Introduction - Part 06

A civil society is not possible when a country is polarized along ethnic lines. In Macedonia’s case conditions have been set so that a unitary society will not be functional and Macedonia would be directed to become a bi-national state. If a civil concept was implemented, the U.S.A. would not have been able to use the Albanians in Macedonia for their interests. The Albanian factor in the country could not be monolithic and could not be manipulated from abroad.

32. 1. In the annex of the Ohrid Agreement, where changes to the constitution were formulated, the Preamble “Macedonian people” - was deleted! The idea was to annul the Macedonian character of the country! Later, following a number of fierce Parliamentary debates, not all of the proposed changes to the Constitution were implemented. Under Stojan Andov’s insistence the words “Macedonian people” were put back in the Preamble. In many places the Ohrid Agreement used the words “communities which are not a majority in Macedonia” and “majority” in place of Macedonians. The United States turned the Macedonian nation into an “unnamed” nation called “majority”. They did their best to avoid its mention in the entire Agreement as if the Macedonian people did not exist!

32. 2. ”Our” negotiators working on the Ohrid Agreement must have agreed that the country had to lose its national, Macedonian character because, according to the Agreement they signed, the words “Macedonian people” had to be removed from the Constitution. Knowing that all neighbouring countries are national (except for Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose future is uncertain) and Greece has even proclaimed national homogeneity of its population, which is inconceivable in this region, then the proposed solutions are perfect proof of the American intentions concerning Macedonia.

32.3. Our politicians and “experts” swallowed all this up without considering its consequences… and it is certain that they will not pass the judgment of history.

32.4. One episode in Parliament that deserves special attention is when the words “Macedonian people” were “restored” to the Preamble of the Macedonian Constitution. Then the true intentions of the Ohrid Agreement creators were revealed. Stojan Andov set the conditions that if the words “Macedonian people” are removed from the Preamble, the amendments to the Constitution would never be passed. At that point the rest of the text was also revised giving the minorities a higher profile. The aim of this move, and we know who was behind the whole project, was to again belittle, degrade and devalue the majority nation (the Macedonian people) and its role in the country. Thus, minorities were “promoted” as “people who are part of the Albanian people, Turkish people, Vlach people, Serbian people, Roma people, Bosniak people and others...”! The cost of “returning” the words “Macedonian people” back into the Preamble was the elevation of “minorities” to “parts of other peoples”! There is no such solution anywhere in the world. But worse than that is the fact that neighbouring countries have been given an open door to meddle in Macedonian affairs as part of the rights “of their people”. And if at any time there is any perceived “possibility”, these countries can intervene on behalf of these people to “save” their state from being divided! At the same time, Greece and Bulgaria have yet to recognize the existence of any minorities, especially Macedonians, and they have been there for ages!

33. From a Macedonian perspective, the only positive outcome of this Agreement was that the unitary character of the state was left intact. The greatest failing was the lack of precise definition of the Macedonian language as a means for mutual communication. At the same time the limit of use of the Albanian language was not clearly defined. As a result, the portion of the Agreement relating to the Macedonian language is not implemented and is deliberately ignored by the Albanians. This will inevitably lead to problems later. If a country has no common language that everyone will learn and understand then such a country could easily prove to be not functional. The only language that can fulfill a state function is the Macedonian language but in order to achieve that we need to take decisive measures and regulate its implementation in accordance with the spirit of the Ohrid Agreement before the unitary character of our country is jeopardized. The practice of non-acceptance of the Macedonian language by the Albanian population in Macedonia is not by coincidence but by design. It is designed to lead Macedonia away from its unitary character.

33.1. Essentially there is a fundamental need for the Macedonian language to be implemented and to serve as a unifying factor, which everyone must learn and use. It would have been the strongest guarantee for a stable future. Without a mandatory language for all to speak, there will be no survival for any federal let alone unitary state. If the unitary character of the state is not based on real and functional mechanisms then it means nothing.

33.2. Conversely to the Agreement, the Albanians, en masse, are consistently and illegally pushing and spreading the use of the Albanian language. The Albanian Ministers in the Government use official letterheads printed in Albanian only; documents for external use are printed in both Macedonian and Albanian (Besimi in the Ministry of Defense, for example); as ministers, they use the Albanian language in international communications -in meetings and correspondence; the Albanian presidents of Parliament’s commissions speak in Albanian, ignoring the fact that they represent the state and not the ethnic community; ministers also speak to the Macedonian media in Albanian… Someone could say that these are only small things to which we should not pay attention. That would be true, if the abuse was not deliberate. Unfortunately the abuse here is deliberate and is done for the sole purpose of expanding the use of the Albanian language at the expense of Macedonian. And, once it is an established practice it is not to be discussed.

Exactly because of that, the Macedonian government, in time, must vigorously react to prevent any manipulation aimed at the albanization of part or the whole of Macedonia. Items that are outside of the Ohrid agreement should not be allowed to be implemented unless both sides agree. Everything that is outside of the Ohrid Agreement is illegitimately acquired and should be stopped. These acts, coordinated and orchestrated by the

Albanian parties, and most probably backed by the U.S., are only designed to lead to the destruction of the Macedonian state.

33.3. It is crystal clear to the Albanian leaders that the Macedonian language is left as the last pillar of the unitary character of the state. So, it is obvious that they will do everything possible, well-planned and in the long-term, to break it down from all sides, little by little. Based on the Ohrid Agreement, Amendment B or the new Article 7 of the Macedonian Constitution says: “In the whole territory of the Republic of Macedonia and in International Relations the official language of use is the Macedonian language and the Cyrillic alphabet”. Unfortunately the Albanian leaders in Macedonia are enjoying everything from the Ohrid Agreement that fits their narrow and nationalistic interests, and ignore the rest. So, when you see the total mosaic it becomes obvious that they are interested only in the “Greater Albania” project.

33.4. The consequences are already visible; Albanians are bent on avoiding learning the Macedonian language. That is a technique of ghettoization and a fait accompli. Their purpose is twofold, a) to make the Macedonian language a barrier for communication and b) to create space for two languages, which they are persistently and stubbornly doing at this moment. Such a policy leads to the destruction not only of the unitary but, in particular, the Macedonian character of the state, leading to federalization. Everything moves along at an unprecedented level of absurdity: soon, it would appear, Macedonians will have to learn Albanian if they want to understand the Albanians and not vice versa. It is normal that Macedonians living in areas where the Albanian population is a majority already speak or will learn Albanian, but for their personal need and not as an obligation.

34. Another negative segment of the Agreement, which at first glance does not attract too much attention, was the requirement for new administrative divisions in the country. It may have looked like an easy job since the then 123 or so municipalities could not have survived. About fifty of them were too small and dysfunctional. According to Article 3.2 of the Ohrid Agreement “audit of municipal boundaries will be taken by local and national authorities with international participation”. Why should the change of municipal boundaries be supervised and approved by foreigners such as the U.S.A.? During the signing of the 2001 Ohrid Agreement nobody from the Macedonian side thought that this was planned as a second stage of the destruction of the Macedonian state. They obviously did not suppose that the idea was to albanize parts of the country.

34.1. While nothing was suspicious on our side, everything had already been planned by the “facilitators” who were preparing the groundwork for the new administrative division leading to the albanization of Struga and Kichevo, and for Skopje to become bilingual followed by a good part of the country.

34.2. The process of albanizing parts of the country started in 2004 and was finalized with the 2013 local elections. That’s when the Albanian candidates openly began to campaign for mayors, claiming that voting for them meant the albanization of their municipalities underlining that it was the result of the new administrative division of the country. They stressed that it meant the realization of their dream. There is not a single argument that Washington was not behind this development. The Americans were active participants in determining the new boundaries of the municipalities in 2004 and they have put this obligation in the Ohrid Agreement. Well planned, isn’t it?

34.3. We have proof that everything that was said before is correct. Let us remind you that a referendum was organized to prevent the country’s devastating new administrative division. But then, quite unexpectedly, just before its eve, Washington partially and temporarily recognized Macedonia by its constitutional name and thus undermined the referendum. This is absolute confirmation that the United States stood behind the entire plan. The albanization of parts of Macedonia was so important to the Americans that they would do anything, even recognize Macedonia’s name, to ensure its success! They obviously took it as a viable and strategic step for fulfillment of their long-term interests.

34.4. After the war of 2001, when the U.S. failed to divide Macedonia by force, it took a different approach. It was clear to them that Macedonia could not be divided from the outside, but only from the inside. That is why they declared that it was no longer possible to change borders in the region. It seems that 2001 can be considered as the last attempt for changing the borders in the region – by force. Later it became difficult because any violent attempt at changing Macedonia’s borders could ignite the entire region. That is why the plans were adopted for Macedonia to be broken down by albanizing parts of it from the inside. The U.S. moves made in 2001 and 2004 are beginning to bear fruit today.

35. Another crucial negative political consequence of the Ohrid agreement was that, ipso facto, the Macedonians accepted a) the Macedonian state to be a Macedonian-Albanian creation, b) Macedonia’s main pillar was to be agreements between Macedonians and Albanians, and c) that everything can and should be negotiated…

Today, looking at all that from a regional aspect, there is not a single doubt that that was exactly what the U.S. wanted to achieve. The manoeuvering space of the Albanians has been enlarged and they misused it to the maximum. They are continually seeking and getting concessions, almost always unprincipled. Millimetre by millimetre they are making irreversible strategic gains. One time even Ahmeti admitted that the Albanians are not in any hurry. Of course, this was not Ahmeti’s policy, he is only implementing it. If the U.S. was not behind them, Albanian behaviour in Macedonia and in the wider region would have been very different.

35.1. On top of everything Thachi is making claims (2012) that the Ohrid Agreement is now dead and that a new Agreement is required, one written by Thachi. Today he has new ideas on how Macedonia should look and tomorrow someone else will present new unprecedented Albanian requests: until the project of “Greater Albania” is finalized. It is a process that flows and its coordination functions flawlessly. This certainly does not mean

that Washington is behind all these Albanian demands. There are also genuine Albanian demands but they are not substantial.

36. The fact is that the Ohrid Agreement truly opened ways for improving the position of the Albanians in Macedonia. In the past, one can argue that they were exposed to many injustices, most of which were inherited from the Yugoslav Federation, which required immediate attention. However, during the Yugoslav breakup Macedonia itself was in a difficult situation. But there is no justification for why the then leadership did not recognize the problem and place it on the table. This was a serious mistake. Nevertheless, it must be underlined that a) the 2001 war was foreign aggression with aims at occupying (“liberating”, for the Albanians) parts of Macedonia, b) the war in no way had a “humanitarian” character and c) the war was definitely not started because of the unresolved status of the Albanians in Macedonia. The “excuse” that the war was started for “humanitarian” reasons, is a textbook lie exploiting our uneasiness to address this problem on time.

37. The Ohrid Agreement a) is one sided, b) it devalues the position of the Macedonians, i.e. the majority of the population, and c) it did not establish bases for long-term stability of the country. On the contrary, the Agreement is worded such that it could easily jeopardize the survival of the Macedonian state. Of course this was not done by accident. All kinds of controversial mechanisms were introduced to regulate, in detail, the Albanian needs without limiting their possible future requests while neglecting the other ethnic communities in the country. On the other hand, the position of the majority, i.e. the Macedonians, is not at all regulated, leaving them very little manoeuvering room.

38. There should be no doubt that the Ohrid Agreement was one of the biggest strategic mistakes of the state. It was not the choice of the country’s leadership, but rather it was imposed by the U.S. That is why Frowick, through the OSCE Mission, Perdue, Feith and all the other bullies, I mean “facilitators”, were sent to Macedonia. The fact that Frowick secretly, without the knowledge of the Macedonian authorities, promoted the draft of the Ohrid Agreement, through the Prizren Declaration, says it all. It is true, our leaders were under extreme American pressure and influence but as well naïve and ignorant enough to accept the unacceptable. Agreeing, for example, to sign a document that removed the words “Macedonian people” from the Preamble of the Constitution, demonstrates extreme amateurism through unacceptable and unthinkable indulgence. We don’t need any more arguments to describe the level of competence in “our” negotiators in Ohrid.

38.1. By saying this we are not implying or advocating that the Ohrid Agreement should be ignored or disregarded. What was done was done but the Agreement needs to be implemented because we signed it. It is very difficult to correct historical errors. We now must live with it while trying to minimize the damage. Unfortunately it seems that we are repeating our mistakes, making the damage bigger and bigger, as we sit on the sidelines and watch things take shape. What we should be doing is not permit, at any cost, anything to take place outside of the Agreement, or anything that might lead to ruining the unitary status of our country, or to become part of the “Greater Albania” project… which in Macedonia happens almost every day! Even the parts of the Agreement which we erroneously accepted must only permit a selective part to be implemented, only what is convenient for the Albanians but does not harm the state and the Macedonians. We cannot allow all parts to be implemented that only serve the interest of the other side!

39. The above examples partially illustrate how and where the Ohrid Agreement is misused. In a subtle way, without scruples, it is being widened so that illegitimate gains can be made by illegal use of force. Then, while Macedonia is being slowly and progressively albanized, the Macedonian political leaders are concentrating on creating coalitions to hold on to power or combining forces to take over power.

40. It is completely absurd to be in a political situation where the Albanians, as part of the government coalition, almost openly and persistently work on the “Greater Albania” project, while the Macedonian opposition is attacking and condemning the government for not being flexible enough with regards to Albanian demands! Claiming that the ruling party was holding its coalition partner (DUI) under its control! Anyone, even one with very little political knowledge can see the negative processes at play here. If this was not an unbelievable and pitiful situation it would have been very funny. The reason the opposition is acting this way is very clear - to undermine the coalition and gain power even at the expense of national interests!

40.1. At one point a wonderful solution was found for responsible management of the demographic policy that would not touch very sensitive inter-ethnic relations. The birth rate of the Albanians is very high, probably the highest in Europe, and that of the Macedonian is very low. The proposal was to stimulate higher birth rates in municipalities with low births no matter who lives there. But before such a policy could be implemented, one of the top opposition leaders, Shekerinska, strongly opposed it. She publicly said: “And what will the Albanians and the other ethnic communities think of such a program, that we are working to prevent demographic changes in Macedonia?” (Shekerinska: “How will the Albanians interpret a program for higher birthrates?”, “Nova Makedonija”, September 18, 2008)

Shekerinska is probably not aware or is ignoring the fact that balanced demographic development is one of the most important responsibilities for a government to implement. She obviously has no concern for the changes in the Macedonian demographic structure which, for some time now, had extremely negative tendencies with unforeseeable consequences. She does not understand or refuses to admit that these changes are not random but well-planned, a result of Albanian political and religious social forces working behind them. (We already mentioned that religious leaders would not allow their young worshippers into their mosques unless they had five children!). It is high time these tendencies are changed. Shekerinska, obviously, wants to “protect” the Albanians because her political ambitions cannot be achieved without their support. The Albanians know the “Platform for the solution of the national Albanian question”, an official document of Tirana, where it was planned through a high birth rate to increase their numbers in Macedonia in order to achieve their political goals. But Shekerinska has either not read the Platform, or has not understood it, or is simply ignoring it. There is no fourth possibility.

40.2. What was unclear to Shekerinska was quite clear to the people from the village Dolno Sonje, near Skopje. Sopishte Municipality is mainly inhabited by Macedonians but there are several villages where only Albanians live. In total the municipality has a low birth rate. So a villager from Sonje commented: “Now Albanians from other places will come to the villages in our municipality, with the singular purpose of receiving incentives for the many children they will bear”!

40.3. With regards to the incentives for higher birth rates, nothing happened. The Constitutional Court, for reasons only known to the judges, annulled the law. The explanation given was that it was only for primary school level. The Constitutional Court and its judges should be ashamed of themselves for being uncountable and for the damage they did to our country.

In Macedonia everything is possible. We have people high up in the party’s hierarchies who not only have insufficient knowledge about geo-politics or geo-strategies but also have lack of simple judgment. The top executives of the judiciary, in this particular case, have demonstrated no knowledge of or even a sense of our key social problems, which require urgent attention. But worse than that is that these people think that they know everything and care only about their own careers and/or parties, which seem to be more important to them than the well-being of the state.

40.4. Let us remind the reader that the Albanians have achieved a stage where they can block Macedonians in more senior positions if they have opposed Albanian demands in any way. Thus the Albanians have a kind of control over the Macedonians and they are very careful in addressing Albanian interests. That might hurt their careers. So the Macedonian politicians keep quiet, pretending they do not see the realization of the “Greater Albania” project. As a matter of fact the Macedonian politicians themselves are responsible for the inferior position they are in and why they do not have any influence in the selection of the Albanians, in government and other high positions. We should all remember, for example, when they said no NLA commander will ever be promoted to a high public position. Very soon, after the first election in which DUI participated, this promise was neglected. Many NLA commanders are and were ministers in the Macedonian government. Even the one who shut down the drinking water supply to the taps from Lipkovo Lake was made minister. Instead of sending him to be tried in The Hague he was made minister... The latest news is that one of them became Minister of Defense!?

41. There is no doubt that the Ohrid Agreement put an end to the 2001 war in Macedonia and helped sort out a number of injustices that the Albanians had been exposed to in Macedonia. These changes must be welcomed. Unfortunately, the Agreement has a serious negative twist as well: it has laid the groundwork for accelerating the “Greater Albania” project tendencies which, unless seriously treated now, will create grave consequences in the future. Even though in principle Macedonia’s unitary character has been left intact, in practice it has been attacked and very little to nothing has been done to stop or reverse its erosion. No agreement can be eternal or irrevocable. The latest proof of this is the Interim Accord, signed with Greece in 1995, which has proven to be worthless. The Americans stand behind that Agreement as well as behind Ohrid. The result is known – the clause in the Interim Accord that obliged Greece not to hinder Macedonia from joining NATO and the EU – is not respected anymore. By the U.S.A. as well! And that was one of the two points of the Accord that were in favour of Macedonia. All the rest defended Greek interests. If they didn’t keep their word for the first agreement, how do we know that the U.S. will continue supporting Macedonia’s unitary character as “guaranteed” by the Ohrid Agreement? Or will they change their position immediately after they assess that it is no longer part of their plans?

42. The fact that, unlike the Macedonian, the Albanian side in Ohrid had foreign experts, speaks for the lack of responsibility of our top leadership. It was an unpardonable mistake. Obviously, they underestimated the historical importance of the event and the consequences of the war. 43. Days before the signing of the Ohrid Agreement, fierce and bloody pressure was placed on Macedonia to capitulate and accept the proposed agreement. Macedonian politicians were intimidated with threats of escalating the war on many fronts. Then shortly before August 13, the terrorists carried out several missions during which they massacred 18 members of the Macedonian Army and wounded many others...

43.1. The Karpalak incident took place on August 8, 2001 when 10 Army reservists were ambushed and killed. According to General Zvonko Stoianovski, commander of the BB and PVO (“Testimony” by Pande Petrovski, p. 181): “At 9:30 a.m. that day a KFOR helicopter flew over the area. At 10:00 a.m. we flew over the Karpalak area with our helicopters where we saw two NATO vehicles (two jeeps). One vehicle drove off and escaped while the other one hid in Novo Selo...” On page 177 Petrovski wrote: “...Karpalak would not have happened if the Supreme Commander had not listened to its ‘advisors’ before signing the Framework Agreement…” and continued - “Even now it is still not clear to me who ordered the withdrawal of the Karpalak police post on August 6, 2001, the Ministry of Defense and General Headquarters were not informed about that!”

The ambush took place at 9:30 am, exactly when the KFOR helicopter flew into the zone. Obviously they wanted to see for themselves if their plan was being implemented properly. Two hundred kilograms of explosives were also placed on the highway to demolish it but the presence of the Macedonian helicopters scared off the terrorists before they had a chance to blow it up.

43.2. On August 9, 2001 five workers were kidnapped from GP “Mavrovo” and then their bodies were “ornately carved” with knives. The “Engravers” were never punished even though the authorities knew who they were.

43.3. After that it was the attack in Radusha. About that, on pages 186 and 187, Petrovski wrote: “We knew that the NLA had a ‘recruit training camp’ near the Krivenik, inside Kosovo, about one kilometre from the border... The terrorists who launched the attack, from the Kosovo side and at the same time from inside the village Radusha, were allowed to freely communicate with Krivenik even though KFOR forces were there beside them on the other side of the border.” There had been a conflict in Radusha earlier but it was not as fierce as this one. The attack began on the night of August 10, 2001 with the offensive originating in Krivenik, lasting three days. According to intelligence sources, 600 terrorists were aided by volunteers from the Kosovo Protection Corps. Their goal was to occupy the water sources in Rasche, which supplied Skopje with water.

43.4. On August 10, 2001, eight Macedonian soldiers were killed and six were wounded when a mine was exploded at the entrance of the village Liuboten.

43.5. Days before the Ohrid Agreement there was news that an imminent NLA attack on Sarai was going to take place on August 13, 2001 (p. 201/202). This was psychological warfare against Macedonia to keep it in constant vigilance and wear it down with fabricated news about the number of NLA attacks that were going to take place...

43.6. If anyone believes that all this escalation, before signing the Ohrid Agreement, was the doing of the Albanians alone, they are lying to themselves. Why was there a KFOR helicopter flying over Karpalak and two NATO jeeps visiting the area at the exact time when the ambush took place? All this was organized and the doing of someone a lot more sophisticated than the Albanians. Someone was monitoring and directing activities from the distance with sweeping strokes. Who could that possibly have been? The readers can decide for themselves.

The Ohrid Agreement was signed on August 13, 2001. The additional pressure obviously did its job. Under the circumstances even more capable negotiators than the Macedonians would have probably found themselves in a bind. E. Events with broad and long-term consequences

44. Washington’s role in the structuring of the Ohrid Agreement was a logical continuation and an important step in the implementation of the already established U.S. policy towards Macedonia and the Macedonian people, which it has systematically and persistently followed since the breakup of Yugoslavia. Slowly but surely, the space for “Macedonian-ism” narrowed as Macedonia’s roots were being progressively cut. By all indications, if we continue not to resist they will carry on and cut our roots until we disappear. If we remain like this, that moment is not very far.

44.1. What exactly do they want to accomplish with all these policies? Their aim is to close, once and for all, the “Macedonian Question”. What is important to them is that we stand in the way of the realization of the “Greater Albania” project which is very important for U.S. long-term interests in the region. In more than 20 years of an independent Macedonia, Washington has done nothing to help us and everything to push us further down into the abyss. Publicly it has shown us a friendly face but behind the scenes it has played a different card. We can list incident after incident (recognition of the country, UN admission, NATO blockade…) where the United States has always, without exception, worked against even the most basic Macedonian interests.

44.2. The Americans, it appears, are still not fully aware of Macedonia’s vitality and of the Macedonian people’s durability. They have not learned the lessons of history that Macedonians cannot be eradicated without a great war. Their planners, on the other hand, must have considered the realities on the ground and properly respect the Macedonian people’s enormous tolerance.

However, the ball is now in their court but in ours as well. If we don’t soon start a proper, robust action to remain who we are, the future will be extremely uncertain. So far our indecision, lack of coordination, lack of dedication, low level of professionalism... have done nothing to bring us desired results. In fact, the way we have acted so far has been detrimental to our people and to our country and very convenient for the other side. It is high time we stand up for ourselves and tell the Americans - Enough!

45. The above has already been confirmed by up to date crushing results. With the Framework Agreement, for example, our state has been recomposed in a terrible way, much worst than what the Greeks, Serbians, or Bulgarians have done. Or all of them put together! It should not be forgotten that they all have claims on our territory, our people, our church, etc. The United States however has directly handicapped Macedonia worst than they have done put together.

46. In order to overcome the current impasse Macedonia finds itself in, our historians must, as soon as possible, seriously examine the 2001 war. Without knowing what exactly happened, it will be hard to build a future of this country. We need to speak up loudly as to why the 2001 war took place and who stood behind it. We must specify all the reasons why we were defeated. Someone will have to bear responsibility for us losing the war and for the unacceptable restructuring of our state. Accountability will have to start from the top and work its way down to the advisors who played the role of “Kissinger” in Ohrid. The last ones may have had no command responsibility, but they too will have to bear at least moral consequences for their incompetence in the preparation of the Framework Agreement.

47. Documenting the recent past cannot and should not lead to questioning the position of the Albanians in society. It is undeniable that the Agreement did resolve certain problems that faced our fellow Albanians for too long. That must be respected. But still, we must emphasize that a war was not needed to overcome these problems. But, on the other hand, we cannot tolerate any retaliation, which is present on the political scene.

48. With regards to the position of the Albanians in Macedonia, and the mistakes that undoubtedly were made, it would be interesting to mention the initiative that Tupurkovski launched in the 1990’s. He called for a “historical agreement with the Albanians” in Macedonia. What we don’t know, however, is if he had something concrete in mind or if it was purely a political bluff. But if we look at this from today’s perspective, Tupurkovski was right, something had to be done. Indeed, in that period Macedonia was confronted with a permanent crisis, but instead of opening up the issue, we held anti-Albanian demonstrations in the park in front of the Assembly and behaved in an uncivilized and shameful manner towards them. The organizers and participants of these demonstrations, instead of being ashamed of themselves for what they did, some of them made political careers thanks to that event!

The government too showed no understanding of the problem and then the opposition party took us back to the beginning of the 20th century advocating its next congress to be held in Solun... The consequences of such immaturity and incompetence, of the main leaders, who then were less than 30 years old, will be felt for a long time.

49. American attitudes towards Macedonia will inevitably have to be analyzed in the context of Greek politics and interests. Washington has supported Greek aspirations but only because of convenience. The near future may show that U.S. policies may be just as dangerous and harmful to Greece, as they have been for Macedonia! There are over one million Albanians currently living in Greece... Around 600 thousand are legal and the rest are illegal immigrants. They control organized crime and generate huge amounts of money... At the same time the issue of “Chamiria” is hanging in the air... which can be activated at any time, especially now that the Greek state is rapidly declining as a result of its deep economic crisis. If this problem is not solved and continues to drag on with the same intensity, the “Albanian national question” is sure to surface there too. It is inevitable.

50. During informal talks in Moscow in 2006 it was proven that this was not a hypothesis. Teuta Arifi, then president of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, said: “I told Ahmeti that it was a great problem, that there are no appropriate conditions in Greece, so we can do there what we did in Macedonia in 2001!” This is not something that Arifi made up on

the fly; it is part of the Albanian political creed. Frightening isn’t it?

50.1. Albanians, so far, have demonstrated complete loyalty and have carried out Washington’s directives to the maximum. The new partnership is working well and the relationship of the two sides continues to strengthen. The crisis in Greece would eventually determine what role the Albanians will play in that country. If the state survives the crisis and restores positive energy and economic growth, the Albanian problem may be delayed. But if the chaos continues and persists, Washington may play its role with the local Albanians in Greece as it did in Macedonia.

The first victim of the new American policy in the Balkans was Serbia (Kosovo and Kraina in Croatia), the second was Macedonia (2001), where the story is not yet over. Will there be a third?

51. This is confirmation that U.S. policy is not complementary to Greece’s long-term interests. Athens had its own merit for denying the Macedonian state’s existence and thus leaving itself on thin ice. Washington is using this at its maximum but, in the end, Greece may turn out to be the biggest loser.

52. Anti American sentiments are very often demonstrated in Greece. Athens keeps flirting with Moscow and buying weapons from Russia even though it has been a long time member of NATO. How does Washington feel about that? In fact after the collapse of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact, Turkey became the new leader in the Balkans, at the expense of Greece. Socialism is no longer a threat and therefore Greece’s role as a protector from neighbouring socialist countries is no longer required. Turkey is an increasingly important global player. Its presence and influence in the region and beyond is rapidly growing thanks to its fast economic growth. Turkey also plays an important role in the so-called “Turko-phonic” countries in Central Asia (Tadzhikistan...).

U.S. interest in Turkey grows as interest for Greece remains limited and reduced.

53. Finally, it is important to remind the American strategic planners that Albania and the Albanians, after World War II, were at first Yugoslavia’s best friends, then they quickly became best friends with the USSR and finally with China. But then they broke relations with all of them and labeled their former friends a band of criminals. Now they have embraced the Americans but until when? When building its policies towards Macedonia and the Macedonian people, Washington should remember that alliances and partnerships are not forever...

54. If we are to objectively analyze the situation we will find that a stable, lasting and prosperous Macedonia is the best solution for everyone. Starting with Greece and going through Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Kosovo and all the way to Brussels and Washington. Macedonia has not disputed or threatened anyone. Tolerance and patience are the two main characteristics of the Macedonian people. This is how it has been for centuries and this is how it will remain in the future. If you look at the last two hundred years no one has suffered from Macedonian aggression because such an aggression does not exist. Rather, the Macedonians have always been victims of foreign interests and aspirations. This is how it was yesterday and this is how it is today. But this must end, sooner better than later. In the interest of peace in the region. The quicker everyone realizes that, the better it will be for all of us.

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55. As a rule, the big and strong never admit their mistakes but continue to push their agendas to the end. For that reason we will close this section with the fact that the U.S. completed its role in the war of 2001 in a very “logical” way! Two Macedonians were tried in The Hague Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, one was convicted! Albanians were not tried at all. The victims of the war were sent to the Tribunal, most probably in order to justify, verify and validate the war as – “humanitarian”! The aggressors, some of whom had “carved” human bodies; or turned off pipes and left people without drinking water for days; or blasted buildings with workers tied inside against poles... never reached The Hague. And on top of that, they were fully pardoned.

This, of course, was not done voluntarily by the Macedonian authorities. Even though, some years later former NATO Secretary-General Robertson said: “You amnestied them yourselves! Nobody forced you!” This was only partially true but it was done only because the pressure was fierce. It was others, the non-Macedonians, or so-called “facilitators” that alone led the dance during those times when Macedonia was being beheaded. Still, the message given was crystal clear - ‘you can refuse and be selective!’ Then afterwards they said: ‘it was up to you to defend your position and if you did nobody would have imposed anything on you, by force… it would have been a different solution!’

This is true. But only if the Macedonian side had the means, understanding and proper evaluation of the situation, as well as access to experienced advisors, perhaps the situation would have turned out differently...

Then on the other hand we have the American hypocrisy where the victims were prosecuted yet the aggressors enjoyed the glory of their victory! Absurdity has truly reached new heights and the U.S. demonstrated that it could do whatever it wanted to the Macedonians!

The best film screenwriters should envy the American strategy planners for the scenario they prepared for Macedonia…

56. The fact that The Hague Tribunal played more of a political role than a legal one, was confirmed by Danish judge Fredirik Harhov (“We were pushed to release Gotovina and Markach”, “Dnevnik”, June 15, 2013). Not that this was not clear, but more importantly this testimony comes from the inside. In a letter addressed to his Court colleagues and to 40 or so other people, Harhov claimed that: “The Hague Court does not deal justice, it implements policy decisions.” Harhov accused U.S. Judge

Theodor Meron, President of the Court, of “influencing the other judges in the case of Gotovina and Perishich…”

According to the same “Dnevnik” article, American journalist Chuck Sudetich who reported on the war in Yugoslavia for the “New York Times”, for the “The Economist”, wrote: “Hitler would probably be relieved of all responsibility for the Holocaust if he were tried by the standards now applied at The Hague.”

And now that the U.S. is mixed up in the affairs of the accused persons from Croatia and Slovenia, where the Americans were not directly involved in the wars, how do you think they will fare in comparison to those involved in the 2001 war which was under direct American control? Will the Americans let their partners and executives be tried at the Tribunal? I don’t think so! The Tribunal is there only for the subjects from the other warring side – who will be treated completely different. The Americans, together with the Albanians, are “humanitarians”. The Macedonians – war criminals!

VI – Chossudovsky’s Analysis

1. Another valuable source of information about the 2001 war in Macedonia was from Michael Chossudovsky who wrote a number of articles in 2001, all of which are available online on the internet. Chossudovsky, as we will show, has proof that the 2001 war was led by the U.S. and that Macedonia was, no doubt, a victim of America in that war. One of the most interesting texts he has written is the article: “Macedonia: Washington’s Military -Intelligence Ploy”, released on June 17, 2001.

Chossudovsky, a well-known analyst, immediately recognized that the hints given by the Americans that NATO was going to intervene to “save” Macedonia were pure propaganda! Who was NATO going to save Macedonia from? The NLA?! Chossudovsky wrote: “It is well-documented that the NLA terrorists are directly related to the KLA who were armed and trained by Washington. So why would the United States intervene under the umbrella of NATO against the army that represents its own interests?” Chossudovsky estimated that the “U.S. used KLA fighters against the Macedonian military.” According to Chossudovsky, “even though U.S. troops in KFOR were not directly involved, MPRI, which was contracted by the Pentagon, advised the KLA and its NLA representatives in Macedonia.”

According to Chossudovsky “military personnel from the Kosovo Protection Corps had joined the NLA and so did G’zim Ostreni, the Kosovo Protection Corp’s Chief of Staff who at the time was still being paid by the UN. He was appointed ‘Second Commander’ of the NLA.” Ostreni’s UN salary was not terminated even though he left his UN job!