Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

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
Return of peace, December 2001