1. In un contesto di continue violenze e mentre esplode il rancore
contro le truppe di occupazione occidentali, i terroristi UCK entrano
nel nuovo governo (dispacci ANSA)
2. Swiss Papers Reveal Ahmeti's Dark Secret. Il leader dei terroristi
dell'UCK di Macedonia, oggi al governo nella FYROM con il partito DUI,
riceve da anni una pensione di invalidita' dalla Svizzera per gravi
problemi psichici (Le Matin, Losanna)
3. Incoming Macedonian government pledges subservience to Western
powers (by T. Kent and P.Stuart, WSWS)
=== 1 ===
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/macedonia/macedonia.shtml
MACEDONIA: TETOVO; SPARI SU RAGAZZI, UN MORTO E 2 FERITI
(ANSA) - SKOPJE, 19 OTT - Raffiche di mitra sono state esplose nel
pomeriggio di oggi contro un gruppo di ragazzini macedoni intenti a
giocare a pallacanestro su un campetto comunale nei pressi dello
stadio di Tetovo, nella Macedonia nord-occidentale. Un giovane del
quale non si conosce al momento l'eta' e' morto e altri due sono
rimasti feriti. (ANSA). BLL-COR 19/10/2002 19:35
MACEDONIA: SCONTRO A FUOCO CON POLIZIA, UN MORTO E UN FERITO
(ANSA) - SKOPJE, 19 OTT - Un albanese e' rimasto ucciso e un altro
ferito in uno scontro a fuoco con una pattuglia della polizia avvenuto
ieri
sera a Tetovo, nella Macedonia nord-occidentale. La vittima, Madin
Adili, aveva 21 anni e viaggiava insieme ad un amico su un'autovettura
che
non si e' fermata all'alt della polizia. Secondo il portavoce del
ministero dell'Interno, Vojislav Zafirovski, gli albanesi hanno aperto
il fuoco contro
gli agenti che hanno risposto uccidendo il guidatore e ferendo il
secondo occupante della vettura.(ANSA) BLL 19/10/2002 12:03
MACEDONIA: SASSI DA CAVALCAVIA CONTRO AUTO CARABINIERI
(ANSA) - SKOPJE, 18 OTT - Giovani teppisti hanno lanciato sassi da un
cavalcavia contro una camionetta dei carabinieri italiani che operano
in
Macedonia nell'ambito della forza di pace multinazionale. Una grossa
pietra ha infranto il parabrezza del fuoristrada italiano senza per
fortuna
ferire gli occupanti. L'incidente e' accaduto ieri lungo la strada che
da Skopje conduce all'aeroporto di Petrovec, sede delle forze armate
italiane che
partecipano alla missione della Nato (Task Force Fox). Fonti militari
hanno riferito all'Ansa che episodi analoghi sono accaduti nei giorni
scorsi
coinvolgendo anche mezzi militari olandesi. Da quello stesso
cavalcavia nel settembre dello scorso anno fu un lanciato un grosso
sasso che provoco'
la morte di un militare britannico. Osservatori occidentali a Skopje
fanno notare che dopo le elezioni dello scorso 15 settembre si sono
intensificati
gli episodi di intolleranza nei confronti dei rappresentanti
internazionali presenti in Macedonia. Il 9 ottobre scorso, si e'
appreso oggi, un gruppo di
manifestanti macedoni ha assalito civili albanesi che si trovavano in
coda davanti alla sede dell'ambasciata d'Italia a Skopje, in attesa
di ottenere il
visto. Sassi e uova lanciati contro gli albanesi hanno colpito anche
la nostra sede diplomatica. I manifestanti hanno poi strappato le
targhe del
corpo diplomatico da alcune auto italiane in sosta davanti
all'ambasciata.(ANSA) BLL-COR 18/10/2002 17:09
MACEDONIA: ACCORDO SU GOVERNO, ANCHE 4 MINISTERI A EX UCK
(ANSA) - SKOPJE, 18 OTT - Albanesi e macedoni hanno raggiunto nelle
prime ore della mattina di oggi l'accordo per costituire il nuovo
governo dopo le elezioni generali dello scorso 15 settembre. La
coalizione vedra' uniti l'Unione socialdemocratica macedone (Sdsm) del
nuovo
premier Branko Crvenkovski, e l'Unione democratica per l'integrazione
(Udi), la formazione albanese nata dalle ceneri dell'ormai disciolto
movimento di guerriglia Uck. In base all'accordo che dovra' essere
ufficializzato nelle prossime ore gli ex guerriglieri controlleranno 4
dicasteri
(Giustizia, Istruzione, Trasporti e Sanita'), 4 posti da vice ministro
(tra cui Difesa e Interno) e un posto da vice primo ministro. La
formula ricalca
in gran parte quella applicata nel precedente governo che pero'
vedeva uniti il Partito nazionalista macedone Dmro-Dpmne e il Partito
democratico albanese, entrambi sconfitti alle elezioni. (ANSA). RED
18/10/2002 16:19
=== 2 ===
Swiss Papers Reveal Ahmeti's Dark Secret
Ali Ahmeti, the former NLA leader will enter Macedonian government.
Diagnosed as "paranoid and schizophrenic," he enjoys an invalidity
pension
from Switzerland
A Kosovo minister enjoying invalidity pension
By Victor Fingal
"Le Matin" Lausanne (Switzerland), 30 September 2002, page 5
Ali Ahmeti, 43, the Kosovar [sic!] who lusts for the post of Minister
of interior or Minister of defense of the Republic of Macedonia - a
simulator
or psychically-disturbed person?
One thing is certain - during his stay in Switzerland in the 1980's, a
psychiatrist has judged him incapable for labor, and the forthcoming
member
of the Macedonian executive obtains CHF 3,000.00 (Swiss francs) per
month from the invalidity insurance in Lucerne due to his "paranoid
and
schizophrenic" tendencies.
Of course, reveals the "SonntagsBlick," it would seem that Ahmeti's
official biography has forgotten this detail. History should retain
that the
warrior of the "New UCK", who carried out the bloody Albanian revolt
in the course of winter 2001, was working hard in Switzerland as "a
mechanic and in a textile factory".
On the Black List
In June last year the USA have put Ali Ahmeti on the Black List
because of his "extremist violence" and he was proclaimed persona non
grata in
Switzerland. Today, after having swapped the uniform with a costume,
the Kosovar leader obtained 70% of the ballots in the elections held
last
mid-September 2002. The "schizophrenic paranoid," boss of the
Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) now requests the post of
Minister of
Interior or Minister of Defense of the Republic of Macedonia. DUI
should enter into coalition with the social democrats who have
obtained the
majority of [ethnic Albanian] votes.
The future minister has retained the links with his adoptive country:
his wife and two children still live in the canton of Lucerne.
http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=2354
=== 3 ===
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/oct2002/mace-o19_prn.shtml
World Socialist Web Site www.wsws.org
WSWS : News & Analysis : Europe : The Balkans
Incoming Macedonian government
pledges subservience to Western powers
By Tania Kent and Paul Stuart
19 October 2002
Back to screen version | Send this link by email | Email the author
On September 16, the President of Macedonia, Ljubco
Georgijevski of Vmro-Dpmne, was voted out of office in a shock
election result. He handed power over with a whimper, declaring:
"The people of Macedonia have spoken."
Amidst the wrangle over the structure of a new coalition, the
population is demanding a government that will tackle the
escalating economic crisis.
The election was called as part of the implementation of the Ohrid
Agreement signed August 13, 2001 by the outgoing Macedonian
government and the Albanian National Liberation Army, which
ended the six-month insurgency of Albanian separatists that had
resulted in the internal displacement of 100,000 people.
Georgijevski will be replaced by the head of the Social
Democratic Alliance, Branko Crvenkovski, the main party in the
"Together for Macedonia" coalition with the Liberal Democratic
Party and the Workers and Farmers Party. With 60 seats out of
120, more than double that of any other single party, they are
expected to establish a coalition with the newly formed Albanian
separatist Union for Democratic Initiative (DUI). Agreement has
been reached on its principles for full governmental
"transparency" demanded by United States and European Union
officials. According to early reports, Crvenkovski will offer the
DUI the ministries of justice, local self-government, labour and
social welfare.
The DUI was formed three months ago by the Nationalist
Liberation Army headed by Ali Ahmeti. He launched terror
attacks against Macedonian targets between spring and summer
last year. Ahmeti had been indicted by the outgoing government
for the alleged murder of 100 Macedonians. The DUI, winning 30
seats, eclipsed the established Albanian party, the Democratic
Party for Albanians, the coalition partner of Georgijevski, whose
vote collapsed from 11 seats to two.
The election campaign was characterised by violence and
interference from international institutions. Six people were killed
in the run up to polling day and several shootings took place at
polling booths. Planned rallies in the capital Skopje by the main
parties were banned on the grounds of forestalling violence. The
situation threatened to escalate when DUI spokesperson, Agron
Buxhaku, in a press conference declared, "We will continue with
the congregations, and so far we have tolerated enough in order
not to complicate the situation. But from now on those who will
stop DUI pre-election campaigns will be responsible for any
escalations of the situation in the country."
NATO had troops in Kosova and helicopters on the border on
standby alert, and some 3,500 specially trained police officers
were deployed. The Christian Science Monitor observed, "Indeed,
intimidation was so pervasive that, despite the country's
population of only two million, the international community
mobilised the largest international monitoring effort ever."
The American think tank, the International Crisis Group (ICG),
staffed by former US military and judicial figures, has a history of
formulating pseudo-environmental or humanitarian justifications
for imperialist policies in the Balkans. The ICG released a report,
"Macedonia's Public Secret: How the corruption drags the country
down," the day before the election campaign which began by
saying that corruption in the country was widespread, especially at
the "top of the government".
The report used the privatisation of OKTA, the only Macedonian
oil refinery, as a major case in point. The refinery was sold in
1999 to Greek Hellenic Petroleum for only $32 million, which
was not its market value. OKTA was sold based on direct
negotiations with the Greek company. World Bank director James
Wolfenson also reacted to this "non-transparent" sale and said that
the functioning of the government should be more accessible to
the public if it wanted to make any financial arrangements with
the World Bank.
The ruling party interpreted the publication of the report as an
attempt to topple the government. An outgoing government
spokesman accused the ICG representative in Macedonia, Edward
Joseph, of working in favour of the opposition coalition and
having close ties with Ahmeti.
Seventy percent of the population turned out to vote in the hope of
changing the disastrous course of the outgoing government. A
November 5 article from last year's Aimpress noted, "hardly
anyone in Macedonia pays any attention to the almost tragic
erosion of the economy, widespread poverty of almost one half of
the population, daily street protests and road blockades of
dissatisfied workers. The economists say that the worst is yet to
come unless the promised economic assistance arrives, which is
conditioned by the realisation of the Framework Agreement
[Ohrid]."
In a pre-election special, the National Democratic Institute (NDI),
a Washington-based think tank, described "widespread frustration
within the Macedonian electorate regarding the responsiveness of
the current government to its economic and social needs."
Both Crvenkovski and Ahmeti made partial attempts to direct
their public policies and election agitation to these growing
demands. Both parties made promises of tackling almost 40
percent unemployment and average monthly salaries below $200,
with work programmes designed to create 150,000 jobs. But the
possible leaders of the new coalition government have already
been told by leading financial institutions that assistance will be
made conditional on implementing aggressive privatisation
policies and the full implementation of the Ohrid Agreement.
The Ohrid Agreement includes provision for increasing ethnic
Albanian representation in the police force from 5 percent to 25
percent, the use of Albanian as a second language in official
communications, government institutions for minorities
constituting 20 percent of the population and devolution of power
to local government. Most of its statutes have been implemented
under threats of financial sanctions.
The DUI is the only party that fully supports the Ohrid
Agreement. At a pre-election meeting, candidate Abdylhaqim
Ademi said, "DUI is a new party, but with high national values, a
party that knows how to lead the population, in its political
activity, also in its military aspect, which we proved last year." He
added that the DUI's support "is an obstacle to those... who
cooperate with and who think of Bulgaria, Ukraine and Russia."
Fazli Veliu, member of DUI Central Committee, explained the
party's pro-Western policies: "DUI doesn't have a local program,
nor a Balkan one, but a European and American one, which is
based on the integrated economy, in the economy of construction
and the civilised nation."
After the elections the first international delegation to arrive in
Macedonia was led by the Special Coordinator of the Stability
Pact for South Eastern Europe, Erhard Busek. The priority for
future cooperation, he pointed out, was the signing of free trade
agreements in the region. He reiterated the main goals of the
stability pact, integration of South Eastern Europe countries into
the EU. A new government, he insisted, must adopt laws to
stimulate foreign investments, complete the privatisation process
in industry and agriculture. He announced that the next meeting of
the pact is to be held on December 11 in Skopje.
A second delegation came from the US Department of State and
Defence, led by Ambassador Nicholas Burns, permanent US envoy
to NATO, and immediately entered discussions with Crvenkovski
and others on the makeup of the coalition. US Ambassador to
Macedonia, Lawrence Butler, who attended the meeting, declared
his satisfaction at the election results.
Despite the fact that DUI leader is still on President Bush's
terrorist blacklist and US companies remain forbidden to engage
in any financial transactions with him, Butler said of Ali Ahmeti:
"After the signing of the Framework Agreement [Ohrid] he got
involved in the democratic process in Macedonia. The Albanian
voters have elected him and his party as their representatives in the
Parliament. The situation from last week's parliamentary session,
when the former opponents sat together in order to accomplish the
political goals in democratic and peaceful manner is something we
have not seen before on the Balkans. It makes Macedonia unique in
the region."
The US turned against the outgoing coalition when it became
obvious they had no support in the country. The Western powers
have been working for some time, both overtly and covertly, to
bring to power a more compliant regime that would integrate the
NLA, which a plethora of evidence suggests was secretly backed
by Washington, into government structures. Although
Giorgijevski had implemented most of the Ohrid Agreement, he
had to be pushed all the way and continued to attack NATO
involvement in last year's NLA insurgency.
In a pre-election rally Giorgijevski reiterated, "We can't accept
bloody screenplays and kidnappings. We have to say that last year
we didn't fight only against mountain gangs. We fought against
the whole infrastructure of Kosovo Protection Forces, paid and
sponsored by the United Nations, fought against many NATO
generals, who publicly supported the terrorists in Macedonia, went
in their camps and gave them arms and satellite communication
systems and equipment... orders for massacres were given not only
by the commanders of the Albanian terrorist, but also by Peter
Fate, James Pardew and other ambassadors, who all over the world
speak about the democracy and against the terrorism."
The new coalition will not bring stability to Macedonia. It has
come to power partially as a result of efforts by the US to stoke up
the type of ethnic conflicts that have torn apart the Balkans.
Moreover, it benefited from a wave of disaffection with the social
and economic policies of the Georgijevski coalition, but is charged
with implementing the demands of the US and the EU more
forcefully than its predecessor. The restructuring of its economy
will necessitate the elimination of tens of thousands of jobs and
the dismantling of welfare protection, thus setting the government
on a collision course with the working class.
Copyright 1998-2002
World Socialist Web Site
All rights reserved
contro le truppe di occupazione occidentali, i terroristi UCK entrano
nel nuovo governo (dispacci ANSA)
2. Swiss Papers Reveal Ahmeti's Dark Secret. Il leader dei terroristi
dell'UCK di Macedonia, oggi al governo nella FYROM con il partito DUI,
riceve da anni una pensione di invalidita' dalla Svizzera per gravi
problemi psichici (Le Matin, Losanna)
3. Incoming Macedonian government pledges subservience to Western
powers (by T. Kent and P.Stuart, WSWS)
=== 1 ===
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/macedonia/macedonia.shtml
MACEDONIA: TETOVO; SPARI SU RAGAZZI, UN MORTO E 2 FERITI
(ANSA) - SKOPJE, 19 OTT - Raffiche di mitra sono state esplose nel
pomeriggio di oggi contro un gruppo di ragazzini macedoni intenti a
giocare a pallacanestro su un campetto comunale nei pressi dello
stadio di Tetovo, nella Macedonia nord-occidentale. Un giovane del
quale non si conosce al momento l'eta' e' morto e altri due sono
rimasti feriti. (ANSA). BLL-COR 19/10/2002 19:35
MACEDONIA: SCONTRO A FUOCO CON POLIZIA, UN MORTO E UN FERITO
(ANSA) - SKOPJE, 19 OTT - Un albanese e' rimasto ucciso e un altro
ferito in uno scontro a fuoco con una pattuglia della polizia avvenuto
ieri
sera a Tetovo, nella Macedonia nord-occidentale. La vittima, Madin
Adili, aveva 21 anni e viaggiava insieme ad un amico su un'autovettura
che
non si e' fermata all'alt della polizia. Secondo il portavoce del
ministero dell'Interno, Vojislav Zafirovski, gli albanesi hanno aperto
il fuoco contro
gli agenti che hanno risposto uccidendo il guidatore e ferendo il
secondo occupante della vettura.(ANSA) BLL 19/10/2002 12:03
MACEDONIA: SASSI DA CAVALCAVIA CONTRO AUTO CARABINIERI
(ANSA) - SKOPJE, 18 OTT - Giovani teppisti hanno lanciato sassi da un
cavalcavia contro una camionetta dei carabinieri italiani che operano
in
Macedonia nell'ambito della forza di pace multinazionale. Una grossa
pietra ha infranto il parabrezza del fuoristrada italiano senza per
fortuna
ferire gli occupanti. L'incidente e' accaduto ieri lungo la strada che
da Skopje conduce all'aeroporto di Petrovec, sede delle forze armate
italiane che
partecipano alla missione della Nato (Task Force Fox). Fonti militari
hanno riferito all'Ansa che episodi analoghi sono accaduti nei giorni
scorsi
coinvolgendo anche mezzi militari olandesi. Da quello stesso
cavalcavia nel settembre dello scorso anno fu un lanciato un grosso
sasso che provoco'
la morte di un militare britannico. Osservatori occidentali a Skopje
fanno notare che dopo le elezioni dello scorso 15 settembre si sono
intensificati
gli episodi di intolleranza nei confronti dei rappresentanti
internazionali presenti in Macedonia. Il 9 ottobre scorso, si e'
appreso oggi, un gruppo di
manifestanti macedoni ha assalito civili albanesi che si trovavano in
coda davanti alla sede dell'ambasciata d'Italia a Skopje, in attesa
di ottenere il
visto. Sassi e uova lanciati contro gli albanesi hanno colpito anche
la nostra sede diplomatica. I manifestanti hanno poi strappato le
targhe del
corpo diplomatico da alcune auto italiane in sosta davanti
all'ambasciata.(ANSA) BLL-COR 18/10/2002 17:09
MACEDONIA: ACCORDO SU GOVERNO, ANCHE 4 MINISTERI A EX UCK
(ANSA) - SKOPJE, 18 OTT - Albanesi e macedoni hanno raggiunto nelle
prime ore della mattina di oggi l'accordo per costituire il nuovo
governo dopo le elezioni generali dello scorso 15 settembre. La
coalizione vedra' uniti l'Unione socialdemocratica macedone (Sdsm) del
nuovo
premier Branko Crvenkovski, e l'Unione democratica per l'integrazione
(Udi), la formazione albanese nata dalle ceneri dell'ormai disciolto
movimento di guerriglia Uck. In base all'accordo che dovra' essere
ufficializzato nelle prossime ore gli ex guerriglieri controlleranno 4
dicasteri
(Giustizia, Istruzione, Trasporti e Sanita'), 4 posti da vice ministro
(tra cui Difesa e Interno) e un posto da vice primo ministro. La
formula ricalca
in gran parte quella applicata nel precedente governo che pero'
vedeva uniti il Partito nazionalista macedone Dmro-Dpmne e il Partito
democratico albanese, entrambi sconfitti alle elezioni. (ANSA). RED
18/10/2002 16:19
=== 2 ===
Swiss Papers Reveal Ahmeti's Dark Secret
Ali Ahmeti, the former NLA leader will enter Macedonian government.
Diagnosed as "paranoid and schizophrenic," he enjoys an invalidity
pension
from Switzerland
A Kosovo minister enjoying invalidity pension
By Victor Fingal
"Le Matin" Lausanne (Switzerland), 30 September 2002, page 5
Ali Ahmeti, 43, the Kosovar [sic!] who lusts for the post of Minister
of interior or Minister of defense of the Republic of Macedonia - a
simulator
or psychically-disturbed person?
One thing is certain - during his stay in Switzerland in the 1980's, a
psychiatrist has judged him incapable for labor, and the forthcoming
member
of the Macedonian executive obtains CHF 3,000.00 (Swiss francs) per
month from the invalidity insurance in Lucerne due to his "paranoid
and
schizophrenic" tendencies.
Of course, reveals the "SonntagsBlick," it would seem that Ahmeti's
official biography has forgotten this detail. History should retain
that the
warrior of the "New UCK", who carried out the bloody Albanian revolt
in the course of winter 2001, was working hard in Switzerland as "a
mechanic and in a textile factory".
On the Black List
In June last year the USA have put Ali Ahmeti on the Black List
because of his "extremist violence" and he was proclaimed persona non
grata in
Switzerland. Today, after having swapped the uniform with a costume,
the Kosovar leader obtained 70% of the ballots in the elections held
last
mid-September 2002. The "schizophrenic paranoid," boss of the
Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) now requests the post of
Minister of
Interior or Minister of Defense of the Republic of Macedonia. DUI
should enter into coalition with the social democrats who have
obtained the
majority of [ethnic Albanian] votes.
The future minister has retained the links with his adoptive country:
his wife and two children still live in the canton of Lucerne.
http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=2354
=== 3 ===
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/oct2002/mace-o19_prn.shtml
World Socialist Web Site www.wsws.org
WSWS : News & Analysis : Europe : The Balkans
Incoming Macedonian government
pledges subservience to Western powers
By Tania Kent and Paul Stuart
19 October 2002
Back to screen version | Send this link by email | Email the author
On September 16, the President of Macedonia, Ljubco
Georgijevski of Vmro-Dpmne, was voted out of office in a shock
election result. He handed power over with a whimper, declaring:
"The people of Macedonia have spoken."
Amidst the wrangle over the structure of a new coalition, the
population is demanding a government that will tackle the
escalating economic crisis.
The election was called as part of the implementation of the Ohrid
Agreement signed August 13, 2001 by the outgoing Macedonian
government and the Albanian National Liberation Army, which
ended the six-month insurgency of Albanian separatists that had
resulted in the internal displacement of 100,000 people.
Georgijevski will be replaced by the head of the Social
Democratic Alliance, Branko Crvenkovski, the main party in the
"Together for Macedonia" coalition with the Liberal Democratic
Party and the Workers and Farmers Party. With 60 seats out of
120, more than double that of any other single party, they are
expected to establish a coalition with the newly formed Albanian
separatist Union for Democratic Initiative (DUI). Agreement has
been reached on its principles for full governmental
"transparency" demanded by United States and European Union
officials. According to early reports, Crvenkovski will offer the
DUI the ministries of justice, local self-government, labour and
social welfare.
The DUI was formed three months ago by the Nationalist
Liberation Army headed by Ali Ahmeti. He launched terror
attacks against Macedonian targets between spring and summer
last year. Ahmeti had been indicted by the outgoing government
for the alleged murder of 100 Macedonians. The DUI, winning 30
seats, eclipsed the established Albanian party, the Democratic
Party for Albanians, the coalition partner of Georgijevski, whose
vote collapsed from 11 seats to two.
The election campaign was characterised by violence and
interference from international institutions. Six people were killed
in the run up to polling day and several shootings took place at
polling booths. Planned rallies in the capital Skopje by the main
parties were banned on the grounds of forestalling violence. The
situation threatened to escalate when DUI spokesperson, Agron
Buxhaku, in a press conference declared, "We will continue with
the congregations, and so far we have tolerated enough in order
not to complicate the situation. But from now on those who will
stop DUI pre-election campaigns will be responsible for any
escalations of the situation in the country."
NATO had troops in Kosova and helicopters on the border on
standby alert, and some 3,500 specially trained police officers
were deployed. The Christian Science Monitor observed, "Indeed,
intimidation was so pervasive that, despite the country's
population of only two million, the international community
mobilised the largest international monitoring effort ever."
The American think tank, the International Crisis Group (ICG),
staffed by former US military and judicial figures, has a history of
formulating pseudo-environmental or humanitarian justifications
for imperialist policies in the Balkans. The ICG released a report,
"Macedonia's Public Secret: How the corruption drags the country
down," the day before the election campaign which began by
saying that corruption in the country was widespread, especially at
the "top of the government".
The report used the privatisation of OKTA, the only Macedonian
oil refinery, as a major case in point. The refinery was sold in
1999 to Greek Hellenic Petroleum for only $32 million, which
was not its market value. OKTA was sold based on direct
negotiations with the Greek company. World Bank director James
Wolfenson also reacted to this "non-transparent" sale and said that
the functioning of the government should be more accessible to
the public if it wanted to make any financial arrangements with
the World Bank.
The ruling party interpreted the publication of the report as an
attempt to topple the government. An outgoing government
spokesman accused the ICG representative in Macedonia, Edward
Joseph, of working in favour of the opposition coalition and
having close ties with Ahmeti.
Seventy percent of the population turned out to vote in the hope of
changing the disastrous course of the outgoing government. A
November 5 article from last year's Aimpress noted, "hardly
anyone in Macedonia pays any attention to the almost tragic
erosion of the economy, widespread poverty of almost one half of
the population, daily street protests and road blockades of
dissatisfied workers. The economists say that the worst is yet to
come unless the promised economic assistance arrives, which is
conditioned by the realisation of the Framework Agreement
[Ohrid]."
In a pre-election special, the National Democratic Institute (NDI),
a Washington-based think tank, described "widespread frustration
within the Macedonian electorate regarding the responsiveness of
the current government to its economic and social needs."
Both Crvenkovski and Ahmeti made partial attempts to direct
their public policies and election agitation to these growing
demands. Both parties made promises of tackling almost 40
percent unemployment and average monthly salaries below $200,
with work programmes designed to create 150,000 jobs. But the
possible leaders of the new coalition government have already
been told by leading financial institutions that assistance will be
made conditional on implementing aggressive privatisation
policies and the full implementation of the Ohrid Agreement.
The Ohrid Agreement includes provision for increasing ethnic
Albanian representation in the police force from 5 percent to 25
percent, the use of Albanian as a second language in official
communications, government institutions for minorities
constituting 20 percent of the population and devolution of power
to local government. Most of its statutes have been implemented
under threats of financial sanctions.
The DUI is the only party that fully supports the Ohrid
Agreement. At a pre-election meeting, candidate Abdylhaqim
Ademi said, "DUI is a new party, but with high national values, a
party that knows how to lead the population, in its political
activity, also in its military aspect, which we proved last year." He
added that the DUI's support "is an obstacle to those... who
cooperate with and who think of Bulgaria, Ukraine and Russia."
Fazli Veliu, member of DUI Central Committee, explained the
party's pro-Western policies: "DUI doesn't have a local program,
nor a Balkan one, but a European and American one, which is
based on the integrated economy, in the economy of construction
and the civilised nation."
After the elections the first international delegation to arrive in
Macedonia was led by the Special Coordinator of the Stability
Pact for South Eastern Europe, Erhard Busek. The priority for
future cooperation, he pointed out, was the signing of free trade
agreements in the region. He reiterated the main goals of the
stability pact, integration of South Eastern Europe countries into
the EU. A new government, he insisted, must adopt laws to
stimulate foreign investments, complete the privatisation process
in industry and agriculture. He announced that the next meeting of
the pact is to be held on December 11 in Skopje.
A second delegation came from the US Department of State and
Defence, led by Ambassador Nicholas Burns, permanent US envoy
to NATO, and immediately entered discussions with Crvenkovski
and others on the makeup of the coalition. US Ambassador to
Macedonia, Lawrence Butler, who attended the meeting, declared
his satisfaction at the election results.
Despite the fact that DUI leader is still on President Bush's
terrorist blacklist and US companies remain forbidden to engage
in any financial transactions with him, Butler said of Ali Ahmeti:
"After the signing of the Framework Agreement [Ohrid] he got
involved in the democratic process in Macedonia. The Albanian
voters have elected him and his party as their representatives in the
Parliament. The situation from last week's parliamentary session,
when the former opponents sat together in order to accomplish the
political goals in democratic and peaceful manner is something we
have not seen before on the Balkans. It makes Macedonia unique in
the region."
The US turned against the outgoing coalition when it became
obvious they had no support in the country. The Western powers
have been working for some time, both overtly and covertly, to
bring to power a more compliant regime that would integrate the
NLA, which a plethora of evidence suggests was secretly backed
by Washington, into government structures. Although
Giorgijevski had implemented most of the Ohrid Agreement, he
had to be pushed all the way and continued to attack NATO
involvement in last year's NLA insurgency.
In a pre-election rally Giorgijevski reiterated, "We can't accept
bloody screenplays and kidnappings. We have to say that last year
we didn't fight only against mountain gangs. We fought against
the whole infrastructure of Kosovo Protection Forces, paid and
sponsored by the United Nations, fought against many NATO
generals, who publicly supported the terrorists in Macedonia, went
in their camps and gave them arms and satellite communication
systems and equipment... orders for massacres were given not only
by the commanders of the Albanian terrorist, but also by Peter
Fate, James Pardew and other ambassadors, who all over the world
speak about the democracy and against the terrorism."
The new coalition will not bring stability to Macedonia. It has
come to power partially as a result of efforts by the US to stoke up
the type of ethnic conflicts that have torn apart the Balkans.
Moreover, it benefited from a wave of disaffection with the social
and economic policies of the Georgijevski coalition, but is charged
with implementing the demands of the US and the EU more
forcefully than its predecessor. The restructuring of its economy
will necessitate the elimination of tens of thousands of jobs and
the dismantling of welfare protection, thus setting the government
on a collision course with the working class.
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