Posted on 09/10/2001 8:48:14 AM PDT by konijn
Monday September 10, 11:10 AM
Macedonians resent West's pressure over Albanians' rights
SKOPJE, Sept 10 (AFP) -
Macedonia may be committed to a peace plan strengthening the rights of ethnic Albanian rights, but many ordinary citizens fiercely resent Western pressure on how to run their country.
The truth is that the fragile Balkan state, weakened by seven months of fighting and economically dependent on foreign aid, feels it has had its hand forced by the West.
"NATO's aim: the Albanization of Macedonia," read one placard, in English, at an anti-NATO rally outside parliament, where lawmakers last week backed a framework Western-backed peace deal, after five days of debate.
"NATO lies," ran another banner held aloft by protesters at the latest demonstration in Skopje, the capital of the two-million strong nation of whom up to a third are ethnic Albanian.
Since the start of the crisis, the international community has scrambled to help prevent this fragile state turning into the latest Balkan ethnic flashpoint, after Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.
Urging moderation, the West managed to persuade Skopje's fractious politicians to form a government of national unity including two key Albanian parties, and finally, on August 13, to agree to a Western-backed peace accord.
Hardline nationalist leaders, led by Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski, have since then repeatedly slammed the pressure put on them by the West, whom they accuse of being unacceptably soft on the "terrorists".
Macedonia's press regularly accuses the West of "blackmail" by linking financial aid to political reforms.
"There is a deep resentment among the Macedonian people against NATO," said one government source.
"The reforms set out in the peace accord are not fundamentally bad, but they were caused by the terrorism and Macedonians feel they are being forced into them," said Ljubomir Frckovski, a former minister who is now an academic.
The international community denies vehemently that it has put pressure on Skopje.
"We are not putting conditions, we are not putting presure on anybody, it is really getting on my nerves," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said last week, referring to Macedonian press reports.
Solana and European external affairs commissioner Chris Patten were in Skopje to discuss its aid needs, and notably signed a 42.5-million-euro (37-million-dollar) package of funding for the country.
Macedonia's needs are indeed urgent: in a country where 35 percent of people are jobless, where the budget deficit is 260 million euros, or six percent of GDP, and where forecast growth for 2001 has been slashed from six percent to 2.5 percent, international aid is crucial.
"Macedonia is not facing bankruptcy," assured International Monetary Fund (IMF) representative in Skopje, Jan Mikkelsen, ahead of an IMF mission to the country due this week.
In June the IMF said Macedonia needed some 65 million dollars to ease the crisis.
Skopje wants an international donors' conference to be held as soon as possible. Patten said last week such a conference would be held in mid-October, after the parliament has adopted constitutional reforms boosting Albanian rights.
"We are going to fulfil our part of the agreement, and the other side is going to fulfil its party," he said.
NATO LIES!
Perhaps, Mr. Solana needs to meet Mr. Patten...
Skopje wants an international donors' conference to be held as soon as possible. Patten said last week such a conference would be held in mid-October, after the parliament has adopted constitutional reforms boosting Albanian rights.
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