2001, revisited
You would think that with the ongoing pandemic and the recent spike in cases and deaths in Macedonia, coupled with the ongoing, many, and varied scandals facing the Government, topped with the economic problems Macedonians are facing as a result of both the pandemic and the government’s mishandling of the economy in general — you would think there would be no room, and certainly no appetite, for yet another problem. And yet the Minister of Defense, Radmila Sekerinska, seems to have not only happily waded into another scandal, but has re-opened old wounds.
For whatever reason this past week outgoing minister Sekersinka decided to meet with the mayor of Kicevo, Fatmir Dehari, in his office and surrounded by symbols of the UCK, the so-called “National Liberation Army” (NLA) led by Ali Ahmeti, now leader of DUI in Macedonia. In February of 2001, and through the summer of 2001, the NLA attacked Macedonia and Macedonians largely in an attempt to split the country in two, which resulted in a short war that killed and injured hundreds and threatened the region.
It’s worth remembering what has been said in the past:
Consider this quote from Ali Ahmeti, which he has never denied, from Newsweek, March 22, 2001. In “A Troubled Dream,” author David Binder quotes Ahmeti as stating “Our aim is solely to remove Slav forces from territory which is historically Albanian.”
Or consider what Patrick Bishop wrote, reporting in The Telegraph on March 13, 2001, in an article entitled “Macedonia Launches Attacks”: “The Albanian rebels in Macedonia demanded its division along ethnic lines and said they were prepared to plunge the Balkans into another conflict unless their demands were met. An NLA commander in Kosovo urged the West to support its cause or face the consequences. ‘If the international community wants one more war in the Balkans we are ready,’ he said in the first interview by the group. It appeared in the newspaper Fakti.”
And Peter Beaumont and Nick Wood, writing in The Observer on March 11, 2001 stated: “What the guerrillas are trying to achieve is articulated by Shkelzen Maliqi, a journalist for Radio Free Europe based in Pristina, and writer for Institute of War and Peace Reporting. ‘I am familiar with the ideology, mentality and motivation behind the forces provoking the armed conflict in Macedonia. I have come to know them, especially the émigrés in Europe. They have tried to persuade me that Macedonia is an artificial creation, formed to the detriment of the Albanian nation. They maintain that the enforced division of the Albanian nation was an historical injustice, aimed to prevent it from being equal to its neighbors in the region. That injustice would be rectified, they say, by dividing Macedonia into Slav and Albania parts and allowing the latter to unite with Kosovo or, even better, incorporated into a unitary Albanian state.’”
In April of 2001, George Robertson, then the Secretary-General of NATO, called the NLA a “bunch of murderous thugs and criminals.” The US State Department spokesman at the time, Richard Boucher, called them “ethnic Albanian extremists.”
And then there is this, from the “Presidency of the European Union in Skopje on behalf of the EU member states and the Commission.” They called the NLA “men of violence.” Regarding the so-called NLA and their demands in May of 2001, the statement noted that the “call for members of the so-called NLA to be integrated into state structures” is “fundamentally unacceptable.” The statement went on to note “Those who have planned and directed this terrorist campaign cannot expect to be welcomed into state structures.” (The US Embassy at the time put out a statement “on behalf of the U.S. government” expressing “its full support to the statement by the Presidency of the European Union in Skopje…”)
The fact that that did not happen — in fact the opposite happened — simply goes to remind all of us just how committed to the virtues of truth, honesty, and justice, the EU and US are. At the time, the height of the crisis in 2001, they did and said the right things. Until they didn’t. There’s a lesson to learn there.
The UCK/NLA started a war, murdered innocent civilians, ambushed and murdered members of the Macedonian Army, kidnapped civilians, engaged in torture, assault, sexual assault, and destroyed religious and cultural buildings and never had to pay a price for any of this. Not only did they not pay a price, but, contrary to the above statements, they now occupy positions of power at all levels of government in Macedonia. And yet for some reason, Radmila Sekerinska thinks this is fine and good. After the outrage, Sekerinska did not apologize, but offered an excuse stating “The 2001 actions are far behind us. Our society has overcome the military crisis in a democratic and lasting way, as we are witnessing today, 19 years later, when we are a member of NATO. In 2020, the most important thing is whether politicians serve the citizens. Iconography is not a benchmark for good governance, but serving citizens is.”
-“Far behind us?” Tell that to the families of the:
15 Macedonian police officers killed, 150 injured
43 Macedonian members of the Army killed, 119 injured
10 civilians killed, 75 injured
20 civilians attacked and assaulted
20 civilians missing
And the hundreds of thousands of Macedonians negatively affected by this.
-“Military crisis?” It was a military and political crisis. And it has not been overcome.
-Do the politicians in Macedonia serve the citizens? Of course not. They serve themselves, especially those in the ruling party.
Finally, to all of those bureaucrats and politicians calling for reconciliation, there is a very important piece of the puzzle they are missing in their calls: in order to have true and lasting, reconciliation, an admission of guilt must be offered along with an apology and request for forgiveness, and an offering of that forgiveness from the offended side. Not a single person in the NLA then, nor DUI, today, has ever apologized or requested forgiveness.
Therefore, there will not be reconciliation until this happens.
