Koha Digest # 156

Date: 29 July 1997

The weekly Koha (The Times) was published in Prishtina (Kosovo) between 1994 and 1997. Edited by Veton
Surroi, a young Kosovar journalist and one of the pioneers of democratisation in former Yugoslavia, Koha
soon became a symbol of quality among the region's media. In 1997 it started to be published daily under the
name of Koha Ditorë. W ith the kind permission of Mr. Surroi, Koha digests were originally posted on
http://koha.estudiosbalcanicos.org.
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throw them back to the street". All right then, does anybody hate
anyone, and the woman says - "I don't hate anyone. We lived
together and that's the way we are going to go on living,
together." During the conversation, her husband interrupts and
says: "the inter-ethnic problems are caused by Macedonia's
politics. It increases tensions through different information
services, tensions that we already had. That worries us, because
there might be even more problems". The solution according to him
would be "for the Albanians to be given their rights, for their
national identity to be recognized, as well as their flag, their
right to education and their language."

Whilst walking the streets of Tetovë, through the open market full
of people, I bumped into a Macedonian couple. I could hardly make
out what they were saying from all the noise, common for small
towns. I got the feeling that there was a person on top of my head,
that talked to me about coexistence, about the many Albanian
friends he has, and about the fact that he can't understand
Albanian politicians who seem to want to catapult the tension. Just
when I wanted to turn to him and tell him that this was enough, his
monologue he started a long time ago, ended.

The young Macedonian husband looked frightened, - "especially since

I have a family to support". Since, as he said, it's impossible for
us to live separated, then we have to find a way to go on living
together and to solve these problems through talks. His wife, says,
"these problems can only be solved with goodness. I'm an optimist.
We lived together for years, and that's the way we're going to live
in the future."

That is what Tetovë looks like. A small town with very friendly
people that make guests in their houses feel welcome. And as I
turned away from this town, at the crossroad I noticed the
bluehelmets and their "arrogant" manners.

At the end of the day, I don't know why the hell I recalled the
foreign soldiers and their coffee shops, that have been closed for
about a year now. They've been closed ever since the time that the
first signs of the foot&mouth disease were noticed, a time when
they started "disinfecting" those that cross the border.

This country, in which "America's good will still survives", one

has to pay 1 DM when going in and out of the country, for
environmental pollution. I just don't know who's going to clear
Macedonian rulers' consciousness after everything that has
happened. The foreign soldiers will again leave their money on
coffee-tables as evidence of their hard work in peacekeeping.
And, as you leave, like always, you'll say "nothing new in
Macedonia's west".

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INTERVIEW

ALAJDIN DEMIRI, Mayor of Tetovë

THIS WAS A SCENARIO ‘ THE ALBANIAN FACTOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE

Interviewed by ARBËR VLLAHIU / TETOV’

KOHA: How do you evaluate the situation in Macedonia after the

events of 9 July?

DEMIRI: The events of this day reveal the whole arsenal and
repetition of the Macedonian stance toward Albanians. I am talking
about the hostile stance that is being repeated for many years,
starting from Ladorishte, Bit Pazar, the weapons' affair, Tetovë
and now Gostivar, where Albanians were beaten and killed, and of
course, according to my opinion, this must be the last warning for
Albanians to start to clarify things with themselves and to
harmonize their demands; what are the next options, what, in
reality, Albanians must demand from Macedonia, and what would be
that they would accept. Of course, this process has already begun,
and it is a process of homogenization, of harmonization of the
Albanian stands. Still, there are two variants, two options. One is
the "stepology", preferred by PPD, and there is the option of
radical changes, preferred by us, PDSH.

KOHA: In the Albanian political scene in Macedonia, some

differences among the Albanian political subject still can be seen.
PDSH has asked the PPD leave the government coalition. What are the
consequences of this split?

DEMIRI: It is not the PDSH the one that is asking PPD to leave the
coalition. This demand was raised earlier, and it is a reality,
because Albanians are faced with this reality since the approval of
the constitution. Since then, none of the Albanian requests has
been realized. PPD preferred to remain in coalition, and, of
course, in politics when a political option and a political
platform proves to be unproductive, it is completely logical to
throw away this option. This demand comes from the people and the
electorate. The last events proved that in Macedonia they are
nothing more than a decoration. The statements of the ministers and
of the ministerial staff were that they didn’t know what was
happening. After all, I say that being unaware is also being
responsible. This thing shows that there are two sides in the
Government, and two meetings are being held. The first side is the
clandestine one, and the other one is only for decoration. So,
participating as a decoration in a government like this one means
that you are responsible for what is happening behind the scene. If
PPD does not leave the coalition, it is obvious that the electorate
will perceive PPD as a collaborator in the events of the last days.

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Our aim is not to identify them with the crime, but make them
aware, make them step aside and let the murderer be identified with
the crime. This time, the murderers were Macedonians and the
Ministry of Interior, i.e., Minister Cokreski. Therefore, we do not
want Albanian ministers to stand as a barricade between the
Albanian electorate and the Ministry of Interior. This request is
completely human and natural. The time we are living in Macedonia
does not allow the possibility to have someone act as if nothing
happened. In fact, the installation of the Macedonian State, the
installation of the exclusive Macedonian rights and the violation
of the Albanian rights happened.

KOHA: Now, after all that has happened, how do you see the Albanian
factor in Macedonia as an important factor or a hostage of the
false stability?

DEMIRI: The power of one factor is measured with its impact in

developments of the events. The fact that phenomenons like the last
one happen, proves that Albanian subject is an inevitable factor in
Macedonia. Since Macedonia is situated in Balkan, and Balkan is a
zone of the instability, each of these subjects in this region can
be hostage of the stabilization of the situation, but can also be
‘casus belli’ and reason for instability. We realize that the
Albanian factor in general is in a very difficult situation, having
in mind the situation in Kosova and Albania, and our moves as PDSH
are in accordance with this general phenomenon in the Balkans. We
are here and we want to be a factor of stabilization, but the other
side must work for stabilization. In this case, I think that the
Macedonian side had guarantees from Serbia to go ahead with the
instability. The truth is that the phase of instability has already
begun, and having in mind the situation in Albania, this fulfills
the mosaic that, in reality, we acted toward stabilization, but
this was not the case with the opposite side. Still, this does not
mean that we will always act in the direction of stabilization,
because Albanians will never forget this blow.

KOHA: To what degree were Albanians responsible for the events in

Gostivar, and where does the responsibility of your party lie on?

DEMIRI: The Albanian factor is not responsible, because this was a

scenario, a trap prepared by the Ministry of Interior. It is absurd
to seek responsibility and culpability in the victim. Always the
ones who commit the crime are guilty. But, it is a tendency of all
Macedonian political parties, which are sometimes backed by an
Albanian party, to look for the fault among the Albanians. Perhaps
right now we can talk about the lack of awareness to avoid the
intervention of the police, but when the scenario is well prepared,
it is impossible to avoid them, because two municipalities were
attacked without any reason. They were attacked when they were
acting in concrete and real circumstances, and no one could predict

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that the Ministry of Interior would attack a municipal
administrator.

KOHA: You were mayor of Tetovë. Did you have the right to use the
flag and keep it there for months?

DEMIRI: The flag is only a pretext. Beside the flag, there were
also other reasons that were accumulated systematically and
produced by the Macedonian side. Before this, the motive was the
University of Tetovë, before this a cigarette seller, etc., that
proves that reasons and pretexts are always produced, and there is
always a motive for causing conflicts. It is not the problem of the
flag, but the problem of the Albanian share, that made the
Macedonian side act this way. Because it was precisely when the use
of the symbols was institutionalized and Parliament of Macedonia
voted the use of the flag, that in the next morning these two
municipalities were attacked. This means that we deal with an
absurd matter here. This is absurd because, on one hand, it is
legalized, and on the other hand the same organs, the same
parliament and government, attack it. And now the problem is
broader, since this where the essence of unregulated relations
between Albanians and Macedonians relies, and there is the damaging
position of one party, that legalizes and institutionalizes this
government. Macedonia is known as a multiethnic state, and if all
Albanians work in this direction, then this contradictions can be
solved easier.

KOHA: If the Albanian political subject leaves the Parliament and

the government, how do you think to realize the rights of Albanians
then?

DEMIRI: Very easy. If international guarantees are in favor of a

multiethnic Macedonia, then internal guarantees must be that this
Macedonia should be multiethnic. After getting out of the
parliament and government, in the beginning we could establish the
Albanian board of intellectual and political structures. When they
leave the state institutions, the political crisis starts. And we
know, that when a political crisis starts in one country, then we
have negotiations and options on how to build that state. The start
of a political crisis would accelerate the solution, because only
when the problem is evident, only then the solution is evident. In
this case the problem is latent, sometimes it escalates, sometimes
it stops, sometimes it has got a greater power of manipulating, and
sometimes it has not.

KOHA: Actually, what are the concrete steps that the Albanian
political subject is taking, in order to overcome the situation?

DEMIRI: The reason why these two municipalities were attacked is

also the consolidation of the Albanian corpus. The unification of

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these two parties, boosted the Macedonian anger. I think that the
appearance of a strong party, that will stand in it's orientations,
(the democratic fundament of the rights of Albanians, based on the
historical heritage and concrete reality), accelerates the process
of finding a solution. The development of the process, or the
continuation of the agony called ‘step-by-step’ will always give
the Macedonians a motive to intervene sometimes with police and
army, and sometimes with the parliament or the government.

KOHA: The international community offered the ‘step by step’

solution to Macedonia. What influence did it have in solving the
problems here?

DEMIRI: The ‘stepology’ is a very interesting thing, because the

steps lead you forward and backward. The "stepology" marks it’s
beginning in Macedonia with the Constitution of 1991, when the
position of the Albanians was degraded. The laws approved based on
this constitution were more and more restrictive for Albanians,
even more restrictive than the constitution itself. This means that
the beginning was not right. Albanians accepted this, Macedonians
offered this just as the international community did in the most
critical moment for Macedonia, when Macedonia was having a
referendum, when the crisis in former Yugoslavia was reaching it's
culmination, when war in Bosnia started, when rumors about the
southern front could be heard, where Macedonia was also included.
Today, this method is no longer valid, because this "stepology"
proved to be sterile, and it only strengthened the Albanian-
Macedonian antagonisms. The southern front can be created exactly
from this sterile "stepology". Not to forget that the international
factor is aware and gives as much as the subject is asking. The
real will must be imposed to the international community. The
international community will never give the right to only one side.
This was the case in Bosnia. None of the sides was accused, but an
agreement was reached. And this what we are demanding, a new
agreement for the south of former Yugoslavia: for Kosova,
Macedonia, and of course Serbia.

KOHA: But what if there is no Albanian-Macedonian dialogue?

DEMIRI: I don’t think that there is nothing to do. Because none of

the sides is superior to the other, so to impose despotism. The
endangering and the positioning of both sides is evident. I think
that with the last intervention, Macedonia started to get away from
international and American institutions. Macedonia is now far from
NATO. I think that the economic grounds in Macedonia will oblige it
to solve the problems, and we will be forced to sit and see what
state will we build. Stubbornness will be fatal for both sides.

KOHA: It seems that you hope very much in the international

community. But, wasn’t international community clumsy in regard to

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the events in Gostivar and Tetovë?

DEMIRI: We were clumsy. Because an attack like this one found us,
Albanians, unprepared. On the other hand, the Albanian subject that
participates in government and Parliament, legitimated this attack,
therefore we cannot incriminate the international factor. Any
international factor that visits this government will see that one
third of the ministers are Albanians, and this is where the key is.
Once Albanians are positioned strongly, then the international
community will change its opinion.

KOHA: But, if Albanians do not take part in the parliament and the
government, doesn’t this mean that they are avoiding the
institutions and institutionalization?

DEMIRI: Of course it means that we are avoiding them, but only for
some time. With this we will create a crisis that will bring a new
phase, in which Albanians will no longer be submitted to, when they
will no longer be a decoration. Institutions first have to be
understood, to know what they produce. If we speak about the
eternity of the institutions, then we are speaking against the
logic of development. Even the parliaments of Nazism were
institutions. And, of course, these institutions were valid at that
time. But today we speak about them as institutions that produced
terrible things. If we, today, speak of perfect institutions in any
country, then we are making a mistake, because institutions have to
be processed. In this case we want to give this institution the
Albanian spirit, and not an Albanian decoration. We want these
institutions to start producing Albanian values too. If you look
closer, you will notice that institutions in Macedonia never
produced an Albanian intellectual. In this case we must review
either the Albanians or the institutions. We propose to review the
institutions, since, in this period, Albanians have minimal
demands, having in mind the stabilization of the region.

KOHA: Your party, the PDSH, was accused to be radical and for
calling people for resistance...

DEMIRI: We must be reasonable. In Gostivar we had 10,000 people,

and 4,000 policeman were on the other side. And in this crowd you
couldn't find 20 or even 200 guns. No responsible politician will
call the people for resistance, when they are bare-handed.
Therefore, we are reasonable politicians, and we didn’t call for
resistance. The Ministry of Interior has now got into trouble,
because it must justify the crime. We didn’t make any
radicalization, having in mind our political options, our political
variant and the situation in the region. The interior ministry, the
police, did this radicalization. When people are shot in their
back, when Rufi Osmani is held hostage, preventing him to talk to
the crowd and tell them to disperse’ what kind of radicalization

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are we talking about then? We are dealing with the radicalization
of the Ministry of Interior, that was terrified when it thought
that the scenario could fail.

KOHA: And, in the end, do you think that with the arrest of Rufi
Osmani, your indictment, and the removal of the flag from the
buildings of the Municipal Councils, in predominantly Albanian
areas, means an end to Albanian governing?

DEMIRI: Let's start from the beginning. The flag will not be
removed. The flag now is official. The municipalities will not be
transformed. In this phase we must prevent the arrest of Rufi
Osmani, my sentence, because, in these two municipalities, the
local government and the Albanian installation didn't damage the
Macedonian interest, but it rather raised it to a higher level.
Therefore, we entered an important phase, where the Albanian
interest, no matter the epilogue, will be more and more present,
and more and more strong, not to say more aggressive.

KOSOVA

DO FOREIGNERS RESPECT US MORE THAN WE DESERVE?

by BATON HAXHIU / Prishtinë

In the existing circumstances in Kosova, with the absence of state

supremacy, the statement "Kosova is under occupation", in this
case, is considered an interpretation of the Albanian side, because
the interpretation of the other side, the Serbian, says that
"Kosova is part of Serbia". So far, this problem had different
points of view and different forms of handling, and this because
western countries didn't have a concrete approach towards the
problem of Kosova.

In the very beginning of Yugoslavia's decomposition and with the

beginning of the conflict in the former Yugoslav republics, the
problem of Kosova had been raised to the highest diplomatic level.
Later on, because of our behavior, it was left on the margins of
political evaluation. This happened not because Kosova didn't
deserve a special treatment, but because there were many reasons
that "devaluated" such a delicate problem, that used to be a knot
of the Balkan crises. Firstly, Serbian propaganda, but others too,
treated Kosova as a relatively peaceful country, compared with
events running in Croatia and Bosnia, and secondly, the
organization of Kosova Albanians, as it was commented in political
circles, was not in correlation with the seriousness of the
problem, because Albanians fell into a political lethargy and
started waiting and hoping to gain from events happening between

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sides in conflict in the former Yugoslavia.

At the beginning many countries didn't define the problem of

Kosova, because Albanians had a serious organization.
The only dilemma of the West was the way of treating Kosova and
it's problem in the new circumstances created after 1989. To treat
it in the way that the Albanian side thought they should or in the
way Serbian side thought they should. That is, should we be treated
as an occupied country or as a part of Serbia. If this is seen
through real juridical prism, it's obvious that Kosova has dominant
Albanian population, a clearly defined territory, and it was
thought that Albanian parties have some control, that they do
govern some spheres in Kosova, and in this aspect, the tendency of
Albanians for independence could be understood.

But, all this gained euphoric dimensions. Soon, Albanians,

enthusiastic about the meetings with known diplomats and ordinary
people who came to visit Kosova, forgot that they were the ones who
should carry this problem on their shoulders, and left it all in
the hands of the foreign diplomacy. Once understanding that the
approach to this problem was getting other dimensions than those
they thought, diplomatic circles, started limiting Kosova and it's
problem to the interior plan of the coming Yugoslav state. For a
long time, in Kosova, these statements were ignored and only
optimistic statements were revealed without any political concept
or pragmatism. And, now, when the destiny of Kosova is being
decided, this continuing optimism is still present.

Even today when we are faced with the largest crises, and with
serious blows from the most important political personalities,
optimism has reached it's peak. Especially president Rugova, who in
his press conferences gives himself the right to talk about
science-fiction themes (Mars and Kosova in NATO) - Don Quixotesque
matters that do not change and do not inspire anything. All this is
being said in a time when there are no more sporadic and
discontinued ascertainments for autonomy, but we are having
concrete ascertainments from those whom until yesterday we
considered as candidates that support the independence of Kosova.
But this support is offered masterly, but also astonishingly. The
sentence "our peaceful politics is supported" is still used by some
political circles as a support for the independence of Kosova. The
rhetoric "it will be better" is dominant, but so is the "what God
gives" philosophy. Even the arrival of Cornblum in Prishtinë and
the American and European statements didn't incite Albanians and
their political structures for becoming more serious in talks and
requests even when in their documents it is clearly said that the
"international community is opposed to the concept of the
independent Kosova. Most of the countries are worried that the
secession of Kosova from Serbia can not be done in a peaceful
way...".

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Although they knew, because these things were said and heard so
many times, people started to believe that "Kosova has the absolute
support of the West", that "West has promised Rugova more than they
say and everything depends on Ibrahim Rugova".

While discussing these problems a diplomat explained it in this

way: "It's true that Kosova and Rugova have the support of the
West, but only for his peaceful politics, and the opinion that
Rugova has offers for solving the problem of Kosova also exist, but
only the autonomy as a concept is present in the political and
diplomatic circles of the world".

Why such an explicit stand of the US and Europe?

Diplomats, who later visited Kosova, found three or more options,

as they said, that were a result of the static reading of the
international terminology, and not a result of serious political
and diplomatic analyses. Having in mind these difficulties, the
Albanian side proposed "calmed" requests for the political status
of Kosova as: Kosova, sovereign, neutral, independent and under
civil international administration". Citing an EU document will be
enough: "We have large reserves over the practicality of such idea.
In order for atrusteeship to have success as a peaceful enterprise,
the agreement of Serbia on that is necessary. That can not be
imposed. The governments of EU will keep on raising the subject of
Kosova and the need of reestablishing it's autonomy".

And, for these reasons, very often, from foreign diplomats who came
to talk with Albanians, you could hear even that if great powers
would recognize the independence of Kosova, could Albanians pass
over it without war and will they be able to save what would be
recognized to them? But, if great powers think that recognizing
Kosova's sovereignty would expand the armed conflict, which would
become a Balkan war, then we'd come to the issues of political
priorities and Kosova will not be recognized as an independent
state no matter if it deserves this or not. Diplomats also added
that there's no war here. In high level meetings when independence
of Kosova was requested, questions like: "we heard your worries and
requests, but tell us how can we help your independence?", were
made by foreign diplomats.

All these reached their highest point with the dilemma whether we
can make a real national policy for fulfilling the promise made to
the people of Kosova in the 1992 elections.

On a daily basis, people say that we have created fictitious

institutions in Kosova in order to forget the problem. This problem
is getting bigger, not because of the impossibility of it's
realization, but because of the bureaucratization of the political
opinion and because of the restricted decision-making on such

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delicate problems. Conflicts have became banally enormous. The
Presidency does not have money for paying the phone bills, because
Bukoshi blocked the funds and he does not acknowledge the address
in Prishtinë. He doesn't recognize president Rugova, and the latter
is offended by whoever passes-by, including people who work in
offices under his competencies.

Rugova himself has so far requested the respect of the Constitution

and laws, which he himself never applied. The state in the meaning
of the international law is created by the act of recognition.
Elements like territory, inhabitants and fictitious power, are
simple facts, which by recognition turn from real situation onto a
juridical situation. Since this political structure is based on
these arguments, then it is very well known that there's not only
creation of countries, but also their destruction, and this happens
when the government or peoples elected by voters cannot secure the
functionality of the state elements and when at the same time they
don't respect their commitments toward their voters.

The other argument with which president Rugova functions is the

fact that we had free elections for the parliament and for the
president of Kosova. This argument is repeated in every press
conference. This is completely true, but it is also true that the
parliament or the government (which is incomplete) are not
constituted yet. The Prime-minister has limited authorizations.
There are many large divergencies in all institutions over major
principles on deciding over the problem of Kosova. There are also
banal conflicts in the relations between the Government and the
Presidency as well as the LDK and the Government. There is also an
absence of functionality of several issues that are of vital
importance for Kosova.

And if all this is not enough for taking some measures, then it is
hard to believe that there will be a possibility to create an
atmosphere to revive of all that has been lost so far.

It is a general impression that foreigners respect us more than we

deserve. And so it will be until they understand that our
seriousness for independence is killed by creating positions of
material gaining from this situation. Not to say that the problem
of Kosova and it's independence, for one part of the political
structure, has become a gastrological problem.

So, to put in life our declaration of independence of Kosova,

urgent changes in the organization and activities of Albanians in
Kosova, political parties and legitimate institutions should be
made. Changes must not be cosmetic or only verbal, with promises
and statements. Changes must be braver and more radical: changes in
organization, in politics, changes in people and methods. This is
the only way to get out of this closed circle of self-deceit,

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illusions and fatalism in which we have put ourselves and at the
same time the way to avoid radicalization with individual futile
actions.

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