INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS TO GOSTIVAR CASE

AIM Skopje, 23 July, 1997

Two weeks after the tragic clashes in Gostivar between the Macedonian police and citizens of Albanian nationality in which three Albanians were killed and a few hundred were seriously injured, one can freely say that this event and the date of 8 July mark a turning point in relations of the two biggest collectivities in this country, and that consequences can yet be expected. Taking into account the fact that the international community has played a big role in the process of acquiring independence of Macedonia, all the observers and analysts of political trends turned their eyes towards that community expecting its reactions to the event which had threatened to disturb everything that had been accomplished in this sense so far. Expectations of the Albanians and their political representatives were especially high, since they have all this time followed recommendations of the international community - abstaining from certain demands in order to maintain stability of the country which was an imperative of the West.

However, instead of the expected condemnation because of the obvious exceeding of duty by the Macedonian special police units, the statement of the embassy of the most influential country in Macedonia, the United States, arrived in which "support is given to territorial integrity of Macedonia and all activities leading to disintegration are condemned". Although in the said statement it was not specifically mentioned what was implied by it, it was sufficient for the Macedonian party to conclude that the message was addressed to the Democratic Party of the Albanians (DPA) which has local power in the stricken municipalities and to the Albanians in general, who according to the comments about the statement, with their demands for the use of the national flag "threaten the integrity of the country". On the other hand, since the American embassy did not see fit to clarify what it meant by the statement, this created a feeling of "international betrayal" and rejection among the Albanians, and at the same time opened many questions which demand answers.

The Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), whose main pretext for remaining in Macedonia after the Dayton accords had been internal problems especially of ethnic nature, during the latest and the most severe crisis in interethnic relations so far, simply did not pass the test. OSCE High Commissioner for ethnic minorities, Max van der Stoel, visited Macedonia, but besides irritating the Albanians with his implicit support to the government, did hardly anything.

As concerning the United Nations mission (UNPREDEP), on the critical day it sent its observers to the site, but except for that did almost nothing although in the latest Security Council resolutions concerning prolongation of its mandate, its role in "pacifying internal ethnic tensions" has increasingly been stressed. Therefore, from the aspect of the Albanians all this has turned out to be as if they had been just a pretext for getting the mandate of the international organizations although there was nothing in it for them. The Forum for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms seated in Gostivar (members of which are mostly Albanians), in the report about the developments of 9 July, in the part which refers to the stand of international organizations, said as follows: "International institutions and organizations will share a part of the responsibility for this...", openly making an allusion to their indifference.

Without doubt, the Albanians entertained the highest hopes in Western European countries, that is the "old lady", but, it turned out that it remained deaf and indifferent when the Macedonian police mercilessly had attacked everything that was Albanian, including entering their homes and "borrowing" money in stable currencies which they "happened to find on the enemy". Western European governments remained silent after these developments, although in earlier similar cases they had reacted quickly and quite definitely. It is worth mentioning the case of the Tetovo University from the beginning of 1995 when an Albanian was killed and a few of them were injured. Some western governments (especially the British) read a lesson to the Macedonian government, although they did not spare the Albanians either. In this context, silence of the Macedonian Helsinki Committee should also be mentioned, which announced that it was "gathering evidence" in order to react later on, but this has not happened even two weeks after the event.

This time, the true reaction of the European fifteen arrived almost two weeks after the event in the form of a joint communique. This message of the European Union addressed to the Macedonian government and the two greatest Albanian parties - the Party of Democratic Prosperity (which participates in the coalition government) and the Democratic Party of the Albanians - was delivered by the British ambassador in Macedonia who had been accredited for the duty by the Union. The integral contents of the communique consisting of ten items, is a secret for the time being and only representatives of the government and leaders of the mentioned parties were informed about it. Nevertheless, after its contents in separate meetings was considered with the "interested parties" (two Albanian parties on the one, and the foreign minister of Macedonia on the other side), the British ambassador informed the public about the general outlines of the communique which mostly referred to the Gostivar case, but did not name who the possible culprits were. But it should be mentioned that the EU is expecting a detailed report of the government on "how the events turned into such a tragedy", as the British ambassador said.

What should undoubtedly be emphasized is that the governments of the European Union are demanding from the Macedonian government to ensure the necessary control of actions of the police forces which implies that such control did not exist on 9 July.

All this leads to the conclusion that by its silence, the international community has in this case practically expressed certain support to the Macedonian government. In a way this was expected due to the fact that the international community thinks highly of the role of Macedonia as a stabilizing factor in the region and it is obvious that their stance concerning a certain event cannot be formed independently of the previous stance which is in a way "more significant". It is at the same time clear that the international community is not in the situation to "give lessons" to Macedonia, because contrary to the example from the beginning of 1995, its dependence on the international community is much lower. At the time, Macedonia was not a member of the Council of Europe, nor of OSCE, nor of many other international organizations and institutions it became a member of later on. This fact has obviously had great influence on the "softness" of the stance of the "old lady" and international institutions towards the Macedonian government in the Gostivar case.

IBRAHIM MEHMETI