COMMENTARY WARNS NGO'S REMARKS ON MACEDONIAN
DEVOLUTION MAY CAUSE CRISIS
BBC Monitoring - August 9, 2004
Text of commentary by Zana P. Bozinovska: "A group for the generation of
crises?", published by Macedonian newspaper Dnevnik on 6 August
"Devolution is an excellent word. We are all expecting it. Besides, it is also
desirable." That is how the president of the non-governmental International
Crisis Group (ICG), Morton Abramowitz, spoke about Kosovo's devolution, although
he explained that it is not an answer or a solution to Kosovo's problem.
And while he was getting worked up about the word "devolution", his ICG
associates went even further and said that this is a word of destiny. But they
were talking about Macedonia. In other words, its meaning is such that it will
make the difference between Macedonia's existence or death.
Gentlemen, Macedonia will continue to exist, just as it existed in the past 15
years and before. Perhaps it has not always had bright days but the country's
survival definitely does not depend on a package of laws, even if they are part
of the Ohrid accord. Everybody in Macedonia knows that the laws must be passed,
but nobody would like to be threatened that if that does not happen, we will
simply disappear from the map.
Even more strikingly, that same ICG sets devolution as a condition for our
existence while saying that the current proposal on the territory of
municipalities will change the country's ethnic image, as most Macedonians and
Albanians will live in municipalities where they will constitute majorities. But
the group refrained from saying whether this distribution of ethnic communities
would lead to the country's survival or disintegration.
This warning by the non-governmental group caused some confusion as we had not
heard of a case in which a country's existence hinged on a law. All countries
have had to deal with important laws at least once. But perhaps we are to be the
first in everything, including this crisis scenario?!
In principle, as a non-governmental organization, the International Crisis Group
should help solve crises. But this time, its latest report on Macedonia makes it
look more like a group that can generate a crisis.
After all the rhetoric, everybody in this country was almost convinced that the
compromise Ohrid accord had put an end to conflicts and that after (Ali) Ahmeti
(leader of the BDI, Democratic Union for Integration - DUI in Macedonian) and
company joined the government, Macedonia was stabilized. And now suddenly, the
ICG reminds us that if there is violence in Kosovo, it could affect peace in
Macedonia.
If that is so, why did we need the Ohrid accord? We could have simply waited to
see what would happen in Kosovo. And why does the ICG insist on devolution if a
single spark in Kosovo could blow up everything that has been done in Macedonia
so far? What is the use of devolution then, if we could have new ethnic clashes
and the radicals strengthened their positions and called the Ohrid accord into
question, as the ICG says?
Maybe, the ICG should conduct another analysis and advise the West to stop that,
because Kosovo is run by the international community. Meanwhile, it should send
a message to the "strong elements" among the Albanians who want to unite the
Albanian territories in the Balkans in the same way as they are reminding
Macedonians of the clauses of the Ohrid accord.
Otherwise, if some powerful person has decided that Macedonia should not exist,
what is the use of all the statements about the political parties, the "young"
political leaders, and even devolution?
Source: Dnevnik, Skopje, in Macedonian 6 Aug 04 p
9
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