“Peacekeepers
Replaced with International Police Force”
(By Valon
A. Syla)
“Concordia”, the EU peacekeeping mission in
FRY Macedonia has ended and will be replaced by an international police force.
According to the European Union, the security situation in Macedonia has
improved and there is no need for a military presence. The decision has sparked
mixed reactions in Macedonia – the Albanian community that make 25 percent of
the population feels the move is premature, but the Macedonian majority thinks
it was about time for foreign troops to leave.
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“Concordia” was
deployed in Macedonia in March to replace a larger contingent of NATO
Peacekeepers. The end of this mission, says the EU spokeswoman in Macedonia
Sheena Thompson, was based on an assessment of overall security.
Sheena Thompson: “The end of the Concordia mission has got
absolutely nothing to do with military commitments required elsewhere in the
world, the Concordia mission comprised of about 400 troops, and they are now
returning home as they are taking seasonal leave”
Nonetheless, the
peacekeeping troops did give a sense of higher security to Macedonian citizens,
especially to the Albanian community. An escalation of armed incidents in the
summer culminated in a major police operation against Albanian militants.
Things have calmed down since then, enough apparently for the Macedonian
authorities to call for the withdrawal of foreign troops. Lupco
Popovski, an editor at the daily Utrinski Vesnik says there should be no
concerns because the peacekeeping mission ended.
Lupco Popovski: “The Macedonian Government requested
international missions in the country to end. The Government and public
consider this to be an important step forward which indicates that the safety
situation in the country is getting better.”
The argument doesn’t
convince most Macedonian Albanians. Decentralization and the issue of education
in the Albanian language could escalate into violence, warns Arben Ratkoceri,
editor of the daily newspaper Fakti. Macedonia, he says, needed more time.
Arben Ratkoceri: “My opinion is that they left a little bit early, the
improvement in security hasn’t been substantial enough, Because the country is
going through difficult political processes, especially this last month, all it
takes is a small incident for the situation to escalate into if not a conflict,
into widespread violence.”
Recent tensions over
the legalisation of Tetevo University underlines the potential for unrest. The
outlawed Albanian National Army, AKSH is lying low for the moment, but as the
past has shown, they too could re-manifest themselves, ratcheting up
inter-ethnic tensions.
Arben Ratkoceri: “A few months ago, 3 young Albanians, civilians were
shot dead by Macedonian security forces as a result of their offensive against
the Albanian National Army. The incident was enough to spark unrest between the
majority and minority communities.”
But the EU thinks that
the time for military peacekeeping mission in Macedonia is ending. The real
challenge facing the country today, says spokeswoman Sheena Thompson are
smuggling and trafficking, issues that fall under the purview of the police.
Sheena Tomso: “The essence is that challenges that do remain in
Macedonia are not of a military nature, they’re best adjusted to a specialized
police unit. In numbers of areas of police work, the Macedonian authorities
asked the EU to help assisting by advising and observing the work of Macedonian
police authorities, this includes work in the border management and also
includes work in investigation of organized crime.”
200 international
policemen will comprise the police advisory mission “Proxima” which will
replace the outgoing EU peacekeeping mission “Concordia”. Their main objective
will be to train young police officers and provide advice on the issue of
reforms in the ministry of interior.
But, Arben Ratkoceri
has doubts that 200 lightly armed police officers would be able to tackle the
issue of organized crime. This is a regional problem he says, and does not
concern Macedonia alone.
Arben Ratkoceri: “Organized crime in Macedonia is an issue that
makes all the processes here more difficult, especially in the economic and
social field, but I don’t believe that Proxima could have success in fighting
these crimes if the Macedonian police does not take more serious steps.”
An opinion shared by Lupco Popovski, who calls for a regional approach to the fight against organized crime, given the linkages between the countries in this area. However, for him, the key problem that Macedonia faces is the economy.
Lupco
Popovski:
I think that people are today focused on everyday economic issues because
the situation is really bad. The unemployment rate is high, 37 percent. In recent
public surveys made by various institutions the main problem for citizens is
always poverty and unemployment and bad economy. That’s the key problem for the
country.
But a return of
military peacekeepers cannot be completely ruled out. Some Western experts
recently argued that the country might still require a military presence
considering the continuing ethnic tensions, crime, corruption, and economic
problems - all major risks for the country’s future.
This was all for this
edition of UNMIK on air. Thanks for listening.