Kosovo and Macedonia
"THE SHQIPETARS ARE TAKING IT TOO FAR"
AIM Skopje, March 11, 1998
The dilemma the author of these lines had about the relation of ethnic Macedonians towards the reactions of local Albanians to Kosovo events was dispersed in a tiny shop of daily necessities, practically at the very first step he made in his small private poll. "The Shqipetars are deluding themselves" said a middle-aged shop-keeper, giving me back the change. At the same moment a voice joined her from this side of the counter: "They should all go to Pristina...Tirane. Wherever they want." Similar reactions were present in a short, but inevitable, squabble between the Albanian protesters and self-organized group of Macedonians on the margins of a great rally organized last Friday at the central Skopje square by the Albanian political parties and non-political organizations of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia.
In Skopje and a day before that in Western Macedonian town of Tetovo, the Albanian political stronghold, several thousands of people gathered to, as previously agreed, express their protest against violence of the Yugoslav police and army in Kosovo and the "inadequate" reaction of the international community in this connection. Both rallies have started to the music of the national anthem while only state flags of the Republic of Albania, which are here incidentally legalized as national flags of the Albanian minority, flew above the heads of the gathered people.
Naturally, an impartial observer did not have to like all the shouted slogans, nor the explicitness with which the official Memorandum addressed to all relevant diplomatic representations in Skopje expressed the support to "the political movement for independence as an inalienable right of the Albanian people". Also, it is a question of political orientation or perhaps just taste whether these, somewhat overemphasized collective emotions, could be connected with footage from destroyed Perkaz or that disastrous story about a group of killed people or, perhaps, national fanaticism and "hatred directed against everything not Albanian", as some local circles openly reason.
It should be mentioned that the Albanian political establishment, same as the overall population, never made a secret that it considered Kosovo a joint problem of the Albanians, no matter where they might be, and that it aspired towards winning its independence. This is, incidentally, contrary to the official state policy so that rallies in Tetovo and Skopje have definitely institutionalized the irreconcilable stands of the Macedonian majority and Albanian minority, but also within the official policy itself, since one of the most influential Albanian parties - Abdurahman Aliti's PDP - is more than just a relevant coalition partner. Therefore no one was surprised by a prompt reaction of the leaders of the Macedonian national parties.
Before the Skopje rally, some circles demanded of the police to prevent the Albanian assembly, which was followed by a wave of disapproval. Even before the "tub-thumpers" dispersed from the central square of Skopje, certainly the most influential opposition party of markedly national provenance - VMRO-DPMNE - proclaimed the rally a discreditable reaction to something happening in another state thereby again implicating Macedonia in the Kosovo conflicts, at the same time reflecting the tensions there and generating a "general regional chaos". The VMRO particularly condemned the ruling Party of Democratic Prosperity for organizing the rally.
The PDP's coalition partner, the Socialist Party, also wasted no time to condemn the meeting saying that it was impermissible to have in the centre of Skopje not only some other state's anthem played and flag flown, but also nationalistic emotions expressed and support voiced to ungrounded separatist aspirations. Some smaller parties of right orientation have assessed the Albanian rallies as "anti-Macedonian demonstrations", while the largest parliamentary opposition Liberal-Democratic Party demanded urgent convocation of the Macedonian Parliament.
The reaction of the Social-Democratic Alliance, member of the ruling coalition and a pillar of the Macedonia state policy, took the longest. As expected, and bearing in mind delicate partner relations within the ruling coalition, their reaction was rather reserved. The spokeswoman for the party spoke against one-national assemblies, characterizing it disrespectful of one's own state to have the flags and other signs of other countries displayed in Skopje and called the organizers politically frivolous as they did not know where to draw the line in their demands for the respect of human rights in Macedonia and in Kosovo.
Naturally, a reaction coming from more than an official place, merits special attention. Namely, the Interior Ministry instituted court proceedings against three organizers of these two rallies. Nevzet Halili, leader of the Republican Party from Tetovo, Halit Hajdari from the PDP and Resat Nagavci from DPA have violated the Law on Offences against Public Peace and Order because they played the Albanian national anthem and displayed the Albanian state flag and a map of "Greater Albania". It is interesting that leaders of these two, incidentally, largest parties of the local Albanians, were not direct organizers, although Abdurahman Aliti and Arben Xhaferi arranged and jointly publicized the Skopje rally. Some local observers suggest that they knew in advance the reaction of the competent authorities and consequently ,"just to be on the safe side" engaged "stuntmen". It seems that in that way they made it easier for the authorities in charge to proceed as rather an embarrassing situation was created on account of such two renown and influential Albanian politicians being charged for breaking the law.
The only exception in this unanimous condemnation of the Albanian political factors, was the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights which, although being against the organization of one-national rallies, resented the local politics and public for abstaining from reacting to violence committed in Kosovo. However, this non-governmental organization and especially its front man, the author Meto Jovanovski are now being lectured on patriotism and given beginner's classes in politics, while some circles even demand his resignation.
The local media take their stance to the "Kosovization" of Macedonia depending on their national sign and ideological orientation. The Albanian ones voice unreservedly side with the Albanian leaders and people in their absolute support of their Kosovo compatriots. In their comments and reports, those printed and broadcast in the Macedonian language, particularly those which call themselves "official", pointed to the "negative" side of the Albanian rallies, entitling their articles "Support of the OVK and to Separatism in Kosovo", which was, in all sincerity, rather obvious. On the other hand, those more independent gave more space to stories about protests against the terror and violence of the Serbian police and the Yugoslav Army.
However, both have, with overemphasized enthusiasm, exploited the embarrassing and needless assault of demonstrators on a car driven by a Macedonian. Admittedly, most radical in their assessment of the Albanian manifestations were journalists of "Sitel", a private TV station which is also a mouthpiece of the mentioned Socialist Party. This channel's story about the rallies ended with a long agonizing blackout of the screen hinting to the viewers to that scary range of associations that the notion of "darkness" carries.
The journalists most glaringly showed their relation towards this case by ignoring the call of their Albanian colleagues to raise their voices against violence being committed against members of their profession. The editorial office of the paper "Flaka e vlazerimit" protested against the harassment of journalists of the Pristina papers and foreign correspondents during the well-known crackdown on demonstrators in the largest town of Kosovo. Although no national or ideological scheme could be discerned in the manifest of professional solidarity, "Flaka" remained isolated. Unfortunately, Macedonians and Albanians do not speak the same language.
AIM Skopje
BUDO VUKOBRAT