http://www.halifaxherald.com/stories/2002/09/23/f105.raw.html
Ethnic problems threaten to erupt in Macedonia
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Monday, September 23, 2002 Back The Halifax Herald Limited
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Ethnic problems threaten to erupt in Macedonia
By Scott Taylor ON TARGET
Tetovo, Macedonia - IT WAS ABOUT 3 p.m., Sunday, Sept.
15, when four carloads of Macedonian paramilitaries raced into the rural
hamlet of Lesok. Their target was the local polling station and their
intention was to disrupt the parliamentary elections. When a security
guard resisted, he was beaten into submission with a Kalashnikov assault
rifle and the ballot boxes were stolen.
The Lesok incident turned out to be the most serious
violation in a highly charged election that many monitors had feared
would be marred by violence.
In the preceding weeks, there had been a significant
escalation in hostilities between Macedonian security forces and
ethnic-minority Albanian extremists. Three policemen were killed in two
separate ambushes, and a number of Macedonian civilians were held
hostage by Albanian guerrillas. A journalist's car was destroyed by a
bomb after publication of a news story claiming that the Lions, a police
special forces unit, were going to disrupt the election process.
However, in the end, there were 800 foreign monitors
present, while 700 NATO soldiers and 3,500 Macedonian security troops
proved sufficient to keep the lid on the boiling pot of potential
violence.
Still, there were many irregularities either attempted
or orchestrated by all the major political factions. At the last moment,
some 3,200 voters were removed from the qualified list when it was
discovered that Ljubomir Boskovski, the minister of interior, had been
issuing passports to Macedonians living abroad. In advance polls at
camps set up for internally displaced persons (refugees from last year's
inter-ethnic conflict), unofficial monitors were surprised to see a
large number of Albanians.
"This camp contained ethnic Macedonian IDPs, and from
9 a.m. to noon, only 11 of them had cast a ballot," said Mark Almond of
the Oxford-based British Helsinki Human Rights Group. "However, as soon
as the official monitors went off to have their lunch, suddenly 500
ethnic Albanians appeared, and one of these chaps was brandishing four
different passports."
Despite a preponderance of such incidents, the
International Election Observation Mission concluded that the
"parliamentary elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
were largely in line with international standards."
This was the first election held since last year's
internal crisis, and the issue of future Macedonian-Albanian relations
figured prominently. Officially, members of the Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe believe this election was "a major
step toward restoring stability, reconciliation and democracy" in
Macedonia. The results, however, would appear to indicate otherwise.
The ruling VMRO (United Macedonian Party) was dealt a
serious defeat, losing soundly to Branko Crvenkovski's Social Democratic
coalition. Although VMRO was considered to be a more hard-line
nationalist party, its loss of voters' confidence was due to allegations
of government corruption rather than loss of Macedonian patriotism.
The Albanians, on the other hand, sent a clear message
by voting overwhelmingly for Ali Ahmeti's new Democratic Union for
Integration. Despite the misleading name, Ali Ahmeti's popularity among
voters stems from the fact he was the commander of the Albanian
guerrillas until last September's peace deal.
If anything, this campaign illustrated the two
solitudes that exist here as a result of deep ethnic divisions.
Boskovski threatened to imprison Ahmeti on war crime indictments if he
dared to campaign in public.
The Macedonian politicians sought to curry favour
among only Macedonian voters, while the Albanian political rallies were
bereft of any national symbols. Not a single Macedonian flag would be
displayed at these public gatherings, only a sea of red Albanian flags
adorned with the black eagle.
During the intense fighting last year, ethnic Albanian
political leaders maintained that their objective was to obtain
increased human rights for their people. Ali Ahmeti's guerrilla fighters
made no such pretence. Wearing badges adorned with the initials of the
UCK (Kosovo Liberation Army), these soldiers proclaimed that they were
fighting for "greater Albania."
The military and political support that the Albanian
separatists received during the crisis was clearly displayed on election
campaign billboards: the U.S. flag and the NATO crest alongside the
Albanian eagle.
Inside the heavily contested Tetovo valley, Albanian
villages already fly banners emblazoned with the word Kosova.
More alarming is a recent poll conducted by OSCE,
which shows that the majority of ethnic Albanians believe that violence
is a suitable means to a political solution in Macedonia. Before last
year's fighting only 17 per cent of Albanians favoured military action
to achieve independence. Now that figure has been boosted to 54 per cent
by Ali Ahmeti's apparent success.
While Macedonia may have a newly elected government,
the inter-ethnic problems remain deeply entrenched. Without a sincere
effort by the international community to quickly determine a regional
solution, this corner of the Balkans will remain precariously poised on
the brink of additional bloodshed.
Serbian News Network - SNN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.antic.org/
