Macedonia Albanians Filibuster Over Army Law
By Sinisa Jakov Marusic
Ethnic Albanian legislators in Macedonia are trying to “talk out” a proposed law on the rights of the military, blocking its passage in parliament through the means of marathon speeches.
The law, put forward earlier this month by the main ruling VMRO DPMNE party, concerns the rights of members of the armed forces who fought in the 2001 armed conflict, and their families.
The draft law has angered ethnic Albanian parties, which either want the same rights extended to former Albanian guerrilla fighters and their families in the 2001 conflict – or the bill dropped altogether.
“The DUI and I will do everything in our power to block the law,” Talat Xhaferi, a legislator from the Democratic Union for Integration warned in parliament on Monday, as he vowed to continue his two weeks of filibustering.
By using a procedural gap that places no limit on the time that a speech must take at the commission where the draft is stuck, Xhaferi has played on the patience of his colleagues.
They have so far been forced to listen to him reading poetry, citing foreign literature and reports on Macedonia, mumbling or simply remaining silent, waiting for the time to pass.
On Monday he insisted that he was still not ready to wrap up his discussion.
After initially threatening to leave government over the law, the DUI last week retreated, concluding at a party meeting that they should stay in the government led by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, for now.
However, they said they will continue blocking the draft provision, effectively encouraging Xhaferi to continue his marathon speeches.
The Prime Minister last week said that he does not understand what the fuss is all about.
“The law is a modest compensation for people who defended Macedonia in 2001,” Gruevski said, adding that he and his party will keep pushing for its adoption.
VMRO DPMNE demanded the law after Defence Minister Fatmir Besimi, an Albanian from the ranks of DUI, in August angered many Macedonians by bowing before a village memorial erected to Albanian insurgents who fought in 2001.
In 2001 Macedonia suffered a brief but violent armed conflict between government forces and Albanian fighters, which ended with the signing of the Ohrid Peace Accord.
This gave more rights to Albanians in the country in exchange for them disbanding the guerrilla force. Many of its members later formed the DUI.
Forces of the Republic of Macedonia were ordered into the conflict, and obeyed the order. Albanian beligerants were not ordered by anyone, but openly volunteered. Those who obeyed the orders of the state are to be rewarded by the state.
Michael Grubbs said:
“Forces of the Republic of Macedonia were ordered into the conflict, and obeyed the order. Albanian beligerants were not ordered by anyone, but openly volunteered. Those who obeyed the orders of the state are to be rewarded by the state”
So FYROM should reward those that followed orders which was to surpress a minority and deny them equal rights just because of their ethnic origin?
You sir would have followed the orders of Adolf Hitler and your character is very weak indeed.
A bigger man is one who stands up for what is right and just and not the one who just follows orders regardless if they are just or not.
If anyone should not be given benefits, its the suppressors.
In Michael Grubbs world, Hitler, Gaddafi, Saddam & Pot Pol are all fine leaders and all men should follow their commands regardless.
@Sam
Your claims are completely false. The OFA has nothing to do with “equal rights” which Albanians have had for decades, along with all other ethnic minorities. It has to do with irredentism and Greater Albania. The terrorism of Ali Axmeti is what has been tolerated in Macedonia, to the extent of massive power sharing which rewards violence. But the time will come when this type of appeasement politics will end.
The micrography of interethnic disputes in FYROM among slavs and ethnic albanians has some similarities with ethnic disputes of 1946 in india among hindus and muslims i hope both ethnic communities to find peacefull solution i think the option of autonomy to ethnic albanians IN FYROM must be seriously examined
In 2001, Macedonian security forces fought to defend Macedonia agaisnt the establishment of greater Albania. Ali Ahmeti openly called for this during the conflict, until his CIA masters ordered a change in tone (the traditional “human rights” card the US have perfected throughout the world as a way of overthrowing governments)
Now those security forces are on the streets with no compensation for loss of life, while the Albanian fighters are employed in the government and army.
Greek PM Samaras has openly called on the Republic of Macedonia to be divided between Albania and Bulgaria. I suggest the paid agents of this bankrupt nation (both financially and morally)look to save their Bavarian created nation before it collapses.
I hardly think the Macedonian government oppressed their minorities to the degree to which you make comparisons. My own country, the USA, has a long history of oppressing minorities, and not many of them picked up machine guns, rocket propelled grenades or mortars and then later given benefits for doing so.
Don’t bother with people like Xheferi & Mitsaras.
Their prime objective is for the destruction & division of the Republic Of Macedonia and for the suppression of human rights for all ethnic Macedonians.
There are no comparisons, and it is well documented that many Ethnic Macedonian’s to this day that reside in Mala Prespa, Aegean & Pirin Macedonia are persecuted and oppressed for simply declaring themselves as ethnic Macedonians.
The Republic of Macedonia is a free and sovereign state, that represents a free Macedonia for all it’s people, and should not be held to ransom or gun point by any foreign influence looking for it’s destruction or division.
A strong and independent Macedonian State is vital for piece and stability in the Balkans!
mr Nikolaidi where did you see that i was expecting the distruction of FYROM?I was speaking only for autonomy to the vast ethnic albanian minority 35% existing in fyrom as peacefull solution on the ongoing warfare interethnic dispute , .But i will make a comment to your post. Is your country (fyrom) a factor of stabilization in the balkans?or a factor for next balkan war? when fyrom’s history school books giving the impresion to the youths that their nation is not limited in today’s borders but it is extented until mount Olympus in Greece and to other neighboring countries where the “macedonians” are living under occupation?
Mitsaras stop stirring the pot we all know how much you really care about the ethnic Albanian minority in the Republic of Macedonia. You are nothing more than a hellenised xenophobe. Your arrogance and insults will no longer be tolerated by Ethnic Macedonians. The official senses figures in the Republic of Macedonia have the Albanian minority at 25% (2002) and not the figure you have quoted ! They are members of an independent Macedonian state, and are represented!
Your so called pure Hellenic State needs to take a leaf out of the Macedonia’s book and bring itself into the real world.
It’s neighbour the Republic of Macedonia is real like the many ethnic Macedonians that reside within modern day Greek boarders and will not go away!
It is your so called pure nation that needs to conduct it’s own census and stop spending EU borrowed dollars to fabricate it’s own history!
Remember you don’t reflect the ancients, nor are you an innocent player when it comes to fabricating history.
Keep your nose out of Macedonian affairs and get your own act in order before you start passing judgment or opinions.
Your posts only offend and insult ethnic Macedonians and the Macedonian state itself!
mr nikolaidis why you don’t post with your native name but use the “hellenized” ? are you ashamed of your slavic name ?Does your name has the ending “ov” or “ev” like gotse delchev ,misirkov and you want to hide your bulgarian past ? the Greeks as you know still calling your nation as “bulgaroi” from byzantine era .Anyway except your damnations and your threats that make me laugh , You don’t give any answer to the topic We are debating about albanian minority and army law in fyrom and the hostile rhetoric that you country is doing against neighboring nations
FYROM’s ultra-nationalists , often claim that Greece has fabricated its own history, but we Greeks say that if our edition of hellenic ancient or modern history is “fabricated” ,then the same “fabrications” should be done by all world’s scholars and all world’s encyclopedias !Because we are saying the same history with them . In the contrary and accordance to FYROM’s ex-prime minister mr Georgievski FYROM today is the bigest history falsifier in balkans
Turkospori to the contrary I hide behind nothing, and laugh at your ignorance! Your insults clearly indicate that you have an axe to grind with ethnic Macedonians and that you are a fraud and a buly with little or NO INTEREST in the Albanian cause!
Mitsaras, many Macedonians from agean Macedonia still keep there helenized sirsanames after immigrating from Greece, so we can still visit our remaining relatives in agean Macedonia and also so our relatives don’t get harassed by greek police.
From what I have been reading on the web the republic of Macedonia has given more minority rights to all it’s citizens then any other country in the world.
you say lie about the reasons you still ” keeping the hellenized names” if i was ashamed for a family name that was given to me obligatory,i would have changed it at once !! if you are not in the greek list of “persona non grata” to enter in greece for visiting your relatives or as turist do not need to have a greek name, how that can be possible ?!2nd greece is a free european country, every one who do not violate the greek law ,is free to say and do whatever he wants. The reason you keep the “hellenized” names is because your family has been registred with own free will as Greeks by genus in 1985 under the new amnesty law(CONSEQUENCES OF CIVIL-WAR) of 1984 in order to get back again the greek citizenship and preserve the benefits of fortune rights,political rights in Greece ect . And now you make the hero as skopian-bulgari in web forums, spreading hate towards hellenism ,Greece should examine again the list of slavomacedonians civil war guerillas 1947-49. because some individuals of the new generation of those families are a real danger for greek national sequrity
The guy is a clown, could not find water if he was sitting in it. He needs to read up on what living life in a democracy is. The state has a system to implement laws democratically, its then voted on, if its passed its a law that must be adhered to period. I think your are looking for a Communist Albanian leadership, it already exists in Albania try that. If thats not what tickles your fancy try the anarchists in Kosovo. You crazy cats will be the cause of your own death.
Your general abusive phraseology style .with paranoic correlations to irrelevant matters avoiding to give any answer to what you have been asked , using standard slang words like “toyrkospori “and references to greek history as fabrication product , this reminds me an old lunatic skopiano-boylgaro with name “Peter from canada” born in greece before WW2 ,he wanted to do dna test on the remains of king philip in order to get ancient macedonian certification . your written style has many similarities with him ,if you are not the same person ,( that i believe) .then for sure both you copy crap from the same hate source, the skopian diaspora you are pathetic my intention is to debate the current politic and history and not with idiots
This is the Map that FYROM wants back from prior to 1913 Macedonia-Greek War.
http://faq.macedonia.org/images/dim.gif
Notice that it includes all of Greek-Macedonia , plus Bulgaria-Pirin and parts of Eastern Albania,Northeast Greece proper, Southern Kosovo, and Southern portions of Serbia.
There is not even one neighbor that FYROM does not have interest in taking lands from it.
Look at what FYROM are teaching their school children:
A typical textbook map of ‘Greater Macedonia’, with no time designation,
showing the country extending deep into Greek territory, to the city of
Grevena and Mount Olympus. Greece views such maps as typical of
Fyrom propaganda, claiming exclusive territorial, historical and cultural
proprietorship over the region of Macedonia.
http://www.helleniccomserve.com/fyromwontbudge.html
my previous post to nikolaidis was the same matter about expansionism and irredentism i want to underline that this person is a slav not related to greece .using greek name for impresions,he is ashamed to use his native bulgarian name
Your are here for the wrong reasons, there are other sites for those debates.
i have done a proposal for peaceful solution in fyrom’s interethnic dispute before nikolaidis began the provocations ,so, read it
if you see my first post you will see what i said but one slav with name nikolaidis lol wanted to play games in other field
See you are part of the reason peace is hard to come by in the balkans. I Cant really figure out why you are here? Are you here to debate the Albanian point of view in parliament or here to stir up sht with people you assume to be Macedonian or in your words as per the ending of a individuals last name (ev or ov) Bulgarian? Why are you here posting? Do you think you are clever, you have discovered things nobody else knows or has heard before?
i am here to debate current balkan politic and history as free man
in FYROM, when the Albanians called for more extensive use of the Albanian language and the official recognition of the Albanian University of Tetova within the Macedonian educational system, the government of Kiro Gligorov dismissed these demands by arguing that if such rights were given to Albanians, then the same should also be given to Hispanics in Texas and Arabs in Marseilles.
Nevertheless, we stand at the beginning of a new era in which old federations are dissolving, their constituent parts are seceding, and the right to self-determination is emerging as a defining issue on the historical stage. In the face of massive human rights abuses and economic, cultural, and political disenfranchisement, a people’s right to self-determination must have priority over territorial integrity. Emerging new States should be recognized only if they guarantee human rights, freedom, equality, peace, and democracy for all groups.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM):
In spite of its pronounced bi-national and multicultural structure, the FYROM is defined as the national State of the Macedonians, a State in which Albanians are guaranteed only their civil, technical rights. They are deprived of their history and their land.
Some critical mistakes were made during Macedonia’s secession from the former Yugoslav federation. The right to self-determination was given only to the State’s Slav Macedonian population, not to its Albanian population, who against their will see themselves as separated from part of their national body. The referendum on the independence of the FYROM was proclaimed without prior definition of the premises and the social relations within the new State. Only the rights, and not the obligations, deriving from the former Yugoslav system, were embraced, such as the question of new citizenship or the compensation of the institutions of the Albanian national entity. Finally, the political will of the Albanians who boycotted the Macedonian referendum and organized an Albanian referendum on political and territorial autonomy was violated and ignored.
In the process of building the FYROM as an independent State, a number of errors were made through the institutionalization of exclusively nationalist definitions that eliminate and marginalize “the other,” such as:
In the Constitution of the FYROM, the essential interests of the Albanians are not reflected.
The Constitution was adopted against the will of the representatives of the Albanians,
who abstained en bloc.
The international agreements on the former Yugoslavia, especially the Second
Chapter of the Carrington Document, were ignored.
The spirit of the Albanian-Macedonian talks conducted at Oher with the mediation of Gert Ahrens was disregarded.
The “one man, one vote” concept was used to impose the will of one people over another during the secession and also in the course of establishing parliamentary procedures and the creation of the Constitution and the laws that define national rights.
In new multiethnic States in which inalienable national rights have not been
previously defined, distorted democratic procedure, as I have stated earlier, turns into an efficient instrument for the legal marginalization, even elimination, of the non-dominant group or groups. The FYROM is a classic example of distorted democracy at work, in which mechanisms of power favor the primary Macedonian people and penalize the secondary Albanian population, who nevertheless make up one-third of the country. The electoral system, for example, is a majority system that minimizes the impact of the Albanian vote through the addition of electoral units, with the result that, on average, an Albanian deputy has double the number of voters compared with a Macedonian deputy. Recently, when public talks were held about this electoral model, a professor on the law faculty at the University of Skopje, who was previously head of the Forum for the Defense of Human Rights, Minister of the Police and Internal Affairs, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, insisted that in the FYROM the proportional system could not be implemented because Albanians would then have all the votes, would elect more deputies, and eventually would secure a mandate to form the government. His message was simple: Make sure that Albanians do not receive their votes.
In the same vein, the executive branch in the FYROM has the power to approve the decisions of local administrators. The local administration (the commune), which is legally in the hands of the Albanians, comes under the control of the executive, which is controlled almost totally by Slav Macedonians. The rights of the local administration, as outlined in Article 115 of the Constitution, are divided into three categories: 1) the direct rights of the commune; 2) rights that are granted only with the approval of the Slav Macedonian executive branch; 3) rights that the FYROM may transfer to the communes. Even the first category of rights cannot be extended without the law, with the result that what is put forth in the Constitution is not included in the law. In reality, all decisions are made at the center of power, even the appointment of school headmasters. Within this framework, the government of Macedonia may suspend any local administration, which, in Western Macedonia, are all in the hands of the Albanians.
The relationships and instruments of power that were established in the FYROM in the process of its secession from the former Yugoslavia and its emergence as a new State in actuality stem from primordial intentions to exclude, subjugate, and exploit Albanians and other non-Slav Macedonian groups. The statistics bear out this assertion: Albanians, who make up one-third of the population represent only 3 percent of the country’s public officials and professionals—in the government, the army, the courts, the media, and in
the various cultural and scientific institutions. Not surprisingly, under this colonial system, the percentage of investments in the Albanian-inhabited areas of Macedonia—
from the infrastructure to the cultural and educational institutions and to the sphere of
employment—is ten times lower than the contribution of Albanians to the society as a whole.
In light of these facts, we can rightfully assert that the system has been constructed to serve the Slav Macedonian population at the expense of all other nationalities. The inherent inequity cannot be undone simply by appointing some Albanians to ministerial posts, or by boasting about a legal system that distorts democratic values, or by proclaiming the status of Albanians in Macedonia to be superior to that of other “minorities” in the Balkans. As to the latter, the presumption that Albanians are a “minority” in the Balkans flies in the face of historical fact: Albanians are the third largest ethnic group in the region and the descendants of the Illyrians, the oldest indigenous population. They are a majority that was divided by force.
The ways in which the Slav Macedonian power structure misuses the forms of democracy to subjugate the Albanian population, which it tragically misconstrues as a dangerous competitor, can correctly be termed “ethnic engineering.” Ethnic engineering leads to a permanent reductionism in public life. The Constitution is narrower than reality; because that which is allowed under the Constitution is prohibited by law. What is permitted by law is, in turn, limited by the institution, and what is allowed by the
institution is not realized by the individual. This phenomenon is manifest at all levels of society, down to the desk of the petty bureaucrat.
Albanians are now conscious of their true position within the Macedonian system, of the projects that are intended to marginalize them, either through openly brutal or more sophisticated means, and of the withering of their creative energies. As a result, today in the FYROM there is a dangerous confrontation between the wills of two peoples—the Albanians and the Macedonians—the outcome of which can be either constructive or destructive. Ideally the confrontation should be resolved by peaceful, civilized means, but it cannot be a peace at any price. The maxim “better a bad peace than a good war” is shortsighted, because inevitably a bad peace leads to a horrible war. The crisis in the Balkans is the product of an artificially-manufactured peace. Peace cannot be built with ethnocentric and hegemonic projects. In the FYROM, ethnic competition can be stopped and a stable peace established only through genuine dialogue and consensus on the following issues:
–The right of self-determination, which has been validated under UN Resolution, No.
The Albanians are not a minority, they are an indigenous population of FYROM. Now how seriously can we take anything Slavo Skopians say when even there own FA minister admitted that they invented their history and identity:
Denko Malevski(1st minister of foreign affairs in FYROM):
The creation of the “Macedonian” nation, for almost half of a century, was done in a condition of single-party dictatorship. In those times, there was no difference between science and ideology, so the “Macedonian” historiography, unopposed by anybody, comfortably performed a selection of the historic material from which the “Macedonian” identity was created. In those years, we lost our capability for strategic dialog. With Greeks? No, with ourselves. Since then, namely, we reach towards some fictional ethnic purity which we seek in the depths of the history & we are angry at those which dare to call us Slavs & our language & culture Slavic? We are angry when they name us what we are if we have to define ourselves in such categories, showing that we are ppl full with complexes which r ashamed 4 ourselves.
The idea that Alexander the Great belong to FYROM,was at the mind of some outsider political groups only!!These groups were insignificant the first years of our independence..the big problem is that the old Balkan Nations have been learned to legitimate themselves through their history. In Balkans,if you want to be recognised as a Nation,you need to have history of 3000 years old.Since Greeks made us to INVENT a history..we did invent it…
FYROM Slavs keep trying to fool the world that Albanians in FYROM have rights? Yeah we have rights in name only but they are not implemented.
Read how the Slavs manage to keep equal rights only for themselves.
http://www.eurasiareview.com/25092012-macedonia-albanians-filibuster-over-army-law/#comment-439435
If the Albanians truly had rights in FYROM, than 1 out of every 3 statutes, streets, buildings would have Albanian hero’s or Albanian Names.
and would not all be stolen Greek-Macedonian or Bulgarian hero’s or names.
Ha,ha
When was the last time you’ve seen German statue’s in Poland, Austria, Bulgaria….do I go on? how about Mexican hero’s/statues in the capital city of Washington? What a really immature comment to make, shows you the mentality of the ethnic Albanian politicians in ROM
Further, if you relocate to America, will you refuse to obey the laws of the country and refuse to speak English? silly mentality isn’t it.
In another clear repudiation of FYROM’s invented and fabricated history, the Brussels museum will present the manuscripts as Slavic: either Serbian or Bulgarian. Once again the international community rejects Skopje’s attempts to steal their neighbours history.
fyrom ultra-nationalistic policy gets defeats from everywhere eu,nato,un,and recently from museums …..not accepting the term “macedonian” manuscripts but only slavic manuscripts . ..what is next?the artificial macedonism is not able to persuade civilized world
mitsaras
September 26, 2012 at 7:45 am
I was speaking only for autonomy to the vast ethnic Albanian minority 35% existing in ROM as ….
WOW 35%,
just a slight exaggeration.
At last count, before the 2011 census was cancelled, the Macedonian’s counted little over 10% ethnic Albanians and mind you there were BIG, BIG irregularities hence why they were cancelled.
The Albanians time is up. They can’t threaten peace and destabilising Macedonian’s any longer. The thugs that arrived from Kosovo prior to 2001, want to remain in Macedonia but continue to threaten the peaceful citizens of Macedonia? Think of the remaining Turkish muslim Macedonian’s that have lived for a century in Macedonia, no violence, no threats, equal rights = civilized and no problems! Wouldn’t Eastern Europe be a wonderful place if each ethnic group had human rights that match ROM? I don’t see Albanian’s or Greeks or Serbs have representation of minority groups in Parliament. The cradle of democracy……he he.
FYROM’s fake identity and the creation of a fake Macedonian People.
Quick History lesson on how fast it happened due to one man Dictator Marshall Tito.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw2uyHLU7gw
FYROM’s fake identity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw2uyHLU7gw
I’m sorry for the confusion of my Slavic neighbours in skopjia but you are first a Slav people from FYROM and you are not here before the indigenous Illyrian people of skopjia area and most of FYROM. This so-called proto people of FYROM land was always the indigenous Ilyrians since 4000 years. The Bulgarians came here to our sacred land in 700-900AD not before. We also know that the Greek people live in the south for thousands of years like my ancestors live on the ancinet land of FYROM and was called Illyria.
The skopjia government was is only 50 years old and all the Yugislav people were later changed to Slavs. Many of my people have always called the Slavs Bulgarians but later changed only to Slavs because some from the skopjia government don’t like to be called Bulgarian anymore. But ther are many who call themselves Bulgarians in skopjia.
This confuses our indigenous Albanian peoples because the Slavs build statues which we all know only belong to the Greek people in the south area, only they have Alexander and Philip because they were Greek people not Slavs. And also statues that are Bulgarian heroes like Delchev, Karev, etc.
Why you ashame of your Bulgarian roots is difficult for many indigenoius Albanians to understand. When the Bulgarians settled on our land that is now FYROM they were not to primitive and dangerous. Now the Slavic leaders of skopjia think they can have Greek and Bulgarian history this is not right. The Greeks have a long history like our Illyrian forefathers and the Bulgarians come much later and this is very true.
Maybe skopjian governent when you stop hating Albanians, Bulgarians and Greeks then you can understand how wrong it is and why your Slavic people are so confused in our country. Hate makes you bitter about my indigenous people and worse you hate your Slavic brothers who you think are bad.
Many Slavs from skopjia government are corrupt, self-serving, and only looking out for their own interests and they are no better than other bad people in the Slav opposition. For many years the skopjia government has some corrupt people who have been supported by bad people, this you have to realise.
Our Indigenous Albanians are willing to live peacefully with the Slavs of skopjia but this must be mutual and not this big racism that exists among many young Slav skopjian residents. Everytime we move in skopjia many people don’t feel safe, this is no good for a country that wants EU. When Slavic racism drops in skopjia then people will have a better
life.
Would the United States of America let Mexico claim to be Texas or California and that George Washington is their founding father and that Western USA is occupied Mexican Lands.
I think the USA if it were in Greece’s or Bulgaria’s shoes Would bomb to hell all of Mexico if it tried such a thing as FYROM is trying against GREECE & Bulgaria.