Syndicate: Fw: current situation in Macedonia

[Melentie Pandilovski <mpandil@soros.org.mk>]

Dear friends,

I have seen many fine discussions but no comments on the current
situation in Macedonia, so that I have decided to "enlighten" you
with news from the Balkans, which you might have and some that you
probably haven't in the press of your countries.

Three days ago (4th of March) fighting broke up in Tanusevci  (village
in north Macedonia which was at that moment controlled by about 200
ethnic Kosovo Albanian rebels) aimed at  provoking Macedonian troops in
a response that could as a response radicalize Macedonia's ethnic
Albanians.

Two Macedonian army soldiers were killed whose vehicle hit a land mine
near the village Tanusevci, 20 km north of the capital, Skopje.
A third soldier was killed by sniper fire.

>From the beginning of the crisis the domestic political parties
(including the Democratic Party of Albanians,coalition partner in the 
Macedonian Government), condemned the latest
provocations ?ith tragic consequences". 
"The incidents are not only the absurd, but it is a grave provocation
for the peace and stability to all nations who live in this region?
said in the press release Democratic Party of Albanians. 
This political party of ethnic Albanians pointed that ?his incidents damage the long-lasting
interests of the Albanians who are captured with desire and immaturity
of one unidentified group with suspicious identity?
This is also true for the time the official Tirana that condemned the
incident.  
All relevant international factors condemned the incident and even
demanded an action from the Macedonian side.

However, in the first few days the situation was such that even the
Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski criticized KFOR due to its
?ndolent attitude? In some newspapers KFOR was accused of not
transpoting the wounded soldiers  by KFOR helicopters.
The air lift was done later by a Macedonian army helicopter. 
When the helicopter arrived to the place it was shot on it from the
nearby woods. The soldiers were transported but this proved to be too
late.

The situation was tense as the  newspapers were filled with articles
that "ethnic Albanian terrorists in Tanusevci are transferring bodies of
deceased civilians (women, children) from Kosovo into Tanusevci in order
to provide sufficient number of dead civilians who are to be shown to
foreign reporters in case Macedonian security forces launched a military
operation. These dead bodies are to be presented as victims of alleged
harassment and ethnic cleansing led by Macedonian authorities. 
 The dead-body-transfer operation commenced several days ago and it is to be
continued in the frameworks of the propaganda orchestrated by ethnic
Albanian terrorists in a bid to gain a support of the international
public. This operation is to be carried out permanently because the dead
bodies could not be kept on prolonged period. The bodies have to be
buried in the ground over the next couple of days, and new bodies are to
be brought from Kosovo..."

Taking all of this into consideration I think that the Macedonian
government came up with a pretty good proposal how to resolve the
situation. Namely, the government has a proposition that the UN Security
Council should establish a five-kilometer ground safety zone inside
FRY/Kosovo territory. Macedonia calls for deployment of international
forces there. The government has already made contacts several countries
interested in providing troops for this task.

Potentially the situation is  much more dangerous than any of the
conflicts in ex-Yugoslavia. The nineties, even though have produced
inside Yugoslav wars, did not succeed to produce a Balkan war
similar to the Balkan wars in 1912, and 1913, fought predominantly on
the territory of Macedonia
The situation is worrying which is accented by the Bulgarian and Greek
governments offering military and technical  assistance to the
Macedonian government. The Bulgarian president Stojanov has in addition
offered troops. The Greek Prime Minister Simitis offered diplomatic
assistance.

at the moment the terrorists are running away from Tanusevci back to
Kosovo.
Politically, Macedonia is getting almost unanimous support from the
international political factors.
Strategically  today's meeting of the UN Security Council will decide
the fate of Macedonia's proposal for the creation of a buffer zone, in
which the multinational forces could pursue constant control and
checking out of people.
The other Macedonian request is for KFOR to comply with the terms and
responsibility set out in the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, i.e.
KFOR should prevent armed conflicts from spilling over into the
neighboring areas in the Region.

However something smells.
The Spokesman for Macedonian Defense Ministry
commented on interesting details is the international media coverage
where several newsagencies such as CNN have emitted films and
photographs of tanks attacking the village Tanusevci.
The most interesting part is that  the tanks shown to attack the village
are not in possesion of the Army of Macedonia, the soldiers are not
Macedonian, and the village is not Tanusevci.

He also reapeted yesterday that in hospitals in Kosovo corpses are being
collected, primarily of women and children,  to be presented as victims
of alleged harassment led by the Macedonian security forces.

One could also add to this the statement of yesterday by the British
Ambassador in Macedonia Mark Dickinson stated that "the terrorists want
to provoke the Macedonian government into a Racak type massacre",
and if this doeas not happen then he suspects that the terrorists would
themselves "secure" evidences for this.

The Spokesman for Macedonian Interior Ministry Pendarovski
said that the border crossings are  still closed due to security reasons.
There have been in the international press reports on alleged offensive
on Macedonian police forces in cities throughout Macedonia.
Pendarovski denied such speculations as a  part of propaganda unfolding
in Macedonia.
He said that a group of 177 ethnic Albanian women and children, residents of the village
of Gosinci, Kumanovo area, had fled the village and headed to other
villages inside Macedonia.
Pendarovski presumes the refugee movements are part of well-orchestrated
propaganda aiming to spread fear among the local residents.

Your reporter from the field,

Melentie Pandilovski




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