Koha Digest # 155

Front Page: THE STRUGGLE FOR THE FLAG

Date: 15 July 1997

MACEDONIA

THE STRUGGLE FOR THE FLAG

by ARBËR VLLAHIU / Gostivar

A highway that leads to the west of Macedonia, and a terrifying silence. Moreover, if there
were no stopped cars and trucks passed beside by the wandering "blue helmets", everyone
would think that "the towns on its right, Tetovë and Gostivar", are in "eternity". Both towns,
that in the late hours of 9 July had lived through the "golgotha", now were "sleeping in
silence". Tens of thousands of people, that were protecting their flag, waving on the building
of the municipal assembly, for hours faced the Macedonian police and tear-gas.

After all this, perhaps the only way to enter the towns at the west of Shkup, was to travel by
bus. Due to the strict police control, the buses were almost empty.

In the "scary" silence of the town, the traces of Gostivar's "golgotha" could be seen at the very
entrance of the town. In the first crossroad - the garbage containers, were turned upside down,
and someone, in a hurry, "forgot" to turn them back. In Gostivar, after ours, "authority was
practiced by the police forces", and the silence was disturbed only by the heels of a woman,
that looked as "a traveller late to somewhere". The curtain of the big scene was dropped. But,
the question still remains... what happened, and why? "After midnight, in the evening
between 8 and 9 July, first the telephone lines were cut, and thirty minutes later, the
electricity was also cut. Police forces, in groups, rushed through the town, taking all main
streets", this how one of the witnesses of the terrible day in Gostivar begins his story. Early in
the morning, people in groups started to gather around the Municipal Assembly, to protect the
flag and to show support to the president of the Assembly, Rufi Osmani. According to some
information, the President of the Municipal Assembly, Rufi Osmani, was taken hostage and
negotiations with him were under way. Still, according to the same sources, nobody knows of
his whereabouts.

"We confronted the police forces. Around 10,000 people on our side, and around 4,000 armed
man on the other. At one stage, children started throwing rocks at them. I don’t know what
happened, we heard shots, bullets over our heads and we could feel teargas", whispers a
young man, scared and with a terrified glance, that asked for his name not to be mentioned.
"The first shot in Gostivar dispersed the people from the square. It looked as if in this mess,
someone could get hurt. While running away, some Macedonian civilians fired at the crowd. I
saw a policeman climbing the roof of the building where the Macedonian civilians were. I

The weekly Koha (The Times) was published in Prishtina (Kosovo) between 1994 and 1997. Edited by Veton
Surroi, a young Kosovar journalist and one of the pioneers of democratisation in former Yugoslavia, Koha
soon became a symbol of quality among the region's media. In 1997 it started to be published daily under the
name of Koha Ditorë. W ith the kind permission of Mr. Surroi, Koha digests were originally posted on
http://koha.estudiosbalcanicos.org.
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saw a man falling, bathed in blood. People in the crowd had no time to help him. The man
remained lying down on the street", and the boy ended his story rushing away from darkness.
Wondering down the streets of this town, and talking to those who were "lost" after the event,
another man, tells us: "People started running away. The police fired at them. In an alley, as
the people ran, the police set an ambush and started hitting the people with rifle butts. The
provoking shouts of the policemen were heard.

"Macedonia, Macedonia", they shouted. And you could even hear them shouting "Give us the
knives!".

And so, the night passed with the fear of the citizens of Gostivar, that the electricity and
telephone lines will again be cut-off, and "the police would come" to see them at home. The
morning was not much better. The shops of Albanian owners remained closed, there were
only a few passers-by, and in all crossroads, in front of the Municipality, stood the
Macedonian policemen. Near the park, opposite Gostivar's church, the police stopped a boy.
The silence is broken by the noise of the machine-gun of the policeman that directed towards
the young man’s face. It looks as if "life stopped". The question is again, why all this
"savagery".

The careful observers of the Macedonian circumstances, see the last events in Gostivar and
Tetovë as a continuation of the "old inter- ethnic tensions". As comparison, the arrogance of
the Macedonian police was not expressed in all it's fury in the case of the University of
Tetovë, regardless that there had also been victims then. The demand to fly the Albanian flag
in the buildings of the municipalities of both towns, was taken by the Macedonian political
forces as an attempt to destroy the Macedonian system. Moreover, the Macedonian party
MAAK, known to be radical, after the decision of the Constitutional Court of Macedonia for
the removal of the Albanian and Turkish flags, declared that it would gladly do this instead.
Efforts to remove the Albanian flag from the building of the municipalities in Gostivar and
Tetovë, were made also one month ago. But, in that case, the Macedonian citizens that did it,
suffered from the Albanian citizens. On this platform, the discussions in the Macedonian
Parliament about the use of the national symbols of "minorities" in Macedonia, would end
with the ignoring of the demands of the Albanian MPs for the free use of these symbols. Still,
after the victory of the Albanian political forces in the municipal elections the Albanian flag
waved for over six months in the towns with an Albanian majority. The big discussions in the
parliament, the decisions of the Court, the demand for the removal of the flag from the
buildings, looks to have electrified the situation even more. Thus, Albanians took the actions
of the Macedonian authorities as an attempt to ignore the national rights.

The events in the towns of Gostivar and Tetovë, were evaluated by the Albanian political
structures as "declaration of war by the Macedonian government". Still, after the decision of
the parliament concerning the use of the flags that, according to the analysts, could be
evaluated as a compromise, and after the use of the force in Gostivar, PPD ‘evaluated that the
acts of the police are against any logic of the rule of law, and on these grounds the citizens
were urged not to fall to these provocations, since the modalities to use the flag and it’s
appearance are protected by law’.

Evaluated as nonsense, it seems that the declaration is based in the fact that now the Albanian
flag can be used only in cases of the national holidays, and along with the Macedonian flag.
On the other hand, the chairman of PDSH, Arbër Xhaferi, evaluated that "if all Albanian
political parties had a unique strategy, interventions and overwhelming bravery of the

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Macedonian side wouldn't happen.’ Meanwhile, the vice-president of the Macedonian
government, Naser Zyberi, noted that ‘we expect the situation to calm down, because the new
law is already in power, and the citizens will realize that this brings no good.’ In this
‘Albanian unity’, it seems that these forces can take only one good step. PPD, partner in the
governing coalition, withdrew its deputies from the parliament, same as PDSH. The demand
remains the same: ‘the clarification of the events in Gostivar and Tetovë.’ While the Albanian
side has once again proved to have fractions inside, the Macedonian political subject has
asked, as always, to act according ‘to the law’. The minister of the police has evaluated these
events as acts of radical groups, accusing PDSH of organizing them, and in his statement he
noted that ‘even some citizens of Albania were arrested, for participating in the
demonstrations.’ He also noted that there were some speculations that different groups were
prepared for acts like this. In this scope, and in the frame of these accusations, Macedonian
President Gligorov, qualified the events as ‘efforts to establish a parallel government’ adding
that ‘state institutions will protect the state laws’.

Analysts note that the last visit of the Macedonian prime-minister Crvenkovski to Belgrade,
and his meeting with the Serbian president, coincides with the events in Macedonia, and with
the determination of the Macedonian institutions for a strong intervention."

Arbër Xhaferi considers that ‘Gostivar in 1997 was the repetition of Kosova of 1981, in the
sense of the scope of the police intervention and the attitude of the government and the mass-
media.’

Anyway, in Gostivar, the battle has started and the fear remains that the tensions in
Macedonia will increase. It looks like the inter-ethnic conflict cannot be controlled any more,
despite the fact that international peace keeping forces are present in this country.
Their presence here, and the speculations that 3.000 American soldiers will build a military
base in Krivolak, according to the analysts, must be taken as their effort to prevent the
multi-ethnic conflict in this country, that is considered by many, as a state ‘established by
force’. And, perhaps, international forces, in the moments of the rising of inter-ethnic
tensions should, at least, remain neutral and try to prevent a possible ‘bloody’ conflict. Thus,
‘the good will of those who came to keep the peace’ will remain present. Perhaps... But in the
statement of the headquarters of the Multinational forces, following the events in Tetovë and
Gostivar and, as it is said, ‘the destruction of one of their transporters", both sides are asked
to avoid using force and violence. The ‘European’ concern would be understandable, if the
official communique of the Ministry of Interior didn't state that, despite the destruction and
demolitions, ‘two people were killed, eight policemen were wounded, and 210 asked for
medical assistance’. If to this communique we add that in the night between 8 and 9 of July,
320 persons were arrested, it seems that the transporter of the UNPREDEP, is just a drop of
water in a the sea.

MACEDONIA

SILENCE AFTER VIOLENCE

by IMER ISMAILI / Gostivar

The day in Gostivar passed with much turmoil - fights between more

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than 10.000 citizens and the special Macedonian police forces. The
outcome: 2 dead, tens of wounded and hundreds were hurt. The first
victims, that shielded the Albanian's national flag, fell. After a
real fight during the day, absolute quiet followed during the
night.

Gostivar's mayor, Rufi Osmani and chairman of Gostivar's Executive

Council, Refik Dauti - ended up in prison. More than 400 insurgents
arrested. During a routine control even the president of the Senate
of the UT, Milaim Fejziu, was beaten. Gostivar's hospital was full
of wounded and hurt people.

Gostivar, in the late hours, even though covered by the shade of

violence during the day, reminds one of a dead city at night.
Around 9 pm, the streets of the town were completely empty. The
center of the town, as well as many of the streets, were heavily
controlled by police special forces, while tens of armoured
vehicles remained in their strategic positions. The complete
silence reminded one of a grave-like silence, when compared to the
afternoon hours, a time in which the whole town suffered shooting
all over.

After controls, done by special forces, requesting identification

even from your reporter, the most obvious thing were hundreds
people lying around the pavements and in front of demolished
stores. Relaxing moments were passing. They were communicating
among themselves in hushed voices and time after time exchanging
bottles of juice. They seemed proud. They had finished their duty
successfully?! They came, they saw, they demolished and killed. It
seems that this was their purpose. They behaved correctly towards
journalists. Our aim to contact with Rufi Osmani, failed. A
journalist could have access to the entrance of the municipality,
but a group of special police forces didn't allow any form of
contact with Osmani. This was the actual atmosphere until 11 pm.
Mayor Osmani was driven out of the Municipality only to be sent to
the police department of the town.

In the meantime, we found out that the silence surrounding Gostivar

was the result of Osmani's appeal to the people transmitted by the
independent television channel "Globus", on a telephone message,
asking them not to gather and to keep "cool".

In the early hours of the morning, tens of buses filled with

special police force members, left Gostivar, whilst "life full of
peace" of "the surrounded city" went on, since the police didn't
have what to do, especially since the citizens were absent. We
found out that even from within this "peace and tranquillity", the
police have raided tens of families, arrested tens of citizens.
A citizen, that was waiting in front of the hospital for his
wounded son to be transferred to a hospital in Shkup, described the

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terror he experienced the night before: "They beat my wife and my
son's wife inside my house. I was too powerless to do anything".
A television reporter and I, were witnesses of more brutality
similar to that of the previous night. At around nine o'clock in
the evening, the Chairman of the UT Senate, at the same time vice-
chairman of the Helsinki Committee for Tetovë and president of the
Forum for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms, Milaim Fejziu,
was beaten and tortured. All this happened 4 to 5 meters away from
us, after we had just talked to him and turned to our car.

The statistics we gathered today: so far, 123 people asked for

medical assistance in town, 15 from which were transferred to the
state hospital in Shkup, and 23 wounded remained in Gostivar's
hospital - and the most tragic of all, was the fact that 2 people
died. The victims were: dentist Shpend Iseini from the village of
Forine and Nazmi Saliu, from the village of Turçan, whose burial is
expected to take place today in the afternoon. Up to now, the
arrests of 400 protesters was confirmed, and they were subjected to
beating.

The dilemma among the people is to whether this tragedy could have
been avoided or was it inevitable. Police actions as if verify the
second thesis of this tragedy, whose end is still unknown. The
terror lived through still exists, but now, it's in the faces of
people.

INTERVIEW

MENDUH THAÇI, Vice-Chairman of the PDSH

MACEDONIA HAS PROCLAIMED WAR TO ALBANIANS

Interviewed by BATON HAXHIU

KOHA: Since many weeks, wise Macedonians have been silent about the
events in Tetovë and Gostivar. Two days ago they showed their
harshness against the Albanian population in Macedonia. How does
PDSH look at the recent relations created between the Albanian
population and the Macedonian government?

THAÇI: Gligorov, Crvenkovski, Macedonians, Macedonia, the

pacifists, the weak, have been attacking Albanians in the most
ruthless manner in the last two decades. I assure you that more
terrible images of assassinations, beatings of unprotected people
have not been seen on this land in the last two decades. I do not
intend to spread fear, or disappointment, but to create an opinion,
to give a message that these criminals, the politics that directs
them, has only one objective: subjugating and exterminating the

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Albanians. For now, they are in advantage, since their battles take
place on our territory, punishing unarmed people instead of moving
inter-ethnic relations on their territory - boycotting their
institutions in order to push the Albanian idea down under the
surface. It is very simple, the Macedonian Government announced war
to the Albanians.

KOHA: The ambassadors of western countries declared that they

support the law passed by the Macedonian Parliament. Even Albanians
voted it, they say. As far as violence is concerned, they say it is
a bad thing, that's all.

THAÇI: I think that it is redundant to say that this is the last

time that I am calling them to give up on that system that kills,
punishes, and drowns. Those who died, who were imprisoned - were
Albanians, they were not colored by any party, they died for the
fatherland and for the flag... I, and must probably many others,
from now on are going to consider them objectively guilty and
responsible.

KOHA: President Xhaferi referred to these events as "Kosova of

1981". Where do these events intersect?

THAÇI: In Gostivar, in 1997, as well as in Prishtinë in 1981, the

Albanian collective consciousness was punished. Every time
Albanians raise their national consciousness, the government, that
bastion of Macedonianism, of Slavicism, attacks and kills with no
mercy. I believe this should be understood thus and in no other
way.

KOHA: Do you think that this event has to do with the union of the
two parties?

THAÇI: At the time when PPDSH and PDP accomplished to overcome the
group and party interests in order to join each other in PDSH, the
special state services activated their spare project in order to
damage and, if possible, destroy this great work. It is the
interest of the government that the political management of the
PDSH is undefined. The only aim for this is that unreasonable
political hypothesis seem reasonable.

KOHA: It is indicative how this courageous Macedonian brutality

comes after the meeting Crvenkovski with Milosevic?

THAÇI: At the time when the prime-minister of the Macedonian

government visited Milosevic in Belgrade, the Macedonian government
attacked Albanians from all sides. Maybe it is good for us to
understand that our enemies have circumscribed us and are organized
against us. In order to go against them, we have to do the same, we
have to raise political mechanisms which would guarantee us

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security and historical determination perspective, otherwise, as
obvious, everything is worthless. Transmitting the options and the
ideas by all of us, without mechanisms and institutions it is hard
to do. Unfortunately, with these stories, the others attacking us
are curing their frustrations and complexes.

KOHA: Why was Kosova silent for two days? Why did no party condemn
the first day of the events in Gostivar?

THAÇI: Kosovar politicians should definitively understand that

official Macedonian politics does not differ a lot from the Serbian
one. The Albanian presence in the Macedonian government is a
national tragedy.

At the time when Albania is in a disappointing situation "small and

weak Macedonians" demonstrate their military and police force
against the unprotected Albanians in Macedonia. Whether we wanted
or not, we have to accept that this was also a determining factor
of the hard situation the Albanians found themselves in Macedonia
these days.

KOHA: Yes. But, the international disregard joined Macedonian

violence?

THAÇI: The total neglecting of the OSCE monitoring in Macedonia,

and the disregard of UNPREDEP, as well as the indifference of the
international embassies in Macedonia is astonishing. For such a
behaviour, I think that part of the responsibility is on the
Albanian and Kosovar governments, which wrongly presented Gligorov
and the Macedonian Government in front of international factors as
"more democratic than Milosevic and the Serbian Government."
Tomorrow, we will have a meeting with Van der Stoel, and we are
going to present him and the institution he represents our great
reserves. Even though, unfortunately, we know their answer: "You
have few Albanians that take part in the Macedonian Government who
raise their hands to pass laws."

KOHA: What is hidden behind all this Macedonian hatred against the
Albanians?

THAÇI: All this hatred of the Macedonian political conjuncture,

hides in itself a pathologic horror from Albanians, because
Albanians have definitely managed to raise their national
consciousness, meaning that Albanians without their language,
education, flag, etc., do not have a life. Albanians are left the
easiest part of the job.

KOHA: Do you think you will gain support?

THAÇI: After all what happened, there is no hesitation among

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Albanians. They are determined to accomplish their national rights
on their ethnic territories in FYROM. This is our land, and neither
the Roman nor Ottoman Empire could expel us from our land; and an
undefined national and state structure wants to do it! We are going
to stand, since we have no other solution.

MACEDONIA

ARE ALBANIANS IN MACEDONIA REALLY ALONE?

by BESIM ABAZI / Prishtinë

The recent events in Macedonia and the bloodshed caused by the

Macedonian police in Gostivar are followed with huge interest by
the people in Kosova, but also by the Albanian political subjects.
But as the Albanian ambassador to OSCE stated, this time it was
proven that "Albanians in Macedonia are alone".

Albanian subjects of Kosova have reacted, one day after, in their

statements where they considered that the "events in Gostivar were
an organized crime of Macedonians against Albanians". 24 hours
after the events, the LDK, held a special meeting on the events in
Tetovë and in Gostivar. It's statement, among other things, said
that the "Albanian-Macedonian relations don't have the weight of
previous hostilities", and it added that "different Macedonian
leaders in different periods of crises, waved the anti-Albanian
flag. The reactions of other Albanian subjects that followed,
almost as commanded by the LDK, were very similar and urged "for
calming the situation and for the peaceful resolution of the
Albanian-Macedonian disputes". There were even evaluations that
"the newest act of anti-Albanian violence was a proof of the moral,
political-economical and social crises of Macedonia". Besides the
expressed regret for the non intervention and the "indifference" of
the international institutions present in Macedonia, Albanian
subjects have also requested from Albanians in Macedonia "not to
become disappointed, but rather stand strong in their way. They
also said that the further presence of Albanians in "the government
that orders the killing of Albanians" was not understandable. And,
this evaluation is given by the same subjects that supported the
participation of Albanians in the Macedonian elections and have
blessed their participation in the Macedonian government.

We should also reiterate that Albania, although it reacted toughly,

recognized this former Yugoslav republic, without conditioning it
with the smallest concession in regard to the situation of
Albanians there.

But what's most obvious, is the absence of the "requested and

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proclaimed unity" of Albanians in Macedonia, a unity that is very
often determined by the influence of the two largest Albanian
decision making centers, Tirana and Prishtinë. The last one, that
has, in order to coordinate Albanian activities in this region,
founded the Coordinating Council of Albanian Political Parties, did
not make a single move, not even a symbolic one, to gather this
Council. The absence of movements among the Albanian subjects and
the weakness of the Albanian state, seems to be factors enough for
determining "the humiliation of the dimension of the Albanian
issue" by the international community. Although the Social-
Democratic Party of Kosova stated that "perhaps this community got
the necessary messages to more seriously handle the Albanian issue
in Macedonia", however, their silence was very meaningful.

But, how meaningful were the messages from Prishtinë, in which the
very often repeated terminology in almost all similar cases was
present? Nothing new was said in the conclusion that "Macedonian
authorities were horrified by the Congress of unification of two
Albanian parties in one single party which will influence the
politics in Macedonia".

But the real horror was tasted by Albanians in Gostivar, who after
all these events are left to count wounds, graves and prison days,
while their political subjects will make the evaluation of their
activities and their benefits from five seats in the Government and
some posts of ambassadors and consuls which, as it was said these
days, "made freedom and the rights of their people hostage of the
false stability in Macedonia".

KOSOVA

THE METAPHOR OF THE STICK

by GJERAQINA TUHINA / Prishtinë

Three hundred and seventy one years of prison for thirty five
Albanians...!

This is the result of two trials against Albanians in the present

sentencing season of Albanians.

But, there is nothing new it this, except of the horror for the
increased number of imprisoned Albanians. Everything is old and
familiar, the subject that raised the indictment, the subject that
ran the session, even the scenario. The scenario was completely the
same: Albanians are accused again for having committed, as it is
said, "terrorist acts", and the essential foundation for the
indictment as well as for the verdict are their self-accusing

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statements. This trial too (as well as the other trials against
Albanians) was full of horrifying stories on the tortures committed
on the accused. Besim Rama, while describing "his hell" during
investigation, stated that "they (referring to the, as he says,
`people in civilian clothes') taught me what to declare to the
investigating judge. All my words were a result of the 'stick'".
Idriz Asllani "had spent eight months in a cell, in total
isolation. He lost his voice. He couldn't speak until some days
ago. He was interrogated three days and nights continuously".
"For sixteen days I was tied to the bed, and on the bed, there was
an electric stick. They forced me to stretch out on a table and
punched me on the hands, legs, neck and stomach, day by day. They
used to kick me until I lost consciousness. They made me sit naked
on the electric heater, and during the night I was not allowed to
sleep", stated the accused, now sentenced, Avni Nura to the judges.
This (as usual) was nothing new, but it horrified foreign monitors
that ran away shocked by the fact that, as they said, "torture
looks like something very normal in Kosova".

This time, differently from the previous trial, there were

"witnesses". Witnesses presented as victims of the "terrorist acts"
described the event, as they said, of the "critical night", but
none of them didn't know the exact time of the attack committed on
them. None of the witnesses mentioned the name of any of the
accused. On the other hand, witnesses - members of the victims'
families, only mourned the dead and their only statement was "we
join the penal prosecution of the accused", not even saying against
whom?

One of the things presented in the major hearing was the mental
state of the accused Besim Rama, who - because of it - was freed
from military service. Medical documentation of Besim Rama, taken
from the military institutions, said: "Soldier Besim Rama was
discharged because of the diagnoses 'imaturitas emotionalis'
(emotional immaturity). And the invited expert, Milovan Krivokapic
(imposed director of the health unit in Shtime) based on the ten
years old documentation said that "we have to do with a person who
doesn't differ mentally from other people". He added that
"personalities with emotional immaturity are conscious of their
acts as well as for the effects of these actions. The level of
their intelligence is normal", concluded "expert" Krivokapic.
Strangely, the proposal of the defense for a medical examination of
Besim Rama in Belgrade was allowed by judges. Then the trial was
stopped for an "undetermined period".

It left an open issue behind: will it be proven that Besim Rama was
a case of "imaturitas emotionalis" and consequently freed from
charges or will it find that he is "completely healthy and able to
have a normal judgement"!?

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The news from Belgrade arrived on 9 July, and for Rama those were
no news. According to the specialists, "Besim Rama was diagnosed no
mental illness. He is completely able to judge and act." In this
manner, asked "how many paws does a cow have, and how many legs
have a chicken and a sheep?", a person who has always lived in a
village, was determined to be completely normal. The experts who
did the expertise were Ratko Kovacevic and Branko Mandic, who also
concluded that the policeman who had killed lawyer Qazim Tolaj at
court, was "not capable of judging and acting," while everybody has
it clear that Tolaj's murder had been planned beforehand. The
diagnosis of the experts marked not only a chapter in Rama's life,
but he expects one more trial now. At the beginning of 1996, he
killed his neighbor, as he said, revenging his brother's death.
However, strangely enough, up to the moment when he was arrested,
the police had looked for him only once. Their reasoning is that
they had not asked for him since the inhabitants of the Prekaz
village are well armed and were not threatened by him!? The murder
of the neighbor was only once mentioned during the "terrorism"
trial. "In this trial, he was sentenced the maximum according to
the law, for the crime of terrorism. The penal law foresees death
penalty for revenge, therefore, the defense is almost sure that "he
can be punished with the severest penalty." If this happens, Besim
Rama "officially" will receive the death penalty - for murder,
although the reality is completely different.

Unfortunately, the end of this episode does not mean the end of the
series of trials against the Albanians. Thus, the new episode of
this already old series will continue in September.

ALBANIA

29 JUNE: ELECTIONS OR PLEBISCITE

by ARTAN PUTO / Tirana

On June 29, early parliamentary elections were held in Albania. In

six years of pluralism, these were the fourth elections held in
this country. But, in modern Albanian history, the last elections
will be remembered as special.

They were held in a completely unpredictable situation, even by

most brave political analysts. Albanians went to the ballots after
more then four months of chaos and anarchy, which, as stated in
statistics, caused the death of more then 1.500 persons and wounded
more then 7.000 of them. On the other hand, Albania, as never
before, for months was at the focus of European diplomacy. Tens of
diplomatic missions and negotiators, hundreds of technical experts
on different fields and thousands of foreign soldiers present in

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the country, prepared a more acceptable climate and gave their help
in the celebration of the parliamentary elections.

The question is: Were they really political elections or were they
just a referendum? Their final result says more in favor of the
second version. Again, the future Albanian parliament will be based
on two main colors, red of the Socialist Party and blue of the
Democratic Party, what in a sense creates a tradition and a unique
characteristic of the elections in Albania.

During the first parliamentary elections in 1991, "a giant of

sand", the Albanian Labor Party, because of the fear that Albanians
had from it, had won 2/3 of seats in parliament, leaving very
little possibility to the new Albanian opposition. The Democratic
Party (DP), the opposition then, after just one year, because of
the huge national and international support, managed to triumph on
March 22, 1992, wining 2/3 of the seats in the parliament. The same
view reappeared in last May's elections, when this party triumphed
even with a deeper victory compared to four years earlier, leaving
the opposition just a symbolic presence in the parliament. DP was
not the international factors' most favorite party any longer. The
actual result shows again the long-term tendency: the opposition
comes back in powerful position and the ruling party so far, goes
to opposition.

It was mentioned previously that one of the reasons for this

"phenomenon" is the fact that Albanians, when asked to vote, always
came "just for the sake of it" and with bad humor, caused by
tyrannic and irresponsible government. In 1992, people voted just
to get rid of the hated communist regime, whereas in 1997, the vote
turned into a form of protest against president Sali Berisha, who
is considered to be responsible for allowing the pyramidal schemes.
In this case, his vote can not be different from the emotional
vote. It's clear that in these circumstances there are no real
political elections, based on political programs, but only
referendum-like decisions by the people, that elects this or that
alternative.

"In the meetings we had with the socialist leaders, before the
elections, they seemed to be unstable", one senior western official
said. This just reiterates our idea that the socialists where not
ready for such a victory and that the vote for them should not be
considered as only this party's property.

One of the main reasons that made them winners was also the fact
that they where marginalized by the state, something that freed
them from the responsibility for the pyramidal schemes. On the
other hand, this marginalization didn't load them with the
responsibility to build a country, that with time is becoming
intolerant towards alternative opinions. But, at this point, being

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the biggest opposition party and with better organization than
others, it became the main voice against Berisha's regime.
Another element that influenced it's victory is the abandoning of
the old politics and it's involvement in coalitions, which only a
couple of years ago were unimaginable. So was the Socialists
participation in coalition with the Social-Democratic Party and
with the Democratic Alliance, and above all, it's involvement in
organizing the "Forum for Democracy", in which all parties where
gathered, left and right. These moves, anyhow, gave a new look to
the party, the look of a party open for cooperation.

According to some, Bashkim Fino had also a big influence on the

electorate. More than for his results in the field, he has to be
evaluated for his new governing style. In a very hard period of
time, he appeared to be very calm, balanced, and above all, he
managed to set correct relations with his political rivals, and
also with the president of the country.

In a way, his coming out onto the surface, showed that the SP was
not only the foster home for bureaucrats, as often criticized by
the right press, but as any other Albanian party, it made some
prosperous steps in reviving it's structures.

In this way, it's not strange why it became a generator of such

moderated personalities as Bashkim Fino.

The "Nano" phenomenon is another element that had a powerful role

in this party. Thereby, it's necessary to be said that his
influence in different times was indeed different. After coming out
in opposition in 1992, the SP headed by last communist former
prime-minister, Fatos Nano, surely wasn't a good figure in the eyes
of DP, headed by a charismatic leader, Sali Berisha. Moreover,
fearing from losing the electorate, he wasn't fast enough in
reforming this party and transferring it to a Social-Democratic
party. But, in his most critical moments, it seems that he counted
on the help from his, so called, wildest political enemy, president
Sali Berisha. Based on a suspicious process, he was arrested in
July 1993. Nano's arrest had a different effect compared to what
Berisha expected. The attention of many European political circles,
who in most cases considered the case more as "evening the odds",
rather then a penal issue, turned towards him. In this concept, he
started to look as the opposition leader that is being persecuted
unjustly. On the other hand, his arrest had a deep influence on his
party. Even though the reformation process was blocked for some
time, Fatos Nano, was released from jail as a unity symbol for
socialist Albanians, who turned their leader's issue almost into a
national issue. The years he spent in jail increased his charisma
and he became an emblem of political persecution during the Berisha
regime.

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In SP's victory, with no doubts, a big impact was of the
international support. The foreign factor's support can't be judged
as a simply socialist success. It is necessary to recall that they
still aren't the members of Socialist International. They still
live with the prejudice that they are the Communist Party's
successors, prejudices that the West is very sensitive. Even here
they got help from Sali Berisha. In circumstances when the
Democratic president lost the foreign support and when his "anti-
communist" fight brought opposite results, the international
community's attention was inevitably turned towards the alternative
side. In this concept, maybe the biggest Albanians socialist
success is not simply the fact that their eyes are looking towards
West, but the anti-communist failure in the European diplomatic
circles.

The fame and failure of DP is connected with only one name: Sali
Berisha. DP, with no doubt, was the most successful party among all
new anti-communist parties in Eastern Europe. In just one year it
defeated one of the most toughest regimes in the continent. And in
this battle a special role also was of Sali Berisha. His rare
vitality and energy, maybe, make him the most famous leader in
Eastern Europe.

"We're all suffered together and we are all guilty", these were his
words said on 23 March 1992, that touched thousands of people's
hearts that participated in huge public meeting after the defeat of
communism in Albania.

But, unfortunately, very soon the disappointment took the place of

hope. The huge fame and maybe the long experience as the party
secretary deformed Berisha, turning him from a famous tribune to
it's antipode. Like this, he decided to set his full control over
the party, the parliament, the army, the judiciary, by turning into
an absolute God of the country. The first victim of his style was
his, so called, party of hope, the Democratic Party. The first
party's "little loss" was the one in local elections in July 1992.
Only four months after coming to power, the Democratic electorate
started to weaken. In these elections, unexpectedly, the winners
came to be the socialists. The other loss, the signalized bigger
losses, was the failure of Constitutional Referendum in November
1994. People refused to accept a Constitution that acknowledged
unlimited president's rights. Even at that time, it was said that
it was not a referendum for constitution, but simply a vote of
protest against Berisha's politics.

The thing that would disqualify Berisha was the May 26 "victory".
They noted a start of an abnormal institutional period in Albania,
during which the state turned to be an object of criticism by most
foreign organizations on human rights and western governments. The
May 26 victory was the main reason why the pyramidal schemes where

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not hit. If deep corruption is added to political mistakes, then
the set of reasons for failure of the DP are complete. However,
more frightening and anxious is precisely the attitude this party
has taken after the elections. Many accusations directed against
international institutions have become "responsible" for the loss
of this party. In fact, the democrats are not wrong when they say
that these organizations support their political enemies, and they
do not want to see which is the real reason for the change of the
direction of the European diplomacy. The main reason for this is
precisely the DP itself, and it's wrong politics in governing the
state. And for it to become a serious partner for international
factor, it has to change it's structure from the roots and to
remove the consumed political elements, at whose head remains
president Berisha.

An interesting development for the Albanian right wing has also

been the arrival of King Leka, pretender of the royal throne. His
permanence has been a compromise of Albanian parties in a very
strange situation. It overpasses some of the most elementary
juridical procedures. In any European country, the arrival of an
ex-monarch would not be as easy as in Albania. First, Albanian
authorities should have solved the problem of the Assembly, which
doesn't (legally) allow the coming back of ex-monarch. But, even
the pretender to the throne himself never tried to respect the
country's laws. It seems that he didn't consider himself as a
pretender, but already a King. On his arrival, with a poor Albanian
full of mistakes, he promised Albanians peace, brotherhood and
stated that "kingdom is based on law". However, it was the symbol
of a perfect state himself that broke the law. First, in
contradiction to all state regulations, he began his electoral
campaign at a time when citizens where not allowed to stay in
groups of more then four. On the other hand, the TV and state media
gave him greater space than they gave to the Republic. That
Albanian authorities didn't take this seriously and that they
believed that he is not going to present any problem, shows the
fact that all political parties organized a welcoming ceremony
similar to the one made for presidents. Even Albanian socialist
prime minister is not careful when he says "I met with His Majesty
Leka Zogu". "The Monarch" from South Africa doesn't mind to go
armed through the squares and main streets of the city, at a time
when opposition forces where denied these squares four years ago.
But now it is clear that the throne pretender is becoming a weapon
of those who lost the elections, and who are interested to declare
them as irregular as possible. Leka Zogu is now very far from his
initial image, when he asked for peace and brotherhood. He's
becoming a source of tension and confrontation. "He escaped from
Albania as a kid and came back the same", are the words that were
repeated in the Albanian press.

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INTERVIEW

CORNELIUS OCHMANN, Director of the Bertelsmann Foundation

THE BERTELSMANN FOUNDATION IS READY FOR THE FRAMEWORK OF THE

ALBANIAN-SERBIAN TALKS

Interviewed by BEQË CUFAJ / Guetersloch

Some time has passed since the Bertelsmann Scientific Foundation

and it's responsible person, Cornelius Ochmann, have published a
project on Kosova, which was interesting to some international
circles.

This is the first interview of the director of this institution to

an Albanian media.

KOHA: Maybe it would be interesting for our readers, to know more

about the Bertelsmann Foundation in general and for the interest of
this organization concerning Kosova?

OCHMANN: The Kosova issue is part of the framework of EU's interest

for the strategic project for Europe, where the issues of the
security of the European Union and other states has the specific
dimension, with a special emphasis on the destabilisation of the
Balkans which has resulted with many problems. In this context, the
Kosova problem appears as an assignment for the EU.

KOHA: The Bertelsmann Foundation has so far organized several

meetings between Albanian and Serbian intellectuals, whose topic
was the issue of Kosova. Could you tell us how satisfied are you
with these talks?

OCHMANN: So far we have been satisfied with the ongoing project. We

have succeeded to have around the same table group of experts and
intellectuals from Serbia and Kosova and together with the western
experts, in a constructive way, discuss on the resolution of the
Kosova problem.

KOHA: Besides alternative intellectuals, analysts and experts from

the Balkans, have you tried to bring together the conflicting
parties, the Serbs in power (Milosevic's socialists) and the
legitimate representatives of Albanians, headed by Rugova?

OCHMANN: The representatives of the LDK, Agani and Tahiri, e.g.,

participated in our meetings, and showed great interest about the
process of our project. Bukoshi was there as well. With official
Serbian representatives things are different. However, the
information about the project itself, has been distributed directly
to them.

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KOHA: After your meeting, the Foundation came up with the concrete
proposals for the resolution of the Kosova problem. These are good
proposals, but very hard to be achieved in practice, because of the
habitual disrespect from the Serbian side.

OCHMANN: As you are informed, the proposals of the Foundation have

been offered. We are fully aware that neither the Albanian nor the
Serbian side are satisfied with the content of our proposals so
far. Because of this reason, we will try to continue working on
them so a form of coexistence between Serbs and Albanians is found.
This means that we are still in the phase of projecting which means
that we will continue with our discussions.

KOHA: Have you offered your proposals for the resolution of the
Kosova problem to the governments (Albanian and Serbian). If yes,
what was their reaction. In your project it is said that there
should be a mediator in the Kosova problem. Have you taken any step
to offer your project proposal to a possible mediator in the
process or you are that mediator?

OCHMANN: The proposals are offered to all sides interested in it.

The reaction were too limited. I suppose that the project is being
studied deeply.

The mediator could be announced only after the sides officially

sign and accept it. I believe that a NGO such as ours, could only
offer proposals. Whether these proposals are going to be accepted,
this is a matter of politicians. Time for compromises in Serbia and
Kosova has come. I hope that with the explanation of the situation
in Belgrade, the process of negotiations will proceed positively.
The Bertelsmann Foundation is ready to set the framework of the
talks if the two sides accept them.

KOHA: Did you offer this project to EU and USA, and if yes what was
their reaction? How do you perceive the interest of international
community to get involved in resolution of the Kosova problem?

OCHMANN: These proposals have been offered to all sides interested

in this issue, among others to the European Commission and the USA.
Because of the above mentioned facts, the reactions were kept from
the public. In the coming months, we will see if the content of
these proposals has been accepted.

This issue is of great interest for the international community,

because without the solution of all the conflicts in the Balkans,
the real unification of Europe can't even be imagined.

KOHA: Do you plan to continue with the meetings of Serbian and

Albanian intellectuals or you think that your activity could
expand?

- 17 -
OCHMANN: We are still working on proposals and I believe that in
the coming months we will come out with a letter-proposal,
acceptable for both sides. Afterwards, we would discuss these
issues with a broader circle of people.

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