Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

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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