|
Macedonia's Worries Of A Possible Ethnic War
By Sahar Kassaimah
14/03/2001
In some countries of the world, political citizenship means nothing - it is ethnic identity that matters. A clear example of this can be found in Balkan history where religion has been the dominant factor in the region's conflicts between its three ethnic groups: the Serbs, Croats, and Muslims.
A look at this history tells how the Balkan Muslims have suffered from discrimination and hatred, especially within the last decade. And the same history reveals the number of crimes and massacres that have been committed against the region's Muslims in the name of ethnic cleansing - the number who have been tortured and/or annihilated for no reason other than their religion.
The question we face now is: Is it Macedonia's turn to become the site for the next round of Balkan bloodshed?
Fighting between ethnic Albanian gunmen and Macedonian forces near Macedonia's border with Kosovo has raised concerns about the future of the country, which has managed so far to maintain a relatively high degree of stability and multi-ethnic harmony compared to the rest of the region.
Before discussing Macedonia's current situation, however, we will first briefly mention some facts regarding its Albanian Muslims. Albanians living within the Balkans (about seven million) far exceed the number living in the country of Albania itself (with a population of about 3.3 million).
Albanians live in the western part of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, making up the country's second largest ethnic group and compromising about 22% of the total population of a little over two million. More than 35,000 ethnic Albanians poured into Macedonia during the 1998 to 1999 Kosovo war, but most of them have since returned to their former homes.
In the past, international human rights organizations have charged the Macedonian government with discrimination against Albanians many times, primarily in government representation and education. Albanian political parties are actively pursuing even greater political and national rights for Albanian minorities in the country, such as the official use of the Albanian language within local administration, proportional representation in government, and the right to pursue higher education in their mother tongue.
Unlike its compatriots in Bosnia, Croatia and the Serbian province of Kosovo, Macedonia - one of the six republics of the old communist state of Yugoslavia - peacefully gained its independence from Yugoslavia's crumbling federation in 1991.
The clashes at Macedonia's border gained steam on February 26th, when a three-hour fire in the village of Tanusevci sparked the flight of ethnic Albanian refugees across Macedonia's northern border into Kosovo, in Yugoslavia.
A new group of ethnic Albanian gunmen, calling themselves "the Army for National Liberation" (UCK), has sprung up on Kosovo's borders, taking control of a village in the mountains of northern Macedonia. According to Macedonian authorities, they crossed over the Kosovo border and have been occupying the area encompassing Tanusevci for more than 40 days.
The head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's mission to Skopje, Carlo Ungaro, said, "In our opinion, most of the fighters are people who have infiltrated from Kosovo and have persuaded the villagers to leave." He also said that the conflict at this moment is very limited in scope because it is restricted to a small area and involves only a few people.
Three Macedonian soldiers were killed in the clashes between Macedonian troops and the armed Albanians. And in response to the blaming of ethnic Albanians for the killing, Ungaro said, "While in the beginning, the ethnic Albanian political leadership was making revolutionary noises and threatening to separate, the leadership now, over the past couple of years, has changed its stance, saying we want to be full citizens." Ungaro also said that Albanians are now focusing on "legitimate" demands, such as pressing for a law to recognize the Albanian language as a second official language, alongside Macedonian.
Macedonia called for the U.N. to immediately set up a buffer zone between it and Kosovo, and criticized NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo for failing to monitor its border with Kosovo and control the movement of weapons. NATO Secretary-General George Robertson said, after a meeting of the U.N.'s Security Council, that a decision on allowing Yugoslav troops into the safety zone could be taken this week. He also said, "Any tension in this part of the world has got to be looked on gravely."
Meanwhile, Macedonia's government, KFOR, and the U.N. have decided to work together to control the border, and U.S. ambassador to Macedonia's capital of Skopje, Michael Einik, said that the U.S. would back an appropriate response by Macedonia to the violence in the border region. "We understand the need and obligation for Macedonia to respond to this threat on its territory," said Einik. And Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica sent a message of sympathy to Macedonia regarding the deaths of the three soldiers.
On Wednesday, the NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo clashed with Albanian gunmen fighting near the Macedonia-Kosovo border. U.S. troops have shot and wounded two Albanian fighters. The incident was the first armed engagement involving KFOR troops since the peacekeepers started reinforcing the border last week to help contain the insurgence.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called on both Macedonians and ethnic Albanians to exercise restraint and to realize that violence will not solve their problems. Meanwhile, Bulgaria has offered to send troops to Macedonia in an effort to maintain stability in the region, while NATO announced that it will send more peacekeepers to the border region to prevent the rebels from crossing from Kosovo into Macedonia.
Several hundred villagers have fled Tanusevci, seeking refuge from what they described as constant harassment by police and troops, and most of the Albanians, under instructions to remain silent, refuse to talk about the new UCK. "We cannot let the Macedonian army kill our children," said an Albanian gunman. "We have had enough of injustice. Some Albanians have had no identity cards for 15 or 20 years," he added. "We don't want greater Albania; we just want to live in peace."
However, despite international blame being placed on the ethnic Albanians, it is hard to point fingers as hundreds of villagers have accused Macedonian troops and police of harassment.
According to a report by the International Crisis Group in August 2000, a worrisome contradiction was found in the way the two ethnic groups perceive one another. "Ask ethnic Albanians about the state of current relations and they are likely to reply that relations have never been better. Ask ethnic Macedonians and they are likely to reply that relations have never been worse.
No one can tell whether or not this fighting will result in the escalation of ethnic temperatures into a full-blown war, and no one knows yet whether the Albanian gunmen came from Kosovo or from Albania. But everyone knows that, in the event of war, the ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, already suffering from discrimination, will pay an expensive price because of the ethnic cleansing. And everyone can also see how the international community, after spending years in negotiations before moving to protect the thousands of helpless Muslims in Bosnia, moved quickly after the death of only three Macedonian soldiers by the Albanian gunmen.
|
