GENERAL ASSESMENT

GENERAL ASSESMENT

We were informed that Tetovo was peaceful and that there was no significant fighting in the hills north of the city. In the border region a total of 79 individuals were encountered by MNB (j), a large number of whom tossed their arms in front of KFOR soldiers. A determined amount of arms and other military equipment was taken. It is understandable that 44 individuals were taken to prison at the MNB (j) prison in Prizren for further questioning. Other than that, nearly 600 refugees left for Kosovo. And it looks like a lot more are attempting to get to Kosovo. MNB (j) sent 2 additional units to that region. UNHCR estimated that 7,600 refugees have crossed into Kosovo since February 16, from whom 3,700 crossed in the last 3 days.

With the view that violence in FYROM seems to be subsiding, attention now is being focused towards the movement of refugees and former armed Albanian extremists who are returning over the border.

INTELLEGENCE INFORMATION

(N / K S) (ORKFOR) around 150 supporters of the armed Albanian extremists in FYROM, from Tetovo Region, were attempting to flee over the border to Kosovo in the course of the early morning hours. By afternoon KFOR units collected 78 of them. With their escape to Kosovo they will undoubtedly attempt to identify themselves as refugees who are fleeing the shooting. But it cannot be precluded that the anger and frustration of these individuals will not be turned towards KFOR.

OPERATIVE SITUATION

1. The action of encircling and searching Krivenik in close proximity to FYROM’s border. On the 27th at 0610 hours, Polukrbat conducted an encirclement and search of a questionable house in Krivenik (EM 227 624). The night before 20 individuals had entered the house carrying boxes and suitcases. When they searched the house they found an AKM 7,62mm rifle with 27 boxes of ammunition, an M-57 7,62mm pistol with 6 cases of ammunition, and l bulletproof vest. The boxes that were observed the night before were filled with food; the house was a grocery store.

2. On the 27th at 1325 hours HRS 4-27 I 13 TG informed that 7 Albanian people came over control point 75 (EN 550 050) on the road to Vitina. They left Skopje to escape the violence in Macedonia and to visit their aunt. They were a father, mother, four children and one friend of the family. The father was to leave the family and return back to Skopje and go to work.

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The above was a report filed by the South Brigade of the KFOR composition responsible for providing border security between the Republic of Macedonia and Kosovo.

Essentially, this whole thing was all about something else. Five hundred experienced officers were retired in 2000. An engineering officer was appointed head of General Headquarters and a quartermaster as his deputy. ARM was under reform in 2000 during which time part of its units were disbanded, primarily: Skopje 3. Army Corps - disbanded, armoured professional battalion -disbanded, 2. Army Corps Bitola in the process of being disband, border brigade still operationally unprepared, only 60% staffed with personnel and 43 watchtowers each staffed with 10 to 12 soldiers. Even though ARM had sufficient weapons and technical means, tanks, artillery, guns and ammunition, much of the human factor was disbanded. Most responsible for the situation with ARM and its combat readiness was its Supreme Commander - or the President of the Republic of Macedonia (under Articles 16, 18, 28 and 40 of the Republic of Macedonia’s Law of Defense). But for the security of the state, according to the same law, the government also shared responsibility through the Ministries of Interior and Defense.

(Articles 16, 19 and 20 of the same law.) The responsibility does not fall on General Headquarters - as an ARM expert authority or on its overall situation of combat readiness for the defense of the Republic of Macedonia’s territorial integrity. But in February and March of 2001, ARM went through a number of “reforms” implemented by the MPRI team through a contract, signed in 1998 by the Republic of Macedonia’s Minister of Defense.

In 1999 the US MPRI team requested ARM officers to be involved in the action plan and programs for preparing the Republic of Macedonia for NATO membership. Apart from other things covered by the program, was the proposal for the kind of Army the Republic of Macedonia would need, as a condition for its NATO membership. After reviewing the program, the then General Headquarters did not accept the proposal (among other things, it was proposed that the Republic of Macedonia have only one light infantry brigade with two light battalions). General Headquarters rejected the program and developed a new program with a fully developed, new reorganization for ARM. This new reorganization - reformation was signed by Kiro Gligorov, the then President of the Republic of Macedonia. Our rejection of the proposal offered by the MPRI team, however, caused some disagreements between General Richard Griffiths, MPRI team leader, and the ARM generals. But, after Boris Trajkovski the new President of the Republic of Macedonia was elected he retired those “putting the brakes” on the MPRI version of the reforms. Immediately after that the MPRI version was accepted and reforms were started in 2000, reforms that were proposed by General Richard Griffiths of the United States of America.

In that period (February and March 2001) all state authorities and party officials downplayed each incident of the crisis as an ordinary, everyday “incident”. Later they blamed them on lack of “awareness”. At that time, border security authorities were reporting that members of the Kosovo Protection Corps were firing at Macedonian personnel in the Republic of Macedonia from Kosovo, Yugoslavia, in full view of KFOR soldiers - who were mandated to provide security at the Kosovo - Republic of Macedonia border.

For mutual cooperation in securing the border, General Headquarters and KFOR had established an operational centre of cooperation and information with the ARM border authorities.

ARM General Headquarters should have raised the village Tanushevtsi issue to the most critical level. As a matter of fact, Article 24 of the border service law compelled ARM border control units to take immediate military actions and inform the relevant authorities of the foreign invasions into the territory of the Republic of Macedonia. The ARM Chief of Staff did not require permission from the President of the Republic of Macedonia to deploy ARM in this matter. He was only required to inform the government authorities and, above all, the President of the action taken.

After surveying the conditions and developments in the villages Tanushevtsi and Malina Maala, I came across some things which to me seemed inexplicable, about the Ministry of Defense and General Headquarters - President - which had taken place since the beginning of the so-called border incidents. An entire platoon (23) of terrorists was relocated in that region from the Kosovo Protection Corps: 3 were residents of Tanushevtsi. It took the “top military and government” authorities almost an entire month to make the necessary arrangements to handle the situation and to raise it to an International level in accordance with the Constitution and Law of Defense. ARM had both the military capacity and international law on its side when it came to defending our country’s integrity and independence. Publicly the situation was manipulated and downplayed and later justified as lack of information about the real situation. But the actual reports filed in those days tell a different story. Also, it was inappropriate for the authorities to manipulate the situation through the media by publicly announcing that military action would be immediately taken to crack down on the terrorists. While it was publicly claimed “that it was the local people from the village Tanushevtsi causing the incidents and handling the problem was the responsibility of the police and politicians”, privately it was well-known that this was not entirely true and essentially the opposite. This means that, from the beginning the so-called “provocations” in the Tanushevtsi - Malina Maala vicinity were classic examples of territorial integrity violations. This means that the Republic of Macedonia’s territorial integrity was violated at the

border of a neighbouring country, which essentially meant the beginning of aggression. Given what had happened, non-action on the part of ARM cannot be justified; just “because the provocations occurred in settlements where there was proper police service” (as was reported by the Minister of Defense and by the Chief of Staff). This gives me the right to conclude that someone, from the beginning, did not want to take serious action; and not because ARM was not ready or there was not enough military capacity to deal with these so-called provocations.

However, regardless of the ARM human factor being disbanded in 2000, which was then in possession over 400 carriers, 94 T - 55 A tanks, 6 squadrons of 122 m/m artillery, 2 squadrons of 105 m/m artillery, numerous 120 m/m and 60 m/m mortars, 6 b/k munitions and overall light weapon and 4 b/K tank and artillery weapons. Besides that the Republic of Macedonia also had trained staff in its reserves available to ARM. In other words it had 120,000 trained reserve personnel - Soldiers and officers.

Being familiar with the overall situation in ARM, its fighting capacity, the ability of the soldiers and officers, I accepted the task and began to work to find a military solution to the problem the Republic of Macedonia was facing, using the same means that every country in the world would employ to defend its independence if attacked from a foreign territory.

Well, at least that’s what I thought then with the modest amount of information I was given about the aims of the “aggressor”, the Kosovo Protection Corps, and the total forces it had rebased on Macedonian territory.