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Kosovo Radicals Draw a Blank in Macedonia

02 03 2007  Sceptical response to plans by Vetevendosje to open branches in Macedonia.

By Drita Abdiu in Tetovo and Tamara Causidis in Skopje (Balkan Insight, 2 Mar 07)

Macedonian Albanians gave a cool response to the announcement of Kosovo’s radical Vetevendosje (Self-determination) movement that it intends to open branch offices in neighbouring Macedonia.

The activities of the nationalist group became an issue in Macedonia following reports that Macedonian Albanians took part in the February 10 Vetevendosje rally in Pristina that ended in two deaths and many injuries.

“We have offices worldwide so why shouldn't we have one in Macedonia?” Glauk Konjufca, Vetevendosje activist, told Balkan Insight.

“We already have activists in Macedonia contributing towards Vetevendosje’s goal, which is the right of the people to self-determination,” he added.

Konjufca’s numerous statements about opening an office in the mainly Albanian town of Tetovo, site of the Southeast European University, have raised questions concerning the repercussions of such a move.

The announcement has yet to encounter much support from Macedonian Albanian parties, intellectuals or students, or from Kosovars studying in Tetovo.

Local politicians say Vetevendosje has no business in Macedonia because the movement is not dealing with any issues of relevance to Macedonia.

They also fear the presence of such a group may have a negative effect on the image of Albanians overall and increase ethnic tension.

Albanians make up one-quarter of Macedonia’s 2 million population. They have strong family and cultural ties to Kosovo and strongly support Kosovo’s campaign for independence.

Indeed, both Macedonian and Albanian parties in the country have expressed support for the UN plan for Kosovo’s final status and Vetevendosje`s activities are seen by most Albanians in Macedonia as an obstacle for the independence process.

The issue of Vetevendosje became especially significant after reports broke that Fazli Veliu, a leading official in the opposition Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, had participated in the February 10 protest in Pristina alongside other Albanians from Macedonia.

Veliu said he was proud to have joined the protest, adding that he was ready to defend all Albanians who “seek freedom and independence in Kosovo, the Balkans and Europe”.

The DUI distanced itself from Veliu and denied claims having organized the presence of Macedonian protesters at the Pristina rally.

While some local media, across the ethnic board, claimed hundreds of Albanians took the road to Pristina for the protest, most politicians said there were a few dozen at most.

According to Ermira Mehmeti, the DUI spokesperson, not more than 15 to 20 people took part whom she described as “mainly youngsters who had no idea why they were going there”.

“Veliu might participate [at the next rally] but I doubt he will take others with him,” Mehmeti added.

Vetevendosje’s claim that it was about to launch activities in Macedonia made no sense, she continued. “They are calling for the self-determination of Kosovo, so what would be the logic about Macedonia, or are they then saying that Albanians here need self-determination?” she asked.

Mersal Biljali, a local political analyst, described Vetevendosje’s announcements about Macedonia as “pure nonsense”. “There is no room for them here, as I am certain that 99.9 per cent of Albanians here do not support them,” he said.

Biljali said the story about Vetevendosje had gained intensity only because of the media. “In this way, marginal radicals are encouraged to give more and more extreme statements in order to get the attention of the media,” he said.

Sefer Tahiri, of the ethnic Albanian TV station Alsat M TV, agreed the group had little following in Macedonia. “Vetevendosje has no support from political parties, intellectuals or ordinary people,” he said. “They could only reach a small numbers of youngsters who are irrelevant to the big picture.”

This opinion seemed to be widespread among interviewees at Tetovo’s SEE University, where 600 of the 1,700 students come from Kosovo. A random opinion poll conducted among Albanian students from both Kosovo and Macedonia showed lack of interest for Vetevendosje.

Korab, a computer science student from Gnjilane, said a better name for the organisation would be Vetfundosje, which in Albanian means “self-destruction”.

“They have no clear concept and their protests have no result,” Korab said. He also did not think opening an office in Tetovo would trigger much of a response.

Flanza, a student from Prizren, formerly supported Vetevendosje but was disappointed with the last protests that turned violent and “showed an ugly picture of Kosovo”.

Dren Zotriqi, from Pristina, said protests in Kosovo had become out of date. “Less and less people are prepared to take to the streets,” he said.

Argjent Jashari, president of the student organization at SEE University, said he doubted Vetevendosje had much appeal either to Albanian students from Kosovo or Macedonia.

“Kosovo has its legitimate elected politicians, institutions and government,” he said. “I don’t think it would be good for anyone from outside of Kosovo to get involved in the final status process, and Albanians from Macedonia should be the last ones to do that,” he went on.

At the university, most – though not all - professors share that view. Professor Adelina Marku defended the group’s right to open an office in Macedonia. “They just want to keep a link with their [Kosovar] students,” she said.

But Veton Latifi, professor of communications, disagreed, saying it might send a signal that there is a possibility of Kosovo’s violent protests spreading to Macedonia. “It will only strengthen the thesis that Kosovo is exporting instability to the region,” Latifi said.

Many local Albanians also fear Vetevendosje`s pan-Albanian agenda and its insistence that concessions offered to Serbs in Kosovo must be met by equivalent concessions to Albanians in Serbia and Macedonia could be counterproductive and damage ethnic relations in Macedonia.

“If a Serb municipality in Kosovo has exclusive rights to co-operate with Serbia, why shouldn’t an Albanian municipality in Macedonia have this right as well?” Konjufca suggested, talking to Balkan Insight.

But they dismiss such parallels and insist Vetevendosje can mean only trouble for Macedonia.

Mersal Biljali says their presence in the country would only increase mistrust between the two ethnic communities and fears of destabilisation.

“Opening an office here would mean that the problem of Kosovo was becoming a problem of Macedonia,” Ermira Mehmeti of the DUI said. “That is unacceptable.”

Drita Abdiu is a BIRN Macedonia trainee in Tetovo. Tamara Causidis is BIRN Macedonia editor. Ana Petruseva, BIRN Macedonia country director and Krenar Gashi, BIRN Kosovo editor also contributed to this report. Balkan Insight is BIRN`s online publication.