FEAR OF THE EXACERBATION OF INTER-ETHNIC

RELATIONS DOMINATING

AIM, Skopje, January 17, 1995

Several public opinion polls were conducted after the October parliamentary elections in Macedonia. Their common denominator is that in Macedonia the interest of the population in politics is decreasing and shifting to the sphere of the economy, or to put it better, to the subject of survival. Thus, in the poll of the Skopje weekly Puls regarding the man of the year which was elapsing, before all politicians and party leaders and immedately after the President of the state, Kiro Gligorov, there were two men from the area of culture - Milco Mancevski, whose film "Before the Rain" got the Venetian "Golden Lion" and Vlatko Stefanovski, leader of the best known Macedonian rock group "Leb i sol".

Many of the pollees, as shown also by the poll of the Institute for Sociological and Political Research, are afraid of poverty, of an economic crisis. Fear from the spreading of the war to Macedonia is declining, although it is still present, but the man in the street fears the deterioration of inter-ethnic relations. In any case, less than 10 percent of the pollees fear a political crisis, which, viewed from the outside, might seem very strange since the leading opposition parties, VMRO-DPMNE and the Democratic Party have, by boycotting the second round of elections, remained outside Parliament.

The relative fear of a deterioration of inter-ethnic relations which is slowly overshadowing other phobias, reflects the awareness that life in Macedonia, nevertheless, depends on the internal situation itself. It seems that the citizens have grown accustomed to the war raging in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, but which seems rather far away and have also got accustomed to the presence of UNPROFOR. Or better said, there is little belief that war could flare up in Macedonia, precisely because of the fact that all its neighbours had aspirations and could have them again, but that would be very risky for them themselves.

A mini poll in the streets of Skopje carried out by Macedonian TV, mainly registered the fear that inter-ethnic relations might deteriorate, while the leading paper, Nova Makedonija, stated the same in its Saturday editorial - that the only danger to peace in Macedonia can come from within, in the sphere of inter-ethnic relations.

There are practically no problems in this area in everyday life. It can, nevertheless, be registered that life is evolving along separate lines. It is so in culture, education, sports, politics. And not only does it not seem to bother anyone, but seems to make the protagonists of activities in these areas even more satisfied. A reporter from Tetovo published an article in Nova Makedonija with an interview of two cultural workers, a Macedonian and an Albanian, which shows that in this city, where the Albanians are dominant, inter-ethnic relations were never worse.

But, the interviewees make this assessment on the basis of their statements that neither side wishes to quarrel any longer. That is, according to them, bad. It is almost with nostalgia that they remember recent times when they quarrelled about everything, about politics, culture, when they uncovered "enemies" and "nationalists" in each other's ranks. Now, they say, everyone is trying to prevent the other side from "interfering in its affairs", they invite each others to seminars, presentations "for the sake of appearances", but sincerely hope that they will not show up. Thus politics, education, culture are evolving in parallel, in separate worlds. When they were quarrelling, they had coffee together and their children played together and begged their parents to let them stay in the street for a while longer.

The initiative of a group of intellectuals to open a university in the Albanian language in Tetovo and the position of the Macedonian government that this is unconstitutional and illegal, has certainly helped intensify fear in Macedonia from the already mentioned deterioration of inter-ethnic relations. The police could not prevent the proclamation of the University opened on December 17, last year, because this was done in secret in the premises of the largest Albanian party, the Party of Democratic Prosperity which has four ministers in the Government.

The police only manifested its readiness for the University truly to be "stillborn" (proclaimed as such by the Minister of Police, Ljubomir Frckovski), by bringing in some of the participants for "informative talks", seizing faculty materials, threatening with pressing charges, etc. According to Albanian parties, the deportation of 18 deputies of the Kosovo Assembly to Serbia and one to Albania, who had not, as the police says, regulated their residence status in Macedonia, also falls within "the university activities of the police". In the meantime, the Organizing Committee for opening the University held a meeting and elected the University leadership, with Dr.Sulejmani as rector. It is further said that over 500 students have enroled and that instruction is to begin. What will the police do now?

The impression is that the Tetovo University affair, despite strong statements, is rather subdued. The police carry out their activities without repression and jurists agree that for the time being, there are no elements of criminal acts, which perhaps points to a discrepancy between the Constitution and the Criminal Code. The spokesman for the Government was not even willing to devote any greater attention to journalists' questions regarding the University. The leading party of the Albanians, the PDP is not attempting to politicise the case (except for having once allowed the use of their premises), and two Ministers Albanians publicly denied that they agreed to being elected to the leadership of the University.

Does this all show that both sides are letting up, that they might meet half way; the question is can a Teacher Training Academy in the Albanian language within the legal University of Skopje be set up now.

More nervous strain can be observed with the PDP and behind the entire case of the University the party leader Abdurahman Aliti sees a change of course, as he says, of the state towards the Albanians, citing examples of police arrests, deportations of Kosovo deputies, seizure of university materials, etc. As Aliti says, the political course of the party is unsuccessful for that reason and he does not find it logical for the Party to continue participating in the government if the mentioned attitude towards the Albanians continues unchanged, he says.

This is not the first time that the PDP is threatening to abandon the institutions of the system. But, if that should happen, the political and educational dialogue would be impaired.

Panta DZAMBAZOSKI