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Washington's Confused
Macedonia Policy
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When the likes of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting starts singing the praises of a political party it had not long ago helped to defeat, you just know that US policy toward Macedonia is in severe confusion. Hedging Their Bets Leadership changes in powerless opposition parties rarely spark much world interest. Yet the elevation of former finance minister Nikola Gruevski to the VMRO-DPMNE presidency is causing "consternation among the internationals," according to one informed source in Skopje: "…the Americans are watching this carefully, because whoever turns out to be the winner in the next elections must be their man." Young, popular and untainted by corruption, Gruevski may just turn out to be a contender. And his current USAID-funded gig advising the Serbian government on economic reform is even being seen as some form of initiation – if not exactly a pact made down at the crossroads. At this point it would not take much. The ruling coalition – the SDSM (having roots in socialist Yugoslavia) and the Albanian DUI (having roots in terroristic Kosovo) – is turning out to be a pretty underwhelming alliance. In general, following Empire's lackeys in the IWPR is a pretty accurate way of taking the pulse of Western intentions. In this light, the latest report – which criticizes Ali Ahmeti and the DUI for their inaction – can perhaps be interpreted as a signal for Washington's impatience with its dutiful protégé. Rumor has it that the US is warming to Ahmeti's political rivals in the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP), a onetime powerful Albanian party that suffered major defections to DUI. The question today in Skopje is, has Ahmeti peaked? Ahmeti's Unsurprising Exoneration Yet all hope has not been lost in him. After all, Ahmeti has been exonerated – as had long been expected. The onetime leader of that merry band of brigands, the NLA, was last month taken off of President Bush's terrorist Black List. To his credit, Ahmeti did not voice the desire to go to Disney World as his first celebratory wish. However, the warlord-turned-politician may just have time to visit it – on his upcoming trip to the US. It is highly likely that the West's poster boy for, er, the vigorous sort of Balkan peacemaking will be in Washington only to receive his orders. Although average Albanians have grown disenchanted with DUI's inability to make significant improvements in their lives, there is still hope to save the coalition to which Washington is currently bound. Ahmeti's removal from the list was merely symbolic. After all, his party's headquarters is in Skopje, and he can travel freely through the country. He has long been kosher to the Bush Administration. Yet since there are doubtless many Macedonians who feel strongly about Washington's decision, one would expect that some similarly symbolic concession would be granted to their side. However, the exact opposite of this occurred – the concomitant blacklisting of the former interior minister, VMRO's Ljube Boskovski. Boskovski Blacklisted – But Why? The move came with no explanation. Apparently, "Brother Ljube" as he is known, represents a "threat to stability" in Macedonia – although he has spent much of his time since losing his job on the Croatian seaside. The smearing of Boskovski was long overdue for some; for example, take Senate Foreign Relations chair Joe Biden. Speaking last September at an Albanian-American Civic League fundraiser in Illinois, the stridently anti-Macedonian Biden attacked the "…racist, right-wing Interior Minister Boskovski" who, apparently, was "…itching to turn his goons loose on defenseless Albanians in Macedonia." Now, Boskovski may have been heavy handed, but a war criminal he is not. The utter absurdity of Biden's comments – here and elsewhere – would be comic if they were not so tragic. That US foreign policy in the Balkans has long been hijacked by pro-Albanian militant extremists needs no elucidation; the only question now is to what extent such voices still dominate the chorus in Washington's peanut gallery of incompetents. Eliminating the Old Guard The Iraq war has, more than ever before, highlighted the existing fissures between the White House, Pentagon and State Department, to name only the most important of US policymakers. Indeed, it is a fallacy to imagine that there exists one united American policy wreaking evil throughout the world. There are actually many competing factions, some less bellicose than others. But they do share a general trend – cultural ignorance and intellectual incompetence – made more or less dangerous depending on the specific faction involved. Nevertheless, the Macedonian situation only heightens the ambivalence of an undefined, immature policy. Ironically, the blacklisting of Boskovski probably has less to do with appeasing the Albanian lobby and more to do with rehabilitating his party for future US consumption. By eliminating VMRO's old guard, the US hopes the party will become more palatable to the West, should Gruevski start gaining too much popularity. Besides Boskovski, other figures on the block include former Prime Minister Georgievski and former customs chief Dragan Daravelski. The latter has been hiding abroad since last September, but is rumored to be on the way back to face corruption charges. Although Daravelski was a major target of the ICG's corruption crusade last August, NGO do-gooders will be sad to learn that he'll probably get off with a slap on the wrist. At the same time, Daravelski's political career has been compromised, perhaps fatally, by the furor. And that's all that was really necessary anyway. So Ljubcho Will Go – Or Will He? We can expect similar treatment in the case of Georgievski – although perhaps different results. The IWPR report describes his decision to step down as "pragmatic." According to the article, Georgievski complained that: "…the international community does not like me, journalists do not like me, Yugo-nostalgics do not like me, and [none of them] understand my concept of solving the Albanian question in Macedonia." Grumpy as he sounds, Georgievski is a wily politician and it is believed he will stay active behind the scenes. It was evident before Gruevski's election at the party conference in May that the ex-prime minister was backing him over his only rival, former agriculture minister Marjan Gorcev. Some even believe that Georgievski will actively return to politics in 5 or 6 years. His current expulsion from power is believed to have been a condition set by the West to ensure that he would not be indicted on corruption charges. Ironically, the same urge for control that saw Georgievski attacked on the corruption issue – through the medium of the ICG's Edward Joseph – has now necessitated that he be let off the hook. The failure to "get" Georgievski is no doubt a big disappointment for the ICG's ambitious would-be diplomat, who originally wanted to accuse the former PM of major corruption in last summer's report. However, the ICG's lawyers wisely prevented this. The exigencies of unfolding realpolitik only highlight the continuing confusion and ambiguity of Washington's Macedonia policy. Announcing Macedonia's Newest Travel Agency: 'Butler Tours' The further encroachment of the surreal was witnessed last month with the Vejce debacle, an incident that confirmed the essential powerlessness of American empire where it matters most – on the ground. The Macedonian government had organized a pilgrimage for bereaved mothers who wanted to leave flowers on the site where their sons had been mutilated and murdered in one of the most horrific massacres of the 2001 war – one allegedly carried out by foreign mujahedin. The fiasco unfolded soon after the group's arrival. Hostile local Albanian villagers blocked the road leading to the murder site. Two days later, Interior Minister Hari Kostov and Ambassador Larry Butler, representative of most powerful nation on earth, were reduced to begging for free passage from some illiterate shepherds. Luckily, the Macedonians can always take refuge in humor. The endless absurdities of their situation have left plenty of room for it. Hence the droll synopsis of Vest's Goran Mihajlovski: "…so, the negotiations start. Framework agreements, cohabitation, togetherness, coffee, tea, a good-looking European woman, the daily hardships of the local inhabitants, negotiators, USA, EU, NATO. And at the end, Ali Ahmeti appears and appeals to the villagers to be good hosts to the grieving relatives [of the victims of the Vejce massacre]. A deal is struck for all to meet at the same place in a couple of days. The media get into the game, too. They also, step by step, mark every foot of the thorny road to Vejce." Mihajlovski's solution really says it all about the limited protection Washington can offer its loyal little client state: "…it would be in the best interest of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia if the American Ambassador would open a tourist agency. Then, if anyone would like to stroll across Macedonia, to hire "Butler Tours." Imagine if your hike over Shara Mountain distresses some young Framework Agreement shepherd. (Thus) follows an immediate blockade of the Skopje-Tetovo highway. Or, God forbid, you dare fish in Debar Lake. That would lead to cutting the power supply for the entire (city of) Gostivar. Because of all that, your cheapest alternative is to hire "Butler Tours." You never know when you are going to need it. Today for a trip, tomorrow to organize weddings, baptisms, and other family celebrations which include singing and shooting. It's the end of the old adage: "get to know your country so you can love it more." From now on it's: "get to know Butler so you can get to know your country!" Anecdotes such as this one should come as a reassurance to anybody who fears US global military hegemony. For although all of space is now apparently off-limits to foreign countries, it seems that a few odd patches of turf continue to evade capture. Just ask our boys in Iraq. A Policy of Ambivalence: How Will it Shape Up? Of course, now that Macedonian soldiers have made it to Iraq, that feisty little piece of terrain will surely soon fall under "coalition" control. Protecting the peace in the Gulf is evidently of greater importance than doing so back home – where the endless rounds of Albanian drive bys, shootings, kidnappings and random bombings continue without cease. With NATO and EU still using Macedonia as a peacekeeping proving ground, Macedonia's security needs are being taken care of by imported soldiers with pugilistic proclivities – even as President Trajkovski lamely tries to insist that Macedonia is an equal partner in EU "integration," and not some experimental entity. However, the West's toleration of Albanian lawlessness, and the apparent support Albanian militant organizations are continuing to receive from stateside go a long way towards understanding why the Macedonian flag is flying from the North Pole – literally – but will never fly over large parts of Macedonia itself. The US, of course, will be the final arbitrator here. By going in for the Iraq adventure, Macedonia has made major efforts to appease the Empire – but will it pay off? Will the country win the immediate support that was so obviously lacking during the 2001 war and after? Or will the legacy of broken American promises, deceptions and threats continue? Reports that neophyte Albanian militants are being spirited away for high-level meetings with Western officials – as has happened so many times more – offer a depressingly predictable prognosis. To be sure, Macedonia is ripe for real and productive change, To judge by experience, however, the results will be few and far between if left up to the usual suspects for implementation.
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Previous articles by Christopher Deliso on Antiwar.com Washington's
Confused Macedonia Policy 'The
Yanks Have Really Screwed Up in Iraq' Wolfowitz
in Skopje – What Next for Macedonia? America's
'Conservative' Christians – and the Middle East's Occupation
by Bad Example Iraq's
Cultural Catastrophe – and Ours Has
America Gone Commie? The
Ends of Alliance in Iraq Washington's
Hubris Invites a Fatal Iraqi Misjudgment Suing
in England, Vacationing in France: the Misplaced Patriotism of Richard
Perle Top
Ten Bogus Justifications for the Iraqi War Disaster
Par Extraordinaire? Almost
Spot On: The British Critique of American Newspapers So
Many Fronts, So Little Sense Poisonings
or Power Plays? Terrorist
Bombing in Kumanovo, 1 Dead The
Instability Myth, Free Markets and Macedonia's Future The
Interview That Never Happened The
Price of Paranoia The
Trouble with Turkey Greater
Albania: a Place, or Just a State of Mind? Explosion
Rocks Macedonian Parliament
Baghdad
Braces for War Envisioning
Peace in the Shadow of War Seducing
Intervention: Nobody's
Fault But Their Own? In
European
Intelligence: The US Betrayed Us In Macedonia A
Georgian Gaffe Heavy
Fighting Erupts in Aracinovo on First Anniversary of NLA's 'Free Zone' Kodra
Fura and Macedonia's Emerging War Kosovar
Terrorists Renew Attacks on Macedonia Macedonia
On War Footing Over Kosovo Border Provocations Macedonian
Tortured In Tetovo Village, As Gang War Rages Macedonia:
A Nation of Ingrates Mujahedin
In Macedonia, or, an Enormous Embarrassment For the West How
Not To Capture Osama bin Laden Whispers
of Folly and Ruin Blurring
the Boundaries in Macedonia When
The Terror Goes Down To Georgia: Some Thoughts On The Caucasus Imbroglio
In
Macedonia, Terrorism Remains the Law But
Would It Be an Evil Axis? Economics
and Politics in Macedonia: an Interview with Dr. Sam Vaknin Macedonians
and the Media Secrets
of the Blue Café On
the Front Lines in Tetovo Interview
with Ljube Boshkovski A
Connection Between NATO and the NLA? The
Legacy of War: Kidnapped Persons in Macedonia The
Day's Disturbances and Developments in Macedonia
Crisis in Macedonian Government –
Albanian Hackers Deface Macedonian Website
Partition: Macedonia's Best Lost Hope? Important
Notice to Readers of the Macedonia Page Selective Democracy Comes
to Macedonia Macedonia Capitulates With a Friend Like Pakistan Afghan-Americans Oppose Interventionism,
Seek Unity The Afghan
Quagmire Beckons Suddenly, Terrorists
Are Everywhere Turkey's Eclipse: Chechnya Comes Home
To America A Quiet Battle in the Caucasus:
Georgia Between Russia & NATO Central Asia: The Cauldron
Boils Over Bin Laden, Iran, and the KLA The Macedonian Phrase-Book:
Writing NATO's Dictionary of Control Barbarism and the Erasure
of Culture Macedonian Endgame: The Sinister
Transformation of the Status Quo Christopher Deliso is a freelance writer and Balkan correspondent for Antiwar.com, UPI, and private European analysis firms. He has lived and traveled widely in the Balkans, southeastern Europe and Turkey, and holds a master's degree with distinction in Byzantine Studies from Oxford University. In the past year, he has reported from many countries, including Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Hungary, Greece, the Republic of Georgia and the Turkey-Iraq border. Mr. Deliso currently lives in Macedonia, and is involved with projects to generate international interest and tourism there. |