| Author (Person) | Carroll, Freda | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Details | 15.9.01 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 15/09/2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The large Albanian minority in the north of Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and the de facto independence of neighbouring Kosovo (in Yugoslavia) have become sources of ethnic tension resulting in a growing number of violent incidents at the borders. On 29 June 2001, responding to a request for assistance from the Macedonian President, NATO approved an operational plan, Operation Essential Harvest. The operation involved sending 3,500 NATO troops to Macedonia for thirty days to collect and destroy an agreed number of 3,300 weapons from the ethnic Albanian groups (National Liberation Army). It was to be implemented provided the political dialogue between the various parties in Macedonia had a successful outcome (ratified by Parliament) and a ceasefire was implemented. Many political commentators are sceptical that anything in the Balkans could be so simple. At stake are:
Modern Macedonia In October 1991, Macedonia became an independent state. It has been a member of the United Nations since April 1993 and joined the Council of Europe 9 November 1995. The modern state of Macedonia (called the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or FYROM because of Greece's objection to the preferred name Republic of Macedonia) is a landlocked country bordered by Albania to the west, Yugoslavia to the north, Bulgaria to the east and Greece to the south. The border areas are mainly mountainous, while the valley of the Vardar river and its tributaries is the main route of communication between central Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. According to official statistics, the ethnic composition of the population (2,140,000) is:
Albanians, however, claim to account for 30-40% of the population, a possible result of the Kosovo conflict, during which Macedonia gave sanctuary to thousands of refugees, most of whom later returned to Kosovo. Historical territorial disputes 'Macedonia' has a long history - including a long period between the two world wars when it disappeared completely from maps of Europe. It was founded by Alexander the Great, absorbed into the wider Greek empire and conquered by Rome. The Roman province of Macedonia stretched to the Adriatic. From the sixth century onwards it was heavily settled by migrant Slavs, who mingled with the residue of the pre-Greek population to form a new non-Greek Macedonian nation. In mediaeval times Macedonia was incorporated for a time into the Bulgarian empire which strengthened later Bulgarian claims. In the fourteenth century, it passed under Serbian rule, which strengthened Serbian claims. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the province of Macedonia was at the heart of arguments over the dissolving Ottoman Empire. The first Albanian nationalist movement was formed in 1878 in Prizren, now in Kosovo, to argue against the partition of Albanian lands. Territorial disputes culminated in the Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913, when Macedonia was fought over by Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia. As a result of the international conferences and treaties, Albania emerged as a sovereign state but Macedonia did not. It was divided into three parts:
When the northern section was reconstituted in 1945 as the autonomous republic of Macedonija within Tito's Yugoslavia, a conscious effort was made to simplify its history and a whole generation was educated to the idea of a Slav Macedonia stretching back for centuries. Yugoslavia encouraged a Macedonian Slav identity to counterbalance Serb dominance and Bulgarian territorial claims, but preserving a national ethnic identity can have inevitable consequences for minority rights and the development of a multi-ethnic society. In October 1991, Macedonia became an independent state. Minority rights Surprisingly, Macedonia stayed out of the wars between Croatia and Serbia as well as Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo during the 1990s. In 1999 it welcomed hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanian refugees. It has had three democratic elections in which ethnic Albanians elected their own parties. There are even signs of reversing decades of discrimination against ethnic Albanians and all governments have included ethnic Albanians. A private Albanian-language university was opened in Tetovo and education laws have been recently revised to allow an increase in the number of schools where children can be taught in Albanian. Yet Albanians still feel discriminated against and many complain that they cannot get jobs in the public sector and that the police and army are almost exclusively Macedonian Slav. Although there are Albanians in government, the key symbolic issue is the constitution which defines Macedonia as a state made up of Macedonians (i.e. Slavs) and minorities. The Albanians want specific reference to them and can draw on minority rights documents of the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) as well as European Union legislation on language, education and participation in public life. Macedonians claim that ethnic Albanians have more rights that minorities in other countries and fear that their claims will lead to demands for regional autonomy, separation and a greater Albania. Western diplomats say the Georgievski coalition government was too slow with reforms. It failed to set up constitutional arrangements enabling co-existence, based on equality, between the Slav majority and the ethnic Albanian minority. Ethnic nationalism The fear in Macedonia is that minority rights are not the main agenda of the rebels, whose aim could be separation and a Greater Albania. If reforms are not speeded up and if the fighting continues, it will completely divide the different nationalities in Macedonia, create ethnic armies and potentially bring the drastic result of a geographical division of the main ethnic groups. The consequences could be devastating if ethnic minorities in other Balkan countries follow. In 1999, the country withstood the influx of hundreds of thousands Kosovo Albanian refugees. Yet it now seems that this period may have sown the seeds for the troubles Macedonia is reaping, as some ethnic Albanians in Macedonia volunteered to fight alongside the Kosovo Liberation Army and now many of the fighters in the National Liberation Army are drawn from the Kosovo Liberation Army. With the fall of Milosevic, hopes of establishing an independent Kosovo faded. Ethnic Albanian separatists, with access to arms in neighbouring Kosovo, waged a guerrilla offensive against an ill-equipped Macedonian army. Unless the fighting is stopped, the region could be plunged into another civil war. At stake is the integrity of Macedonia, which feels its national identity and language threatened by the demands of the ethnic Albanians. If its borders are changed, this will have a domino effect throughout the Balkans where nationalists still harbour aspirations for their own ethnically based states. Relations with the EU In April 1997, the Council of Ministers of the European Union decided on a regional approach to the countries of south-eastern Europe which had not concluded a Europe Agreement with the Union: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and the Former Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro, FRY). In accordance with this decision, the European Commission reports every six months on progress in the region with respect to economic stabilisation and structural reform, democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights, the treatment of minorities, implementation of the Dayton Agreement, and cross-border cooperation. Strengthening the Union's trade and aid relations and political contacts with the region is conditional upon such progress. In June 1999 a Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe, designed to enhance peace, stability and prosperity in, and co-operation between, countries in the region, was adopted at the European Council held in Cologne. The Council also recalled the necessity for progress in democratic freedoms and respect for the rights of minorities. The European Union promised to draw these countries closer to the prospect of European Union membership, through a new kind of contractual arrangement, a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, with these countries, taking into account the individual situation in each country, including progress in regional co-operation. The stabilisation and association process offers the five countries the prospect of EU integration, based on a progressive approach adapted to the situation in each country. Some countries may progress faster than others. The process offers major incentives to these countries:
Economic and political conditions are set and the need for regional co-operation is stressed particularly strongly. In order to develop a particular relationship with the EU, these countries will have to gear their political, economic and institutional developments to the values and models underpinning the European Union: democracy, respect for human rights and a market economy. The EU will support and assist them in introducing the reforms necessary to progress in these areas. At the historic Zagreb Summit on 24 November 2000, representatives of the governments of the EU member states and of the countries in South Eastern Europe met to discuss the stabilisation and association process. The Declaration of the Summit concluded that:
At the same meeting a Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and Macedonia was initialled, making it the first Balkan country to become a potential candidate for EU membership. It was formally signed on 9 April 2001. Essentially it is an economic and political incentive for Macedonia to start reforms in return for eventually negotiating to join the EU. The European Union started playing an unusually active political role in trying to resolve the crisis in Macedonia resulting form the armed conflict between government forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas in the summer of 2001. The Union's two senior foreign policy officials, Chris Patten (European Commissioner with responsibiluity for External Affairs) and Javier Solana (High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy), took part in the all-party talks in Skopje designed to address the grievances of the Albanian minority. The EU
The EU's diplomatic efforts have been crucial in preventing the state from descending into widespread violence and its main lever is economic aid with the prospect of eventual membership of the EU. Javier Solana, in particular, has played a key role. Because of his knowledge of the region and its problems and his relationship with the key actors in both ethnic camps, he has been able to create the trust essential for the parties to work together to seek peaceful solutions to their differences. Relations with OSCE The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe established an OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje in 1992 to help prevent the spillover of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia by monitoring the border between Serbia and Macedonia. It conducts border monitoring along the borders with Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Kosovo) and Albania, in areas that are generally difficult to access and where the border shows a certain degree of porosity. The Mission is also engaged in mediation efforts aimed at improving inter-ethnic relations in the country; it assists in the development of a civil society; it contributes in the field of the economy and the environment and, when, necessary, co-ordinates election monitoring activities. In February 2001, the OSCE Commissioner on National Minorities, Max van der Stoel, said that one cornerstone of a multi-ethnic society was a constitution that reflected the true character of society and included guarantees for the rights of all citizens. OSCE has 25 international staff now working in Macedonia and is planning to increase this to 51 by the end of 2001, in order to provide support and assistance, foreseen under Annex C of the Framework Agreement, in the areas of census, elections, police reform and training and improvement of inter-ethnic relations. A new census, to be undertaken by the end of 2001, will influence the revision of boundaries of municipalities. Relations with NATO In March 2001, after many months of violent incidents near Macedonia's northern borders, Lord Robertson, Secretary General of NATO said:
NATO Press Release, 21.3.2001 On 20 June 2001, President Trajkovski asked NATO for assistance in demilitarising the National Liberation Army (NLA) and disarming the ethnic Albanian extremists operating within Macedonia. Operation Essential Harvest was drawn up in response to this request for NATO assistance. The operation was approved by NATO on 29 June 2001 on condition that the political dialogue between the various parties had a successful outcome and a cease-fire implemented. Certain conditions had to be met before the operation could go ahead:
On 5 July 2001, Lord Robertson and Javier Solana (The EU's Special Representative in Macedonia) issued a joint statement:
NATO Press Release, 5.7.2001 On 25 July 2001, Lord Robertson again stressed the need for a political solution:
NATO Press Release, 25.07.01 Framework Agreement After many difficult months of discussion and negotiation, led by James Pardew of the US State Department and Francis Leotard, the EU Envoy, political leaders in Skopje signed a Framework Agreement, in a low-key ceremony, on 13 August 2001. It resolves two sensitive issues:
but it does not solve the contentious question of amnesty for rebels. The NLA insists on guarantees of security and an amnesty, but Macedonians fear an amnesty may be seen as capitulating to violence and that such an agreement would consolidate the territorial gains made by NLA in northwest areas of the country heavily populated by Albanians. The secrecy surrounding the signing of the agreement reflected the government's nervousness over the response of a hard-line minority of Macedonians over concessions granted to Albanians. The Framework Agreement takes the following form:
Immediately after the signing, EU officials promised a 'donors' meeting', in collaboration with the World Bank, to consider aid for Macedonia and the European Commission is set to approve a €50 million package to support the proposed reforms. The World Bank offered on the 13 September 2001 exceptional access to US$35 million equivalent of interest-free loans from the International Development Association (IDA). The donors meeting is to be held once the constitutional amendments related to the peace agreement are adopted. Operation Essential Harvest On 22 August 2001 at 12 noon, the North Atlantic Council agreed to the activation of Operation Essential Harvest. Officially launched on 22 August 2001 and effectively started on 27 August 2001, it is a 30 day mission which involves sending 3,500 NATO troops, with logistic support, to disarm ethnic Albanian troops and destroy their weapons. Once the NATO forces are in place, they have 30 days to collect the weapons and then take them to another country for destroying. The risk is that this limited mission will be insufficient to have an effect on Macedonia's future and that NATO forces will involved for years to come. The Framework Agreement, including the proposed changes to the Macedonian Constitution, has yet to be ratified by Macedonia's Parliament. If both the mission and the agreement are effectively implemented by the end of September, this would be a major achievement for both NATO and the European Union in resolving ethnic disputes in Europe. On the 13 September 2001 Nato forces in Macedonia announced the successful conclusion of the second stage of their operation to collect and destroy weapons held by Albanian rebels A full list of further information sources are listed below. Key links for updated information on the current situation are: Further information within European Sources Online European Sources Online: Topic Guide:
European Sources Online: European Voice:
Further information can be seen in these external links: European Commission: DG External Relations
European Commission: DG Press and Communication: Press Releases Allied forces Southern Europe Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
World Bank Republic of Macedonia
FT.com
BBC News Online Council of Europe: Directorate General of Human Rights United Nations: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Amnesty International
Balkan Human Rights Web Pages British Helsinki Human Rights Group International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights MINELRES: Minority Electronic Resources
World Democracy Audit
Human Rights Watch Further and subsequent information on the subject of this In Focus can be found by an Advanced Search in European Sources Online by inserting 'FYROM', 'Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia' or 'Macedonia' in the keyword field. Freda Carroll Commentary on the ethnic tension between the Albanian minority in the north of Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and the de facto independence of neighbouring Kosovo (in Yugoslavia). |
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| Countries / Regions | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia |
