Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

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
Return of peace, December 2001