THE SHADOW OF THE HALF OPEN DOOR

Specially for the editorial board of AIM in Skopje, the editors of all the media in Macedonia shall present their views on inter-ethnic relations, on civil and national concept, the political situation in Macedonia and the future of this state Every Monday collegues from the media here will try to explain the political reality of present day Macedonia and give their views on all the most current developments in this state. This Monday the editor of the domestic policy section of the unique newspaper in the Albanian language in Macedonia "Flaka e vellazerimit", Emin Azemi writes for AIM. Next Monday our "guest" will be Mirka Velinovska, the editor of the domestic policy section of the weekly "Puls". She will be followed by Milan Banov, the editor of the Saturday review edition of "Nova Makedonija", Goran Mihajlov, editor of the domestic policy section of the daily paper "Vecer", etc.

AIM, Skopje, April 4, 1994

Summary:

Throughout their history the Albanians and Macedonians, never stopped the elevator on a dark unlighted floor, since they were the followers of the philosophy of inter-ethnic anti-domination (i.e.,lack of desire to dominate over others). The Albanians are exerting efforts to protect their national and cultural identity from any concept which is detrimental to the affirmation of the word nation, and have focused most of their energy on the concept of statehood which for the time being is not provoking any favourable reactions from Macedonian political structures. The Albanian-Macedonian communication has not been initiated as yet and has remained on the level of joint outings to the movies, theatre, concert, etc., strictly on an individual basis, while real life in Macedonia evolves behind a curtain of highbrow curtesy. The personification of common life in Macedonia should be a large courtyard with many houses whose doors should always be left open for others.

The spreading of the map of Macedonian on the rough Balkan relief has always been accompanied by the dilemma: what kind of frame should that map have. Some are inclined to say that the frame should be as rough as the Balkan relief, namely its material substance. The first challenge to develop a civil image of Macedonia appeared precisely at a time when no one hid fear of the future, of an impending apocalypse. In its concrete form this fear was mainly manifested by the Albanians who experienced the independence of Macedonia, in the beginning, as a corridor whose lights can be turned off by someone outside of Macedonia.

This feeling was accompanied by an aversion that took the form of a question: "Can a civil concept provide for national equality, before Macedonia comes out with what kind of Constitution it wishes?" The initial dilemma for or against a civic Constitution still exists, but not so sharply as at the outset. At present this dilemma has come increasingly to resemble an elevator that can be stopped only where you least want it to stop. Throughout their history, Albanians and Macedonians have never stopped the elevator between floors.Numerous elements of historical maturity are rooted in the philosophy of inter-ethnic anti-dominatiron (i.e., lack of any desire to dominate over others). The results of this quality are seen today through the prism of forming a nucleus of a state whose affirmation in the world is more expressed by the day. world.

However, this affirmation has a methodological handicap,in view of the ambition of not allowing internal Macedonian issues to be internationalized, in line with President Kiro Gligorov's well known statement that - "Macedonia was a oasis of peace." As far as it is matter of avoiding conflicts, in comparison to Bosnia and Croatia, Macedonia really is an oasis od Peace. However, this imposes an counterpoint which results in the posing of yet another question: "Are the citizens of Macedonia aware what kind of state they live in and what kind of state it should be." If someone, for example, asks the Albanians that question, and they make up 22% (according to official data) or 40% of the overall population (according to inofficial sources) then their answer would be that Macedonia is still far from an "oasis of peace."

If a petty request of theirs, the Albanians would say, alarmed the Parliament and the entire Macedonian public, then there can be no word of an oasis of peace. The Albanians are not mistaken when they say that only 25% of them continue secondary education and only 1.48% higher education. It is evident that these consequences go back to the times of monism, when Albanian teachers and parents were arrested only because they requested tuition in the Albanian language. Today, the Albanians are asking: Why is not the present multi-party Government (in which there are Albanians, the representatives of the Party for Democratic Prosperity) doing more to eliminate the consequences of the monistic system.

Macedonia can be a Balkan peninsula in miniature, but also an open door for entering Europe. The door-knob of this door is in everyone's hands, although there are attempts to keep it closed for still some time. The shadow of this half-open door falls on the plane of mythological frustrations. Nationality is no longer mentioned in an anfavourable context.The waving of an archeological flag over the face of the young parliamentary democracy still continues to be the main activity of the advocates of the concept " one natiron-one state." The Albanians are exerting efforts to protect their national and cultural identity from any concept detrimental to the affirmation of the word nation.

In spite of some seesawing in determining their political goals, the Albanians have focused their energy on the concept of statehood which for the time being is falling on deaf ears of Macedonian political structures. This kind of insisting on the part of the Albanians on statehood speaks of the gaps that exist in the Macedonian Constitution, which in addition of not receving the votes of the Albanians Parliamentarians (23 of them in the Macedonian Parliament) leaves ample room for the execution of rhetoric manoeuvres of a legal kind. Had this Constitution really been a civic one, Albanians would have no need to keep a spare "umbrella" in order to protect themselves from the imprecise provisions of the Constitution which only promise but do not guarantee civil equality in regard to the use of the Albanian language, education in Albanian at all levels,concessional democracy in local self-rule, etc.

Although they are organized in three political parties, (the Party for Democratic Prosperity, Albanian Democratic Union and Liberal Party), the Albanians still feel a great need not to be restricted in their forms of organizing within the framework of national ghettoization. But for things to have happened contrary to their wishes the blame can in part be put on past events, namely, those that have produced a long-histroy of mutual distrust. Communication between Albanians and Macedonian has not even began yet. If it does exist then it is reduced to joint outings to the movies, theatre, concert and that on an individual basis. Real life in Macedonia evolves behind a curtain of highbrow curtesy. The social engineering of this living theatre is built on a scenography based on the image of some possible environments.

It is sufficient to pass through the settlement Dizonska in Skopje where life goes on under the low roofs of small houses, whose inhabitants are mostly Albanians, people who link the dawns and the sunsets to the narrow trace of cart wheels carrying the remnants of life on Bit Pazar. The social jeopardy of this category of citizens was never on the agenda on any session of the Parliament, but is a red signal for those who are engaged in the elaboration of social programmes, considering that only 7% of the Albanians in Macedonia are employed and that such a state can only be detrimental for the development of democracy and contrary the first Article of the Constitution, according to which Macedonia is defined not only as a "civil but as a social state" too.

If not the Albanians, of which only 7% are employed, who does this state belong to, since democracy and social prosperity do not tolerate any form of discrimination, especially in terms of nation. On the landscape of numerous social, political and economic contrasts in Macedonia a paradox exists in the form of the syntagm "loyalty towards the state."

According to this logic, the Albanians are compelled to pay for their connection with Macedonia in the form of taxes (duties) called loyalty, while those Albanians who do not comply with this "order" are offered the solution in the style "get out of Macedonia, go to Albania", as if Albania was a reserve state for all those citizens of Macedonia who in one way or another refuse to identify themselves with the whims of daily politics, but also with the whims of national parties who in order to gain recognition abroad, at times sacrifice their own homes, although the personificatiron of mutual life in Macedonia should be a large courtyard with many houses whose doors should always remain open for others.

EMIN AZEMI