| U.S. foreign policy contributing to instability
in Balkans
By Scott Taylor
ON TARGET
Trebosh, Macedonia - AFTER SEPT. 11, the international media
focus remains firmly fixed on two major theatres: the war in
Afghanistan and the American home front.
Almost completely forgotten is the violent turmoil and political
upheaval that remain a constant concern in the Balkans.
Over the past few weeks a number of dramatic events have taken
place in Yugoslavia, highlighting a continued instability within
both Serbia and Kosovo.
In addition, despite the presence of NATO troops and
international monitors, the tiny Republic of Macedonia continues to
hover on the brink of an all-out civil war.
While it certainly cannot be cited as the root cause of the
present ethnic strife, America's altered foreign policy in response
to the terrorist attacks has undoubtedly heightened tensions here
and further destabilized the region.
With President George W. Bush anxious to keep Arab allies onside
with his coalition against terrorism, it has become a U.S. State
Department imperative not to appear anti-Muslim.
To this end, many U.S. politicians have been trumpeting their
past efforts to militarily aid the Bosnian Muslims and Albanians in
the Balkans.
The Hague tribunal, in response to this U.S. political pressure,
has accordingly stepped up its efforts to bring in Serbian
commanders accused of alleged war crimes against Bosnian Muslims.
In Belgrade, Serbian President Zoran Djindic (the man who turned
over Slobodan Milosevic to The Hague) has been anxious to co-operate
with the West in this regard. For Djindic, such appeasement is
viewed as an economic necessity for the recovery of his war-ravaged
republic.
However, not all Serbs share Djindic's vision. In early November,
when the "red-beret" police unit was tricked into turning over two
suspects to The Hague, this elite force took to the streets in
protest.
Squads of armed, masked policemen used their armoured vehicles to
block major highways throughout Serbia as they demanded the
resignation of the minister of the interior.
While a bloody confrontation was narrowly avoided through
peaceful negotiations, the red berets remain a defiant and
formidable nationalist threat to Djindic's already unpopular
coalition government.
The Nov. 17 elections in Kosovo were relatively uneventful, but
extremely significant. As expected, the overwhelming Albanian
majority dominated the voting, and Ibrahim Rugova, the moderate
leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, won a clear-cut victory
over his more extremist rivals.
With a large-scale participation of Kosovo Serbs (40,000 still
reside in NATO-protected enclaves, while 160,000 refugees are now
living in Serbia), the UN authorities could consider the election
results a best-case scenario.
In a separate deal signed in Belgrade earlier this month, the UN
decreed that no matter what the outcome, there could be "no
immediate" move to declare Kosovo independent.
In the meantime, the UN will continue to administer this region
as a protectorate and Kosovo will technically remain a part of
Yugoslavia. What remains to be seen is how patient the Albanian
Kosovars will be in waiting to be granted their independence.
The UN had promised to create a utopian multi-ethnic Kosovo, but
all of those officials directly involved realize that this is an
unachievable pipe dream.
The former Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) remains an extremely
powerful and belligerent force in the region, and it is exercising
an increasing independence from NATO control.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the embattled valleys of
northern Macedonia. It was here last March that the Albanian UCK
from Kosovo began launching their first attacks against Macedonian
security forces. In short order, the veteran UCK had mobilized
support from the Albanian minority and had successfully gained
control of over 30 per cent of Macedonia.
Following the signing of a mid-August peace agreement, a NATO
force, including 200 Canadians, was deployed to disarm the UCK.
In exchange for the UCK's demobilization, the Macedonian
parliament was to make amendments to their constitution thus
granting Albanians increased civil rights.
On Sept. 26, Operation Essential Harvest was proclaimed a success
by NATO after having collected nearly 4,000 weapons in just over 30
days. However, the NATO soldiers involved in the weapon collection
did not believe they had collected anything but "old garbage" and
"castoffs."
Ali Ahmeti, the political leader of the UCK in Macedonia,
proclaimed his forces to be disbanded on Sept. 27, but he ominously
warned that any future armed clashes would be the responsibility of
the Albanian National Army.
Since that time, there have been a number of violent skirmishes
between Macedonian police and Albanian guerrillas. The most recent
battle erupted on Nov. 13, just outside the village of Trebosh,
which is located near the heavily contested city of Tetovo.
Coincidental with their parliament approving the constitutional
amendments, Macedonian police units seized seven former UCK
commanders at a checkpoint; they also began to secure a suspected
mass grave.
It is believed that up to six missing Macedonian civilians may
have been buried at this Trebosh site following UCK offensives in
July.
In response to the police "provocation," armed Albanians
immediately began seizing hostages. Up to 100 people were taken from
local villages, some even off the main streets of Tetovo.
Although NATO officials were able to secure the safe release of
the hostages, guerrillas ambushed a police patrol, killing three and
wounding an additional three.
Inside Trebosh, the Albanians have now erected a barricade and
fortified their perimeter in anticipation of a counterstrike.
Just 400 metres down the road Macedonian police established a
strong cordon and are proceeding with the exhumations.
In her visit to Skopje last week, The Hague tribunal's chief
prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, stated that she intended to investigate
alleged war crimes committed by both parties in the Macedonian
conflict.
However, she also issued a curious directive that no media be
allowed access to the mass grave site. Presumably, now is not the
right time to publicize Balkan atrocities committed by Muslim
extremists.
The UCK guerrillas manning the barricade in Trebosh were only too
happy to comply.
| 