if 

even a single republic left, and that 

if one of the republics would do so 

(at that time it was about Slovenia 

and Croatia, connected vessels), 

then Macedonia would also seek 

its own independent path. 

Therefore, in the program for the 

1990 elections we wrote that we 

would not remain in any abbreviated 

federation and we wasted a lot 

of energy proving that should that 

happen, Macedonia had the 

strength to develop as an independent 

state. 

Before every 8 September, citizens 

can once more recall the 

events following the 1990 elections. 

(The author is a Member of 

Parliament) 


Pluralism and Albanians 

From enthusiasm 

to disappointment 

Ismet Ramadani 

The trend towards multiparty 

systems in the 1990s 

that appeared in eastern 

Europe, which at the same 

time announced the fall of 

totalitarian communist 

monism and the beginning of 

democracy, was accepted by 

Albanians from Macedonia 

with special enthusiasm. This 

enthusiasm certainly came 

out of a bitter past in which 

the Albanians continually 

underwent politically persecution 

in the former political 

system. Despite their initial 

fear, particularly due to that 

bitter experience, Albanians 

very quickly organized themselves 

politically into a strong 

party, called the Party for 

Democratic Prosperity (PDP). 

Certainly at that time the PDP 

was just one political entity in 

the mosaic of parties, like 

VMRO-DPMNE, SDSM, 

Liberal Party, MAAK and 

others. It must be said that 

another political party besides 

PDP appeared a bit later that 

same year, as an Albanian 

political entity: the National 

Democratic Party (NDP). 

This marked the beginning of 

Albanian political pluralism 

in Macedonia. 

As for democratic development 

and Euro-Atlantic 

orientation, he program goals 

of the PDP were not in contrast 

with the goals of other 

Macedonian political parties 

from the left or the right. 

However, concerning the status 

of Albanians (issues related 

to language, education and 

culture), or more precisely to 

equity in these areas, PDP's 

program goals were not 

accepted by the Macedonian 

political parties. They even 

created an anti-Albanian public 

following through their 

political stance. 

PDP, along with NDP, participated 

alongside the parties 

of ethnic Macedonians in the 

first parliamentary elections. 

The party then presented in a 

transparent manner its election 

platform as the main 

Albanians in Macedonia 

accepted the pluralism 

trend towards pluralism, 

common in the former 

communist states, with 

particular optimism, but 

when many of their 

expectations were not 

realized, disappointment 

prevailed among them. 

Albanians' activities 

reflected this. 

17 


18 

Albanian political party. 

Albanians in Macedonia welcomed 

the platform with great 

enthusiasm, aspiring to full 

equality in all areas of life with 

Macedonians and with other 

ethnic groups in Macedonia. 

Regretfully, the Macedonian 

parties, led by the then VMRO- 

DPMNE (which has been 

extensively refined), trod upon 

that transparency. 

Nevertheless, the first multiparty 

Parliament of the 

Republic of Macedonia ensued 

from the party pluralism in the 

first parliamentary elections. 

PDP, in coalition with NDP, 

came out of the elections as a 

third party, based on the number 

of deputies. This multiparty 

parliament in fact was a synonym 

for the beginning of 

democracy and the end of the 

single-party system. It should 

be emphasized that at that time 

Macedonia was establishing 

itself as independent from the 

Socialist Federal Republic of 

Yugoslavia (SFRY). 

These events surrounding 

the pluralistic activities were 

most difficult for the PDP-NDP 

parliamentary group, since in 

the creation of the new state the 

group was preoccupied with the 

future status of Albanians in 

Macedonia. This parliamentarian 

group submitted the 

"Declaration for an Equal 

Status of Albanians in 

Macedonia" to the President of 

the state and to the Prime 

Minister of the expert government. 

As is known, this declaration 

was rejected, causing 

indignation among Albanians, 

who later did not respond to the 

referendum on the independence 

of Macedonia. 

Simultaneously, the delegation 

did not vote for the 

Constitution, the results of the 

census were not accepted, etc. 

Albanians' disappointment was 

also reflected in the subsequent 

activities of PDP-other options 

for problem-solving started 

appearing while institutional 

activities weakened. In a word, 

Albanians' enthusiasm that the 

multiparty system in an atmosphere 

of tolerance would solve 

the articulated national and 

existential issues, started to 

decline. 

Despite all the dissatisfaction, 

PDP with its parliamentary 

group and in consultation 

with the international community 

was not set on unrest and 

interethnic conflict, but continued 

courageously and wisely its 

institutional activities aimed at 

step-by-step problem-solving. 

This position also arose from 

the awareness of the delicate 

nature of the situation in the 

region (the wars in Croatia and 

Bosnia and the occupation of 

Kosovo). PDP's activity was 

monitored by the international 

community with approval, but 

by some pro-Macedonian political 

parties with a degree of 

malice. However, within the 

part, especially from an 

Albanian perspective, this 

activity within the state institutions 

caused PDP to factionalize, 

resulting in the birth of new 

political parties, including the 

Democratic Party of Albanians 

(DPA), the Republican Party 

for National Equality (RPNE), 

the Albanian Democratic 

Alliance-Liberal Party (ADS- 

LP) and others. 

Anyway, in the political 

mosaic that was created in 

Macedonia it can not be said 

that Albanians did not benefit 

from the activities of the PDP 

and other political organizations 

within the government, 

since in that period Albanians 

succeeded in becoming a relevant 

factor in Macedonia, 

which represents one of the key 

points in the stability in the 

region. At the same time, it 

should be accepted that, in fact, 

PDP established many political 

rules of the game as well as 

pluralism throughout this 

decade, a path which other 

Albanian parties have followed. 

This decade of multiparty 

activity has taught us that, 

despite the challenges, we will 

survive and we should find the 

path that leads towards Euro- 

Atlantic integration, and 

towards NATO membership, 

for then the difficulties and the 

misunderstandings in all segments 

of life, especially multiethnic 

ones, will be more easily 

solved. We also had the assistance 

of the standards that are 

practiced within the civilized 

world, towards which we also 

do strive. 

The pluralistic decade can 

also be summarized by the 

assessment that there are a lot 

of things that need to be nurtured 

in politics, especially during 

electoral campaigns. 

Political competition should be 

accepted as something progressive 

which establishes a system 

of real values and joint success. 

Regretfully, we often feed 

frustrations that lead to personal 

and political resistance, even 

adding in animosity, which during 

the last local elections was 

manifested in a very harsh and 

tragic way. Let us hope that this 

will not happen to us again. 

(The author is a Member 

of Parliament ) 


Pluralism and the economy 

The Macedonian transition 

is taking too long 

Nikola Popovski 

The pluralistic "revolution," 

which took place at the end of 

the 1980s and the beginning of 

the 1990s in Central and Eastern 

Europe, gave a lot of hope to 

hundreds of millions of people 

for a general betterment of their 

lives. On the wings of this pluralism 

came not only the hope 

for democracy, human rights and 

general freedoms, but also the 

hope that economic performance 

in their societies could greatly 

improve and, consequently, people 

would enjoy a much better 

life. It would not be an exaggeration 

to say that aspirations for a 

wealthier life and greater satisfaction 

of people's essential 

needs were the fundamental 

During the first 

ten years, pluralism 

did not 

respond positively 

to many economic 

problems 

driving forces of the radical 

changes that were taking place. 

Just this kind of aspiration 

also encouraged pluralism in 

Macedonia. This pluralism, 

which developed alongside the 

process of creating a state, 

encouraged the Macedonian 

nation to believe that such integral 

changes would enable more 

prosperity in the future. As to 

what was meant by future, 

everybody anticipated something 

different, but one thing is 

certain: nobody anticipated that 

even ten years later the transition 

would still be at this stage. 

There was hope that in three to 

four, or perhaps in seven to eight 

years, the transition would be 

over. Then a period of tranquil 

development would begin, more 

democratic and-from an economic 

point of view-would be 

more stable and more prosperous. 

However an entire decade 

passed, and we can state with 

certainty that not only are we 

only gradually getting out of the 

period of transition, but 

Macedonia is facing even more 

problems that are typical for the 

first transitional years. 

If we sincerely face some of 

the basic indicators of what the 

first decade of pluralism did 

bring to Macedonia in an economic 

sense, then undoubtedly 

we would say that we are not 

moving forward at all: and we 

are usually moving in the opposite 

direction from development. 

In that sense, it is a defeating 

fact that we began the pluralism 

period in 1990 with GDP of 

USD 4,253 million, whereas in 

the tenth year of pluralism, or 

more precisely in the year 2000 

we will end up with a GDP 

which is only a bit over USD 

19 


20 

3,700 million, only about 87 per 

cent of what we produced at the 

beginning. The loss of about half a 

billion dollars annually from our 

GDP is even more dramatic when 

you consider that, despite the 

decrease, it made sense to expect 

that the GDP would display an adequate 

positive rate of growth. From 

this perspective, the loss is doubled. 

For the sake of comparison, 

out of all the nations in transition 

so far only three of them (Poland, 

Slovenia and Slovakia) have bested 

their 1990 GDP, and two more 

(Hungary and the Czech Republic) 

will join them during this year or 

the next. With such a negative 

growth rate, the per capita income 

in Macedonia has decreased from 

USD 2,235 in 1990, to just over 

USD 1,800 in 2000, which represents 

a current annual loss of above 

20 per cent. The loss during the last 

ten years was even more drastic. 

These indicators undoubtedly show 

that pluralism in Macedonia, 

among other things, brought economic 

regression and greater 

poverty to the population. 

Ever more painful is the fact 

that this economic regression 

resulted in even greater social 

problems and differences and in an 

unequal distribution of the crisis's 

burden among the population. We 

will depict this with the fact that at 

the beginning of the multiparty 

system in Macedonia there were 

507,342 employed people (1990) 

or about one quarter of the total 

population, whereas in 2000 there 

are only about 320,000 employed 

people, or about one-seventh of the 

population. Obviously, one way or 

another, about 200,000 jobs were 

slashed. With the loss of jobs we 

now face an enormous number of 

unemployed people, whose number 

has increased from 156,323 in 

1990 to about 350,000 in 2000. 

It is not by accident that the 

number of eliminated jobs and the 

total number of the newly unemployed 

people are approximately 

the same. These indicators point 

out the high cost of the transition 

for which the nation has been paying 

during the past ten years of 

pluralism and due to which the 

standard of living has drastically 

fallen. 

We can present many other similar 

data, but they all indicate only 

one thing, which is that pluralism 

in Macedonia, which marked the 

beginning of transition, did not led 

to the expected results from the 

economic point of view. We will 

very likely have to wait for a certain 

period, which will probably 

not be brief. The lesson we all must 

learn is that beautiful wishes and 

enthusiasm are not enough to 

accomplish anything ,and that after 

the initial euphoria we should have 

been far more careful, wise, and 

cautious while using our knowledge 

to pave the road to exit from 

transitional problems. 

Pluralism undoubtedly opened 

doors and created opportunities for 

rapid economic development. 

However, this by definition does 

not mean that the opened door and 

the opportunities presented will be 

used for certain. We are now facing 

economic problems which the 

multiparty system in Macedonia 

did not manage to positively 

address. At least not during the 

first ten years. All we have left is 

the hope that perhaps in the second 

decade of pluralism in Macedonia, 

in an economic sense, there will be 

far more positive reaction, as well 

as solutions that will give credence 

to the hopes of the generations 

who justifiably-and without making 

a single wrong assessment-did 

accept and did effect the multiparty 

system in Macedonia. 

(The author is a 

Member of Parliament) 


The time has come 

to do something 


Flags, slogans and calls to violence sound very attractive, 

and we can easily get carried away. Nevertheless, 

these are anachronisms, characteristic of another time; 

a time that is passing and that can neither bring us closer 

to democracy nor replace it. 

Finally, everyone has become 

aware that interethnic relations in 

Macedonia are not relaxed and that 

they represent a source of conflict. The 

bad side of this is that everyone is dissatisfied 

(for different reasons but dissatisfied 

nonetheless). The good side is 

that we have a chance to face reality 

and real problems (if we remove the 

blinders tied on by political slogans, 

demagogues, and rhetorical performances 

by individuals from different 

nationalities, sexes, educational levels, 

parties, etc.). In such a situation it is 

worth reminding ourselves what we 

wanted "at the beginning" when 

changes in the system seemed 

inevitable and indisputable. 

The model for governance and law 

that Macedonia tried to abandon in 

1991 was a one-party model in which 

the party dominated the law. At least 

that is what the so-called leaders of 

change said. Over the developments of 

the past ten years the one-party system 

has been overcome. Very little has 

been done, however, to surmount the 

domination of political and party aims 

at the expense of the development of 

the state's legal framework. Not for an 

instant has the law positioned itself to 

challenge the parochial or group interests 

of political and party leaders. 

This deformation in the development 

of newly formed state laws has 

been fatally reflected in one of 

Macedonian society's most sensitive 

segments; that is, in interethnic relations. 

Namely, establishing a lawful 

state and defining the principles for the 

rule of law and the domination of law 

over politics represented one of the 

guarantees for the existence of 

Macedonia as a multiethnic, multicultural, 

and multiconfessional state. 

These principles promised the general 

application of law instead of political 

will, an individual rather than collective 

approach, and gravitation toward a 

civic rather than an ethnic foundation 

for society. 

To become a part of legal regulations 

rather than party deal-making, 

interethnic relations should have been 

put on the agenda. Legislators then 

should have identified all problems 

interethnic relations could cause and 

should have found suitable legislative 

solutions. 

The first mistake was made when 

the framers of Macedonia's constitution 

failed to identify interethnic relations 

as a priority in operationalizing 

the new framework of governance and 

law. That failure transformed the constant 

creation and solution of interethnic 

conflicts into part of the political 

game and the fight for power. This is 

turn led to an unstable balance in 

interethnic life that could be destroyed 

at any time by any political factor trying 

to gain political points and posi- 

21 

Liberation from war, April 2001

22 

tion. Radical extremism, accompanied 

by the means and tactics of terrorism, is 

only a by-product of such a situation. 

Its appearance can be connected to a 

complex external situation that 

includes: 

- the existence of armed formations 

that lost their basic modus vivendi in 

the vicinity; 

- the undefined position of Kosovo 

and its status of governance and legal 

framework; and 

- long-held feelings of insecurity 

and menace coming from state institutions. 

A generally healthy society can 

deal relatively easily with such forms 

of non-democracy. Or at least it can 

easily identify them as dangerous deviations 

from global democratic aspirations. 

Our problem is that we have an 

unhealthy society due to the constant 

avoidance of defining those limits and 

parameters that would make it possible 

to treat interethnic relations within the 

means of a legal state. 

The second insufficiency we can 

identify is the lack of an efficient, 

accessible, and just legal system that 

might deal with this matter. This 

includes defining an overall concept 

and strategy (which should be present 

in the Constitution), comprehensive 

national legislation, and the creation of 

real and relevant implementing mechanisms 

(consequent acts, rules, and procedures) 

to enact these legal decisions. 

Instead, an ad hoc solution was offered; 

the leadership acted under crisis and 

under pressure, and constantly attempted 

to patch things together (although 

some people want to present what happened 

as modelling and adapting). 

The third problem is limited institutional 

scope. A state must, in structure 

and in deed, provide absolute objectivity 

in treating its citizens as equal. That 

means that a state must be structured in 

a way that will make it possible for the 

common will and all specific citizens' 

needs and interests to be formulated 

and reported to all levels of the government 

(especially at lower administrative 

levels). If 35 per cent of the population 

of a state belongs to ethnic 

minorities, the idea of a multiethnic 

society must be manifested in every 

segment of that state. 

Within the context of the above 

remarks, consistent legal regulation of 

interethnic relations represents the 

fourth doubtful aspect of how this matter 

has been treated. Aspecial problem is 

the variability of regulations (in terms 

both of contents and terminology). 

Legal solutions must become a part of 

the general strategic implementation, 

instead of party agreements (which 

leaves them open to constant manipulation). 

The principle of multiculturalism is 

completely missing from all previous 

activities and solutions concerning 

interethnic relations. This is a complex 

principle that includes the existence of 

and respect for differences, active tolerance 

and creating conditions for identifying 

and manifesting common needs 

and interests. As such it is entirely 

absent at all levels of civic education. 

Most of what has been achieved (culminating 

in Mr. Van der Stoehl's idea of 

a private university), leads towards parallelism 

and social disintegration rather 

than toward a civic model. 

The possibilities that local autonomy 

offers still have not been exhausted. 

The excessive concentration of power 

in the central structures of state was 

another mechanism for political party 

action that only dealt minimally, if at 

all, with citizens' everyday needs and 

interests. Regional political and administrative 

decentralization is one democratic 

measure that could be used to 

solve interethnic conflicts and to mitigate 

interethnic tension. 

To the question, "Are we are in crisis?" 

my answer is yes. 

To the question, "How did we find 

ourselves in this crisis?" my answer is: 

This crisis results from an inconsistent 

transformation of the one-party state 

into a legal one. This inconsistency is 

due to a lack of awareness and the lack 

of desire for real social democratization, 

and due to the deformation of the 

civic perspective into an ethnically 

defined one. 

To the question, "How do we get 

out of this crisis?" my answers are: 

1. Systematically create a consistent 

legal structure; 

2. Lend legitimacy to laws through 

which the general will shall be grounded, 

and which shall be formulated 

according to general agreement; 

3. Obey democratic procedures and 

using democratic mechanisms to reach 

desired aims; 

4. Gradually promote civic identity 

in all areas of public life, but with 

enough room for ethnic identity. 

Democracy is slow and it often 

seems inefficient in solving sensitive 

questions concerning interethnic 

behaviour, especially in conflict situations 

arising from relations between 

different ethnic groups. Democracy 

never offers instant solutions to satisfy 

all participants in the democratic 

process. Also, democracy does not 

release any subject in the society from 

responsibility for what is happening. 

However, on this level of development, 

only democracy can enable the creation 

of a stable structure in which individual 

needs and interests can be situated 

and solved (in the domain of individual 

ethnic identity and belonging). 

We can try to justify our positions 

by calling on fear, mistrust, insults and 

thousands of other emotions. We can 

recall positive and negative examples 

from more or less recent history. 

However, what remains is the fact that 

we have not even tried to use the means 

offered by legal mechanisms of the 

state for solving interethnic relations 

and avoiding an insoluble conflict. 

Flags, slogans and calls to violence 

sound very attractive, and we can easily 

get carried away. Nevertheless, these 

are anachronisms, characteristics of 

another time; a time that is passing and 

that can neither bring us closer to 

democracy nor replace it. 

(The author is a senior associate 

at the Institute for 

Sociological, Political, and 

Juridical Research, Skopje) 


A tragic feeling about 

balkan borders 

Luan Starova 

(A synopsis of an Albanian 

family drama and of the borders 

from 1941 to 2001) 

1941 

Two brothers with their families 

lived in the town of Pogradec, on the 

border between Albania and 

Macedonia. The Greco-Italian War 

ended. Fascism created new borders. 

People here are used to borders, 

but they have always created a 

desire to leave. Borders cut water, 

souls, nations, and religions. 

Leaving could mean salvation. It 

was always a time to flee when people's 

internal borders trembled with 

fear, with anxiety. 

1942 

Fascism was spreading throughout 

Albania; new partitions, new 

illusions, new borders. Every family 

either became a fortress or prepared 

to fly across the border to safety, to 

ascend like a cloud between Heaven 

and Earth, like on Chagal's canvasses. 

The fragile country was in the 

grip of fascism that was accepted by 

those deceived by Mussolini's false 

and chimerical promises, and rejected 

by others who joined partisan 

resistance. Families were split; solutions 

sought. Only children played 

happily with stamps picturing the 

previous monarch, and exchanged 

them for other stamps of the leader 

of destroyed countries. 

1943 

Anxiety overcame the families 

of the two brothers. The older one, 

who had studied law in Istanbul in 

the 1920s, refused to be subjected to 

fascism. Trying to avoid a concentration 

camp, he decided to cross the 

border through Lake Ohrid at night. 

The younger brother, who had studied 

in London in the 1920s and had 

wanted to introduce the scout movement 

to Albania, decided to stay in 

his native town. The mother 

remained caught between the two 

families. The older brother was resolute: 

"My dear brother, there is no 

future for us here!" 

"If there is no future in our 

native country, then we won't find it 

anywhere," answered the younger 

brother. 

"Fascism has divided us, made 

us quarrel. Some of our people have 

decided to join it. Dark days are 

coming." 

"I'm keeping out of this, brother. 

I've done no harm," the younger 

brother finished. 

They hugged each other for the 

last time. 

1944 

The older brother crossed the 

unguarded border with his family 

that night. He arrived on the other 

side, at another destiny, and started a 

new life with new people. His legal 

trade brought him close to defeated 

people, and he helped them in difficult 

moments. He lived with his destiny, 

with everything he had lost and 

left in his native country: the house 

and the field; and the vineyard 

inherited from his ancestors which, 

of course, had never been denationalized. 

1945 

The war ended. Fascism was 

severely defeated. Nothing, however, 

changed in the Balkans! The history 

of the borders continued. 

Communism came, and it was greeted 

first as the conqueror of fascism. 

Stalinism accompanied it, however; 

a new great ideological division. 

Borders were paradoxically open for 

the two brothers during Stalinism. 

They could cross them easily, in the 

name of the free spirit of "proletarian 

internationalism." But they 

stayed, each one with his own destiny, 

with his own family. 

1948 

The idyll between Tito and 

Stalin did not last long. In fact, it 

had never existed. The country 

where the older brother lived had 

more luck. It opened towards the 

world. His children got opportunities 

to study in good schools and 

faculties, and to have respectable 

professions. The younger brother 

was taken "to hell" with his family. 

Albania became the last bastion of 

Stalinism. When borders truly 

become ill, they spread a contagion, 

and create total isolation. What 

starts to function is the system of 

looking for supposed victims, that 

impossible Balkan syndrome of 

self-destruction, carried over from 

prehistoric times into religions, ideologies 

and the impulse for power. 

The younger brother soon 

entered the list of victims. His crucial 

fault was his English connection; 

that is, his education. He was 

arrested, and tortured to "confess." 

He disappeared in prison. His family 

was informed that he had committed 

suicide! A real Golgotha 

23 


24 

began for his wife and two little 

sons. They became "banned" people. 

The mother remained alone, happily 

threading the family's destiny 

through her needle. The children 

grew up. University remained forbidden. 

1949 

The older brother and his family 

sorrowfully received the news about 

the younger brother's death. Ties had 

gradually broken during all those 

years. A new invisible border-in 

space and in spirit-was created 

between them. The older brother 

became a citizen of the Federal 

People's Republic of Yugoslavia and 

the People's Republic of Macedonia. 

As a graduate of the university in 

Istanbul, he knew the old Turkish 

alphabet. He discovered old parts of 

the original protocols for the kadilik 

of Bitola (1607-1912), which were 

of great value for research into the 

past three centuries of Balkan history. 

Excessive work and sorrow 

exhausted him physically, and he fell 

ill with diabetes. His children's success 

brought him joy. 

1975 

Years went by. The border 

between Albania and Macedonia 

was deserted. Hardly anyone 

crossed it. Only elderly people were 

granted visas to Albania. The older 

brother knew that death would come 

before the border would re-open. 

They decided that his wife should 

accomplish the family mission and 

go back to her roots. Her old age was 

her visa. She came back in anguish. 

How strong she was to endure it for 

such a long time! She came back 

before her visa had expired… 

She passed through the iron gate 

covered with barbed wire-the real 

Balkan wall. A young soldier said, 

"Mother, you're leaving your country 

so soon!" She answered quickly: 

"Son, my country is where my children 

are." The soldier continued to 

play innocent: "Mother, are you 

leaving your people? Which are 

your people?" She answered right 

away: "The people I live with, son." 

She crossed the border earlier than 

she had planned. In her tortured soul 

dwelled secrets to fill a hundred 

years of family solitude. 

1976 

The older brother died. He died 

exhausted, but happy. His numerous 

books and notes in which he sought 

a happy Balkan history remained. 

He did not live to see it. He believed 

that his children would have more 

luck. Some day those cursed borders 

will open. Europe will be united, as 

De Gaulle anticipated, from the 

Atlantic to the Urals. In the East 

something historically new 

occurred: Stalinism was condemned, 

but in Albania it grew stronger. The 

border lived in the old dream, 

Albanian isolation continued. The 

younger brother's children lived 

their lives in darkness… 

1979 

The older brother's children 

achieved successful professional 

careers: doctors, engineers, and professors. 

They lived with the memory 

of their father and followed his 

example. Their mother reminded 

them of her last journey's bitter 

experience. One of the younger sons 

accepted the challenge to visit his 

native country. As a writer he competed 

to write a play that would be 

performed in the Albanian theatre in 

Skopje. He was offered a typical 

Stalinist socialist-realist poster. He 

refused it. He went through a storm 

of controversy and came back hurt. 

The ideological amalgam against 

reality in his native country was horrible. 

He did not even think about 

visiting the sons his dead uncle who 

had been murdered by the very same 

Stalinists in power. He came back 

with pain in his soul. Later on he 

wrote a book, in order not to forget. 

In his book he touched the depths of 

the soul of his tortured people…in 

order to emerge into the fresh air of 

freedom… 

1985-1995 

The dictator died. Hope arose 

that Albania would emerge from its 

half century of isolation. The successor 

believed in perestroika 

(restructuring). No one could save 

him from the explosion of the accumulated 

rebellion of the common 

people. Huge statues of Stalin and 

Enver Hoxha came down. The oneparty 

system was abolished. After 

that, everyone turned to the borders. 

Western embassies were overrun. 

The first free elections were held. 

The stitches of fifty years of isolation 

burst apart. People lived their 

freedom in anarchy. Frozen time 

was released as if from Pandora's 

Box. It was difficult to purge the 

soil of old ghosts. 

The younger brother's sons followed 

the national catharsis. They 

believed that better times would 

come. If only their poor mother 

could have lived to see it. The 

younger brother was "rehabilitated" 

by the new authorities. He received 


a posthumous medal. They wrote 

about him in newspapers. His sons 

rejoiced about going back to their 

old house and about their feelings 

of peace and hope. Their father's 

sister, who had lived alone in 

Pogradec as a tenant in her own 

house, was given back her home. 

1991 

Yugoslavia, where the older 

brother had been a citizen, fell 

apart. He did not live to see this 

time, which he could not have even 

imagined. His sons and his daughter, 

who once had been immigrants, 

then members of the Albanian 

"minority," and after that belonged 

to the Albanian "nationality," 

became citizens of the new independent 

Republic of Macedonia, by 

whose constitution they were identified 

as a "nationality." History 

continued to pass through dark 

paradoxes in the Balkans. The 

Berlin Wall had fallen, and Europe 

started to integrate, while the 

Balkans, or more precisely 

Yugoslavia-its biggest part-started 

to disintegrate at a feverish pace. 

New borders were created and pain 

and turmoil passed from one to the 

other. 

Many children of the older 

brother, now with respectable families 

and successful children, 

exhausted by the fast tempo of their 

lives, died young. Democracy was 

expected to bring new civic values 

to the disintegrated countries, values 

already achieved in the West. 

But the price was too high. 

Unbelievable civil wars started in 

Europe: Bosnia, Vukovar, Kosovo 

… 300,000 dead … millions without 

a roof over their heads. 

There was too much history to 

be mastered by every man, every 

family, and every nation. Old contradictions 

gathered again on the 

borders. They became painful 

again. They caused people's deaths. 

The older brother's children and 

grandchildren tried to keep pace 

with the new reality; to find their 

place as members of a "minority" 

for some and of a "nationality" for 

others, in a country they were supposed 

to share with the Macedonian 

majority. 

1998 

The country of the younger 

brother was shaking, tumultuous 

and staggering as never before. 

After the Democrats, the Socialists 

came to power. This change of government 

was followed by the enormous 

eruption of national anger in 

the Balkans. Rural Albania, formerly 

dominant, turned into a concentration 

camp, and took revenge on 

urban Albania, where the former 

executors of Albania's dictatorial 

policy still lived. That passed, but 

revolt and anarchy continued and 

the situation bottomed out again 

until real catharsis was achieved… 

The older brother's sons were 

facing historical temptation, and 

new risks again. They endured it, 

hoping. 

1999 

The Kosovo crisis continued. 

Miloshevich's anschluss of Kosovo 

was not successful. The most 

painful border in Europe became 

the one between Kosovo and 

Macedonia. More than 350,000 

Albanians from Kosovo were rescued 

by crossing it. Great solidarity 

was shown in a great tragedy. After 

the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, 

Yugoslav troops withdrew from 

Kosovo, but Albanians also withdrew 

from Macedonia. 

Better days were expected to 

come for sure. Albanians took part 

in legislative and executive power, 

and in other institutions of the system 

in Macedonia. With the evolution 

of a young democracy, changes 

crucial to the position of Albanians 

in education and in other institutions 

were coming into sight. No 

matter how strong a will existed for 

making quick changes, both sides 

were burdened with old problems, 

especially manifest on the fragile 

borders. 

2000 

Finally, the last dictatorship in 

the Balkans ended. Miloshevich's 

infamous regime fell. The Kosovo 

crisis remained. And it was taken to 

the cursed borders again. The circle 

of history repeated through paradoxes. 

And while borders were disappearing 

in the western part of 

Europe, borders in the Balkans 

were not only multiplying but 

becoming even more painful, more 

tragic lines of partition, taking new 

victims into the new century…\. 

The Republic of Macedonia, 

which had been previously the symbol 

of the "peaceful Balkan oasis," 

hardly managed to preserve its 

peace paid with victims on the 

northern border. A part of it, according 

to official representatives, was 

occupied by a group of "extremists, 

terrorists and Albanian bandits." 

Albanians themselves, mostly condemning 

extremism and terrorism, 

uttered those words with pain, 

frightened by their fatal connotation. 

Whatever they are called, history 

will, as always, crystallize the 

truth. One truth, however, is certain; 

that the life shared by Macedonians 

and Albanians, up to now without 

greater historical conflicts and 

hatred, was struck the first serious 

blow. 

The older brother's children and 

grandchildren were seriously worried. 

According to some rhythm of 

destiny, they were overtaken by the 

syndrome of flight. Many friends 

from all over the world invited them 

to come. They warned them not to 

wait till it was too late. A son of 

their uncle, who had died long ago, 

sent them an e-mail message: 

"Don't wait till it's too late, like my 

father who didn't listen to yours 

when he told him to leave. My 

home is your home too!" 

The older brother's son, now a 

grandfather, deep in his soul felt the 

fateful call of flight; the syndrome 

of craving to run away from the 

enclosing circle, the opportunity to 

flee from death... He felt pain, as if 

hurt by every bullet shot into the 

life common to Macedonians and 

Albanians. He felt all his life what 

his mother had felt: "My country is 

where my children are, and my people 

are the people I live with!" 

Have so many things changed in 

these cursed Balkans, following the 

disappearance of his mother and her 

wishes, when Europe is so close, 

and democracy such a palpable 

goal? 


25 


It is brave ones’ turn 

to replace weapons with words 

26 

Shkelzen Halimi 

There may be numerous mysteries 

on why the conflict erupted 

between Macedonian forces and 

armed Albanian groups. Naturally, 

depending on the angle from which 

the conflict is viewed, there are 

numerous interpretations of these 

dilemmas. One thing is definite: In 

certain places in Macedonia, there 

was a real war carried out, whose 

scars will remain present for a long 

time. 

One of those mysteries that can 

be discussed is: Was this war a consequence 

of the fact that the real 

Macedonia was not what we had 

believed and presented it to be? Or 

perhaps on this occasion we had a 

clash of two concepts of the internal 

order in Macedonia; namely, the 

Macedonian and the Albanian. The 

Macedonian concept was considered 

dominant, whereas the 

Albanian one sought certain flexibility 

in order to mitigate the position 

of the first concept, which 

simultaneously ensued from influence 

of a completely different democratic 

tradition exported out of 

Western Europe and the U.S. Over 

the past ten years the clash of these 

two concepts has been prevented by 

a very thin red line that ultimately 

became green, signalling that the 

time for change had come. It was 

exactly this change that the 

Macedonian side saw as negative 

and the Albanian as positive. This 

change became the hot potato that 

caused what happened, caused us to 

still smell the odour of gunpowder. 

In every normal human being 

reigns the private awareness that 

after any war, regardless of its duration, 

inevitably there will be a table 

at which the most courageous people 

will sit to replace weapons with 

words. It is a different matter, 

though, in situations like this one, 

when the normal human being is led 

by his ego and stubborn spite. 

Historically such spite has always 

been fatal. 

In this context the concept of 

'word' should not be understood 

generally, but to the contrary should 

serve to find a solution acceptable 

to all, since words often are more 

dangerous than weapons. We only 

have to follow some of the media 

One thing is clear: This 

spring everyone would prefer 

to pick the most beautiful 

flowers that the season 

brings to the Shar Mountain. 

Instead, this spring some 

people had to dig graves, 

some to collect spent ammunition, 

some to collect animal 

carcasses. Someone created 

an album of horror while 

someone else compiled a 

journalistic report on victory 

and defeat. 

Are there really any individuals 

among us who prefer 

spring with bloodshed as a 

leitmotif?! 


closely to see how much negative 

energy radiates from their words; 

words which only a few months 

earlier had served only to create 

absurd hatred toward Albanians in 

general and the Albanians in government 

in particular. Using a poisonous 

vocabulary creates terrible 

walls for people trying to find a 

common language; people who 

have chosen rationality and objectivity 

to contribute to creating a 

new image for the Balkans. And 

when they cannot break through an 

obstructing wall with their heads, 

weapons like mines and grenades 

are of great help since they have no 

belonging, no feelings, no pain. 

Weapons serve a single purpose: to 

create new graves and nothing 

more. 

The table certainly will be 

available, if not now then tomorrow; 

whether we want it or not. The 

Balkans, including Macedonia, are 

part of Europe, and Europe will not 

tolerate someone disturbing its 

peace. Therefore, it is no accident 

that Europe created so many democratic 

institutions where the table 

and constructive words are seated 

at the place of honour. 

Advocating for peace should 

engagement us immediately. Any 

other approach will only bring turbulence. 

Macedonia's beauty will 

emerge from tolerance, understanding, 

and multiethnicity. Its beauty 

will also emerge by removing mistrust 

toward Albanians and by 

removing the logic that views 

Albanians only as potential enemies; 

a logic that is created by certain 

conjunctions which, if followed 

logically, cause much harm 

to the Macedonian population. 

And what next? Will we keep 

asking for absolute help? Or perhaps 

we will come to the conclusion 

that there is still a way to solve 

all problems, a path that will lead 

Macedonia to the community of 

civilized states in which democratic 

principles are the source of benefits 

bringing well being to all. 

Macedonia may enter the community 

of states where there are no 

absolute categories, one permanently 

giving rights and the other 

permanently demanding rights. 

Where these two categories exist, 

there cannot be permanent peace. 

The ice from the North Pole, 

which we brought this spring to our 

region known for its mild climate, 

will melt somehow. Goodwill and a 

more rational approach is needed, 

since people who believe there are 

winners and losers are very wrong. 

In Macedonia everyone can be winners, 

just as much as everyone can 

be losers. There is no other alternative. 

One thing is clear: This spring 

everyone would prefer to pick the 

most beautiful flowers that the season 

brings to the Shar Mountain. 

Instead, this spring some people 

had to dig graves, some to collect 

spent ammunition, some to collect 

animal carcasses. Someone created 

an album of horror while someone 

else compiled a journalistic report 

on victory and defeat. 

Are there really any individuals 

among us who prefer spring with 

bloodshed as a leitmotif?! 

(The author is 

editor-in-chief of the 

Albanian daily newspaper Fakti) 

27 

Nedzhdet Mustafa 

It has been clear for the last few 

weeks that the Republic of 

Macedonia has been in serious danger 

of destabilization both politically 

and in terms of security. The 

whole world considers ideas propagated 

by some people to be in contradiction 

with European politics, 

integration, and cooperation. In 

almost every country human rights 

remain the crucial segment of all 

institutions of the system, the personification 

of its choice of democracy, 

and its image before the eyes 

The Roma are on 

the Macedonia’s side 

Nobody needs adventure and regression, which will 

estrange us from democracy, civilization, and integration. 

As Europe has already offered us help, we should 

accept it with no second thoughts. 

of the world. The Republic of 

Macedonia has been trying to maintain 

balance in that field for ten 

years, setting human rights at a 

higher level than many European 

countries. That is an indisputable 

fact. All minority groups are more 

or less integrated into Macedonian 

society through the appropriate personnel 

in the country's politics, 

economy, and culture. We can no 

longer discuss basic human rights, 

because they have already been 

implemented. (Rights concerning 

language use, freedom of religion, 

education, and the right to form 

political associations are recognized 

in the constitution.) Now it is 


28 

time for their elaboration. 

Macedonia is a rare example of a 

country in this region that cares and 

knows how to deal with these problems 

carefully. I would not like to 

go into details and talk about other 

ethnic groups in Macedonia. They 

themselves should present all the 

advantages and disadvantages of 

their social position. 

Where are Roma in this tangled 

bundle? They are somewhere in the 

middle, recognized, having all 

rights, politically active, but still 

economically and socially marginalized. 

Many people think that the 

Roma are unable to make decisions 

in the arena of important political 

affairs. Arguments for such a policy 

are always found. The Roma have 

always been loyal citizens of this 

country, and they have never 

uttered a word that could harm the 

state and its politics. In the past, 

various people wanted to use that 

neutrality and objectivity for their 

political aims. They presented the 

same people as actors in some 

demonic processes, organized by 

others who consciously pursued 

their great ambitions for some 

movements no longer found in civilized 

countries. I will go back to the 

events that started two years ago, 

together with the Yugoslav drama 

about Kosovo. Roma from this 

region have never supported using 

arms to solve problems. Because of 

their neutrality, the Roma may 

never have been an important factor 

in finding solutions for critical situations, 

but it is important to mention 

that neither have they contributed 

to radicalism and extremism. 

They turned out to be losers in 

the end. They lost their homes. 

They live far away from their native 

places, estranged and scattered 

throughout Europe, including 

Macedonia. And all they ever wanted 

was peace and harmony. 

Someone played with their destiny. 

Albanians have always claimed that 

the Roma helped the Serbs carry out 

their exile from Kosovo. Serbs, on 

the other hand, claim that the Roma 

cooperated with Albanians in order 

to destroy Yugoslavia. Both claims 

are false. The Roma have taken no 

one's side but their own. 

Dark clouds have appeared over 

this cursed Balkan region again. 

Now it is going to rain on 

Macedonia. The conflict that started 

a couple of days ago is between 

Macedonians and Albanian armed 

groups. Among others in 

Macedonia also live the Roma, who 

stick to their golden line of neutrality 

and consistently obey the law 

and constitutional decrees concerning 

the territorial integrity and sovereignty 

of the Republic of 

Macedonia. I would not like the 

Kosovo scenario to repeat, as far as 

the Roma are concerned. They will 

support neither the Macedonians 

nor Albanians. They will support 

the Macedonian state. This is not a 

warning. We only want to say in 

time what could be expected from 

our minority group. The time when 

the Roma could be manipulated, or 

bribed with a bag of flour and a bottle 

of oil, has passed. The Roma as 

a nation have developed in fields of 

politics, culture, and education as a 

part of society. They do not want 

and do not accept being treated as a 

marginal group that is used only as 

a number to support the needs of 

one interest group or another. Our 

country is at the crossroads of destiny. 

We wonder whether to turn to 

the left or to the right, while the yellow 

light is flashing. I believe that 

wisdom will prevail again in everyone's 

minds. Nobody needs adventure 

and regression, which would 

estrange us from democracy, civilization, 

and integration. 

As Europe has already offered 

us help, we should accept it with no 

second thoughts. That is an equal 

offer of friendship for 

Macedonians, Albanians, Roma, 

Serbs, Vlachs, and Turks. It is 

offered to everyone. We will all 

equally feel its advantages and disadvantages. 

As I see it, no one in 

this state has special privileges, 

which is how it should be. If we 

exaggerate and develop in that 

direction, we will just become 

estranged. A cold rock will be created 

between us, which we will be at 

great pains to put away. I believe in 

Macedonia and all people responsible 

for it. We mustn't waste ten 

years of experience. Fighting is 

always possible, but solutions 

should be discussed reasonably. 

Finally, I will mention a famous 

Chinese strategist Sun Tsu Wu, who 

said: "The greatest success is not to 

win all battles, but to overcome the 

enemy without struggle." 

(The author is a philosopher) 


The big and small 

in defense of „the only truth“ 

The claim that 

maximal sincerity 

should 

not be expected 

from the 

U.S. towards 

states where 

their flag and 

embassy have 

been burned 

favours those 

who say that 

the "world's 

foremost 

policeman" is 

involved in the 

actions of the 

armed 

Albanian 

groups. It has 

nothing to do, 

however, with 

Washington's 

proclamations 

or specific 

actions regarding 

events in 

Macedonia 

Ilir Ajdini 

There are two declarations about 

what is happening in Macedonia: The 

first more or less is that "suspicious ethnic 

Albanian groups wish to destabilize 

Macedonian democracy." The second is 

that "ethnic Albanians in Macedonia can 

no longer withstand pressure from Slav 

Macedonians and they have therefore 

grabbed rifles to accelerate the realization 

of their human and national rights." 

The truth, however, is probably somewhere 

in between these two. 

Such is the conclusion reached by a 

reputable British newspaper, the one to 

which the Macedonian media refer with 

great pleasure when they say, for 

instance, that the international community 

in Kosovo has not accomplished anything 

and has no justification for military 

intervention. Or, that in this conflict in 

Macedonia there is probably an intertwining 

of Kosovar, Mafia, Albanian, 

German and other conspiratorial interests. 

However, ordinary Macedonians, and 

even some unusual Macedonians, do not 

like the above conclusion at all. Neither 

do they like the numerous worldwide 

reports and articles that do not state that 

responsibility lies with "Albanian 

gangs," or at least "Albanian terrorists," 

who strive to destroy the Macedonian 

state (where they enjoy their rights 

unlike any other minority in the world, 

not to mention when comparing their 

rights with those of "hundreds of thousands 

of Macedonians in Albania"); and 

that they are striving to create a "Greater 

Albania," or more recently a "Greater 

Kosovo!" Thus, as lovers of the truth, 

Macedonians have entered in a fierce 

war with no compromises against all the 

world's media. 

And so every single big and small 

Macedonian in this country has arisen to 

present this truth to the world. To accomplish 

this, firstly one needs to show that 

all the media are mistaken by not reporting 

on "Albanian terrorist gangs" that are 

being "exported from Kosovo." For this 

purpose, a group of enthusiasts found the 

e-mail addresses of hundreds of important 

institutions and individuals throughout 

the world and compiled texts about 

the truth of the conflict with notes about 

the biases of various governments and 

media toward "Albanian terrorists." This 

list of addresses started being sent to 

Macedonians, according to the rule of 

geometric progression, so that 

Macedonians could protest all over the 

world. The mission, thus, is to convince 

all media, starting with CNN and the 

BBC and ending with the TV insert of 

the Czech newspaper Dnes, that there is 

only one truth. Other enthusiasts hunt 

through world reports that the "terrorists 

are from Macedonia, and do not come 

from Kosovo"; where "Slav 

Macedonians" are mentioned. By marking 

them "urgent" or "extremely important" 

such enthusiasts send these reports 

to others in order for them to join the 

protests against the world. 

I had an opportunity to read some of 

the replies from people who had received 

such protest messages. Here is the 

approximate content of these answers: 

29 


30 

"This is an automatic reply to your 

message. I am sorry for not being able 

to respond to you personally, but 

should I have time to read what you 

are demanding, I may be able to reply. 

. ." Several messages were as follows: 

"I am sorry for not reading 

all messages, but if you are 

an immigrant from Mexico, 

visit the web-site www… 

where you will find detailed 

information about your 

rights. Sincerely, 

Senator…" 

These are the (unofficial) 

replies of the world to 

the Macedonian protesters. 

But this does not impress 

them and they will keep 

having fun by sending and 

re-sending e-mail messages, 

internet-addresses, 

caricatures, and photomontages 

that were meant to be 

interesting and funny. 

I now recall similar 

behaviour displayed by 

Macedonians during the 

NATO attacks against 

Serbia, when moral support 

was given to "the pacifist 

and indefatigable" Serbian nation, 

that once again stood behind 

Miloshevich and his crimes against 

humanity. (Secondary school students 

circulated notebooks in which they 

wrote poetry about the Serbian nation 

and their "fearless leader" fighting 

against "NATO fascists.") There was 

support of a different kind as well. 

For instance, caravans of Macedonian 

taxi drivers who in an organized way 

went to Serbia "to donate blood to 

victims," but in fact were emptying 

their gas tanks (ed: contravening the 

UN sanctions against Serbia). This all 

means that admiration and solidarity 

was expressed for a nation that took 

part in killing hundreds of thousands 

of civilians stretching from Croatia to 

Kosovo. When the Serbs realized 

what was to their benefit, however, 

they started improving their relationship 

with the NATO "fascist aggressors," 

and after making a deal about 

"American enemy" dollars, they 

arrested Slobo. Once they get their 

desired price asked for in the new 

deals, they may deliver him to The 

Hague. Macedonians, on the other 

hand, were left with the belief that 

NATO is a fascist organisation serving 

the U.S. and Western Europe, 

which since its establishment has had 

one goal: to destabilise and destroy 

Macedonia. NATO has finally found 

allies: Albanian terrorists. In addition, 

Macedonia was also spotted as a 

place where American and Western 

national flags were burned and where, 

due to the war against the dictatorial 

Serbia of Milosevic, embassies of 

three NATO member states were 

attacked. 

Here I recall the statement of an 

American who, I was told, was wellversed 

in the politics of his country. 

According to him, the U.S. cannot be 

expected to be maximally sincere in 

its actions towards countries where 

the US flag and embassy have been 

set on fire. This statement favours 

those who say that "the world's foremost 

policeman" is involved in the 

actions of the armed Albanian groups, 

both the UCPMB and NLA. It 

has nothing to do, however, 

with the proclamations or specific 

actions by Washington by 

which President George W. 

Bush and Secretary of State 

Colin Powell have condemned 

the military actions of ethnic 

Albanians or approved brutal 

actions by the Macedonian 

security forces. 

President Bush, for 

instance, stated that "the US 

will join its allies and the 

United Nations in condemning 

the violence of a small group of 

extremists who have decided to 

destabilize the democratic and 

multiethnic government of 

Macedonia." The Washington 

administration further reported 

that it has supplied the 

Georgievski government with 

unmanned aircraft to monitor 

the terrain and gather information 

about the movements of armed 

groups. In addition, control of the 

Kosovo-Macedonia border by 

American KFOR soldiers will be 

enhanced thereby preventing possible 

entry of armed groups and weapons 

and increasing the number of individuals 

captured if they seek shelter in 

Kosovo. But this is not enough for 

Macedonians to start trusting the U.S. 

or the West, just as it is not sufficient 

for numerous Macedonian media to 

continue writing the chapter entitled 

"The Dirtiest Journalism in the World" 

for a book on the history of contemporary 

journalism. 

(The author is editor of the 

Albanian editorial office of the 

Macedonian Information Agency) 


Hostages kept by criminals 

What does it matter if the Macedonian flag waves over the Tetovo 

fortress again if only Albanian flags will be fluttering on the streets of 

Tetovo for the next national holiday? And what does a story about 

flags have to do with what follows? 

Goran Mihajlovski 

The horrible thing is that all foreign 

journalists I talked to during 

the fighting in Tetovo told me "there 

is no end to this story." Even more 

horrible is that I have no counter 

arguments. I also can see no end. 

Macedonia is a hostage being 

held by criminals. They have successfully 

put forward ethnic questions 

behind which they hide their alleged 

high national interests they are 

defending. They do not care about the 

rights of Albanians in Macedonia; 

especially not if one of "theirs" is trying 

to take over their dirty business 

when he realizes he has been cheated 

or that someone owes him money. 

President Boris Trajkovski 

should not deceive himself that 

there may be some individuals who 

forced Albanians to vote for him 

among terrorists from Tetovo who 

are throwing bombs at his policemen. 

He should ask his "big mama" 

Dosta Dimovska why she ordered 

policemen to withdraw from 

Tanushevci, Brest, and Malino as 

soon as she became minister of 

internal affairs, and why did the 

police not patrol the famous Tetovo 

fortress? Was it because of relaxed 

interethnic relations; because Arben 

Xhaferi complained that the very 

presence of Macedonian police disturbs 

Albanian inhabitants? Or was 

it to allow for smuggling, which 

lines the pockets of those who are 

allegedly necessary for peace in 

Macedonia? 

Now we've seen them in their 

true light. There is no peace with 

them in Macedonia, although they 

are still trying to present themselves 

as politicians and peacemakers. 

We have to pay the bill. Law 

disappeared from this country a 

long time ago. First the SDSM 

(Social Democratic Union of 

Macedonia) demolished the Hard 

Rock Cafe because they hadn't been 

paid for their "political fieldwork." 

Then Ade Ciganot suddenly vanished; 

he who had become famous 

thanks to the first gangster-style 

murder in central Skopje. This continued 

with the murders during the 

local elections in Kondovo. It 

became obvious with the circus 

called Minister of Justice Xhevdet 

Nasufi, when Xhavid Asani was 

exchanged for four Macedonian 

soldiers kidnapped in Tanushevci. 

And with the papers lost for Fazli 

Veliu's extradition. Wasn't it also 

strange when we discovered the 

Deputy Minister of Defense's personal 

chauffeur had fired at a traffic 

policeman and, before that, the 

Deputy Minister of Defense had 

accidentally gone to Kondovo 

(when a man was shot while voting) 

with weapons found in the trunk of 

an official vehicle? Did the president's 

bodyguard accidentally go to 

Ohrid at the time of the armed incident 

during the local elections? 

Well, when you're in bad company… 

Now, when the time has come 

for Prime Minister Ljubcho 

Georgievski to pay, he plays innocent. 

He finds other people guilty of 

spending his money. He could have 

simply read the papers and watched 

television. He could have believed 

their stories about Tanushevci as the 

terrorists' base; about suspicious 

uniformed individuals walking 

down the slopes of the Shar 

Mountain; and about unidentified 

trucks crossing the border from 

Blace toward Kosovo. Now, when 

he is blaming the whole world for 

what has happened to him, how can 

he expect us to believe that he did 

not know? 

Poor us. We believed that this is 

all about ideology; that someone was 

trying to create a Greater Albania; 

that someone was fighting for 

Albanian human rights, and that others 

were refusing to yield; that 

Europe told them to be nice, which is 

why they are cooperating. The truth 

is that common interests bind them. 

And now, when they see that criminals 

have endangered their power, 

they are trying to present themselves 

as the most resolute fighters against 

criminals. How ridiculous! 

I will mention again the story 

about flags from the beginning of 

this text. Why is it so that we, the 

common people on both sides, 

believe in such things, whereas 

those who decide our destiny think 

about far more concrete things in 

their pockets? 

The story began with flags, didn't 

it? Remember Gostivar? 

(The author is editor-in-chief 

of the Macedonian 

daily newspaper Vest) 

31 


The water in the deep well 

32 

Perspective is 

not an empty 

vessel in 

which we put 

spices over 

and over 

again, do 

endless 

research on 

the idea of 

rebuilding, 

subject to 

new cartographic 

and 

ideological 

aims, which 

we will incorporate 

into 

collective 

needs. 

Perspective is 

improvement 

on the past, 

in which the 

structure and 

the contents 

of the personal 

are 

modified by 

new and 

brave testimony. 

Krste Chachanski 

I live in a film of my own making, in 

which I have to play a role that I do not want 

to play. But it is a role that I have chosen, and 

it is a role with many deficiencies. At the same 

time, it includes many significant moments 

which are laid upon the building blocks of 

what I have created, the building blocks of my 

self image. And the role has passed through filters 

of lucid consideration for others. I wrote 

this while trying to distil my own consciousness 

out of a collective consciousness. This is 

very difficult to do and it is very immoral, 

because of reality and all that which inevitably 

accompanies reality. It is like the summons to 

an artificial game which has in itself all of the 

elements of a real war. I believe that the personal 

world, the intimate vocabulary dies, 

fades, leaving an empty space. Within this 

empty space, among other things, are the 

thoughts, the pain that others feel, and the general 

readiness to put an end to that pain. The 

suffering that happens here is a fixed point, a 

way of thinking, a way of life and a pressing 

need. 

All of this has grabbed me with its iron 

nails and made me a hostage. Thus, encircled 

in the universe of this alchemy, I am able to see 

the slightly darkened faces of the people who 

take part in my life. But I am never able to see 

what it is that separates us - regardless of 

whether one of us is Andre and the other is 

Miftar. I stand by the idea that we are all born 

under the same sun, we all breathe the same air 

and drink the same water. We all feel 

depressed once a year when we see the Drim 

River dry out, and the workers of HPP 

Globochica from Struga, cut the grass in the 

dry riverbed. Because, regardless of our names 

and the crosses we all have to carry, we are all 

used to seeing the same river full of God's 

beauty and not as a filthy, black chasm. 

I write this to tell you that I often find 

myself captured for hours, like a martyr, in 

front of the TV set, looking at it as if it were a 

holy icon. I have forsaken my long established 

habit of holding a book in my hands to live vicariously 

through my imagined screenplay. 

Now I watch the news, aching at the thought of 

all the possible and impossible consequences. 

All things come from God, it is true. But I 

make the effort to close my eyes to the truth 

and to accept the philosophy of the ostrich, the 

danger, and the sand, to be truly horrible. 

Especially when the tragedy of the black-clad 

mothers is very real, and especially when our 

Fatherland is in peril. The situation being such, 

there are no adequate words or post-modern 

phrases that can sweeten the truth or change its 

content. Words can not do that because a fluorescent 

beam emitted from the media, the 

newspapers, and the pictures that stand as a 

testimony of the war, are undeniable evidence 

of the truth. These images illustrate the statement, 

"politics belongs to the marketplace 

which has nothing in common with morality." 

And politics always wears the poor person's 

cloak of spiritual misery. Politics will calculate 

their nonexistent problems up to the final 

detail, and maybe their real problems, and it 

will turn all the logic of a sane mind upside 

down. In the end politics will invent war as the 

only mean of solving these problems. And 

we're up to our knees in scriptwriters and postmodern 

cartographers. 

I remember something I read years ago. 

Humanity has suffered 14,000 wars. I will 

multiply this number with the meaninglessness 

of the human experience and the warnings 

sown into this experience and this number only 

multiplies the ice within me. Only one war is 

needed to understand the warnings, regardless 

of what the philosophers of Fascism say when 

they equate waging a war with personal 

hygiene. 

What now, June 2001

I remember another thought which 

is applicable to what is happening to us. 

With all the dogs of war, the butchers, 

the satraps and all the evil, there is still 

a little light at the end of the tunnel. I 

still don't see the critical substance of 

evil in inter-ethnic relations, and I think 

that living together is still realistic. Life 

is the ultimate witness to this. 

To be honest, before Tanushevci, I 

used to believe in the stability of our 

interethnic relations. Even more so 

after the forged coalition. I believed 

that all those years of Communism had 

spoiled the good relations between 

Macedonians and Albanians and that 

the coalition would help to build the 

much needed trust and to tear down the 

false theatrical scrim of the interethnic 

make-believe of the communist past. 

The coalition had the potential for a 

true, original perspective, a fresh 

unBalkanlike step forward in the 

Balkans. But the very foundation of 

that perspective was eaten away by the 

Tower of Babel syndrome. Some say 

that this crisis used the principle of 

joint vessels to spread to Macedonia 

from Kosovo. There are analysts 

whose scientific apparatus breaks down 

the anatomy of events until their last 

details. But I aim at the good side of 

human beliefs, and I hope, despite 

everything that has happened, that our 

chances for inter-ethnic coexistence are 

not spoiled. We haven't hit rock bottom 

yet. Isn't this loud scream, while pointing 

at the iceberg under the water and 

calling it an open Pandora's box, 

enough? And can it help the avalanche 

of local inconsistencies and everchanging 

political views? 

I want to believe that this text has 

some symbolic or inspirational purpose. 

It's certain that one's personal life 

is the utmost testament, and in it there 

always resides an active and unchanging 

schedule of dates, people, events 

and happenings. Here I would like to 

tell the story of how my parents got 

married, just in brief. It will help to tell 

you that we're here, together, come rain 

or come shine and we do it in our joint 

home. 

When my father, Petre Jakimoski, 

was a young man, he worked in the 

brick factory with Asip Demo. He fell 

in love with Draganka Jankulovska 

from Volino and he was determined to 

marry her. Since he was poor, her parents 

wouldn't even consider it. With 

Draganka's consent, he decided to 

elope with her. Fearing the search parties, 

he decided to cover his tracks and 

spent the first wedding night in the 

house of his friend Asip Demo, from 

Livada. This is a fact and is still spoken 

about. It is something that we respect, 

and we found mutual visits normal-a 

real joyful occasion. Asip was even 

the guest of honour at my wedding. I'm 

a writer and this was written by life 

itself. I refuse to add or remove anything 

from this story. In it you will find 

the much needed sound of human joy 

and the bread and salt and the hunger 

and the need for one another and the 

need to be one next to each other. This 

is the dialogue of the past, and it can 

still be heard, because "what once happened 

never ceases to happen," as I 

once wrote. I was right then, and I am 

right now. 

In Kundera's vocabulary, remembrance 

is not a negation of forgetting, it 

is an eternal dialogue with our soul, our 

memory, our being. But it reminds us of 

what is happening or could happen. Our 

worst fate is interethnic war, which the 

Macedonians should not and must not 

loose. The Macedonians are simply 

deemed to win. When I say 

Macedonians, I do it with pride in the 

civilization. At the same time, I have 

in mind the previously analyzed reality 

in which Macedonians are those born in 

Macedonia, who consider themselves 

such. There are no exceptions here, 

whether they calls themselves 

Macedonian, Albanian, Turk, Serb, 

Armenian or Roma. 

I loudly proclaim, "Welcome my 

dearest, to the meadows of individual 

patriotism-it is a splendid pointer to the 

blissful sunrise over my Fatherland. I 

would rather not name the opposite. 

The opposite is full of consternation, 

terror and human misery, in which the 

humanity in humans, the Macedonia in 

Macedonians, hits rock bottom." 

Of course, all of these thresholds 

must not be crossed, because of the 

world's remembrance and the world's 

civilization. 

I have tried with words and deeds 

to open the bridges of mutual trust and 

closeness, to open the door for everybody, 

no matter what their names and 

religions are. This hospitality is the 

ticket for our mutual home, and the 

civility in our mutual relations. This 

should be our true and shared perspective. 

Perspective is not an empty vessel 

in which we put spices over and over 

again, do endless research on the idea 

of rebuilding, subject to new cartographic 

and ideological aims, which we 

will incorporate into collective needs. 

The perspective is improvement on the 

past, in which the structure and the contents 

of the personal are modified by 

new and brave testimony. 

So just to be clear, there is no need 

to destroy the old well. Its water has 

satisfied the thirst of the thirsty, and it is 

a metaphor for the quenching of the 

thirst of all the Macedonians. 


33 

What now, June 2001

Despotism and democracy 

This is a true, political story of a country which had a long-lived, tireless President 

34 

Luan Starova 

The events I'm about to unravel 

before you really happened and 

might still happen in some 

Mediterranean or Balkan state. It 

could happen in any small country, 

free from colonial dependence, that 

builds its own future, looking for the 

real democracy that can be found in 

Western countries. A country that is 

looking to find what 

Churchill called the 

least bad institution 

of governingdemocracy-a 

system 

which has had at 

least 200 years to 

develop successfully. 

The Little 

Republic I'm going 

to tell you about had 

a President- 

Liberator. He was 

also referred to as 

"The Supreme 

Fighter," the Father 

of the Nation. 

"You have a 

very little state, as 

big as a postage 

stamp on the globe," 

said foreign diplomats 

to the 

President. 

"It's true, it is as 

small as a stamp, but 

the stamp travels 

worldwide. We're as big as the 

world," replied the wise President. 

And as things sometimes turn out, 

the Father of the Nation spent years 

and years studying, exiled in the large 

colonizing state, against which he 

later took up arms and fought for his 

country's independence. His people 

lived with happy and unhappy twists 

and turns of fate, together with the 

President-Liberator. A decade passed, 

then another and another, but the 

President showed no signs of letting 

go his power. In the end, the 

Liberator turned Despot. Everybody 

reminded him of his years spent 

studying in the prestigious Western 

state. But, it turned out that when you 

grab hold of power, you don't let go 

of it so easily. The President spoiled 

his good relations with the president 

of an African country, a well-known 

poet, who abandoned power to allow 

his country to experience democracy. 

The president was not naive or 

unwise. He could sense his destiny. 

He would rule for as long as he could, 

but it wouldn't last forever. The thing 

he feared most was a military coup. 

As it often happens in far away 

African or South American states, the 

President had chosen a group of 

smart young men and sent them to the 

numerous European and American 

universities to study law, economics, 

defence and even intelligence and 

politics. The President comforted 

himself that even if he were to be 

overthrown, at least it would be done 

by some of his "sons." I will be 

peaceful in my old age, he thought. 

And so it happened. But that's another 

story and we'll talk about that later. 

After the third, and at the dawning 

of the fourth year of his life, the 

once-cherished Father of the Nation, 

was revered as the people's despot. 

He controlled the only political party, 

a monolithic organization of Socialist 

character, and he was unable to bear 

What now, June 2001

the thought of having a second or 

third party. The poor President grew 

older and older, but he clung to 

power as firmly as he could. He was 

determined to stay in power at any 

cost and this thought penetrated to 

the last atom of his body. He began to 

grow senile, and his advisers shamelessly 

manipulated the old dictator 

and led him to absurd situations. 

Western diplomats, primarily the 

French and American ambassadors, 

advised the ailing President, who was 

beginning to loose his clarity, that it 

was time to reach out for "the least 

bad institution of governing which is 

already used by the majority of 

humanity-democracy." The ambassadors 

advised the Father of the 

Nation that the first step he should 

take would be to abandon the oneparty 

system. He first reacted as if 

they asked him to align with demons. 

His country was a Mediterranean 

one, close to Europe. It could even be 

a Balkan one. With minor differences. 

It could have become the first 

"associated" and "stabilized" country 

in the southern Mediterranean, if 

only the President had opted for a 

multi-party system. But the old fox 

had enough wit to employ his selfpreservation 

instincts and to "save" 

his people from democracy. In confidence, 

he would bring the ambassador 

of the world's leading power up 

to speed. 

"I spent all of my life studying 

Western democracy, but you should 

trust me when I tell you that my people 

are not ready for it. They are not 

ready to assume the burden of power. 

My people are like the dust, if you 

blow strongly enough it will spread. 

You can blow any way you like, my 

people will follow," said the 

President. 

The Western diplomats were 

patient. They waited for autumn 

when the pear is ripe and falls from 

the tree. Large demonstrations 

occurred. Men were hungry. The 

large country sent ships with wheat. 

The President calmed the crowds by 

sacrificing a couple of ministers. But 

in the end he was forced to allow 

more parties into the Parliament. He 

called his faithful friend, the 

President of the Parliament, to his 

palace. The two men were the same 

age, past their eighth decade. The 

President of the Parliament was a 

respected former writer. They agreed 

to assemble the historic session of 

Parliament. The Father of the Nation 

took a large, comfortable armchair 

right next to the President of the 

Parliament. He was always there 

when the Parliament convened, just 

in case anything went wrong. The 

President held a large artificial bouquet 

of jasmine flowers. 

So the historic day arrived. For 

the first time TV cameras were present. 

A big occasion. The members of 

the government were also there. So 

were the diplomats. And the leaders 

of the newly founded parties started 

to present their programs. It was a 

pleasure to listen to them. All their 

programs led straight to Paradise. 

The old President, the comforted 

Father of the Nation, was so happy 

he fell asleep. It happened before, as 

if he could control his subjects 

through his dreams. But the Devil 

was hard at work. He took up the 

microphone and spoke up. He yelled! 

Banged his fists on the desk. "Well, 

this has never happened before," said 

the confused Parliamentarians. 

The Father of the Nation woke up 

from his quiet Mediterranean dream. 

He even dropped the bouquet. Some 

interpreted it as a bad omen. After the 

speaker calmed down, the Father of 

the Nation turned to the President of 

the Parliament 

"Who is this impostor?" he 

asked. 

"He's from the new democratic 

party. He is elaborating his party's 

program." 

"Who asked you for his program? 

Tell me which tribe he is from and I 

will understand what he is trying to 

say." 

That was the end of the 

Parliament. The small Mediterranean 

state had learned its first lesson in 

democracy. The Dictator, while he 

still had some reason, managed easily. 

All the new parties were full of the 

old, unified socialist party spirit. 

Therefore people were under the 

impression that there was only one 

party in the land. There were numerous 

parties, but their essence 

remained the same, monolithic. 

Everybody took care of his own 

tribe. 

Soon the President's illness progressed 

on to the people. The whole 

country was feeling deep pain. The 

parties waged wars among themselves. 

Who was not with them or 

their programs, were considered to 

be against them. They even had well 

elaborated strategies to proclaim 

someone a traitor. The people continued 

to suffer. Unimaginable corruption 

raged. The ministers changed 

after a day or two in office. One was 

named minister in the morning and 

dismissed in the evening! The Father 

of the Nation didn't have the cure. He 

was overwhelmed by his illness and 

time past and present were all mixed 

up in his head. 

The coup came, carried out by 

one of the President's sons. In fact it 

was a "medical coup" since the poor 

President was proclaimed unfit to 

rule under an article of the 

Constitution. The decision was 

signed by his personal doctors. 

The young new President tried to 

rule the land according to his Fathers' 

recipe. The old President spent his 

days in a villa, surrounded by attention 

and medical care. He was nearing 

his 100th year. The young 

President used to visit him before 

every national holiday. The parties 

vegetated, but the strongest one was 

the new President's party, inherited 

from the Father of the Nation. Just 

before he died, the young President 

visited the old one and tried to bring 

fresh hope in his unable body. 

"When I see you looking so 

strong and wise I tell myself that you 

can still be of use to this nation," said 

the young President. The old 

President shook his head and replied, 

"Well, if you really think so, my 

son, why don't you come here and let 

me rule a little while longer..." 


35 

What now, June 2001

It is absurd to believe 

that only ethnically homogenous 

countries have a future 

36 


The government of national 

salvation was formed at the 

moment when the society was 

shaken by critical problems, 

which penetrated into the basic 

structure of the country. This 

government is thus expected to 

show awareness, knowledge, 

power and devotion, to help us 

preserve the basic structure and 

to create the basic conditions for 

a new life within society. This 

government could, among other 

things, try to set the foundation 

for a real civil structure within 

the country. This includes several 

basic directions, which could 

define future development. 

The first aspect of this new 

system is the identification of the 

crucial role of pluralism. 

Pluralism, especially the pluralism 

of interests in its civil variant, 

includes the formation and 

existence of transient spheres 

With a certain level of decentralization 

within a country, its citizens 

will find the means for their own 

identification in the smaller structures 

in which they live, and also 

through the global community. 

(structures and groups) whose 

basic principle remains arbitrary. 

People must have formal and 

practical opportunities to associate 

with each other according to 

various interests and needs, 

instead of being forced to belong 

to certain fixed structures defined 

at the moment of their birth. 

Stable and impenetrable structures 

are incompatible with the 

essence of civil rights and freedom, 

which are founded on having 

the opportunity to choose. 

Flexibility in defining social 

spheres becomes the modus 

vivendi of civil society and 

spreads porously through the 

community. The inclusion of all 

citizens into this civil society 

should be according to that which 

is general and universal, and not 

according to such special characteristics 

as citizens' similarities 

versus their differences. An 

example of this can be seen in 

laws and rules that are the same 

for everyone and applied in the 

same way (regardless of individual 

and group differences). The 

idea that a country cannot exist if 

it is not homogenous is opposed 

to the fundamental notion of 

human rights, which have to be 

defined and accepted in the terms 

of multicultural, multiracial, and 

multi-confessional elements, as 

well as through elements of 

multi-identity within the conceptual 

borders of a country. 

This can direct us to a second 

possible action, which is the 

application of the liberal concept 

of the country's neutrality. 

Liberal neutrality represents one 

of the ways for solving conflicts 

caused by relatively constant 

social, religious, ethnic and other 

differences. Such a country aims 

to erase differences between people 

in public, and to make all 

members of a certain community 

equal as far as their political 

capacity is concerned, despite the 

fact that those individuals have 

different aspects of development 

and identification. That means 

that, within the public sphere, 

everyone participates according 

to his abilities, and is treated as a 

citizen like everybody else. 

Contradictory opinions are 

reconciled by treating the differences 

between people, ways in 

which they are not equal, and of 

their individual or collectively 

manifested features, as irrelevant, 

in accordance with the liberal tradition. 

These differences are 

totally displaced to an "expanded" 

private sphere of a life. Any 

negative influence on a person's 

accomplishments, which make 

him both an individual and a 

member of a wider community, 

are prevented. 

In order to achieve this, we 

must formulate juridical norms 

which will make it possible for 

individuals to seek out their own 

solutions (individual or within 

smaller groups), or in other 

words, to act alternatively without 

exceeding these norms. This 

is possible only if we start with 

the assumption that all actions of 

legal subjects are not equally 

important from a general point of 

view (if the whole country or 

society are taken into consideration). 

Namely, there are many 

interests which have no importance 

whatsoever for the social 

(meaning state) system. 

As a special issue for discussion, 

doctrinal democracy can be 

mentioned, according to which, 

the majority is in favour of something, 

therefore deeming it good 

or just. That kind of democratic 

What now, June 2001

fetishism can lead us to a false 

impression that "the government cannot 

be self-willed as long as it is 

elected by a democratic process." 

History teaches us that wide national 

sovereignty cannot guarantee human 

rights. It is a big illusion of democracy, 

but also of liberalism, to believe 

that human rights and the protection 

of minorities can be safely left to the 

good intentions of the majority (or 

any group or organization in the society). 

Other kinds of democratic institutions 

and liberal principles must be 

found to protect these rights. These 

could include special constitutional 

decrees and new divisions of power 

that will respect differences, among 

which a special place belongs to 

political and institutional pluralism. 

This could be especially enhanced if 

they are "enriched" with a pluralism 

of interests, values and identity. 

A dimension of decentralization 

in the concept of a law-abiding state 

should probably be included in this 

context as something new and, at first 

glance, in opposition to the classical 

notions of state and law. 

Decentralization and disintegration 

of a structure are often connected to 

systemic inefficiency and rigidity. 

However, talking about efficiency 

makes sense only if we take into consideration 

the clearly defined aims of 

this system. If the aim of a law-abiding 

state is at least formally defined 

as the realization of human rights and 

freedom, than its efficiency should 

not be measured by dimensions that 

are not connected to the individual, 

their needs and interests. 

Regional political decentralization 

can become a factor in rational 

divisions of power and bringing government 

institutions closer to common 

people. The idea of creating a 

system of divided power between 

centralized and decentralized authorities 

embodies the idea of general 

participation in power. Functional 

treatment of the problem of bringing 

the authorities closer to citizens is, 

first of all, based on the feeling of 

solidarity in the community (which is 

directly connected to democracy). A 

certain level of decentralization in a 

country gives its citizens the means 

to identify with the smaller structures 

in which they live, and through them, 

within the global community. In this 

way people have means to express 

not only their right to be different, but 

also to belong to certain constellations 

whose diversity makes them 

richer. 

When talking about a law-abiding 

state, we should not think about 

decreasing democracy or any kind of 

centralization, but about the mechanisms 

of integration of the decentralized 

parts. Those mechanisms could 

range from simple, spontaneous 

"meetings" to complex, developed 

matrix forms. It is essential first of all 

to define the basis for contact, and 

then to make a concrete choice about 

how to integrate the decentralized 

parts. 

One of the basic postulates of 

political pluralism (which the new 

government could take into consideration) 

is that there is a consensus 

about essential elements of social and 

governmental structure among dominant 

political subjects in the society. 

The consensus about basic elements 

is identified as an assumption of the 

stability of a political system when it 

consists of groups and individuals 

with very different interests. 

Consensus is accepted as the second 

way of establishing and dealing with 

the relationship between society and 

individuals, and as a specific form of 

balancing and finding a common 

"denominator" for actual problems. 

However, a consensus can never 

include the whole population. No 

matter how consistently created and 

institutionally formed it is, consensus 

cannot exclude situations in which, 

for various reasons, some ethnic or 

other groups are marginalized or completely 

left out of the dominant consensus. 

The solution should be found 

in the limited range of the quantity 

and contents of the subject matter of 

the consensus, or in other words, it 

should be applied only to a limited 

number of values basically connected 

to the system and its foundations. 

The second problem regarding 

the application of consensus lies in 

the fact that every compromise 

demands an extremely high level of 

professionalism, detailed examination 

of the question and wide participation 

of specialists, in finding an 

appropriate solution. Of course, that 

is a complex and slow method, and it 

is often only partially effective. 

However, it makes it possible to 

overcome the disregard of people's 

interests and their exclusion from 

appropriate solutions, which is 

incompatible with the modern idea of 

a law-abiding state. 

It is very difficult, sometimes 

impossible, to reach real consensus 

when a society is divided into groups 

with different interests (concerning 

economy as well as other areas), 

when there are no obvious common 

points of interest, or so called, knots 

of unity. 

As far as various directions of 

development and new structures are 

concerned, I am afraid that the new 

government will only make a couple 

of absurd compromises, and partial 

changes in the Constitution and the 

legal system. These changes will 

perfectly sum up the inconsistency of 

our system. They will completely 

evade the sphere which lays out the 

mechanisms and rules and principles 

for implementation. The government 

representatives will use a lot of 

smoke and mirrors to hide their 

weakness and inability to look for 

and find solutions that will bring 

more happiness to as many people as 

possible. 


associate at the Institute for 

Sociological, Political and 

Juridical Research, Skopje) 

37 

What now, June 2001

Victory of peace 

is important for the Union 

38 

Svetlana Jovanovska 

The international community 

has had enough of Balkan wars. 

Javier Solana, chief among the 

fifteen European diplomats who 

has been flying on the Skopje- 

Brussels route for three months 

now as clearly stated it. Those 

who still see him as the leader of 

the alliance during the bombing 

of Yugoslavia two years ago are 

wrong. This is a different man. 

This time his political role is different 

and the whole strategy has 

changed direction. We could also 

say it in a simpler and more cynical 

way. If it is true that NATO 

needed war in the Balkans two 

years ago, this time it certainly 

needs peace. Maybe not because 

of Macedonia, which is after all a 

small country with a little more 

than 2 million inhabitants and 

with no worldly economic 

importance. But because of 

NATO itself, whose European 

future has been placed on the 

Balkan table, and because of the 

European Union. The Union puts 

the credibility of its common 

security and foreign politics, 

which is beginning to expand, on 

the same table. Regardless of all 

official statements coming from 

Europe and the US stating that 

action in Kosovo was a success, 

it won't be true until all parts of 

the Balkans are finally stable. 

Until that happens, NATO and 

the EU still have a lot of work to 

do. Efforts for preserving the territorial 

integrity of Macedonia 

are neither empty phrases uttered 

by Robertson, Solana and all the 

Euro-Atlantic leaders, nor a transient 

idea that can be changed 

under pressure. Preserving the 

territorial integrity of Macedonia 

is an investment in what is starting 

to look like a well-planned, 

serious international strategy, 

after all the previous good and 

bad initiatives offered by the 

international community in the 

Balkans 

UNLEARNT 

LESSONS FROM 

KOSOVO 

Some Albanian circles, and 

especially the radical ones in 

Kosovo and Macedonia, did 

not interpret NATO's intervention 

in Yugoslavia correctly. 

And they did not learn any lessons 

from it, unlike the international 

community and other 

Balkan countries. They did not 

understand that NATO's aim 

was, among other things, to 

prevent humanitarian catastrophe 

and to get the province out 

of the clutches of Slobodan 

Miloshevich and his cruel 

repression. However, the 

attempt to defeat the repression 

and Serbian nationalism 

should not have been interpreted 

as a green light for independence 

and the spread of 

Albanian nationalism, based 

on the dream of Greater 

Albania. 

NATO came to Kosovo 

after the bombing, but that 

happened after a difficult public 

struggle between countriesmembers 

of the EU-because it 

was not easy to justify a 70 

days of bombing of a European 

country at the end of the twentieth 

century. When NATO 

came to Kosovo, it was aware 

of two basic things. First, that 

it would not leave Kosovo for 

a long, long time. And second, 

that they must not allow 

confrontation with the 

Albanians in which NATO soldiers 

would be hostages and 

would find themselves in the 

same absurd situation as the 

blue helmets in Bosnia. That is 

why the international community 

overlooks Albanian 

extremism, illegal crossing of 

What now, June 2001

the border, cadre formation and 

arms smuggling which has been 

going on unobstructedly for two 

years now in the area between 

Kosovo, Serbia, Albania, 

Macedonia and Montenegro. 

Many local politicians ignore it, 

although not for the same reasons. 

That is why this organization was 

accused of being incapable of 

accomplishing what it was supposed 

to when it came to Kosovo. 

It is not true that it is incapable. 

It has simply decided not to lose a 

single soldier because it does not 

want additional problems. It has 

taken a political role in order to 

use traditional long-term political 

methods, which will not allow 

That is why Javier Solana was 

granted this position. Now he is 

the conductor of the European 

chorus, which no longer sings out 

of tune. 

Fifteen European countries 

agreed that Macedonia, as a country 

that showed cooperation and 

maturity during the Kosovo crisis, 

should be rewarded with the 

Agreement for Stabilization and 

Association. This is the first step 

in EU admission procedures. The 

agreement was signed, and it was 

decided that it would serve as the 

framework within which the crisis 

should be solved. We should not 

underestimate the fact that the EU 

decided to sign the document 

Albanians in Macedonia remain 

moderate and that they are aware 

that the terrorism in the mountains 

will not bring them any good in 

the future. However, if the conflict 

lasts for a long time, it will be 

more and more difficult to preserve 

multiethnic peace. 

That is why, when the 

Agreement in Luxembourg was 

signed in April, the first deadline 

was denoted: "the summit in 

Goteburg at which Macedonia 

should present the first results of 

its 'political dialogue.'" This is, in 

fact, an interethnic agreement that 

should lead to the fulfilment of 

legitimate Albanian requests, 

which do not include federaliza- 

Preserving territorial integrity of Macedonia is an investment for what ss starting to 

look like a well-planned, serious, international strategy, after all the previous good and 

bad initiatives the international community has offered in the Balkans. 

another incident similar to the one 

in Kosovo. The Kosovo case was 

an exemption from the rule that 

says: condemnation of violence 

and the use of political means for 

achieving aims. The international 

community is determined to stick 

to that rule in Macedonia, because 

among other things, it wants to 

prove that it has learnt lessons 

from Kosovo and Bosnia. 

THE EU'S ROLE IN 

THE SITUATION 

It is no coincidence that Javier 

Solana became in charge of 

European diplomacy right after 

the bombing and his NATO mandate. 

He wants to show that the 

European Union has drawn certain 

conclusions from the Kosovo and 

Bosnian crises. The first lesson, as 

far as the Union is concerned, is 

that EU offices must no longer 

send uncoordinated messages. 

despite the obvious fact that the 

crisis in Macedonia would be neither 

quickly nor easily resolved. 

That was the strongest signal sent 

to Macedonia guaranteeing its territorial 

integrity and sovereignty 

and as a proof that the Union really 

wants the country to remain 

undivided, united and multiethnic. 

We also should not overlook 

the fact that the EU did not want to 

become a mediator or a gobetween, 

not even after the second 

phase of the crisis in May. Javier 

Solana did not accept ideas for an 

international conference, similar 

to Dayton, at which Macedonia's 

destiny would be determined. That 

is the second signal that the EU 

wants Macedonia to be able to 

manage its own sovereignty, without 

international tutors. However, 

it is clear that time may be the 

number one enemy in the 

Macedonian crisis. Everybody 

agrees that the majority of 

tion of the country, as George 

Robertson emphasized at the 

beginning of the crisis. 

TIME IS THE ENEMY 

Brussels was not and it is not 

satisfied with the expedience and 

seriousness that Macedonian government 

has shown in dealing with 

this crisis. Javier Solana was not 

very direct when he came to Skopje 

in March. His advice was unclear, 

wrapped in language of politics and 

democracy, and he did not leave 

room for explanations. The armed 

groups did not take it very seriously 

when they were warned that their 

behaviour would not be accepted, 

because it was clear that NATO 

would not attack them militarily. 

On the other hand, neither 

Macedonian nor Albanian politicians 

from Skopje managed to send 

a message of unity to their voters 

and to control dissatisfaction. 

39 

What now, June 2001

40 

Instead, they seemed confused and 

even in a panic. They did not manage 

to isolate extremists, as they 

were asked to do. Instead of focusing 

on work in that direction, they 

continued with their internal turmoil 

and scandals, encouraging extremists 

to go on with their actions. 

At the beginning of the crisis in 

March, Solana mentioned "a secretariat 

for Europe," a body that 

would, according to Brussels, use 

the Agreement with the EU for 

interethnic reforms. Skopje could 

not carry this out, so with many difficulties, 

a forum for discussion was 

formed, led by President 

Trajkovski. Political leaders from 

Macedonia barely managed to agree 

to come to the ceremony in 

Luxembourg. Unfortunately, 

Skopje failed to use this first opportunity 

the way NATO and the EU 

had hoped, and they did not start the 

dialogue as they were supposed to. 

Terrorists took this chance for their 

cowardly attack on eight soldiers 

and policemen, which resulted in a 

new phase of the crisis that brought 

military action and the usual calls 

for a cease-fire. The EU and NATO 

condemned the terrorist actions, 

using expressions they have never 

before used. The NATO Secretary 

General even thought about calling 

those people criminals. 

LACK OF 

PRAGMATISM 

The basic idea of the EU in that 

crisis was not to create a big coalition, 

because such a political instrument 

does not leave much space for 

manoeuvres if it fails. Also, such a 

political instrument must last for a 

certain period of time, because it 

brings long term risks of the creation 

of radical forces around it. However 

politicians in Macedonia did not 

show enough pragmatism, which 

could have helped them finish the job 

with the help of the forum established 

by President Trajkovski. The 

crisis became more complex. The 

EU and NATO, horrified by the idea 

of introducing a state of war, asked 

both Albanians and Macedonians to 

try the last political instrument. I say 

the last because it is hard to imagine 

what Albanian and Macedonian 

political leaders could do if the big 

coalition failed to show the way to 

the final solution of the crisis. In that 

case, Javier Solana would probably 

decide to take his diplomatic gloves 

off and to take the role of the mediator. 

He would have to take everything 

into his hands instead of being 

a "helper" as at the beginning. Even 

worse, the international community 

could decide to organize some kind 

of a new Dayton, in order to preserve 

the territorial integrity of Macedonia. 

But in this case, Macedonia would 

have no right to chose interlocutors. 

Brussels hopes that this will not 

happen and that Macedonia will 

prove that it is a country which knows 

how to take care of itself. Javier 

Solana does not talk in metaphors as 

he used to. Now he openly says that 

we need an agenda and timing in three 

phases. First, we must go to the summit 

in Goteburg with the adopted law 

of local autonomy, with the firm support 

of the University in Tetovo, with 

the third TV channel in Albanian, and 

with 500 Albanian policemen who 

should start their training in order to 

be employed later on. The second 

phase is in November, when elections 

should be scheduled. We will need 

new results by then. And finally, the 

third phase will be the elections. Only 

after that should the famous debate 

about changes in the Constitution be 

opened. This is nothing especially 

new. 

What is new and what is expected 

is the organization of that dialogue, 

and, above all, communication 

with common people-even 

those who are not interested in politics, 

if there are such people in 

Macedonia at the moment. We 

should do this in order to weaken the 

terrorists, to leave them no space for 

manoeuvres, with no other solution 

but to lay down their arms, to demilitarize 

and to hope that Macedonia 

will be generous enough to grant 

amnesty to those who have not 

killed anybody. It will be something 

similar to the recipe given by Robert 

Frowick, who, as they say in 

Brussels, exaggerated a little bit in 

his belief that, like the return of 

Yugoslav forces in Preshevo, the 

time had come for the same thing in 

Macedonia. It is also very important 

not to leave the impression that 

everything is done just because the 

terrorists have occupied a few villages 

and they keep shooting. 

SOLANA'S EFFORTS 

ARE NOT ENOUGH 

The crisis in Macedonia is entering 

a new phase in which NATO and 

the EU, as well as the big coalition, 

must work very seriously. It would 

be good if NATO sent a stronger signal 

that its strategy would bring new 

strength to this part of the Balkans. 

Their chance to do this is during the 

emergency summit of NATO countries' 

chiefs, planned for the middle 

of June in Brussels. The EU should 

know that Solana's efforts are not 

enough. The Institution should reinforce 

its plans about economic and 

social help for Macedonia through 

the European commission. Many 

well-informed observers believe that 

it is going to happen and that there is 

no need for pessimism. If 

Macedonia falls, it will be the end of 

the whole Euro-Atlantic economic 

and geo-strategic idea for the beginning 

of the new century. The price is 

too high to let a few hundred or 

thousand extremists spoil the game. 

(The author is a correspondent 

for Dnevnik from Brussels) 

What now, June 2001

Solve your own problems 

A view from Skopje: NATO does very little for Macedonia - A view from Brussels: You 

should be able to solve your own, internal problems 

Daut Dauti 

In my opinion, there have been 

"certain obstacles" in the communication 

between Brussels and Skopje, 

or better said, between NATO and 

Macedonia for the last two years. 

The idyll, which lasted for almost a 

decade, was a little disturbed by the 

events in Kosovo 

(anti-NATO and anti- 

American protests), 

and especially this 

spring as the lack of 

trust toward the 

Alliance increased out 

of suspicion that it 

didn't do enough to 

control the border 

between Kosovo and 

Macedonia. After the 

events in Tanushevci, 

an avalanche of speculations 

and accusations, 

which Prime 

Minister Ljubcho 

Georgievski too nervously, 

tactlessly and 

undiplomatically 

expressed toward two countries 

belonging to the alliance (US and 

Germany), inevitably led to colder 

relations. 

Strangely enough, the reaction 

that came from the other side was 

not identical. It seemed as if NATO 

leaders at headquarters tended to 

minimize the accusations that came 

from the Macedonian side, or, in a 

way, silently accepted the remarks. 

So, instead of giving an answer, they 

continued convincing the 

Macedonian public in a diplomatic 

manner, and through some concrete 

actions, that things are not exactly as 

they seem. It was never explicitly 

said in those accusations whether it 

is NATO as a whole that doesn't do 

enough for Macedonia, or whether it 

is "individual" parts of NATO forces 

(German and American soldiers 

from KFOR in Kosovo). Answers 

came from individual countries, 

which were trying to take certain 

measures in order to reassure the 

Macedonian public and government. 

However, NATO has never given 

up Macedonia as a partner in the 

region. The author of this text had an 

opportunity to see with his own eyes 

NATO Headquarters, while he was 

staying there together with nine 

other journalists from Macedonia. 

But the journey to Brussels also 

proved that there is a certain misunderstanding 

concerning the perception 

of critical situations, and 

NATO's (in)efficiency 

in dealing 

with them. 

Probably 

nobody in Macedonia 

has any doubts 

about the total support 

given by the 

alliance. But certain 

distrust could be 

noticed in many 

questions put by 

Macedonian journalists 

to NATO's 

political and military 

representatives, 

including the secretary 

general himself 

Lord George 

Robertson, during 

our time spent in Brussels. It seemed 

as if the journalists from Macedonia 

wanted to tell their hosts, indirectly 

or directly, that their support didn't 

help much because "they failed to 

fulfil their obligations concerning 

the defence of the border from the 

side where they should have done 

so." 

Upon hearing those questions, 

41 

What now, June 2001

42 

almost all those who briefed us tried 

to persuade the doubting Thomases 

that they would reinforce controls of 

the border with Kosovo, but also 

mentioned that absolute control was 

not possible. They emphasized the 

exchange of information, the usage 

of the most sophisticated means for 

controlling the border, and other 

things. The message is very clear: we 

are doing what is in our authority and 

power, but you, as a country must do 

the rest. 

Through these and other clear 

messages, we come to the differences 

in diagnosing the situation 

(directly or indirectly). NATO, but 

also other relevant international 

organizations, do not agree with the 

Macedonian official attitude that the 

crisis was "imported." In that way 

they justified the reduction of their 

share of "responsibility," stating that 

they have no mandate to act in 

Macedonia. That is why NATO proclaims 

the same thing as other decision-making 

centres big (EU, US)- 

that problems in Macedonia should 

be solved not only by military, but 

above all by political means. No 

matter how unacceptable they may 

sound, these messages indirectly (as 

they respect the dominant view, they 

will not say it directly) inform a part 

of the Macedonian population that 

besides terrorism, there is a problem 

in political relations within the country. 

No matter how much NATO disapproves 

of the methods used by 

armed Albanians, (Robertson repeated 

many times that those who use 

weapons instead of ballots should be 

marginalized) they support efforts to 

discuss the situation in a political 

dialogue in order to deprive those 

who are armed of all arguments for 

war. Besides, it is clear that the 

alliance does not want to participate 

in actions similar to those in Bosnia 

and in Kosovo, because it is too 

expensive, even for NATO. 

However, there is a misunderstanding 

about what Macedonia 

expects from NATO, not only concerning 

their mandate in the region 

(under the auspices of the UN), but 

also in formal and legal aspects. 

Macedonia should submit a formal 

request for NATO's possible participation 

in solving the crisis. As 

Robertson said in the meeting with 

journalists from ten information 

agencies in Skopje in the beginning 

of May of this year, such a request 

does not exist, and he convinced 

them that there is no need for such a 

thing. That means that the solution of 

internal problems should be expected 

from our authorities. They prefer 

the political way, but they will say, 

"The way you are going to deal with 

the crisis is your business," and 

responsibility, of course. Which 

means: solve your own problems. 

When talking about the NATO- 

Macedonia relationship, or even 

wider, the relationship between NATO 

and countries that are potential members 

of the alliance, things should be 

observed pragmatically, the way they 

are observed in Brussels. There is no 

doubt that countries gain a lot by being 

admitted into NATO, namely a system 

of collective defence. But admittance 

does not depend only on the good will 

of those who decide, but also on the 

potential of a certain country and its 

financial ability to afford such a pleasure. 

In other words, the admittance in 

NATO shows the ability of a country 

to fulfil high standards of defence, 

which will be too expensive for 

Macedonia at the moment because of 

the level of its development and (lack) 

of economic power. Although a strong 

desire exists, the NATO-Macedonia 

relationship must be realized through 

the Partnership for Peace. To develop 

cooperation in order to include NATO 

in solving our internal problems, we 

do not need just a request written by 

the Government, but also a UN mandate. 

The question is whether things 

have gone so far that our political 

forces cannot find the solution? 

(The author is a commentator 

in the newspaper Flaka) 

History is the best 

teacher for the future 

Erol Rizaov 

I often go back to my 

childhood memories in 

these days of non-existence. I am 

looking for the origins of distrust, 

intolerance, discord and hatred; I 

am trying to find a formula for common 

life and tolerance between different 

nations and religions. 

I was seven when I used to walk 

silently with my parents through 

Kochani two times a week, dressed 

up like they were taking me to a 

doctor. We used to walk with our 

heads bowed all the way to the railway 

station to see our close relatives 

set off to Turkey. Turks were 

moving out of Macedonia in great 

numbers. 

There were always a lot of people 

at the railway station. They were 

All arguments, tradition 

and our entire experience 

of the past couple 

of centuries show us 

that people here have 

been living together 

without any obstacles, 

and that farmers from 

Slupchane and Lojane 

were no different from 

those from Bogdanci 

and Strumica 

What now, June 2001

all crying: neighbours, relatives, 

and friends, almost the whole town. 

And we were walking in that procession 

for months, solemn and 

quiet. The whole city walked 

toward the railway station two 

times a week, like they were going 

to a funeral. 

I have never found a rational 

answer as to why Turks had left 

Macedonia. Why did they leave 

their properties, their land, houses, 

shops, cemeteries, hearths and 

dreams? Why, when they had been 

born and buried there for centuries? 

And why did they cry 

so much, both those who were 

leaving and those who were 

staying? They did not go away 

to work; they left forever. 

Much later I found out that 

it had been the same in all 

towns in Macedonia. Someone 

had decided to go to the 

Promised Land, and everyone 

followed. I was told that if you 

only mentioned that you wanted 

to go you were given a passport 

and all the necessary documents 

within 24 hours. There 

were no calls saying: "Stay 

here, the sun won't shine so 

bright in a foreign country!" 

The saying: "Wherever Turks 

go, the poor Asan will follow," 

dates back to that time. The 

message was: "We will go no 

matter what happens." Later 

on, when I visited Turkey, I 

saw many tragedies and traumas 

caused by this great migration. 

I have never felt any kind of 

intolerance or hatred being a Turk 

in my neighbourhood or in my 

hometown. Macedonians and Turks 

did not live according to international 

minority rights. Nobody 

knew that declarations and charters 

existed at all. People in Kochani did 

not obey messages from various 

speeches about brotherhood and 

unity or about equality made by the 

new government. They did not follow 

the propaganda of anti-fascist 

movements. Common life had traditional 

unwritten rules, according 

to which people treated each other 

with respect. Relations between 

neighbours were the same regardless 

of religion or nationality. 

Everything was shared-joy for a 

great happiness and sadness for a 

great sorrow. We knew how to wish 

each other the best on national or 

religious holidays. A certain order 

existed. 

Our next-door neighbours, 

Ratka and Boro Bacovi, were our 

closest "relatives." All my father's 

friends: Koljo Manev, Uncho 

Manov, Vane Poslanichki, Anche 

Krusharski, Asparuh and Misho 

spoke Turkish fluently. Easter, 

Christmas and Bajram were celebrated 

according to old unwritten 

rules, which could serve present 

politicians much better than international 

documents, if they want to do 

something more for Macedonia. 

Kochani is ethnically clean 

today. But believe me, it doesn't 

make its citizens happier. They still 

have the same problems as everybody 

else in Macedonia. If you 

don't believe me, go and see for 

yourself. 

The very same year when Turks 

were moving out, I started to go to 

school. My father enrolled me in a 

Macedonian school. I wondered, 

why should a Turkish boy, the son 

of a famous Hadzhi Amdi man from 

Kochani-a man who had been 

deprived of his property by communists, 

who wasn't a member of the 

Party, and who was not interested in 

career-enrol his son in a 

Macedonian school, not in a 

Turkish one? When I asked 

my father about that later he 

gave me the most logical 

and simple answer, which 

can now help in the battle 

for education in the mother 

tongue. He told me: "I didn't 

want my son to be taught by 

barbers." I was surprised 

when he explained that the 

new government had organized 

courses to "enable" a 

couple of Turks to become 

teachers in only a few 

months, because, according 

to the law, we should have a 

school in Turkish language. 

He said, "I wanted my son to 

be taught by good teachers." 

That is why my education 

started from my first teacher 

Darinka Romanova, who I 

will remember all my life. 

So, a simple man from 

Kochani was aware forty-three 

years ago that the point is in the 

quality of education, and not in the 

language in which it is taught. He 

knew that speaking many languages 

can only be of use to a person and 

their nation. Some of our leaders 

know this too, because they were 

educated in Belgrade, Zagreb or in 

Skopje, which did not make them 

become worse Albanians, Turks or 

Macedonians… 

Just one year before that, when 

my family had decided to go to 

43 

What now, June 2001

44 

Turkey, although it was our destiny 

to stay in Skopje, I hoped forever 

that the same thing would happen to 

me. I have never felt different from 

my friends. Turkish Schools existed 

even then, but my father enrolled 

me in Kole Nedelkovski, because it 

was considered to be the best 

school, and Natalija Gruevska was 

considered to be the best 

teacher. The same happened 

in the male high 

school Cvetan Dimov, 

and later on at the faculty. 

Much later I found 

out that the same things 

had happened in all 

towns in Macedonia. 

Where did then all 

that suspicion, distrust 

and intolerance come 

from? All those feelings 

are turning into hatred 

after the latest events, 

and nobody knows how 

this tragic war and this horrible 

clash will end. 

All arguments, tradition and our 

entire experience over the past couple 

of centuries show us that people 

were living together here without 

any obstacles, and that farmers 

from Slupchane and Lojane are no 

different from those in Bogdanci 

and Strumica. Both Albanians and 

Macedonians look into the sky 

every morning wondering whether 

there will be rain or drought this 

year. They do not know what is 

written in the Constitution, what the 

word preamble means or who has 

more rights to rule the country, 

Albanians or Macedonians. They 

have been building the same houses, 

ploughing the same fields and 

waiting for their sons to come back 

from abroad with the same anxiety 

for twenty years. They look forward 

to weddings and cry in the same 

way when someone they love dies. 

That means that it is at academies 

and universities, among the 

political elite and intellectuals 

where suspicion and distrust are 

born, where hatred and theses come 

from that declare a common life is 

impossible, that cultural and religious 

differences are huge, and that 

Albanians and Macedonians cannot 

live together like Turks and 

Macedonians,. Where did they live 

all those years? Didn't they live 

together? Isn't it true that they had 

never fought before? 

Macedonia's chance of survival 

lies in its traditional laws and experience. 

The political elite should go 

back to their tradition, to listen to 

older people and do what their 

fathers and grandfathers used to do. 

Respect, honesty and modesty are 

characteristic of the people from 

this region. Neither Muslim nor 

Christian religion advocates hatred 

and killing. If this precious experience 

finds its place again in everyday 

lives of influential and learned 

people and of political leaders, who 

find strength to visit each other and 

listen to each other's problems, as 

our ancestors, good hosts and 

craftsmen used to do, I think it will, 

enriched with 21st-century hopes 

for a better life, greatly help to 

establish necessary communication, 

until wounds left by this absurd war 

heal, no matter how Utopian and at 

first glance unreal it may seem. 

Nobody can move his house or 

his field, and nobody wants to do so 

in Macedonia. Recently-dug graves 

and mothers wrapped in black 

scarves should serve as a warning to 

those who are asking for their rights 

with guns in their hands not to do it 

again. They should ask their fathers 

how it was possible live in friendship 

with their neighbours, belonging 

to different nationalities and 

religions. That will be Macedonia's 

secret of success. But first the war 

must stop, and reasons 

for this "ordered" clash 

must be found. 

Talking about 

money, we will come to 

the source of instability. 

Who buys the weapons, 

from where, and who 

supplies the money? It 

will become clear that 

someone is trying to 

create a new flashpoint 

in the Balkans. 

Macedonia and its 

neighbouring countries 

(Greece, Albania, 

Bulgaria, Serbia, or even more 

broadly, Turkey, Croatia, Bosnia 

and Kosovo) are going to spend 

millions of dollars to buy arms and 

defend themselves from the threatening 

danger. I deeply believe that 

the source of the crisis can be found 

there. That is why I cannot find anything 

positive in the whole situation, 

although I have always been 

optimistic. It seems that the crisis 

will last for a long time, and that 

Macedonia will be turned into 

Beirut. There will be no "frontal" 

war, but we will have a lot of funerals. 

As long as dialogues, discussions, 

round tables and negotiations 

last, the war will continue. 

This war has been imposed 

upon Macedonia, and it is not 

strong enough to deal with it. The 

authorities are incapable of solving 

the problems and people are poor 

and dissatisfied. While I was writing 

about the danger of the division 

of Macedonia almost three years 

ago, even my friends kindly warned 

me that I was exaggerating. Now 

we can all see that danger, and we 

What now, June 2001

are waiting for someone else to 

prevent it. Macedonia can be 

saved only if those who brought 

us to this position are replaced. 

Those who were supposed to save 

it pushed Macedonia into this war. 

They will have to pay for it sooner 

or later. They are aware of it 

and that is why they are now trying 

to sell the country. 

When Kemal Ataturk put on a 

European suit and took of Turkish 

woman' veil eighty years ago, 

when he abolished Arabic and 

introduced the Latin alphabet, 

when he saved Turkey from a civil 

war and brought it into Europe, he 

needed enormous strength to resist 

forces that were drawing him 

backwards. He often had to use 

force. Today in the 21st century, 

Macedonian political leaders have 

no strength to talk to their citizens, 

to tell them to take their veils and 

long coats off, to tell them that we 

want to go to Europe, to compete 

with our neighbours to find out 

who can make it better and faster. 

Macedonians, Albanians, Turks, 

Roma, Serbs and Vlachs should 

start to compete with each other 

and see who can give more to and 

not who can take more from 

Macedonia. 

Such messages unfortunately 

sound like unreal Utopian theories 

or images from socialist realism 

about false brotherhood and unity, 

about something impossible, 

something that is an illusion. 

I am writing this because I 

believe that we still have some 

genes inherited from our fathers 

and grandfathers, something that 

will switch on in the last moment 

and activate the brains of those 

who make big decisions. 

I believe that those who agree 

with me are still far more numerous. 

If it is not so, only God can 

help us. "Whoever survives, can 

tell the tale." 

(The author is the director 

of Utrinski Vesnik) 

Ilir Ajdini 

What should and could 

the new government do? 

The Macedonian 

academics changed 

our agendas 

If I had written this text about my expectations of the new 

Macedonian government a day earlier, I would have certainly repeated 

the few phrases which we hear from all four directions, and even 

from the very centre, namely the Government of the Republic of 

Macedonia. And that would be, more or less, the 

need to show fast, even instantaneous, intentions 

to solve the problems in the country through political 

dialogue and with political decision making. 

Next, I would have written about the serious need 

for the Government to prove that its signatures on 

the European Convention on Human Rights and 

the other conventions and international bills are 

not just a formality that allows us to say that "even 

we" are "for democracy." But that it is realized 

that those signatures carry certain obligations. In 

that context I would have certainly proposed an 

elaborate suggestion for the priority admittance of 

ethnic Albanians into the Macedonian police, 

which should help with shock-absorption and 

eliminating the mutual distrust between a great 

number of Albanians and a great number of 

policemen in Macedonia. This distrust is based on 

the fact that Albanians are convinced that the chief 

task of the policemen is to arrest and beat as many 

of them as possible. In the meantime, the police 

have difficulty distinguishing between an 

Albanian and a "terrorist." 

But alas, I was a day late with my text, and the agenda of "my 

expectations," logically, has changed. Just to make it clear, I, of 

course, do not think that the new Government should postponed 

what I have mentioned. But a couple of "new developments" have 

brought about a new priority. Every subject in the Government 

should unambiguously determine whether it is for the existence of 

Macedonia within its boundaries, or if it has certain other plans, sim- 

The latest happenings 

in the Tetovo 

and Lipkovo- 

Kumanovo regions 

have shown that 

members of the 

Macedonian police 

need some constitutional 

education, or 

at least a reminder 

of that which they 

probably knew and 

have obviously forgotten. 

Therefore I 

suggest that the 

Government order 

the police chiefs to 

ensure their subordinates 

read at 

least Article 11 of 

the actual 

Macedonian 

Constitution. 

45 

What now, June 2001

46 

ilar to those promoted and defended 

by some members of the 

Macedonian Academy of Sciences 

and Arts. We are talking about 

MASA's idea for solving the conflict 

between the Macedonians and the 

Albanians, (which according to 

MASA's president is "unsolvable"), 

through the exchange of territories 

and population between Macedonia 

and Albania. 

GOVERNMENT'S 

CLOSENESS WITH 

ACADEMICS 

Because of the Government's 

closeness with these academics who 

offer a "peaceful, cultural, and civilized 

solution," for the problems in 

Macedonia, it would be best if they 

would reveal some more details 

about the latest idea from these top 

learned minds. 

For instance, does this plan allow 

the Albanians to come to this hypothetical 

future Macedonia for, let's 

say, shopping in Skopje or holidays 

in Ohrid or Prespa? Does it allow the 

Macedonians to go to that future 

hypothetical Albania for spa treatments 

in Debar or for skiing at 

Popova Shapka? Furthermore, are 

those persons in Albanian- 

Macedonian mixed marriages 

obliged to divorce? And what would 

happen with their children? If bufferzones 

are introduced maybe the children 

would be settled in there? Or is 

there another solution? 

It would be good if we knew in 

advance how those who refused to 

change their country would be treated. 

What would happen to Albanians 

who were caught as illegal residents 

of Macedonia? And I suppose the 

same would be true for 

Macedonians, who would be illegal 

residents of Albania? 

In other words, I think that the 

people in this Macedonia should be 

given information about the future 

that is being prepared for them. I will 

use this opportunity to ask the speaker 

of the Macedonian Parliament, Mr. 

Stojan Andov, to give such information. 

Obviously, he is familiar with 

the birth, development and the details 

of the Macedonian academics' peace 

project. 

If the members of government 

declare that they are all for non-violability 

of the borders and the territorial 

integrity of the Republic of 

Macedonia, the responsible institutions 

ought to take appropriate measures. 

Such measures should be the 

same with those that were already 

taken against other Macedonian citizens 

who were accused of threatening 

the territorial integrity and sovereignty 

of the Republic of Macedonia. 

If the responsible institutions do 

not remember what those measures 

were, we could easily remind them. 

The policemen should (re)read the 

Constitution. The latest happenings 

in the Tetovo and Lipkovo- 

Kumanovo regions have shown that 

members of the Macedonian police 

need some constitutional education, 

or at least some reminding of that 

which they probably knew and have 

obviously forgotten. Therefore I suggest 

that the Government order the 

police chiefs to ensure their subordinates 

at least read Article 11 of the 

Macedonian Constitution. (I am sure 

that, in this instance, the Constitution 

will not be changed in some parts, 

and that this and other articles will 

not be changed, so that their reading 

will not be in vain). 

In case they use the excuse that 

they did not have time to find it, I cite 

it here: 

"The physical and the moral 

integrity of the person are non-violable. 

Any kind of torture, inhumane 

and despicable behaviour and punishment 

are forbidden." 

JOURNALIST SNIPERS 

There are many things that have 

to be done, especially considering the 

'"freshness" of the situation. First of 

all, instead of arguing with the BBC 

and CNN about whether they misinform 

the world public, the government 

should proceed with legal sanctions. 

In other words, they should 

punish the journalists who report 

from the "front," spending the night 

in military tents, taping themselves 

firing cannon grenades at villages 

where the civil Albanian population 

is living. The journalist should prove 

that she saw "terrorists" in the houses 

of civilians, with satellite images, 

through sniper sights, or some other 

method. But she should also prove 

that whoever allowed her to shoot, 

put her on satellite, and gave her a 

sniper sight. She should also have to 

prove that she as a journalist had the 

right (moral, material, penal, Roman, 

Greek, Greek-Roman, Radovan 

Karagjich's... any) to destroy and kill. 

Because the weapon she used (if I am 

not wrong), as shown in part of her 

report, doesn't serve modern journalism 

in any way. 

Apart from punishing the journalist 

properly (and not arresting and 

beating the people who give statements 

to the Albanian-language 

newspaper Fakti, regardless of how 

much the policemen, journalists, 

waiters and brickbuilders like the 

statements), it should take measures 

against media that broadcast such a 

journalist's final achievement. And, I 

would ask the president of the Forum 

of Young Journalists, which publicly 

defended the aforementioned journalist, 

"What is your profession or 

vocation?" 

Let me conclude: The question I 

have tried to answer was what the 

Macedonian Government could and 

should do to take the country out of 

this crisis. I suppose it should do 

what it can, and that it can do what it 

should. I think that the things I have 

mentioned, in my humble contribution, 

are not very difficult to realize. 

How right I am, I hope we will see in 

future. 

(The author is a journalist 

and a writer) 

What now, June 2001

Respect the differences and you 

will see that we are the same 

Behixhudin Shehapi 

If the role of religious communities 

and priests in solving conflict situations 

(based on history and experience) was 

mentioned under normal circumstances, 

it would be a detailed elaboration, which 

would include comparative analyses, 

scientific facts and illustrations. It would 

contribute to further research into the 

role of religion in society and seeking out 

new dimensions of human spirit. But 

under the present circumstances, when 

war has exploded again in the Balkans 

after only two years, with clashes, xenophobia, 

hatred, intolerance, vandalism 

and chaos reappearing in this region, the 

human mind gets blocked. The vision of 

the future, the sense of beauty and creativity, 

as anthropological categories, 

give way to primitive ideas coloured 

fact reflected in our everyday lives. 

At an international conference in 

Ohrid in June last year, as so often 

before, it was proven that religious communities 

and priests represent inevitable 

factors and authorities in the establishment 

of interconfessional and interethnic 

relations. 

INVENTIVE AND BRAVE 

PERFORMANCE 

The topic of the conference was 

"The exploitation of cultural inheritance 

for the development of cultural tourism." 

Both representatives of the Islamic community 

and the Macedonian Orthodox 

Church took part. Father Climent, who 

gave an excellent lecture, was sitting 

next to me. With an inventive and brave 

performance, he filled the hearts of all 

people present with exaltation, even 

those who were not religious at all. He 

mentioned the inappropriate behaviour 

of cultural tourism workers towards religious 

objects, and their inadequate attitude 

towards Orthodox tradition and values. 

His courage and transparent criticism 

of the secular establishment 

because of some crucial mistakes in its 

attitude towards religious objects gave 

me more courage to give my remarks 

concerning the preservation of Islamic 

cultural monuments. Especially about 

tearing down the Imaret mosque in 

Ohrid, which was located in the area 

where monuments dating back to different 

periods have been found, beginning 

from the ancient period to modern times. 

It is a fact that Macedonia has a 

common cultural inheritance, which 

belongs to all its inhabitants. The discussion, 

which followed my speech, was 

zealous and impulsive. Except for guests 

from abroad and some of my colleagues 

and friends from Macedonia, my argumentative 

speech was not publicly supported. 

I was attacked for trying to disturb 

the reputation of that international 

conference in front of the foreign guests 

and harming Macedonian interests. I 

was the only Muslim in the room. My 

colleague from the Monastery Zrze, 

Father Climent, congratulated me sincerely 

on my presentation, pointing out 

that some ideas and relationships inherited 

from monism would have to give way 

to the new spirit. Probably because of the 

criticism directed towards the current 

Ohrid citizens for their uncivilized act of 

tearing down the Imaret mosque, I 

remained alone with an Italian colleague. 

It seemed like no one was virtuous 

enough to approach 

me. 

with scepticism and burdened with mere 

survival. The influence of these endemic 

feelings and phenomena on people is 

immense. They define individual 

engagements and cultural and intellectual 

frameworks, while people lose their 

faith and play minor roles in overcoming 

actual problems. I am not trying to justify 

the lack of individual intellectual 

engagement. I am not trying to find an 

explanation for such intellectual profiles 

or those poor illustrations. In fact, it takes 

more skill and competence for such 

analyses. I want to emphasize a reality 

we are all preoccupied with. However, 

as a member of the Islamic community 

responsible for cultural monuments, and 

as the director of the humanitarian 

organization, El Hilal, I am going to 

describe some of my experiences and 

give my views on the subject, which is in 

DECISIVE STEP 

Father Climent 

made the decisive step, 

seeing the state I was 

in, and he stayed with 

me until dinner. It was 

an extremely important 

moment on the margins 

of this conference. 

On the one hand, we 

exchanged experiences 

and opinions about our differences and 

their values. On the other hand, all our 

friends and people who shared our opinion 

soon joined us. The other group, 

which felt no dissatisfaction concerning 

the destruction of the mosque and disagreed 

with our reactions concerning the 

events connected to this monument, was 

all of a sudden much smaller. I had an 

impression that we were attracted to 

each other by what is common to all people 

who feel metaphysical and transcendental 

phenomena. The conversations 

continued during dinner, with the same 

sincerity and mutual respect. It was a 

beautiful picture, which gave me optimism 

concerning present times and 

wonderful future under the same sky. 

I do not remember what I told Father 

Climent, who was very talkative and 

demonstrated that he was a severe anti- 

47 

What now, June 2001

48 

communist. I remember we were talking 

about the role of religion in modern society, 

about our differences, about altruism, 

humanity, axiological categories, aesthetics, 

and especially about mystical music. Being 

aware that there are some people, among 

Orthodox priests also, who harmonize their 

attitudes with some laic ideas and give initiatives 

that destroy universal values (Imaret 

mosque for example), he agreed with my 

statement that if we respect and talk about 

our differences, we will learn how to respect 

universal values. And that is a treasure that 

will overcome all obstacles on the way to a 

righteous, common life. That means that we 

can do it only if we become aware of differences, 

and if we develop a communication 

based on a realistic foundation, without 

emotions, and what is even more important, 

without the feeling of superiority. 

CREATION OF A STABLE 

CIVIL SOCIETY 

Now when we are creating our near 

future, especially after the recent events in 

Macedonia, a future that has to find its way 

towards dialogue and inter-confessional 

platform, it is very important to remember 

that beautiful evening in Ohrid. Religious 

communities, particularly the Islamic community 

and the Macedonian Orthodox 

Church certainly represent the most suitable 

platform for such a dialogue. They can and 

must play a central role in the creation of a 

stable civil society in which citizens can feel 

safe and secure regardless of their religious 

confession. They must make a common 

effort to oppose all kinds of violence, 

because human life is sacred according to all 

religious traditions. They must totally 

respect different religious traditions and not 

ignore them. Religion must be a promoter of 

dialogue, peace and reconciliation. 

However, we must admit that we keep 

facing bitter experiences in this region. 

Among others, a complex of higher values 

also exists in this country. It is also present in 

the Macedonian Orthodox Church, which is 

trying to show its dominant role among 

other religious communities in the country. 

Such attempts are especially obvious in its 

relationships with state organs and government 

institutions, which highly respect the 

MOC. It is granted all privileges and all of 

its initiatives are approved. Other religious 

communities are irritated by this kind of 

treatment, especially the Islamic community, 

which is treated indolently and without 

any interest by the very same institutions. 

In order to prevent the dangerous effect 

this could have on the population, a dialogue 

between religious communities and their 

common activities, which could help promote 

spiritual values, is necessary. 

Especially in these critical situations, when 

the intensity of clashes, such as those in 

Tetovo and Kumanovo, as well as the events 

provoked by them can have unforeseeable 

consequences. Such events include attacks 

by angry, frustrated and hysterical citizens in 

which innocent people get hurt, and houses 

and religious object are destroyed. This 

vandalism has been seen in Bitola and other 

cities where Macedonians are in majority. 

In such a situation religious communities 

can play an historic role. Manifesting 

superiority can be fatal, and that is why 

interethnic relations must be redefined and 

based upon equality, which will help to prevent 

new conflicts that cause violence. 

Without ignoring historic facts and present 

positions, we should identify problems and 

try to find solutions for their elimination 

together, by giving common ideas. If we 

analyze those ideas without egotism, narrow-mindedness 

and feelings of superiority, 

we can make an important contribution to 

the process of solving crucial problems. 

Because true desire and sincere motives of 

religious communities would also show 

good ethics, which are the same and precious 

in all religious and spiritual traditions. 

The Islamic concept of doing good 

(merhamet) and the concept of general 

good, for example, can be a motivation for 

Muslims and their priests to play a leading 

role in the situation that preoccupies us all. 

THE CONCEPT OF GOOD 

There are no obstacles to sincere 

actions. All we need is good will. The 

parts of the Koran regarding the origin of 

humankind, "from a man and a woman," 

and about the division into nations and 

tribes in order to know each other better, 

reflect the universal character of 

humankind. Such decisions create high 

ideals and provide a foundation for the 

coexistence of all those that belong to the 

same spring, where they are going to 

return one day. 

If we start from the fact that Islam, as 

God's will, represents a historical phenomenon, 

we will conclude that it demands 

submission. It is not about passive acceptance 

of religious laws, because those laws 

would not make any sense if they did not 

have a positive effect on all people. Such a 

concept is universal, as doing good, understanding 

and tolerance are universal. God's 

will is exactly what is good, moral and 

beautiful. 

We can realize all this if we forget 

about prejudices, mistakes and false explanations 

of certain historic and current 

events. It could be a long process, which 

involves greater flexibility, much wider 

knowledge about each other, more culture 

and a sense of mutual historic and civil 

values and abilities. 

REINFORCEMENT 

OF HUMANITY 

Trying to incorporate itself into all 

spheres of society, the Islamic community 

of the Republic of Macedonia puts great 

efforts in to preserving peace, understanding 

and the stability of the country, constantly 

pointing out all negative factors 

that could threaten it. There are people in 

the Islamic community who can accept 

challenges and present Islamic ideas in 

order to play a constructive part in the 

inter-ethnic and inter-confessional dialogue, 

which is obviously very important 

for Macedonia's future. Islamic priests are 

ready to make their contribution and eliminate 

all factors that cause discrepancies, 

intolerance and isolation, in order to reinforce 

humanity, cooperation and tolerance. 

If other church dignitaries do the same, 

especially those from the MOC, we will 

have a bright future. It is not time now for 

medieval romanticism, for mythological 

images of the past or for exclusive rights to 

present only one's own values, and to 

incorporate them into state structures. The 

time for exclusiveness has past. The time 

of various superiority complexes undermines 

attempts to solve problems in this 

dangerous situation. 

The example of Father Climent, 

whom I mentioned at the beginning of this 

text, as a model of a true priest, free from 

all prejudices, interested in Islamic aesthetics 

and music, is the example we 

should follow to build a common future, 

accepted by everyone, together with our 

differences and universal values. 

Finally, I would like to quote the wise 

Bosnian leader A. Izetbegovic, who, 

answering a journalist's question: "How 

do you see Bosnia's future after the 

Dayton Agreement?" said, "Things are 

beginning to stabilize in Bosnia. The time 

of drunkenness has passed, now it is time 

to sober up. Extreme nationalism, chauvinism 

and religious intolerance have been 

compromised so much, that they are going 

to become history, together with the present 

generation." 

I sincerely believe that these endemic 

problems, currently evident in Macedonia, 

will remain deep down in history. 

Common sense and an ancient wish for 

peace will be stronger and will overcome 

all difficulties. 

(The author is an art historian) 

What now, June 2001

Has anyone asked what a high 

school student dreams about? 

Elena Mancheva 

The several months of military 

clashes in my country has destroyed 

my strength. The enthusiasm of a 

high school girl who hopes to realize 

her dreams is jealously hidden deep 

in her soul. 

I am afraid for my future. I am 

afraid of the prognoses of the world 

politicians. I am afraid of the evil 

voices I hear day after day, as if death 

has come to my country. 

I used to sing, to smile, to enjoy 

life, and now I have forgotten even to 

weep, because tears would mean that 

I had surrendered. 

The bitter tears would mean that 

I had given in to my destiny and 

that I have covered with a black veil 

all that used to be glorious and mystical 

for me. Still, there is always a 

ray of hope that forces me to go on 

in life and to not give in to the evil 

forces that hang over my country. 

There is a hope that I will be back 

in class and that I will again see my 

friends, finding my way through the 

sweet puzzles that high school life 

brings. 

The life we live today is life 

under occupation. Depression fills 

the conscience of youth, accompanied 

by a sense of hopelessness and 

absence of perspective. The economy 

is becoming weaker and weaker, the 

army of unemployed persons grows 

sky-high, and those who have jobs 

receive a minimum or no salary for 

months. Many enterprises have gone 

bankrupt; layoffs are happening 

every day… 

What kind of a choice do young 

Deep in my heart I feel 

that this small country 

will raise itself high and 

make all my dreams 

come true 

people have? What do I talk about 

with my friends abroad when the rest 

of the world is so far ahead of us? 

How? I wanted to do so much. I 

wanted to go on high school trips. I 

have listened to so many stories 

about these trips from the older generations 

and my classmates, and I 

constantly dreamed about these trips. 

What now? 

I will probably never know why 

these trips are so special. The school 

bus will never depart from my school 

because human life is above every 

other value. Because each one of us 

if afraid that somewhere in those 

mountains we will hear gunfire or 

explosions, and the survivors would 

say, "it was just a landmine." 

I am already used to living in a 

country where violence is normal, 

and killings and military clashes are 

"simply" an ordinary matter for the 

state leadership and political leaders 

who are obviously unable to resolve 

the existing problems, because they 

see only their political careers. Their 

participation in the government is a 

privilege, a chance for the realization 

of their personal interests, and a goal 

to be reached for themselves and not 

for the citizens. 

I must learn how to think in a 

more rational and mature manner. I 

do not know how good I am at doing 

that, because at the age of 17, I am 

trying to face an unusual situation 

where beauty is 

excluded and children 

do not dance and sing 

freely as they used to 

when we lived in 

peace. I am trying to 

act in a manner that is 

rational and mature. I 

want to remember that 

I cannot take everything 

for granted as I 

used to. I am trying to 

understand that my 

family is in a difficult 

economic situation 

and that my parents 

are concerned about my future more 

then ever. I do not want to make the 

situation in my family more difficult 

by my behaviour. That is at the place 

where I want at least to feel peace. 

But is that possible without pretending? 

Can I ignore the fact that I do not 

live in a peaceful country, that this is 

no longer Macedonia where I used to 

sing loudly because it offered me 

49 

Youth and crisis, October 2001

50 

wonderful opportunities. 

I want to continue with my education. 

I want to reach all the highs 

in the world which represent a challenge 

for me, as for every other 

young person. I want to become an 

expert in the field that I will research 

and which I dream about in these turbulent 

days filled with military clashes 

and the smell of gunpowder. Can 

anyone hear my voice? 

I frequently ask myself if my 

family and my country will make it 

out of this economic crisis, because 

that is the only way to continue with 

my education and to enter in to the 

Western world of technological and 

practical wonders. Perhaps I will find 

my future in some Western European 

country where peace rules and where 

all considerations are in compliance 

with the 21st century. I want to compete 

with knowledge, but it is hard to 

get there. Restrictions have been laid 

upon me and my generation. The visa 

procedures are too complex. How 

then, can I think about the future of 

those whom I love the most? Peace 

and the lives of these people are what 

matter most to me. 

For how long will this last? 

This cannot be forecasted. As long 

as the country is led by the sort of 

leadership that puts personal interests 

above collective interests, above the 

interest of all citizens of the country, 

we will live in poverty, with no way 

out. Youth is the wheel that should 

carry society to economic and social 

progress. And youth should be given a 

chance to lead us to the goal; to a society 

where everyone, with no exceptions, 

will be pleased and motivated to 

create better and more human relations. 

To a society where the young 

individual is filled with satisfaction 

and offers his or her knowledge. 

There are things that a human 

simply cannot alter. Macedonia is my 

fatherland, whether covered in blood 

or just the same as it used to be. Deep 

in my heart I feel that this small 

country will raise itself high and 

make all my dreams come true. 


high school student) 

An anxious summer 

One thing is clear: students did not start the war 

and they should not be facing the consequences. 

If we think this way, we will all be winners, with 

no exceptions... 

Makfire Ajeti 

We just lived through a summer filled with the smell of gunpowder 

which was not felt equally by everybody. It was not like previous summers 

when we used to make vacation plans. We also had a very difficult 

end of a school year; a quiet ending. There were no excursions and 

no graduation parties. There was only the phrase "this will be over 

soon," which gave us hope that we would not waste the whole summer. 

However, things happened the way they happened. The entire summer 

passed in a state of anxiety. Now the question follows: what are we 

going to do this coming fall? 

Our youth cannot accept the present reality, because it is full of 

poison. It cannot accept this because the present situation shattered our 

youthful dreams, it kept us apart from our friends. We scattered like 

flies. 

Now that schools are reopening again, the concerns and fears from 

the spring return to me. I ask myself, "How will Macedonian students 

behave? Has the irrational hatred affected them? Will another incident 

occur? Will we be holding short classes or will we be missing classes?" 

At that time, it was not pleasant to see policemen regularly wandering 

around the school compound. 

There will certainly be many students missing, because the war 

forced them to move out of Macedonia temporarily. They may very 

well return later, but additional efforts will have to be made to compensate 

for the lost time. These will certainly be students who were 

right up close to the war hot spots. We will most likely have traumatized 

students, to whom we would have to pay special attention. 

There are rumours that many Albanian students didn't manage to 

enroll at secondary schools, in some due to the war. Whereas in other 

cases, due to the limited number of available places. I am convinced 

that nobody is posing the following question: What will happen to 

those who remain out of secondary school? Dreams of going to the 

West, as an alternative solution, will become more difficult to realize. 

Education, as one of the most significant segments of every society, 

continues to be an acute problem in Macedonia, especially for ethnic 

Albanians. Young Albanians used to enroll in schools where teaching 

was in Macedonian. Now, due to the situation, this will happen 

very rarely, if at all, because a great division has occurred. 

The state must invest more time in thinking about its youth, 

because if they are left with no potential, no future, problems will 

occur like a chain reaction. 

At the very end-one thing is clear: students did not start the war 

and they should not be facing the consequences. If we think this way, 

we will all be winners, with no exceptions…. 

(The author is a secondary school student) 


I have become a sick 

patient „for my own sake“ 

Aleksandra Tanurova 

"My name is Aleksandra Tanurova. 

I am 27. I graduated as a journalist by 

profession. I have a problem with brain 

impotence. In fact, my problem is that 

my blood pressure is too low and my 

brain cells are starved." 

This was my address to a group of 

people with the same or similar problem. 

The group was multiethnic (I was 

told to emphasize this, so it can be 

noted that the virus that causes brain 

impotence does not discriminate by 

ethnicity). Each member of the group 

presented his or her problem. The 

group was led by top psychoanalysts, 

who sat aside and monitored us. They 

measured every word we said. They 

measured every one of our movements, 

every glance, the tempo of our breathing. 

They took our pulse. They said 

that this was for our own sake! That it's 

the only way they can be sure to prescribe 

the right therapy. 

Until a while ago, I was not even 

aware that I needed assistance. Most of 

the group shared my opinion. I am not 

in a condition to think. Someone else is 

doing that for me. I am here to be 

helped. For my own sake! The psychoanalysts 

are here with us. Or we are 

here for them. Doctor would never be 

doctors if they had no patients. So, if 

they have none-they will create them. 

Everyone must do something. 

Before I was sent to psychoanalysis, 

I thought I was quite normal. Until 

then I had not noticed that I acted 

weird. I did not act aggressively or 

destructively and I was not paranoid. In 

fact, that's not how I act today, but the 

experts told me that this behaviour was 

all latent, hidden deep inside of me and 

sooner or later it would come out. 

Therefore, it's better to prevent than to 

cure. 

At the beginning, according to the 

agenda, they asked me when my brain 

impotence first started. I said I had 

never had such a problem, that I feel 

quite healthy. Obviously, they were 

ready for such an answer. They immediately 

said that no one who is ill 

admits he's ill. 

The second question was, "Am I 

afraid of war?" I had not thought about 

the subject until then. I figured war was 

something that should be learned in a 

history class, something that is happening 

far away from here, to someone 

else. I had seen shocking video-recordings 

and I knew that both sides in the 

conflict had realized that they lost more 

than they gained. And as I was searching 

my brain to find what I knew about 

war, I heard strong blasts and I saw 

shocking images. As I was shaking 

from fear, I heard one of the experts 

say, "Hah! You are afraid, you are 

afraid!" I was scared to death. I felt my 

blood freezing, my guts going up and 

down, and my eyes filled with tears. I 

wanted to shout but my voice was 

gone. At first I felt embarrassed, but 

when I realized that everyone in my 

group had the same symptoms I felt 

relieved. Then they put in my file that I 

am not egoistic, that I share my feelings 

with the rest of the group and that I act 

appropriately. That was my first positive 

mark! 

The group had many members but 

that did not keep us from taking the 

sessions seriously. We split into two 

groups, so the experts could pay equal 

attention to everyone. Both groups participated 

in the work equally, but one 

against the other. The exercises were 

similar to the games that the kids from 

your neighbourhood play. "You want 

war," or "Bang, bang," or something 

like the computer strategy games, 

where you first demolish and then you 

build. For our sake, they say, because in 

this manner we challenge our capabili- 

Now I am a 

flexible 

person 

made from 

rubber who 

can reach 

down to the 

bottom and 

stand up 

again by 

inertia, a 

plant that 

vegetates 

and survives 

thanks only 

to photosynthesis 

51 


ties, both physical and psychological. 

Thanks to this exercise I became 

aware of the limits to which a human 

being can be pushed and I also realized 

that I can take on a greater burden 

than what I previously could. I 

have become a flexible person made 

of rubber, able to reach to the bottom 

and stand up again by inertia. I have 

become a plant that vegetates and 

survives thanks only to photosynthesis. 

Excellent! 

We also practiced long debates, 

negotiations and discussions. We 

learned how to speak for a long time 

using only a limited number of 

words. We have excluded words 

like: love, feeling, happiness, 

dreams, kiss, smile. We started to 

speak in only the singular first person. 

The exercises are still ongoing. It 

seems that the members of our group 

will be monitored for some time. 

"For our sake!" Now I know one 

thing-I know nothing. Yet, I know 

that my name is Aleksandra 

Tanurova. I have… I don't know 

what I have. 

(The author is journalist) 

Bridges 

Few Albanians decide to visit some place located on the right side of the city and few 

Macedonians decide to visit some place located on the left side of the city. Skopje has 

currently lost its human touch. As if someone has given an attribution of "bridge of 

division" to the Stone Bridge. Yet when it comes to poets, the bridge has always been a 

symbol of love, closeness and warmth. I believe that there are many poets among us… 

52 

Xhengis Aliu 

Every war leaves a painful history 

behind. 

Regretfully, the consequences of 

the war in Macedonia deeply 

touched young people, especially 

when it came to their relationships, 

which became chillier as days went 

by. Arctic ice has squeezed in 

between the relationships between 

young Albanians and Macedonians. 

But through no fault of their own. 

No matter how hard the young 

try to avoid politics, they still cannot 

isolate themselves from it. Because 

now the politics deals with them. 

Nobody feels safe, but at the same 

time, everybody is hoping that it will 

get better, and that the end to the 

problems bothering youth will come 

soon. Sedat Abazi, is a17-year-old 

from Tetovo and a student at the secondary 

school Kiril Pejchinovich in 

Tetovo. Talking about interethnic 

relations he said, "I live in a Tetovo 

suburb, with an ethnically mixed 

population. There are Albanians, 

Macedonians, Roma and Turks on 

our street. I can say that before the 

war, we all used to be well organized 

in terms of our mutual relationships. 

But this altered significantly when 

the war broke out. For the time being 

we are not together with our former 

Macedonian friends. They play basketball 

separately on one side, and 

we play on the other side. I do not 

know why, but we tend to run away 

from each other. It was different in 

the past. This is how the present relationship 

looks. I do not know what to 

say about the future. There is a saying 

that time is the greatest healer, 

and I hope that months spent in war 

will be forgotten and left to the past." 

The same image is portrayed by 

18-year-old Daniel Stojanovski, a 

secondary school student who 

resides in Skopje on the left side of 

the city in the suburb of Chair. He 

also admits that interethnic relations 

have significantly altered, compared 

to those before the war, but he is 

hopeful for better days to come. 

"I've lived in this suburb since I was 


orn. This place is populated with 

Macedonians and Albanians, 

although there are inhabitants of 

other ethnicities too. We have good 

relationships with Albanians, but 

most recently it seems as if we've 

grew apart from each other and we 

speak very little to each other. It's 

not our fault. The guilty are those 

who are at the top of the pyramid 

who manipulate ordinary people," 

says Daniel. 

"The interesting thing is that 

after the war we will have to live 

together just the way we did before 

to the war. And, since this is quite 

clear and unavoidable, than why 

should we cherish the hatred so 

much? One can divide certain places 

where there are only Albanians or 

only Macedonians, but I wish that 

those people from the famous pyramid 

could explain how a building 

could be divided where both 

Macedonians and Albanians live? 

How do we go about splitting the 

building? And, it's not just one 

building. If there were only one, 

things would be a lot easier, but 

there are hundreds of them," says 

18-year-old Daniel, deeply distressed. 

Daniel continues, "I hope this is 

the end of all the evil. I hope that 

with time things will get back to normal. 

I hope that we will improve our 

relations once again, because this is 

the only way out. Perhaps, we have 

finally all understood that we have 

no extra people to have them killed 

so easily." 

Skopje is a city where an ethnically 

diverse people live. 

There used to be ethnically 

mixed restaurants, but nowadays 

these are very few, 

almost none. Few Albanians 

decide to visit some place 

located on the right side of the city, 

and few Macedonians decide to visit 

some place located on the left side of 

the city. 

Skopje has currently lost its 

human touch. As if someone has 

given an attribution of "bridge of 

division" to the Stone Bridge. Yet 

when it comes to poets, the bridge 

has always been a symbol of love, 

closeness and warmth. I believe 

that there are many poets among 

us… 

(The author is a student) 

Ana Shosholchevska 

I really feel as if I have been 

given a very difficult assignment-to 

be a young person living 

at this time. I know that this 

conclusion will be followed by 

statements like, "youth is the 

best time of life," "there is 

nothing more beautiful than 

being young," etc. This is 

indeed true. It is beautiful to be 

young, because your entire life, 

the future, is ahead of you. 

When I pronounce this word, 

future, I feel an unstoppable 

influx of emotions, infinite 

sources of ideas, endless positive 

energy… And for a 

moment, I stop my dream. For 

a moment, I return to the present-to 

the reality we live in. 

And I come to the conclusion 

that it is beautiful to be young, 

What kind of future 

can we expect 

but not in this day and age, not 

here and not under these circumstances. 

And unfortunately 

we cannot stop time, nor can 

we wait for better days. We do 

not have another youth to spare 

or an exclusive opportunity to 

be spared from the cruel reality. 

I often try to create a vision 

of my future, because I think 

that it lights the way towards 

success and self-approval. With 

childish joy I try to build my 

visions and plans. Thoughts 

about my future come rapidly. 

First, I would like to complete 

my education. Then I plan to 

find a job in compliance with 

my education that offers the 

potential for future growth. 

And certainly, I plan to contribute 

to humanity by forming 

a family to whom I will be able 

to provide a decent life. Let me 

explain. What I mean to say is 

that I live a decent and normal 

life now, but I think that what I 

imagine is in compliance with 

some common human standards, 

meaning nothing 

extreme, nothing our of proportion. 

But unfortunately, everything 

is out of proportion here 

in this day and age. It is too 

much if you protect and 

demand your basic human 

rights and freedoms. It is too 

much if you demand your right 

to freedom, your right to life. It 

is too much that you even existthat 

you are still aware of your 

presence. And under these circumstances, 

is my vision for 

the future normal? Is it normal 

to ask for a decent life in a situation 

where you fight for your 

own existence? 

53 


All of my hopes for the future from this 

perspective seem to be an illusion. They 

seem to be a remote reality, almost impossible, 

almost unrealistic. And what is next? I 

still live in the present, and though I am 

young, my attitude forces me to create ideas 

for myself and for the future. But what is 

the reality? Can we create the future by ourselves? 

Unfortunately others do that for us. 

Others decide on our future. Others have 

taken the right to destroy our youth, our 

happiness, to determine our path. And 

where that path leads to, they do not know. 

Have we reached for the future of those 

who reach for our youth now? Who will 

inherit the future if our generation takes the 

path to self-destruction or if we seek happiness 

outside the borders of our country? 

You will not find the future if you dial 0500, 

the future is within every young person. 


at the Law Faculty) 

To be an optimist? I can still do it! 

54 

We understand the language of hate, but we do not speak 

that language, nor do we want to learn it 

Sead Dzhigal 

When we are asked, "How 

do you, the young people, see 

your near future-your tomorrow 

that's coming up? What do you 

expect your life with others to 

be like?" We simply stop and 

respond to the elders, Please, 

gentlemen, we never learned 

that lesson and we cannot 

respond to those questions! 

Only until yesterday the socalled 

others were not the others. 

They were us. Until yesterday, 

when we were starting a 

conversation with somebody, 

we did not ask, "What are 

you?" If we liked a girl, we did 

not wonder, "Is she maybe one 

of them?" When we made our 

teams to play basketball we 

never cared about the identity, 

when we shopped at the market 

we never asked whose kiosk 

that was… That's how it was 

yesterday, that's how it will be 

tomorrow. If we make it 

through today. 

It is true that young people 

are as confused as everyone 

else. It is also true that many of 

us, not expecting what happened, 

have positioned ourselves 

one against the other in a 

wicked manner of mutual 

hatred. It is also true that reason 

has the right to speak after irrationality 

gets tired. But please, 

why should we fail that exam? 

We understand the language of 

hate, but we do not speak that 

language, nor do we want to 

learn it. Hate is a feeling that 

denigrates both the subject and 

object of the hatred. Hatred is 

only a transformation of feelings 

of ignorance and fear of 

knowing the other. And we do 

not consider ourselves ignorant 

or afraid, closed or speechless. 

It is illogical for us to sit in 

front of the computer and to 

communicate with people hundreds 

or thousands of miles 

away from us, and at the same 

time not to communicate with 

our neighbours, colleagues, 

partners, friends. That simply 

cannot be. We refuse to take 

part in that soundless, black and 

white movie of hatred. A movie 

of the destruction and horror of 

human existence. We want to 

eliminate that temptation and 

we want to spare our children 

from it. We want to erase it 

without bothering to send it to 

the recycle bin. 


The conscience of young people is strong 

enough, although the elders look upon us 

with scepticism. Young people know what 

they want and what they don't want. Today, 

we, the young people, like no other generation 

before us, can stand in front of the elders, 

look them straight in the eyes and say, 

"Thank you for what you are leaving to us, 

but we won't take it wholesale. We will take 

only what we will find useful in the future. 

We will take only what will make us more 

noble as humans, citizens of the world. What 

will remind us who we are and where we 

come from. 

But in no case will we take that which 

urges us to hate those who are different from 

us. For us, the past is not an assortment of 

wars, clashes and destruction. For us, the 

past is an assortment of friendship, games 

and sharing. We do not accept the elders' 

position on the past. We do not need the burden 

of the past to remind us of our isolation 

from others, especially from our neighbours. 

Each one of us will still maintain his or her 

differences and identity. But no one will 

develop his or her differences in an effort to 

repulse others, to separate themselves from 

others, or to alienate others. We will remain 

one next to the other, one with the other and 

one among the other. Not because of some 

irrational outburst of love, but because we all 

share the same destiny. That is what bonds 

us. If, God forbid, we are hit by an earthquake 

or flood, we will all suffer equally. If 

we need to swallow reduced uranium, we 

will all be swallowing it. If the harvest is fertile 

we will all enjoy the fruits. The philosophy 

of neighbourly relations is a wisdom of 

life that the other nations in Europe did not 

have the opportunity or privilege of experiencing. 

And whenever they speak about us 

they wonder, "How can that be?" They find 

it weird because they try to see us through 

their own experience, an experience that was 

not nearly as tolerant as ours. Our recipe for 

tomorrow is quite simple. We will be what 

we have been so far, we will respect each 

other, we will greet each other, we will trade 

freely, we will borrow sugar, class notes, 

CDs, basketballs. However, we will take 

away the right from "the worst of 

Macedonia" to speak and decide on our 

behalf. 

(The author is philologist) 

A bitter dream and 

a strange morning 

Competition represents a basic principle of the market 

economy, which we all strive to achieve. This market 

economy, transferred into education, does not recognize 

Albanians and Macedonians. It recognizes only 

successful and unsuccessful individuals. Therefore, we 

really need to finally "work, work, day and night, to 

see a bit of light," because, "the world represents a 

field for cultural competition among different 

nations," doesn't it? 

Rilind Kabashi 

Should you happen to listen to a conversation among 

adults, it will be difficult not to think that when a war 

occurs, young people are the ones who lose the most. If you 

happen to listen to any warrior, regardless of which side he 

fights for, the essence of what he would say would be that 

he is fighting for a better future, for a better tomorrow for 

the today's youth. Finally, should you meet up with young 

people, they would undoubtedly be encouraged and by all 

means they would stand on the side of their own folks, but 

at the end they will say that it would've been better it there 

hadn't been a war. 

Naturally, a student, regardless of his or her ethnic or 

religious background, cannot avoid being under the influence 

of the recent crisis/war. In times like these, when the 

entire state is suffering from a certain psychosis, students 

find themselves before the modified dilemma of Hamlet: 

"To be or not to be?" 

55 


56 

The overall atmosphere, which 

prevailed in the state, could easily 

be illustrated with the atmosphere 

within the faculty, usually with 

greater or lesser ethnic mix. At first 

glance, everything seems alright, 

things are like they used to be. But 

on the other hand, in March and 

June 2001, for example the 

amphitheatre or the buffet were 

very different from how they were 

in March and June of some other 

years. Needless to hide things, Now 

it's not necessary to hide things. 

More than ever before we can feel 

and notice the old unwritten rule 

"everybody with his own folks." 

Although not every conversation or 

discussion is related to the situation, 

the topic is mentioned when 

the circle of conversation is "clean" 

as long as surreptitiously everyone 

can assume each other's ethnic 

background. This does not mean 

that friendships, which really existed, 

disappeared at once. It seems 

that they have been put on hold. 

Even in the past politics used to 

be one of the least favoured topics, 

so it was rarely possible to find 

Albanian and Macedonian students 

in political discussions. Now it 

seems this has gone by the wayside 

and has become a difficult barrier to 

overcome, which limits friendships 

to a simple "What's up?", "How 

have you been?" or "When is the 

exam?" There are certainly some 

exceptions but they represent nothing 

but a drop in the ocean. On the 

other hand, sparring aimed at others 

has experienced a real "renaissance." 

There are indeed some even 

more extreme cases. If you are 

lucky, you can hear straight from 

the lips of academics warm words 

such as "I can no longer stay here 

where there are Shiptari. 

Fortunately, these comments are 

rare. 

On the other hand, now there 

seems to be an extra excuse for failing 

at exams. Although, quite 

frankly, even in the past one of the 

excuses was, "I failed the exam just 

because I am Albanian." Whereas 

now the excuses are somewhat richer, 

"He was nervous as a result of 

recent events, so he failed the 

exam." Realistically speaking, it's 

impossible to derive precise conclusions 

from this, because only the 

student and the professor know the 

truth, and they are not always 100 

per cent unbiased. There are certainly 

cases which contradict this 

rule. Thus, it must be said that, in 

the heat of the crisis, there were 

Albanian students, albeit few, who 

passed exams given by the most 

problematic professors. Therefore, 

the assessment of this always 

remains subjective and it will stay 

that way, while the saying "where 

there is a smoke, there is fire" continues 

to apply. 

When talking about exams, students 

now long for their old studying 

conditions, regardless of what 

those conditions were like. Now it 

has become natural to keep your 

head under the book, for planes to 

fly overhead, to hear detonation 

from the battlefield in the vicinity 

of the city or to set up your studying 

schedule in accordance with the 

nightly news. Depending on where 

you live, it could well be that you 

have no good studying conditions. 

For months now students from 

Tetovo and Kumanovo regions 

couldn't attend lectures, or even sit 

for exams. Although additional sessions 

for these students have been 

announced, nothing has been done 

so far about it. Yet it is often said 

that the youth, including students, 

represent the most vital segment of 

a nation. That's what they say and it 

is not far from the truth. The youth 

are more optimistic. No matter how 

well we adjusted to the omnipresent 

atmosphere of greyness, deep down 

there was the hope that "it will get 

better." It seems as if the August 13 

agreement changed many things, as 

if to confirm this saying. Although, 

it did so in an unnoticeable way. 

Leaving aside political calculations, 

realistically speaking, students 

gained a lot from it. First of 

all, and this is applicable to everybody, 

it secures a long-term peace 

which is something that everybody 

desires. In addition, more solid 

foundations are laid for the future 

in which we will all live. 

Furthermore, new opportunities are 

appearing. For example, higher 

education in the mother tongue for 

everybody. Again, regardless of 

political colours, a real competition, 

a unique competition among 

several universities, among different 

students, could bring about positive 

things. Gates of knowledge are 

opening wider for the student-especially 

the Albanian student-of 

today, On the other hand, if there is 

an equal start for everybody, results 

will depend on personal abilities 

and skills, and not on ethnic background. 

Lastly, competition represents a 

basic principal of a market economy, 

which we all strive to achieve. 

This market economy, transferred 

into education, does not recognize 

Albanians and Macedonians, it recognizes 

only successful and unsuccessful 

individuals. Therefore, we 

really need to finally "work, work, 

day and night, to see a bit of light," 

because "the world represents a 

field for cultural competition among 

different nations," doesn't it? 

(The author is a student at 

the Economics Faculty) 


Me, Igor and Macedonia 

Zekirija Ibrahimi 

After the catastrophic earthquake 

in Skopje, when the Butel barracks 

were being given away for almost 

nothing, my family happened to have 

a Macedonian family (Uncle Mirko's 

family) as neighbours. So my father 

and Uncle Mirko established a neighbourhood 

that we, their children, were 

supposed to inherit for sure. When we 

were brought to life (around the mid 

1970s), Uncle Mirko's and my father's 

children could barely be distinguished 

from each other-who was whose and 

who lived in which house. Often, 

Uncle Mirko's only son, Igor, who 

was my age, would stay overnight at 

our place. We would also sometimes 

stay at Uncle Mirko's place. 

We were growing up this way, 

while the friendship between our families 

was becoming ever stronger. It is 

true that my father used to help Uncle 

Mirko with household chores, but 

frankly Uncle Mirko always tended to 

match the favours. He always helped 

my father with certificates or documents, 

which, when it comes to Uncle 

Mirko, were the easiest things he 

could do for us. On the other hand, 

Igor lived with us without expecting 

to benefit anything. It has happened 

so many times that our father would 

come to take us to buy new clothes for 

Bayram and Igor would also stick 

around. My father, not wishing to hurt 

him in any way, would buy clothes for 

him as well. I even recall that Igor 

used to wait along with us for the 

mosque lights to turn on and he would 

then run straight home just like us to 

announce that the 

fast was over for 

the day. Later on, 

immediately 

after the meal, 

we would go 

from door to 

door, including 

Igor's door, and 

we would sing 

and call up the 

other children to 

join us in playing 

kutujik. 

So, this was 

the way we were 

growing up and 

we did not notice that Igor was any 

different from us. He made an effort 

to learn Albanian, and we learned 

Macedonian language. This helped us 

understand each other. Sometimes we 

would cut jokes on Igor's account, 

since he was not circumcised, but this 

didn't bother him much. He knew we 

were joking. He would also joke with 

us. When Igor's family celebrated, he 

would not miss the opportunity to 

treat us. So during Easter he would 

bring us dyed eggs with which we 

played endlessly. This is what our 

childhood was alike. They respected 

our faith and ethnicity, and we 

respected theirs. 

Later we enrolled at primary 

school. Igor studied in a Macedonian 

class, whereas we naturally enrolled 

in an Albanian class. This was the 

place where Igor started changing 

under the new influence. First of all, 

there he learned the word shiptar. So 

when we would get into fights, as 

children do, he would go in his yard 

and from there he would yell 

"Shiptari!" This concerned uncle 

Mirko a great deal, and he would 

always, in situations like this, smack 

Igor. But things did not end there. Igor 

slowly started to remove himself from 

us. He started to "understand" that we 

were strangers to him. 

By the end of 

the 1980s, Igor 

had many 

Macedonian 

friends who were 

rarely willing to 

mingle with us, 

except when we 

played soccer, 

where we would 

split between 

Albanians and 

Macedonians. It 

was not only soccer 

involved 

there. We played 

to prove who 

were more capable, Albanians or 

Macedonians. This was how we completed 

our primary school. 

We went to the secondary school. 

A little bit due to studies and a bit due 

to the alienation, we rarely mingled 

with Igor. We used to meet on the bus 

when we were returning from or 

going to school. We usually talked 

57 


58 

about difficult school lessons we had. On the other hand, 

Uncle Mirko and my father kept trying to drink a cup of tea 

together, but they had rather a bitter feeling between them. 

By the mid 1990s, those days when the massacres carried 

out by Serbs were the topic of the day in Bosnia, Igor's 

father was married to a Serbian woman. At the same time 

Kosovo's days seemed numbered. Our parents kept pretending 

they were friends, and it was obvious that they 

were putting up an act. Nevertheless, let us return to Igor 

and me. 

He was a fan of the football team Vardar, while I was a 

fan of Sloga. We would both go to the stadium, but along 

different paths. He was with Komitas on the western seats 

and I was with Smugglers. They were making rude 

remarks and we did not fall short. The rude remarks were 

considered normal, although it should not be that way. 

There were other things which were difficult to swallow. I 

felt bad when they would swear at our God and when they 

would say to us "Gas chambers for the Albanians!" because 

I knew that even my Igor was uttering those words. 

Immediately after the match we would run headlong away, 

to save our necks from Igor's Komitas. Then in the evening 

we would run into each other, and through clenched teeth 

we would say, "Hi there" in Macedonia. 

Then protests started along against the Pedagogical 

Faculty. My Igor was standing in the first row. Again in the 

evening there would be "Hi there" in Macedonian. We 

could only close the doors behind us and burst out of anger. 

Whatever happened to us?! We forgot Ramadan, Bayram, 

Christmas, and Easter. Igor and I had now become totally 

different people. This was the end of the 1990s. During the 

Kosovo events, he was almost dancing with joy because 

his uncles were murdering my cousins. Later, when the 

conflict started in Macedonia, Igor voluntarily enrolled in 

the police ranks. And who knows how many Albanians my 

Igor has bashed by now! 

Although these are difficult times, I still try to understand 

him. However, there is one thing that I cannot understand. 

Why does he want to deprive me from feeling that 

Macedonia is my motherland? 

It may seem put on, but even earlier I sincerely wanted 

to be where the Albanian language was not spoken. I have 

even run into Igor during some plays and concerts performed 

by Macedonians. Igor is fully aware of this. The 

last times we met were at Dragan Dautovski's and 

Synthesis concerts. However, I never meet Igor at any 

Albanian cultural evenings or at any Albanian dramas. 

I recall the soccer match between Macedonia and 

Croatia, when I was not allowed to join the Macedonian 

fans, since Igor and his Komitas would swear "Damn shiptari." 

If they were to find out that I was Albanian, I could 

have gotten the long end of the stick. I remained watching 

the match from the north wing, scared to death when 

Macedonia was attacking. Because of this, some Albanians 

looked at me with gloom in their eyes-why was I cheering 

people who were swearing at my mother? 

That very same evening Igor and I greeted each other 

with another icy, "Hi there" in Macedonian By now, Igor 

had forgotten how to say tungjatjeta the Albanian word for 

"hi there!" 

(The author is a postgraduate student at the 

Philology Faculty) 

Irena Shehtanska 

Nowhere 

is the sun 

so bright 

2 August (Ilinden 198..and some), a 

Macedonian national holiday. 

Picnic sites were crowded. You could hear 

music and drums from the old St. Ilija monastery 

where people were dancing Macedonian folk 

dances. The earth trembled under the feet of an old 

man called Iljo, who, standing on the drum, defied 

his age. He staggered a little, but stood up again, 

with the flag in his hand. Pleasant smells of grilled 

lamb were everywhere. Everyone rejoiced in their 

own way. Everyone had a reason to be happy. Old 

people, like Grandpa Iljo, because they could finally 

dance Macedonian folk dances and cross themselves 

for the health and happiness of their family 

without fear. Our parents drank to a successful 

year, to health and to the victory of their favourite 

football club. And the children, who knew what we 

were thinking about? I can't remember our desires. 

Ilinden 2001. 

Streets and old picnic sites are empty. You can 

still hear music from St. Ilija monastery, but things 

don't seem the same. Voices sound unnatural and 

strained. Drumbeats are slower and quieter. And 

Grandpa Iljo is not here to dance. I enter the old St. 

Panteleimon monastery, and then I go only about 

hundred meters further, to pray for health and light a 

candle. There are more people in the monastery than 

outside, dancing. Their eyes are empty, pensive and 

directed toward the icon of the Holy Mother. I open 

the memory book to write something-to leave a 

trace of me behind. Just two lines higher on the 

same page, a child wrote in awkward handwriting, 

"Dear God, please watch over my daddy, bring him 

back alive, and please make them let him come to 

my birthday." I put the pen back. 

My name is Irena. I am Macedonian, married, 

a mother of a three-year-old son, an unemployed 

pedagogue and a member of a lost generation. Lost 

because of the curse of having to live in two totally 

opposite times. Cursed to grow up and be 

brought up in a time of happiness, respect and love, 

only to develop into a person who must raise her 

own child at a time of general crisis (economic, 

political and, most terrible, spiritual). I was raised 

to love this country and this people. And I did. I 


used to imagine my future here, 

among these people, who know how 

to love and be happy. 

The only reason why I chose this 

profession was my love of children. I 

want to devote my whole being to 

them and their education, because 

there is nothing more pure than a 

child's soul, and nothing more sincere 

than a child's heart. They are clay in 

the hands of parents and teachers. 

They are everything I love, and all I 

wanted was to show them the right 

way and give answers to all their 

naive questions. I graduated, but I 

have still not managed to find a job, at 

least not the kind of job I would like, 

and the kind I was educated for. 

In the meantime, I have devoted 

all my love to my family, especially to 

my three year old son and his education. 

But as time goes by there are 

more and more questions to which I 

cannot find any answers. "Mommy, 

why is this man talking to himself? 

Why are those women on TV crying? 

Why are they carrying a picture of a 

soldier?" 

How can I explain to him why he can't 

go to school, or somewhere on holiday 

with his friends? All this would not have 

been so tragic if only one man had spoken 

to himself, if only one mother had cried 

and only one soldier had been buried. 

When I used to think about my 

future, I always imagined it here, in 

this country and among these people. 

When a close friend of mine went with 

her parents to Canada a couple of 

years ago I felt sorry for her. I could 

not understand her. I could not imagine 

my life far away from my family 

and friends, from my neighbourhood. 

There was no reason good enough to 

make me leave. I just wanted my place 

in this country, my chance. Today my 

friend is a lawyer. She works in a 

renowned company in Canada where 

she has her own house, drives her own 

car and makes plans about her future 

and the future of her daughter. I have 

been waiting for a job for three years, 

and observing the situation in the 

country I live in constant fear for my 

family's future, about my son's tomorrow. 

People usually say: "We should 

be patient, and have faith." But I keep 

asking: "Patient till when?" and "Faith 

in whom?" 

I believe in the future of this country 

and the wisdom of this people. I 

hope that we will soon find a way out 

of this dead-end street and start to live 

and think like Europeans. This people 

and this country deserves it. If it does 

not happen, I hope I will have an 

opportunity to find my chance in another 

place, in another country. But-I must 

say this again-I hope that I will not 

have to do it. Because, as old people 

say, nobody wants to pull up his roots. 

Nowhere is the sun so warm and bright. 

Nowhere are people so full of love. 

Dear God, please help Macedonia. 

(The author is a pedagogue) 

Politicians are thinking about 

the crisis and possible solutions 

59 

Branko Gjorgjevski 

Xhelal Neziri 

After several months of participation 

in the government of political 

unity, SDSM decided to return to the 

opposition. Their most serious political 

rival, VMRO-DPMNE, called this 

move a "desertion in the most difficult 

moment for Macedonia." The leader 

of SDSM, Branko Crvenkovski, 

offered the following explanation as to 

why their party left the Government, 

conclusions they drew from the war, 

and their perspective: 

"It is true that the security situation 

has not been completely brought back 

to earlier levels and neither are consequences 

of the war resolved. Incidents 

and problems with the return of security 

forces should be expected in the 

future. However, the political framework 

has been set and the government 

should follow it. From our perspective, 

we do not want to be an alibi for 

Ljubcho Georgievski's disastrous politics 

any longer because it is a politics 

marked by corruption, stealing, personal 

profit, and partiality… That 

kind of politics brought Macedonia 

into this situation and we want to 

defeat it," says Crvenkovski. 

BRIDGES FOR COEXIS- 

TENCE HAVE STILL 

BEEN PRESERVED 

According to Crvenkovski, the 

greatest success is that Macedonia has 

escaped general interethnic war, 

which could have caused a division of 

the country. 

"We have managed to escape 

interethnic war and division of the territory, 

the idea of exchange of people 

and territories has been defeated, a 

political solution 

has been 

found, the 

support of the 

international community has been 

gained and interethnic confidence is 

being restored," Crvenkovski emphasized. 

"The bridges for coexistence 

have been preserved. But it is necessary 

to make them stronger." 

"This war did not start because 

someone wanted more Albanians to 

become policemen or students," 

Crvenkovski continued. "The war 

began with people who wanted to put 

forward the idea of territorial division 

and so they set up conditions for 

secession. Instead of constantly 

accusing members of the other side, 

the other ethnic group, and the other 

religion, someone from the Albanian 

political corpus should condemn 

Albanian nationalism and chauvinism, 

Return of peace, December 2001

60 

just as some from the Macedonian 

political body have had the courage to 

talk about Macedonian nationalism 

and radicalism. Such an approach will 

reinforce mutual confidence and convince 

the other side that there really 

are forces which are ready to build a 

common life." 

Crvenkovski believes that a political 

solution must be reached in order 

to preserve the bridges of mutual confidence 

and provide any kind of international 

reputation for Macedonia. 

"Everything is in vain if we do not 

build a bridge of mutual confidence 

based on the interethnic plan," 

Crvenkovski said. "You can make 

whatever constitution you like, or keep 

the old one and make it even more 

Macedonian than the previous one. If 

it does not hold water, there will be no 

coexistence." 

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT 

TO GAIN SUPPORT OF 

THE INTERNATIONAL 

COMMUNITY 

"SDSM will remain in coalition 

with one of the Albanian parties in 

Macedonia. The situation in 

Macedonia will become much more 

stable if everyone takes equal responsibility 

for it," says Crvenkovski. In 

announcing that his party will play a 

leading role in responsible politics, 

Crvenkovski continued, "Party rating 

and reputation are absolutely worthless 

if you lose the country." That is 

why SDSM entered the Government 

of political unity. 

"We could not stand aside and 

watch Macedonia collapse in order to 

prove the triumph of SDSM. If we had 

not entered the Government, 

Macedonia would have become a new 

Bosnia. Far too many adventurous, 

insensible, and hasty movements had 

been made before we entered the executive 

power. The more rational attitude 

that we promoted contributed to 

providing and preserving peace," 

claims Crvenkovski. 

In that context, he also thinks that 

it is important to have the support of 

the international community. 

"The international community is 

not against Macedonia. The idea that 

the whole world is against us is tied up 

with the mantra that the war is a consequence 

of some evil which was 

brought from outside and not something 

we did on our own. The international 

community firmly claims that 

Macedonian territorial integrity and its 

borders should not come into question. 

That attitude is more Macedonian than 

the one promoted by some 

Macedonian circles about the 

exchange of territories and people. 

That could have definitely destroyed 

Macedonian territorial integrity and 

we could have lost our country," thinks 

Crvenkovski. 

We should take that aspect in consideration. 

However, there are a lot of 

other things, which should be changed 

in Macedonia. 

"We must introduce different 

moral attitudes and systems of values 

in this country. The crucial question is, 

what are we all going to do to deal 

with criminals and other outlaws? 

Evil is greater than we can see, and we 

are at a crossroads at the moment: to 

accept either a South American or a 

European state model," thinks 

Crvenkovski. 

ROOTS OF THIS CRISIS 

LIE DEEPER 

Chedo Kralevski, the coordinator 

of the largest representative group in 

the Parliament, VMRO-DPMNE, 

thinks that his party shares responsibility 

for the implementation of the Ohrid 

Agreement, but also that the international 

community has broken its own 

proclaimed principles in Macedonia. 

He is afraid that the Albanian political 

factor has taken sides, moderate and 

radical, which is not a good sign for 

the relaxation of interethnic tensions. 

"The Macedonian example has 

showed that it is the international community 

which breaks its own principles 

regarding international relations," 

says Kralevski. 

He explains this thesis by the fact 

that Macedonia, as a sovereign state, 

has experienced aggression from a 

protectorate like Kosovo, which is 

under control of the international community. 

"The international community 

called this aggression by its proper 

name-terrorism, and Albanian extremism-at 

the beginning. Later the international 

community changed their 

name to "fighters for human rights and 

freedom'" and "rebels." That means 

that the principle of the protection of 

one independent country's sovereignty 

has been violated and terrorism has 

actually been legalized," the coordinator 

of the VMRO-DPMNE representative 

group commented. 

The roots of this crisis, according 

to Kralevski, lie deeper than what is 

now happening in Macedonia. 

"First, the international community 

took sides when Slobodan 

Miloshevich's regime was in power in 

Yugoslavia by approving the NATO 

intervention. I think that, in order to 

oppose Milosevic, the international 

community sided with the Albanian 

factor. The creation of the Kosovo 

Protection Corps, which was supposed 

to represent an institutional form for 

the fighters for freedom and rights, 

was in fact the creation of a military 

organization, which actually continued 

to work according to the principles of 

the Prizren League," says Kralevski. 

"It was allowed to develop ideas 

about a greater Albanian country, even 

though Miloshevich's ideology about a 

great Serbian country had previously 

been condemned and punished. 

Terrorists were allowed to present 

themselves as "fighters for human 

rights," although it was clear that the 

Albanian minority in Macedonia 

enjoyed all rights and freedom," 

Kralevski said. 

OHRID AGREEMENT WAS 

A FORCED SOLUTION 

That is how the Ohrid Framework 

Agreement came to be, as a forced 

solution, which was supposed to prevent 

interethnic war on a wider scale. 

"That agreement can represent a 

good foundation for calming down the 

situation in the country especially if 

we take into consideration statements 

made by the Albanian representatives 

in the Parliament, such as the one 

Abdurahman Aliti made: 'this is more 

or less the end of Albanian demands in 

Macedonia.' However, activities show 


that peace has not yet settled down the 

sites of the fighting," Kralevski said. 

He is afraid that a strategy could be 

developed to conquer the Macedonian 

territory step by step. 

"The military activities of the 

Albanian terrorists have not stopped. 

Rapes, murders and ethnic cleansing 

happen continuously. The Albanian 

political factor has divided into parts: 

one is moderate and cooperative while 

the others are radical. Support for the 

peace process on the one hand, and 

radicalism, as practiced by Kastriot 

Haxhirexha's NDP, on the other. They 

are not establishing a good basis for 

the relaxation of interethnic tensions, 

which is the main condition for the 

country to function," claims Kralevski. 

In such a situation, in his opinion, 

the Macedonian political block does 

not have much space to act. "It is 

good that the Albanian political factor 

is included in the government, but the 

process of constitutional changes 

should be carefully realized. In such a 

situation, we should insist that the 

international actors put pressure on the 

Albanians to state clearly that they 

dissociate themselves from the activities 

carried out by the remaining terrorist 

groups. No one wants open confrontation," 

Kralevski stated. 

He thinks that coalitions between 

the strongest Albanian and 

Macedonian parties should continue. 

"We should build an economic and 

political life together. The roots of the 

crisis are deep and date back to the 

time when Yugoslavia, in which 

Albanians had certain rights, fell 

apart. In the last ten years, some 

things were kept hidden in Macedonia 

and that is why we are surprised. The 

escalation of the crisis could not have 

happened in just one or two years. We 

did not have the potential to deal with 

terrorism alone, and that is why we 

will have to rely on the international 

factor." 

ALBANIANS FELT 

DISCRIMINATED 

The Republic of Macedonia has 

endured constant tension for a long 

time because Albanians in this country 

felt discriminated against. Their 

rights were not fulfilled and they had 

to constantly demand their fulfilment. 

In order to overcome this conflict 

and attempt to solve political problems 

in Macedonia, a political agreement 

was reached in Ohrid with the 

help of the international community. 

Representatives of two Albanian political 

parties, PDP and DPA, think that 

we should not hold onto illusions that 

this process will be easily accomplished 

and they hope for help from 

international actors. 

They believe that Macedonian 

politicians will understand that it is 

necessary to implement the agreement 

because, in their opinion, it includes 

resolving problems in state institutions 

in a manner that will establish equality 

and stability in Macedonia. 

EVERYONE WILL 

PROFIT FROM THOSE 

REFORMS 

PDP Vice-President Aziz 

Polozhani said that an important element 

in implementing Agreement is 

the constant presence of various international 

structures. "Besides the consequences 

of a ten-month long 

interethnic conflict, Macedonia suffered 

because of the lack of democratic 

influence. The improvement of this 

aspect, along with providing conditions 

for the application of international 

values in a democratic atmosphere 

and structure in this country, remain 

an important task even after the implementation 

of the Agreement," he said. 

Polozhani hopes that Macedonia is 

on its way to establishing consensus 

about certain values upon which democratic 

institutions will be established. 

He thinks that Albanians, through 

appropriate reconstruction and organization 

based not only upon the Ohrid 

Agreement but also upon other values, 

could become a factor of stability 

which would encourage the country's 

integration into the Euro-Atlantic 

structures. 

"That is why, with support from 

the international community in the 

economic, development, and investment 

spheres, we will provide conditions 

for our children to live in a country 

with greater prosperity and democratic 

values." 

However, Polozhani claims that 

the Ohrid Agreement does not provide 

the maximum level of rights, but 

implementation will allow for greater 

development. "From this perspective, 

Albanians must understand that a 

large part of their aspirations have 

been fulfilled with this agreement, and 

that they are one step closer to the values 

they have accepted as their own. I 

want to say that there are no winners 

and losers with the implementation of 

the Ohrid Agreement. It will bring real 

peace, economic prosperity, and faster 

integration with the European Union," 

he emphasized and added that everyone 

will profit from those reforms. In 

his opinion, the Albanian political parties 

that oppose the Agreement are 

wrong in labelling some people as 

patriots and others as traitors because 

"what was agreed upon was done in 

accordance with the international 

community." 

YOU CANNOT HAVE TOO 

MANY RIGHTS 

Polozhani also stated that those 

who say that Albanians have too many 

rights are wrong. "Generally speaking, 

you cannot have too many rights 

but there is a limit. Our rights finish 

somewhere and someone else's rights 

begin. The implementation of the 

Agreement does not limit the rights of 

Macedonians and that is a fact. The 

feeling that they have lost something 

is provoked by their mentality based 

upon the discrimination against 

Albanians and their view that they 

have unfairly lost privileges," 

Polozhani claimed. He added that this 

psychological stance will be overcome 

once Macedonians see that all 

ethnic groups feel this country is 

shared in common, which is the main 

condition of stability for both 

Macedonia and the whole region. 

Additionally, Polozhani stated that 

Macedonia will receive help from the 

international community in every 

phase of the Agreement's implementation 

in order to restore its economy 

and become closer to alignment with 

the North Atlantic structures. "The 

first step in this direction is the donor's 

61 


62 

conference and it will surely be followed 

by other economic injections, 

which will improve the living standard. 

However, the way these finances 

are administered is important because 

we have already seen what tension 

corruption can cause." Further, 

Polozhani expressed his hope that 

international monitoring will be provided 

for the administration of the 

donated funds. 

He thinks that the central issue of 

the Ohrid Agreement is decentralization 

because, in his opinion, the country 

was too centralized due to political 

interests. "One of the ways to make 

Albanians equally responsible for the 

future of this country is decentralization 

of power. Complete implementation 

of this part of the reform will be 

very important for the final quality of 

changes," Polozhani emphasized. He 

hopes that all Albanians in Macedonia 

are aware of the importance of this 

dimension of the reforms, and will do 

anything to put them through. 

WE SHOULD NOT 

EXPECT ANYTHING 

SPECTACULAR 

The vice-president of DPA, Ilijaz 

Halimi, said that after the implementation 

of the reforms included in the 

Ohrid Agreement, we should not 

expect any spectacular changes in 

people's lives, but he also believes that 

there will be some improvements. 

"When the constitutional changes 

are adopted several laws will be 

passed, along with a list of the 

Parliament's duties and responsibilities, 

which will cover the greatest part 

of the Ohrid Agreement. Then, other 

measures to restore confidence will 

be put in place in order to provide 

long-term peace in Macedonia. Even 

if all of these regulations are passed 

as soon as possible, we should not 

expect any spectacular changes in 

people's lives. However, there will be 

certain improvements, especially 

concerning the fulfilment of Albanian 

rights," Halimi commented. 

Halimi believes that Macedonians 

will not lose anything with these 

changes because they will continue to 

"enjoy their rights as afforded in this 

work." Halimi continued, "First of 

all, if we take into consideration the 

donor's conference, which is expected 

to bring the financial means for the 

restoration of the country's economy, 

all Macedonian citizens should 

expect economic prosperity. This 

will also reduce the unemployment 

rate and solve other social questions." 

Halimi thinks that after the final 

implementation of the Ohrid 

Agreement we will live in more stable 

surroundings because many aspirations 

and goals of Albanian political 

parties will be realized. "I am satisfied 

with this document because it fulfils 

the promises that DPA made to its 

voters. I do not want to talk about all 

the promises that were made before 

we came to power, but we will remind 

our voters during the next elections. 

In fact, we have accomplished something 

of great importance for us as a 

political party," he said. 

According to Halimi, there are 

still some outstanding issues that 

require solutions. "I am saying this 

because you can never get enough ethnic 

and civil rights. That means that 

those who say that the constitutional 

changes completely fulfil Albanian 

rights in Macedonia are wrong. 

Regardless of what has been accomplished 

by the Ohrid Agreement, the 

improvement of ethnic and civil rights 

must continue, and according to international 

standards," he said. 

Halimi also stated that obstructions 

from various institutions or individuals 

are to be expected, but he 

thinks that the process will be monitored 

by the international community. 

"Every obstacle in the implementation 

of the reforms included in the 

Agreement will be an obstacle to the 

integration of Macedonia in international 

structures. Taking this into 

consideration, I believe that all political 

subjects in the country will come 

to their senses and understand that 

everyone will profit if the reforms are 

implemented," emphasized Halimi. 

Regarding measures to restore 

interethnic confidence, he believes that 

we should take into consideration one 

very concrete effort, not only of political 

entities, but also state institutions-cooperation 

with the international community. 

"I am saying this because that is the 

only way to understand each other without 

prejudice. According to the Ohrid 

Agreement, the authorities should make 

governance more accessible to common 

citizens. I am talking about the laws 

connected to the decentralization of 

power, which will be adopted in the near 

future. Actually, with the law of local 

self-government and the law of financing 

of the local authorities, municipalities 

will have more responsibilities than 

before in the fields of culture, education, 

social protection, rural and urban planning 

and so on," Halimi said. He thinks 

that municipalities will have more 

financial means for handling these 

spheres but always in the interest of citizens 

to fulfil of their needs. 

IMPROVEMENT OF 

LIVING CONDITIONS 

Halimi believes that there will be 

many positive changes in this dimension, 

which will support the interest 

of citizens and improvement of their 

living conditions. "This will also be 

useful for the country itself because 

central authorities will be exempted 

from the many obligations they have 

had up until now. Because they were 

so busy, central authorities could not 

function in all parts of the country, 

which will not be the case when the 

greatest authority is given to municipalities," 

Halimi emphasized. Halimi 

hopes that, with the realization of the 

aspirations resulting from the Ohrid 

Agreement, our country will fulfil 

almost all international standards and 

will move quicker towards integration 

in the Euro-Atlantic structures. 

In his opinion, final membership 

in EU and NATO will bring many 

good things. Among them, our citizens 

would no longer need visas for 

European countries and would be 

able to travel freely and exchange 

goods. Halimi hopes that after the 

implementation of the Agreement, 

Macedonia will have many advantages 

regarding its membership in the 

Euro-Atlantic structures compared to 

other countries in the Balkans. 

(Branko Gjorgjevski is a journalist 

at Dnevnik, Xhelal Neziri is 

a journalist at Fakti) 


Nobody should be afraid to go back home 

Igor K. Ilievski 

Almost six months after the first 

armed clashes in the Kumanovo 

region began, Opae is now a place of 

unusual commotion. People unload 

trucks filled with bricks, tiles, and 

roof beams in the middle of the village 

and returning inhabitants are 

repairing the houses that were damaged 

during the battles. A month ago, 

this village was nothing but a "fighting 

position." Macedonian security 

forces and members of NLA had 

positioned themselves on opposite 

sides of the road from Kumanovo and 

Slupchane. During the first four 

months, street 

fighting occurred 

often in 

battles that took 

place in the 

Kumanovo region. 

Now life is 

slowly coming 

back to the village. 

By now, a 

great number of 

inhabitants have 

returned to the 

village. But 

Macedonians 

are not among 

them. While 1,800 of the village's 

2,100 residents have come back, only 

three Macedonian families have 

returned. The rest are Albanians. 

"The door is open for Macedonians, 

too," said Rexhep Shakiri, the president 

of the local council. 

Macedonians think that returning 

to Opae is not safe for them, especially 

since the security forces left the 

village a month ago. The refugees 

are still in the boarding school in the 

village Dolno Konjare and in the 

hotels Kristal and Kuba in 

Kumanovo. Still, what the politicians 

failed to do, the villagers are 

trying to settle themselves. 

A group of Macedonian refugees 

arranged a meeting with the Albanian 

block in Opae. "We should discuss 

the restoration of mutual confidence. 

Some of the refugees demand that the 

police and army return to the village, 

but if we lack mutual confidence, the 

police and army cannot help much," 

says Sladzhan Ilievski, a villager 

from Opae. 

The neighbouring village of 

Lopate is one of a few where 

Macedonians and Albanians remained 

together during the military 

action. The inhabitants agreed 

together, met the commanders of the 

Army and police, organized village 

guards, and stayed together until the 

end. But Opae had the misfortune to 

be in the centre of the fighting. 

"Macedonians did not stay in this 

village. We could not build mutual 

confidence, which could have held 

together. Their houses have been 

damaged recently," commented Sali 

Neziri from Opae. 

The bravest ones, who in spite of 

everything returned to the village 

after a couple of months, did not 

escape unscathed. "When someone 

goes to the village, the other villagers 

Opae inhabitants are trying to heal the wounds 

caused by the long months of armed clashes 

insult him, and even sometimes 

attack him. My mother went to see 

the house after seven months and 

somebody threw a stone at her," says 

one of the Macedonians who was 

forced to leave the village. He also 

added that, besides the damage done 

during the battles, Macedonian houses 

in Opae were demolished after the 

security forces left the village. 

Opae is one of the five villages 

included in the pilot project for bringing 

back police presence. From 10 

am to 4 pm., an ethnically mixed 

group of three Macedonian and three 

Albanian police will be on patrol. 

But the Macedonian refugees think 

that is not enough for safe life in the 

village. 

"The policemen are there till 4 

p.m. and after that the other villagers 

demolish our houses. They make 

holes in the walls, all the doors and 

windows are broken, and all kinds of 

things are written on the walls... 

Those are threatening messages. I 

think that there isn't a single non- 

Albanian house where people could 

63 


64 

live," says one of the refugees. 

At least 130 houses were demolished 

in Opae-more than one third of 

the village. While Macedonians think 

that their fellow villagers destroyed 

their houses, the Albanian inhabitants 

of Opae believe that Macedonian 

security forces destroyed their homes. 

"I stayed here the entire time. 

There were six people in the village 

altogether: Myself, my brother, and 

four other men. Macedonian 

reservists destroyed my house. They 

used to come every two or three days 

while the fighting was going on, looking 

for the NLA. But I have held out 

till now," Mr. Neziri said. 

ONE OF HIS NEIGH- 

BOURS TELLS 

A SIMILAR STORY: 

"I returned to the village three 

weeks ago. I discovered that seven of 

eight houses belonging to our family 

had been demolished. It was not the 

NLA which destroyed my house, it 

was the reservists," says an older 

Albanian from another part of the village. 

Everyone tells their own story and 

the negative role always belongs to 

the other ethnic group. 

"My house was demolished after 

the army and police had left the village. 

I used to come regularly while 

the battle was being fought. Together 

with some other Macedonians, I used 

to bring bread, oil, and cigarettes to 

our neighbours, who are Albanian and 

stayed in the village. Now the very 

same neighbours broke into my house, 

stole everything and demolished it," 

says a Macedonian from Opae. 

The inhabitants from Opae, both 

Macedonian and Albanian, think that 

politicians and their personal interests 

are responsible for everything that 

happened to the village. 

"Everyone will have to answer for 

this. It was all because of five or six 

people and their political interests. 

First they took what is ours and than 

they left us on the street," says one of 

Opae's inhabitants. 

Macedonians and Albanians from 

Opae decided to meet in the village in 

order to talk about mutual confidence 

and restoring normal life. OSCE will act 

as a go-between in the beginning. OSCE 

representatives had separate meetings 

with both Albanians and Macedonians 

from Opae during which they discussed 

the return of the refugees. 

"Everyone should decide for himself 

whether to come back or not. If 

we have guarantees that we will be 

safe, and if confidence is restored, I 

will go back with my family," says 

Mr. Ilievski. 

His neighbour offers him encouragement. 

"Macedonians should come 

back. There is no reason to be afraid 

because they will be coming back to 

their own homes. Nobody should be 

afraid to come back home," says Mr. 

Neziri. 

Life is slowly coming back to 

Opae. UNHCR has donated building 

material for the reconstruction of 

demolished houses to help the villagers. 

The reconstruction of the 

electrical system is in progress. The 

villagers are repairing the destroyed 

houses and waiting for the promised 

firewood. The village school has 

been restored. For a moment, the 

laughing children emerging from a 

freshly painted school building disperses 

the shadows gathered around 

the hole-ridden facades and burned 

rooftops of the neighbouring houses. 

The inhabitants of Opae are trying to 

rebuild their homes and their lives. 

(Igor K. Ilievski is a journalist 

at Dnevnik) 

Arachinovo - example of good neighbourhood 

but not of the relationship 

between the state and its citizens 

Laura Papraniku 

Of the 14,000 inhabitants in the 

Arachinovo municipality, only 6 per 

cent are non- Albanian. The majority 

ethnic group always respected the 

Macedonians, Serbians, and 

Bosnians who live in Arachinovo 

and neighbouring villages. Life 

between the different groups was not 

disturbed during the war, nor was it 

once the war was over. During the 

most severe fighting, from the morning 

of 22 June until the evening of 

24 June 2001, Arachinovo was 

bombed from both the air and the 

ground. A significant number of 

Macedonians, mostly the elderly, 

took refuge in their basements. The 

NLA did not disturb them. 

Albanians looked after their welfare 

and brought them food and medicine. 

Beyond the humanitarian 

dimension, this example is a sign of 

the common life and mutual respect 

between people belonging to differ- 

Unlike the 

Albanians, who have 

almost all returned to 

Arachinovo, 

Macedonian inhabitants 

have not yet returned to 

their homes. Except 

those who did not leave 

their homes at all, others 

return to 

Arachinovo only during 

the day, clean their 

houses or work in their 

backyards, and then go 

back to their temporary 

shelter. They do not stay 

after the sun goes down 


ent religious and ethnic groups who 

live in Macedonia. "We have 

always had a good life with 

Albanians. They have always 

helped when we were in trouble and 

we have never had any problems 

with them," said Macedonians about 

their Albanian neighbours and vice 

versa. 

DISCONTENT PRO- 

VOKED BY THE WAR 

Then who made the Albanians 

take up arms and fight?! "The 

state," answered Reshat Ferati, 

mayor of Arachinovo. Until two 

years ago, he explained, except for 

regular police, special police patrols 

were rare. In fact, there was no need 

for such a thing. "Police should act 

only when there is a problem. 

Besides, people do not feel comfortable 

if police are always present," 

Ferati offered. Two years ago three 

policemen were shot at the entrance 

to Arachinovo, which proves that 

the presence of police patrols in this 

region brings bad luck, according to 

Ferati. "On the other hand, it seems 

that the Ministry of Internal Affairs 

intended to completely destroy 

Arachinovo. To achieve that goal, 

as it was confirmed later, the state 

set up the policemen's murder," 

claimed Ferati. 

Under the pretext of finding the 

murderers (who have never been 

found), special police units were 

brought into Arachinovo. Many 

houses were searched; innocent citizens 

were tortured, beaten, and 

arrested. One person, Sabri Hasani, 

died. On 11 January 1999, when the 

policemen were murdered, Hasani 

was in his cottage in Mavrovo, 

almost 100 kilometres from the 

scene of the crime. "All this," 

explained Ferati, "has contributed to 

the negative experience that the 

local inhabitants have had with 

policemen, soldiers, and the state 

itself." 

Since 1992, the inhabitants of 

Malino, Brest, and Tanushevci 

(along the border between 

Macedonia and Kosovo) have faced 

various kinds of pressure, first from 

Serbian and then from Macedonian 

soldiers. This problem caused people 

to move to Arachinovo from 

other villages. The discrimination 

continued and consequently the villagers' 

hatred toward state institutions 

grew. Thus, in Arachinovo as 

in the other critical regions, the 

"NLA appeared as a response to the 

repression experienced by the local 

Albanians," commented Ferati. 

FEAR OF A SET-UP 

INCIDENT 

"People were afraid that the state 

would set another trap in 

Arachinovo and under the guise of 

searching through the houses, torture 

and arrest people," said Haxhi 

Imeri. "And that's why we were 

forced to organize ourselves for our 

defence, in case the state decided to 

attack," he explained. The experience 

from the burned and destroyed 

villages where NLA had appeared 

was still fresh. What happened in 

Tanushevci, Malino, Brest and 

Gushince (on Skopska Crna Gora), 

Vaksince, Slupchane, Orizari, 

Matejche (near Lipkovo), Selce, 

Gajre and Lavce (on Shar 

Mountain) confirms this claim. 

Many inhabitants of Arachinovo, 

feeling that war was approaching, 

left their homes. Many went to 

Skopje and others to Kosovo. The 

greatest number of Albanians who 

temporarily left the country passed 

through the border crossing at 

Blace. According to UNHCR, the 

number of refugees was over 

56,000. 

ALBANIANS HAVE 

RETURNED TO ARACHI- 

NOVO, MACEDONIANS 

HAVE NOT 

Severe battles were fought, 

according to the inhabitants of 

Arachinovo. Additionally, they 

were under constant shellfire, but 

fortunately there were no civilian 

casualties. On 26 September 2001, 

during the second phase of the disarmament 

of former NLA members, 

five de-mining units removed unexploded 

mines, making it possible for 

refugees to return to Arachinovo. 

The damage was enormous. 

According to Mayor Ferati, 1,600 of 

2,000 houses were damaged. The 

electric, water, and telephone systems 

no longer worked. 

The installation of electricity-a 

project costing 3 million German 

marks and financed by the European 

Union-should be completed by 

December. The problem with electricity 

will be solved for the next 30 

years. The houses belonging to the 

first and second category were 

repaired. "I am sorry to inform you 

that, for the time being, we do not 

have enough means to repair the 

most severely damaged houses, 

which means 183 of the third category 

and 249 houses of the fourth 

category remain unrepaired," Ferati 

commented. 

In spite of the difficult conditions 

that Arachinovo inhabitants 

must face at the moment, a semblance 

of normal life has returned. 

Although they are almost destroyed, 

with nylon sheeting instead of windows 

and snow and rain dripping 

through the ceiling in every room, 

the people of Arachinovo decided to 

spend this winter in their homes. 

Among other successes, a new 

school that holds 750 pupils has 

been re-opened. Children are forced 

to study in classrooms that have tarpaulins 

instead of windows. 

Although the weather is cold and 

rainy, "still, it is important to go to 

school," says Shkelzen, a sixthgrade 

pupil. 

Not a day goes by without a wall 

fixed or part of a roof repaired. The 

number of families who have finished 

all preparations to spend the 

winter in their homes grows every 

day. There are also families that 

will stay with their relatives this 

year because they cannot make 

repairs in time. "We could have 

stayed in Kosovo longer," said 

65 


66 

Anife, "but we will spend this winter 

more calmly if we are closer to our 

homes." 

Unlike the Albanians, most of 

whom have returned to Arachinovo, 

Macedonian inhabitants have not 

returned to their homes. Except for 

those who did not leave their homes 

at all, others come to Arachinovo 

only during the day, clean their 

houses or work in their backyards, 

and return to their temporary shelters. 

They do not stay after the sun 

goes down. 

MINISTER BALKOVSKI 

PROMISES FLATS FOR 

MACEDONIANS IN SKOPJE 

Kruna Pavlova, a 58-year-old 

Macedonian, is one of the few 

Macedonians who remained in 

Arachinovo during the war. "I 

stayed hidden in the basement of an 

Albanian house during those days, 

because my house is very old and 

does not have a basement," she 

explained. "All of my neighbours 

are Albanians, and I have never 

quarrelled with them since we came 

to live here. They belong to a different 

religion and different nationality, 

but Albanians are people with 

a warm heart and they don't break 

their word," said Kruna. 

She lives alone in a two-room 

house. She was born in Vranje in 

Serbia. Forty-four years ago, she 

married a man from Arachinovo. 

"My husband died a long time ago 

and the only son that I had lived for 

only four months," says this woman 

about her unhappy life. "Thank God 

that I've got such wonderful neighbours 

like Sahin and his wife. Every 

day they leave some food for me or 

give it to their children to bring to 

me," she continued. "The day the 

bombing began, early in the morning 

around seven o'clock, I decided 

to go out and see what was going on. 

As soon as I opened the door, I saw 

a young boy that I know. I think he 

was keeping watch over my house. I 

remembered that he was the boy 

from the market place, who always 

let me choose the best potatoes that 

he was selling. Let me tell you honestly, 

I scolded him," said Kruna. 

"Get away from here," I said, "a 

shell might hit you." He shook his 

head and told me to go to someone's 

basement. I did not tell Sahin's wife 

about seeing him in the street." 

This woman, who was sheltered 

in the basement of an Albanian 

house, finished her story. "I did not 

leave Arachinovo because I had no 

reason to leave my house. There are 

a few Macedonians here and 

Albanians have never hurt us. Even 

those who were armed would have 

never done me any harm, although 

they knew I was Macedonian," says 

this woman convincingly. 

There are many reasons why 

Macedonians are not coming back, 

according to Ferati. "The Minister of 

Transport and Connections, Ljupco 

Balkovski, promised to give apartments 

in Skopje to all the 

Macedonians from Arachinovo," he 

claimed. "When Minister Balkovski 

visited Arachinovo on 10 August 

2001, he did not visit a single 

Albanian home and did not even find 

time to visit my office," said Ferati. 

FEAR OF WHAT 

TOMORROW'S DAY 

MIGHT BRING 

Since the war ended, at least thirteen 

Albanians have been arrested 

around Arachinovo. All were 

accused of terrorism yet criminal 

charges have not been brought 

against them even though legally, 

charges should be discussed within 

30 days of an arrest. 

"On 26 November 2001, it will 

be three months and a week since my 

son was arrested," said Shefkie, Ali 

Nuhiu's mother. "Together with his 

brother and his sister-in-law, Ali 

went to Skopje to buy some food," 

Shefkie explained. "Kenan and his 

wife came back quickly. Their faces 

were sombre. I felt that something 

bad must have happened." In recalling 

the earlier events of 20 August 

2001, Shefkie continued, "They told 

me that Ali had been arrested, 

although I still cannot understand 

what act of terrorism my son could 

have committed while we were all 

refugees in Kosovo. We returned to 

Arachinovo, together with Ali, when 

the war was over." 

"I could not bear it," Musa, Ali's 

father, interjected. "With my other 

son, we took a taxi to the police station 

Avtokomanda, where I suspected 

that my son was being held." 

"My sons did nothing against the 

law," says Shefkie. "Ali's wife was 

pregnant when he was arrested, and 

she stayed at home with her nineyear-old 

daughter Agnesa. The other 

daughter Aida was born while Ali 

Nuhiu was still in prison in Shutka, 

near Skopje. His family has only 

one hope left-the amnesty law. 

Maybe once they pass the law, he 

will be released." Along with her 

son, the police have also arrested her 

brother Ismail Murtezani and two 

nephews, Ramadan and Belul. 

"Even now that the war is over, 

the state is trying to construct incidents 

that present Arachinovo in a 

bad light," Mayor Ferati stated. The 

latest occurred when three Albanian 

civilians were wounded on 

21November 2001 near the village 

of Mojance. "They went to the 

mountain to gather some wood," 

said Ferati. People with horses, 

laden with axes, saws, and other 

tools, were called terrorists and 

accused of attacking a police patrol. 

Putting this misinformation into the 

public sphere is wrong. "The 

Albanians were wounded in the village 

of Mojance, on their way 

toward the mountain. According to 

the pilot project for bringing back 

police forces into critical zones, the 

police are not supposed to enter this 

village for the time being," 

explained Ferati. Besides, the 

inhabitants are embittered by the 

attitude of paramilitary and military 

forces at police checkpoints, and 

they are afraid that something even 

worse might happen in Arachinovo. 

(The author 

is a journalist at Fakti) 


Matejche three months after the war conflict 

The police is back; the confidence 

is still in a proces of forming 

Isen Saliu 

Sashko Dimevski 

After 8 months, the police have 

returned to Matejche, but unfortunately 

the process of reestablishing the trust 

among the local Albanian, Macedonian 

and Serbian population still needs a lot of 

efforts. It is not extremely important 

whether these efforts will be coming 

from the state representatives, the representatives 

of different political parties, the 

local authorities or even the international 

organization. What is truly important is 

that the reestablishment of the trust 

among common people, despite their ethnic 

diversity, needs to be approached seriously. 

This was stated with the intention 

to present the lack of alternative in the 

process of returning of the dislocated 

families to their homes and to their normal 

way of living, which now for a lot of 

them seems rather impossible. 

On Sunday, January 26th the police 

has returned to Matejche. One mixed ethnic 

patrol has started its three-and-a-half 

hours of patrolling through the main 

streets of the biggest village in the municipality 

of Lipkovo. On the fifth day of the 

patrolling, during our visit to the village, 

the police officers, from which one was 

Macedonian and the other three were 

Albanians, had identical evaluations 

about the situation - it's stabile, and they 

are accepted well by the local people. 

The culmination of the war conflict 

in June 2001 was the main reason for the 

complete desertion of the village by all its 

inhabitants: Albanians, Macedonians and 

Serbs. Soon after that period, the 

Albanians were the first ones that started 

returning to their homes or to what has 

left of them, while Macedonians and 

Undoubtedly, Matejche is 

the most important test 

for testing the functioning 

of the newly established 

multicultural and multiethnic 

concept in the area 

of Kumanovo 

Serbs were still scattered around different 

refugee shelters throughout Kumanovo. 

For the time being, they don't have homes 

to come back to. Albanians are embittered 

and disappointed, Macedonians and 

Serbs are frightened. The first ones are 

embittered because of the destroyed 

homes and they've come up with several 

terms that need to be realized before they 

will allow their orthodox neighbors to 

return to the village; among those terms is 

also the passing of the amnesty law or a 

complete realization of the Ohrid agreement. 

The second ones are too frightened 

to return to their homes, which are now 

ruined, burned and robbed, for which 

they blame their Albanian neighbors. All 

of these events together create a hard-todeal-with 

obstruction for the returning of 

the dislocated families to their homes and 

their common lives by which the village 

was well known. Although, this is a period 

of crisis and distrust among people, it 

has to be admitted that the people from 

Matejche nostalgically remember events 

from the past, from the real, politically 

liberated, mutual everyday life that they 

had once. Even though, now, from this 

point of view, this idyllic and, up until 

now, realistic picture, looks so strange 

and distant, once, not so long ago, it was 

visible in every corner of the every day 

life. 

The scars from the war, the loss of the 

members of the family or friends, the loss 

of homes and everything else that was 

built and cherished for years, are the main 

reasons that effect negatively the process 

of reestablishing the trust and the harmony 

that Albanians, Macedonians and 

Serbs from Matejche had until recently. 

The devastation that the war brings 

with itself still can be felt in this village. 

There is not a single house in the village 

that hasn't been attacked, burned and 

damaged in the military actions. A great 

number of houses are still without roofs, 

with damaged facades and broken windows, 

and another solid number of other 

facilities is partially or completely 

destroyed. The only mosque in the village, 

built two years ago, is now without 

its top part called minaret, and its interior 

is completely ruined. The rituals now take 

place in the adapted basements. The old 

Culture house is now nothing but a huge 

ruin. The same picture can be seen in the 

police station yard where only burned 

and destroyed vehicles can be found. The 

church from the outside doesn't appear 

like it has suffered a great damage, 

though its interior is equally demolished 

as a testimony of the horrible war. The 

main attraction, though, is in the center of 

the village and is the upturned and 

destroyed military vehicle. 

At the entrance of the village, we 

were encountered by the fitters that were 

installing the new electricity poles. The 

village has a lack of electricity from May 

6th, 2001, when the electricity grid was 

completely destroyed. The new installations 

are built with the help of some foreign 

humanitarian organizations, and the 

construction work was done mainly by 

67 

Will there be peace?, February 2002

68 

the people from the village. The village 

water aqueduct, on the other hand, is in a 

good condition, but water can be provided 

only for 20 minutes during the day. 

People explain that the reason for this is 

the insufficient quantity of water in the 

main piping. The phone lines are also not 

in use, except for the cell phone lines, 

which function perfectly. The state ambulance 

is in a stage of reconstruction and 

for now only the private medical units can 

offer their services. 

70% from the total of 650 houses in 

the village are ruined - says Dzhevdet 

Ramani, manager of the Crisis headquarters 

in Matejche. 

"The village until the beginning of the 

crisis was inhabited by 3600 people, form 

which 3200 were Albanians and the rest 

of them were Macedonians and Serbs. 

At this moment, with the exception of 

the dislocated Macedonians and Serbs, 

only around 20 Albanian families haven't 

returned to their homes. With the help of 

the humanitarian organizations 320 houses 

with smaller damages are now in a 

process of repairment, and the reconstruction 

of the completely damaged ones is 

expected to start in the spring. 

The central elementary school, built 

in 1923, is a story of itself. Half of the 

building is repaired with the MCMS 

funding and the other half is absolutely 

dreadful: drooped ceiling; rotten floors in 

the classrooms, broken windows and roof 

tiles, and because of the lack of electricity 

the class breaks are being announced by 

an old bell. Otherwise, schoolbooks for 

896 pupils for this school year were provided 

by UNICEF at the beginning of the 

second semester. The first grade pupils 

haven't received books yet. Although the 

school is bilingual, this year the classes 

are attended only by Albanian children, 

because the children of Serbian nationality 

are dislocated - explained the director 

of the school, Semi Shakiri, who also said 

that so far the school hasn't received any 

financial help from the Ministry of education. 

The Serbian children attend classes 

in two different schools in Kumanovo. 

- We are in a stage of negotiation 

with OSCE and TFF for the returning 

of the dislocated Macedonians and Serbs 

to their houses. We have made several 

agreements for 5+5 meeting in the municipality 

building in Lipkovo, but it was not 

realized because the 5 Serbs and 

Macedonians, for unknown reasons didn't 

appear on the meeting - says Dzhevdet 

Ramani. This teacher from the elementary 

school, claims that the road to 

Matejche is now free and that everyone 

can come to the village to his house, but 

he also admits that even though there are 

requests from the Serbs and 

Macedonians, their complete returning is 

not safe enough and is also impossible 

before the passing of the amnesty law. 

- The dislocated Serbs and 

Macedonians from Matejche are located 

in three refugee shelters: the hotels 

"Kuba" and "Kristal", as well as the student 

dorm in Konjare. On the second 

floor of the hotel "Kristal" in the center of 

Kumanovo, we met a larger group of dislocated 

people. The hotel rooms with 

dimensions of few square meters and with 

two or three beds and a sink (which 

means that there is only one bathroom on 

each floor), for these people, used to the 

wide-open places in their villages, are 

nothing more than a prison. These emotionally 

tensed people now live following 

the rules of the hotel, made by its manager. 

That is the reason why one can hear 

people saying that they cannot live like 

this anymore. They have a feeling like 

they are forgotten by the rest of the world. 

So far nobody, not even politicians or the 

representatives of the international organization, 

has visited these poor people or 

has suggested a returning to their homes, 

on top of that they refute that anyone has 

organized a meeting with the Albanian 

neighbors. Despite all tormenting, we 

were surprised that most of them, the 

returning to their village, don't even consider 

as an option. The reason for that is 

the fear or the feeling of insecurity, despite 

the fact that the police has started its 

patrolling in the village. They say that one 

should stay overnight to see how it really 

is. 

One of the few, if not the only one that 

has succeeded at least for a while, to see 

his house and the rest of his property, is 

the 71-year-old Aksentie Kostik - a retired 

electrician, who, as he says, was known 

by all the people from the village of 

Lojane to the village of Nikushtak. 

- On October 12th, I went to the village 

incognito and I was surprised by 

what I saw. The house and the barn were 

completely ruined, and all of the furniture 

was either stolen or destroyed. How can I 

come back there when I have nothing to 

come back to? From a rich village family 

now I've come down to a two-bed room 

in a hotel. 

The women that joined the conversation 

said that they meet their old neighbors 

on the streets of Kumanovo almost 

every day. Some of them greet them; others 

just turn their heads away. Some have 

even sent messages in which they say that 

they feel like they don't belong to 

Matejche anymore. They are afraid. 

- I was thrown out of my house and 

my property by 10 terrorists and now not 

even a 100 of them can bring me back - 

says Radovan Petrovik. "The war traumas 

has provoked my kidney disease and now 

I have to go to kidney dialyze every day. 

The doctors say that they can't go all the 

way to Matejche, so how can I go back to 

the village. I will stay here, I am not going 

back." - says this disappointed man. 

One of the old ladies, who is also 

afraid to go back to the village because of 

the safety, requested of the state to make a 

separate location in Kumanovo for the 

dislocated people; another old lady asked 

for social care; another one for health 

insurance…. 

The younger ones are even more daring 

in making their requests. One of them, 

a reservist in the police forces, is strict and 

decisive in his request: "Coexistence with 

Albanians is possible only through a 

shooting mark." According to him, every 

agreement with Albanians is possible 

only through politicians and through a 

direct communication with the neighbors. 

"If they really wanted us to come back to 

the village, they would have invited us to 

go back with them three months ago, 

when they were returning to the village." 

Undoubtedly, Matejche is the most 

important test for testing the functioning 

of the newly established multicultural and 

multiethnic concept in the Kumanovo 

area. If this test really succeeds in the 

mixed ethnic community of Matejche, 

there will be no obstacles for its success in 

other villages in the conflict region, as 

well. 

That is the reason why our feeling is 

that, only with an extremely serious 

approach to this issue, the resistance of the 

local people can be eliminated. 

(The authors are journalists in the 

newspapers "Fakti" and 

"Utrinski vesnik") 


Tearce: the returning of the coexistence 

What one fool can spoil, not even a 

hundred smart people can mend it 

Xhelal Neziri 

Igor K. Ilievski 

The mixed ethnic Local community 

of the village of Tearce, in 

the Tetovo area was formed on 

December 6th, 2001. Jusuf 

Huseini, a Turk, was elected for 

its president; Pavle Todorovski, 

Macedonian, was elected for its 

vice president and Safet Khamili, 

Albanian was elected for a secretary. 

Tearce is inhabited by 4200 

people, from whom 2500 are 

Albanians, 1100 are 

Macedonians, 500 are Turks and 

about 70 people are Romas. 

- This initiative was realized 

with the help of the OSCE monitors. 

The main objective of this 

body is to create the needed conditions 

for the returning of the 

dislocated families from the village, 

most of which are 

Macedonians. They have abandoned 

their homes on their own 

will. As the members of the leadership 

of the Local community of 

Tearce, we are obliged to inform 

our people, which are currently 

not in the village, that there are 

conditions for their return and for 

the safety in their home village - 

claims Safet Khamili, the secretary 

of the Local community of 

Tearce. 

He adds that before the war in 

Tearce, there were two Local 

communities - one consisted only 

of Macedonians and the second 

one consisted of the members of 

the other ethnicities in the village. 

The village also had two 

football teams. 

- During the war, the Ministry 

of internal affairs has mislead our 

Macedonian neighbors by giving 

them weapons and encouraging 

them to use them against their 

Albanian neighbors, and unfortunately 

that is exactly what it happened. 

But, besides all of these 

separations and anomalies that 

have appeared in the multiethnic 

relations before the war and now, 

we will make efforts to reestablish 

the coexistence and we will 

try to put everything that happened 

during the war, behind us - 

declared Khamili. 

The Macedonian story is different, 

quite the opposite from 

the one that we heard from the 

Albanians. Macedonians claim 

that during the fights they were 

driven out of their homes by 

some armed Albanians. But, they 

also want to leave those things in 

the past and to continue with their 

lives. 

In the tea-restaurant in the 

center of the village, Joshe 

Ristovski and some other retired 

inhabitants of Tearce are waiting 

to collect their pension money. 

Some Macedonian pilgrimers 

have asked Ristovski to take care 

of the houses they have left 

behind. Last week one of those 

hoses was robbed and Joshe was 

planning to make an inspection 

on the spot, for which he called 

the police, OSCE and the NATO 

officers from the TFF. 

- Tensions are slowly easing, 

but there still some incidents happen. 

Last Saturday in the next village, 

in the middle of the day, 

four people were seen robbing a 

house. The robbers were familiar 

to the people in the village. Two 

of them were wearing fire 

weapons and the other two - axes. 

They robbed the house, didn't say 

anything to anyone and they left. 

Now the police are here and for 

now it's safe, but people are 

afraid that there are going to be 

other fights - says Joshe 

Ristovski. 

Alirami Seljmani works as a 

postman for the villages of 

Tearce, Prshovce and Slatino, for 

more than 

two years. 

Up until two 

moths ago, 

he was carrying 

the mail 

by a motorcycle, 

but 

now, because 

of the snow 

he has to go 

Albanians and 

Macedonians 

have different 

stories for the 

reasons of their 

separation, but 

they are all trying 

not to think about 

the bad things 

and to continue 

building their 

future together 

by foot. 

Recently, one 

of his colleagues 

was 

attacked and 

robbed while 

he was carrying 

money. 

- So far, 

thank God, people have always 

been fair to me. Maybe someone 

has strayed from his path and has 

picked up the wrong way in life, 

like the ones that have robbed my 

colleague. People are different 

and one should really be careful - 

Alirami while giving the pension 

money to the people in Tearce. 

He proudly says that even though 

he walks, he can still manage to 

distribute the money in only three 

days, one day per one village. 

People from the village recognize 

him and when they hear that he 

69 


70 

has arrived, they gather in one place, 

so that he can distribute the money 

easily. 

- It's so nice when people know 

you. It's funny that they like me when 

I'm bringing them money, but then 

they are mad when I am bringing them 

bills. I never argue with them. I am the 

link between them and the institutions 

- says the postman. 

That same day, the police have 

started their patrolling on the regional 

road Tetovo-Jazhince. 

- There are no major problems in 

the process of the police patrolling. 

We are in good relations with the local 

people and we have a great 

cooperation. We are now on a 

level of our duty of maintaining 

the peace and the security 

in this region, which is in 

the favor of all people, 

despite their ethnic or religious 

diversity. The police 

patrols are consisted of three 

Macedonians and three 

Albanians and in their realization 

of this process we 

received a great help from 

the OSCE monitors and TFF 

- stated Isamilhaki Abdulai, 

the chief of the police station 

in Tearce. 

The police in Tearce has 

started its patrolling with the passing 

of the pilot-plan for returning of the 

police forces in the conflict regions. 

But, unlike the situation in the village 

of Leshok, where the plan was implemented 

successfully, in Tearce everything 

was happening extremely slowly. 

- In the beginning there were 

blockades by the local village people, 

because they haven't been informed 

well with the rights and duties of the 

police forces. But, with the help of 

OSCE, TFF and the chief of the police 

station in Tearce we held a meeting 

with the local people where we have 

strictly and clearly explained and 

informed the people about the implementation 

of the pilot-plan. From this 

moment forward, the plan is being 

realized with no obstructions, whatsoever, 

because we have fulfilled these 

requests: reactivating the police officers, 

who were given countermand 

during the war, providing mixed ethnic 

police patrols with police officers 

from this region. Every problem with 

the local authorities and the international 

factor in Macedonia, that might 

occur, we will try to solve it as effectively 

as possible - says Khamili and 

adds that they have realized a meeting 

with the special representative of the 

EU, Alen Le Roa. All Local communities 

from Drenovce to Jazhince took 

participation on this meeting; it was 

realize in a good atmosphere of a 

mutual understanding and a will for 

coexistence. 

The vice president of our Local 

community, Pavle Todorovski, who 

suffered the consequences for it, 

shares this opinion also. He was proclaimed 

as a traitor of the Macedonian 

interests only because on this meeting 

with Le Roa, he had criticized the 

Prime Minister Ljubcho Georgievski 

and the minister of internal affairs, 

Ljube Boshkovski, as the main 

obstruction of the peace process. 

Undoubtedly, this incident will affect 

negatively the process of returning the 

peace to these regions. Some extremists 

in the government of the Republic 

of Macedonia with this act have 

demonstrated that they are not happy 

with the returning of the trust and 

coexistence among the people in the 

region - stated Khamili. 

A group of, so far, unknown 

aggressors have attacked and injured 

the vice president of the Local community 

- the veterinarian, Pavle 

Todorovski. He is still recovering 

from the attack at his home and his 

family believes that this is not the 

appropriate moment to talk about the 

incident. Their message was that all 

people are humans, despite their ethnic 

origin and that we all have to participate 

in the creation of our future. 

- The Local community of Tearce 

is now negotiating with the international 

humanitarian organization for 

migration - IOM, for the final solution 

to the problem with the water supplies, 

for both drinking and irrigation. 

I believe that soon this problem will 

be overcame so that the 

farmers will be able to perform 

their duties more 

effectively and to hope for 

a bigger profit from it. As 

another our activity that 

deserves attention is the 

project for organizing 

courses in informatics for 

the students of the elementary 

school "Kiril 

Pejchinovik" in Tearce, 

which will be financed by 

the USAID - says Khamili. 

Dzhelal Elmazi is a 42- 

year-old unemployed electrician 

from Tearce. - The 

Albanian population in 

Tearce has never made any problems. 

The source and the initiator of the 

conflicts is he government only, 

because, instead of keeping the peace 

and coexistence throughout the state, 

they are constantly increasing the tension. 

We didn't have any problems 

with our Macedonian neighbors even 

before the war. Even in the time of 

war we have tried to keep the bridges 

of trust with the agreement that we 

have made for the civilians not to be 

involved in the military actions. 

However, some Macedonians have 

agreed to get armed by the government 

and they started attacking us. We 

are still those people that wanted to 

keep the peace and coexistence. We 

want everything to be as it used to, 

thus the dislocated people can return 

to their homes and we can continue 

leading a normal life. But, it appears 

that some people in the government 


are not satisfied with this process and 

the brutal attack on our neighbor - 

doctor Pavle Todorovski, testifies for 

that. 

It has to be admitted that, at the 

beginning the process of returning of 

the police forces was not well accepted, 

mostly because they were tormenting 

us and shooting at us during the war 

conflict. Nevertheless, the situation has 

changed now. Yet, there are more conditions 

to be satisfied, which will 

become a kind of guarantee for a 

peaceful future, and this can be reached 

only by passing the amnesty law. For 

the time being, we don't feel safe even 

at our homes, because we are afraid 

that the police might frame us and 

arrest us without any particular reason. 

The Council's chairman of the 

municipality of Tearce, Sali Jonuzi 

says that the main goal of the Local 

self-government is the returning of the 

normal life and creating an atmosphere 

that will allow the return of the 

dislocated families, the repairing of 

the damaged facilities and providing 

safety for all of the inhabitants of the 

village of Tearce. During the military 

actions, the number of the dislocated 

families from 13 villages in the 

municipality of Tearce has reached 

6000, from which 4500 are Albanians 

and 1500 are Macedonians. 

- Generally speaking we can be satisfied 

with the results so far, having in 

mind the circumstances that we have 

faced. Until now, almost all dislocated 

Albanian families and most of the 

Macedonian families have returned to 

their homes. What is also positive is 

that the number of the Macedonian 

families deciding to stay in their homes 

is constantly increasing. Lately, 

interethnic incidents occur very rare, 

almost never - says Jonuzi. He also says 

that one of the problems that the municipality 

is also facing is the damaged 

facilities. The process of reconstruction 

comprises around 250 less damaged 

facilities and that is also the situation 

with 33 facilities with larger damage. 

Another problem is the economic 

crisis. Around 20 % of the families use 

social help, around 50% of the population 

earned money on their own. The 

biggest part of the population are 

farmers and they were not able to 

work on their land because of the conflict. 

According to the data given by 

the Commission for estimating the 

damages in the agriculture, the population 

in the municipality has lost 

around 2 million Euros, from the 

fields of around 650 ha that they were 

not able to work on. On top of that, 

around 850 inhabitants of the municipality 

are ex-employees from the factory 

"Jugohrom" and they haven't 

received any salary in the last six 

months - says Jonuzi. Until last 

November, the International Red 

Cross was the leading organization for 

supplies. Jonuzi says that from 

December, the number of users of 

humanitarian aid in the municipality 

has been reduced for 60-70%. 

According to the last registration 

of the population, Tearce has around 

21000 inhabitants, from which 83% 

are Albanians, 13% Macedonians, 2% 

Turks and 2% other nationalities. 

From 13 inhabited areas, 7 have 

mixed ethnic population, 4 are inhabited 

only by Macedonians and 2 only 

by Albanians. 

- If it weren't for the politicians, 

there wouldn't have been any problems. 

We have always lived together 

and we can continue doing that in the 

future - says Jonuzi. 

The police, so far, are patrolling in 

every village from the municipality, 

but according to Jonuzi the people 

request from the government to 

remove the police points in the neighboring 

municipalities of Vratnica and 

Jegunovce. He requested a passing of 

the amnesty law, which will allow the 

ex members of NLA to continue with 

their normal life. 

- If those people return to the social 

life and they are put under control there 

are no chances for them to work against 

the society or the state. The amnesty is 

important and necessary for controlling 

the safety. It is also requested of the 

police to become a reflection of the ethnic 

diversity in the region and the police 

officers to be inhabitants of the same 

region - says Jonuzi. 

(The authors are journalists 

in the newspapers 

"Fakti" and "Dnevnik") 

71 

SURVEY: Journalists and the crisis in Macedonia 

The media have not initiated 

and cannot stop the war 

Zhaklina Gjorgjevik 

Aco Kabranov, editor in chief in 

the TV station A1 

The war in Macedonia was neither 

prepared nor arranged by the media 

and the journalists. That is, the war in 

this country has occurred because it 

Macedonian journalists 

have maintained their 

contrasts even in their 

estimations of the role of 

the media in the unraveling 

of the crisis 

has been projected in someone's head. 

It wasn't prevented, because we have 

irresponsible authorities, that instead 

of an aggressive response to the 

provocations at Tanushevci, they have 

come up with a map for ethnic cleansing 

and reshaping of Macedonia. I 

think that the media have played an 


72 

important and positive role in the 

exposure and interruption of this "project", 

even the ones that have published 

it, like the newspaper "Vecher". 

Maybe the split and the media stand 

taking, was a logical move. It was followed 

by a lot of amateurism, hysteria, 

murder of truth and murder of profession. 

Unfortunately, infiltrated "journalists" 

have appeared among us in the 

media, trying to stimulate a final clash 

between the Macedonians and the 

Albanians, guided by the money they 

have received. I think that when all of 

this will come to an end, there won't be 

a place in the Macedonian media for 

such "journalism" and distribution of 

cheep police stories. I am sure that the 

truth about the "patriotic" media and 

the "traitors" (the ones who hasn't 

joined the game of the authorities for 

building a false patriotism among people 

in order to achieve their dream by 

causing direct damage to the citizens 

and the state.) will be revealed. Until 

then, there still might be a space for 

presenting cheep stories of some 

"police guys" that unfortunately are 

presenting themselves as journalists. 

Shkeljzen Halimi, editor in chief of 

the newspaper "Fakti" 

On one round table discussion 

organized recently in Skopje, our colleague 

Aco Kabranov, talking about 

the media in the context of the current 

events in Macedonia, among the rest, 

said that some journalists have become 

simple "note-takers of police stories". I 

completely agree with his statement. 

These stories that are completely 

unconfirmed, in the last months have 

"poisoned" the Macedonian public and 

now there is a need for greater efforts 

on the behalf of those media that were 

publishing that kind of stories for the 

needs of a certain conjuncture, to create 

a new public opinion, free from the 

irrational hate accumulated in it. 

The present situation is not convenient 

for dangerous "sensations" 

that contribute most to the increasing 

of the circulation. It is completely 

unethical of some media to earn 

money playing with this fire. Least of 

all we need fire that can burn us all. 

We should put an end to the invention 

of dangerous information warranted 

by some sources from the Ministry of 

Internal Affairs, familiar only to the 

editors. Because, from what we have 

already seen, it appears that the 

employees at the Ministry of Internal 

Affairs are the most agile assistants to 

the Macedonian media. On top of 

everything, at least until now none of 

those predicting information, based on 

the sources fro the Ministry of Internal 

Affairs, have proved to be true. And at 

the very end, the Macedonian media 

would have to stray from the logic that 

they have created, according to which 

the Albanians should be seen only as 

"terrorists", which will create better 

climate for stabilizing the situation. 

What can the media do to prevent the 

announced spring aggression? If they 

are willing, they can do a lot, as not to 

give space to the police stories, but to 

the every day reality that the 

Macedonian citizens are facing. 

Spring should come also for those 

media that used to be "dimmed" and it 

should not be bloody, but blossomed 

by the truth. 

Goran Mihajlovski, editor in chief of 

the newspaper "Vest" 

The media didn't do anything to 

prevent the war, and I have a feeling 

that sometimes they have even 

increased the tension. No matter how 

hard we try to avoid admitting it, I 

think that the media were also divided 

to Macedonian and Albanian block, as 

it happened with the people in terms of 

crisis and every day life. Because of its 

conception "Vest" has tried to avoid 

taking sides, by presenting the news 

only by photographs. When on the 

front page we would have published a 

photograph of the members of the 

NLA or have even just mentioned the 

name of Arben Dzhaferi, often we 

received a number of phone calls by 

our readers that were threatening us by 

saying that they will stop reading and 

buying our newspaper. Willing or not, 

we had to be coordinated with the 

needs of our readers and subconsciously 

we entered the general media 

split even by publishing a usual news 

report. 

Branko Trichkovski, editor in chief 

in the newspaper "Utrinski vesnik" 

The military conflict in Macedonia 

has one serious controlling dimension. 

The media, on a general level, have not 

crossed that line, despite of all mistakes 

they have made. There were 

examples of instrumentalization, of 

overemphasized national tone, of tendentiousness 

and provocation. But, as 

a general critical group, the media 

have hold that line of controlling the 

situation, more than they have played 

the role of generators of some war 

option. On the other hand, they were 

lacking a more active role in the prevention 

of the things that were happening, 

because most of them were 

conformists. The media should not be 

separated form the general situation 

and the other participants in it. It 

should not be forgotten that by using 

real resources, all of the authorities 

have lead their politics that could not 

have ended in a different way. Then 

the media should be selective. 

"Utrinski vesnik" from the beginning 

has represented the antiwar option 

energetically and risk taking. Others 

have represented populist and the current 

popular stands, according to the 

public mood. As we all know, there 

were, and there still are, media that 

believed in a vulgar and primitive way 

of solving the problems, by bloodshed 

from both sides. 

Branko Geroski, editor in chief of 

the newspaper "Dnevnik" 

The idea that the media have a special 

role or a mission within the social 

movements really does sound attractive, 

but it is completely opposed to 

the trends of the modern journalism on 

the West, which is definitely and completely 

commercially oriented. 

Consequently, my opinion is that the 

media have no obligations or rights to 

create or prevent wars. War or peace, 

the journalists are obliged to do their 

job professionally and that means that 

they should report instantly, accurately 

and responsibly. That goes for the 

world media giants, like CNN or BBS, 

but also for the Macedonian media and 

all the other local media throughout 

the world. 

According to my opinion, the 

media in Macedonia, even in the 

moments of war, have accomplished 

their task quite professionally. They 

gave enough important and crucial 

information to the people, and then 

people will articulate their own political 

will. 

Faik Mustafa, editor in chief of the 

newspaper "Flaka" 

During the war, media almost 


couldn't be differed from the every 

day politics, according to the party 

they have belonged. Therefore, their 

contribution could not get a positive 

mark, especially if we take into consideration 

the journalist's ethics based 

on the new European standards. This 

is the situation with the Macedonian 

media, who have failed on the test. 

They created affairs out of a little 

insignificant incident. They did not 

choose lines that would lead towards 

coexistence with the other nationalities. 

On a contrary, they have "served" 

the Macedonian political parties in a 

fanatic way. Instead of finding common 

ground, the Macedonian media 

have run after politic and state aims. 

One sad, but true example is the one of 

the newspaper "Nova Makedonija" 

that was a representative of two different 

types of politics. In that way, the 

Albanians have defended their own 

interests, while the Macedonians were 

defending theirs. 

Marijan Gelevski, assistant chief 

editor of the newspaper "Vecher" 

The media have not started the 

war and consequently they couldn't 

have prevented it. Unfortunately, during 

the crisis, some media have lost 

their sense of reality and in the attempt 

to take a side; they have turned themselves 

into even greater initiators. 

"Vecher", on the other hand, was trying 

to reach maximum objectivity and 

accuracy in reporting by avoiding giving 

personal comments or stigmatizing 

one side. 

Risto Lazarov, editor in chief of the 

TV station "Telma" 

For all of us in "Telma", a decisive 

part is the fact that from everything 

that was happening to us, we came out 

with clear conscience. In the fight for 

high professional standards, we 

haven't been tempted; we haven't lit 

any fuse that might have caused additional 

media detonation. We became a 

TV station in which people believe 

and that fact is of major importance 

for us. On the other hand, the question 

about the (dis)possession of the 

power of the media and the 

Macedonian public in general, has 

appeared with all its cruelty in this 

dramatic period. One can write as long 

as one wants, one can discover and 

present facts, but the authorities "don't 

give a damn" for it. They have filled 

their pockets with fortune. And this is 

the defeating fact: complete marginalization 

of the public influence on the 

political life. The authorities more and 

more believe that nothing can harm 

them and they are acting according to 

that belief. The only thing that's left 

for the people is fear. 

In the normal world everything is 

different, but we are here in 

Macedonia, where the spring is 

announced with aggressions and not 

with snowdrops. 

Jadranka Kostova, editor in the TV 

station "Kanal 5" 

There is no consensus for the reasons, 

character and all the other features 

of this war. Then the answer to 

this question will depend on the 

answer to the previous ones. If we 

accept the theses that this was a war for 

human rights and that the Constitution 

is the generator for the war crisis, than 

all the media that for the past 10 years 

have conspired the not changing of the 

Constitution in this sense, have really 

initiated the war. To be clearer, if the 

media for the past 10 years have insisted 

to change the Constitution, maybe 

they would have prevented the war. 

For those who thought that the 

weapons are illegal instruments for 

achieving any kind of goals, no matter 

if it is about Ali Ahmeti and his followers 

or Zhivko Tolevski with the 

members of the Syndicate, it can be 

said that all media that were approving 

the war actions, directly or indirectly, 

have also encouraged the war. On the 

other hand, it is a fact that in the past 

period, a good part from the media 

have warned about the presence of 

training caps in Macedonia and of 

KLA fighters preparing an aggression 

in Macedonia. Nevertheless, nothing 

of this has reached to the authorities. 

Despite of the conscientiously accomplished 

task, they have prevented nothing. 

The media in Macedonia have not 

provoked the war, but maybe they 

have had some influence on the 

increasing of the tension in the multiethnic 

relationships. With this I don't 

try to imply certain comments or publishing 

policies, but on the other hand, 

a good part of the news from the front 

have caused this type of effect. Every 

funeral of one of our guardians has 

provoked greater tension between the 

citizens. And this kind of effect could 

not have been provoked by a single 

comment. 

Zoran Ivanov, editor in the 

TV station "Sitel" 

We - the journalists in Macedonia 

and their media, during the crisis, generally 

have demonstrated maturity and 

responsibility for the security and the 

destiny of this country influenced by 

the institutions of the system (the 

President of the state, the 

Government, the Prime Minister, the 

Parliament, its President and most of 

its members). We have demonstrated 

greater maturity and responsibility 

than the leaders of the political parties, 

as well. First of all, we lied less than 

any one of them. Second, our words 

didn't cause any additional tension in 

the war atmosphere. Third, we demonstrated 

greater human, citizen and 

especially multiethnic and multinational 

tolerance than the ones with 

state and political functions. Fourth, 

we believed, which ahs proved to be 

truth, in the preparedness of the common 

people to live together in one 

country, town and village, a simple, 

common, every day life and to develop 

and nourish the tolerance in their 

relationships despite the ethnic, religious 

and social differences. Fifth, we 

didn't sell our country, unlike the people 

chosen and responsible for the 

security, the development of the relationship 

between its people; we didn't 

sell false patriotism, a cheap, familiar 

demagogical patriotism. 

Therefore I think that, generally 

speaking, the journalists and the media 

in Macedonia, despite their ethnic, 

national orientation or the language as 

the media's instrument for expressing, 

have demonstrated greater maturity and 

responsibility in the most critical days 

of the Republic of Macedonia. If you 

remember, that wasn't the situation with 

the media in the former Yugoslav 

republics devastated by the wars they 

had, because of the ethno-national 

aggressiveness concentrated in the insolent 

propaganda, which have supported 

the conflicts and raised the national 

zeal, directing them towards merciless 

wars and ethnic cleansings. Fortunately, 

Macedonian media and journalists have 

prevented such shameful act. 

(The author is journalist in 

"Utrinski Vesnik") 

73 


Who controlls the crisis 

The war ends with 

Tearce and Kosovo 

74 

Panta Dzhambazovski 

That day in January, last 

year, when at the evening I was 

watching news with my family, 

there was a report that the police 

station in Tearce was bombed. (At 

that point no one new about the 

announcement of the organization 

called NLA). I told my wife: "It's 

time to leave this country". She 

looked at me amazed by what I 

said, because I have never said 

anything like that ever before and 

particularly because she couldn't 

imagine a life far away from 

Skopje. 

I explained: "Soon we will be saying 

that we've just had a good 

week with only 2-3 attacks on the 

police stations". 

At that point, I wasn't aware how 

much I was right, although, I was 

actually believing that we were 

entering the zone of an increasing 

terrorism, similarly to Spain, 

Ireland or even France or Greece. 

Have I ever thought of a war? God 

forbid! Leaving Skopje - never! 

Few months later, I went to Tetovo 

on a press-conference, where PDP 

announced" "If the giant crucifixion 

is built on the top of the Kale 

(fortress), we will be forced to 

destroy it." 

I didn't believe in those words, 

because that type of actions is not 

typical for this political party. But, 

one cannot beat one's profession, 

so my photographer and I climbed 

on the top of this fortress in 

Tetovo to take some pictures of 

the place where the issued crucifixion 

was to be posted. We took a 

lot of pictures and for the time we 

spent there we encountered several 

small groups of strange persons 

wearing black clothes. They were 

watching us. We felt unpleasant, 

but we had to finish our job. I wish 

now, we have at least assumed that 

those unfriendly figures were 

armed or that they could be a part 

of some illegal army (NLA!). 

Unfortunately, we haven't! 

This adventure on the Kale happened 

right before Tanushevci. 

Even afterwards (that means even 

after Tanushevci and March 14th, 

when the actual conflict started), I 

remembered everything. 

The next-coming war seemed that 

couldn't be stopped. Least with the 

help of the international community, 

because it looked like they 

also participated in its escalation. 

George Robertson came to Skopje 

12 times, Xavier Solana - 23, during 

the war conflict. I believe that 

they haven't visited their homes 

this much. With the TFH - the 

"Harvest", hundreds of Albanians 

were put in line to submit their 

weapons. The ones who are familiar 

with the Albanian mentality 

will know what I mean. 

They signed the Ohrid agreement 

and after that, each day was 

increasing the coldness around 

Ohrid. Albanian military and 

political leaders started giving 

more careful and secured statements, 

expressing hope for peace 

and the returning of the coexistence. 

They were always ending 

their statements with the words: 

"But, unless….". 

The statements of the political factors 

in the Macedonian government 

were nothing but adventurous. 

Those media that didn't just 

count the shootings 

and weren't hurrying 

to distribute the information 

of this kind: 

from our sources, we 

discovered……, were 

vary rare, but fortunately 

influencing. 

Only a few of them 

remained faithful to 

the good old profession 

rule to hear and 

present both sides, 

without adding different 

epithets, which 

should be forbidden 

for the sake of the 

objective informing. 

The government has 

lost its chance of 

implementing the Ohrid agreement 

in a classy manner, but 

instead has allowed going backwards. 

Then, under the intimidations 

by sanctions, the government 

agreed to complete its obligations. 

(Remember the amnesty, 

the retreat of the "Lions"….). The 

Republic of Macedonia didn't 

make a political aggression in 

terms of the crisis, but it has created 

some dreadful intern fights for 

For the international 

community, 

Macedonia 

is a good test 

for testing the, 

yet to be solved 

problems on 

the relations 

Belgrade- 

Podgorica and 

Belgrade- 

Prishtina 


gaining power, between the parties. What for? 

Finally, why has the foreign factor emphasized 

their efforts to deal with the crisis so much, when 

we are just a small country with a population 

close to one of an average European town? 

Do we have to admit that this strategy didn't 

work here? What has then left for the other far 

bigger and more complex regions and countries 

around the world? Or, how can be solved the 

problem with Kosovo within Yugoslavia, which 

for Europe and USA is far more important country 

on the Balkans? 

The world, simply, doesn't allow us to fight 

against each other, and I think that we were 

capable of destroying each other as we did in 

Bosnia. According to my opinion, for the international 

community Macedonia is a good test for 

testing the, yet to be solved problems on the relations 

Belgrade-Podgorica and Belgrade- 

Prishtina. I wander what kind of Constitution 

should be arranged, what kind of laws (for the 

human rights, the economic relations…) should 

be brought, if they want an eternal stability in 

this part of the Balkans. It is no coincident that 

SRJ is the main preoccupation of the EU and 

Solana in person. 

If our crisis has started with the bomb attack in 

Tearce, it shouldn't surprised us that the attack 

over Pavle Todorovski, the man that symbolizes 

the returning of the peace and stability in this 

country, has happened there also. The experiences 

show that those types of actions are desperate 

and almost always, fail to provoke another 

war. 

In that sense, Kosovo and Yugoslavia are the 

regions of origin of the last wars on the Balkans 

and probably the places where there are going to 

end. A new war between the Serbs and the 

Albanians might not be repeated, but everything 

indicates that the foreign forces will use their 

weapons to settle down the situation, and then to 

impose the final solution to the problem. That will 

create terms for the final rearrangement of SRJ. 

Although the war doesn't ask too much (a few 

"hot shots" and one or two major incidents) I 

think that a war is not going to happen to 

Macedonia… 

…That night, after midnight, few hours after the 

last arrival of George Robertson, I was awaked 

by the noise of the helicopters. I thought: they 

are taking the Lord for a sleep. And maybe not, 

maybe it should just look like that. Actually, 

where does he stay overnight when he is in 

Skopje, and does he really stays where we 

believe he does? Should everything be left over 

to the coincidence? 

(The author is an editor in 

the local TV station "Telma") 

Why a spring offensive 

is not possible 

Ohrid can 

solve all the 

problems 

Daut Dauti 

Nobody in Macedonia 

has an interest of creating 

a new conflict, the beginning I would like to state 

Before I start elaborating, at 

because there is no my thesis: I don't believe that the 

dispute, no contrasting 

sides, and no sup- 

possible. It is more of a "testing 

so-called "spring aggression" is 

port by the international 

factor. The in-country extremist forces and 

balloon" used by all sides - by the 

elections truly seem 

also by the foreign factor, in order 

reasonable, but to 

to attain a certain motivating goal 

for those that need to perform 

slaughter the ox for 

their duties regulated with the 

only one steak, is too 

Ohrid agreement signed in August 

big of a price 

by the four sides represented by 

their political leaders. Maybe this 

approach looks too idealistic and even naive and is also not 

encouraged by great strategies and concealed scenarios, but 

this is my opinion and I would like to believe in it. 

Why? 

There have to be some certain assumptions for a spring 

aggression, which in this case are not yet realized. There 

should be a certain clash and sides that would be involved 

in it; there should be a certain political target for each of the 

sides in this clash: one should fight for it and the other 

against it. And what do we have fro all of these things? In 

fact, there is no conflict! Yes, there is a political target, but 

it doesn't involve the sides in a conflict: that is the Ohrid 

agreement and it should not provoke major clashes. And 

even if it does, they should not be major and would not 

incite aggressions of any kind. There is a timing that should 

be forced, there are still points, which are not brought into 

question, that need to be developed into laws (even the 

amnesty law, which would have a relaxing influence on the 

conflict regions), there is a plan for the returning of the 

police and the dislocated families to the conflict regions and 

all of them are being implemented successively. Both the 

internal and the external factors are clearly familiar with the 

path that they should follow. The thing that makes this plan 

75 


76 

even more endurable is the fact that it 

is supported by the most relevant (and 

legitimate) representatives of the 

main ethnic communities (the political 

parties of Georgievski, Imeri, 

Crvenkovski, Dzhaferi); that it is 

achieved with the help of the most 

relevant global factors (EU, USA, 

NATO) and is being implemented 

under their surveillance. Finally, it 

was accepted by the members of 

NLA, as well, which is also a very 

important element in favor of my theses. 

Nevertheless, there are still those 

ones that are making some other plan, 

but whose hands are fortunately tied 

at this time. Because, if one tries to 

harm the Ohrid agreement, in which 

the relevant foreign and domestic factors 

have put a lot of energy and 

efforts, one would be taking a great 

risk. 

These are my evidences. 

I will start with the Albanians. It 

is not in their interest to harm the 

Ohrid agreement and to pronounce 

themselves guilty, which will turn 

them against the international community. 

Even the most extreme force, 

that doesn't agree with Dzhaferi, 

Imeri and Ahmeti's platform, wouldn't 

create an image like this one for its 

own people. I think that even this 

coordinative body, formed by the 

political subjects together with the 

political leader of the ex NLA, is 

sharing the same goal: to implement 

the agreement after which the members 

of the NLA would be reintegrated 

in the social life. With its fieldwork, 

this body would influence the 

decrease of the tension and dissatisfaction 

and the possible extreme incidents 

made by small groups or individuals 

with "big plans". I think that 

the Albanians are most of all aware 

and familiar with the meaning of the 

cooperation with the international 

factor, on one side or being against 

all, on the other. They have learned 

that from the experience that the 

Serbs had believing and blindly following 

their leader Slobodan 

Miloshevich. Consequently, if the 

Albanians initiate an aggression of 

that kind, the main reasons for it 

would be gaining territories and not 

gaining rights. And which one of the 

foreign factors would stand behind 

them and support them in their intention? 

And have Macedonians learn 

their lesson? I believe that even the 

ones that are in a war mood manifest 

their extremism only in a verbal way. 

They do prepare for a spring aggression, 

but for an election one. 

Concerning the elections, they should 

be presented in a different light, 

because, as it was noticed by one 

author: the citizens would hardly ever 

trust the promises for $1 billion, 

thousands of employments, higher 

pensions, and standard…. They have 

only left one chance: to warn about a 

danger, to proclaim themselves the 

only guardians of our country…, so 

they could attract more people and 

increase their electing body. Those 

are the speeches made during an election 

year, when everybody wanders 

whether the people will praise their 

deeds once again. 

Of course, the suspicion would be 

confirmed, if the media has so far 

realized so much commercials and 

publishing announcing the spring 

aggression. Maps of some big and 

some small countries, borders of this 

and that kind, different conspiracies 

for dissection, were being mentioned, 

so it can be said that this could be a 

part of some strategy of the power 

centers. If the conflicted sides want to 

follow that line, even if their chances 

are bigger than last year 

and if there is a real strategy, 

the international factor 

would have allowed 

it. Supposedly, it is of 

someone's interest the 

things to go that way? 

Would the involved sides 

achieve their goals? The 

Albanian side would certainly 

not! What would 

be the use of it, if thee 

lose Skopje and 

Kumanovo with one 

third of the Albanian 

population? And those 

who do not believe in the 

coexistence with the 

Albanians and think that we should 

solve the clashes about the 

Macedonian interests once and for all. 

Even if that becomes the final solution, 

they are not convinced that their 

people would allow them to join others. 

Therefore, they all seriously 

approach the message from Brussels 

that was directed towards the most 

aggressive ones: you have an agreement, 

implement it! And nothing else. 

That would help the things to go 

back as they used to be. 

(The author is a writer 

and a journalist in 

the newspaper "Flaka") 


To forget the past 

for the sake of the future 

Xhengis Aliu 

Six months ago, there was a huge 

pessimism about when and how will 

Macedonia exit from the war that had 

engulfed us. Today, that pessimism has 

turned into a reality full of hope. 

Although there are things that have not 

changed at all and that will not change 

for a long time (due to their very 

nature), the overall environment has 

started normalizing. Now, it seems that 

things have started improving. 

Everyone sees the future differently, 

better and full of hope. 

As every war, this one that happened 

to us also has its own consequences. 

These consequences are now 

becoming visible in every field. Its 

greatest effect is on the young people - 

they suffered most since they still seem 

to be confused. Ever since the beginning 

of this crisis they were in the middle. 

Willing or not, they had to face 

with the surrounding reality. However, 

it did not look like the way they wanted. 

It did not coincide with their mentality 

and philosophy. In many cases, 

they had to break up their contacts with 

friends or neighbors… since much 

attention was paid to ethnicity… The 

greatest irony of the created situation 

was that the young people had no guilt 

at all, except for being young and easy 

to manipulate with. They became victims 

of misinformation, of provoking 

titles in newspapers and electronic 

media, which were informing with such 

a high tone, that it seemed as if they 

were competing which one of them will 

present the reality in a darker and louder 

way, and with more victims. They 

were competing which one of them will 

present more victims while informing! 

The young people were expected to 

do the worse but, in fact, they turned to 

The biggest irony of the 

created situation was the 

fact that the young people 

had no guilt, except for 

being young and easy to 

manipulate with 

be quite different, stronger and smarter 

from what was expected. They 

remained calm and hoping that no matter 

what happens, it will be better, no 

matter how bad the situation was, there 

will come better days, no matter how 

distant they were becoming from one 

another, still there will be a day in the 

future when they will extend their hand 

to one another and will live along with 

each other. Although they were maximally 

confused, they were certain that a 

day will come which will bring a different 

life to the young people. 

And that is what happened. The war 

is over, the worst is gone. 

If we talk to the young people 

today, they speak of the war as something 

that should never be repeated 

again. Let the mistakes that were made 

six months ago as a result of the decisions 

of some political and state leaders 

be a lesson learned for the young people 

about how should we build a future 

of a joint life, regardless of the ethnic or 

religious background. 

The following represents the message 

of the young people to all those 

who used their positions to show their 

own patriotism: let them transform 

this patriotic energy into an energy 

that will improve social conditions and 

solve social problems the state is facing, 

let them engage in creating new 

job opportunities. Should they adhere 

to the old saying that the state remains 

to the youth, we will not care about the 

state as it is today, since with such a 

state we can never have a certain 

future. 

The hope of young people for a better 

future is based on the fact that each 

new day brings new things, each new 

day brings us a future in which we will 

have a better life and a greater prosperity. 

(The author is a journalist) 

77 

What is happening to us?, May 2002

The bazaar that does not exist anymore 

Free falling 

78 

What do the 

craftsmen and 

what do the rest of 

the citizens think 

about the Old 

Bazaar in Skopje 

- The penetration 

of trade - devastating 

for the craftsmanship, 

whereas 

the revitalization 

measures appear 

to be too slow 

Daut Dauti 

The Old Bazaar of 

Skopje - in the past, 

present and future - is 

a story that can barely 

be foretold. It is so 

complex, so rich in 

layers, so much part of 

the past, that it seems 

that its present and its 

future still depend on 

its past, or, in other 

words, depend on 

whether it will go back 

to its roots. 

THE DISAPPEAR- 

ANCE OF CRAFTS 

"When I speak about the Old 

Bazaar, my heart hurts", says the 

popular filigree silversmith, 

Dzeladin Hasani, best known as 

a comedian (uncle Dzelo) and a 

newly fledged actor (from the 

series "Our neighborhood"). 

- It hurts me, since I do not 

want to see it the way it is - he 

added in a rather upset manner, 

when we paid him a visit in his 

workshop, which was no bigger in 

size than few square meters. On 

the other hand, his neighbor, situated 

just a few shops away from 

him, in the "Belgradska" street 

(the main street often referred to 

as "the covered bazaar"), the hat 

maker Pero Trajkovski, even started 

crying while talking on this 

sensible topic. 

"Yeah, the bazaar is not what 

it used and what it is supposed to 

be", every shop owner in this 

bazaar would say... 

The destruction of the image 

of the Bazaar started with the 

spontaneous re-orientation of 

activities. When the Old Bazaar 

of Skopje is mentioned, the first 

thought that comes to ones mind 

is its crafts. This is exactly where 

its downhill starts. Many crafts 

have become fewer represented. 

Out of a variety of crafts that 

were represented before through 

tens and hundreds of shops, only 

a handful have remained today. 

There are fewer tailors, sleeper 

makers, shoe makers and blacksmiths. 

- The trading entered in 

the Bazaar - said the hat maker 

Trajkovski. In the past, 

almost everybody used to be 

craftsman, whereas at present 

everybody likes to become a 

trader. In the past, there were 

about fifteen hat makers, and 

now there are only two to three 

of us who have remained. There 

are no longer guildsmen. 

Everybody appears to be attracted 

by opportunities of getting 

rich quickly, that trading offers - 

he says, and also adds that over 

half a century he has been working 

in his own craft, and that he 

is happy that, unlike other older 

craftsmen, he has somebody 

whom he can leave this skill in 

inheritance. These are his two 

sons. Just like everybody else in 

the Bazaar, he believes that the 

crisis is taking the tall. "There 

are no customers with ample 

cash. People think a lot more 

about a loaf of bread than of a 

hat, but, still, I do not complain. 

I managed to build four houses 

with these two hands of mine. 

What else could I have done with 

honest work? He and the other 

craftsmen emphasized another 

aspect - there is no bulk buying 

anymore. Due to the changes that 

were caused in the region, there 

are no longer traders coming 

from Kosovo and Novi Pazar, 

who used to be regular customers. 

One of the classic crafts of 

the bazaar is blacksmithing, 

which is still upholding thanks to 

the enthusiasts such as Ajdar 

Zekir, twenty year old young lad, 

who, along with his brother 

Nehat, as he puts it, is continuing 

his family tradition. Their father, 

Ibrahim Zekir, fifty year old, 

managed to pass on the love for 

this craft to both sons. 

- Our grandparents used to be 

blacksmiths - cartwrights, but 

since today there are fewer carts, 

our crafts must go through certain 

modifications. At present, 

due to the fact that we are no 

longer repairing carts, because 

the new technology has done 

what it has done, we are now 

making new products - says 

Ajdar Zekir, who owns one of 

the remaining six blacksmith 

workshops (long time ago there 

were fifteen of them). 

"We remained with this craft 

because we wanted to retain the 

family tradition, and because it 

never leaves one hungry", added 

A. Zekir. 

In all that our interlocutor 

said, the dominant topic was the 

time factor. Argetim Nagavci is 

the owner of one of the remain- 


ing four quilt maker shops (there were 

over thirty of them in the past). This is 

how he explains the downhill of the 

bazaar: 

- The bazaar was falling down in 

continuity. In the past, the bazaar 

belonged to craftsmen, whereas now it 

belongs to traders. Generations have 

changed. The bazaar is slowly dying 

along with the old craftsmen, because 

there are very few of them that desire to 

inherit the old craftsmen skills. The 

crafts are dying. These activities are in 

deficiency and, on the other hand, there 

are too many shops with other activities. 

The most distressing of all is the fact that 

the value of the labor is rapidly decreasing, 

which in the past was valued a lot. 

On the other hand, the shift towards trading 

does not have many effects, because, 

as it was explained by Kemal Usein - 

Bekce, the Chairman of the Association 

of craftsmen and other independent businessmen 

of Skopje, too many shopping 

malls were built in the city and there are 

also shops almost in every building, so 

that one does not need to buy things only 

in the Old Bazaar. 

- The profit is smaller almost in 

every single activity, which is reflected 

in the low rents for the shops. Now, 

these are even few times smaller than 

before. If in the past one used to pay 

2000 DM (1000 euro) for a shop, now 

he can barely pay 500 DM (250 euro) - 

confirmed the silversmith Irfan Bushi. 

BAZAAR WITHOUT A 

BAZAAR ATMOSPHERE 

"Even the Bit Pazar became a real 

burden for the bazaar. The traditional 

female market has expanded so much, 

that it represents a miniature bazaar in 

itself", says Argetim Nagavci, adding: 

The disloyal competition from the Bit 

Pazar counters has decreased the product 

value to such levels that even Da 

Vinci's Mona Lisa would be offered 

for sale for very little money. 

In such a situation, everybody concludes 

that the typical atmosphere of 

the Bazaar was lost and with it, all the 

material effects. 

- Many factors, be they objective 

or subjective, are determinants for the 

Bazaar. 

Some things also have to do with 

the culture of behavior - said Dzeladin 

Are there any prejudices 

about the Old Bazaar? 

Hasani and Argetim Nagavci. The sitting 

of the shop keepers in front of 

their shops, loud speaking, harassing 

the passing women, the deficiency of 

saleswomen, the lack of hygiene maintenance… 

represent some of the factors 

which depend on the residents of 

the bazaar. Maybe some customers, 

especially female ones, were kept 

away from the bazaar because of the 

above reasons. The night bazaar 

atmosphere is something which is 

missing in the Old Town, as this area 

of the city of Skopje is referred to as. 

- In the evening, here it is like 

being in a grave - says with a dose of 

despise Dzeladin 

Hasani, who believes that this situation 

is a result of the wrong approach by 

the key city people. Each person coming 

to a key city position would initiate 

something, just for the sake of saying 

"I am afraid to go to the other side", 

says a Macedonian friend of mine. 

"The bazaar has lost its glitter, 

because it is located on the left bank of 

Vardar, and the state is deliberately 

destroying it by doing nothing about", 

this is what a considerable number of 

Albanians think Even one of my interlocutors 

was trying to convince me that 

the reconstruction of the Stone Bridge 

was deliberately postponed in order to 

stop the massive movement of people 

from the right to the left side of Vardar. 

Are these prejudices or reality? 

It is very difficult to answer these 

questions through few contacts and discussions, 

but it is also difficult even if 

there were relevant facts available. In 

order to answer these questions, the 

"List" agency in co-operation with 

Klime Babunski, conducted a survey last 

year. 

To one of the questions put forward 

to the craftsmen, three quarters (75%) of 

the surveyed individuals gave a negative 

response about the divisions of customers 

along ethnic lines. In fact, the following 

was the question: do the majority 

of customers have the same ethnic background 

as the shop keepers? The answer 

was that there were no such divisions. 

84% of the surveyed shop keepers coming 

from different ethnic background 

believe that they were safe. But, although 

the majority (nine out of ten surveyed) 

responded by saying that during the past 

three years the safety was not jeopardized, 

two thirds among them do not 

oppose the establishment of the security 

services, especially for the late evening 

hours, whereas about 22 % of them 

believe that this is the job for the police. 

During the survey with the citizens 

of Skopje, some 44% rarely or, more precisely, 

once in several months visit the 

bazaar, 29 % at least once a week do this, 

while 27% at least once a month go 

there. In relation to the gender, the bazaar 

remains more attractive for men (38%), 

in comparison to women (19%). 

Regarding the ethnic background, 

the difference is noticeable. Up to 85% 

of the surveyed Albanians visit the 

bazaar at least once a week, whereas only 

52% of the surveyed Macedonians do 

the same. 

Based on the survey results, the most 

visited time is the period between 12.00 

and 15.00 (29%), while the least visited 

hours are between 19.00 and 24.00 

(2.5%). Regarding the visits in late 

evening hours, similar answers were 

given both by Macedonians (2%) and 

Albanians (6%). The following was said 

in one of the survey explanations: it is 

indicative that those living closer (under 

two kilometers from the bazaar) 

responded by saying that they did not 

feel safe, compared to those living further 

away (over 8 kilometers). Based on 

the ethnic background, after 20.00 the 

Albanians (89%) and Turks (83%) felt 

safer, whereas the Macedonians felt less 

safer (40%). 

that he cares about this area, but the situation 

does not change at all, says 

Hasani, who highlights the fact that the 

dark comes very quickly in the evening, 

since there is a lack of available city 

lighting, which results in reduced movement 

of people. Well, how could there 

be movement, when the youth was virtually 

thrown out of the bazaar. In the 

past, there were coffee shops where 

young people used to assemble, but as 

business was getting lesser, they started 

shutting down and now the Bazaar is 

deserted during the night, without any 

atmosphere. It seems as if somebody 

wanted to create an impression that this 

part of the city was unsafe, which certainly 

is not true. This part of the city is 

just like any other part. He is not viewing 

with any empathy the two centers 

for rehabilitation of drug dependents, 

which are located here. Why on earth? 

79 


80 

Is it just because of these centers and the 

people moving around, who do not 

belong here, that one gets the impression 

for the bazaar being a nestle of this 

type of people? 

"Fine, there should be centers like 

this, since they are useful, but they 

should be located elsewhere", says 

Hasani. He suspects that whenever 

something is done in and around the 

bazaar, it seems that there is some 

background to it, because it is just 

located on the left bank of Vardar. 

At night, it is deserted because the 

coffee shops are not working. And the 

coffee shops in general have less work, 

not only in the bazaar, but in the other 

part of the city as well, because it 

became a dangerous place. 

Take for instance the shooting in the 

middle of the city, explains Dane 

Stojkovski, Chairperson of the 

Association of craftsmen and other independent 

businessmen of Skopje. The 

bazaar was neglected in many ways, he 

thinks, and he mentions the communication 

links, hygiene, technical, but also 

the cultural aspect. According to him, 

not only those involved in activities, but 

also those who by law have legal obligations, 

should take a greater care about 

the bazaar. 

There were initiatives for introducing 

some kind of guildsmen order, for 

maintaining contacts with the city and 

with the Institute for protection of cultural 

monuments. We, being guildsmen, 

could do a lot more for the craftsmanship, 

but other factors should carry the 

responsibility when it comes to the revitalization 

of the Bazaar, as an area which 

has cultural and historical significance. 

However, the initiatives of wellmeaning 

people are to be supported. 

Thus, the silversmith Dzeladin Hasani 

submitted to the Association a list of 

recommendations, which should bring 

about changes that would improve the 

situation in the Bazaar. Through these 

recommendations, he is asking for a 

strict adherence to business hours during 

the winter and summer periods, as 

well as during the month of Ramadan, 

for imposing limitations on motor 

vehicle traveling inside the bazaar, for 

shops to be closed during official state 

and religious holidays, for the hygiene 

to be maintained in front of each shop, 

for shop keepers to behave decently 

with customers and passing people, 

for standardizing the display of merchandize 

in front of the shops, for not 

allowing loud music to be played, for 

introducing designated fire distinguishing 

points etc. Such recommendations 

are similar to those made by 

Argetim Nagavci, who, when it comes 

to business hours, even recommends 

an afternoon break. Thus, both shops 

and cafeterias would be working and 

there would also be more light for 

those taking a stroll down the bazaar. 

REVITALIZATION-YES, 

BUT HOW TO GO ABOUT IT? 

The problem is, therefore, multidimensional. 

It seems that this is where 

all aspects are interwoven, related to the 

(under)represented activities, but also to 

the cultural and historical. The image of 

the bazaar should be derived even from 

its architecture, which, at present, looks 

more ancient than what it should look 

like. Argetim Nagavci, an independent 

manufacturer of quilt, provided some 

ideas about the way the glitter of the 

bazaar should be returned. He believes 

that new ideas and projects are needed, 

perhaps something which has not been 

seen before, in order to encourage the 

handcraft manufacturing, because in 

environments similar to this, that is 

what brings success. Last year, the 

Council of City of Skopje and the 

agency "List" organized a public debate 

addressing these topics. Many distinguished 

people from the city expressed 

their views on how to improve the situation. 

The agency "List" put forward the 

idea of creating a pedestrian zone, in 

order to overcome the conversion of the 

bazaar into a ghetto, to regain the interest 

of the young population and to 

diminish the prejudice that this is not a 

safe place. The Chairperson of the 

Jewish Council, Viktor Mizrahi, among 

other things, put forward an idea for 

clarifying the dilemma about who does 

the bazaar belong to (does it belong to 

the city or to the municipality Center) 

and that the property should be returned 

to their former owners, whereas the 

bazaar should regain its multiethnic life, 

since, according to him, the recent 

impression is that the bazaar is 

Albanian. The representative of the 

Macedonian Orthodox Church, the 

priest Kosta Stanoevski, said that the 

artistic characteristic is significant in the 

endeavor to return the interest towards 

the bazaar and that this represents an 

even higher priority than its commercial 

side. The photographer Koco Tomovski 

recommended certain measures in order 

to prevent the destruction of the area, 

that should be taken care by the craftsmen 

themselves. He believes that the 

bazaar is a safe place and it should not 

be identified as Albanian, due to its multiethnic 

nature. During this debate, 

Mimoza Nestorova -Tomik, an architect, 

agreed with the initiative for the 

revitalization of the Old Bazaar. She 

believes that one of the ways of returning 

the attractiveness to this place, especially 

for the young population, is by 

organizing various performances of any 

nature - artistic, street, cooking etc. "It 

would be interesting if some old products 

returned, which should perhaps be 

the task of the Chamber of craftsmen", 

she said. The actress Nada Geshovska, 

believes that the bazaar should be a 

place where young artists should present 

their work. The silversmith 

Dzeladin Hasani, in his discussion, 

among other things, asked for funding 

for the crafts segment and said that the 

bazaar belongs to all citizens, regardless 

of their ethnicity. The Mayor of Skopje, 

Risto Penov, was not of the opinion that 

the decrease of the interest for the 

bazaar was due to the infrastructure 

(water supply and sewage), but he 

believed that festivals and exhibitions 

could immensely increase its attractiveness. 

"Once all cultural and artistic work 

aimed at increasing the interest for the 

bazaar, are completed, then only certain 

infrastructure modifications 

should be carried out", said the Mayor. 

During discussions which we had 

in the Old Bazaar, the President of the 

Association of craftsmen and other 

independent businessmen, among 

other things, threw the ball to the state, 

which, according to him, should take a 

greater care for something that is 

authentic in this area. 

One of the most relevant players to 

call upon is the Institute for the protection 

of cultural monuments of the city of 

Skopje, which is located in the bazaar's 

complex (in the church of Sveti Spas). 

The architect - conservator who works 


there, Konstantin Dimitrovski, while 

talking about things which need to be 

done, emphasized the architectural 

aspect. According to the urban plan, 

plans need to be drafted for each cell, 

since in this way, levels of buildings, 

facades, details in the shop windows, 

materials etc. will be defined. To 

Dimitrovski's opinion, the slow progress 

of all these works is due to the reluctance 

of the shop owners to invest in 

such plans. Some of them give up and 

they start constructing unapproved 

extensions, for which we regularly intervene 

through inspection authorities. He 

anticipates that with the enactment of 

the law for the protection of cultural 

monuments, a certain order for intervening 

will be established in the bazaar. 

"Very little is required to regain the 

authentic image" says Dimitrovski, 

deeply convinced. 

Aneta Tanevska, an architect-conservator, 

is responsible for the cultural 

monuments dating back to the 

Ottoman period, which are located in 

the bazaar. 

- Certain interventions are underway, 

which should result in making them 

more attractive for tourists and other 

interested parties. At present, in the 

Chifte Hamam (the double public bath), 

there is a reconstruction under way and 

re-adaptation of the area into an artistic 

gallery (this should be completed before 

the summer). Some minor reconstructions 

of the gates and the internal part of 

the cover are completed and additional 

work is ongoing in the Kapan An. In the 

Mustafa Pasha mosque, the cemetery 

was reconstructed and the court of the 

mosque was rearranged, whereas in 

Kurshumli An it is necessary to erect 

protection grille for the gates. In fact, 

some interventions were already made to 

the sanitary and the lighting. In the interior, 

a lapidarium was opened and it is 

accessible for tourists. Kurshumli An 

needs investment for its maintenance, 

and the money for this will be requested 

from the Ministry for Culture - said 

Tanevska. 

What can be said at the end? The 

future of the Old Bazaar of Skopje is 

still connected with its past. In other 

words, the more it returns to its sources, 

from the architectural point of view and 

by its purpose, the more attractive it 

will become for everybody and it will 

represent valuable cultural, historic, 

commercial and tourist wealth. 

(The author is 

a journalist in "Flaka) 

Tanushevci is 

awaiting its "soul" 

Now, when almost all the displaced people have returned back in their 

homes, the Tanushevci residents are still wondering around Skopje and 

Vitina streets. In the evening, they go back to the basements, since there is 

no other place for them to go 

Ismail Sinani 

Sitting at the corner of the room, 

with a pipe in his hand, constantly 

smoking, we met Shefki in over seventies, 

who was just waiting for a 

"mercy" to return to his homeland, 

the village of Tanushevci. 

"My son, the stone weighs only in 

its own place", addresses us this old 

man with a noble heart, by letting us 

know that he was sick of everything. 

He stops again. In a large room in 

the Vizbegovo settlement in Skopje, 

where he 

has been accommodated for over 

a year now, Shefki looks with a heavy 

look and utters words one by one. "I 

cannot understand what is in fact 

happening with us". These are the 

words by which the old man expresses 

his astonishment, about the impossibility 

of returning to Tanushevci, 

where, as everywhere else, the spring 

has already started. 

While Shefki was shaking his 

head from the pain because of not 

being able to do anything and while 

he was groaning, from the other corner 

of the room, surrounded by magazines, 

his older son, who is a headmaster 

of the village school, joins the 

81 


82 

discussion. "Believe us, our patience 

has reached its peak. We cannot stand 

this any longer. Hundreds of village 

inhabitants are still living in the basements 

in the town of Vitina in 

Kosovo, whereas the other part are 

here in Vizbegovo", repeats his words 

again Ismail, explaining to us that 

every day his school's students send 

letters to him, asking for a possibility 

to go back where they are supposed to 

be, by the school desks. 

"We went to the village a few 

days ago", Ismail's uncle, Brahim, 

joins the discussion. He described the 

way they found the village after 14 

months. He further talked about 

human soul, which can never be 

defeated. 

THE SCHOOL SOLDIERS 

"We didn't believe at all that we 

will find our houses complete. 

However, we were lucky for finding 

most of them not damaged from outside", 

says Brahim, continuing the 

conversation by telling that the current 

residents of the village, the ARM 

soldiers, had demolished everything 

they found. 

"However, that does not matter", 

joins Ali, Ismail's brother. "We will 

reconstruct them so that they will be 

even more beautiful from what they 

were before", expresses his willingness 

Ali, dressed in warm clothes, as 

if he wanted to say, "Although I am 

here in Skopje, my soul is still in 

Tanushevci". 

Word after word, conversation 

after conversation, and the room was 

constantly becoming smaller because 

of the residents of Tanushevci, who 

wanted to say something regarding 

what they saw a few days ago in their 

forgotten village. 

"Where the knowledge should be 

blossoming, where there must not 

enter the iron weapons, there were 

soldiers placed. How is this possible?", 

asks the headmaster of the 

school, Ismail. 

"When I arrived in the village the 

other day, I experienced the biggest 

surprise in my life, when I saw that at 

the desks where there used to be my 

students, now there were sitting soldiers 

with automatic machine guns in 

their hands", expresses his astonishment 

Ismail. 

The village school, which used to 

have the name "Liria", and which is 

now called "Mihail Grameno", a few 

years ago was completely built from 

the foundations to the roof, by the village 

people, without any assistance. 

The conversation about the school 

made the Tanushevci residents forget 

about their houses. One of them said 

that the pencil should not be replaced 

with weapons, the other one said that 

it is about a sacred temple, the third 

one said that it was the temple of 

knowledge, and they went on and on, 

eventually ending up in silence… 

As a village leader, Ismail has a 

large burden to carry over his shoulders. 

"I am also a president of the 

local municipality. I am exhausted 

from the requests sent to politicians, 

ministers and international organizations… 

but, all in vain", he says. 

Now, when almost all the displaced 

people have returned back in 

their homes, the Tanushevci residents 

are still wondering around Skopje and 

Vitina streets. In the evening, they go 

back to the basements, since there is 

no other place for them to go. 

THE DESERTED VILLAGE 

Although the war is over, the 

Tanushevci fields are deserted. They 

make phone calls to the MPs, ministers, 

OSCE, the International 

Committee of the Red Cross, 

UNHCR, the Fox… but they never 

get down on their knees and humiliate 

themselves. 

"If we do not return to our village 

now, then us going back in June will 

make no sense. It is now the time for 

us to tillage our wonderful soil." - 

says Hasan, another inhabitant of 

Tanushevci, almost at the same age as 

Shefki. 

Ismail takes the floor again. This 

time in the role of the village leader 

he asked 

how is it possible for elections to 

be organized without the displaced 

people returning to their homeland. 

He asked how is it possible to have 

census without placing everyone in 

their homes. He asked other questions 

as well with a higher voice, but mostly 

he asked when most of the 

Tanushevci residents will be issued 

their citizenship, those that have not 

been taken into Macedonia's 

"bosom". 

"Neither last, nor this year we 

requested anything but equality. In 

fact, the last year's conflict resulted 

from inequality", we heard Brahim's 

voice, who was trying to find reasons 

for the inequality that was caused to 

his family and to his village people. 

Having heard all of this, one more 

time we asked them when they plan to 

return to their age-long homeland. As 

if this question one more time 

enflamed the fire and the sorrow for 

the motherland. 

And again stories, the talking 

going back to the school and the four 

hundred students of Tanushevci, 

Brest and Malino, which are in a triangle 

located at the peak of Skopska 

Crna Gora, 50 kilometers north of 

Skopje. 

Before the war, there used to be 

nine schools in this triangle, but now 

there is only the Tanushevci school 

left, inhabited with soldiers, who 

instead of pencils , carry cold 

weapons in their hands… 

"Except for the school building in 

Tanushevci, all other buildings are 

turned into ash", said at the very end 

the director of the school without students, 

Ismail Ibrahimi, not being able 

to answer the question what will happen 

to the Tanushevci people. 

As if the appeal of Tanushevci villagers 

to those that consider themselves 

being at "important" positions 

terminates here. 

"We ask everyone not to leave us 

forgotten in abyss. We ask everyone 

to enable us to return. We ask everyone 

to help us so that we could also 

enjoy the life in this world… We 

ask…" 

(The author is journalist in "Fakti) 


The Donors Conference came and went, the 

social problems remained 

Money Doesn't Grow on Trees 

Mirche Jovanovski 

"The Donors Conference is the 

best proof that there isn't any spring 

war offensive", almost cried the 

President Boris Trajkovski on the 

joint press-conference with the 

Austrian President, Tomas Clestil, 

on May 11 of this year in Skopje. He 

also appealed at the same time to the 

businesspersons from that membercountry 

of the European Union, to 

invest in Macedonia. In this honest, 

and a little bit emotional gust of the 

Macedonian 

President, 

practically lies 

the point of 

the future 

development 

of Macedonia: 

peace and 

investments. 

Perhaps it 

sounds too 

much like a 

slogan but it is 

the formula 

that the country 

can draw 

out of the political madness in 

which corruption, crime, social misery, 

common insecurity, distrust and 

unhealed wounds of last year's war 

conflict reign. And of course, the 

construction of institutions that will 

carry that out. On the contrary, there 

is a greater possibility for the country 

to be joined with the group of 

countries for which the African 

standards apply and to the number 

of 1.2 billion people, who, as it is 

The fear of a spring war offensive is smaller, but instead of 

the wanted economic offensive, an offensive of the socially 

deprived can easily happen 

estimated, live in extreme poverty, 

instead of joining the European 

Union. With that President 

Trajkovski and the Finance Minister 

Nikola Gruevski had the opportunity 

to be informed in detail on the 

first Conference of Financing the 

Development, which was held from 

the 19 to the 23 of March in the 

Mexican city Monterey, under the 

auspices of the Organization of the 

United Nations. 

The fear of a spring war offensive 

is smaller, but instead of the 

wanted economic offensive, an 

offensive of the socially deprived 

can easily happen. Money, that is, 

doesn't grow on trees. No matter 

how much the domestic politicians 

try to put the results of the donor's 

conference in their account, this 

won't help them enough in the talks 

with the everyday bigger number of 

the social cases. Even worse, the 

present Government showed that it 

doesn't know how, or doesn't even 

want to talk to these despaired people. 

Instead of talks, it delivered 

whacking to the few thousand angry 

workers whose enterprises, where 

they have been registered as 

employed, are threatened to be 

closed, while, the workers do not 

ask for nothing more than work and 

an honest valorization of their labor. 

Since they do not want to talk 

anymore, it can hardly be expected 

from our officials to ensure conditions 

of any kind for the economical 

effectuation of these enterprises and 

an atmosphere where every employee 

would feel at least a little dignity 

and that what he has obtained he has 

earned honestly, and not that somebody 

gives him charity. From a government 

which has been branded as 

corrupt from several reports produced 

by relevant international 

organizations, it is questionable 

whether there will be any different 

behavior at all. 

The outburst of social dissatisfaction 

happened almost a month 

later from the donor's conference in 

Brussels where, to everyone's surprise, 

Macedonia was promised far 

more money that even themselves 

had been asking from the rich club 

83 


84 

in conjunction with the international 

financial institutions. Hand in hand 

with the promises for the money the 

government was also handed so far 

unseen criticism regarding the size 

of the corruption, which, according 

to the International Crisis Group, 

endangers the survival of the country 

itself. 

One would say that the developed 

world has once again put in 

practice its well known and proven 

policy of the carrot and the stick. 

The juicy carrot in this case 

weighs 307 million euros, as much 

as Macedonia was promised in 

Brussels, fifty more million from 

what was asked from the donors. 

The icing on top of this is over 200 

million euros in the form of additional 

financial help, which would 

be effectuated bilaterally, on the 

basis of offered projects from the 

Macedonian side to specific countries. 

Shortly, half a billion euros, as 

much as the donors package is 

worth, it is an imposing sum of 

money even for much larger 

economies than ours and certainly, a 

clear signal for the support of our 

country from the international community, 

after everything that was 

experienced last year and for the fulfilling 

of many conditions, imposed 

by its most powerful representatives. 

Little tampering under the surface 

of this valuable "carrot" one is 

left with a different perception. The 

majority of the means are donations 

and grants, it means that they are 

given without the obligation to be 

returned, with or without interest. As 

it was presented from the European 

Commission, 73 million euros are 

credits out of the 307 million total, 

while 234 will be grants. The message 

that one can clearly see comes 

out of the fact that important transfers 

of the sums are seen in the parts 

of the donors package that deal with 

the reconstruction of the destroyed 

buildings in the course of war activities 

as well as the implementation 

of the framework agreement. The 

grants are to deal with specifically 

these things. There is a different picture 

regarding the support for the 

paid balance, for which less money 

was granted from what was demanded, 

the majority of which are appropriate, 

but still credit means. This, 

according to the experts, does not 

mean anything else but a disagreement 

with the last year's expenditures 

from the budget, where the 

majority was used for armament. 

The role of the stick is to warn 

that such a large level of corruption 

and organized crime in the country 

cannot continue anymore. The 

uniqueness, and the proximity of the 

evaluations of various international 

institutions and organizations, have 

reached such a level that they no 

longer can be answered with justifications 

that these things happen 

because of evil-intended individual 

cases. The continuity of the reports 

and the events only complement 

such conclusions: starting from the 

shocking report of ICG published on 

the day of the donor's conference in 

the influential Wall Street Journal, 

then the scanning and the evaluation 

of GRECO, an institution with the 

Council of Europe which among 

other things deals with the corruption 

in certain countries, all the way 

to the evaluations from the European 

Commission regarding the implementation 

of the Agreement for 

Stabilization and Association, where 

in the part of the Balkans, corruption 

was marked as one of the key problems, 

and for Macedonia it was also 

added that the solution of the issue 

of the enterprises which have gone 

bankrupt, the non-transparent 

process of privatization and the feeble 

banking sector, will be postponed. 

The illegal activities from 

smuggling of goods, weapons, drugs 

and people, especially women, 

because of the spreading of prostitution, 

add to the general image of 

Macedonia, leaving the country 

without a clear strategy how to fight 

against these illegal activities. 

If we add to this the level of 

unemployment, the stage of poverty 

and lack of social programs or again, 

the possibilities for self-employment, 

the perspectives of the local 

economy are not rosy at all. Having 

in mind these conditions, it is difficult 

that a serious investor from 

Austria or some other country will 

respond to the invitation of 

President Trajkovski to invest in our 

country. 

The donor's conference as a one 

way act of promising financial help 

and especially as a strong political 

signal it has played its role. Now the 

ball is on our turf. The question is 

whether the current team, regardless 

of how much influence they may do 

through forming offices to fight 

against corruption, writing criminal 

charges against former ministers or 

sending hundreds of inspectors to 

close down trade centers under the 

slogan 'fight against the grey economy', 

it has a true will and a moral 

integrity to engage in war with 

essential problems, or perhaps the 

whole action is only a campaign 

reflection for the international criticism 

which it receives every day. 

Finally, one has to bear in mind 

that regardless of how big they are, 

the means from the donors cannot be 

a substitute of what we ourselves 

should do to improve the conditions 

in the country. Less and less people 

fell for cheap tricks, empty replies 

and false promises. The majority are 

clear that no donations will help the 

country, if they end up in the gray 

channels of corrupt officials and 

functionaries. People employed in 

the bankrupt enterprises know this 

best, who cannot seek answers for 

their problems somewhere else but 

from the members of Parliament and 

the Ministers in the Government. 

Regardless if in return for this they 

will get (as they themselves say) a 

loaf of bread or a beating. 

(The author is a journalist in 

"Utrinski Vesnik") 


When the one way- ticket is the only way out 

The politicians have 

forgotten the young people 

Goran Trpenovski 

The young people should develop 

a feeling that they belong to same 

state, which is a precondition for 

their mutual cooperation. It is important 

to mitigate the 

prejudices and 

oppositions that 

they feel between 

each other. The 

surveys have 

shown that the current 

situation that 

concerns the ethnic 

problems among 

young people is 

not good. The 

politicians are the 

ones to be blamed. 

The young people 

Instead of trying to change 

the Balkan political mentality 

of the old politicians 

with their vanguard influence, 

the political youth 

wings rapidly melt into 

their machiavellian, personal 

and profitable logic 

which has only one aim and 

that is power, power and 

nothing but power… by 

any means. 

should have proper education, 

employment, sport, cultural and 

other activities in order to spread the 

common spirit among them. 

Unfortunately, this, in many aspects, 

is influenced by politics that is holding 

the basic levers 

of power. 

PDP believes 

that in this moment 

the party is not in a 

position to strongly 

influence in the 

overcoming of the 

divisions and problems 

among the 

young people. "We 

now hardly manages 

to push the 

most important 

issues for the functioning 

of the state, let alone to 

direct out attention to the problems 

that concern the young people. With 

our possible future participation in 

the Government we will try to solve 

the numerous problems for the 

youth. Achieving greater and better 

results for bringing the young people 

together mainly depends on the economic 

development. For instance, to 

start organizing events that are not 

very expensive but are productive 

for building trust among young people. 

PDP will insist on developing a 

program that will encompass its own 

activities in this aspect", said Mr. 

Mersel Bilali, PDP Member of 

Parliament. 

Inspired by the desire to access 

and apply the European standards in 

all spheres of the political and social 

life, the Liberal Party will work 

towards overcoming the differences 

and solving the problems among the 

young people by improving the civil 

society. 

"We are lead by the desire to give 

our own contribution to the stability 

and development of the Republic of 

Macedonia as a modern, judicial and 

democratic state with special 

emphasis on the welfare of the individual 

and development of the political 

culture among the young people" 

said Mr. Ivon Velichkovski, 

Leader of the young liberals. Based 

on the ideas for democracy and 

invulnerability of the personality, the 

freedom of the personal initiative, 

creativity and personal responsibili- 

85 


86 

ty, he thinks that the Liberal Party 

will insist on respect of "its holy" 

fundamental rights and citizen's freedom. 

In our opinion, the essence is 

not to stress the differences among 

the young people as a basic concept 

of division, but to know our differences 

as a basis of building tolerance, 

the cohabitation of citizens of 

the Republic of Macedonia in the 

political, economic, cultural and 

social aspect of life", emphasized 

Mr. Velichkovski. 

According to the liberal democrats, 

there is no real multiethnic crisis 

in Macedonia. This attitude is 

based upon the fact that there is no 

genesis of interethnic animosity and 

hatred among the young people. 

"Through decades our nation has 

lived its simple, modest and calm life 

that adheres to one principle and that 

is mutual understanding, nothing 

more and nothing less", says the 

President of the young liberal 

democrats, Mr. Veko Temov. 

The liberal democrats believe 

that the today's burden through 

which we live is only a fruit of 

immature ethnic, moral, economic 

and extremely corrupted system. In 

the race for a greater profit we lost 

the most important thing-being 

human. 

"The ordinary people who are 

only asking for better life are not to 

blame". The guilty are those who 

very skillfully know how to make 

their own political and financial 

profit under the nomenclature: 

"fighters for human rights". The 

guilty are those who have forgotten 

what they promised, the politicians 

who have forgotten their people", 

said Mr. Temov and added: "Better 

future can be reached only by an 

honest and sincere approach with no 

prejudices. It is time to start working 

on the problems that concern the 

young people". 

On the other hand, the ruling 

party, VMRO-DPMNE, condemns 

all acts of multiethnic animosity in 

the Republic of Macedonia. 

"Cohabitation of people from different 

ethic background is one of the 

pillars of the state, and every damage 

of the pillar jeopardizes the country 

existence", said Mr. Vladimir 

Gjorchev, spokesperson of VMRO- 

DPMNE. 

According to him, the multiethnic 

tensions and conflicts among the 

young people should stop because 

they are of no interests for anybody, 

and the XXI century should be a century 

of the European integration and 

promotion of the European principles 

and tolerance in the Balkans. 

VMRO-DPMNE believes that the 

state should and has to focus on the 

bad situation that the young people 

are facing with and all other cases of 

ethnic extremism and chauvinism 

should be severely punished. Thus, 

it is important for the Ministry of 

Interior to undertake some measurements 

for punishing the actors of 

such actions." By having sectioned 

them all further attempts for destruction 

of the civil concept of the 

Republic of Macedonia will be in 

vain" emphasizes Mr. Gjorchev. 

The opposition party SDSM considers 

the corps of freedom and 

rights as basic measurement for 

defining the level of democratization 

of the society. SDSM accepts the fact 

that the minorities apart from the 

basic civil rights have special minority 

rights and their accomplishment 

is a must towards creating open society. 

According to them, the level of 

minority participation in society is 

insufficient and that damages their 

integrity. 

"SDSM will fight for achieving a 

real participation and equality of all 

young people regardless their ethic 

background. Thus, we think that the 

implementation of the framework 

agreement is of a great importance, 

not only for the stabilization of the 

country, but also for improving the 

constitutional citizen's concept, 

political and cultural rights, as well 

as determinations for absence of discrimination 

and creating measures 

for their protection", said Mr. Igor 

Ivanovski, President of the SDSM's 

youth. 

Apparently, the old story is 

repeating for the young people too. 

The politicians are very much concerned, 

they pluck their hear and 

shade bitter tears for the problems 

that concern the young people, especially 

before the elections. However, 

the reality is different. A great number 

of young people are waiting in 

front of the Bureau of Employment, 

the number of delinquency increases, 

the drug addiction rapidly rises, and 

all these anomalies result from the 

irresponsibility of the elders. Or, to 

put it a different way, the dominant 

political philosophy is implied in the 

message: "Don't look what I do, listen 

what I say!" 

Unfortunately, the greater part of 

the young politicians instead of trying 

to change the Balkan political 

mentality of the old politicians, they 

melt rapidly in their machiavellian, 

personal and profitable logic which 

has only one aim and that is power, 

power and nothing but power… by 

any means. 

Is there a worse confirmation for 

this situation by putting a sign of 

equality between the young politicians 

and the old politicians observing 

the last student elections? The 

elections haven't finished yet and 

there are slight chances for them to 

be finished. The question is under 

what conditions the new student 

leader will achieve his goals. Will 

that be another fierce fight that concerns 

the issue of the students' and 

the young people's dignity who 

should be the most developed component 

and the vanguard of each 

society. Thus, a great number of talented 

young people, knowing that 

the country does not care about 

them, more often are trying to make 

their only choice for solving their 

existence. A one-way ticket to a foreign 

country. 


with the daily newspaper VEST) 


What future does the pre-election period promise? 

Macedonia will succeed only 

if it overpowers the 

syndrome of a land-junction 

Ljubomir D. Frckoski 

In the "Macedonian political 

establishment", the content 

of the framework agreement is 

not as contentious as the frustration 

about the manner and 

the state of its adoption. 

For the majority of 

Macedonians it represents a 

way of awarding violence; and 

model for protection and promotion 

of minority rights, for 

which Macedonia was considered 

to be a unique, successful 

example in the Balkans for a 

long time. 

The second psychological 

"dam" for the agreement is 

mistrust; the belief that it will 

terminate or convert the 

aggressive ethno-rhetoric and 

nothing can ever be solved 

without international mediation. 

Has the Ohrid agreement, 

which is constantly 

being re-interpreted and distorted 

so as to elicit new 

demands (as well as to question 

the part of one signatory 

member), put an end to 

"Albanian demands"? 

The Macedonians encountered 

another grave problem: 

the limited governing elite at 

the present moment, which has 

altogether lost orientation for a 

coherent democratic and 

national policy, and would 

87 

What are the political consequences 

of the implementation 

of the framework agreement in 

post-conflict Macedonia and 

how does that reflect on the 

pre-electoral constellations 

among the political parties? 

gives the impression that the 

international community 

would readily apply double 

standards, or verify a "de 

facto" state, ignoring their proclaimed 

principles. This would 

be done, in particular, in light 

of emphasizing the successful 

military approach of parts of 

the Albanian political elite, 

which makes use of international 

arbitration and intervention, 

deliberately bringing 

mediation to absurdity, so as to 

demonstrate that Macedonia is 

a de facto protectorate and that 

readily enter scandalous compromises 

at the expense of 

these "Macedonian fears", 

intentionally obstructing the 

redeployment of the police in 

all previously crisis-affected 

regions and, thus, violating the 

Ohrid agreement, in the most 

Elections for peace, July 2002

88 

delicate point: the return of safety 

and a legal state. 

The accumulated rage caused by 

these obstacles, the frustration with 

"our own kind", and fear for the 

future are reflected by the 

Macedonians through means of 

clear-cut, and new, aloofness from 

their co-citizens - the Albanians; 

leading to a potential intolerance for 

the motives of the international factors 

in Macedonia. 

Nevertheless, the majority of the 

electorate still "holds" that state of 

frustration under control, providing 

surprising support for the implementation 

of the framework agreement 

(at times more IMPLICITLY than 

explicitly). 

The Albanians and their electorate 

have undergone stronger 

reform from the new political players 

since last year's clashes. The 

establishment of two political blocks 

is perceivable, having fifty a percent 

impact on their electorate; namely, 

the block revolving around DPA, 

and the one around Ali Ahmeti. 

After the initial shock caused by 

the clashes, the leaders of the DPA 

and PDP recovered during the 

lengthy Ohrid negotiations. At the 

time, they were still attached to Ali 

Ahmeti by an umbilical cord; but 

soon they regained strength in order 

to stand on "the wind of demands" 

and enter with a new political card 

which promised better chances than 

those offered at the beginning of the 

conflict. Two powerful blocks in the 

"Albanian camp" mean a stabilizing 

political tendency. First of all, for 

the first time, Albanians will face a 

situation where all parties should be 

recognized as such; namely, as legitimate 

representatives of various 

political alternatives, and not as 

means for mutual indictments for 

spying on certain departments or 

unlawful tendencies that lead to violence 

and murders during elections. 

Second, it is a means to achieve a 

relatively stable configuration for 

shuffles in the governing coalitions 

without having to disturb the baseline. 

However, the problem that is 

getting more conspicuous with the 

Albanians is that it does not stand to 

reason that a part of them (the DPA 

and Arben Xhaferi) could exert new 

post-ethnic politics. They belong to 

the past, or a time that passes in 

front of us. These politicians clutch 

at their post-socialist ethno-discourse, 

without which they are incapable 

of swimming in political 

waters. They are, of course, terrified 

at the end of the cruel ethno-story 

(with the framework agreement) and 

they already proclaim in panic that, 

in fact, it is not the end, that they 

will still act in same movie, which 

will continue to run. Thus, they 

become a problem in themselves. 

They can not be a part of the solution 

to the upcoming problems; they 

would rather reproduce the old ones. 

I consider those politicians, and 

organized crime, to be, undeniably, 

the biggest problem in contemporary 

Albanian political discourse in 

Macedonia. The Macedonian preelectoral 

home front is comprised of 

old actors with new roles. On one 

hand, stands the completely limited 

governing elite of VMRO-DPMNE - 

fatigued with power, engulfed in 

serious crimes and corruption and, 

most important, gravely responsible 

for the war and for not being efficient 

in preventing its happening 

(which was possible). 

That burden brought to light the 

darkest conspiracies amongst them, 

such as the exchange of population 

and territory with Albania and 

Kosovo; the subordination of the 

MOC under the Serb church; and the 

total economic and political dependence 

on Greece. 

Even for the informed, the oscillation 

of VMRO-DPMNE around 

the Serbian-Greek axis and 

rearrangement of a program on the 

basis of adventurous, gloomy passing 

ideas and caprice, will remain 

without due explanation. 

By means of a "great financial 

boost", they attempt to mitigate the 

inevitable electoral defeat; but, also, 

by resorting to dangerous provocation 

and spurring war psychosis, and 

anti-western hysteria and isolationism, 

which are regarded as a good 

pre-election environment. 

SDSM is hibernating, attempting 

a basic door-to-door approach to 

compensate for national politics and 

the need to take a stand regarding 

the national issues they personally 

witness, as if they feel indifferent to 

the state they will rule when they 

come to power, or what sort of passport 

the citizens will possess in their 

country. 

The new electoral model, proportioned 

without a lower limit, will 

create an opportunity for a larger 

number of parties in the Parliament 

and the establishment of political 

blocks. It will inevitably expand the 

procedure for creating a 

Government and its performance, 

and it will strengthen the role of the 

President to balance the executive 

power. 

Is the adoption of this electoral 

model a case of a calculated or a random 

consequence? The author cannot 

tell. 

However, it is obvious, from this 

point of view, that security and the 

issue of territorial integrity will 

remain outstanding for the new 

Government. 

Then, the issues of balancing the 

impact of Greece and the steady 

development of the north-south, 

east-west axis will follow, by means 

of which Macedonia could maintain 

permanent stability. Promotion of 

inclusive politics, hand-in-hand with 

the new and strong rule of law and 

the struggle against organized crime, 

are the priorities next in line. 

Macedonia stands a chance only if it 

remains an open country, a country 

that has an understanding of the 

"cross-land discourse" syndrome. 

(The Author 

is a columnist for Dnevnik) 


The former leader of the NLA founded 

a political party - did this have to happen now? 

Ahmeti didn’t want to become 

a „general without an army“ 

Daut Dauti 

Ali Ahmeti, a leader of a political 

party and, on top of everything, with a 

residence in Skopje! 

Macedonians were taken by surprise 

by the new Albanian political 

party, lead by the former political 

leader of the NLA - Ali Ahmeti. Isn't 

this an act of provocation and impudence, 

now, when the "wounds of war" 

still hurt, and Ali Ahmeti is coming to 

be our first neighbor? Did he have to 

do this now, and in the capital city of 

our country? 

That is what Macedonians think 

about the "unwanted guest from 

Shipkovica". And Albanians have a 

completely different feeling about the 

whole situation. 

We have to get used to these "different" 

feelings, because we had different 

views on the things that were happening 

last year. But, I think the question 

should be this: did Ali Ahmeti 

choose the right moment to enter political 

life, and is he not losing the status 

of an "integrating person" among the 

Albanians, which he wished for so 

long? 

The answer is very simple - he had 

to. He wasn't left any other choice. He 

was even late with this solution. 

THIS SHOULD HAVE 

HAPPENED IMMEDIATE- 

LY AFTER THE SIGNING 

OF THE OHRID AGREE- 

MENT 

The entrance of Ali Ahmeti into 

He couldn't have accepted 

the role of an "English 

queen" - to be a symbol of 

unity among Albanians 

while letting others have 

direct influence 

political life was, more or less, expected. 

It was only a matter of time and 

finding a way of doing it. I was one of 

those who thought that he should not 

hasten this after the events from last 

year, considering the revolting feeling 

of the Macedonian public towards 

him, as towards the man most responsible 

for the war in our country. On the 

other side, I considered the transformation 

of the NLA into political party 

against principle, because it would turn 

the gains of war into political aims. 

Probably Ali Ahmeti and his colleagues 

and other advisers were thinking 

the same way. This kind of thinking, 

at least according to the flow of 

events, has turned out to be the wrong 

strategy. It has shown that, after the 

actual ending of the war crisis, those 

who advised Ahmeti to found a political 

party were right. 

There were many possibilities for 

his engagement in politics. Besides the 

founding of his party, the other option 

was to join one of the existing ones 

(every party would gain from his presence 

before the elections in autumn). 

Based on these open possibilities, one 

of the Albanian parties, the National 

Democratic Party of Kastriot 

Hadzhiredzha, had a great advantage 

because there were some rumors that it 

was a party of the NLA and that it was 

only a question of time before Ali 

Ahmeti became its leader. The popularity 

that this party had is only a 

reflection of those rumors. But, 

Ahmeti chose a different and, eventually, 

wrong way. 

The former leader of the NLA, following 

different advice and suggestions, 

some of which were form foreign 

factors, decided to wait. In order 

to stay in the focus of political events, 

he founded the Coordinative Council 

of Albanian Political Subjects, from 

which he could have gained different 

things. He could have become a political 

leader of "all Albanians" in 

Macedonia; he could have been the 

coordinator of all political decisions 

for the implementation of the Ohrid 

agreement; and, as it was stated by the 

leader of DPA in an interview on 

Macedonian national TV, with this 

Council Ali Ahmeti could have joined 

politics in the safest way. It was considered 

that this Coordinative body of 

an informal character would assure 

Ahmeti and his people a strong position 

in the institutions as well, followed 

by anticipated and very realistic 

participation in the elections. But, 

Ahmeti was wrong about that too. The 

outside "players" have made their 

plans for a stronger position, which has 

caused a weakening in the Council's 

activity; so, eventually, it lost its previous 

goal - unity, and the mutual coordination 

of Albanian subjects. 

Obstacles 

A situation like that provoked cer- 

89 


90 

tain events that have announced the fall 

of the Council. The dangerous events 

in Rechica (five dead, of whom four 

were former members of the NLA), as 

well as the attack on the restaurant 

owned by Menduh Tachi, which was 

considered as the alternative center of 

the DPA, have ruined the idyllic picture 

of relations and cooperation among 

Albanian subjects. As it is already 

known, the call of the DPA to the other 

members of this Council to distance 

themselves from some the statements 

given by Dzhevat Ademi and Mersel 

Biljali about, according to 

them, "fighting as a result of 

criminal motives", left the 

PDP and NDP without words. 

That has made the DPA 

temporarily "freeze" their participation 

in the work of the 

Council. Soon after that, the 

DPA started to break from 

some of the things determined 

by Ali Ahmeti. This party 

started to work seriously on 

the next elections and to create 

a new election technique. 

They gave preference to the 

cooperation with VMRO- 

DPMNE over other subjects, 

even blaming some of them for an 

attempt to break that union. Besides 

that, the DPA included in their lines 

many former and very popular commanders 

and fighters of the NLA - 

which has constantly weakened 

Ahmeti's position. 

WHO IS A BIGGER 

RADICAL? 

As a result of this flow of events, 

before becoming a "general without an 

army", Ali Ahmeti had to draw a red 

line under which he could not allow the 

loss of more of his people. He could 

not have played the role of an "English 

queen", a symbol of the unity among 

Albanians (which has proven false), 

and allow others to have the real influence. 

The old-new leader of the PDP, 

even before Ahmeti founded the party 

named "Democratic Unity for 

Integration" offered him the leadership 

of the PDP, while the DPA was also 

hoping for his cooperation. The 

unpleasant situation that has arisen 

among these parties now has a different 

nature, which raised the following 

question. Is Ahmeti going to be used as 

an instrument by some party against 

the others? As a result of that, the mystery 

of how the former leader of NLA 

will cooperate with other Albanian parties 

is still not revealed because, in that 

case, he would be given the leading 

role and all the others would become 

simple props. 

From what was being stated during 

the founding of the new political party, 

the main goal was to implement the 

Ohrid agreement. Without "mouth-filling" 

statements, Ahmeti left the 

impression of a person that has dealt 

with war methods and is supporting the 

democratic processes, integration, and 

the gaining of rights in an institutional 

way. This approach of Ali Ahmeti has 

made the DPA "wake up" its "innate 

radicalism". 

"We expected more from the new 

political party; we are the real radicals," 

commented the leader of DPA, 

Dzhaferi. His political party, with the 

transfer of some former commanders 

and fighters of the NLA, is trying to 

prove that the gains from the war 

belong to them, because the commanders 

were DPA activists even before the 

war crisis; i.e., they went to the mountains 

to fight as the party's activists. 

The silent rivalry between the DPA 

and the party of Ali Ahmeti could 

increase the rate of pluralism among 

Albanians; but, at the same time, it 

could present a hidden danger if it 

reaches the point of "to be or not to be". 

While the DPA is fighting using the 

attraction of former commanders of the 

NLA and through a very famous person 

- Daut Redzhepi, known as commander 

Leka (who was the leader of 

the branch of this political party in 

Tetovo) - Ali Ahmeti is quiet. The role 

of "falcon" in the fight with Dzhaferi's 

people was taken over by Dzhezair 

Shakiri, one of the most famous commanders 

of the NLA, known by the 

nickname, Hodzha. He has not joined 

the new party yet, though he is very 

close to Ahmeti. His verbal war against 

Dzhaferi's party has its ideological, as 

well as personal, motives; his accusations 

in the media can have a positive 

or a negative influence on 

either one of these two political 

parties. 

The DPA started its preparations 

for elections very early, 

while Ahmeti's party needs 

first to expand its branches, 

and then join the election campaign. 

The DEI is still a party 

in development, as can also be 

seen from the work on the 

building near Sauk Cheshma, 

which is going to be their seat. 

I started this text with the 

Macedonian feeling of revolt 

and I would like to finish this 

text with that also. No matter, 

whether they like their new neighbor or 

not, weather the Macedonian political 

parties like Ahmeti's profile or not, they 

should accept the reality of his presence 

here - especially if he wins the 

bigger number of Albanian votes. Then 

his relevance could not be neglected. 

The leaders of the political parties 

should not rush with statements that 

they will not cooperate with "former 

terrorists", because the situation imposes 

cooperation between them and the 

Macedonian political parties. SDSM 

is cooperating with the party whose 

secretary was prosecuted for organizing 

the "paramilitary forces", and many 

of its activists participated in the NLA; 

VMRO-DPMNE is in coalition with 

the DPA, whose member is commander 

Leka, etc. Therefore, I am sure that 

for the Macedonians, a lot more 

acceptable option is Ahmeti's presence 

in Skopje, rather than somewhere up 

there in Shipkovica. 

(The author is a writer and a journalist 

for the newspaper "Fljaka") 


The essence of the Macedonian 

problem is poverty 

Ljupcho Zikov 

Economic problems are becoming 

predominant in the citizens' behaviour, 

suppressing ethnic relations; this is the 

result of the "cold peace" present in the 

country for more than several months. 

Even people from the crisis 

regions, in the surveys of the public 

opinion, have put unemployment, and 

economic and social uncertainty on the 

top of the ranking lists. 

"There is a whole list of mutual 

problems, concerning all ethnic groups: 

the corruption of the government, 

organized crime, etc. There are some 

joint stands, for instance, about possible 

violent actions during the elections," 

says Emilija Simovska from the 

Institute of social and political research. 

MACEDONIANS AND 

ALBANIANS SHARE THE 

SAME PROBLEMS 

Preparing the government strategy 

for a "fight" against poverty has shown 

that 24.6%, i.e. every fourth person, in 

this country is poor. 

The poverty trend has been constantly 

increasing for the last 15 years 

and, according to the information, last 

year, during the Kosovo crisis, it 

reached its highest level. 

According to Trajko Slavevski, 

professor at the Economic School and a 

national coordinator for preparing a 

strategy for fighting against poverty, 

the rate of poverty in our capital is 

much higher than average, and the rate 

in the rural settings is the highest; 

regarding the ethnic aspect, the Roma 

population suffers most. 

The life standard in the country is 

constantly decreasing. From an average 

salary, after purchasing all the necessary 

food products for one average 

family of four, only 3% is left, with 

which it is necessary to pay the electricity, 

water, telephone and other bills. 

Comparing prices shows a fair rise in 

prices from three years ago, with very 

small exceptions. For instance, the 

price of bread has increased by 26%, 

the price of milk - 11%, the price of 

eggs - 24%, the price of electricity - 

9%, central heating - 18%. Or, in other 

words, with an average salary today, 

Macedonians and 

Albanians are on the 

way to identifying a 

"mutual burden" 

one can buy 36 kg of bread less than 

one could buy three years ago. 

The situation in Macedonia in 2002 

shows that from a total number of 

50,000 active enterprises almost one 

half (around 30,000) have blocked 

accounts. As a result of the decrease in 

industrial production, during the last 

ten years the country has been moving 

backwards in an economical sense. The 

small rise in the full amount of social 

production in 1999 and 2000 was interrupted 

by the war at the beginning of 

2001. 

Today there are 360,000 unemployed 

persons in Macedonia (32% to 

33%): Macedonians, Albanians, Turks, 

Vlachs, Serbs and Roma. 

On the other hand, the facts about 

Macedonia reveal that the central government 

in these past years has demonstrated 

their incapability of creating 

normal conditions to solve the existential 

problems of its citizens, regardless 

of their ethnic background. The problem 

of unemployment is getting worse, 

and it seems like people have lost their 

fight with poverty. Being involved in 

different transitional processes, the previous 

governments observed the problems 

of the common people from a different 

perspective; this has created a 

subtle barrier that has not allowed state 

employees to really feel the problems. 

A great part of the managing elite, 

as a result of the process of privatisation 

in Macedonia, and incapable of 

overcoming new markets for their 

products, have become "saboteurs" of 

their own development and "generators" 

of problems, in conjunction with 

party interests and its exponents. The 

country was constantly avoiding the 

discussion about the real problems. 

After the endless fights for power 

between opposing managerial groups, 

between different managerial teams 

and employees, and among different 

political parties, today, the largest companies 

have depressed basic means, old 

technology, huge debts, worsening 

human relations, incapable management, 

a loss of markets, and bad-quality 

personnel. 

OTHER LIMITING 

FACTORS OF THE 

MACEDONIAN ECONOMY 

The analyses show that the 

Macedonian economy is in a phase of 

strong recession as a result of at least 

three things: a block in production and 

exports because of last year's war; 

recession of the world economy after 

the events on September 11th, 2001, as 

well as the interruption of the reforms 

in the country as a result of the following 

parliamentary elections; and, finally, 

the increase in expenditures from the 

Budget made by the current government. 

The following year will be one of 

91 


the hardest in the post-socialist period 

in Macedonia. The IMF and the 

Macedonian government did not agree 

on an arrangement and we are well on 

our way to losing our arrangements 

with the World Bank. The reforms have 

stopped, and the government is spending 

a lot of many to pay the administration 

and the pensioners in order to gain 

their votes for the upcoming elections 

on September 15th. 

Besides the "wounds" from the war 

and vague political instability, the following 

parliamentary elections will also 

have a negative impact on development. 

The restoration of lost trust among 

Macedonian customers and investors 

will be of a great importance for the 

country in 2002. That will be hard to perform, 

because people will save their new 

Euros to spend them in "better days". 

Foreign investors will "flee" 

Macedonia, except maybe those from 

Greece, who are not afraid of the instable 

working circumstances in 

Macedonia. 

For a long time it was claimed that 

the war was the main reason for the 

worsened circumstances in the textile 

industry - which is not entirely accurate. 

Now, it is obvious that the recession 

movement in the World market, the 

interrupted reforms, as well as the state 

of our economy, will continue to present 

a big obstacle to the awakening of 

the investment cycle and the provision 

of new employment opportunities. 

(The author is editor in cheef 

of the weekly „ Kapital“) 

An essay on the stone bridge 

92 

Danilo Kocevski 

The Stone Bridge on the 

river Vardar in Skopje conceals its 

origin like a real wise man: it does not 

reveal it; so that nobody can call it its 

own and attribute it to himself? 

Beauty belongs to everybody. The 

Stone Bridge belongs to all the citizens 

of this city, irrespective of who 

built it or finished it : Justinian, Murat 

the Second, Mehmed the Second, 

Huma Shah Sultan, Czar Dushan; or 

according to the legends, even King 

Marko! The various stories around its 

building are known among the people 

as "tavatura". Such beauty cannot 

remain without legends, without 

numerous stories that excite the spirits: 

everybody wants to approach 

beauty, to touch it, to feel its power 

and magic. 

Plus, the beauty and the grandeur 

of the Stone Bridge are unique. 

Each city has a genetic code, and 

the genetic code of Skopje is the 

Stone Bridge. 

Famous revolutionaries met on 

the Stone Bridge, new acquaintances 

and loves were born; however, rebels 

were executed on the same bridge 

too. Life and death intermingled. 

They became one, as the eternal 

waters of Vardar flowing underneath. 

In order to give your life a timeless 

dimension, you must touch eternity: 

take a picture on the Bridge, 

under the arcs or the shores and 

quays: in the background stand the 

officer's residence, People's Bank, 

The Fortress, the Bazaar… 

Life should not only be made eternal, 

it should be challenged and, at 

times, defied: during the summer 

heat, jump in the river, be a bird and a 

fish at the same time, be a local hero 

who is pointed at afterwards. 

Bridges connect, they never 

divide. Therefore, evil people, in evil 

times, ruined the bridges first. But the 

bridges can never be destroyed. 

Since, as much as they are material 

and physical, they 

are deep within 

us. They are a part 

of man and 

humanity, and 

they cannot be 

destroyed. 

No bridge 

leads in one direction. 

Bridges connect, 

they never 

separate. A bridge 

with a ruined part 

leads nowhere. 

Thus, the bridge 

loses meaning; but, those living in its 

vicinity have no meaning either. 

Shores looking onto themselves have 

lost their meaning too. 

The Bridge always leads to the 

other, the opposite side - the different. 

Yet, the Other and the Opposite are 

but ourselves. Unity of differences. 

Linking directions, space, spiritual 

wealth - without this fundamental 

philosophy bridges would not exist. 

Whichever direction you take, wherever 

you step on the Bridge, you certainly 

go to the Other, as to yourselves. 

The two shores become one: a 

bridge. And the bridge holds itself out 

to the shores: difference. 

Since ancient times, the Stone 


Bridge has been connecting the left 

and the right shore of Vardar. It connected 

people, artisans, trade, civilizations. 

They all put a single stone 

in the bridge, building it they made it 

timeless. 

It is not accidental that the Bridge 

opposed every evil and natural catastrophe: 

floods, earthquakes, wars. 

The wisdom of its endurance is kept 

deeply inside. And it's not a case of 

luck or misfortune, but a case of destiny; 

it was our destiny for it to be the 

genetic code of the city and to teach 

us the incomparable language of the 

shores. 

Those who live long, have a long 

memory: the Stone Bridge recalls 

many stories referring to its history. 

One by one, they disappeared; in 

spite of that, the Bridge is timeless. 

Men have left their traces, and then 

disappeared: the Bridge fostered his 

spirit, his yearn for eternity. Man and 

Bridge - what a strong bond, what a 

profound desire to defy space and 

time, the fading and the transitory. 

One of the last inscriptions on the 

Stone Bridge was one dated 1911, the 

time of the visit of the sultan, 

Mehmed Reshad the Fifth. 

The bridge was then expanded 

and the iron fence was set up. 

Nowadays, after almost a hundred 

years, the same fence is being 

replaced again with- a stone fence. 

Many waters will flow and fences 

will change, but the Bridge will 

remain the same. 

The inscription referring to its 

history has vanished, as well as many 

others: the one about the restoration, 

from 1579/80 (987 by the Hijdra), 

during the rule of Sultan Murat the 

Third; one during the restoration 

from 1817/18, during the rule of 

Ahmed Ejub pasha; or the one from 

1890… 

During the numerous restorations, 

some of the stone arcs were 

replaced with brick, which is visible 

today as well. However, it is just a 

scratch on the face of one facing eternity. 

The inscriptions disappear; however, 

the descriptions live longer. 

Almost every writer-traveler that 

passed this city admired and 

described the Stone Bridge. 

Bridges are fascinating, in particular 

those that are powerful and beautiful, 

like the Stone Bridge in Skopje. 

This is how Evlija Chelebija, from 

the mid-17th century, describes it: 

"On the river Vardar there is a 

bridge with fourteen arcs, out of 

which four have been destroyed, but 

are now refurnished and finished. 

The year of their restoration was registered 

in this description: those that 

have seen the restoration of this unrivalled 

bridge praised it saying that it 

is much better than the previous one. 

The people approved of this restoration. 

The date was put by Helali: the 

repairer of the Stone Bridge." 

Chelebija and the Stone Bridge. A 

Bridge that is unrivalled. 

That is why this bridge is the 

genetic code of the city. 

In 1878, the traveler Leon Igone 

wrote: "One antique and rather old 

high bridge connects the shores of 

Vardar. The edgy arcs are made of 

stone, the one in the middle is higher 

than the rest. According to Turkish 

architecture, the floor with the two 

bended arcs forms a reef similar to a 

roof." The Bridge has been described 

by J.G Han, Arthur Evans, and many 

famous, less known or anonymous 

travelers. 

However, bridges are not only a 

crossing, they are wisdom accumulated 

in years. One cannot do without 

the other: endurance is wisdom, and 

wisdom is an indelible trace. The 

Stone Bridge conceals its origin, but 

reveals its wisdom to us. Will we 

accept that wisdom, as before, or will 

we close our eyes to it? 

The wisdom of the Stone Bridge 

is the wisdom of existence from 

which we have to learn. 


93 

According to 

OSCE and EU 

observers, even 

though the greatest 

part of the 

peace process is 

successfully implemented, 

time is 

still needed to 

return the trust 

between the mixed 

ethnic local communities, 

as well 

as the trust of the 

Albanians in the 

Macedonian police 

Macedonia „licks“ 

its wounds from the war 

Irfan Agushi 

Emil Zafirovski 

The process of reintegration 

of the crisis regions 

is slowly coming to an end. 

The mixed police patrols 

have entered the last villages 

from the crisis 

regions in Tetovo and 

Kumanovo. The police 

teams have, for some time, 

been patrolling in the villages 

of Shipkovica, 

Slupchane, Brodec, Gajre, 

Rasadishte, Lisec, Veshala 

and Bozovice, former centers 

of the paramilitary 

group, the NLA. 

After the fights, and at 

the beginning of the 

process of reintegration, the 

police succeeded in entering 

more of the villages 

around Kumanovo, which 

was not the case with the 

villages around Tetovo. 

The people there manifested 

great resistance towards 

the mixed ethnic police 

patrols; this was especially 

the case with the village of 

Shemshevo, where the 

Albanian population is still 

not satisfied, and occasionally 

provokes smaller inci- 


94 

dents. Because of that, OSCE has 

recently warned the local community of 

Shemshevo, "If people do not stop acting 

irresponsibly, communication with 

the village will be interrupted." 

The plan for the return of the police 

forces had police forces enter 139 communities. 

So far, with help from OSCE 

and the "Amber Foxes" from the NATO 

forces, the police have succeeded in 

establishing 24-hours patrols in 65 villages. 

According to OSCE and EU 

observers, even though the greatest part 

of the peace process is successfully 

implemented, time is still needed to 

return the trust between the mixed ethnic 

local communities, as well as the 

trust of the Albanians in the Macedonian 

police. Allen Le Roi, the special representative 

of the European Union, says 

that things are moving in a positive 

direction. 

"When we planned the process for 

the entrance of the police forces in the 

villages of the crisis region, a lot of people 

didn't believe in the success of this 

mission. From a total of 139 villages, 

the police are back completely in 132. 

During the following weeks, I hope that 

the police teams will establish control in 

the rest of the villages, where now there 

are still no conditions for safe travel. I 

am thinking primarily of the regions of 

Skopska Crna Gora. But, that is only the 

first phase of the plan, and we will continue 

working on the complete reintegration 

of the crisis regions", says Le 

Roi. 

He emphasized that the return of 

dislocated people and refugees is also 

very successful. 

"At the beginning of the conflict, 

more than 170,000 abandoned their 

homes. So far around 155,000 have 

returned to their homes, and soon we 

will create better conditions for the 

return of the rest of these people," says 

the special representative of EU. 

According to Florin Pasniku, the 

spokesman of OSCE, the peace plan is 

being implemented even earlier than 

expected. 

"The general plan for the patrolling 

of the police is proceeding splendidly. 

The fact that there were only a small 

number of incidents is also very encouraging. 

It indicates that people are in 

favor of peace. People support the return 

of the police and that gesture is a proof 

that peace is their only option," emphasized 

Pasniku. 

The part of the Macedonian people 

that during the crisis abandoned their 

homes is returning progressively. But, 

the number of those who are still living 

in the refugee centers/shelters throughout 

Macedonia is still big. In the villages 

on Shar Planina, above the Tetovo- 

Jazhince road, mainly only the older 

Macedonian inhabitants are returning to 

their homes. The younger ones live in 

the shelters. They refuse to come back 

because of "fear of the local Albanian 

people". 

It is not safe. There are shootings 

every day, and the former terrorists are 

still controlling the region. There are no 

other laws except for those of the 

KLA/UCK. We demand that the government 

secure our villages and repair our 

ruined homes. After that, we can go 

back," say some of the dislocated people 

from Tetovo, now living in the shelters 

in Skopje. 

According to the State Coordinative 

Body for Dealing with Crisis, the reconstruction 

of the destroyed houses, the 

return of the police and the deactivation 

of the minefields are the main terms for 

the return of the dislocated people. 

"We work intensively to help the 

return of the people to their homes. But, 

it is necessary first to create safe conditions 

and to reconstruct the ruined houses. 

The slower process of reconstruction 

is delaying the return of the dislocated 

people, because they simply do not have 

anywhere to come back to," says Zoran 

Tanevski, spokesman of the 

Coordinative Body for Dealing with 

Crisis. 

President Boris Trajkovski has 

recently met the European ambassadors 

and has asked them to hasten the process 

of reconstruction. After the meeting, the 

German ambassador, Werner Burghard, 

said that they would use the necessary 

methods to hasten the reconstruction of 

the houses. Besides the reconstruction 

of the houses and the return of the 

police, one of the main priorities in the 

peace process is the deactivation of the 

minefields. According to the peace plan, 

it would allow additional security for the 

people that are planning to come back. 

In that sense, special teams of Bosnian 

experienced experts are working intensively 

at the moment on that matter. Last 

year they cleaned the region around 

Tetovo and Kumanovo. They discovered 

and destroyed two different types 

of mines, as well as 149 non-detonated 

devices used in the military actions. 

These are the so-called special ITF 

groups (International Fund for Helping 

the Victims of Mines). The group consists 

of 36 experts, divided into three 

teams of 12 people. The number of people 

in this group will be increased 

through the training of domestic experts. 

The entrances of all the villages in the 

crisis regions are expected to be cleaned 

from the non-detonated devices by the 

end of the fall. There are still some 

regions in Skopska Crna Gora that are 

not cleaned from the mines. When that 

is finished, it will be safe for the police 

to go back there. Abejdin Zimberi, president 

of the local community of the village 

Slupchane around Kumanovo (one 

of the last villages the mixed ethnic 

police patrols entered), emphasized that 

peace is coming back to our country and 

that in the future we will have to work 

more on strengthening trust and coexistence. 

"The entering of the police in 

Slupchane and the other crisis regions is 

proving that the situation is stabilizing. 

The war is over and is not coming back 

any more. The process of returning the 

police was a bit delayed in the village of 

Slupchane, but it was not ill-intentioned. 

We had to secure the region first, as well 

as cooperate with the local people to 

assure them that the police need to 

patrol in this village. That was very 

important for avoiding possible incidents, 

which can be fatal and can bring 

us back to where we started," says 

Zimberi, former head of the NLA military 

police in the area of Kumanovo. 

According to him, the situation in the 

region of Lipkovo and Kumanovo is 

more than satisfying at the moment. 

"It will stay like that in the future 

as well. We are ready to control this 

region and we will not let anyone take 

peace away from us," he says. A large 

number of inhabitants of the Lipkovo 

region were left without a home during 

the crisis. Now they are facing poverty 

and misery, living only on social support. 

They are revolted because, as they 

say, they receive only little humanitarian 

help. 


"This war has taken away everything 

I had. I was working and earning 

all my life in order to build a house for 

my family. Now my home is gone. All 

that's left of it is ruins. I live with my 

family in the basement of my brother's 

house. It is very hard. I don't have any 

money or a job to earn it. I used to be 

the most famous producer of tobacco in 

Kumanovo. Before the war, I even won 

a gold medal for the quality of my 

tobacco. I lived a very normal life. 

There were times when I was happy and 

laughing, but now I feel like crying. I 

am completely broke, and I still have to 

take care of the 14 members of my family. 

We live only on social help, the 

2800 denars that we receive from the 

state," said Ljutvi Ismaili from the village 

of Matejche in the area of 

Kumanovo. 

His neighbor Elmi Azizi lives with 

the same problems: 

"Matejche is the only village in the 

region of Lipkovo and Kumanovo with 

a mixed ethnic population. For more 

than 50 years, we lived together with 

the Macedonians, as brothers, friends 

and good neighbors. I cannot understand 

where this hate came from. God 

damn this war and the ones that caused 

it! I think that the politicians have the 

largest share of guilt. They have 

"cooked" this mess, so that now they 

can fill their pockets with some more 

money. The war is over, but it didn't 

bring anything good to us - only ruined 

homes, misery and even worse poverty. 

Everybody talk about the return of the 

dislocated people, but no one has come 

to see the conditions in our village of 

Matejche. Where can the orthodox people 

from the village return to when their 

homes are completely destroyed?" he 

said. 

Ethnic crossroads 


In 2001 on the territory of the Republic of 

Macedonia an interethnic conflict broke out. 

Irrespective of how we define and name the 

sides in the conflict, its ethnic dimension is 

uncontested (considering both the immediate 

participants, the content of the conflict and the 

mediated participation of many groups of people 

clustered on the basis of ethnic background. 

The conflict was deemed to be due to 

interethnic relations. While it lasted, it was 

regarded as a clash between members of different 

ethnicities and finally resulted in 

changes in the interrelationship of various ethnicities 

(in terms of both structure and social 

interaction). The interethnic component outlines 

the starting and finishing line of the conflict. 

The question arising today is: have we 

succeeded in stepping out of the closed circle 

of conflict and have we set the grounds for 

reviving democracy, or have we prepared the 

ground for further conflicts? 

BRUTALIZATION OF SOCIETY 

We have had the opportunity to see and 

feel that proclaiming good interethnic relations 

is not sufficient, neither is coalition between 

parties sufficient, nor the allocation of the 

highest political and state positions. The many 

years of inappropriate politics and the actual 

treatment of interethnic relations, have created 

conditions for manipulation of unprecedented 

scale which, in its turn has led to brutalization 

of society, an attempt to militarize it, and finally 

to open violence. At the moment, we are 

given the opportunity to see a the complex of 

determinants underlying the current situation 

in the Republic of Macedonia. For example: 

the economic collapse, corruption, lowered 

standard of living, lack of control over the government, 

the dissolution of legal structures, 

and the inability of democratic institutions to 

function. Of these, interethnic relations still 

holds first place and is regarded as a basis for 

mobilizing citizens. Should we accept interethnic 

relations as being primary in building democratic 

structures, institutions and relations, 

then, one should take into account the following: 

what are they, which direction are they 

going, what do citizens have at their at disposal 

to improve them? 

Interethnic conflicts usually have deep 

roots in the sense of identity and the actual distribution 

(or perception of distribution) of economic, 

social and political resources of the 

state. In the post-conflict period in the 

Republic of Macedonia, the issue of identity 

and fears related to its possible violation are 

still considered taboo. Members of various 

ethnic communities are not willing to listen to 

the fears, desires and opinions of the "others." 

Everyone remains enclosed within their own 

group, which is also closed and thus it augments 

fears and can not offer a solution to the 

mutual problem. Both sides have a feeling that 

We have had 

the opportunity 

to see and 

feel that proclaiming 

good 

interethnic 

relations is 

not sufficient, 

neither is 

coalition 

between parties 

sufficient, 

nor the allocation 

of the 

highest political 

and state 

positions 

95 

A new beginning, November 2002

96 

their identity is jeopardized. (These are 

manifested as a need to identify and 

glorify new heros who fought on opposite 

sides in the conflict; a forced display 

of religion, by means of building 

bigger monuments; emphasizing ethnic 

symbols with clear-cut delineation of 

ethnic borders; defining "evil" with 

clear ethnic connotation, which is mostly 

apparent in the act of "revealing" the 

link between particular criminal acts 

and a specific ethnic community.) Such 

manifestations serve only to deepen the 

gap and incapacitate communication. 

The openly manifested identity of 

the "other," expressed difference, the 

posed demand, are perceived and experienced 

as a direct attack on the space 

where I manifest "my" identity, as confinement 

of my particularity and as an 

inability to realize my requests. In the 

previous post-conflict period an effort 

has not been made to expand the common 

space so as to fit difference, selfidentity, 

and meeting different interests 

and needs, nor have alternative solutions 

been offered that will open the 

way to the civil option. In this area 

interethnic relations are stuck in a deadend 

which offers nothing but a new conflict. 

EMOTIONS IMPEDE 

NEGOTIATIONS 

One feature of interethnic conflicts 

is their highly emotional charge, which 

approaches the very essence of identity 

and can accumulate much collective 

energy. The already existing negative 

emotions add up to the feeling of injustice, 

as a usual inheritance of brutal 

internal conflicts. Emotions, feeling of 

injustice, and remembrances from 

severe violations of human rights during 

armed clashes impede negotiations 

and stall the process. Differences in 

how victims of the conflict have been 

perceived and the nurturing of collective 

memories deepen the gaps between 

members of ethnic communities, while 

collective and individual traumas have 

been provoked over and over without 

offering a suitable treatment. The lack 

of any sort of post-conflict therapy for 

all participants in armed activities 

enables the creation of a mass of disoriented 

malcontents who do not stand a 

chance to fit into everyday life. Without 

the equal, unbiased and fair exercising 

of justice, without explanation and 

transparency in making political decisions 

aimed at tackling the conflict, and 

without a serious engagement towards 

socializing the conflicted sides, one can 

not expect unity and confidence-building. 

On this issue, we are again in a 

dead-end that does not offer a way out 

except through a new conflict. 

The long-term strategy to lessen 

interethnic tensions comprises ability of 

the appropriate democratic structures to 

function and creation of a democratic 

atmosphere on the overall social and 

political scene. Is consistent building 

and respecting of the democratic institutions 

(even when it seems petty, 

unnecessary and trivial, or when it 

seems like we could find simpler and 

more efficient solutions) the only guarantee? 

A mechanism capable of managing 

conflicts also needs to be established. 

The democratic system has to have 

features such as: legitimacy, inclusiveness, 

flexibility and capacity to constantly 

adjust as a pre-requisite for managing 

deeply rooted conflicts. 

Promotion of such underlying democratic 

values as pluralism, tolerance, 

negotiation and compromise, are considered 

to be essential in building a dam 

for potential armed solutions to a conflict. 

Contrary to this, in the previous 

period citizens received a message that 

nothing can be achieved by means of 

state organs and institutions, while 

political and any other sort of violence 

is a quite efficient means. This message 

only brings us closer to a new conflict. 

DESTROYING ALL 

CHANCES FOR 

INTERPERSONAL 

COMMUNICATION 

Long-term democratic development 

is constantly thwarted by requests for 

quick and visible changes. The constant 

pressure for quick fixes (according to 

the principle, now and everything), taking 

into account different and opposing 

aspirations and objectives of particular 

ethnic communities, leads to a complete 

denial of the structure and the legal system. 

In such cases speed does not usually 

correspond to quality, and form 

remains an empty shell without suitable 

content. Agreements should be a result 

of negotiation, finding common points 

and joint solutions, they are to offer 

alternative solutions and should reach 

consensus generally as well as for each 

point in particular. Only this type of 

agreement can be efficiently implemented 

in practice. The solution to the 

interethnic tensions in Republic of 

Macedonia has been questioned to a 

great extent especially because of the 

agreement known as the Ohrid 

Framework Agreement. 

Due to the urgency of the matter 

and various pressures (in particular 

from the international community) an 

agreement was prepared that does not 

satisfy the negotiating parties. It contains 

a great number of inconsistencies 

and as such implies extensive political 

voluntarism in tackling legal issues that 

will appear in the course of its implementation. 

This implies that in the 

implementation stage many crucial 

issues should be tackled but such shifts 

in the legal system make it unstable and 

inconsistent. Thus, the process of 

implementation is constantly postponed, 

which in its turn creates insecurity, 

distrust of the system and a sense 

among the citizens of prolonged instability 

of the state. Applying the slowfast 

principle in solving conflicts, a new 

source of interethnic tensions is created. 

The way out of the cycle of conflict is 

blocked, so negative behavior of one 

side is felt as a provocation and a pretext 

for a suitable response which, in the 

long run, terminates with a request for 

political intervention and justification 

for not obeying laws. 

The unfavorable economic situation 

lays a foundation for expanding 

interethnic tensions and inciting conflicts. 

Shortly after the armed conflict in 

the Republic of Macedonia, not only 

did the economy indicators not 

improve, but also production slackened, 

all aspects of the economy deteriorated, 

and living standards fell. 

Impoverishment is omnipresent and 

disregards ethnicity. However, it is not 

considered a common problem, and 

instead it is used as a tool for inciting 

interethnic tensions. Violence in the 

economy damages all citizens, although 

it is often successfully portrayed as ethnically 

tainted or defined. For example, 

"the others" avoid paying taxes, "the 


others" enjoy the benefits from tax revenue, 

the grey economy is in the hands 

of the ethnically defined mafia, members 

of one ethnic community are 

sacked so the "others" can be 

employed, until we come to the old 

saying, "If I can't have it, you won't 

either." Under conditions of enormous 

unemployment, poverty of catastrophic 

dimensions and a lack of economic 

progress, there is no room to discuss 

improvement of interethnic relations. 

The need for survival and elementary 

existence force people into isolated 

groups defined by ethnicity and prepare 

the conditions for a new conflict. 

And, finally, the last stroke to cut 

the branch we are sitting on: the 

"killing" of the young generation. In the 

post-conflict period, there wasn't a single 

issue handled with such consistency, 

insistence and dedication, as the 

destruction of all chances for the new 

generation to find a way to communicate 

among themselves, to meet somewhere, 

to respect each other, and (God 

forbid!) to fall in love. In that action, 

parents, educators, state structures, parties, 

media, religious communities and 

some nongovernemental organizations 

are included. Schools are divided, faculties, 

bars, playing grounds are divided. 

Banners, demonstrations, art, 

speeches, organizations. 

They all serve to use children and 

young people as a tool of interethnic 

impatience and obedient soldiers for a 

future conflict. 

(The author is a legal advisor) 

Wounded dignity 

never heals. Those 

who cause the 

wounds forget them 

quickly, if they 

notice them at all," 

as a French intellectual 

would have 

written. That is 

exactly the feeling 

that encircles and 

worries all of us in 

Macedonia, especially 

after all that happened 

to us in 2001. 

Many of those who 

are faced with such 

feelings are probably 

asking themselves: Is 

Macedonia going to 

survive; is there any 

future for 

Macedonia? To 

make things easier 

for us and for those 

who are still torturing 

themselves with 

such dilemmas (some 

of them are even 

under sedation), we 

should give one 

explanation: THE 

FUTURE IS A 

GRAMMATICAL 

FICTION, some 

would add: …OR 

UTOPIA 

Gjorge Ivanov 

Macedonia and 

the future!? 

"Wounded dignity never heals. 

Those who cause the wounds forget 

them quickly, if they notice them at 

all," as a French intellectual would 

have written. That is exactly the feeling 

that encircles and worries all of us 

in Macedonia, especially after all that 

happened to us in 2001. Many of 

those who are faced with such feelings 

are probably asking themselves: 

Is Macedonia going to survive; is 

there any future for Macedonia? 

To make things easier for us and 

for those who are still torturing themselves 

with such dilemmas (some of 

them are even under sedation), we 

should give one explanation: THE 

FUTURE IS A GRAMMATICAL 

FICTION, some would add: …OR 

UTOPIA. 

If we try to present the future with 

some kind of plan, project, party or 

government program (programs we 

are waiting for so impatiently these 

days), we will face some unexpected 

surprises: we can't see the future 

clearly from the present. On the other 

hand, if we ignore the future and leave 

it in dim unpredictability, then we 

might face the danger of these fictions 

becoming our unbridgeable hindrances. 

Wise people, who have seriously 

dealt with such issues, are suggesting 

one possible preventive -the ecology 

of ignorance- distinguishing between 

the different layers of recognized 

ignorance and the ignorance that 

"doesn't exist" simply because it is 

unrecognized. The unrecognized 

ignorance that we face in "post- 

Ohrid" Macedonia is, actually, what 

we should be concerned about. 

"Evolution has always had a 

destructive influence," wrote 

Luhman, trying to explain Kun's thesis 

about the dim discontinuities of 

evolution: "Once-present attitudes can 

only be reconstructed by means of 

many deduced fictions, there is simply 

no other way to do it." Taking into 

account "discontinuity of evolution" 

the question about Macedonia's future 

can be answered neither from a transcendental 

point of view (that our destiny 

was "written in the stars") nor in 

a positivist one, in which we would 

discover the future conditions of the 

state while still in the present, as if the 

present were a seed of the future and a 

97 


98 

fruit of the past. 

To avoid any confusion, we 

should clarify: the seed and the fruit 

are the same thing. They are different 

only in their functions. The one who 

puts them to use has no guarantee 

which of the two functions they are 

going to perform. Every farmer, who 

has this existential paradox (seedfruit) 

in his hands out in the field, 

knows that. 

Instead of exhausting ourselves 

with questions about the past, the 

present and the future of Macedonia (a 

question that has always been more 

interesting to our neighbors than to 

us), we have to ask ourselves how to 

behave towards ignorance in both its 

forms: the recognized and the unrecognized. 

So from our present 

(hermeneutic) situation, we can only 

see one side of the problem, whereas 

the other side remains unmarked, and 

this unmarked side of the problem, 

with its anonymous nature determines 

our "destiny." The unmarked place is 

not the same as the ignorance in 

Socrate's postulate: "I know that I 

don't know anything." The ignorance 

is the other, recognized side of knowledge. 

The unmarked place, however, 

is inaccessible for the modality 

knowledge/ignorance. 

Let us simplify. When we face 

such terms as intersubjectivity, alter 

ego, inclusion or incorporation of the 

other, responsive ethics, blindfold of 

ignorance, unmarked space, then we 

are in the field of the ecology of ignorance. 

(These terms until recently 

were present only in the theory of politics, 

yet today they are part of the 

everyday reports and projects about 

our country.) 

That is why we should finally realize 

that the origins and the future of 

Macedonia (like every other country) 

are also an existential paradox, an 

issue that deserves the attention of 

every citizen, and especially the attention 

of every public servant in the 

country (of course, if there are any). 

Namely, the future of Macedonia is 

not hidden in fictions called past or 

future, but in our ability to face those 

fictions. The usual theorizing and 

manipulating with ready plans, wishes, 

interests and invented identification 

strategies will permanently lead 

us towards a dead end. Our destiny, as 

an elderly person would say, isn't any 

different than the destiny of those 

before us. The same thing that happened 

to the self-understanding and 

the cultural forms of "the world of 

life" in the past will happen to today's 

society too. There is no doubt about it. 

Our world will go through the same 

things as the other worlds in the past. 

We shouldn't ignore this lesson while 

discussing our future. 

However, something else is 

important at the moment. Namely, a 

state that is legitimate regarding 

human rights (and that indeed is 

Macedonia after "Ohrid") is an open 

state by definition, since the list of 

human rights is not, and it can not 

be, closed. It is in fact open. 

According to human rights, everyone 

can be, i.e., can become a citizen 

of the state, because the state 

doesn't determine who is human; on 

the contrary: the person determines 

how the state is going to look. At 

least we have felt that, and we know 

best: if you have corrupt people 

leading the country--then your country 

will be corrupted too. If you have 

honest people--you will have an 

honest country too. (As far as those 

who have used hard times to gain 

power are concerned, ordinary people 

shouldn't be preoccupied with 

them. In politics, just like in life, 

there always comes a time when the 

laws of nature start to function: you 

perform evil deeds--you acquire 

evil. There is no escaping that, as 

our people would say, "the evil will 

follow you in your offspring as far 

as the ninth generation.") 

The political community which is 

identified by the innovation of adherence 

to protecting human rights 

(which is basically what the changes 

in our Constitution consist of) is no 

longer explicable within the traditional 

notion of citizens' state, closed in 

terms of territory and time (like our 

neighboring countries). For the time 

being, that is exactly what the people 

in Macedonia, who have remained 

patriots, are worried about. The state 

that can no longer be identified with 

some constancy (the innovations are 

unpredictable and, thus, out of their 

control) stops being a suitable form of 

political community that we are familiar 

with nowadays. Thus, right in front 

of our eyes, we have the establishing 

of some amorphous community that 

looks upon innovation as an unconditional 

presumption for its survival. 

That is, in fact, our future; the believers 

would add--our destiny, or kismet, 

according to the Muslims. 

Praxis is in itself the best media 

through which humanity should act. 

Thus, the next move is in the hands of 

the people to whom these innovations 

refer. Or, to put it plainly: the 

Albanian minority in Macedonia 

should finally become the advocate of 

the Macedonian minority in Albania. 

As soon as this is achieved, the present 

innovations will begin to function 

to their full capacity, and the future 

will become, more or less, predictable. 

Nonetheless, if the present 

arrogant and ignorant attitude towards 

this issue continues, the future will 

stay naked fiction. We can't continue 

claiming (as it happened on one platform 

in Skopje recently) that if the 

minority doesn't ask for their rights, 

they shouldn't receive them; that the 

quality of the rights depends on the 

quantity of the minority. Such racist 

attitudes are only going to increase the 

gap and will cause hatred and rage 

that (if they overflow) can drown us 

all living in this territory. 

What are we supposed to do now? 

Weber would say: "It all depends 

on the decidedness and the strong will 

of one nation not to let their leaders 

treat them as a herd of sheep." 

Giddens would add: "You are 

about to face a kind of 'cultural revolution' 

which demands that every individual 

during his lifetime behave like 

a manager who possesses access to 

different fields from the market and 

who holds responsibility for her 

achievements as well as for her downfalls". 

To our health! 

(The author is a professor at 

the Faculty of Law in Skopje) 


Elections 2002 

Sasho Cholakovski 

There was the great coming of age 

of electoral democracy on the subject 

of peaceful handover of power. There 

was the unquestionable, not just winning 

but triumphant outcome for the 

"For Macedonia" coalition and for 

DUI. Then there was the phenomenon 

of the turnout, and the fiasco of the 

third option. All these 

elements marked the 

2002 parliamentary elections 

in Macedonia. 

After two electoral 

cycles regarded as devastating 

for democracy, on 

the 15th of September 

Macedonian democracy 

came of age, and the will 

of the citizens triumphed. 

During parliamentary 

elections in 1998, the ruling 

coalition SDSM-PDP 

handed over power in 

almost Swedish style. 

Generally, in the 

2002parliamentary elections, 

VMRO-DPMNE 

and DPA demonstrated 

that Macedonia has 

acquired the electoral 

stamina and the first 

level of democratic culture, 

despite all the difficulties 

caused by the 

grave implications of 

constructed incidents. 

The bad scenarios may 

have failed due to the downfall of the 

ruling parties, which was apparent 

already the morning of the elections, 

and possibly due to the oblivious state 

of the ruling parties and the lack of 

Macedonian priorities are 

a legal state, then democracy! 

rational perception of the true electoral 

mood. Therefore, it seems apparent 

that prevention is better than a cure. 

If the previous ruling parties are to 

be thanked, it is only for the fact that 

they mobilized the civil factor as a 

third public eye: the nongovernmental 

sector and media. These two segments 

have had a key role as citizen's whip 

for the authorities. In principle, they 

There is an old 

democratic 

maxim that the 

British adore: 

Power corrupts, 

absolute 

power corrupts 

absolutely! 

function as such in 

modern states if the 

state and the system 

start serving the ruling 

party instead of 

the people. Finally, 

only last year did the 

public started to 

strengthen as an 

institution with a 

capital P, responsive 

to the media signals, 

which likewise 

grounded their legitimacy on public 

support and feedback. The other key 

preventive link were the representatives 

of the international community. 

With their presence in the field, especially 

at the anticipated crisis locations, 

the internationals created psychological 

and physical shields against incidents. 

Most noteworthy, however, is that 

the Republic of Macedonia primarily 

helped itself! These parliamentary 

elections have definite historic importance. 

The atmosphere in the city 

squares on Sunday night during the 

voting, demonstrated a cathartic 

release of the spirit, which the citizens 

needed as an outlet for the compressed 

build-up. Both for the ones infected 

with politics and the apolitical ones. 

Everybody needed victory. In order not 

to mystify whether this was a vote for 

or against: this was not a victory for 

SDSM or VMRO-DPMNE - this was a 

victory for Macedonia. The parliamentary 

elections completed an historic 

phase in the development of democracy 

in Macedonia: a new political 

image, essential to the future of the 

state, is being created. The new political 

attitude will be legitimate and legal, 

obtained by the will of the majority of 

voters, and that is exactly where the 

previous ruling party fell short very 

quickly. And it is good that Macedonia 

proceeds apace with the handover of 

power, which proves that nobody is 

eternal, that the people can punish, and 

they can also award. 

There is one notable point with 

regard to these elections. It is the 

defeat of the right, radical, oligarchic 

clericalism that was strengthened in 

the last two years of Ljubcho 

Georgievski's Government. It is the 

defeat of the post-modern concept 

exercised by the Coalition VMRO- 

DPMNE, DPA and LP, of imposing a 

false projection of reality as opposed to 

99 


100 

the objective reality. In addition, there 

is the penalty by the Albanian electorate 

for the corrupt establishment of 

DPA. There is an ancient democratic 

saying that the British adore: Power 

corrupts, absolute power corrupts 

absolutely! 

The second important electoral 

outcome is the fiasco of the so-called 

third option, that is the one that does 

not belong to either of the two strong 

political blocks. Many are convinced 

that for Macedonia in the current constellation 

a proportional model with six 

electoral units is the most suitable one, 

although it is exceptionally unfavorable 

to the smaller parties. In slightly 

different security and economic constellations, 

possibly in one or two mandates 

from now, the electoral model 

should undergo changes, where it will 

be approved, or rather assured, that 

parliamentary participation will be provided 

for smaller bodies as well. Not 

only as a democratic nicety but as an 

essential quality. In this regard, Darko 

Markovich has given the most appropriate 

definition: "The third way is not 

constructed with second-rate people!" 

These political factions demonstrated 

an envious level of omnipotent destruction, 

unfavorable for them too. Many 

of these third-way political players, 

incapable of making objective judgments 

about their power, did not succeed. 

They did not gain a single seat in 

the Parliament, with the exception of 

Dzingo of course, who remains as a 

one-man-show. Apart from the inconveniences 

in the electoral system, "the 

third way" pointed out a leadership crisis, 

as an inability to seriously assess 

the strength of each member and that of 

the whole. Some of these players attest 

that 225,000 votes would be sufficient 

to gain 12 seats in the Parliament. 

The centrist political analysts, have 

assessed the downfall of smaller parties 

as a critical moment for society and 

democracy as well! In all likelihood 

that is true, however, it is also true that 

the fiasco is a consequence of the great 

ambitions of small-party leaders. They 

requested room in the community, not 

according to the interests and the needs 

of the citizens, but according to personal 

interests and the interests of leading 

groups. Those parties lacked a substantial 

social base. If this is viewed in the 

context of internal policy, social, security 

and other constellations, then in the 

context of neighboring and external 

state positions, many believe that the 

results from the elections truly reflect 

the needs of Macedonia. Finally, with 

our modest pluralistic experience, it is 

not at all easy to establish, stabilize and 

develop a third political force between 

the two mastodonic political blocks of 

SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE. For the 

time being, this is due to the fact that 

Macedonia is not a modern stratified 

country. The middle class is not yet 

established in sufficient quantities nor 

with definitive qualities. Macedonia is 

a poor state, with a large number of 

unemployed people, low wages, modest 

resources, semi-established institutions, 

with a vulnerable existence, contingent 

upon politics and state organs. 

All of that creates political instability 

and impatience amongst people. They 

would like to become members of the 

winning party as soon as possible, that 

is, immediately after casting their vote. 

They take aim at the party promising 

victory by means of which they would 

find solutions to their existential problems. 

Regarding the "Thirds" the fact 

that there will be another election is 

encouraging. 

As far as the electoral results are 

considered in the Albanian party camp, 

they were more or less foreseeable. 

These were definitely DUI's and Ali 

Ahmeti's elections. The institutionalized 

NLA, now DUI, used primarily 

last year's crisis for political transformation, 

and secondly the internal structure 

of NLA as a good ground for party 

infrastructure. Now, we are to see 

whether Ahmeti's star as a human 

rights fighter will shine on the political 

cloud, where traffic is denser. With 

only political promotion, he is no 

longer protected as a pan-Albanian 

icon, so instead of a Kalashnikov, he 

will have to face competition by political 

means. Of course the large number 

of votes for DUI is particularly due to 

Ahmeti's charisma and the conflict that 

he and his associates launched high in 

the Macedonian political sky. A rather 

closed Albanian society in Macedonia 

contributed to that end as well, which is 

more responsive to the nationalistic 

nerve than to other political initiatives. 

However, that's reality and it should be 

respected, although this complex of 

issues does not reflect the internal and 

modern political stratification in its 

entirety. There are no doubts that the 

crisis, that was at least complementary 

with the failing ruling parties, will take 

the development of democracy several 

cycles back. However, from a political 

point of view the state now needs to 

make 7-mile-high steps in order to surmount 

the vacuum. 

Because of conformity and their 

comfortable armchairs of power, DPA 

was punished by the voters. The selfsame 

party was one of the key generators 

of the crisis, as it became a part of 

the ethnically structured power, which 

still had covert personal interests. 

Finally, these were not PDP's elections 

and the party was very well aware of 

that fact. They payed the tax of participating 

in first this and then that government. 

PDP remains as a party for some 

future election cycle, if it overcomes 

the forthcoming problems safely. 

In the next few days, the new executive 

authority will be established. Its 

responsibilities should sober up the 

holders of the new mandate. Frenzy 

has to be replaced by sobriety. "We 

have to work," Crvenkovski used to 

say in the pre-election campaign. He's 

got the chance. He should make use of 

everyone's enthusiasm that Macedonia 

can be a normal state. Unfortunately, 

the new government will not have a 

hundred days of amnesty from public 

criticism. What should be done is to 

establish the pillars of the legal state. It 

may sound rough but what is more 

important than democracy is the functioning 

of law and the legal system in 

Macedonia. Without them, there is no 

democracy. The second thing is to 

show that crime and corruption-until 

now and from now on--do not pay. 

This is the key homework of the 

new government, if it's not properly 

dealt with in the very beginning, we 

can not expect to set new grounds for a 

new and different Macedonia. 

(The author is a journalist at 

Utrinski Vesnik) 


Elections 2002 

The Albanians drew a new political map 

Daut Dauti 

Was it victory for "Together for 

Macedonia" (Social Democratic 

Alliance) and the Democratic 

Union for Integration (DUI), or 

defeat for VMRO-DPMNE, the 

Liberals (LP) and the Democratic 

Party of the Albanians (DPA)? 

Whatever we say it was, the result 

was more or less anticipated, especially 

as far as the Macedonian 

block of parties are concerned. The 

considerable triumph of DUI over 

the other Albanian parties, however 

, was far beyond expectations. 

Amongst all these discrepancies, 

the thing that stands out is the 

political downfall of the first, and 

so far the biggest, Albanian party - 

the Party for Democratic 

Prosperity (PDP) as well as that of 

the other Macedonian parties that 

did not succeed in securing seats in 

Parliament. The only party to succeed 

in doing so was the Socialist 

Party, and the everlasting Ljubisav 

Ivanov - Dzingo. 

Of course, the 60 members of 

parliament of the coalition headed 

by SDSM were no surprise if we 

take into consideration the unfavorable 

atmosphere and the 

tremendous public discontent due 

to the 4-year-long rule of VMRO- 

DPMNE and DPA. This coalition 

is being held accountable for 

everything: beginning with the dissipation 

of public money, the selling 

of companies for enormous 

commissions, organized crime, 

bribery and corruption, and ending 

with the war. Without the slightest 

intent to defend this coalition and 

its (negative) activities, the blame 

for all that has been happening can 

be put on the previous 

Governments as well: 

Crvenkovski invented the 

"Octopus," the causes for the war 

date from when he was governing 

Having to choose between 

PDP and DPA, the 

Albanians decided to 

choose DUI because they 

were the only ones to take 

part in the elections as a 

result of their own merits, 

meaning the changes that 

resulted from the activities 

of the NLA, whose people 

joined DUI 

(he did nothing about Albanian 

requests). These as well as other 

negative phenomena lost him the 

elections in 1998. Maybe the particulars 

lie exactly in that relationship 

between the guilt of the two 

biggest political parties in the 

Macedonian political block and the 

variable mood of the electorate 

towards them. However, since 

strong feelings were created 

towards the governing of both parties, 

there was no room left for 

finding something "in-between," 

i.e., for finding the so-called "third 

path" or "third alternative". The 

party that has inserted the "alternative" 

in its program and in its 

name, Cile's DA (Democratic 

Alternative of Vasil Tupurkovski), 

has ruined its chances and the 

chances of every other third-party 

candidate, by failing to realize the 

project with the "billion." Neither 

the Democratic Alliance of the 

always ambitious but politically 

anemic Pavle Trajanov , nor Boris 

Stojmenov's VMRO (hoping for 

10 parliamentary seats) succeeded 

in passing the magic doorstep. 

Oliver Romevski (the spokesperson 

of VMRO-Macedonian), notes 

something interesting: that party 

was the only one to affect the 

defeat of VMRO-DPMNE, since 

some of the members of 

Georgievski's party allegedly had 

voted for Stojmenov. But still 

there is very little respect for such 

ambitious parties. Looking for the 

key reason for such a lack of 

respect, it was probably the psychological 

disappointment with 

Vasil Tupurkovski's party. He had 

offered money, the people believed 

him and they gave their support to 

the coalition "For Changes" in 

great numbers. However, the 

Taiwan adventure made people 

change their minds. Nevertheless, 

covert political offers can hardly 

succeed with people who have 

already been deceived once. 

Another significant fact should be 

mentioned here: the voters generally 

did not support the parties 

which asked for revision of the 

Ohrid Agreement. 

Regarding the Albanian political 

block, having to choose 

between the two most powerful 

parties so far (PDP and DPA) , the 

voters favored DUI, i.e. the 

"demobilized" Ali Ahmeti. By 

doing so, the Albanians have found 

their "third path." Arben Xhaferi, 

the leader of the "honestly defeat- 

101 


102 

ed" DPA (who has still the respectable 

number of 7 MPs), expressed his 

reservation by resigning from his 

function as an MP, observing that the 

Albanians voted as they did due to 

their "immense love of war." Maybe 

the Albanians didn't vote for war, but 

they sure did vote for its goals. As 

Gezim Ostreni, head of DPA's electoral 

headquarters, would state in one 

of his interviews: "It's not DUI that 

has won the elections, but their platform 

regarding the battle of the 

NLA." We have to look truth squarely 

in the eye and say that PDP and 

DPA entered the elections without 

any significant trumps. Their poor 

trumps were their previous mandates, 

during which, according to the 

Albanians themselves, they realized 

very little, or almost nothing they had 

promised. Unlike them, DUI enrolled 

without many promises. The implementation 

of the Ohrid Agreement is 

already a completed task, resolved 

amongst the four most relevant political 

bodies so far, but the true tribute 

for it goes to the NLA, and the NLA 

belongs more to DUI. 

The political mosaic regarding the 

Albanians who participated in the 

elections was simplified: the two 

most powerful parties so far (DPA 

and PDP ) took part and so did the 

two new ones--DUI and Kastriot 

Haxhirexha's NDP (National 

Democratic Party). With the emergence 

of DUI, there was no reason to 

reactivate some of the minor parties 

(the almost forgotten organizations of 

Nevzat Halili and Xhemail Idrizi). 

With the abolishment of the 

Coordinating Council of the Albanian 

political bodies, the chances of joint 

participation according to some kind 

of mutual formula that the leaders 

would agree on, have also failed. Had 

they done so, the number of Albanian 

MPs would be much higher than 26 

(one MP more than the maximum 

achieved so far), which can be proven 

by the forty thousand "burned" votes 

of the defeated parties! With more 

than 30 MPs, their presence in the 

Parliament would have had symbolic 

significance, showing that after the 

Ohrid Agreement the Albanian factor 

would have been strengthened in all 

spheres. 

Still, what is important for the 

pre-electoral campaign is the fact that 

DPA has understood its role, i.e., that 

it is going to be DUI's main competition. 

This party was the main reason 

for the abolishment of the 

Coordinating Council (due to the 

attack on the restaurant Dora in April, 

and to the lack of "distance" on the 

part of PDP and NDP from the statements 

made by some of their 

activists). This is why DPA wrongly 

assessed that their position would be 

stronger should they take part in the 

elections on their own, and that is 

why they appeared alone. With 

Menduh Thachi's statement that there 

was never a word about any joint 

appearance on the elections, DPA 

opened the road towards an independent 

pre-electoral battle. But that was 

the moment when it determined its 

meritorious opponent DUI, too. In 

order to become a rival equivalent to 

Ahmeti's party (formed in June 2002), 

DPA included several ex NLA-commanders 

in its ranks (Daut Rexhepi, 

Ruzhdi Matoshi) which was supposed 

to convince the Albanians that DPA 

had greater credentials from combat 

activities. On the other hand, despite 

the signature of its leader, it moved 

away from the Ohrid Agreement, saying 

that that was not the end of 

Albanian requests. As icing on the 

cake came some even more radical 

statements, deliberately placed in an 

ambiguous context, like the one about 

the dream of all Albanians - ethnic 

Albania. Parallel to that, there was 

direct criticism addressed to DUI for 

their alleged lack of radicalism. 

DUI didn't respond to DPA's 

accusations. Its leaders right from the 

start of the campaign have stated that 

they won't deal with the opponents, 

but with their political platform. They 

didn't even have to explain their own 

platform, because they are a party that 

is made up of former NLA structures, 

whose activities last year have 

brought significant changes in the 

position of Albanians in the legislative 

system and the Constitution. 

They didn't even react aggressively to 

the hindrances (announcements for 

detentions, barricades for Ali Ahmeti) 

placed on them by the government, 

and they even gave up their plan for 

their leader to appear on the scheduled 

pre-electoral meeting in the capital. 

On the other hand, DUI and DPA 

were the two extremes for the 

announced incidents before and after 

the elections. Luckily they were never 

realized, neither in the Albanian nor 

the Macedonian block of parties. The 

incidents included the murder of the 

policemen in Gostivar, Bogovinje, the 

kidnapped Macedonians in Leshnica, 

and the bombs in the Skopje headquarters 

of DUI and NDP. Regardless 

of the fact that some of the unfortunate 

episodes seemed to be part of 

some scenarios, they didn't succeed in 

interrupting the election results. 

Between DUI and DPA, it was unrealistic 

to expect a better result for 

PDP and NDP, who had based their 

strategies on the motto, "Together 

with DUI against DPA." When that 

anti- DPA battle failed, because Ali 

Ahmeti stated that he didn't want any 

conjunctural coalitions, the disappointment 

of the other two parties 

was immense, because they had very 

little time to recuperate. DUI had military 

credentials, DPA had money and 

a developed party structure. Even if 

they wanted to they couldn't go 

aggressively against DUI, while at the 

same time DUI itself was quietly battling 

against DPA. The money that 

they had from the support of the NLA 

was not sufficient for them to draw 

greater number of supporters and, on 

top of it, PDP was facing a defection 

of their members to DUI. 

According to this logic, DUI's 

victory with 16 seats is a little bit 

beyond expectations for the new 

political map. DPA with its 7 MPs 

escaped defeat, thus securing its political 

future, provided Arben Xhaferi 

stays as leader. PDP experienced the 

biggest defeat, since it's too optimistic 

to expect that it will heal soon 

with its two MPs, no matter whether 

they join the new government or not. 

NDP's experience wasn't any better 

considering the notorious opinion that 

was created during the war that they 

were a political wing of the NLA. The 

only NDP MP won as a result of his 

popularity during the war, not as a 

result of his membership in this party. 

Whether the established relationship 

between the Albanian parties 

will to be the same after four years 

will greatly depend on how DUI will 

carry out its obligations in relation to 

the executive power. It will also 

depend on whether they will repeat 

the mistakes of PDP and DPA, whose 

presence in the government so far 

hasn't significantly changed the position 

of Albanians. 

(The author is a writer and a 

commentator with "Flaka") 


Seething secondary schools 

Little Ljubchos, Brankos, 

and Ahmetis waved flags 

Cvetin Chilimanov 

The October 

protests in Skopje 

took place after a 

dirty war, when 

everyone's passions 

had been heated to 

a boiling point; and 

we all lived through 

an election campaign 

that started 

with killings of 

police officers and 

hostage dramas 

Macedonian high school 

students have been divided for 

more than a year. They cite legal 

procedures as the official reasons 

for that rift-both unions of 

high school students claim that 

they represent all students, and 

that they possess court decisions 

to support that claim. But since 

the rift, and especially with the 

events that have erupted recently, 

it becomes 

clearer that the 

genuine reasons 

for the rift are 

the political 

interests and 

patronages 

which have entered 

the unions` 

management. 

To the 

already traditional 

rift between 

VMRO- 

DPMNE and 

SDSM, which 

has been reflected 

in the unions, 

a new rift has 

been added this year: 

Macedonians and Albanians. 

The third union of high school 

students, Lehtisimi ("Relief"), 

does not even strive to represent 

all students. Its leader, 

Faton Kruezi, points out that it 

is a union of Albanian students 

exclusively. The students cannot 

benefit from such a rift, 

which can be clearly seen from 

the fights and nocturnal clashes 

which have, unfortunately, 

become a part of their daily 

existence. 

It is a good thing that the 

unions take a critical attitude 

towards the government. 

However, they do not do it 

because that position is in the 

students` interest , but because 

it is in the interest of the predetermined 

policy of the political 

option of that union. 

"Jovana Bazerkovska`s 

Union of High School Students 

consists of her and two other 

students who participate 

because of their individual 

interests," says Aleksandar 

Nikolovski, who is, if we are to 

be honest, a first-year student 

of political science at the 

Faculty of Law himself. 

"Behind Aleksandar 

Nikolovski`s High School 

Students` Union lie political 

interests," replies Bazerkovska 

who, however, does not want to 

identify the political option 

behind Nikolovski. 

Nevertheless, there is a 

record of her accusations that 

Nikolovski is the leader of a 

union formed with former 

Minister Novkovski`s blessing, 

and on his request, so that he 

can allegedly control his area 

of responsibility more easily. 

Bazerkovska is constantly 

complaining that while 

Novkovski was minister of 

education, the Ministry`s doors 

were closed to her union. 

However, Nikolovski claims 

that Novkovski has not contacted 

him either, although the 

minister jumped to protect the 

student leader after the 

announcement from his rivals 

from the coalition "For 

Macedonia"--Risto Penov and 

Trifun Kostovski--that they 

were going to bring charges 

against the union's leader for 

the protests he had organized. 

Novkovksi appraised the 

announcements of a law suit 

against Nikolovski as "a monstrous 

attack" and asked the 

state attorney to deal with 

Penov i Kostovski. 

Bazerkovska, on the other 

hand, supported Penov's 

charges against Nikolovski, 

and announced that she was 

going to bring charges against 

Nikolovski herself. All in all, a 

students' rift was created in 

which it is obvious who stands 

on whose side. Still, it all 

becomes clearer when we see 

where the bombarding with 

paragraphs and accusations is 

directed. 

At the beginning of this 

year we had a situation when 

the Union of High School 

Students of Macedonia, led by 

Jovana Bazerkovska (publicly 

accused for her closeness with 

the Social Democratic Party of 

Macedonia and the Liberal 

Democratic Party) severely 

condemned the violence 

towards the students of a high 

school in Negotino. This union 

103 


supported the students who were victims 

of the principal Bajatovska`s 

autocracy, a VMRO adherent of the 

minister Nenad Novkovski. At that 

time, the more recent High School 

Students` Union of Macedonia, led by 

Aleksandar Nikolovski, was nowhere 

in sight. This union's silence regarding 

the behavior of the Negotino principal 

helped to label it as "VMRO's" 

and "Novkovski's union." 

The change of government and 

SDSM's coming to power revealed to 

the High School Students` Union of 

Macedonia the beauty of 

acting in the opposition; 

suddenly it turned into 

the main supporter of 

students' rights. It 

rebels against everything 

and anything: the 

still unappointed minister 

of education, the violence 

against Albanian 

students in Tetovo, 

Shemshevo, Chair 

neighbourhood, etc. 

Meanwhile the once 

104 severe union has now 

decided to "give the new 

government a chance," 

and thinks that the 

future minister, Aziz Polozhani, 

should be given an opportunity to 

show what he knows. We may be 

unfair to Bazerkoska and Nikolovski 

by linking them to SDSM and 

VMRO respectively, but their public 

appearances and their vocabulary, 

which seems to borrow from the 

politicians` dictionary, make their 

indirect duels look like a bad caricature 

of the Crvenkovski-Georgievski 

duels. Even the interaction of the 

three student leaders follow the same 

line of development as the coalition 

bargainings. Bazerkovska and 

Kruezi (on whose protests the Skopje 

coordinator of DUI was seen) would 

sit down and discuss, but they both 

refused any contact with VMRO`s 

Nikolovski. "Nikolovski is only 

interested in creating tensions," says 

Kruezi. Bazarkovska has a similar 

accusation: "Our responsibility as 

high school students is to build a 

mutual life. Nikolovski destroys it," 

she says. 

The misuse of young people for 

political purposes has been massively 

in practice since 1997, when the 

opposition VMRO-DPMNE used the 

student protests against higher education 

in Albanian at the Pedagogical 

Academy, and used the high school 

students from Skopje to make the 

protests more massive. Experience 

shows that it is enough to show a finger 

to the high school students to 

make them leave the classrooms. 

During the protests for support of 

Macedonians in Shemshevo, comments 

from the crowd sounded like 

these :"In some village a school was 

named after an Albanian," "I'll be 

here until I meet all my friends, then 

I'm going home," or "I don`t know 

what we are protesting for. We get 

out of classes." However, the traumatic 

events in the country and the 

appeals for righteousness may bring 

the protests to a boiling point. 

Comments such as: "What do you 

mean, why are we on the streets? 

They killed our man in Tetovo," 

could be heard on the streets of 

Skopje on 23 October. 

The perfidious murder of Vancho 

Josifovski provoked a strong reaction 

among high school students, while 

the previous attack on a group of 

Macedonian students in the market 

"Bit Pazar" by a group of Albanians 

turned the protests of 23 October into 

complete chaos and anarchy. The 

protests were followed by a string of 

fights around the city. The public 

transport authorities were powerless 

and they could not count the number 

of demolished buses. In Butel 2, a 

Macedonian high school student was 

shot in his legs with two bullets. The 

Albanian high school students were 

victims of violence as well. After 

Kruezi`s decision to reinforce the 

protests in front of "Cvetan Dimov" 

and to block John Kennedy 

Boulevard, he was kidnapped, brutally 

beaten up, and got an 

"L" carved on his stomach 

with a knife. Two of his 

fellow students and 

activists in "Lehtisimi" 

ended up even worse, and 

the police are still searching 

for the attackers. 

The 1997 protests 

ended without any serious 

peace and safety violations 

in the country; but they did 

help VMRO-DPMNE in 

the election campaign the 

following year. Very few 

of the protest organizers, 

after fasting in front of the 

Parliament, did not sit 

down to eat meat in governmental 

armchairs later. However, those 

protests were conducted on a more 

significant intellectual basis, and 

Macedonia was then still an "oasis of 

peace." 

The October protests in Skopje 

took place after a dirty war, when 

everyone's passions had been heated 

to a boiling point. We lived through 

a dirty campaign as well, which started 

with killings of police officers and 

hostage dramas. The Macedonians 

are still trying to swallow the inclusion 

of terrorists in governmental 

institutions. If somebody wants to 

disturb the peace, they will certainly 

continue to use the "always available 

agitators and demonstrators" from 

the high schools. 

The question is, what will be 

achieved by that? 


at Dnevnik) 


The internally desplaced 

Everyone hopes for the best 


"Be patient, let the winter 

go by and we will 

repair your ruined 

homes," is what the 

internally displaced 

Macedonians are being 

advised to do by the 

Ministry of Labor and 

Social Affairs and by 

the internationals in 

charge of the reconstruction 

of the damaged 

homes 

According to the last re-registration 

of internally displaced persons 

(IDPs), carried out by the 

International Committee of the 

Red Cross (ICRC) one month ago, 

there are about 8,000 IDPs in the 

country, with a tendency for this 

number to decrease. 

Earlier, the number of temporarily 

displaced citizens was 

about 13,400. 

We are talking about inhabitants 

of the former crisis regions in 

Tetovo, Skopje and Kumanovo , 

who were forced to leave their 

dwellings. 

Most of them are accommodated 

at their relatives' and friends' 

homes throughout the country, and 

around 2,500 are sheltered in collective 

centers. 

Suzana Paunovska, coordinator 

of the International Committee of 

the Red Cross, explains that the 

number of IDPs will decrease consistently 

due to the fact that conditions 

for their return are being 

improved daily: 

"The number is expected to 

decrease as the weeks go by. 

Building reconstruction is ongoing 

and as the homes are being reconstructed, 

new conditions will be 

created for the IDPs to go back to 

their villages. We have already 

concluded that many citizens have 

returned home, though they have 

continued to receive benefits as if 

they were still IDPs. This is not 

correct from the donators standpoint, 

because they are only interested 

in helping the persons who 

really need their help," adds 

Paunovska. 

In her opinion, the 

International Committee of the 

Red Cross expects that help will 

continue to be distributed to the 

IDPs until springtime. 

The re-registration was carried 

out at the request of the European 

Union, which is the main donator, 

with the suspicion that many IDPs 

are abusing their status in order to 

get free food and other help. 

Most of the displaced 

Macedonians claim that they can't 

return to their villages because they 

feel unsafe there. Some of them, on 

the other hand, claim that the main 

reason for their status is the severely 

demolished houses. Fear of the 

Albanian population is mostly 

present among the displaced 

Macedonians from Arachinovo and 

Kumanovo regions. They refuse to 

go back and demand that the state 

provide them with new temporary 

dwellings. 

"There is no way we are going 

back. There is no life left for us in 

our birthplace-Arachinovo. We 

can't live with the people who have 

chased us off our homes using 

threats, insults and guns pointed at 

us. They are talking about cohabitation 

with the same people who 

robbed our houses and are still 

doing that. They rob, demolish and 

blow up our houses. One 

Macedonian who decided to go 

back after the war was killed by a 

bomb set in his house. 

It is a lie if someone thinks that 

the Macedonians from Arachinovo 

can go back," says B.J., a displaced 

person from Arachinovo. 

The IDPs from Arachinovo 

gathered around the association 

Zora ("Dawn"), demanding that the 

government provide them with 

new dwellings. Jana Petrushevska, 

the president of Zora, says that the 

status of the Macedonians from 

this village must be solved. 

"We can't go on like this. The 

government has to help us, enable 

us to resolve our living conditions. 

I wonder how long they are going 

to keep us in the shelters. Two 

years have gone by, and nothing 

has been done so that we can go 

home. Our houses have not been 

repaired, nor it is safer. I'm telling 

you sincerely. There are constant 

provocations and threats aimed at 

the Macedonians. Should we go 

back and risk our lives just to support 

the lies? We won't give up on 

the plan to receive temporary 

homes, because for now we don't 

see any other way out," says 

105 


Petrushevska. 

There are 600 

Macedonians from 

Arachinovo who are displaced 

from their homes 

at the moment. Most of 

them are accommodated 

in the shelter center 

"Senich" in the settlement 

Avtokomanda in Skopje. 

Ljubcho Georgievski's 

Government made a plan 

for the construction of 

new dwellings for the 

Macedonians from 

Arachinovo. The new 

homes were supposed to 

be built on a location in 

the settlement Hipodrom in Skopje, 

but after the idea was publicly 

announced, the plan received severe 

criticism and was called "an act of 

weakness that helps the ethnic cleansing 

of the Macedonians." The whole 

project was stopped immediately. 

More than a thousand orthodox 

inhabitants of the Kumanovo crisis 

region have been living as IDPs for 

106 

one year now. They are accommodated 

in the collective centers Kristal 

and Cuba, two hotels in Kumanovo. 

They are villagers from nearby Opae 

and Matejche. They refuse to go back 

to their villages because, as they say, 

they are afraid of the Albanian population 

who are behaving violently 

towards the youth who were members 

of the Macedonian security forces 

during the conflict. These IDPs asked 

the Government to provide them with 

new dwellings. According to the 

Kumanovo IDPs, some inhabitants of 

Opae have already started to sell their 

houses to their Albanian neighbors. 

"We are not going back. That is 

for sure. Our children who joined the 

army and the police are receiving 

threats from the local Albanians, 

advising them never to come back. I 

have two sons who fought during the 

crisis. If they can't go back to 

Matejche, there is nothing for me to 

go back to there," says one older villager 

form Matejche. 

The conditions in the public shelters 

are desperate, they claim 

"There are five of us sleeping in 

one room, and sixty of us using the 

same bathroom. That is not life, it is 

torture. We are not guilty for what 

happened in Macedonia and we are 

looking for help. We can't go back 

because, first of all, our houses are 

demolished and also it is not safe. The 

State has to resolve our situation and 

build us new homes," - says M.S. 

from the village of Opae. 

The IDPs staying at the hotel 

Cuba say that the living conditions 

there are endangering their health. 

" The roof is leaking, it's wet 

everywhere. We got bronchitis. The 

hygiene is terrible. Tens of us are 

using the same toilet. We are washing 

by hand, in plastic buckets, but they 

haven't given us washing powder for 

more than two months now," complains 

a displaced woman from 

Matejche, who together with her husband 

and her three children has been 

living in the hotel Cuba for more than 

a year . 

The doctors are warning that the 

number of psychological and cardiovascular 

diseases is increasing among 

1,833 IDPs in the country. In addition, 

many are also suffering from 

chronic bronchitis. 

"The conditions in which they 

live are unusual and that is why it is 

possible that some of them may catch 

tuberculosis," says Dr. Nikola 

Milanovski from the Institute for 

Pulmonary Diseases 

in Skopje. 

The situation of 

the IDPs from Tetovo, 

who live in the Shar 

Planina mountain villages 

located above 

the Tetovo-Jazhince 

highway, is similar. 

Most of them are staying 

at the collective 

centers in Skopje. 

"My house is 

razed to the ground, I 

have no place to go 

back to. I live with my 

family in the student 

dorm Stiv Naumov in 

Skopje. The internationals keep lying 

to us about the reconstruction of our 

houses. They are only promising and 

announcing, without realizing anything. 

Even if they build our homes 

we wouldn't have a chair to sit on, or 

a bed to lie in. Everything we had has 

been damaged or stolen," says B.S., 

an IDP from Tetovo region. 

IDPs from Tetovo, Kumanovo 

and Skopje regions have been away 

from their homes for a year and a half 

now. They say it is high time the state 

resolved their situation , so that they 

can continue with their normal lives. 

According to the authorities 

responsible for IDPs at the Ministry 

of Labor and Social Affairs, the situation 

is improving and the IDPs are 

expected to return to their homes 

soon. Similar assessments are carried 

out by the internationals who are in 

charge of implementing reconstruction 

of the damaged homes. 

"We know they are having a difficult 

time and we understand their 

troubles. That is why we would like 

to apologize for the accidental delay 

of the reconstruction activities. We 

are doing our best to help them return. 

We have provided the money for the 

reconstruction, and by the end of the 

spring all the houses will be reconstructed," 

says EU Counselor Vasilis 

Maragos. 


with Dnevnik) 


Unbelievable and 

different are the 

personal destinies 

of the people who 

are eating in the 

national kitchens 

in Skopje, and the 

hunger connects 

all of them 

National kitchens of poverty 

Macedonians, Albanians, Serbs, 

and Roma together at lunch 

Dragi Jankovski 

Mire Slaveski from Skopje is a 

highly qualified technician in electrical 

engineering with 23 years of 

working experience in the steel factory, 

who has been wandering the 

streets of Skopje for almost 12 years. 

While he was working, he was paying 

the bills and the rent for the apartment, 

and he was providing food for 

his family. In 1990, he was laid off, 

his wife left him, and his two sons had 

been taken into the orphanage. 

Every working day at 1 p.m. 

sharp, Mire, Fizeta, Isljam, Miodrag, 

Blagoja, Goran, Igor, Sabri, 

Sheherezada, Svetlana, and another 

three hundred people from Skopje 

have lunch together in the two national 

kitchens in Skopje. They come 

from different parts of the city, speak 

in different languages and belong to 

different religions and nationalities. 

They are all united in one place by 

their hunger and their poverty. 

About twenty volunteers from the 

association Gjakonija provide their 

single joint lunch and try to make 

them feel welcome, to feel the 

atmosphere of a home while 

they get a piece of bread and 

warm soup. The national 

kitchens are located in the 

premises of the churches St. 

Petka in the settlement Crniche 

and Sts. Petar and Pavle in the 

settlement Gjorche Petrov. 

Mire says that he is most 

sorry for his two sons, who cannot 

find a job since they 

returned from completing their 

military service. 

"The older son, Zlatko, is 

21 years old, speaks fluent 

English and has computer skills, but 

he cannot find a job. The younger son, 

Marjan, was beaten up during his stay 

at the orphanage, and now he suffers 

psychological consequences. Social 

Services have informed us that in 

April we will have to move from the 

social housings in which we have 

lived for almost two years. I will 

have to return to the streets together 

with my children," says Mire . 

He explains that when the 

kitchens are closed, he does not eat 

for several days. Apart from having 

lunch in the kitchen himself, Mire 

also takes food for his two sons. 

For more than two years now, 

Isljam and Fizeta Ihmet have been 

coming to the national kitchen. Two 

years ago, Fizeta left her husband and 

her two children and moved from 

Bitola to Skopje. Her husband, she 

says, was maltreating her and was living 

with her only for the money that 

her mother from Sweden and her relatives 

from Australia were sending to 

her. When she arrived to Skopje, she 

was all alone. She came to the national 

kitchen with her female friend . 

There she met Isljam Ihmet, with 

whom she now has a one-month-old 

baby boy. She explains that during the 

last two years, she and her husband 

have survived thanks to the food and 

help they have been receiving at the 

kitchen. Fizeta says that they will 

raise their son with the help of the 

volunteers of Gjakonija who have 

given her diapers, food and have 

helped her provide documents to get 

social care and health insurance. 

15-year-old Miodrag Zivkovich, 

his mother and his sister are also coming 

to the kitchen in St. Petka. 

Miodrag is in the eighth grade in the 

primary school Rajko Zhinzifov in 

the settlement Topansko Pole. He 

says that he wants to continue his 

education and become a qualified car 

mechanic. Miodrag says that his family 

survives thanks to the good will of 

the people at the national kitchen and 

the money he gets from the sales of 

old paper and from begging . 

"My wife and my daughter used 

to say to me: Do not go back to 

Macedonia, you will starve there. 

Still, I love my country and I wanted 

to be there at any cost, even 

if I had to live on the streets. 

I never thought that I would 

really live on the streets. 

After 30 years of work in 

Serbia and Croatia, I was 

looking forward to going 

back to my family house 

built by my father. When I 

came back there, my brother 

and my step-mother kicked 

me out because they have 

taken the whole house for 

themselves. I was left alone 

on the street, I started drinking 

and now I live wherever 

107 

Life on the margins, February 2003

108 

I can. I carry along the package with 

cans that the people from the 

kitchen gave me for the New Year 

holidays," says Blagoja Janevski. 

He is a baker who has spent his 

entire working life making bread, 

and now, as he says, in order to survive 

he has to beg and to come to 

get food in the kitchen . 

During the New Year holidays, 

Gjakonija distributed packages with 

food for several days to everyone 

who eats in the kitchen. Packages 

including clothes and footwear, 

donations from citizens and firms, 

are given to poor people. 

"The kitchen's doors are wide 

open for all well-intended people. 

We opened the dining rooms of 

love, as we call them, in 1998. Since 

then, we prepare food for everyone 

five times a week, we do not make 

any distinction based on sex, age, 

ethnic origin or religion . People 

come who have no money, who are 

homeless, old and exhausted, people 

that nobody takes care of. Young 

people who live on the streets come 

very often, too. We also prepare 

meals for people who are not able to 

come on their own to have lunch in 

the kitchens," says Angelina 

Dzadzu, president of the 

Association. 

She says that Skopje needs at 

least one kitchen in every bigger 

settlement and one in every bigger 

city. Aunt Angelina's biggest wish is 

that Gjakonija gets its own premises 

where food could be distributed 

several times a day and to a greater 

number of people. 

The kitchens are now located in 

the premises of the Skopje bishopric 

of the Macedonian Orthodox 

Church. 

The Association Gjakonija, as 

Aunt Angelina says, works with the 

blessing and the help of Bishop 

Agatangel of Bregalnica and the 

archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia 

Gospodin Gospodin. Stefan and all 

the donors, who have unselfishly 

donated money and other resources 

in order to keep the kitchen working. 

In spring, the Association is 

going to open a national kitchen in 

Stip also, supported by the local 

municipal authorities and Bishop 

Agatangel. 


journalist in Dnevnik) 

Tales from the streets 

of Skopje 

The sky is a roof for 

the people with no adress 

Aleksandra M. Mitevska 

Tome spends another night under a market booth in one suburb of 

Skopje. And when a new day rises, too gray and cold to go outside 

without a coat, this sixty-year old man, whose eyes stray far away, 

goes for another walk dressed in torn clothing worn to shreds. Begging 

and digging through the garbage-bins are his weapons in the battle for 

existence. At first sight you will probably say that he is one of the 

vagrants who are a common backdrop in the capital, begging for the 

bare minimum of resources to survive another day faced with "naked" 

poverty. 

This time, however, the story is a little bit different. 

He doesn't want to speak much, but if 

Until five or six 

years ago he had a someone could manage to gain his trust, he 

stable marriage would recount that this is how he has always 

and raised two imagined his life. The hero of this story became 

kids, but suddenly a man with no address, with the street for a home 

something broke and the sky for a roof for the past few years. Five 

inside him and or six years ago he had a stable marriage and 

made him sever raised two kids, but suddenly something broke 

his ties with his inside him and made him sever ties with his family 

and become a homeless man by choice, thus 

family and become 

leaving behind his wife, a clerk, and his two sons, 

a homeless man by 

both intellectuals. 

choice. Abandoned Tome is just one of the many homeless men, 

train cars are whose number rises from day to day, especially 

home for a brother in Skopje. There are plenty of other cases of people 

who live wherever they can, though they do 

and sister, who 

were forced to it for different reasons. At the abandoned lot 

leave the orphanage 

on their 18th family lives in a cardboard hut. Both the mother 

under the main railway station a three-member 

birthday 

and the two juvenile daughters stroll and beg in a 

battle for mere survival. Not that far away, abandoned 

train cars are a home for Ljupcho (27) and 

his younger sister. To them, the 18th birthday was not a once-in-a-lifetime 

celebration when you finally step into the world of the adults, but 

a step into great uncertainty. Because on that date they had no choice, 

they had to leave the orphanage. These two young people, who had 

never met their parents, usually have their meals at the public kitchen 

and sometimes they get food and clothes from good people they meet. 

But when from time to time, they happen to have nothing to eat, they 

are also forced to beg. 


"ROMA TENTING" 

Thirty-year-old Dushko was a 

patient at the psychiatric clinic at 

Bardovci and now, when he has to 

return to normal life, he has nowhere 

to go because his family won't accept 

him. And while he counts the last 

days he can spend in the hospital, he 

probably knows that he has no alternative 

but to join the ranks of people 

with no address. 

While Dushko wants to return 

home but is unable to, several Roma 

families, who are said 

to have decent houses 

in Prilep, are caravaning 

across the country. 

In summer, but 

also in winter, they 

are accustomed to 

sleeping "in nature" 

or seeking handouts 

from passers-by. 

These life stories 

are just some of the 

many stories fate has 

written on the streets 

of the capital. It is 

hard to establish the 

accurate number of 

people who live under the blue sky 

from someone's charity. Social workers 

note that homeless people are not 

just the ones we see sleeping on the 

streets, parks and bus stations. Many 

of them live far away from public 

sight. These people present a particularly 

difficult problem, precisely 

because it is so hard to find them in 

the city and the suburbs. These examples 

illustrate that, despite the common 

presumption, poverty is the 

main but not the only reason for people 

to become homeless. In spite of 

many initiatives, the capital is without 

a single care center for the homeless, 

although these people need help 

to be brought back into the society 

that left them on its margins. 

Science treats homelessness in its 

medical, economic and social 

aspects. Homelessness is defined as a 

consequence of past events, such as 

unemployment, exile or domestic 

abuse, but also as an incapacity to 

provide a home. Although homeless 

people are classified in a particular 

social group of heterogeneous individuals 

with various economic and 

social structures, most of them come 

from the working class or from poor 

families and they have no secondary 

education. 

However, homelessness is not 

always a permanent condition. Apart 

from being chronic, it can also be frequent, 

episodic or temporary. 

Chronic homelessness usually occurs 

among people that are unable to provide 

either social or financial support. 

These homeless people often suffer 

from disturbed social relations and 

serious illnesses. Episodic homelessness 

is a result of short-term crisis 

periods or problems, whereas some 

families or individuals are becoming 

temporarily homeless due to natural 

disasters. There are also cases when 

women or children become homeless 

due to sexual or physical abuse in the 

family. 

HOMELESS FAMILIES 

Last summer, the Social Services 

Center of Skopje surveyed 52 homeless 

persons from the streets, chosen 

by chance. The results of this survey 

show that 63 percent of the homeless 

in the capital are men and 37 percent 

are women, says Ljupcho Cvetkovski 

from the Center's department for 

analysis and research. Most of them, 

52 percent, were in the age group of 

30-45 years, slightly more than the 

percentage in the 15-30 year age 

group. 63 percent were not educated 

at all, followed by those with primary 

education only. Some 63 percent 

were Roma, 28 percent Macedonians 

and 9 percent were Albanians. The 

marital status of the surveyed people 

was various, says Cvetkovski, but 

there were many couples, which 

points to a special category of "homeless 

families." These families are a 

serious social problem in the country 

and, what makes matters even worse, 

their number is rising sharply. As 

many as 56 percent of homeless people 

lost their home due to financial 

reasons and 47 percent of them had 

their own home before they were 

forced to leave for the streets. Their 

financial situation was clearly the 

most common cause for their homelessness 

since all of them were unemployed. 

The other significant causes 

were family conflict, illness, and 

leaving the orphanage, but also 

migration: 28 percent came from 

other cities. 

According to the survey results, 

59 percent of the homeless visit a 

doctor, and the same percent suffer 

from some illness, says Cvetkovski. 

He adds that providing medical care 

for homeless people is difficult 

because they don't have any documents. 

Some 55 percent of the homeless 

were hospitalized because of 

psychological disorders, which 

demonstrates that mental imbalance 

is one of the most common causes for 

homelessness. On the other hand, 61 

percent said that they cared about 

their hygiene, but they didn't have 

conditions to maintain it. Some 55 

percent get permanent social aid and 

the others get through in life as they 

know best, most usually picking food 

from the garbage-bins. 

The survey showed that homeless 

people can be found literally everywhere 

in the city, as the term "homeless" 

itself is used for a person without 

a permanent address. Cvetkovski, 

though, says the most of them are 

concentrated in the municipalities 

Centar and Kisela Voda. Their traditional 

shelters are the bridges on river 

Vardar, the river bank, the area under 

the railway station and the city park, 

where, on the benches, the homeless 

spend their nights. 


Nova Makedonija) 

109 


A Day with a Displaced Family from Tanushevci 

When Desires and Dreams 

Lose Their Meaning 

110 

"I remember it 

like it was 

today. The war 

in Tanushevci 

began with the 

holiday of 

Bajram. My 

mother had 

prepared 

baklava and 

we could hardly 

wait for the 

moment to sit 

on the table 

together and 

try the sweet. 

And do you 

know what 

happened: we 

never tried 

that baklava," 

says Shaip 

from the village 

of 

Tanushevci 

who together 

with his family 

was forced to 

leave the village 

and his 

home 

Valdete Ismaili 

"We were not so poor 

when we lived at our home 

in Malina, but with the start 

of the war we were forced to 

hit the road not knowing 

where we might end up. It 

has been two years that we 

have been changing 

dwellings in Skopje trying to 

find a refuge from cold, from 

destitution, from hunger…" 

This is how Ferat Nebiu 

explains his experience as a 

resident of the village of 

Malina, who together with 

his family are living in a 

rented place in Gazi Baba. 

This seven-member family, 

because of the conflict 

that started in February 

2001, moved like many other 

families from the village of 

Malina and temporarily 

moved to a house in Vizbeg. 

"We had never experienced 

a colder winter than 

the one during our time at 

that house. It was only then 

that I realized how serious 

cold can be. My big toe 

blackened from frostbite, 

because we did not have anything 

to heat ourselves with. 

We spent a whole winter 

without any heating fuel. 

Only God knows how we 

made it," says Ferat Nebiu. 

This winter the Nebiu 

family is spending their winter 

with two cubic meters of 

wood, provided by compassionate 

people. He thanks 

them saying that "this winter 

will be warmer compared to 

the previous ones." 

Out of four rooms in the 

two-story decrepit house, the 

family was able to put to use 

only one room. Everyone 

who has had the opportunity 

to see where this family 

lives, has concluded that it is 

impossible for a human to 

live here. However, it is here 

that the Nebiu family from 

Malina are forced to seek 

refuge. 

The Nebiu family pays 

25 euros a month in rent for 

the half-ruined house. The 

yard of this house contains a 

large open area of garbage, 

which look as if you are 

present in a fully ruined 

house. The outer appearance 

is terrifying, just as the interior 

one is, where seven souls 

reside. In the second floor 

railing there are boxes where 

the family keeps their scarce 

clothing. 

Ferat Nebiu's spouse, 

Mukades, says that she does 

not have anywhere to properly 

fold the family's clothes. 

She also says that she has no 

place to put the kitchen utensils, 

which are few. They 

cannot sleep comfortably in 

their only room. We can only 

imagine seven members of a 

family lying down in one 

room. 

"We have breakfast like 

every other family. We 

spread the table, we put in 

the middle a plate with urda, 

bread and tea. Maybe in the 

future we will have better 

days," says Mukades, while 

hoping to give hope to her 

three children, who have 

been following our discussion 

the whole time with particular 

attention. 

"Since days are short 

now and the nights are long, 

we only eat twice a day. 

Well, truly that is how often 

we eat during summer as 

well. We have supper with 

whatever we find. The neighbors, 

humanitarian associations, 

from time after time 

they open their hand to offer 

us food. We spent the month 

of Ramadan not so badly. We 

thank the newspaper Fakti 

who made our painful situation 

public. We were helped 

by known and unknown people, 

so that we welcomed the 

festival of Bajram in true 

happiness," says Mukades, 

while adding that "in Malina 


we had good conditions, we were not 

to be pitied, but war broke out and 

problems and stresses began so we 

ended up in this state. There we 

planted potatoes and other vegetables. 

We never suffered for food." 

The oldest son, Shaip, finds work 

as a loader in the markets of Skopje. 

"I earn a little just to soften the pain," 

says Shaip, adding "Malina is truly 

far away from the city, but for us it 

was the best place on earth." 

Among the members of this family 

is Ferat's uncle, Emin Abazi, an old 

man. Ferat says "I consider Uncle Emin 

as a very close member of my own 

family. He has no children, and his wife 

died 15 years ago. Ever since then I 

have undertaken to look after him. We 

look after him as much as we can." 

Ferat just a few months ago had 

surgery done on his right toe. "My toe 

has gone rotten," he says. "Doctors 

said that it is from the cold. 

Sometimes I have enormous pains. 

Sometimes, from the huge pain, my 

whole leg stiffens, but I have to be 

patient," he says. 

Merheme, the only girl in this 

family, together with her brother Sali 

study at Liria high school. She has 

forgotten long time ago what dreams 

and desires are. You can read on her 

face desperation, pain, sincerity but 

mostly you can read destitution. 

Like many other internally displaced 

persons, Ferat has no identification 

document, and what is worst 

has no money. "I don't even have a 

medical card," he adds. 

Shaip speaks of the elementary 

school in Malina. "I finished my primary 

school there, but now I have no 

document, because together with my 

house, all of the certificates got burned." 

He says that he had really wanted 

to continue his schooling, but his situation 

do not allow him anything like 

this. "I cannot, because I have to 

work to secure something to eat." 

During our conversation we were 

drawn to the memories when the conflict 

began. "I remember it like it was 

today," says Shaip. "The war in 

Tanushevci began with the holiday of 

Bajram. My mother had prepared 

baklava and we could hardly wait for 

the moment to sit on the table together 

and try the sweet. And do you 

know what happened: we never tried 

that baklava. War broke out and we 

were forced to leave hastily." 

In the house where they live at the 

moment, the members of the Nebiu 

family are faced with many problems. 

"Every time it rains," says 

Mukades, "raindrops fall from the 

ceiling. I want to clean, to keep order 

as one would do in a true house, but I 

have no detergent nor other things 

necessary to keep it clean. This is 

what happens when you are forced to 

think only about food. If we only had 

a little more money, this house would 

have been different." 

In the village of Malina, according 

to other foreign organizations and 

initiative has been undertaken to 

rebuild houses in the villages of the 

Skopje Karadak mountain, the house 

of Ferat Nebiu will be rebuilt this 

summer. 

Everyone hopes in this family 

that with the coming of summer their 

Golgotha will end and that they will 

return to Malina which, according to 

Shaip, is the most beautiful place in 

the world. 


with Fakti) 

111 

Internally displaced people have 

become prisoners caught 

between fear and hopelessness 

Around 550 internally displaced 

citizens have lived for 

more than a year and a half in 

the so-called "women's block" 

of the campus dormitory "Stiv 

Naumov" in the Skopje district 

of Avtokomanda. 

Families consisting of four or 

more people spend their days, 

eat and sleep in rooms of a few 

square meters 


Two years have passed 

since the war crisis in 

Macedonia, but the refugee 

shelters are still filled with 

internally displaced people who 

are not returning to their 

homes. Some of them don't 

have a home to return to anymore, 

because their homes 

were destroyed, and some of 

them do not want to return 

because they say they do not 

feel safe in their homes in the 

crisis areas. According to the 

latest re-registering of displaced 

people from the crisis 

regions, there are 9,000 citizens 

that live out of their homes. 

About 2,500 of them are 

accommodated in the 12 

refugee shelters around the 

country and the rest are staying 

with their relatives or friends. 

Around 550 internally displaced 

citizens have lived for 

more than a year and a half in 


112 

the so-called "women's block" of the 

campus dormitory "Stiv Naumov" in 

the Skopje district of Avtokomanda. 

At the beginning of the crisis there 

were 900, mostly Macedonians from 

the villages of Tearce, Neproshteno 

and Leshok, all from Tetovo region. 

There are also a few families from 

Arachinovo near Skopje and one 

Roma family from the village of 

Radusha. 

Saddening and uncertain-this is 

how we can best describe the fate of 

these people. They are predominantly 

young people who have recently 

established their families and built 

their homes. But, as they say, the war 

wreaked havoc with their lives and 

their fate, and what concerns them 

most are their gloomy prospects. 

The everyday life of the people in 

this shelter is not the most pleasant. 

Families consisting 

of four or more 

people spend the day, 

eat and sleep in rooms 

of just a few square 

meters. There are only 

two washing machines 

on each floor. The 

women line up and 

argue about who will 

wash the dirty laundry 

first. They wait in 

lines to go to the toilet. 

They have not seen a 

warm bath for months, 

and these days they 

say that they don't get any hot water 

in the shelter. They get their meals in 

the canteen after they have shown 

their coupon. They had been receiving 

humanitarian aid on a regular 

basis in the past, but now this trickle 

has dried up. They don't have any 

money because they can't earn it. 

Some of them have lost all their property 

and their family businesses, 

while others lost their jobs. They say 

they wait for the Government to help 

them mend their lives, to help them 

rebuild their houses, to speed up the 

economic development in the Tetovo 

region and to improve the security situation 

in the villages, which they 

assert is still very bad. 

The displaced Macedonians living 

in "Stiv Naumov" are ashamed of 

their situation, but they want to 

remain anonymous in their contacts 

with the media, because they are 

afraid. During the crisis those that 

spoke publicly about their doom have 

suffered because of it. 

"Thos who would tell their names 

and surnames for the media would 

find their houses burned down and 

plundered the same day. Forgive us, 

but the fear has remained," they say. 

The displaced people from the 

Tetovo region have not seen their 

homes for two years. 

"What we are living through is 

worse than torture. For a year and a 

half we've lived in a hellish nightmare. 

It is the same routine every day: 

wake up, eat, go to bed. We can't 

stand it anymore! The situation in the 

shelters is awful. The only thing we 

receive on regular basis is the food. 

We prefer that we didn't-so that we 

could die soon and get rid of the trouble. 

Everyone forgot us: the 

Government, the Red Cross, the 

humanitarian organizations. Before, 

they were giving some aid. Now there 

is no milk, no detergent, no hygienic 

packages, no diapers. And almost 

every family has a baby or a small 

child. We get one sack of washing 

powder a month, and we spend it in a 

few days. Only two years ago we 

lived comfortably, but now we have 

no money. We all had businesses, 

good jobs and good salaries," one 

man from Neproshteno village conveys 

with sorrow. 

They live with gloomy prospects. 

They say they wait for the day when 

they will return the keys of the campus 

rooms, pack up and return home. 

"Every morning when I wake up 

and open my eyes, the first thing I 

think of is how to improve my life 

and the lives of my wife and children. 

I feel hopeless, but I still hope I might 

get back to the normal world. I eat 

quickly and I go to the city. I run 

around from ministry to ministry, 

from door to door, from one officer 

worker's window to the next. I look 

for help of any kind. Alas, it is useless-nobody 

wants to hear about some 

other man's sorrow. Then I go to 

many firms in Skopje and to the green 

markets and I try to find some work, 

to earn a penny, to earn enough for 

milk and diapers, to earn enough to 

buy detergent. But work is 

hard to find. I come back to 

the dormitory sad and 

depressed. There, all of us 

men gather and tell each 

other how we spent the day. 

This is my everyday life 

since I had to flee my home 

village," says a Macedonian 

man from Tearce. 

While their husbands go 

to the ministry buildings and 

look for work in Skopje, 

their wives run the household 

chores "at home." 

"I have two small children. 

One of them is only three 

months old. The room is tiny, but you 

have to keep it clean, you have to 

wash the clothes. Then I sit inside 

these four walls and I cry. I cry all day 

long, because I can't stand it anymore. 

The health of my children worries me 

most, because the level of hygiene is 

very low here and we are afraid of 

diseases. My older child can't wait to 

return to our village. He is not used to 

living in a confined space. In Tearce 

he was running and playing in the 

open and it is withering here. I would 

like to go back but I'm afraid. My 

husband was a reserve policeman. 

Now we are afraid to return because it 

only takes once for the worst to hap- 


pen," says a Macedonian woman 

from Tearce, with tears in her eyes. 

The displaced Macedonians from 

the Tetovo region say they will return 

to their villages when the 

Government will provide the necessary 

conditions. Until then they say 

they are forced to stay here, and they 

ask for better care and more attention 

from the Government institutions. 

"The first thing the Government 

should do is collect the illegal 

weapons. There is too much of it in 

Tetovo. Even the Albanians are not 

safe. Even if I would come back, 

there is no life for me and my family 

there, because nobody can live in that 

kind of fear. How could I let my child 

play on the street or go to school, 

when, even if everything is peaceful, 

I would fear the possibility that a 

stray bullet fired at a wedding could 

end up in their body? Not to mention 

the everyday shootouts between the 

criminal gangs in Tetovo region. The 

rule of law is absent there. Force and 

weapons still rule there. The 

Government should help us economically, 

help us stand on our feet, it 

should evaluate the damage and help 

us restore our houses, shops and businesses. 

Only then will the region live 

as it did before the war. Only then 

will we return home," say the internally 

displaced persons from the 

Tetovo region who temporarily live 

in the Skopje district of 

Avtokomanda. 

According to the European 

Agency for Reconstruction, the institution 

responsible for the reconstruction 

of the damaged houses in the crisis 

regions, the reconstruction in the 

Tetovo, Skopje and Kumanovo 

regions should be finished by the end 

of this summer. Besides improving 

the security, rebuilding homes was 

one of the main preconditions for the 

return of the internally displaced. So 

far, most of the slightly damaged 

houses (from the first and second category) 

have been reconstructed. The 

houses that were destroyed or burned 

down are now waiting their turn. 


Dnevnik) 

The bazaar means 

encounter, not separation 

113 


Everything that is important in the 

life of a person, and of a society, needs 

to be constantly cared for, built and 

rebuilt, to be permanent. It has to be 

conquered constantly, every day. There 

is nothing that is given once and for all, 

which stays unchanged with the passage 

of time. Even those things that 

have a long and rich tradition are not 

immune to spiritual and material erosion. 

Those are exactly the ones that 

should be given special care and attention. 

One of the many reasons, which 

have brought the Stara Charshija, or old 

town of Skopje to the condition it is in 

today, is the lack of understanding or 

observance of those principles. We 

believe that, provided something has 

tradition, it will survive by itself without 

our care, without taking into 

account the basic parameters of sharing 

a common life, history, trade, craftsmanship, 

culture and multiculture. No. 

Nothing in this world exists on its own, 

without care, without work, without 

love and creative vision. 

Etymologically speaking, the word 

'charshija' (bazaar) means encounter, 

not separation. The Turkish word 

'charshi-su,' which comes from the 

Pehlevian and Persian languages, 

means meeting, interception, the crossing 

of two streets, also the intersection 

Etymologically speaking, 

the word 'charshija' 

('bazaar') means 

encounter, not separation. 

The Turkish word 

'charshi-su,' which comes 

from the Pehlevian and 

Persian languages, means 

meeting, interception, the 

crossing of two streets, or 

the intersection of many 

streets, lanes and paths, 

spiritual and material 

of many streets, lanes and paths, spiritual 

and material. Nowadays, the paths 

and alleyways in the old town are not 

divided. Far from it, we still meet old 

friends there, we can see the few 

remaining craftsmen and shopkeepers, 

but its spirit seems to be dying away 

and extinguishing itself. We are all 

guilty, because the old town is a natural 

parliament whose disrepair, even temporary, 

affects us all. 

So sitting together with my friends, 

we want to believe that we are the 

same, even though years have passed. 

Well, we are the same, even with the 

passage of time, the setting, the atmosphere 

is the same, but the liveliness isn't 

like it was before. 

A long time ago, before the earthquake, 

we would hear a shrill whistle 

which was a sign that everyone from 

the neighborhood should gather at the 

meeting place: that whistle echoed 

through the market place to the narrow 

lanes of the old town, and we knew that 

someone "from the gang" was calling. 

Nowadays, I ask Tanas (who works in 

Meetings, not divisions, June 2003

114 

the fishmonger's in the Bit Pazar, and 

who still lives today in his house in the 

narrow lane by the Nationalities' 

Theatre), where he learned that whistle 

which he handed down to us, since he 

was the first to use it. Tanas gives a 

wide smile and says: I think we took it 

from some guys who were selling nuts 

in the Stara Charshija. They used it first, 

then it became our "property." And we 

used to gather to that call: in front of the 

cinema Napredok or the sweetshop 

Bash Pelivan, at times in front of the 

maple tree, where there is an emergency 

ward now. Then we had to go to the 

river banks or to one of the cinemas: 

Bratstvo, the puppet theater, Mladina, 

Balkan, Kultura. Or we went to play 

soccer, to Kale, or to the cleaning of the 

livestock market in Chair. Tanas and 

Aco, Dzhavid and Edip, Dime and 

Vase, Sefer and Uska, Ljube, they 

would all come, later on the younger 

ones came too. But, we didn't even 

have to go that far: it seems incredible 

now, but our first ever "soccer stadium" 

and field was the area around Isa Beg 

mosque. And that was right at the old, 

eternal graveyard which still exists 

today. There was enough green space 

around them for a real soccer match. 

Our main soccer master, then, was 

Mustafa. (He worked for some editorial 

board at Nova Makedonija for a while, 

then he left to live abroad.) Out came 

Avram and Stevo, Sem and Milosh, 

Erol and Copola. From all that space, 

now only the small, yellow house 

belonging to the producer Ivan 

Mitevski-Copola-remains). But the 

thing which is especially unforgettable 

from that time is that our mothers 

observed our childish soccer game sitting 

on little stools in front of the houses 

in the alley, chatting in the summer 

evenings. 

The movies Vera Cruz and Mother, 

listen to my song, the comedies with 

Toto and Fernandel we used to watch in 

the cinema Bratstvo. The Nationalities' 

Theatre and the unforgettable library 

Cvetan Dimov were in the same building. 

The cinema and theatre halls were 

used for different events: folklore 

ensembles performed, and right before 

the earthquake theatre amateurs performed 

the play Kuzman Kapidan. The 

library was a special delight: we started 

discovering a new kind of literature different 

from the one on offer in primary 

school: Zilahi, Zola…. 

We went to the river bank via 

Dukjandzhik and Topaana, then we 

would cross to the right side of Vardar. 

We would get to the beach in Madzhar 

Maalo near the iron bridge between 

Krnjevo and Karadak Maalo, the old 

military hospital and the then wooden 

bridge. 

In front of the good, old cinema 

Napredok there was an unforgettable 

sight: a fat Roma man was standing at 

the entrance door dressed in a complete 

general's uniform: with a general's hat 

and a general's coat. It was as if we were 

going into a majestic theatre or palace. 

And once inside, of course the movies 

Mangala, Forever thirsty, or Hercules. 

By day in the old town: crowds, 

shouting, yelling. Life. Woodwork 

shops, tanners, carpenters, tailors, shoemakers, 

slipper-makers, painters' shops, 

blanket-makers, coppersmiths, nut-sellers, 

kebab shops, clock repairmen, 

smithies, fur makers… 

Sometimes we would all go to 

Merkez with our fathers. They would 

drink brandy with olives, we would 

drink Gazoza. 

Yes, the old town is a meeting 

place, life, eternal change and 

exchange. Not a wasteland and separation. 

So sitting in that fashion with my 

friends, we realize that we are still the 

same, and yet many things have 

changed. 

The old town, April 2003. 

About ten years ago it was full to 

the brim with young people, nowadays 

even the old ones avoid it. It is empty 

after 5 in the afternoon. 

But those of us who have felt the 

dust of its cobblestones, its narcotic 

scents all blended into one, know for 

sure it will never die. On the contrary, 

it will always exist. However, people 

today have the right to be concerned. 

And how can someone not admire 

the words of Abdula Ramadan, of 

Albanian nationality, one of my peers, 

with whom I am having a conversation 

in the Bezisten: 

"Tell me, how is the old town supposed 

to go on living, when people are 

out of work, when nothing in it works, 

without crafts, with bad lighting, without 

enough hygiene" he says. "The old 

town makes the nation, without people 

it resembles a graveyard. The old town 

is the face of the world, it should be as 

clean as our pride. And would you say 

this is our pride? Up until now, we all 

drank and ate together. Everything was 

sweet, from the little, tasty peppers that 

we ate, to the conversations we had. 

And now we have come to see each 

other as the wolf and the sheep. Of 

course, nothing good can come out of 

that. Just look at how many craftsmen 

stay on in the old town. I have worked 

in tea houses my whole life. I still can't 

get over the fact that nowadays young 

people, the students, don't visit the old 

town anymore. I want them to come 

here again, even if they don't have 

enough money: does it matter if it is 

paid or not? The most important thing 

is to revive the old town." 

I part with Ramadan promising him 

that I will go visit him in his tea house 

in the Bezisten next week. 

He mentioned the craftsmen and 

artisans. It is true, there are very few 

left. Well, let's start with the legendary 

craftsman of the old town, Master 

Zhelo. He is found right next to the 

Bezisten. There is a sign saying: 

"Goldsmith Zhelo, Asani Z. Xheladin." 

He is one of the best, the leading master 

of his trade, but what can he do on his 

own in the Stara Charshija, when buyers 

and passersby are more and more 

rare. And such examples of survival in 

the old town can be counted on one 

hand: hatmaker, painter, shoemaker, tinsmith… 

In the store that was once upon a 

time under the ownership of Tuna, now 

an exchange office, I look for my 

friend, Master Suljo, one of the best former 

modern designers who existed in 

the old town and the city. Once, on our 

old street from before the earthquake in 

Skopje, only one wall separated us from 

master Suljo's family. His younger 

brother Erol, who left for Turkey a few 

years ago, is my age. All of a sudden, 

due to bad conditions and empty streets 

in the old town, Suljo had to rename his 

store several times. (It is situated across 

from the House of Crafts.) First it was 

a design salon, then a textile store, an 

exchange office…. He usually takes me 

to Galerija 7 for tea. Good old Galerija 

7. Since I didn't find him in the 

exchange office, I went to Galerija. I 


was welcomed by one of its ex-hosts, 

an old acquaintance: Master Suljo goes 

out only in the afternoons, nowadays," 

he says "you can only find him here 

until 8 pm at the latest." 

"What are we going to do with 

Galerija," I ask him "is there a chance 

to bring back its old splendor? For a 

start, let's organize a meeting in 

Gallery, in Bagdad caffe or in Caffe 21? 

He smiles at me: "I am up to date 

with everything that you do for Skopje. 

Of course, there is a chance. The old 

town lost its core, that is the problem, 

but, trust me, there are people who love 

to work, and do work there, and they 

would be extremely happy to see the 

shine come back. They want to do 

something, but often, they do not know 

how. It's very hard work, but I like to 

be an optimist." 

The old town, April 2003. 

I pass by the old legend of Skopje, 

the old cinema Napredok. At once my 

heart starts pounding from excitement. 

The roof of the cinema is torn down, 

the walls are falling apart, and the blue 

sky can be seen through the ruins and 

broken windows. Napredok is being 

renovated. I go "inside" what was once 

the hall. Wreckage, rubble, bricks, 

ruin. That cinema will never again be 

what it once was. In these moments, 

one cannot but feel sorrow in the heart. 

The most sentimental and delicate 

moments and years of our lives become 

lost, they vanish. Farewell, Napredok! 

Still, we should not feel such sorrow: a 

new cinema Children's Theatre Center 

will be born, or so it says on the board 

put up on one of the half-ruined walls 

of the cinema. New generations will 

appear, new artistic excitement. Those 

generations will have their own theatre 

center, which 

will, maybe 

have the same 

fate one day. 

Across from 

the cinema 

being renovated 

there still 

proudly stands 

the sturdy store 

for musical 

instruments, 

owned of my 

childhood and 

primary school 

friends: Ljube 

and Dime. What will they say about 

the disappearance of the cinema? 

Again, out soaking up the April 

sun, we sit in the sweetshop Ohrid: 

Rade and Xhavid come, Xhingis 

comes, some new faces appear, but also 

the old, dear and familiar ones. 

Yes, the old town is an encounter, 

life, change and exchange, and not 

wasteland and separation. This is a 

small bit of once-upon-a-time and the 

current tale of the Charshija. 

The story continues…. 

(The author is a publicist) 

115 

The curse of separations 

Luan Starova 

Part 1 

When the 

wraith of separation flutters over the 

Balkans, the people, as if by fatal reflex, 

immediately feel the curse, the damning, 

unrelenting Balkan refrain. They see a 

wraith confident as it strengthens borders, 

extends them and changes them. 

And now, in these last few years, here 

in Macedonia, in the natural heart of the 

Balkans, with an even more powerful 

response recently, a young, defeated generation 

of "politicians" spreads this desperate 

wraith of separation. The wraith is 

alone, luckily alone, as it provokes the 

sick demand for dividing with new borders. 

Playing by the rules of the nationalistic-chauvinistic 

option (never mind its 

defeats in Europe and the Balkans), playing 

naive with inconceivable ease and 

arrogance, not only do they appeal to the 

fragile identities in these regions, but they 

also encourage drawing borders around 

the ones and the others, separating everyone 

into Us and Them. Never before has 

the desperate and impertinent arrogance 

of a young generation of politicians of 

authority played with the destiny, the history 

and the hard-preserved values of a 

nation in such an unscrupulous manner 

and with such vandalism. 

Hasn't European civilization in the 

last few years offered numerous guiding 

paradigms to show the deadliness of the 

nationalistic-chauvinistic ideas, no matter 

where they occur? 

A day over the 

border! It is as 

long as a whole 

human life. For 

how long has 

that piteous border 

blocked 

sharing among 

people, among 

families, destinies 

and of compatriots 

of that same 

country, the 

country of life 


116 

Reading the paranoid cries for 

"salvation through hatred," "salvation 

through separation of people, 

families, destinies…" in Macedonia, 

after the tragic war (no war brings 

happiness), the thoughts from a reaction 

by the famous French writer 

Andre Gide gushed inside me (from a 

lecture that I repeatedly give to my 

French literature students). This was 

Gide's reaction to the nationalisticchauvinistic 

work of another famous 

French writer Maurice Barres. This 

author, experiencing the tragic 

German occupation of his native 

Lorraine (with Alsace) in the 1880s, 

wrote the novel Uprooted, in which 

he plots the thesis of absolute "ethnic 

distinction." Devoted to this idea of 

rediscovering their native roots, his 

uprooted heroes end up guillotined in 

Paris. 

The wraith of fascism in the heart 

of France had been defeated by the 

heroic engagement of Emil Zola 

whose historical cry "I accuse" 

(J'accuse), would not only save the 

unjustly sentenced Jewish officer 

Dreyfus, a victim of the nationalisticchauvinistic 

euphoria, but would also 

cause the fall of the then French 

Republic. That republic had been the 

greatest victory over fascist nationalism 

in Europe, a victory of democracy 

and hope, a victory of humanity. 

Another paradigm from European history 

is also known, which, had our exstatesmen 

been familiar with it, they 

would not have gotten wrapped up in 

the "calculating galimatias" that our 

ex-prime minister (at least he is unofficial 

now) offered as an alternative. 

Moreover, Andre Gide has a 

famous reply to the extreme nationalist 

ideas, delineated in his book 

Pretextes, where he addresses his 

colleague from the other side of the 

mental barricade: "Born in Paris, 

with a father from Uzet (southern 

France) and a mother from 

Normandy (northern France), where 

are my roots, Monsieur Barres?" 

During the fierce First World War, 

when in the conflict with the 

Germans there were over 1,500,000 

casualties on the French side, 

Romain Roland in his novel "Jean- 

Christophe" had the courage to create 

a German protagonist, modelled after 

Beethoven,. And after so many wars 

and demarcations and so many tragic 

boundaries-even the fabled Maginot 

Line-hasn't it all resulted in permanent 

reconciliation, almost to a disappearance 

of the borders between 

Germany and France within the 

European Union? 

And indeed, as the old Latin 

proverb says, history is a good 

teacher of life, but unfortunately, it 

has tragically bad students, especially 

in the Balkans, as we have seen in 

recent years. 

Part 2 

There is a long borderline 

between Albania and Macedonia, a 

border with a long and unfinished 

history, a border that has marked the 

life of my family and many other 

families from both its sides. In the 

south, the border divides two lakes, 

in the north it divides rivers and valleys 

and most of it is marked by high 

mountaintops (the border that was 

crossed by my family, without me 

even remembering it, was a simple 

"walk" from one part of the lake to 

the other, no longer then 20-30 kilometres). 

This border was strengthened 

by ideologies; wider geostrategic 

influences strengthened the 

hatred. 

Often, when I have looked at the 

other side of the lake, at my country 

across the border, since my youth my 

relation to this border has occasionally 

taken mythological dimensions. 

As I grew up I gained an awareness 

to explain and understand that border. 

Even with the first reading I took 

to heart Alphonse de La Martine's 

verses, an adorer of another lake, for 

different motives: "Why should 

hatred part us, / why are there borders 

in these waters?/ Is there a wall, a 

limit to the sky?" 

It is usually said that borders, 

entered on the geographical maps 

and marked on the ground are points 

of incidents! Established with agreements, 

they accumulate the human 

uneasiness of many generations from 

both sides. 

Paul Valery adds that agreements 

brought new worries and discords 

that didn't stop the wars, but rather 

strengthened them even more. Those 

damn borderlines! Victor Hugo, who 

had tasted the bitterness of exile, didn't 

see the borders spatially, but in the 

human character, in the person alone; 

later, they project into space and 

among people easily. And individual 

truly finds themselves in hell when 

surrounded by new borders, when the 

hatred spreads within the person and 


among or towards others. 

Someone who has suffered from 

borders is surely the first who would 

want them to disappear. Captured by 

worldwide and native thoughts about 

the myth and the reality of borders 

and left as the last from my family, 

whose members crossed the border a 

long time ago, I was one of the last 

inheritors of both the good news and 

the bad. And the bad news was 

already coming from the other side 

of the invisible and painful border of 

the lake, between my native town 

Pogradec (considered the idee fixe 

for exchange) and Macedonia. 

Not long ago, the notice of the 

death of my father's sister Fatmira 

("good fortune") arrived. What an 

irony, what fate, when she, the proud 

old lady, experienced all the 

tragedies of my family's leaving, all 

the family separations justified by an 

appeal to better fortune. And so she 

would come, the poor thing, the last 

one left from my family on the other 

side of the border, she came to all 

happy events, funerals, mostly to this 

side of the border. She came to 

soothe our family's pains, to bring 

compassion, and she didn't have time 

or a desire to speak about her own 

troubles. And so great those troubles 

were, they couldn't be greater. After 

the war she had been thrown out of 

her home and so she had been a tenant 

in her own house! She had lived 

to see her brother die, who had been 

liquidated by Enver's regime, 

allegedly for some "English" connection. 

Studies in England! What a 

severe punishment for crossing the 

borders-death! 

So now the notice of the death of 

Aunt Fatmira, the last from my 

father's generation from both sides of 

the border, comes to me, being the 

oldest and amongst the last. A sad 

voice from the other side: "Poor 

Fatmira has abandoned us. The funeral 

is in Pogradec tomorrow at 11 

o'clock." And that was all. Another 

call in the history of the sad chronicle 

from the other side of the border. 

I leave early the next day, with 

one of the grandsons, towards the 

Albanian-Macedonian border at 

Sveti Naum, an issue so important in 

the family history. We do not have a 

"green card" for the car; due to our 

sudden leaving all the formalities 

haven't been completed. They show 

understanding at both sides of the 

border. 

The red Rover stops at the 

Albanian border. The young border 

guard looks at the passport; "We 

carry the same last name. We are 

family," he says…"You must know 

my father. You are here for Aunt 

Fatmira's funeral, for sure. Hurry up, 

you don't have much time." 

"There is always time for death," 

I say to myself, as we descend the 

hill towards Pogradec. 

I'm arriving on time to see my 

Aunt Fatmira, the last from my 

father's family tree. Death hasn't 

changed her tawny face. The lines of 

life are still alive. They tell me that 

she had dreamed of my father, her 

brother, only a few days ago. She had 

been preparing to go. With my 

grandson we follow the procession 

together with other friends and family. 

I see them for the first time; they 

see me for the first time. And at a 

burial even. They put Aunt Fatmira 

in her grave. They cover the grave 

with fresh flowers. Our Fatmira is 

gone now! Our good luck! 

I'm looking for my ancestors' 

graves. The close ones. Only a few 

have left. One of the older relatives 

is next to me: "You can't find the 

graves you are looking for. They are 

destroyed," he says. "The dead here 

have died for a second time." 

I was speechless! 

We passed by the grave of the 

famous lakeside poet Lasgush 

Poradeci, one of the greatest poets of 

Albanian poetry. He remained proud 

and straight, didn't retreat before 

Enver's regime, he didn't write a single 

syllable in his honour. We bow in 

front of his grave. On departure we 

receive a gift - Lasgush Poradeci's 

booklet about the beginning of 

"Albanian schooling in the beginning 

of the twentieth century in 

Pogradec," published posthumously 

by his daughter. They point out that 

Fatmira's father and her brother are 

among the originators of this schooling. 

Our sorrow from the loss of the 

late Fatmira and our gladness, the 

honour, mix together. 

We spend only a little time over 

the border. Our relatives from the 

funeral accompany us. A close 

cousin from Korcha is there also, I 

see her for the first time, she sees me 

for the first time. And it has been 

more then half a century. We hug 

each other strongly: "Don't wait for 

another funeral to come here. And 

you can never be sure about death. 

God's will! Here and there! Like 

there is no border! But, it is still 

inside of us. Some border it is! 

Stronger then death itself…" 

**** 

A day over the border! It is as 

long as a whole human life. For how 

long has that piteous border blocked 

sharing among people, among families, 

destinies and compatriots of the 

same country, the country of life. 

We cross back over the Albanian- 

Macedonian border. The people on 

both sides of the border feel compassion 

for pain. They comment: We 

have stayed there only for a while!. 

They are right. And we hurry to get 

back! Hurry! We do not feel comfortable 

with the borders! With their 

anxiety which they have accumulated 

for years, for centuries… 

We stop with my grandson at the 

Sveti Naum monastery. I recognize 

the peacocks in the miraculous landscape. 

They raise their feathers. I 

notice a white peacock. My grandson 

is also confused. The colourful rainbow 

is missing. The beauty of varieties. 

I look to the other side of the 

lake, over the invisible border. 

There, in nearby Pogradec, the heart 

of Fatmira beats no more. 

Over that border… 


117 


Along the dividing lines 

Macedonians and Albanians 

are willing to continue 

the lives they led before the war 

118 


Isen Saliu 

We survived wars, casualties, 

people pushed out of their homes. 

We witnessed torment, tears, and 

suffering. And when many us 

expected that interethnic relations 

would get so much worse that the 

Macedonians and the Albanians 

wouldn't want to look at each 

other any more, the ordinary citizens 

are unanimous: The war did 

scare us, but it didn't separate us. 

Life goes on in the spirit of tradition, 

the way our forebears have 

done. Perhaps because we simply 

have no other country and we have 

to go on living together…The war 

hasn't been going on only in the 

crisis regions of Tetovo, 

Kumanovo and Skopje. Citizens 

from other parts of the country 

also dealt with it for days. People 

ask, the crisis left such marks on 

people's lives, did it manage to 

spread hatred and tension among 

ordinary people? In the Veles 

region Macedonians are far more 

numerous then Albanians, who 

live in only a few villages. They 

live in Jabolchishte, Slivnik, 

Klukovec, Buzalkovo, Gorno 

Vranovci. The Macedonians say 

that the war in the country hasn't 

affected good interethnic relations, 

which have existed for years, and 

that they would not allow them to 

The regions of Veles, Bitola, Ohrid, Struga, 

Kichevo, Gostivar do not forgive the politicians 

whom they think are most to blame for 

the crisis 

be damaged. "Relations have not 

changed. The war did confuse us 

all a little, but it didn't influence 

relations between the Albanians 

and the Macedonians here. Maybe 

that's because the Albanians are 

the minority here. But honestly, 

we live in peace here. I've been 

working as a postman for more 

then thirty years. I've passed 

through all the villages where 

Albanians live. I have not heard a 

single bad word from anyone. I 

haven't insulted an Albanian 

either. We communicate and cooperate 

every day. The Macedonians 

trade and cooperate with the 

Albanians more then they do with 

the Macedonians. The proof of 

that is that the most of us buy our 

produce at the market in 

Jabolchishte rather then at the one 

at Veles, says Aleksandar 

Janakievski from the nearby village 

of Chaska. His fellow villager 

Ljuben Jankovski shares the same 

opinion. According to him, 

Macedonia has been and should 

stay a country of all citizens. 

"There have been no problems, 

really. During the war and afterwards 

the relations here remained 

unaffected. What happened two 

years ago was madness caused by 

the politicians. I see no reason 

why we shouldn't go on living 

together. This country, as much as 

it's ours, it is theirs too. Why 

should we hate each other, fight 

and separate? That brings evil and 

misery, and we all live and hope 

for happiness and prosperity," 

Ljuben says. The Albanians also 

say that they have had no problems 

with the Macedonians, 

although during the crisis they 

were terrified because they felt 

unprotected. "We got telephone 

threats. Anonymous people called. 

They spoke Macedonian. They 

threatened that they will come in 

the village and massacre us. But it 

only went that far. We were not 

directly caught up with the battles. 

While the war in the crisis regions 

lasted, we didn't have problems 

either with the army or the police. 

We were scared because we didn't 

know what was going to happen to 

us. Macedonians are the majority 

here. We thought, who shall 

defend us if the Macedonians 


attack," says Kiazim Jashari from 

Gorno Vranovci. The inhabitants 

from this village say that life after the 

crisis normalized. "The conditions in 

which we live today are far better 

than those before 1990, when a common 

mindset ruled. We were threatened 

on a daily basis only because we 

were Albanians. The police threatened 

they would move us out and 

transfer us to Kosovo. But, that was 

then. It is better nowadays," Haxhi 

Sabibi says. The villagers from 

Gorno Vranovci tell us that the greatest 

problems come in autumn, when 

the chestnuts get ripe. At that time, as 

they say, the Macedonian inhabitants 

from the nearby villages come and 

steal their chestnuts. The Albanians 

consider that is not an interethnic 

problem, although some of the 

thieves threatened: "This is 

Macedonian land and we shall do 

what we want." The people of the village 

where the first printing house of 

"Nova Makedonija" was established 

complain that the state takes minimal 

care of the village. 

From Veles region, we transfer to 

Bitola. Although it is a town far from 

the regions where fighting took place, 

the citizens haven't been spared from 

the religious and nationalist hatred 

that seized the country. After some 

people from Bitola got killed in an 

ambush during the fighting around 

Tetovo, thousands of Macedonians, 

mostly young people and adolescents, 

took to the streets. They 

burned and destroyed the houses and 

shops of Albanians. Many Muslim 

Macedonians also suffered. People 

thought the crowd would go to the 

outskirts of town, near the villages 

where Albanians live. Fortunately 

that did not happen. Two years after 

those events, the Albanians and the 

Macedonians from Bitola have 

unpleasant memories of those days 

and they say: "It happened, it has 

passed, and, God willing, it will 

never happen again!" 

According to what we have seen 

in the Bitola region, the war and the 

unpleasant events haven't left a trace 

in the exceptional relations between 

Albanians and Macedonians. The village 

Graeshnica is ten kilometers 

from Bitola. Half of the residents are 

Albanians, half Macedonians. 

Graeshnica is an example of cohabitation. 

At the entrance to the village 

children are running and playing 

football on the muddy turf of an 

improvised football field,. They dribble, 

kick and laugh from the heart 

when one of them falls over in the 

mud. "Come and see. Those are our 

children. Little Albanians and 

Macedonians. Just try and stop them 

from being friends. No! Nothing's 

been changed and, God help me, 

nothing should. This is a village with 

a tradition of seeking their fortune 

abroad. People have been leaving to 

make money far from their native 

places and haven't come back in 

years. They've left homes and families. 

It was a custom that neighbors, 

whether Albanians or Macedonians, 

would watch their houses and help 

others of the family. That kind of life 

has kept on here until nowadays. We 

were scared during the crisis. Not of 

each other, but of what was happening. 

After the events in Bitola, we 

were a little scared to move. Who 

knows what may happen to you in 

that madness? My child was at school 

in Bitola then. Everyday a 

Macedonian taxi driver took him and 

brought him back," says Zubri 

Llimani. According to him, the evil 

caused by the war in Macedonia hasn't 

altered good relations between 

Macedonians and Albanians at all. 

"No, we didn't feel the crisis. The 

way we live now is the same as 

before, and we hope to continue living 

that way," says he. Llimani was 

the owner of the first house we 

approached when we visited 

Graeshnica. After we told him we are 

reporters interested in interethnic 

relations, he told us with a wide 

smile: "I just spoke to Mirko 

Miloshevski, a friend from my childhood. 

He called from Canada only to 

make sure I'm safe and sound. So, 

you can judge for yourself now," 

Both his sons study in Tetovo. The 

older is a student at the Southeastern 

European University, and the 

younger one is at Mosha Pijade, the 

agricultural high school. He says that 

during the crisis he was concerned 

about his sons' destiny because the 

times, still, were risky and violent. 

The cohabitation and harmonious 

relations between the Macedonians 

and the Albanians can be felt in 

Graeshnica. That can be seen from 

the fact that people don't concern 

themselves too much about interethnic 

issues. They are simply occupied 

with the usual daily problems. They 

worry about the cattle. They talk 

about milk production, about the 

troubles they encounter, and about, as 

they say, "the state's negligence in 

ensuring top quality milk products in 

the country." They complain about 

increased taxes, from the valueadded 

tax, about the low selling price 

119 


120 

for their milk, about the bad country 

road, about the "big" sum of money 

they have to give for their children's 

education. 

That's what both Fikri Limani and 

Mile Chikarovski say. "We have been 

here for generations. Fathers, grandfathers, 

great-grandfathers have 

shared food. We live together and 

share the sadness and the happiness. 

We celebrate both Bajram and Easter 

and all the other holidays according 

to tradition. My house is always open 

to him; I am welcomed in his home as 

in my own. Is there anything better 

than that? You saw the young ones. 

They mingle and play. We, the older 

ones, gather in front of the small village 

shop. We chat; we tell each other 

our troubles about life and the cattle. 

We sometimes sit down and play 

cards, Albanians and Macedonians 

together, says Chikarovski. Dimche 

Dimitrovski adds: "It's great for the 

time being. The war brought distress, 

but it didn't spoil relations. The politicians 

are trying to spoil our harmony. 

They want to make us quarrel, so they 

can collect votes at the elections more 

easily. They won't succeed, because 

people have already seen through 

their intentions," laughs Dimitrovski. 

People in Ohrid agree. Most likely, 

the war hadn't disturbed the 

interethnic relations there either. 

"During the crisis there was growing 

distrust, but it only got to a certain 

point. Macedonians, Albanians, and 

Turks live in Ohrid. There has never 

been hatred and unease between us. 

There have been and there will be 

extremists and nationalists. Both 

among the Albanians and the 

Macedonians. But, in Ohrid they have 

never managed to incite hatred, 

because the mentality of Ohrid people 

is special. I think that foreign culture 

has had its influence. For thirty years 

foreigners have visited the city en 

masse. I think that encouraged Ohrid 

people to develop a positive attitude 

and mutual respect, to develop cultural 

principles, regardless of religious 

and national differences," says Gjoko 

Mojsovski from Ohrid. Elmaz 

Huseini lives in Voska Maalo, an old 

Ohrid neighborhood inhabited by 

Macedonians, Albanians and Turks. 

"What problems? We all know and 

respect each other. Many nationalities 

live in Ohrid, but there were never 

interethnic problems. Not even during 

the crisis. Ohrid is a UNESCO city 

and it would be a disgrace if people 

fall under any influence that would 

cause mutual animosity," says 

Huseini. The only incident that could 

damage the interethnic relations in 

Ohrid took place during the crisis, 

when a Molotov cocktail was thrown 

at the mosque. But, according to the 

Albanians, that was carried out by 

people who do not live in the neighborhood. 

Unlike Ohrid, there were incidents 

in Struga, manifested through fights 

between Albanians and Macedonians. 

Mass fights between fellow students, 

Albanians and Macedonians, took 

place at Niko Nestor high school a few 

months ago. The riots lasted only a 

few days and some occurred on the 

streets of Struga, too. A few vehicles 

were destroyed then. The people from 

Struga say that that is the past. "Now 

things are alright. For the time being. 

There was tension and uneasiness, and 

incidents as well. However, it did not 

lead to hatred. You will see that 

Albanians and Macedonians sit in the 

same cafes in the center of town. This 

tells you that there was and there will 

be cohabitation. Maybe the young 

people display more anxiety, but it's 

not so easy for them. They are nervous. 

They don't have work, money, nor 

does the state offer them any way to 

start a life," says Veselin Markovski 

from Struga. Ihmet Ajdisovski suggests 

to the politicians that they forget 

their own interests for a while and start 

taking care of people. "They should 

stop talking about how they have done 

so much work to ease interethnic relations. 

They should do something to 

help the hungry people. They can 

leave the interethnic relations to us, the 

citizens. They were excellent until the 

politicians started 'relaxing' them," 

protests Ajdisovski. Dushko Djorgan 

from Struga thinks that relations are 

not as they used to be. "Everything got 

all mixed up once global democracy 

came in. That so-called democracy, 

with no morality or respect. Nothing. 

Only politicians' appetites for staying 

in power longer, got bigger. The new 

democracy spoiled our relations. I 

recall how it used to be ten years ago. 

A lot of time will have to go by for that 

kind of life to come back. I've sat with 

Albanians and made conversation. 

Now the same people see me in the 

streets, and they ignore me. They do 

not even want to say hello. If we want 

something to be changed, the politicians 

should be the first thing on the 

list, since the fish smells from the 

head," says Dushko. According to 

Shefki Dauti, relations are not good 

and distinctions are still made on an 

ethnic basis. "Recently, a whole truck 

full of chemical fertilizer which was 

brought in as humanitarian help for the 

Struga villages was distributed only to 

Macedonians in the village of 

Morovishta. Not a single bag was 

given to Albanians. I begged them to 

give me one, I was even prepared to 

pay, but they didn't give me one, 

because I'm Albanian. They only gave 

to the inhabitants of Morovishta, settled 

by Macedonians. Not a single bag 

has been distributed to the inhabitants 

of Radolishta, settled by Albanians. 

Kichevo is another ethnically 

mixed city in western Macedonia. 

During the crisis, there was no conflict 

between the citizens there. 

Kichevo folks tell how they haven't 

felt the war psychosis that caught up 

the rest of the country. "The situation 

was good all the time. Almost the 

same as it was before the war. I work 

as a taxi-driver. I drive both 

Albanians and Macedonians. I never 

felt that some Macedonian didn't 

want me to drive him because of my 

ethnic origin. We live to survive 

because the conditions are rough. 

There are Macedonians here also, and 

we think together every day to find 

out a way to earn more. We are not 

interested in politics, especially when 

it is misused to gain political points," 

says Adnan Salifovski. Sasho 

Trajkovski is a Macedonian from 

Kichevo. He is Adnan's colleague. 


"Frankly, there were no problems 

here. During the crisis, I drove in 

Zajas and the other villages where 

Albanians live with no problem. I 

think that mutual respect kept the 

relations as they were before the crisis. 

We, the young ones, continue that 

life, too. I hope it shall go on like 

that," says Trajkovski. There was no 

crisis in Gostivar either, but that town 

is only twenty kilometers from the 

Tetovo region, one of the fiercest battle 

areas during the crisis. The citizens 

say they have managed more or 

less to maintain good neighborly 

relations. "We were frightened. We 

were watchful and scared for the 

future. It's all right now. Life goes on 

the same as before. I am an Albanian, 

but I have many Macedonian friends, 

Turks and other nationalities. The 

young people in Gostivar are divided 

though. They don't socialize and they 

go out to different cafes. 

Unfortunately, a great deal of time 

will have to pass for that to change. 

However, we do not complain 

because it is fine the way it is now. 

We respect each other and that is the 

most important thing," says Alajdin 

Beqiri. Snezhana Aleksievska, a 

woman from Gostivar, says there 

have not been problems in Gostivar 

and that the crisis did not influence 

interethnic relations. "There was fear 

during the war, but that has passed. 

People shut themselves up inside 

their homes then. They didn't move 

about town or communicate so much. 

It's alright now. Relations and communications 

are great. I am 

Macedonian and my employer is 

Turk. All the shopkeepers around me 

are Albanian. We are fine, at least, for 

the time being," says Aleksievska. 

(Emil Zafirovski is a journalist 

at Dnevnik, Isen Saliu 

is a journalist at Fakti) 

Fear or business 

For several 

months now 

apartment owners 

of 

Macedonian ethnicity 

have been 

selling their 

apartments in the 

districts on the 

left side of the 

Vardar River. 

Based on public 

opinion collected 

from the 

Albanian inhabitants, 

we learn 

that their 

Macedonian 

neighbours are 

unexpectedly putting 

out ads to sell 

their apartments, 

although the relationship 

between 

the two sides have 

been good 

Valdetet Ismaili 

According to public 

opinion from a large number 

of Albanian citizens, inhabitants 

of the districts on the 

left side of the Vardar River, 

we learn that their 

Macedonian neighbours 

have been migrating in large 

numbers, moving to the right 

side of the Vardar. 

Among the neighbourhoods 

where the phenomenon 

of migration and the 

high-priced sale of apartments 

are highest is that of 

Skopje Sever. Sashe 

Jordanovski, once a resident 

of the above-mentioned 

neighbourhood, sold his 

apartment to an Albanian 

five months ago. 

"Together with my wife 

and two children we moved 

to Novo Lisiche. I didn't 

migrate from Sever because 

of bad relations with the 

Albanians, but because at the 

moment I saw a reasonable 

opportunity for such an 

action." 

Extinguishing his cigarette 

with his foot on the 

ground, Jordanovski indirectly 

mentions the chilling 

memories of war. After a 

silence, he says that he is 

afraid of old history repeating 

itself. "Unconsciously, I 

feel that I have planted in 

myself a certain dose of mistrust 

of people. It's not that 

Sever has become a 'thorn in 

my eye,' but it is an issue of 

comfort and security, which 

I feel in the place where I 

live now," says Jordanovski. 

Jordanovski sold his tworoom 

apartment for 39,000 

euros. "I think that the apartment 

that I sold to the 

Albanian didn't sell for a high 

price, but I didn't have another 

opportunity," he says. His 

neighbours and himself, as 

Jordanovski explains, with 

the end of the war in 2001 

moved to the neighbourhoods 

of Hipodrom, Centar, Vlae 

and Karposh. 

While we were looking 

for someone of Macedonian 

background to ask about 

their moving out from the 

districts where Albanians 

live, we spoke with 50-yearold 

Mehdi Luta, an inhabitant 

of Sever. He tells us of 

his "transfer" from 

Aerodrom to Sever. 

As we learned, he had 

realized his idea of moving 

from his previous neighbourhood 

through exchanging 

apartments with Dragan, 

who moved to Mehdi's 

apartment. 

"At the end of 2002, I 

exchanged my apartment in 

Aerodrom with Dragi. He 

used to live in the apartment 

that I have today, while he 

now lives in my previous 

apartment over there. I also 

121 


gave him 7,000 euros, because his 

apartment was bigger," says Mehdi. 

As for why he transferred to 

Sever, Mehdi says that "even before 

the war started in Macedonia I wanted 

to sell my two-room apartment 

granted to me by the state with the 

mediation of my employer, where I 

still work. All my brothers and my 

sister live in Gazi Baba, Sever and 

Serava, so I wanted to be closer to 

them." 

Later on, Mehdi said that a considerable 

number of Macedonians 

have migrated from their neighbourhood 

and that the prices of the apartments 

are very high. "My neighbour 

Berat stresses that he bought a threeroom 

apartment for 65,000 euros 

from a Macedonian. While wanting to 

talk more about his reason for moving 

to Sever, which had been the only 

solution according to Mehdi, he said 

that "before the war, but nowadays as 

well, everyone believed that the 

Macedonians who were selling their 

apartments on the Albanian side, did 

so because they do not trust their 

Albanian neighbours. The Albanians 

who lived, so to say, on the 

Macedonian side have the same 

motives for moving as well." 

Mehdi adds, "during these last 

months as well, the same trend is continuing, 

even when two years have 

already gone by since the end of the 

war in Macedonia." 

While we were speaking with 

Mehdi and his Albanian neighbour, 

Lulzim Rustemi, about their lives 

with their Macedonian neighbours, 

they never forgot to add the fact that 

"apartments being sold by 

Macedonians have high prices. Our 

neighbour Faik bought his 75-squaremeter 

apartment for 48,000 euros." 

Real estate agents say, "the agency 

has been selling only those apartments 

that are listed by the owners of the apartments 

or houses. They put it on the market 

with us and we represent their real 

estate. We have nothing in common with 

the apartments that are sold with the selfinitiative 

of the owners." The same, in 

order to remain anonymous, said that the 

"apartment owners in the neighbourhoods 

of Sever, John Kennedy and 

Topansko Pole have not said that they 

are moving into Macedonian majority 

neighbourhoods, attempting to find 

security there, but that's implicit." 

(The author is a journalist at 

the daily newspaper Fakti) 

122 

Macedonians move to the 

left side of the Vardar 

I am selling a three-bedroom 

apartment in chair for a onebedroom 

apartment in Karposh 

Daniela Trpchevska 

"Selling a two-bedroom apartment 

in Skopje Sever." "Sellingexchanging 

an apartment in Chair." 

"Selling an apartment in Topansko 

Pole. Urgent!"…These are the most 

frequent advertisements you can see 

leafing through the newspapers. Real 

estate agencies in the city supplement 

this initial picture, pointing out 

that the biggest range of apartments 

for sale is in the region from Center 

to Radishani, which includes the settlements 

Bit-Pazar, Chair, Topansko 

Pole, Skopje Sever, and Butel 1 and 

2. The data also shows that 90% of 

the population selling property in 

this part of the city is Macedonian 

and 10% are members of the other 

communities in the country. 

MIGRATION LASTING 

MORE THAN TWO 

DECADES 

The problem with the migration 

from one side of Vardar to the other 

has become severe. This process has 

been going on for more that two 

decades, intensifying in the 1990s, 

then accelerating as a consequence 

of the post-conflict period and the 

disrupted interethnic trust. The main 

reason for so many people moving 

out which began in the 1990s, 

according to the citizens is that there 

is no central heating in Chair, says 

Ace Milenkovski, the Mayor of 

Chair municipality. And now? 

"We need some balance 

in the city's 

investments. There 

are 70,000 inhabitants 

of Chair, who should 

feel that they live in 

Skopje, that they are 

part of the city. The 

last big investment in 

this part of the city 

was back in 1974 with 

the construction of 

the apartment buildings 

in Skopje Sever," 

says the mayor of 

Chair, Aco 

Milenkovski 


The problem is complex, it isn't 

just based on ethnicity but also on the 

neglecting of the municipality. In the 

last two years, interethnic trust has 

been undermined, but such problems 

did not exist before. By 2001, the reason 

given was the authorities' neglect 

of the municipality. As an illustration, 

I can point out that by 1999, there 

was no central heating in the municipality 

at all, and a year later the heating 

plant in Skopje-Sever came into 

use, states Milenkovski. 

According to survey information 

received from the municipality, the 

reason given for the migration 

from this part of the city 

in 1998 was the feeling that 

"Chair is at the end of the 

world." 

The Macedonians are 

selling their apartments and 

houses from that side of the 

Vardar and they want to buy 

new, smaller ones in the area 

from Karposh to Novo 

Lisiche, in accordance with 

their abilities. The real 

estate agencies state that 

three-bedroom apartments 

are sold, and one-bedroom 

apartments are bought on 

this side of the Vardar. The 

apartments in Gjorche 

Petrov, Novoselski Pat and 

Hrom are mainly in 

demand, since they are 

cheaper. There is a remarkable 

demand for apartments 

in Novo Lisiche as well. 

Exchanging apartments is very 

rare, say the real estate agencies, 

because it is very difficult for people 

to reach an agreement about the 

price, since there is a big difference 

in the prices on the left and the right 

side of the Vardar. In average, on 

"that side" of the Vardar the prices of 

the apartments go as high as 500 

euros per square meter, whereas the 

price on "this side" can reach twice as 

high, or 1,000 euros per square meter. 

Some of the agencies in Skopje do 

not deal with buying and selling of 

real estate on the other side of the 

Vardar, using the excuse that there 

are no interested clients (?!). 

GHETTOIZATION, 

PROS AND CONS 

In Chair, Topansko Pole and 

Skopje Sever, sheets of paper are 

stuck on the building entryways, on 

shops, advertising the sale of some 

apartment or house within. It so happens 

that in some buildings with 16 

apartments total, only a few are 

Macedonian, state the citizens of 

Chair. So a problem arises in the 

schools, especially in the primary 

schools Vasil Glavinov and Cvetan 

Dimov, where the number of 

Macedonian children is diminishing 

and classes can't be formed. 

"Parents are taking their children 

to school that tend to be towards 

Center or in the settlements where 

they go to work," say the people from 

Chair. The old inhabitants, who have 

been living there with generations, do 

not want to move but some of them, 

feeling pressure as their closest 

Macedonian neighbors begin to move 

out, are thinking about selling their 

own houses. Trajche has a house on 

John Kennedy Avenue, where his 

family has been living for decades. 

Like his neighbors, he is also considering 

selling his family house. 

"I am one of the first inhabitants 

along with my relatives, who for generations, 

since 1937 to be more precise, 

have lived in this house. I have 

two granddaughters from my son, 

who go to the primary school Nikola 

Vapcarov, where in one class there 

are only seven Macedonian children. 

Two years ago there weren't enough 

children to form a class and in 

September the situation is probably 

going to worsen, he says, pointing 

out that this is the biggest problem 

they are facing. 

"The neighbors are selling their 

houses; Albanians are going to move 

in here. The time will come when, 

whether we like it or not, we will 

have to move. "Right now there is 

some kind of harmony," says Trajche, 

who lives in a neighborhood in Chair 

with fifteen Macedonian houses. His 

neighbors have not sold their houses 

yet, but are being constantly visited 

by Albanian buyers. They can't reach 

an agreement about the price, but 

sooner or later, someone is going to 

pay the price they are asking and the 

houses are going to be sold," says 

Trajche. 

While some of the citizens from 

that part of the city across the Vardar 

prove the ghettoization that has been 

going on for a decade, others think 

that it is nonsense to divide the city 

into a left and right side, into this or 

that side of the Vardar. Precisely on 

that side of Vardar are the vital buildings 

in the city, like MANU, The university 

and its library, the courts, the 

TV-radio building, which means that 

that part of the city is not neglected. 

"Those buildings are on this side 

of the Vardar, but consider their location, 

all in the center, alongside the 

Vardar. In Chair there are no state or 

government institutions. On the other 

side, Chair feels very urban unlike 

the other part," says Milenkovski. 

According to him, the part of Skopje 

123 


124 

from the other side of the Vardar 

lacks buildings like the supermarkets 

Vero and Tinex, McDonalds 

restaurant, etc. "We need some 

balance in the city's investments. 

There are 70,000 inhabitants living 

in Chair, who should feel that 

they live in Skopje, that they are 

part of the city. The last big 

investment in this part of the city 

was back in 1974 with the construction 

of the apartment buildings 

in Skopje Sever. For thirty 

years now nothing else has been 

built," reckons the mayor of this 

municipality. "The area is emptying 

out and we can't accuse anyone 

but ourselves, because we 

have neglected this part of the 

city. 12,000 Albanians live on 

Dizhonska Street and that's a 

ghetto created decades ago. 

FOR HOW LONG 

AND HOW FAR? 

The state's attitude towards 

this part of the city has to change, 

development has to begin. Chair 

has no police station, no fire 

brigade; people live according to 

a certain sub-standard. If the state 

begins to invest equally across the 

city, maybe something will 

change. That's the attitude of the 

mayor of Chair, around which the 

settlements Topansko Pole, 

Skopje Sever, Butel 1 and 2, and 

Radishani revolve. 

He proposes that the State 

should press big investors to build 

restaurants and buildings on that 

side of the city as well, because 

"we can't concentrate on the 

length and alongside the river 

Vardar only." "We belong here 

and we can't move out from 

Chair. We should sit down and 

discuss and solve the problems, 

and not sell our property following 

the principle of least resistance," 

say the people of Chair. 


at the daily newspaper 

Utrinski vesnik) 

Our parents 

knew how 

to handle 

these things 

Gordana Duvnjak 

I recently heard a famous 

Macedonian intellectual stating that 

the appetites of the Albanians do not 

end with the Ohrid Framework 

Agreement. The thesis that he goes 

on to develop is an old and famous 

one: their goal is to unite into a 

greater Albanian state through federalization 

and separation. Whether 

they are going to achieve that is 

another question, concludes this philosophy 

professor. 

A day before that, another professor 

who is known to be 

an expert in democracy 

and civil society, 

straightforwardly 

refused my plea to write 

an article for the last 

issue of Multiethnic 

Forum about the twoyear 

anniversary of the 

Ohrid Agreement and 

the future horizons for 

Macedonia. "I don't 

want to write about it 

because I don't believe 

in the Ohrid 

Agreement!" stated 

firmly my interlocutor. 

"All right," I assured him calmly, 

"you are entitled to an opinion. Write 

that!" But he seemed as if he didn't 

hear what I was saying, and my 

words echoed. "I don't want to be a 

black sheep. Full stop!" he replied 

shortly, while he coldly put the phone 

down. Almost at the same time, a 

newly elected party leader mentioned 

another punctuation mark, this time 

the comma. "The Ohrid Agreement 

must be implemented to the last 

comma," yelled furiously this new 

member of the opposition, who was 

believed to be a moderate Albanian 

until recently. Self-determination is 

Why have we 

forgotten to listen 

to each other, let 

alone understand 

each other? Did 

we contribute to 

what has happened 

to us or 

was it someone 

else's fault? It's 

not that important 

any more 

very popular these days amongst different 

political phenomena, as if 

there was a scratched vinyl record 

that goes on, and on, and on… 

Maybe we should worry. Do 

these people see what we cannot, do 

not want to see, or are we all in a collective 

delusion? We believe in some 

kind of a Utopia called the Ohrid 

Agreement, which is being served up 

to us by the international community, 

offered as the only alternative to save 

the state. Let us hope that we are not 

a part of some kind of a massive hypnosis 

that lives in virtual reality with 

blindered perceptions 

…And this is so only 

because we want to 

believe that the Ohrid 

Agreement, though not 

flawless, no matter how 

much we think it 

imposed on us and not a 

result of sincere wishes, 

is nevertheless some 

kind of a solution to our 

long-standing encumbering 

problems. A 

replacement for what 

we have missed, for the 

lack of political conscience 

that things cannot 

remain as they were ten years 

ago. Regardless of whether it will be 

a short-term solution and a transitional 

period or a long-term solution that 

will depend on the ability and the 

capacity of the state to maintain its 

existence. 

We, the ordinary people, have 

somehow got used to exploiting the 

jargon of the politicians and using it 

everywhere, promoting moderate 

optimism. Not because it's our real 

mood, but more as a defense mechanism 

against the fear that something 

unpredicted might happen. Ever since 

then, we still look at each other with 

Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003

eserve and we don't believe each other 

enough. The whole world moves forward 

and we go backwards like crabs! It 

would be in vain to shout: "Stop World, 

let us get on board!" They won't hear us, 

they'll already be too far away. 

I often wonder how our parents and 

grandparents managed to live together 

and to respect each other. Were they 

smarter, more patient, were the times 

different, or, were the people different? 

I still remember the stories that my 

grandfather Petre used to tell me when 

I was a child about those days when the 

only thing that mattered was who you 

were, not what you were. When the 

most important thing was to be honest, 

and it was not important which religion 

or which party you belonged to. I 

remember talks about the close friend 

from Debar, about the house in the market, 

about their frequent visits, the staying 

for the night on the way home, 

about the days when Granny Arslanica 

washed the feet of the tired guest, as a 

sign of the greatest respect and friendship. 

The night was too short for the 

stories that the old friends -of different 

religions, but sharing heart and understanding-wanted 

to tell each other. 

Where are the two sons of Arslanica 

now and what are they doing? Do the 

children of uncle Sali from Samokukji 

contact and visit the Christians as they 

used to before, as well as the children 

of that Albanian from Papradishte 

whose name I don't know, who is 

buried on the premises of my distant 

childhood, when during the summer I 

anxiously waited for him to unload his 

bags full of ripe pears. If there is a 

smallest bit of understanding left 

between them, and us, then we have a 

future, a common one! 

Why have we forgotten to listen to 

each other, let alone understand each 

other? Did we contribute to what has 

happened to us or was it someone else's 

fault? It's not that important any more. 

What is important now is that we learn 

slowly! It seems that the majority of 

Albanians have nothing more important 

in their lives than the Ohrid Agreement 

-not the poverty, nor the unemployment, 

nor the crime, nor the fact that the sanitation 

containers get stuffed with bombs 

instead of garbage. Many Macedonians 

are still full of anger. First they put the 

blame on Ljupcho, then on Branko, 

because they "give too much to the 

Shiptars" even though this is our country! 

As if we are alone on this peace of 

land, and, as if we don't share the same 

destiny! And what is going to happen, 

once what has been agreed upon in 

Ohrid is fulfilled to the last full stop or 

comma, whatever? Will the Albanians 

become more loyal towards their own 

country and will they finally feel it to be 

theirs? Will the Macedonians divest 

themselves of the complex that someone 

is stealing something from them 

and wants to take something from them 

by force? And what about those who 

don't belong to either of these groups, 

according to their ethnic code, and also 

have a right to a better life! 

There is no other way out, we just 

need to remind ourselves how our parents 

and grandparents managed to live 

together. 

(The author is a member of the 

editorial board of Multiethnic Forum 

and editor of Utrinski Vesnik) 

125 

The Agreement Looks 

for its Frame 

Georgi Barbarovski 

Macedonia overcame the horror, it 

went through the rage, it left its grief 

behind and entered a new phase of 

changes dictated by the Ohrid 

Agreement, known to the public as the 

Framework Agreement. Two years 

ago, immediately after the conflict, 

there were problems both with the ratification 

of such an agreement as well 

as with its contents. Once its language 

was brought into the Constitution and 

several laws, the implementation 

revealed a new problem-its framework. 

Possibly the creators of that 

document have left more space in the 

section where the interethnic "rubbing" 

is most emphasized, so that they 

can mollify and minimize the hard 

blows. But political pragmatism is on 

its way to making a surrogate even 

If it's true that the energy of an era is measured by the 

number of creatures who suffer and that every political 

credo is substantiated by the very victims it creates, then 

Macedonia is on its way to fulfilling the obligations created 

by the Ohrid Agreement 

from the 

healthy tissues, and through improvisation 

to carve new loopholes in the 

tight parts, where the changed organism 

of Macedonian society is functioning 

well. Who made the mistake, 

the creators of the agreement or those 

who are supposed to bring it to life? 

This ambiguity can last only a while. 

Two leaders of opposition political 

parties are trying to raise their 

standing and those of the parties they 

lead with one extracted half-sentence 

from the preamble, so they draw an 

alleged right of self-determination for 

the members of their ethnic community. 

Of course, they are "encouraged 

by the non-realization of the Ohrid 


Agreement." One of them wasn't satisfied, 

so he asked "to change the 

state symbols in the spirit of the 

agreement." We can suppose that with 

such action they will emphasize the 

double benefit: a referendum and 

plenty of work for the tailoring industry 

that will be engaged in the additional 

ornamentation of the state flag. 

The parties in power are not far 

behind. Although the territorial division 

and the authorization of local selfgovernment 

are two independent areas, 

the government majority is trying to so 

intertwine them that one cannot function 

without the other. Such interpretations 

vulgarize the Ohrid Agreement, 

which emphasizes human rights and 

cultural identity in the society. 

To be clear, the following are not 

an issue here: more extensive language 

rights, the functioning of 

Badenter's majority on both the state 

and local levels and the decentralization 

of government authority. 

Nevertheless, despite the willingness 

to move forward, some postulates of 

that agreement require time while 

none of them endanger the unitary 

character of the state. 

If it's true that the energy of an era is 

measured by the number of beings who 

suffer and that every political credo is 

substantiated by the very victims it creates, 

then Macedonia is on its way to 

fulfilling the obligations created by the 

Ohrid Agreement. There are many people 

still suffering from the conflict 

before the agreement, and the number of 

direct victims was not trivial either. 

Macedonia is in a time of tolerance. The 

greater good deed that the world has created. 

And that good deed cannot be the 

worst evil at the same time! 

(The author is a member of the 

editorial board of 

Multiethnic Forum and deputy 

editor-in-chief of Dnevnik) 

How are things going when they 

are not moving at all in the first place? 

Hope keeps us going even 

when things are not well 

126 

Ferid Muhich 

How's everything? 

Great! 

Don't worry, that will end soon! 

It is very clear that we are not 

doing so will. But does that mean that 

this situation will not come to an end? 

Anyway, how do things stand in 

Macedonia? If not great, are they on 

the verge of disaster? If they are not 

as we want them to be, are they worse 

than circumstances permit? 

To evaluate the problems in a 

country objectively is the most difficult 

of tasks, especially if you evaluate 

them as a whole, integrally, with 

all the relevant aspects coordinated in 

a logically organized system. It 

requires strong interpretive capacity 

and an extensive information network. 

Focused upon one aspect only, 

this estimation can suggest certain 

valid insights, with a plausible base of 

information for making additional 

insights, applicable even for a general 

diagnosis. The neuralgic marks of the 

state of interethnic relations and their 

urgent need for stabilization present 

sufficient arguments for choosing that 

very segment from the conglomerated 

complex of social, political, security 

and economic segments in the country. 

SOME RESULTS 

1. From disagreements, through 

tensions, to conflict. 

The most remarkable indicator of 

the situation in the Republic of 

Macedonia during the last decade has 

been the issue of interethnic relations. 

Interethnic relations have colored the 

atmosphere from the first day of 

Conditions in Macedonia have undoubtedly changed for 

the better, with clear awareness that they were never as 

bad as we were afraid they were, and that they could be 

even better than we hope they might be 

establishing full statehood and sovereignty, 

even immediately after the 

completion of that process, especially 

with the disagreements regarding the 

formulation of the issue for which the 

referendum was staged. After the 

refusal of the ethnic Albanian political 

parties and most of the ethnic 

Albanian citizens to vote for the first 

Constitution of the Republic of 

Macedonia, the problematic relations 

escalated to become actual tensions. 

Eventually, at the beginning of the 

new millennium, in January 2001, the 

interethnic relations progressed from 

tensions to radicalization and resulted 

in direct armed conflict on the frontline, 

with the ethnic Albanian population 

on one side and the state security 


forces on the other. 

2. Three numerical indicators 

The dry-as-dust language of statistics 

always stimulates radical disagreement 

and humorous remarks. 

The classic example says that, 

according to statistics, a man with 

one hand in the oven and the other in 

the refrigerator will experience the 

average ideal temperature! 

Nevertheless the numbers tell us 

something that is empirically tangible, 

a fact that could be verified at 

least in its own context, if not applicable 

outside of it. 

The organization PEV 

Makedonija (Project for a Common 

Vision of Macedonia) in 2002 performed 

extensive field surveys 

throughout Macedonia, dissected the 

country into 15 parts for the convenience 

of this study. One of the central 

hypotheses was interethnic relations 

(primary along the line ethnic 

Macedonians vs. ethnic Albanians) 

are the most important factor for the 

birth of the conflict the year before. 

SURPRISING ANSWERS 

From the long list of factors, three 

seem most important in this instance. 

Using them, the intensity of the ethnic 

distance, that is to say, the force 

of mutual trust, was estimated. Here 

are the questions we asked: 

1. Do you believe that after the 

conflict trust between ethnic 

Macedonians and ethnic Albanians 

will return? 

2. Do you think that the ethnic 

Macedonians and ethnic Albanians 

have a common future in the 

Republic of Macedonia? 

3. Do the citizens have power? 

The answers for the whole of the 

population were: 1. YES - 71%; 2. 

YES 81%; 3. YES - 63%. 

3. Interpretation, controversies, 

logical context: 

The interpretation of those 

responses is the most interesting part, 

as is always the case with statistics. 

Some people considered these numbers 

highly optimistic, and in 

essence, very probable; to others they 

seemed highly optimistic and not 

very probable; some considered them 

pessimistic but probable; and finally 

there was a group who considered 

them pessimistic and improbable. 

The questions tended to contrast with 

the personal experience that some 

people brought with them, and they 

considered these results not very 

probable, whether they read them 

with an optimistic or a pessimistic 

slant. 

But what exactly do these results 

say? This not very rhetorical question 

has a simple aim, to define what the 

statistical data realistically means, 

and to what extent we can estimate 

the situation in a given segment of 

public life based on them. The fact 

that there are those who see these 

affirmative and positive percentages 

as too high, namely not harmonized 

with their perception, should be carefully 

analyzed. Individual perception, 

as a rule, notwithstanding how precise 

and concrete it is, is always more 

restricted and limited in comparison 

with a survey conducted on a huge 

territory. In general, the citizens who 

will read this article should understand 

that their personal opinion, 

even if it does match the mentioned 

results, basically does not correspond 

with them. 

Then there is no actual debate. 

Simply, there is direct incongruence 

in dimension. The quarrels in this 

case, notwithstanding how productive 

they can be, are an example of 

shooting the wrong guy. If a citizen 

claims that in his or her area the 

results are, let's say, just the opposite, 

and that the greatest number of people 

with whom he or she communicates 

would answer "no" to these 

questions where we got "yes," then 

the member of PEV Makedonija who 

would contest that would make a 

mistake. The mistake would be as 

great as one made by someone who 

would contest the results of the study 

based on personal experience which 

does not subsume more varied social, 

ethnic, educational etc. contexts. 

THE MAJORITY DETER- 

MINES THE DIRECTION 

Let's make things clear! There is 

no real controversy, because we have 

two very disparate bodies of information 

for which there is no logical precondition 

for valid comparison. The 

participants in this quasi-conflict are 

blind to the fact that both sides could 

really unqualifiedly be right, without 

questioning the truthfulness of each 

of the facts. If 70 per cent of, let's say, 

2 million people answer "yes" for 

something, at the same time it means 

that 30 per cent say "no" for the same 

thing. And 30 per cent of two million 

is 600,000 people! Therefore, from 

the perspective of those who are 

skeptical about the above results, 

considering them too high, it is quite 

possible that there are those from 

environments where the negative 

answer comprises 90%. 

Theoretically, it is possible to get 100 

per cent negative answers on all three 

questions when surveying 600,000 

people in the Republic of Macedonia 

if by chance you reach only those 30 

per cent who hold this negative position! 

On the other hand, 70 per cent of 

the same two million people equals 

1,400,000 people who said "yes." 

Theoretically it is possible to get 100 

per cent positive answers if you surveyed 

that two thirds of the population 

of the Republic of Macedonia. 

Put into their logical context, 

these indicators have meaning only 

when they are interpreted numerically. 

The statistics in this case reflect 

the overall distribution of positive 

feelings in relation to the extremely 

sensitive problem of interethnic relations. 

It suggests that the citizens in 

general, closely to the given proportions, 

also believe in a common country, 

and also in the possibility and 

feasibility of mutual trust. That is, 

they believe in the possibility for citizens, 

through their own efforts, with 

their own work and strength, to 

become the most important factor in 

the creation of a long-term strategy 

127 


128 

for the stability and integrity of the 

country. 

In that context, it seems that the 

most constructive and thought-provoking 

ground for serious thinking 

could be among those citizens for 

whom the given results are realistic, 

and do not come as a surprise because 

they conform with their experience 

from their everyday environment. 

However-and this is most important!- 

those results do not justify outstanding 

optimism; on the contrary, they 

justify maximum precaution and even 

prolonged concern. 

This realization is really worrying: 

from every ten citizens of 

Macedonia three have lost their faith 

in the possibility of living together in 

the same country with the ethnic 

group with whom they have lived for 

longer than their family tradition can 

remember,. The theoretical number of 

600,000 such cases in a population of 

2 million, only further intensifies the 

worry and justifies it! 

THE POWER OF 

THE CITIZENS 

The citizens of the Republic of 

Macedonia, even after such fierce, 

organized, systematic, media-rich, 

political, armed irritations, are still 

the most mature factor, and simply 

have not entered into a wider conflict 

whereas every other society (it is easy 

but also superfluous to offer arguments 

on that at the moment) would 

surely have entered into a bloody 

civil war, The fact that they are such a 

mature factor is a first-class argument 

in favor of the relatively high percentage 

of "yes" answers to the three 

questions! Also the power of the citizens, 

their self-awareness and their 

political sobriety are surely confirmed 

in the electoral results, in 

which the most militant political 

forces experienced a real Waterloo; 

they were defeated with an astonishingly 

high concentration of clearly 

expressed disagreement with their 

saber-rattling . The citizens have 

shown the same surety in their power 

with their spontaneous and perfectly 

harmonious action against the ideas 

and calls for civil war, i.e. for the act 

of dividing people and territories, and 

they have given a lesson to the institution 

with the highest intellectual 

and moral authority in every country - 

the national academy! 

Finally, if on the basis of this we 

ask ourselves how things stand in the 

Republic of Macedonia, we could, 

with ample evidence, conclude that the 

epidermis of interethnic relations in 

our country is seriously wounded and 

that even the deep wound has become 

scar tissue. But the core of the civil 

vital capacity is firm enough, and able 

to return to its previous mien, to regenerate 

the scars. Their clear criticism 

towards government institutions and 

the actions of the politicians, their 

fierce verdict on corruption and nepotism, 

are marked indicators which on 

all bases completely nullify the primary 

relevancy of the fragmentation 

resulting from the ethnic distribution, 

and unite the ethnic Macedonian and 

ethnic Albanians, and also the representatives 

of the Turks, the Serbs, the 

Roma, the Bosnians, the Vlachs into a 

single grouping of civil and political 

citizenry of Macedonia. 

Said directly: Conditions in 

Macedonia have undoubtedly 

changed for the better, with clear 

awareness that they were never as bad 

as we were afraid they were, and that 

they could be even better than we 

hope they can. 


university professor) 

Two years later 

Balance of 

ethnocultural identities 

The Ohrid Agreement 

exhausts the Albanian 

option that even a violent 

clash may serve 

as a political platform, 

whereas 

Macedonians accepted 

the agreement 

regardless of the feeling 

that it has been 

imposed by war 

Ljubomir D. Frchkoski 

Why do certain agreements, although 

logical and justified, fail while others, 

which are not so good, survive? What is 

agreement sustainability based upon? 

When transitional conflicts are taken 

into consideration, there are generally 

two types: 

Strategic conflicts, which comprise 

the usual political conflicts of interest 

within the state and conflicts of 

geostrategic importance with neighbors; 

and identity conflicts that relate to the 

collective, cultural identity of the conflicting 

parties. Most often the two types 

are mixed into a concrete political constellation 

of their resolution or crisis. 

The point of the matter is that the 

presence of identity conflicts significantly 

complicates and makes the transitional 

politics of democratic stabilization 

more difficult, at times even extremely 

violent. The former Yugoslavian con- 


flicts contained significant elements 

of such identity conflicts: Bosnia was 

extremely violent, Kosovo less so, 

and Macedonian managed to avoid 

violence often in spite of the war of 

2001. The first two conflicts resulted 

in the failure of the multicultural 

political project and ended with a 

reversible ethnonationalism and ethnic 

cleansing. Until now, the last 

conflict has been a unique example of 

still functioning democratic politics 

of a multicultural society. The essence 

of identity conflicts and the instruments 

for solving them are a special 

subject in international politics: negotiation 

techniques between identities. 

MACEDONIAN MODEL 

OF MULTICULTURAL 

SOCIETY 

What makes these experiences 

(let's focus only on them) so similar 

and at the same time so different? 

What is it that in one set of circumstances 

multiculturalism is reduced to 

the meanest violence, whereas in 

another it sustains efficiency and 

democracy? Macedonia has a significantly 

different setting of multicultural 

society and democracy. History has 

been "kind" regarding bloodshed 

between the groups of people living 

on the territory of ethnic Macedonia. 

There were clashes with occupying 

forces, but no similar clashes between 

the ethnicities (in that context the 

Macedonian-Albanian discourse differs 

greatly from the Serbian- 

Albanian). The role of the church is 

more tolerant because the 

Macedonian Orthodox church, due to 

its exclusion from the family of 

Orthodox churches, learns how to live 

alongside other religions in a milder 

way, unlike the rest of the Orthodox 

churches, and inclines toward the 

Vatican rather than towards Moscow 

or Constantinople. The syndrome of a 

country of crossroads "teaches" 

Macedonia and keeps it open to an 

international presence which has 

become a part of everyday life, and 

has an important stabilizing role in 

interethnic conflicts and dialogues in 

a form of "soft" mediation. So the 

country's open stance is a good start. 

At the time of the initial establishing 

of democracy and independence the 

political elite was functioning on a 

higher level compared to the other 

examples above, and they emphasized 

the positive side of the history 

of interethnic relations. Thus precious 

time was gained when establishing 

democratic institutions and 

during their initial start-up. The international 

context favored internal 

cohesion to a significant degree 

(which was not the case regarding 

international recognition of the country), 

namely, the Serbian project for a 

larger state was (non-pashic) focusing 

westward towards western Serbs, 

who are far more numerous. 

Macedonia gained time, which it took 

advantage of while acquiring its independence 

and pulled itself out without 

a war. The Macedonian Albanians, a 

relatively small group among the 

Albanians in the region, have their 

own internal dynamics and interests 

that contain the following paradoxes: 

they have the best economic-political 

state and culture and an appropriately 

significant international position, 

stronger by far relative to their number. 

Can their leaders be as important 

as those in Kosovo and Albania? That 

wouldn't be possible if they were 

closer to the Kosovars. They would 

be sucked into the far larger mass of 

more violent Kosovars and would disappear 

as a semi-subject (Macedonian 

Albanians). Therefore Macedonian 

Albanians have special interests all 

their own: to maintain rhetorical solidarity 

with their "brothers," but to 

maintain their distance as long as possible. 

For that reason they cooperate 

with the Macedonian authorities, not 

because they are coerced nor because 

they are "special Albanians." 

THE CONSTITUTION 

PROVIDES SOLID 

GROUND 

In order to translate this into an 

effective, relatively stable and democratic 

policy, a global political frame 

had to be designed which would be 

(indirectly) internationally guaranteed. 

The1991 Constitution of 

Macedonia provided the base and the 

Ohrid Agreement completed it in certain 

important details. The Ohrid 

Agreement can be successful and stable, 

namely due to the grounds it is 

built on, and of course, due to some of 

its conceptual principles. 

We will focus on a few key principles 

contained therein. There are 

roughly three solution pillars in the 

Ohrid Agreement. One is the extension 

of the most painless, and at the 

same time most tangible, cultural benefit 

for the minority ethnic communities: 

language rights. The second is a 

new parliamentary procedure 

(Badinter's majority) for enacting 

laws, in order to guarantee protection 

from the majority outvoting the laws 

that directly refer to minority rights; 

and the third is the timeframe for 

staffing up public administration with 

employees from the minority ethnic 

communities. 

The agreement, as is obvious 

now, lacks a more precise (and not 

only analogous) regulation of the 

same multiethnic principles that governs 

it to be carried out at the local 

level. Although so-called local 

democracy is highly emphasized 

(which is also highly emphasized in 

Badinter's conceptual scheme), it hasn't 

been elaborated in the major procedures, 

except for the election of certain 

police officials. For the time 

being the agreement steps all over the 

major political benefits of the 

Macedonian experience, although the 

actors that signed it were each down 

for the count. The Albanians were 

uncertain of what HQ and the other 

Albanian parties would say (despite 

relying mostly on American guarantees 

that the Agreement was all right); 

VMRO-DPMNE, in general confusion 

over the poorly governed 

"defence" policy, was frustrated and 

overcome by anger; the SDSM members 

took a greater authoritative role 

than they actually possessed, but they 

had the most solid understanding of 

the framework and potential solu- 

129 


130 

tions; the President of the Republic 

practically led the discussion with his 

team being superior to the other representatives 

of the Macedonian political 

entities. 

INTERNATIONAL 

GUARANTEES 

International guarantors of the 

agreement (and this is a rule for successful 

agreements) must possess 

enough authority to establish a framework 

and a lasting agreement. They 

should provide what is known as carrot-and-stick 

measures. They provide 

clear-cut and decisive threats which 

effectively penalize and marginalize 

any violators of the agreement. They 

also provide some sort of assistance 

package and further international integration 

for successful implementation 

of the agreement. 

In spite of much criticism entangled 

in the mist of frustration stemming 

from the war, the Ohrid agreement 

creates a win-win combination. 

During normal assessments there are 

no losers and there are standard, legal, 

international grounds for balancing 

ethnocultural identities. The 

Agreement does not set forth solutions 

for minority rights beyond what is 

considered standard and all solutions 

can be traced to the framework convention 

of national minorities or in the 

Council of Europe's Charter for 

Minority Languages. It affirms the 

unity of the state, sets up grounds for 

significant power sharing, puts individual 

human rights first with a significant 

level of protective rights for cultural 

identity (that have collective 

implementation), etc. 

Soon after the signing and the 

implementation of the constitutional 

amendments it was concluded that the 

civil dimension of the political system 

had not been jeopardized. 

The extremists were disappointed 

and the criminal Albanian gangs continued 

to unsettle the mostly Albanian 

population in the villages with kidnappings, 

murders and robberies. The 

capacity of those destabilizing factors 

is not so great as to jeopardize the stabilization 

based on the new relations 

established with the Agreement. 

Those "new" relations were not so 

new that they had to be understood as 

such. They promoted a new Albanian 

political presence and exhausted the 

option of violent clashing as a political 

platform. Most importantly, the 

agreement engaged the international 

community, actors who require a successful 

outcome. The situation is still 

the same, and it is being promoted 

with the same attention. The 

Macedonians accepted the agreement 

regardless of the feeling that it has 

been imposed by war. In essence it 

strengthened the state internationally, 

although it weakened its control over 

the area while it was in the renewal 

phase. 

The most important short-term 

objectives of the implementation of the 

Ohrid Agreement would be: to 

strengthen the efficiency of the state's 

control over the area and so-called 

human security; to guarantee the rights 

of those "new" minorities in the municipalities 

in which Albanians are a 

majority; to continue the political 

struggle for full implementation 

together, including the marginalization 

of ethnonationalists who feed on 

bizarre interpretations of the agreement 

provisions and the slow pace of the 

implementation of some of its parts. 


university professor) 

Why doesn't the 

Albanian population in 

Skopje lead a cultural life? 

Ali Aliu 

Albanian demographers think 

that Skopje's urban centre alone 

has approximately 100,000 

Albanian citizens, while together 

with the surrounding area, the 

number doubles. With occasional 

absences, I have lived in Skopje 

since the end of the '50s of the 

past century. Even then, Skopje 

had a teacher's college, Albanian 

drama under the rubric of the 

Theatre of Nationalities, the 

weekly newspaper Flaka and the 

Albanian program on Radio 

Skopje.… Of course, the number 

of Albanian citizens would be 

smaller then. Years after that, the 

editorial staff of Flaka founded a 

publishing department and the 

literary magazine Jehona. 

These were all the cultural, 

educational and media organs that 

covered Skopje and the Albanian 

population in Macedonia. If we 

observe carefully, we will notice 

that the same scheme and structure-in 

culture, education and media-has 

remained unchanged for Skopje 

and in large part for all the 

Albanians in this country, with 

minor variations. 

* * * 

I have asked myself on several 

occasions why Skopje, with so 

many Albanians, doesn't succeed 

in creating the ambience for cultural, 

educational and media life 


according to the number of citizens it 

has and according to the future perspective 

the capital has? And I say to 

myself that for Skopje to look like a 

cultural centre according to the number 

of citizens, it should have several 

high schools, several faculties and 

institutes, at least one developed theatre 

(for children, puppets theatre) a 

publishing house, a gallery 

for visual arts, a concert hall, 

a sports hall, a cultural centre, 

a public library, a developed, 

transparent and independent 

press, clubs etc. 

* * * 

However, Albanian 

Skopje continues to have one 

semi-theatre, which for 50 

years has stood as an oasis in 

the middle of the Bit Pazar, 

and which instead of having 

an influence as an institution 

that would educate the surroundings, 

does the opposite. 

We have one pedagogical 

faculty, which, according to 

public opinion surveys published 

in the media, "firmly" 

stands in the middle of corrupted 

structures. We have 

two daily newspapers with 

unsustained and confused 

orientation and structure, 

that stagger constantly from 

side to side. We have several 

publishing houses (none of 

them appropriate and likely 

to be closed) that are unable 

to open the channels of circulation 

for literary values 

on a national level, with one 

semi-literary magazine without influence 

which playing no meaningful 

role. And that's it. That's all. 

Albanian political parties should 

contribute to Albanian Skopje 

remaining a cultural, educational, 

and media centre on a national level: 

besides the lack of projects and a 

clear vision for the cultural illumination 

of the city, and while insisting 

on the realization of those projects, 

our parties have even withdrawn 

from Skopje physically. So, by isolating 

and barricading themselves in 

their own villages, where they feel 

more important than they are, they 

have in fact helped in the process of 

making Skopje an ignored periphery. 

* * * 

In the middle of this bunch of 

I have asked myself on several occasions, why 

doesn't Skopje, with so many Albanians, succeed 

in creating the ambience for cultural, 

educational and media life according to the 

number of citizens it has and according to the 

future perspective the capital has? And I say 

to myself that for Skopje to look like a cultural 

centre according to the number of citizens, it 

should have several high schools, several faculties 

and institutes, at least one developed theatre 

(for children, a puppets theatre) a publishing 

house, a gallery for visual arts, a concert 

hall, a sports hall, a cultural centre, a 

public library, a developed, transparent and 

independent press, clubs etc. 

(Albanian) issues in the above-mentioned 

fields, which should be the 

object of continuous debate, one of 

the most disturbing issues seems to 

be the Albanian Section of 

Macedonian Television (MTV) 

because it's the only media that 

reaches the greater part of Albanian 

areas in Macedonia. Some months 

ago I heard that someone from the 

governing parties had offered the 

position of the editor of this program 

to someone nationally eminent in the 

area of Albanian literature and publishing 

and who rightfully requested 

that the section (Channel 3) become 

independent, at least on the same 

level as Channels 1 and 2. He as the 

editor-in-chief (the director) could 

then employ and fire journalists, 

award and punish, and could independently 

provide minimal conditions 

regarding the technical 

side of the work… Almost one 

year has passed since DUI 

became part of the 

Government, and they haven't 

done anything in this irreplaceably 

important sector. It seems 

that the activists of this party, 

dealing with high, global politics 

are not satisfied with the 

small things mentioned here … 

And, we have some kind of 

Section, where, for years on 

end, the majority of the journalists 

are volunteers working 

freelance and without salary. 

The wealthier ones are obligated 

to loyally serve 

"the bosses" of the 

governing political 

parties. Their moral 

and professional 

degradation, from 

mandate to mandate, 

has made their words, 

the moral and professional 

reputation of 

this company (especially 

one part of it), 

lose their depth. The 

individuals that don't 

agree with this situation 

withdraw, fall 

silent or get fired… 

Since the 1960s until 

now, it seems that only the available 

editorial space has expanded, moreover-a 

space with which they seem to 

have trouble-they don't know what to 

do with it. 

The Albanian turmoils in 

Macedonia, their dynamic life in all 

areas couldn't be documented even if 

we had several TV channels, but we 

are witnessing-especially during the 

summer season-that the most of the 

programs being aired are already 

aired programs. 

131 


As if it were yesterday! 

132 

Gjuner Ismail 

What a phenomenon! After only 

two years of the Agreement it seems 

that many years have passed. In fact, we 

are looking at five hundred and some 

odd days, and when we reflect a little 

bit, sober up, see through the mist of the 

intensive everyday life, we realize 

defeated that we are more tired, poorer, 

and more desperate! On the eve of the 

"little jubilee of the agreement," one of 

the United Nations agencies informed 

us that one third of the population in the 

Republic of Macedonia is "on the 

verge" of poverty, and as for the region, 

we are the poorest! If one third of the 

population is below the line of poverty, 

that means that a decent number of citizens 

has joined them, therefore, when 

you open your eyes in the morning, 

regardless of the enthusiastic voices of, 

that can be imagined in the Balkan laboratories 

for Balkan primitivism, we 

were ready and we wanted peace to 

happen, we even had energy while 

bringing peace to put an astonishing 

amount of wisdom, a sound realism, an 

atypical sobriety for Balkan people in a 

Balkan pub. And? No sooner did we 

reach the agreement that we asked ourselves: 

what now? 

Just as a reminder: we expected a 

lot from that Agreement, even what was 

not stated therein and what was not hidden 

potential. Namely we all knew, perhaps 

it was already stated somewhere, 

that this agreement was only bringing 

those to the table who in the past tenodd 

years, together with their criminal 

associates, tarnished this country and 

made it look like a slut, where all sorts 

of Ljubes, Thachis, Ljubchos, Brankos 

could even organize a war or, not to be 

exploring all the good sides of the 

Agreement, we polished our languages, 

cleaned and refreshed the vocabulary in 

various venting conferences, round 

tables, workshops. We washed ourselves 

clean from all the dirt we took 

part in, partly afraid, instructed and a bit 

blinded, from what happened in our 

garden-a war-we took the road we all 

knew (although we are smart, the foreigners 

prepared a roadmap for us), the 

path towards the remedial exam, the 

path of our last chance! That is the bitterness 

of everyone caught red-handed, 

caught in ignorance, which is sweetened 

by little, intimate, hidden explanations 

and assumptions such as "what 

would have happened if I did (not) do 

this or that?" And then we knew, as 

even now we know, that one of the best 

scholars of manipulation, the mastermind 

of manipulation Xhaferi, knows 

The autumn of 2001 was spent in exploring all the good sides of the Ohrid 

Agreement, we polished our languages, cleaned and refreshed the vocabulary in 

various venting conferences, round tables, workshops. We washed ourselves clean 

from all the dirt we took part in, partly afraid, instructed and a bit blinded, from 

what happened in our garden-a war-we took the road we all knew (although we 

are smart, the foreigners prepared a roadmap for us), the path towards the remedial 

exam, the path of our last chance! 

the default optimists, morning radio 

announcers, be aware that half of the 

population in this country have woken 

up desperate! 

However, that wasn't the plan nor 

did we expect something like that to 

happen. In all honesty, two years ago 

our visions were different, more precisely 

we had a different horizon in 

view-the war horizon. Then in the fury 

of war, an exceptionally dirty, instructed, 

directed and modeled one, in a way 

too harsh, let someone organize it! We 

believed that the time had come to "pull 

the rug out from under" the one and 

only and extremely compromised political 

elite, though divided among various 

political parties, which we elect out 

of lack of courage or sheer ignorance, 

we will steal the topics (stealing, lying, 

selfishness, servility, etc) and we will 

provide a new topic-and we won't care 

at all! And so things went, for a short 

time. The autumn of 2001 was spent in 

best that: 

Albanians believed that too little 

has been gained, in comparison with 

what could have been gained! 

Macedonians believed that they 

were exposed to humiliation since they 

were bereft of what they didn't want to 

give, or would have given but somewhat 

later! 

However, be as it may: after the 

frustrating autumn of 2001, the 

Constitution was revised, the amnesty 


implemented, the disarmament as well, 

so the second part of the operation was 

undertaken. The 2002 elections-were 

ahead of us! But mind you: although 

the enumeration seems simple, and at 

first sight there aren't any crucial 

events, far be it from us to consider 

fatigue a consequence of a disease. A 

lot of water passed under the Stone 

Bridge. Many things happened to us. 

Piles of (seemingly) less important 

events, perhaps account for why the 

timeframe from August 2001 to August 

2003 seems so long. High frequency, 

high but exhausting, wastes our lives, 

in vain! 

Furthermore. Not only for the sake 

of truth, but for the sake of using a realistic 

approach, we should be aware of 

the following: they who brought 

Macedonia to this situation did not 

want ,and still don't want, to give in 

easily. All of them, the locals and the 

internationals. However, the locals are 

in the limelight now. They soon forgot 

the signature on the documents, as they 

surely believed they were expected to 

do so! In their delinquent world, the 

word and the signature mean nothing, 

especially to the Balkan delinquents, 

ready to play all the foreign double, 

triple, multiple games. 

This, of course is not a plea that 

will produce an alibi for anybody, especially 

not for the ones in government, 

however, it should be clear to us that 

the human material with which we 

compose the government is that onethe 

same-and in that sense we are not 

talking about an alibi, but instead about 

a doubt, a sound one too! So in the end, 

this is a small country, we all know 

each other! 

SO, BACK TO THE 

AGREEMENT! 

The Parliament, that ratified the 

Agreement after the adoption of the 

Constitution, the amnesty law and a 

sequence of essential laws, mostly by 

means of a recognized imported technique 

"STAP", left the political scene 

after the 2002 autumn elections. After 

the elections the political scene was 

also missing the political clique that 

ruled Macedonia with the manners of a 

brutal primitive accumulation (more 

precisely stealing!). If you would ask 

those million desperate people today, 

they will respond that they would put 

up with Branko-Ali for many (incapable, 

taunting) years to come, only to 

prevent "the other guys" from coming 

back. For the sake of clarity, this refers 

to everyone from before, Albanians and 

Macedonians. Some (partly due to the 

authorities' inability, partly to the corruption 

of the court system, the prosecutor's 

office, and partly owing to the 

proverb dog does not eat dog..) slightly 

fidgeted in the investigation prison 

of the "new government," however, to 

sum up, they will remain unrepeatable. 

Or so at least the citizens of this and 

that side of the agreement hope.! 

If this can be attributed as a merit to 

the Agreement, and perhaps due to the 

entire, new circumstances, I think that 

the Agreement fulfilled one of the 

(un)expected objectives. A paradox, isn't 

it? The Constitution (the single relevant 

document according to which all political 

elites ought to adhere) does not state 

anywhere who or what should not be 

considered as serious political alternatives. 

However, all analyses, surveys 

demonstrate that brutal kleptocrates, 

provincial warlords, intellectual bluffers, 

such as the duo Ljubcho-Arben are 

already behind. Even if they relied on a 

"short memory," in Washington they 

have a longer memory! 

And furthermore, the "agreement" 

brought some things to Macedonia, 

that, surprisingly, we are proud of. 

Recently, I was talking with a foreigner, 

whose country is considering 

whether to join the EU, so I described 

our situation. I neither praised nor criticized, 

I was rather neutral. And he, 

with an air of disbelief in his voice, 

asks me: So, an Albanian now rises and 

speaks Albanian in your Parliament? 

He couldn't but feel stunned, not 

because of my affirmative answer, but 

because of my calm tone of voice and 

the additional statement that the 

Parliament is "ours," and not only mine 

or his! Then he continues to be surprised 

because there is an ethnic channel 

on the state media and to a heap of 

other things which two years ago were 

"a living tragedy and a reason to slice 

open veins" and are regarded as commonplace 

now in Macedonia. 

However, we are about to reach the 

point. Since the "civilized" encounter 

"certain difficulties" with some of their 

citizens, I suggested to them, in all 

honesty, and not with cynicism as 

Macedonian chauvinists do, the model 

of the Agreement! Why not? 

MANY THINGS 

ARE CHANGED 

Although we are (in this text) in the 

phase of exploring some positive benefits 

from the Agreement, we mustn't 

allow ourselves to swim in the waters 

of optimistic propaganda. Yes, it is correct 

that many things are not the same 

anymore, some are even better, some 

have remained the same and other have 

deteriorated. However, it is also true 

that many of the "good" things "hardly" 

work and still contain a fair amount of 

explosive charge. If you put those 

"hardly" things in the hands of the 

many evil people, or allow for routine 

and inertia to take over, then very easily 

parallel agendas are created from all 

those who see and used to see the 

Balkans only as a place for rolling up 

our sleeves and charging bills made 

elsewhere and for other goals. 

Therefore, always and at every occasion, 

I repeat, YOU can be sure: we are 

the most responsible for the implementation 

of the Agreement, however I add 

that for the destiny of the Agreement, 

you the guarantors are even more 

responsible! 

Macedonia is not the same anymore 

and regarding this issue, at least as far as 

the normal citizens of this country are 

concerned, no one shows any dissatisfaction. 

However, unfortunately, the 

expected, true Macedonia, is not able to 

reach any sort of agreement, since the 

subject matter is different. Macedonia 

that would not wake up in despair, 

calamity, poverty and without any 

future prospects not contained in the 

agreement! It does not begin nor does it 

end with the amicable talks between Ali 

and Branko, nor with the secret whispers 

of their associates with God knows 

whom. One thing is certain. Macedonia 

will not have situations where the ones 

that destroy (our) chances will sit down 

together at a table again. 

(The author is a publicist) 

133 


134 

A slow but secure train? 

Daut Dauti 

The Ohrid Agreement started as an 

express train and is now continuing as a 

regular local train! 

This analogy seams to get closest to 

the truth. Because two years after its signing, 

the Ohrid Framework Agreement is 

moving like a train which is neither 

express nor fast. In railway terminology 

there is another type of train, a local train. 

When passengers get on this train, they 

should know what to expect-one long ride 

with many station stops. If an express train 

Skopje-Thessalonica would stop only in 

the bigger cities, a local train would collect 

passengers at every village station. 

THE ABANDONING 

OF THE "ITINERARY" 

Two years are enough to evaluate one 

process. If that process has its own implementation 

plan, whose greater or lesser 

failures are noted, then the evaluations for 

its success fade. 

The Ohrid Agreement, taken in context, 

is one of the more dramatic events in 

the recent history of the country. It was 

preceded by a limited conflict which greatly 

resembled an ethnic conflict. Due to the 

local character of the crisis, this conflict 

didn't worsen ethnic relations, therefore 

the chances are more realistic that after the 

Ohrid Agreement a more harmonious society 

might be built. Its essence lies in the 

fact that it was achieved with a consensus 

of the most relevant parties in the country 

(VMRO-DPMNE, DPA, DPP and SDUM) 

and it was endorsed without reserve by all 

international organs (UN, EU, NATO, 

USA). One of the present political leaders, 

Ali Ahmeti (DUI), would declare these 

days that the history of Macedonia starts 

with the Ohrid Agreement. No matter how 

much negative criticism it gained in some 

media and political circles, it contains one 

truth: that this agreement really established 

one foundation for a fortress, which, 

if built without architectural mistakes, will 

survive all the windstorms and earthquakes 

of the time. 

But apparently some of its architects, 

from the moment they failed to achieve 

their goal of remaining in power, have 

started behaving rather dishonestly. The 

ex-leader of VMRO-DPMNE promotes 

the idea of territorial separation; Arben 

Xhaferi promotes the idea of ethnic states 

(articulated at the DPA congress in July as 

the right for self-determination). These 

actions prove that the challenges to full 

implementation of the Agreement haven't 

been completely overcome. Some mistakes 

happened on the way towards implementation, 

which gave the radical forces 

an excuse to think that it can't be implemented. 

The first mistake was made at the 

beginning. Because of the unnecessary 

political quarrels (from fear of loosing the 

elections), some very sensitive items of the 

achieved agreement were revised. 

Therefore, the constitutional changes do 

not correspond fully with the agreement 

signed in Ohrid. 

The second mistake was delaying the 

timeframes. Some laws that should have 

been voted on by the parliament even 

before the elections were delayed. The initial 

delay created space for timeframe 

delays to seem normal as well as delays in 

establishing the new executive and legislative 

authorities. 

The third mistake is the tendency to reexamine 

what has already been achieved 

by interpretation and new expertise. An 

example is the approval of the regulation 

of the work of the Parliament. There, the 

right to officially use the Albanian language 

was limited to discussions only, and 

not in the leading of the meetings. (In the 

Ohrid Agreement these kinds of limitations 

are not present.) Rightfully addressed 

at the political parties in power, DPA has 

said that unnecessary bargaining is going 

on over issues already defined in Ohrid. 

The fourth is some discrepancies in 

hiring within the public administration. 

The opposition parties (VMRO-DPMNE 

It started 

"turbo," 

with 

appointed 

timeframes, 

some shorter 

some longer. 

The UCK 

disarmament 

and the constitutional 

changes were 

realized 

within the 

optimal 

deadline, but 

everything 

else is crawling. 

No matter, 

the 

chances that 

the realization 

of the 

Ohrid 

Agreement 

will fail are 

small, 

because 

there is both 

an internal 

and external 

political consensus 


and DPA) have strongly criticized the 

government as far as employment practices 

in the administration and public 

institutions are concerned. Public 

administration, which needs to be 

reduced by half, must also employ 

more Albanians in order to reach the 

"appropriate" number of them. DPA has 

criticized DUI as a party in power for 

allowing Albanians to be fired from 

their jobs as well, since their percentage, 

as foreseen by the agreement, hasn't 

been reached. The arguments of the 

current government are reasonable: a 

large number of the appointments are 

made according to political criteria and 

many of the employees didn't have 

appropriate agreements with the 

employee. But firing an Albanian (even 

to replace him with some other 

Albanian), speaks loads about the discrepancies. 

As far as this problem is 

concerned, this is Government's indifference 

towards explaining to citizens 

that the Macedonians are not being 

fired from their positions in public 

administration so that the Albanians 

can get in, but that the International 

Monetary Fund is dictating this based 

on their reviews of all the budget 

parameters. On the other hand, it needs 

to be explained more clearly that 

Albanians are coming into the administration 

in order to realize a right which 

has been denied for decades. As the 

leaders of DUI report, what can be considered 

a success is the unprecedented 

presence of Albanians in the higher 

third echelon. 

Five: there have been and there are 

still efforts to ignore the Amnesty Law 

by some judges and public prosecutors, 

as well as by the police earlier when 

Ljube Boshkovski was minister of 

internal affairs. Some procedures did 

not get to their appropriate court epilogue. 

THE OHRID AGREEMENT 

CANNOT FAIL 

Despite all the possible criticisms 

regarding the implementation dynamics, 

the Ohrid Agreement is a political 

project with a negligible chance of failure. 

Regardless of the obstructions at 

the beginning, all the obligations are 

being passed one by one to the 

Parliament for voting, albeit a bit late. 

At the beginning, only the disarmament 

of the NLA (as a symbolic political gesture) 

and the constitutional changes 

were done in time, whereas everything 

else has been moving along at a very 

slow pace. This was obviously influenced 

by some very dramatic movements 

within the opposition parties: 

Ljubcho Georgievski's resignation, the 

resignations of Arben Xhaferi and 

Menduh Thachi and DPA's moratorium 

from political life, which lasted from 

April until July this year. Their absence 

was not so productive, but their readiness 

to see their obligations through 

gives us hope that there won't be any 

other serious obstructions. VMRO, 

with its new leader, Nikola Gruevski 

supports the agreement (contrary to 

Georgievski, whose position was problematic 

from time to time). DPA's ultimatums, 

and DPP's subsequent ones, 

created additional complications, but I 

think the complications were mostly in 

the eyes of the public rather than actual 

ones. Both of them request full and 

timely implementation of the 

Agreement. DPA has announced that it 

will start working towards the creation 

of national states according to the principle 

of self-determination, while DPP 

says that it will activate political and 

territorial autonomy available since 

1991. From this stance of extreme ultimatums, 

which contains many elements 

of political posturing, it is clear 

that they haven't given up on the Ohrid 

Agreement after all. Harsh criticisms 

from the OSCE, the EU, and the US 

towards the positions of DPA's congress 

on self-determination, clearly 

underlines that the maneuvers to get out 

of the political frame inaugurated in 

Ohrid are quite minor. Any party that 

would distance itself from the obligations 

that come out from the signatures 

of their leaders, risks marginalization 

and isolation, especially by the international 

institutions. 

If we want to find out whether we 

are happier then before, the answer is 

problematic. Contrary to all the challenges 

and the fragility of security in 

the country, the situation in general can 

be considered promising. We are far 

from saying that the goal has been 

achieved. One succession of negative 

events, such as the large number of 

criminal acts (murders, robberies, kidnappings…), 

especially in the Albanian 

surroundings, indicates the need to 

work harder on getting back to normal 

life. The upcoming autumn action for 

weapons collection may be very useful, 

but it will soon be proved that it will not 

be fully realized either. The authorities 

need to act more energetically (both the 

police and judicial system) on the 

investigation of the cases and punishment 

for all criminal acts that have 

already taken place or will happen in 

the future. 

As a conclusion, let us get back to 

the trains. It is not the same, travelling 

in an express or local train. The difference 

is even more obvious if the passengers 

board an express noticing only 

later that the driver is stopping at every 

local station. The passengers bought a 

ticket for an express, so every delay 

causes anxiety and brings on impatience. 

The only satisfaction for the 

passengers could be the conductor's 

guarantee that no matter what the delay, 

and though it was due in the morning, 

the train will arrive by dusk. 

The important thing is that it arrive. 


journalist at Flaka) 

135 


Tradition should be 

conquered continuously 

136 


With the new situation created 

after the 2001 conflict, 

many people, mainly the 

good-willed, remained confused: 

hey, haven't we lived 

together in this region, do we 

have to be taught to live 

together now? 

Tradition, like freedom, is 

not permanent, it must be 

asserted time and again. Some 

elements of a certain tradition 

remain, another disappears, a 

third should be updated. Many 

misunderstandings are justly 

created by the fact that today, 

in the beginning of the twentyfirst 

century and the new millennium, 

the international 

community is about to instruct 

us how to live together! And 

so it will, since we unreasonably 

and without any grounds 

introduce "disorder in the system," 

we cut off and question 

tradition. The reason why certain 

civilizations at times suddenly 

fail, are not always fully 

accounted for. Apparently, in a 

broader macro-dimension a 

spiritual, economic, moral or 

social impediment obstructs. 

And then, everything must 

start again, although certain 

aspects from previous 

achievements and tradition 

remain in some form. The 

stronger the tradition, the 

more chance that its elements 

may "survive," may transform 

themselves into new forms. At 

times the forces of destruction 

can't destroy everything, but 

they question things to a great 

extent and seek new ways of 

revision that are inevitable. 

If one takes into account 

the tradition of cohabitation in 

the past two centuries, it is 

obvious that there have been 

oscillations, ups and downs. 

Forces of progress and 

destruction have continuously 

changed places. However 

forces of progress have prevailed 

here. In that sense and 

spirit I wrote my article in the 

previous issue of Multiethnic 

Forum, "The Bazaar means 

encounter, not separation." 

This text is only its logical 

succession. For, if the tradition 

of cohabitation is strong for a 

longer period, it will survive 

more easily all the shattering 

and re-examinations. Today 

we are obviously under such 

shattering and re-examinations. 

After my text was published 

in Multiethnic Forum, a 

friend Z. from Skopje whom I 

have known since before the 

earthquake encounters me in 

the Bazaar, riding his bicycle. 

I admire him because each 

weekend, he rides through the 

hills surrounding Skopje by 

bike. 

"We read your article in 

Multiethnic Forum", he says, 

S. did too (he is our mutual 

childhood 

friend, an 

Albanian). 

He believes 

that children 

should read 

it and 

remember it 

as well. To 

make them 

see how life 

used to be 

before. 

And that 

is exactly 

what we 

need: if tradition 

is 

strong, it 

can not be 

overlooked 

or forgotten. 

Destruction 

can not 

undermine 

or obliterate 

it. 

I often sit by the fountain, 

in the heart of 

the Old Bazaar, under 

the shadows of the 

huge oak tree and the 

water that gurgles 

pleasantly in the middle 

of the fountain 

between the restaurant 

tables set all 

around. I order a cup 

of coffee, but coffee is 

no good without a cigarette. 

My pack is 

empty. Opposite me a 

gentleman sits and 

smokes the same 

brand . As soon as he 

notices my problem, 

he kindly offers me 

cigarettes, we 

exchange a few words 

and he invites me to 

sit at his table 

All of 

this brought 

memories of 

our old family 

friendships with Albanians, 

and not only with them, but 

with close people from other 

ethnic communities. Do you 

remember the last time you 


ead an article about such family 

friendships? I am sure you don't. 

Not about childhood friendship, 

nor about unforgettable street 

friendship, but about mutual 

respect and visits between families? 

And those are the stories written 

exactly from life itself. There 

are many of them here. We shouldn't 

forget them. 

Right after the earthquake, we 

were moved from the old part of 

Skopje to the newly established 

residential area. One of those 

areas, built by Slovenians, was 

Vlae. During a stay in the State 

hospital, a family member made 

friends with an Albanian, J., the 

latter coming from a beautiful village 

behind Vodno. The friendship 

turned into a family friendship and 

later visits: he stayed at our home 

with his family and we stayed at 

his in the village behind Vodno. 

The closeness was so strong 

that J. started addressing us using 

our nicknames, as we addressed 

each other in everyday family 

communication! 

In the mid 1970s, while serving 

in the army in Samobor near 

Zagreb, I made friends with Z, an 

Albanian from the village 

Kopanica (the "last post office of 

Bojane" as we used to call it) 

which afterwards turned into a 

family friendship. 

When I visited him and his 

family I brought him presents, 

when he visited me he brought 

presents too, beautiful skillfully 

knitted woolen socks. The friendship 

with Z. lasted for a long time, 

since he worked in a department of 

the Goce Delchev printing company, 

the one in the centre of Skopje, 

which no longer exists today! One 

article can hardly grasp the authenticity 

of friendships and respect we 

had with Albanians, Turks, Vlachs, 

Serbs, Bosnians, Roma in Skopje. 

My best friend from high school, 

J.T., at the end of the 1960s took 

me to Krushevo for the first time, 

in his family house with a great 

and rich Vlach tradition. His 

grandmother, still alive at the time, 

told us about Ilinden and the day 

Krushevo succumbed. She even 

remembered details, although she 

was a girl at that time. I made 

friends with T.M. there, who later 

became a prominent skier, and J., 

who studied French. 

Apart from T. who was into 

sports, we would visit the restaurant 

in the centre, held by the well 

known caterers J. and P., who later 

took over the Writers' Club in 

Skopje. We would go down into 

the monastery woods, and sang the 

song "Dafino, vino 

crveno"(Dafina, red wine) we 

would first go red from the wine 

and then got pale and white as the 

beautiful bed covers from 

Krushevo. What can I say about 

friendship with the Turks, we were 

like brothers, since our houses 

were separated by only one garden 

door. What can I possibly say 

about the mutual family visits with 

Romot-a porter first in 

Kooperativa, later in Vardar and 

after that in Tehnometal Vardar? 

He came for Easter, we visited for 

Gjurgjovden in Topaana, never 

thinking that we could miss the 

great holiday! 

Well, that is life! That is the 

grandeur and uniqueness of life. 

That's how we were, that was our 

destiny, and nobody can change it. 

Regardless of whether somebody 

suppresses or assists us. 

Nowadays, it is called "multiethnic 

living," "cohabitation between ethnic 

communities," "multicultural 

living" or the Framework 

Agreement. Fine. But it all sounds 

so pale and unconvincing. 

Artificial. And it is our fault. 

Because tradition is not permanent, 

it should be continuously 

cherished, updated, renewed. Like 

freedom, like wooing the woman 

you love, like something sacred 

and precious. Nothing is given for 

good, unchanged. We must be 

wary of destruction as it preys on 

us at each step. And if the framework 

means progress, and not 

destruction, can anyone speak 

against it? Of course not, provided 

we do not confuse the terms 

progress and destruction. Not to 

confuse them and advocate real 

values. 

My story about the family 

friendships was not accidental. It 

137 


138 

is only an introduction of what follows 

below, depicting a part of the 

current situation. 

I often sit by the fountain, in the 

heart of the Old Bazaar, under the 

shadows of the huge oak tree and the 

water that gurgles pleasantly in the 

middle of the fountain between the 

restaurant tables set all around. 

I order a cup of coffee, but coffee 

is no good without a cigarette. 

My pack is empty. Opposite me a 

gentleman sits and smokes the same 

brand. As soon as he notices my 

problem, he kindly offers me cigarettes, 

we exchange a few words and 

he invites me to sit at his table. 

I take a seat, we talk, and I try to 

recognize in him a face that probably 

lives near the Bazaar whom I might 

have met before. 

No, we haven't met before - he 

smiles. I am Albanian and I live in 

Arachinovo. I find it pleasant here so 

I often come. 

He tells his story. For years he 

has been teaching in the school in 

Arachinovo. He is retired now. 

Doesn't look like a retiree though, he 

looks bold and energetic. We 

exchange opinions about the current 

situation. We skip nothing. Not even 

the most sensitive problem. He is a 

pleasant and tolerant talker. 

In the course of the conversation 

I asked him a question, expecting to 

confuse him. It turned out that the 

question did not confuse him but he 

was rather glad. 

"May I visit you at home in 

Arachinovo?" I asked. "I have never 

been there, except to pass through. I 

will afterwards invite you to my 

home. 

"Why not?" he smiled. "It will 

be my pleasure. I will now explain 

how we can meet in the best way." 

And he started explaining which 

bus I should take to arrive in 

Arachinovo, provided I don't have a 

car. He pointed where exactly the 

bus stops in the village. He would 

meet me at the bus stop which is not 

far away from his house. 

And most importantly: he left his 

full name, his mobile and his fixed 

phone number. I wrote down in my 

notebook: I.S, mobile, home number. 

After that, events happened, only 

a few days after our conversation: 

the murder of the Albanian while the 

police were trying to arrest him in 

the Chento area, then the assault on 

the journalists, the blocking of the 

police station. 

Of course, our meeting was temporarily 

delayed. But it wasn't cancelled. 

It is because contacts must be 

alpha and omega in this region. 

Without them everything will fall 

down like a tower of cards, and they 

can contribute the most to taking 

down the masks and bringing back 

our confidence. 

Tradition should be upgraded and 

affirmed time and again and nothing 

is a given for ever, especially not in 

crisis situations. We said the 

Framework Agreement can be 

accepted only as progress for everybody, 

not as destruction. But we 

must clarify what is progress and 

what is destruction. If progress is a 

setback for one party and destruction 

for the others, and if destruction is 

progress and promotion for the others, 

then we haven't done anything. 

And it seems at the moment this is 

exactly what is happening to us. We 

are still on the dangerous swing 

between trust and distrust, under 

which a dangerous abyss sprawls. 

Tomorrow all peacekeepers will 

leave and we will remain with each 

other. And with tradition, our noble 

one, the one we can rely on which is 

a result of the life processes, contradictory, 

complex, nonetheless 

remains open for new, constructive 

movements and affirmations. 

Sitting in the Bazaar and sitting 

in Arachinovo (with the internally 

displaced safely returned) should not 

differ. It should be like before. And 

that benefit should be renewed again. 

All together. 

(The author is a publicist 

and a journalist)

Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

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