MACEDONIA DISTRUSTS THE ALBANIANS EVEN WHEN THEY

Macedonian-Albanian Relations

SMILE

AIM Skopje, September 15, 1996

After the unexpected visit of the leader of the greatest party of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, the Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP) to Tirana, where he had met the leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Albania (DPA), on the domestic scene many issues opened which mostly refer to the question what had made Tirana improve the almost discontinued relations with the party which participates in the executive power of Macedonia?

The initial reaction of a part of the Macedonian public was that "somebody (European powers) had prompted power-holders in Tirana that they had been pursuing wrong politics towards Macedonia, so they were forced to offer a hand of reconciliation to the ethnic Albanian part of the coalition Government as a sign of repentance". However, "smiles" of reconciliation which had indirectly come from Tirana are interpreted as insincere, intended to allegedly "soften" Skopje in order to use this soft point at a convenient moment in the future for striking a painful blow.

The fact that the leader of the Democratic Party of Albania, who is at the same time the Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of this country, Tritan Shehu, spoke in favour of institutional activities of ethnic Albanian parties in Macedonia by sending openly a message in this sense to opposition parties of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia (NDP and PDPA) which had recently left the parliament, was interpreted as double-dealing because Albania had not at the same time distanced itself from the aspirations to institutionalize Tetovo University. Expressed wishes for stable Macedonia were also interpreted as insincere because Macedonia is conditioned by the name Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYRM) with which it was received in the UN, but also because the Albanian Prime Minister had postponed his visit to Macedonia for a few times already.

As a cue for such accusations by the Macedonian party, the well-known story was used about relations of the official Tirana and the Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP) which had started suddenly to cool three years ago, at the time when this party had entered the coalition Government of Macedonia. In the conflict between top echelons of this party and the revolted discontented members from lower decision-making centres, official Tirana quite openly took sides with the latter, and the state news-agency of Albania ATA, in its unforgettable commentary on the occasion, called the leaders of the PDP traitors of the Albanian people. After a faction separated from the PDP and formed a new party - PDP of the Albanians (PDPA), the ruling DP of Albania and media controlled by the state quite noticeably offered support to the PDPA which abundantly "squandered" declarations about radical resolution of the Albanian issue in Macedonia. This very fact was taken as an argument in explaning the favourable attitude of Albania towards this party, because allegedly their views of Macedonia coincided. Such reasoning was the main reason why a part of the public is wondering now - what does this mean? Has Albania in the meantime changed its stand, if it had ever taken it in the first place?

But, it seems that the story is by far more simple, although not less difficult to understand. In 1993, the Democratic Party of Albania had just come to power and as the first democratic party in power after half-a-century long rule of the communists in Albania, it was eager to re-establish relations with the Albanians living across the border and in a way take over conducting the entire Albanian political orchestra in the Balkans.

However, that is when the first obstacle appeared, because the leaders of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, more precisely the PDP, which had got all the votes of the Albanians in the first plural elections and already participated in power, did not show a wish to accept tutorship of political leaders from Tirana, considering themselves strong enough to pursue autonomous policy in the direction of resolution of the Albanian issue in Macedonia. Discouraged by such attitude of the PDP, the ruling DP of Albania turned to the malcontents from the PDP who formed the new PDPA and who needed support from the parent country as confirmation that they were authentic representatives of the their nation.

This story had gone on for three long years until the leaders of the DP of Albania, allegedly according to their own admission, realized that it was a wrong policy and that they were still learning how policy is pursued. Of course, critics of this sudden sincerity cannot be reproached for being sceptical, but nevertheless, the stance of PDP which is the main factor in this story gives a special dimension to it. Based on the statement of the leader of this party, Abdurrahman Aliti, after his return from Tirana, it can be concluded that he is very satisfied with this change in the relations, and that he considers the new stand of the DP of Albania to be sincere. But, it seems that the Macedonian party became alarmed because of the course developments had taken, fearing that Tirana might "lead PDP astray", implicitly expressing distrust to political orientation of the Albanians although they had explictily declared themselves in favour of territorial integrity of Macedonia. In other words, it could be explained by the notorious Balkan principle - "the worse things get, the better it is for us", i.e. the cooler relations of Macedonian Albanians with the parent country, the stronger the feeling of safety among the Macedonians. Especially nowadys when relations with the northern neighbour, FR Yugoslavia, have been normalized and previously those with Greece, which eliminates necessity of using the Albanian port of Durres and the Albanian market in general. At the same time, certain estrangement in relations with Albania undoubtedly helps in preservation of an unbending stance of the Macedonian Government to demands of ethnic Albanians. But, whether this helps stability of Macedonia is a completely different question which only the future can provide an answer for. Although an answer can be anticipated by relying on experiences when stability of the country in this context was seriously questioned.

Piçe: IBRAHIM MEHMETI