Conflict in Macedonia - Case Study Example

Introduction Macedonia was once a republic of Yugoslavia. However, this country broke off from Yugoslavia without any factual bloodshed. It formed a government made up of one hundred and twenty parliamentary seats. Additionally, the people - in an election conducted after attainment of independence - voted for their president. This government managed to rule Macedonia successful for seven straight years. Their success can be attributed to their socialist attributes. The same thing was not happening in other new republics that had been part of Yugoslavia. (Wood, 2001a, news.bbc.co.uk) However, after the passage of time, the Macedonian government began engaging in corrupt practices. Reports indicated that this government was linked to high profile Albanian criminals who engaged in smuggling as their specialty. Consequently, this government allowed illegal activities to go on without taking any action against the perpetrators. On top of that, the government was not able to make reforms yet these were needed urgently in the economic and social sectors. As a result, the latter government was eliminated in the 1998 national election. At that point, a coalition government got into power. This was the government that would then be responsible for the 2001 Macedonian conflict. Origins and principle causes of the conflict The 2001 conflict occurred as result of mounting tension between the ethnic Albanian minorities and the other Macedonian ethnic groups. These tensions began as early as when the first government took power. At that time, the Albanians felt that they were not well represented in the parliament, armed forces and in the civil service. Consequently, they demanded for their rights. As if that was not enough, economic pressures took a toll on the inter-ethnic tensions. Smugglers from both sides' i.e. Albanian and Macedonian majorities were going about their activities and drugging the economy of the land. The situation was further aggravated by the fact that a neighbouring country; Kosovo was undergoing its own civil conflicts. Kosovo's civil conflict was between the Albanians and the Serbs. The overall result of this conflict was the creation of a quarter of a million Albanian refugees who found their way into Macedonia. Furthermore, the Kosovo Liberation Army set up base in Macedonia where they would send supplies into Yugoslavia. The overall outcome of this upon the local Albanian was the formation of militias. The latter had ammunition that would enable them to protect themselves against any potential attacks from the local ethnic Macedonian authorities. All these issues led to increased availability of weapons within Macedonia. (The BBC, 2001, news.bbc.co.uk) Weapons were also highly available owing to the fact that the prior government allowed gun smugglers into the country. Even actual government officials were responsible for that too. Some affected parties from Kosovo decided to use the Macedonian border as their storage area. On top of that, the smugglers were bribing government official in order for them to stay quite about what they saw. Due to increased corruption in the government, any individuals who voiced their complaints about this illegal trade were eliminated automatically. This availability of weapons and the mounting tensions between the two groups created a highly volatile situation. All that was needed was a small reason and a civil war would begin. (Wood, 2001b, p 12) A group known as the NLA (National Liberation Army) was largely responsible for these attacks. This was brought about by the fact they spread a lot of propaganda against the government of Macedonia. Besides that, the group was also responsible for lodging attacks against the police and the army. Their attacks were also spread out to public facilities that included railway lines and others. (Jovanovska, 2002, p 310) The main and direct participants in the conflict In early 2001, the ethnic minorities began taking over some villages in the areas near the Macedonian border. The Albanians went about doing this in a peaceful manner as they would tell the majority ethnic Macedonians to leave their respective villages without employing force. However, in the month of February, they began engaging in combat actions against the Macedonian government. The government did not respond to these actions because they had assumed that the Albanians were conducting those actions against non-Macedonians. However, as the government waited, more attacks were launched until the situation spiralled out of control. The major group responsible for attacks on Macedonian police was the NLA. This group's activities against the Macedonian government officials furthered the tension already prevalent. However, it was quickly established that the group had not been sponsored by any of the Albanian political parties within the government. The parties were Democratic Alternative and Democratic Party of Albanians. (Casule, 2001, p 23) After these attacks, the Macedonian government began attacking Albanian homes and establishments. It should be noted that these government officials were lashing out their anger against a group that had nothing to do with the attacks on its people. The group was actually very innocent as some of them were busy going about their daily business. The government targeted the following structures Albanian shops Albanian mosques Albanian houses Towns with many Albanians (Mark Heinrich , 2001) It should be noted that the towns that severely affected by this included; Bitola, Skopje and Prilep. The Macedonian security forces were also assisted by ethnic Macedonian citizens. The Macedonian government gave these locals weapons to attack the Albanian minorities. After getting government sponsored weapons, most of the attacks were conducted by ethnic Macedonians in the town of Prilep where numerous Albanians resided. Owing to the hatred between the two groups, the ethnic Macedonians felt that they were doing their country a favour by carrying out these attacks. (Wood, 2001c, p 4) It should also be noted that when the government forces heard about some attacks against their own members, in one of the villages where Albanian guerrillas were located, they decided to take very intense actions against them. The government representatives killed substantial numbers of civilians and rounded up several Albanian minorities to be jailed. While on their way there, the police severely beat up the Albanian civilians. The government asserted that there were some members of NLSA there yet they had not even verified those assertions. As a matter of fact, there was a human rights group that was there at that time, they searched for members of NLA among the Albanian population but did not find them. This goes to show that the government handled the ethnic minorities unfairly. This is the reason why an internal affairs minister within that country was tried at the Hague for warranting such actions without checking on his facts first. (Pavli, 2008, www.hrg.org) The indirect participants in the conflict It was not fully confirmed but many Macedonians thought that the major sponsors of the National Liberation Army fighters were the Kosovo Liberation Army. If these assertions were indeed true, then it is possible that KLA was an indirect participant of the war. The assertions can be regarded as true owing to that fact that many Albanians were in Kosovo and the refugees found in Macedonia were actually from Kosovo. (Jovanovski, 2002, p 310) The NATO forces were also instrumental in the conflict because they were responsible for spearheading the ceasefire agreements. Their representatives entered that area with the purpose of destroying the NLA weapons and they managed to do this successfully. Another external group that took part in the war was the human rights watch. They were there to defend those who had been falsely accused such as when the government security forces decided to attack ethnic Albanian civilians. Attempted resolution and nature of conflict resolution process The participants of the civil war took part in a number of agreements prior to the ceasefire. The most influential one was called the Ohrid Agreement. In this agreement, the rebels who had taken part in the war consented to a ceasefire. The government on its part acknowledged that it had committed some errors and vowed to do the following (Skopje, 2001) Make the Albanian language official Better the lives of the Albanian people Increase number of Albanians in government institutions Increase Albanians in the army Increase Albanians in the police Decentralise powers Overly, the agreement was a compromise, the Albanian side also made some promises. They asserted that they would not request for separatist governments. They also claimed that they would respect Macedonian law. On top of that, they claimed that they would recognise all the institutions of the Macedonian government. Besides that, the NLA disarmed and handed over their weapons to NATO forces. (Rhodes, 2001, p 15) Assessment of relative success of the conflict resolution process to achieve its objectives The conflict achieved moderate success owing to the fact the NLA leader Ali Ahmneti agreed to surrender his weapons very willingly. This occurred after an announcement was made by NATO forces to disarm the rebels. NATO conducted a mission within the country to disarm some of the participants of the war. The mission which was conducted within the month of August 2001 was to eliminate all the NLA weapons. The disarming exercise was successful owing to the fact that there were a large number of troops doing the disarmament exercise. They were three thousand five hundred in total. (Pecker, 2002, p 27) One can also assert that the conflict resolution process was relatively successful because the NLA leader accepted ethnic reconciliation between the Albanians and the Macedonians. If this leader could accept such an approach, then they have been effective in the process of resolving that conflict. On the other hand, everything is not a bed of roses for the people of Macedonia today there is still much that has to be covered as asserted in the peace agreements. For instance, the government is yet to fully disarm all the Albanian rebels. Besides that, there were some parts of the 2001 agreement that infringed upon the rights of the Albanian minority. Since these rights have not yet been resolved, then one cannot assert that all is well within that country. (Richardson, 2007, p 65) The European Union and NATO have sent their representatives to ensure that the peace agreement of 2001 was adhered to. In 2004, they found that a substantial amount of the agreement had been followed but there is still much that has to be done. If the conflict would have been fully resolved, then there would be no cases of bombings or insurgencies occurring with the latest bombing record in 2007. Explanation of why the conflict resolution is still ongoing The country is still plagued with tensions between the two groups because some aspects of the agreements were placing undue pressure on the minorities. These parts of the agreement led to a lot of controversy and have prevented full peace from being restored. (Heinrich, 2001, p 18) The situation is further aggravated by the fact that Macedonian police forces treat Albanian minorities unfairly. While the government agreed to respect the rights of this twenty-five percent segment of its population, implementation on the ground is still not fully operations. Some police men have been harassing the Albanian minorities and this is impeding the peace process. The conflict resolution process is still ongoing because there are still some areas that were not fully disarmed. However, the international community through the European Union and NATO are helping out in this area. Consequently, there is still hope in for the restoration of peace. Additionally, there is still the problem of internally displaced persons. Unless the Macedonian government finds a way of settling these people, then full peace cannot be realised. However, there is still a reason to be optimistic owing to the fact that the government reduced their administrative districts by over fifty units. Through this, the government has demonstrated their commitment to the terms of the agreement which encouraged more decentralisation Conclusion The 2001 Macedonian conflict was brought on by the inefficiencies of the government, economic and social failures by the administrations and also by a mounting ethnic tension between the two groups. These reasons caused the war which was short-lived. The war came to an end after an agreement between the two major parties'; Albanian minorities and the government to cease fire. They also made compromises on both parts. This is why the conflict resolution process achieved moderate success. However, certain issues are yet to be ironed in order to make the process fully successful. (Frank, 2001, p 28) Reference: Casule, K. (2001): Macedonians Pay Price for Peace with Rebels, Free press, p 23 Frank, J. (2001): Macedonia UN Agencies Appeal for Relief Donations, Free Press, p 28 Heinrich, M (2001): Macedonia Pardons Guerrillas to Launch Amnesty; Free press, p 18 Jovanovska, S. (2002): Macedonia: EC aid under fire, Report on Balkan Crisis, January 21, No. 310 Jovanovski, V. (2002): Church enrages Albanians, Report on Balkan Crisis, January 17, No. 309 Pavli, R. (2008): Macedonia: Rights Defenders Under Attack, retrieved from http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/01/georglet0118.htm accessed on 8th July 2008 Pecker, G. (2002): Macedonia's justice minister seeks amnesty for former rebels, Free Press, p 27 Rhodes, A. (2001): The special police force places the Macedonian peace process at risk, International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights Report, No. 14 Skopje, T. (2001): Macedonian police mistreat Albanian doctors, Free press, p15 The BBC (2001): Macedonia pardons first Albanian rebels, retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1693000/1693784.stm accessed on 8th July 2008 Wood, N. (2001a): Macedonia might free Albanian rebels, retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1689000/1689589.stm accessed on 8th July 2008 Wood, N (2001b): Collapse of Macedonian coalition puts peace in peril, The Guardian November 22, 2001, p 12 Wood, N (2001c): Macedonian MPs finally ratify peace-deal reforms for Albanians Saturday November 17, 2001, p 4 Rishardson, T. (2007): Macedonia: Covering events from January - December 2006; Amnesty International Report, No. 87, p 65 Read More