Macedonia violence unlikely despite protests

I agree with this analysis. Albanians will only try to destabilize Macedonia if they can get the aid of the US and the EU. Right now, the US/EU are occupied with Iraq, Lebanon and Syria and Iran ... you get the idea. I disagree with Deliso's depiction of the election as one between pro-Western and Ant-Western forces. Both coalitions want join the EU and Nato.

Macedonia violence unlikely despite protests

Following elections that brought a pro-Western, pro-market government to power, Macedonia’s future seems promising. But an ethnic Albanian party that feels itself unfairly excluded could cause headaches.

By Christopher Deliso in Skopje for ISN Security Watch (18/08/06)

Since the incumbent coalition was ousted in Macedonia’s 5 July parliamentary elections, the major security concern has been the potential for future violence from the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), excluded from the new government.

Holding road blockades and increasing inflammatory rhetoric in public speeches, the party has warned that future interethnic stability is at risk. However, Western officials directly involved with overseeing Macedonia’s development agree that the new government should be given a chance to show what it can achieve - and that armed violence will not be tolerated.

Led by former rebel leader Ali Ahmeti, the DUI claims that it automatically deserves to be part of the new government because it won a majority of the minority Albanian vote. However, Macedonia is not an ethnic federation, and as in similar European democracies, the party that wins the most seats in parliament has the unconditional mandate to form the government. In this case, is it the center-right VMRO-DPMNE party of former finance minister Nikola Gruevski that has that mandate. At least 61 MPs from Macedonia's 120-seat parliament are needed for a new government.

In the election, Gruevski’s coalition topped all by taking 45 seats, uniting with other parties afterward to achieve a total of 65 seats. These included VMRO-DPMNE’s traditional Albanian coalition partner, the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), which won 11 seats and the New Social Democratic Party (NSDP) of veteran politician Tito Petkovski, which won six.

In comparison, the incumbent Social Democrats (SDSM) won 32 seats and the Albanian coalition of the DUI and the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP) managed 17 together, with 14 for the DUI - only slightly more than the DPA’s 11.

And while the DUI claimed that it represented “the will of the Albanian people,” under 50 percent of the Albanian electorate actually voted. International and local monitors claimed that violence and fraud were widespread in key regions.

Christopher Hitchens - An Itch I Cannot Scratch

I am a pack rat so I have a hard time throwing things away. Below is a 1993 letter to the editor of the now defunct "The European Newspaper" in which Christopher Hitchens discussed the Macedonian "name" issue . This is the first time that I had heard of him. My assumption was that he was a snotty upper class right wing twit journalist who had never been to the Balkans. (I don't have a copy of the original article, but if anyone can find it, please send it to me.)

Quelle surprise ... it seems our comrade Hitchens was had a reputation as a leftist ... even a Trotskyite. It also seems that he married a Greek Cypriot. It also seems that he left his wife and small child for another woman. Ms Greek Cypriot raised their child in England while comrade Chris stayed in New York. Nice! He wrote an ant-Turkish book on Cyprus, I suppose as a way of atoning for his cadish behavior.

Over the years, has contributed snotty anti-Macedonian articles in the Nation and other publications but has never commented on the plight of the Macedonians in Greece. This is odd because, I believe, that one of his friends is Hugh Poulton, of the Minority Rights Group ("Who are the Macedonians?") so he can't be totally ignorant of our issues.

I can't find the link at this time, but Sidney Blumenthal of Salon (a former friend) said that no one could really trust the facts in an article by Christopher Hitchens. His brother is a right wing commentator in England. My point is that anyone reading his work on Macedonia would never guess that he had been a leftist at one time.

April 7, 1993

To: The European "Letters to the Editor"
Re: "Not Just Paranoid about Macedonia" by Christopher Hitchens, April 1-7,

Mr. Hitchens is incorrect when he stated the title of "King of the Hellenes" was forced upon the newly crowned Greek King George "in deference to Ottoman objections to the original formulation 'King of the Greeks'". In the same way that Germans call their country Deutchland in their language, Greeks call themselves Hellenes and their country Hellas in their language. The word "Greece" like the word "Germany" is based on ancient Roman usage.

The rest of the article is similarly flawed. It reminds me of a lecture on sexual technique that is given by a virgin. Although some of the facts may be right, the insight that one might gain from a more intimate knowledge and direct experience is missing.

Please no more "if this is Tuesday, this must be Macedonia (or is it Moldova?)" type of articles.

Technorati and Me

Technorati Profile

Some Details on Macedonian Rights Struggle in Bulgaria

Dear Nicoleta,

You have written a good article, which I think accurately represents the struggle in Bulgaria between Macedonians and and the Bulgarian govenrment for humand rights, and within the Macedonian community in Bulgaria, as to just what it means to be a Macedonian.

However, I think that this is just one half of the article. Where is the other half?. You know, the one where the Eruopean Union allowed Bulgaria to apply, even though it does not legally recognize the Macedonian language or ethnicity. The one where the diplomats of the EU said to the Bulgarians not to bring up the question of the rights of Macedonians and Bulgarians in Greece (if they know what's good for them!). I'm sure you must remmber it. It also includes an interview with the powers that be at Radio Free Europe, as to why Greece's human rights record is off limits.That's the one. when you find it, please send a copy to me. Thanks.

Elective History

by Nikoleta Popkostadinova
Transitions On Line
Radio Free Europe

15 August 2006

New tensions arise between Sofia and Skopje over identity and history.

SOFIA, Bulgaria | Nikola has little patience for what appears to be a diplomatic conflict between Bulgaria and Macedonia. "One history, one land, but too many dullards on both sides of the stupid border," he says as he contemplates the latest escalation in tension.

The 72-year-old man is quiet for a while as he stares at the green crowns of the trees below his balcony in downtown Sofia.

The pensioner was born in a village in Pirin, Macedonia, in the province of Blagoevgrad in Bulgaria, where he has lived most of his life. But Nikola says he is a Bitolan since his ancestors came from the town that today lies in the independent state of Macedonia. He admits that he has never visited Bitola, which lies about 200 kilometers from the border between the two countries. But he claims to be a Macedonian, as well as a patriotic Bulgarian citizen.

To Nikola, Macedonia is simply an unfortunate land split among four countries.

"No one will ever let her go, right?" Nikola asks, not really seeking an answer. "The great powers, the Balkan countries, the EU, and who knows what other acronyms will always mess with her, I know."

Memo to Jon Stewart, the Daily Show, regarding "Victory for Hezbollah"

Jon, I can't seem to find your email on your website, so here is a free idea for a segment for your Daily Show.

Get a clip of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" ... the one where two knights are fighting at a bridge and one knight has his arm cut off:

Knight 1: I just cut off your arm!

Knight 2: No you didn't.

Knight 1: I just cut off your other arm!

Knight 2: No you didn't

While you are at the Monty Python section at the video store, get a copy of "The Life of Brian".

Anti-Roman Conspirator 1: Are you with the "Revolutionarry Vanguard of the Palestinian Resistance"

Anti-Roman Conspirator 2: We don't associate with those bastards. We are with the "Palestinian Vanguard of the Revolutionary Resistance"

Independence for Kosovo?

I read political opinion columnists, from George Will and Charles Krauthammer on the right, to Michael Kinsley in the center, to Eric Alterman on the left. I rarely read newspaper editorials because they are unsigned. It is like talking to someone who wears sun glasses indoors ... it is just plain rude. To some, unsigned editorials give off wiff of mysterious authority, like the ten commandments being brought down from the mountain from an unseen god. While to others, it gives of a stench of conspiracy with greedy forces in smoke filled rooms promoting civil war around the world for fun and profit.

I will not go into detail as to why this editorial, if adopted, as it seems it will by the UN, will promote civil war in the Balkans and around the world for the foreseeable future. I just think that it is incumbent on the geniuses at the New York Times editorial board to explain why Kosovo deserves independence, while Republica Serpska in Bosnia does not. Why does Iraqi Kurdistan deserve autonomy within a federal Iraq while in Turkish Kurdistan people are thrown in jail for writing histories in the Kurdish language. Why do Albanians in Macedonia get to eat "human rights cake" while the Macedonains in Greece have to eat "human rights crap".

And finally, maybe the geniuses at the New York Times can explain why it only rains on the weekend.

New York Times
Editorial
Navigating Kosovo’s Future

Published: August 18, 2006

The 1999 war over Kosovo left the former Serbian province in political limbo, postponing the question of possible independence for another day. That day is now at hand, and the main question facing the international community is not whether Kosovo will become independent, but when and how. Status talks are expected to conclude in the next few months, with the United Nations Security Council to rule on the issue by the end of the year.

The original plan was for Kosovo’s political leaders to demonstrate their ability to govern responsibly before formal discussions of sovereignty could begin. They haven’t really done so, although they have made some grudging moves under international pressure.

Yet as a practical matter, Kosovo’s international wardship cannot be extended indefinitely. The most promising way to encourage further progress is by moving ahead to a carefully conditioned form of limited autonomy.

The most critical issue, now as ever, is guaranteeing the rights of the ethnic Serb minority. Any independence arrangement will have to assure minorities a substantial role in government, particularly in sensitive areas like the Justice Ministry.

For the first few years at least, the powers of Kosovo’s new government must be strictly limited. An international authority will have to monitor the government’s fulfillment of internationally agreed conditions, paying special attention to issues like the rule of law and minority rights. A few thousand NATO-led troops should remain in Kosovo with the power to intervene when necessary to compel compliance.

Most of the countries with troops in Kosovo would prefer to bring them home now. But Kosovo’s march toward independence is going to remain difficult and dangerous for years. The need for a continuing armed international presence should be non-negotiable.

New Macedonian Blog

This is a new idea in blogging where a group of Macedonian bloogers have come together to build something bigger than each can do by themselves. Macedonia needs all the help it can get.

Welcome to the first Macedonian bridge blog

The purpose of this blog to provide the global audence with a chance to learn more about Macedonia, and to provide the Macedonian bloggers with a chance to share some of their information outside their community.

All are invited, so I didn't have to crash the party ;-)

Readers and contributors,
Welcome and enjoy!

Can't we Orthodox Slavs "just get along"

It seems that Serbia is not keen on allowing the Montenegrin Orthodox Church to build churches in Serbia while at the same time complaining about the fact that the pro-Serbian Macedonian defrocked Bishop and convicted criminal Jovan Vraniskovski is not allowed operate freely in Macedonia. Now as I understand it, there is a small community of Macedonians in Belgrade who were refugees from Greece. Why can't the Macedonian Orthodox Church buy a lot and announce that they are buiilding a Macedonian Orthodox Church. Same thing goes for Pirin Macedonia . Lets play some offence! I think that we already have one in Greece, but it is in limbo ... not recognized but not bothered either. Here are three links about this issue that previously appeared in "The Macedonian Tendency"

RFE on Bishop Jovan

The Clash of Orthodoxies

More Bad Press on Jovan

MONTENEGRIN ORTHODOX CHURCH FACES OPPOSITION IN SERBIA
Radio Free Europe, Friday, August 18, 2006 Volume 10 Number 152

Cetinje Archbishop and Montenegrin Metropolitan Mihailo contended on August 17 that the Montenegrin Orthodox Church has the right to build churches in Serbia, B92 reported the same day. Mihailo, the head of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, was responding to comments the day before in which Serbian Religion Minister Milan Radulovic said the Montenegrin Church is banned from building in Serbia. "There is only one Orthodox Church in Serbia, and that is the Serbian Orthodox Church. No group of citizens can under any circumstances establish any orthodox church, or establish what is already in existence and has a tradition and a historical continuity," Beta and B92 quoted Radulovic as saying on August 16. "It is astonishing that a minister can make statements of this kind, but I believe these are his personal opinions," B92 quoted Mihailo as saying in response. Mihailo added that he will personally lay the foundation stone for a planned Montenegrin Orthodox Church in Lovcenac. BW

One step forward for Macedonians, two steps backwards for "slav Macedonians"

This is one of the few occasions that a leading newspaper has gots its hands dirty and discussed the the "slav" issue that is a poker up the butt of most ethnic Macedonians because Serbs, Croats and Bulgarians are never described as "slavs" just plain old Serbs,Croats and Bulgarians. Anyway, all I can say is that I hope that Anthony Browne of the Times takes a few hours to investigate why the "Greek position" on minority rights regarding ethnic Macedonians in Greece, is in reality the EU position on minority right, since Greece is a member of good standing of the EU. Any country that "adopts the Greek position" on minority rights should be admitted into the EU, no questions asked. For more information about the correct way to address this issue see: http://www.maknews.com/html/articles/slav_misuse/ghm.html

How one small adjective spelt trouble abroad - Comment - Times Online: "

The Times July 15, 2006
Feedback

How one small adjective spelt trouble abroad
Sally Baker

Macedonians take offence; plus Eire, Polygons, and a teenage paragon

LAST week I wrote about the near-impossibility of failing to offend someone, somewhere, in the pages of a daily newspaper. Foreign stories extend the possibilities dramatically.

On July 6 our European correspondent, Anthony Browne, opened a report under the headline “Former boxer becomes Macedonian Prime Minister” with the words: “A Slav nationalist former boxer and amateur actor has been elected Prime Minister of the troubled state of Macedonia after a campaign marred by violence in a region still volatile with ethnic tensions.”

That little word “Slav” opened the floodgates. Typical of the complaints was this from John Skenderis in Canada: “Please refrain from using the term ‘Slav’ to describe Macedonians in future articles. As a Canadian of Macedonian descent I find this term insulting, and I would ask that you refer to the people of Macedonia as Macedonians.” When I consulted Anthony, he reported that much to his amazement angry e-mails had flooded in to him from around the world and he was being denounced on Macedonian websites. On the other hand, he had also received lettersfrom Greeks congratulating him on referring to the Macedonian majority as Slavs — Greece still objects to Macedonia’s use of what it considers a Hellenic name. “It’s the first time I’ve been so unwittingly controversial,” he said.

Actually Anthony did not refer to all Macedonians as Slavs, which would indeed have been incorrect. The term Slav is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “a member of a group of peoples in Central and Eastern Europe speaking Slavic languages”. It defines Macedonian as a Slavic language. Hence all Macedonian-speaking citizens (the majority) are Slavs (Albanian-speaking citizens of Macedonia are not, Albanian being an Indo-European language), and our Europe correspondent was correct to thus describe the new Prime Minister. He meant no offence by it, being unaware of all the complexities of Macedonian nationhood.

In matters of ethnicity and nationality in volatile regions, it seems there are no longer any innocent adjectives, for those with a particular political or racial agenda to push. In this instance we have quite inadvertently pleased Greece, insulted Macedonia, and raised international tensions a fraction.

Nationalism Still a Threat in Macedonia - New York Times

A good article from the New York Times by By Nicholas Wood. It shows the Macedonian government walking on egg shells not to upset radical Albanian activists for fear of upseting their American protectors. The US is playing a dirty game in the Balkans by allying themselves with Muslim Albanians against Christian Macedonians. They hope to show the "Muslim World" that, notwithstanding Iraq, Iran, Lebannon, and Palestine, the "born again Christian" Bush loves Muslims. In this case, Albanians are lucky to get the elevator while Macedonians get the shaft.

By the way, our friend Mr. Wood wrote a piece a while back on Macedonian refugees from Greece saying Macedonians were only interested in getting their confiscated properties back ... no mention of human rights violations in Greece. OUCH!


Nationalism Still a Threat in Macedonia - New York Times

SKOPJE, Macedonia, July 1 — Agim Krasniqi cuts an unlikely figure for a politician here. With casual clothes, lank hair and a fashionably clipped beard, he does not look like most of the men in suits campaigning for Parliament. But his appearance is not the only reason he stands out; he is also Macedonia's best-known outlaw.

Mr. Krasniqi, 33, is an ethnic Albanian who has been wanted by the police for more than a year. They want to prosecute him as the leader of a band of armed insurgents based in a village near Skopje, the capital. His party is all but daring the police to arrest him, knowing that would cause a political storm and raise nationalist feelings.

Macedonia has made substantial progress toward recovery after a six-month conflict five years ago, when security forces dominated by Macedonians of Slavic background fought against ethnic Albanian insurgents. The European Union acknowledged that progress last December by offering membership negotiations.

But there has been a revival of violence and reports of fraud and intimidation in the election, scheduled for Wednesday, as older nationalist leaders and a pro-Western new generation compete with the parties and among themselves to determine who will hold power here in that promising future.

The conflict has dismayed European and NATO officials. They say Mr. Krasniqi's candidacy, which appeals to ethnic Albanians who are disgruntled with the how peace has worked out, demonstrates the desperate lengths to which parties are going, even in the face of intense international scrutiny, as they struggle to win.

European Union officials say free and fair elections are essential for Macedonia to advance quickly in the negotiations, and some pro-Western politicians here worry that Macedonian and ethnic Albanian nationalists — including Mr. Krasniqi's political mentors — could upset their plans, especially if voters conclude that European Union membership is not right on the horizon.

Much progress has been made since 2001, both in stabilizing the region and in carrying out an agreement that gives greater rights to ethnic Albanians, who constitute almost 25 percent of Macedonia's population of 2.2 million, and to other minorities. In the peace agreement, 3,000 ethnic Albanian guerrillas laid down their weapons, and several are now members of the government.

But election monitors cite more than 20 violent campaign incidents in June, including a shooting outside a shopping mall in the center of Skopje.

Most of the incidents have been confined to ethnic Albanian areas, but the monitors say that all the major political parties have been implicated in violence, intimidation or fraud.

Senior European officials say local politicians have not cracked down enough on troublemakers. Erwan Fouere of Ireland, the European Union's special representative in Macedonia, said Western diplomats thought Macedonia understood exactly what it needed to do.

"What I regret is that the party leaders have not been strong enough in their condemnation of acts of violence," he said. "They should be condemning all these acts, and not just those of their opponents."

Mr. Fouere said that senior Western diplomats had been visiting the affected areas to calm tensions, and that they might be having an effect, because reports of violence have abated.

In previous elections, analysts have said, nationalists also used violence to undermine reform, including a kidnapping by nationalist parties before parliamentary elections four years ago. Nothing that extreme has surfaced this time, but there is intense rivalry between nationalists who lost power in the last four years and a new generation of politicians.

"The stakes are high," said Saso Ordanovski, editor in chief of Forum, a weekly current affairs magazine. A generation of politicians on both sides know this is their last chance to win at the polls, he said. Parties are not simply trying to win, but also to be in a position to make payoffs to supporters, in the form of jobs and business contracts.

Most leaders know that the prospect of European Union membership could be hurt, but say it has been hard to restrain supporters from misbehaving.

Being confrontational "is part of our tradition," Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, said in an interview. "We are trying now to change our mentality, but it is too early to be different."

Many Macedonian politicians worry that nationalists could reassert themselves if the possibility of European Union membership slides into the future.

"Without a clear European perspective and without the enlargement process in the European Union," Mr. Buckovski said, "it will be very difficult for us pro-Western and pro-European politicians to continue the political fight."