NATO and Macedonia

Skopje Sep 8, 1999

The End of "Honeymoon"

AIM Skopje, 2 September, 1999

On the highway leading from Skopje to Veles, a vehicle which belongs to the Macedonian government and which minister Radovan Stojkovski and his family rode in directly collided with a KFOR vehicle carrying two Norwegian officers. Minister Stojkovski, his wife and 12-year old daughter were killed on the spot, his 9-year old son was lightly injured and the driver was taken to a Skopje hospital in a critical state. The driver of the NATO vehicle, a 27-year old captain, was lightly injured and also taken to Skopje hospital, and the next day to the prison for investigation. The other, seriously injured 45-year old colonel, was transported to KFOR hospital in Kosovo.

Minister Radovan Stojkovski was a member of the government with the shortest working experience in it (since May this year) and being the only Liberal Democrat in it, he was a minister without portfolio. Macedonian police, the judge in charge of the investigation and KFOR military police all agreed that the vehicle of the western alliance, a Toyota van, was running in the opposite direction of the permitted one. The driver of KFOR missed the side road to the airport. When NATO officers noticed the mistake they turned the vehicle round and were returning in the wrong direction in order to reach the side road. An incident broke out between Macedonian police and NATO military policemen since KFOR would not allow the officers who caused the accident be transported by Macedonian police vehicle to the hospital where according to the prescribed procedure their blood would have been tested for alcohol. It is said in the statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs that members of NATO forces contrary to the agreement had tried to transport Norwegian officers to Kosovo by a helicopter of the Alliance.

This very episode has become very important in local media in the days that followed and it caused much indignation. State television showed NATO policemen pushing their Macedonian colleagues, not letting them do their jobs. Dailies introduced commentaries by titles such as: THE STATE PERMITS HUMILIATION! By the way, pursuant the signed contracts members of the forces of the western alliance are subject to jurisdiction of courts in their respective countries. This will create additional bitterness in Macedonian public which is as it is resentful about the behavior of NATO troops in this country.

At its special session held on 29 August, the government condemned disrespect of legislature of the host country by members of KFOR. Numerous examples of the use of vehicles and carrying arms in public places were also condemned, and breaking of public order and peace. The government demanded from the responsible ministries to contact KFOR and point out to the necessity of implementation of laws.

No sooner said than done. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs addressed a protest to KFOR office in Skopje for "flagrant violation of legal regulations (of the host country), absence of cooperativeness of a part of the members of NATO troops and the attempts to prevent the policemen on duty to carry out the investigation on the spot". Such an attitude is direct violation of the basic agreement between Macedonia and NATO: "The Ministry strongly demands that members of NATO mission implement the laws of the host country". Foreign minister Aleksandar Dimitrov then addressed a letter to Secretary General of the alliance, Javier Solana, in which he repeated the same demand. The first man of the North Atlantic alliance responded a couple of days later but only with a polite telegram expressing condolences to the family of the deceased minister. In the meantime, Solana's deputy Sergio Balanzino tried to do the harder part of the job by addressing a letter through Macedonian ambassador at the seat of the Organisation in Brussels in which he asked the relevant ministries - of foreign affairs and justice - to enable NATO officers to be tried in their country, that is in Norway, pursuant the signed contracts.

This is where the legal tangle begins. This diplomatic controversy promises to become an exhausting disagreement and maybe even altercation. The sentence of 30 days in custody was pronounced to the Norwegian captain who caused the tragedy. He is indicted for threatening safety of the people and property in traffic. Should he be tried in Macedonia this awkward legal provision implies at least three years in prison. Norwegian foreign minister Knut Wolebeck spoke on the phone with his counterpart Aleksandar Dimitrov and demanded that the citizen of his country be released and sent home where he promised he would be given a fair trial. He received a negative answer.

At the special press conference, spokesman of NATO in Skopje reminded Macedonian public that "according to SOFA - the agreement between Macedonia and NATO - the country which sent its troops, that is the officers, has jurisdiction over the case, assumes responsibility for the investigation and the entire legal procedure; in this case this country is Norway". He reproached the hosts for not having offered adequate medical treatment to the injured officers. On the other side, the Macedonian, they have interpreted SOFA agreement differently: "Criminal proceedings should be conducted pursuant the laws of Macedonia and in Macedonian courts" believes the minister of internal affairs Pavle Trajanov. Trajanov announces that he would demand from Mike Jackson, commander of KFOR to ban night flights of NATO helicopters over the capital of Macedonia, to ban organised transit over the territory of Macedonia, to ban members of KFOR to carry arms in public places and altogether, more rigid rules of movements of soldiers outside the determined military barracks.

The minister of justice, whether incidentally or not the leading expert for criminal law at Skopje Law School, Vlado Kambovski, says that SOFA agreement prescribes cooperation of the controversial parties during investigation. Two questions raise doubt for Kambovski: first, what is the status of KFOR in Macedonia in view of the fact that the government has contracts with NATO and not KFOR? And second, were the Norwegians on duty at the moment of the accident? If they were - they can go home; if they were not - they will be tried by a Macedonian court. Spokesman of the alliance was quick to answer: "Of course, the officers were on duty!?" In the meantime, a Norwegian investigative commission arrived in Skopje to establish facts although it is not clear whether it will work on its own or with Macedonian colleagues.

This case was the last drop in the glass of patience after more than 140 various incidents... Will the government give in? At the meeting with representatives of NATO mission in Macedonia deputy foreign minister Boris Trajkovski demanded more precise elaboration of the agreement with the alliance. At the same time he announced that a joint expert team would work together on the case next week.

On the eve of presidential elections, everybody wishes to win a political point or two on this tragic case - both the parties in government coalition and the opposition. Everybody agrees about one thing: the attitude towards NATO soldiers was very lenient and it is high time to get the message across to them that they are just guests not the "occupiers", as a newspaper warned.

Both the regime and the opposition have started to believe that it was naive to think that by an obliging attitude towards the western alliance this state could gain a political advantage over its competitors from the Partnership for Peace program. It is becoming clear that in order to join the alliance, it is necessary to meet certain standards, that affinity does not play a significant role in it. It is of no use to lament that this amall and poor country has done much for the "general cause" by offering hospitality to thousands of KFOR soldiers in carrying out their mission in Kosovo.

The main force of NATO troops was stationed in Macedonia before its operation in Kosovo, the hosts gave up their own army barracks for the needs of the alliance, thousands of tons of equipment, arms, men, were transported over Macedonian territory. The insulted hosts have now become aware that they should have been more cautious when they were signing the contract.

Numerous foreign journalists who reported from Macedonia at the height of the Kosovo operation insisted on the thesis that there was an antagonistic climate in this country towards NATO induced by tumultous protests in front of a few western ambassies at the very beginning of bombing FR Yugoslavia accompanied by a few terrorist acts. However, people from the state leadership kept convincing both the public and foreign interlocutors that there was no bad disposition against NATO in the country. It is true, though, that no public opinion poll was published which would offer a realistic picture of the attitude of the citizens towards presence of foreign troops on the territory of Macedonia. In any case, after the latest case, there is no more doubt that an end has come to the "honeymoon" between Macedonia and NATO.

AIM Skopje

ZELJKO BABIC