FEAR OF CHANGES

Original subject : AIM SKOPJE - negotiations gov't vs. albanians

AIM, Skopje, July 17, 1995

Summary

Although still far from being completed, negotiations between the Macedonian Government and representatives of Albanian political subjects in Macedonia conducted by mediation of Gert Aarens, increasingly remind of the saying: "a storm in a teacup". Such an observation can best be corroborated by the recent statement of one of the key participants in the negotiations, Minister of education of the Republic of Macedonia, who said that the Government does not intend to change its already known stances.

Through mediation of Ambassador Gert Aarens, envoy for minority issues of the International Conference for Former Yugoslavia, negotiations between representatives of the Macedonian Government and those of political parties of the Albanians in Macedonia have been going on for a few months already. From the very beginning, the negotiations have attracted great attention of the domestic public which has been hoping ever since that a miracle might happen and, thanks to the Western coolness of the German diplomat, that major controversies which burden relations of the two largest ethnic communities in the country might be resolved. It is interesting to mention that these negotiations were covered with a thick veil of mystery, and even a "gentlemen's" agreement was reached that noone but Ambassador Gert Aarens would issue public statements about the course of the negotiations. What was known about these negotiations were two main items on the agenda: the issue of university education in Albanian language, law on local self-administration, use of Albanian language, law on acquiring citizenship and others.

However, as customary in this space, negotiations have dragged out, and nothing at all of the expected results! Out of the few information that do reach the journalists, however, it can be concluded that none of the items have hardly moved from a deadlock, and since the issue of university education in Albanian, more precisely the demand for legalization of the Tetovo university in Albanian which is now operating illegally, is the first on the agenda, the remaining items have not been elaborated much. What all controversies between the Macedonian Government and the Albanians have in common is the issue of the use of Albanian language, which is the stumbling-block in almost all aspects of life in Macedonia. At the same time, it is worth mentioning that the issue of language which is identified with the national issue in general is one of the key elements in political careers of all local politicians of all nationalities, therefore, one should expect that the results will be slow in coming.

Nevertheless, in the past few days, after the sixth round of negotiations in Geneva, the public in Macedonia was finally "freshened up" with a statement which directly refers to the negotiations. Namely, the lady Minister of education in the Macedonian Government, who was one of the main protagonists of the negotiations, declared that noone had negotiated in Geneva (nor before), but just talked!? Moreover, Minister Emilija Simovska stressed that the stances of the Macedonian Government were already very well known and that there could be no negotiations about changing them, but that nevertheless, the Macedonian Government was ready to talk about all issues, including those which refer to university education. Naturally, without any possibility of their affecting the stance of the Government taken in advance.

With this statement given to the media in Macedonian language, the lady Minister of education, undoubtedly, won a large number of political points on "her side of the field", provoking dissapproval on the other side, which had hoped that the Government would "soften" and make the first move towards easing the tensions and reestablishment of the long lost trust. Especially after the notorious developments concerning Tetovo university.

Impropriety of this statement is best reflected in the self-imposed question that if these are just talks, and not negotiations about possible changes of stances, what is the sense of mediators and journey all the way to Geneva? If politicians in Macedonia are concerned about the talks which are doubtlessly needed and welcome, could not they have been held in Macedonia? But, it seems that the main problem is in the fact that the "safest" position is the one of being "deeply entrenched", while any, even the slightest possible change could endanger the acquired positions which are obviously unwillingly abandoned.

Pise: IBRAHIM MEHMETI