Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

Along the dividing lines
Macedonians and Albanians
are willing to continue
the lives they led before the war
118
Emil Zafirovski
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
Meetings, not divisions, June 2003