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Hellenic Communication Service, L.L.C. provides links to
Greek News Sources. Click on the links below to visit their sites. |
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| March 6 -- Violence in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia dominated the news this week. Greece, expressing strong support for its northern neighbor, launched a diplomatic initiative designed to galvanize the international community. The Greek government spokesman criticized KFOR -- the NATO-led peacekeeping force established following the Kosovo conflict -- for its "selective" attitude, and warned that the violence could escalate into a full-scale catastrophe. For several weeks, Albanian separatists calling themselves the National Liberation Army have been waging warfare in the northern areas of the FYROM, especially along the Kosovo border. In a dramatic gesture, Greece's foreign minister, on a trip to Vienna, abruptly ended his visit in order to fly to Skopje and meet with the FYROM's prime minister, Ljubcho Georgievski. He brought a message from prime minister Simitis, reiterating support for the country's territorial integrity, and declaring Greek readiness to take diplomatic and political initiatives in defense of the FYROM. Papandreou also spoke by phone to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who expressed compelete agreement with the Greek initiative. The most recent reports indicate that KFOR has stepped up action against the Albanian militants. Unrest Escalates Ethnic Albanians make up between 20% and one third of the FYROM's population, depending on who is doing the reporting. During the Kosovo conflict, the small Balkan republic -- roughly the size of Vermont, and with a population of just over two million -- became a temporary home for refugees displaced by Serb troops. Although fears that the influx could spark civil war in the FYROM did not materialize, the Kosovo conflict as well as unrest in neighboring Albania has led to a continuing flow of arms and separatist fighters across the border. While ethnic hatred divides some Slavs and Albanians, the FYROM as a whole has been free of the authoritarianism and systematic discrimination that characterized Serbia under Milosevic. Ethnic Albanians are represented in the ruling coalition and hold key government posts, and recently construction of a new Albanian-languge university was inaugurated. But even as Albanians and Slav Macedonians become increasingly assimilated into a multi-ethnic state, unemployment and economic stagnation sow anger and militancy. Radical groups complain that Albanians are still second-class citizens in a Slav-dominated society. They cite discrimination in education and employment, and insist that only token political representation exists. The FYROM government attributes violence to ex-KLA fighters crossing over from Kosovo, though it is likely that groups of disaffected Albanians from within the FYROM itself are also to blame. New paramilitary organizations have emerged there, with a declared aim of joining Albanian populations in other countries to create a Greater Albania. On March 4th, militants killed three soldiers outside a village only 30 kilometers north of Skopje. The killings capped weeks of gunfire exchanges and intermittent fighting. Since then, the FYROM has called for a buffer zone on the Kosovo border, and this week NATO Secretary-General George Robertson said that the alliance is considering allowing Yugoslav troops into the demilitarized zone surrounding Kosovo. The three-mile-wide zone was created to protect Albanians from attacks by Serb troops. But in one of the twists characteristic of the region, NATO now wants Serb troops to help deter attacks by Albanian extremists, who have used the zone as a safe haven. Before leaving Vienna for Skopje, Greek foreign minister Papandreou warned that proliferating violence could destabilize the entire region. Early in the last century, two wars were fought over the territory now known as the FYROM, as Bulgaria and Serbia advanced competing claims to the land and people. Marshall Tito created the modern-day republic, with an eye to containing Serb power within federal Yugoslavia -- and also with an ambition of "liberating" Greek Macedonia and acquiring the port city of Thessaloniki. In 1991, the republic seceded from then-Yugoslavia, only to enter a rancorous dispute with Greece over the name Macedonia. Greeks regard use of the name as a violation of historical heritage and as evidence of expansionist ambitions. This month, even as the Greek government expressed support for the FYROM, Prime Minister Simitis also defused speculation that the two countries are close to an agreement on the name issue. Following several weeks of rumors that caused international Pan-Macedonian organizations to send an emergency delegation to Athens, Simitis declared that a "dual name" system -- in which Greece would call its neighbor by one name, but other nations would use another -- was out of the question. But with the FYROM increasingly dependent on Greece for political and economic support, and with Greece alarmed about regional instability and determined to play a leading diplomatic role, momentum continues to build towards a resolution. |
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