February 22, 2010| Altin Zeqiri, ALBANIAN TIMES
SKOPJE, Macedonia —Kosova not mentioned as Macedonia’s neighbor in the school book texts which only mentions Serbia as their neighbor in the north. This has raised tensions among ethnic populations in Macedonia with the Albanian leaders demanding the text be changed and Kosova mentioned as their north neighbor whilst Macedonia has recognised Kosova as independent state.
Ministry of education in Macedonia has removed Kosova from the map in the school books printed in 2009 and the independence of Kosova was recognised in 2008 by Macedonia. In the primary school books, Macedonian authorities have removed Kosova as a neighbor by only mentioning Serbia as their neighbor country in the north. “Albanian Times” has published that Macedonian authorities in the last two decades has created tensions between ethnic Macedonians and ethnic Albanians in republic of Macedonia. Ethnic Albanians count for 40% of the total population in Macedonia and has often been offended by the government.
Tensions have been high between ethnic Albanians and Macedonians since the opening of the University of Tetova in 1994. The university was closed with force by Macedonian armed forces and that led with the unrest in the Albanian and Macedonian communities. University of Tetova however remained open but it was not officially recognized as a state university by the Government of Republic of Macedonia until January, 2004. Currently, the University is chaired by Dr. Agron Reka. Courses and lectures are mostly held in Albanian, but also in Macedonian and English.
The unrest between the two communities has been ongoing since 1995 and the latest offense by the government last month which asked for Albanian language be removed from primary schools has not helped the two major communities in Macedonia move forward.
Last month Macedonian authorities declared that Albanian language be stopped in the primary schools which was seen by Albanian leaders as a move to try and divide the ethnicity in Macedonia. Last year when Macedonia published their encyclopaedia they wrote that the Macedonians were there before Albanians and that Albanians came from the mountains but this was soon corrected and the encyclopaedia was later changed. Now with the latest move not mentioning Kosova as a neighbor has created more tensions between ethnic populations in Macedonia.
Albanian leaders in Macedonia said that if this is not soon changed tensions will rise and could lead to divisions between the ethnic populations. The atmosphere between the two major communities has changed since Macedonian government declared war on ethnic Albanians in 2001 in a hope to cleansing the Albanian population and reduce the rights of education. In the 2001 Macedonian war, Albanian resistance was strong and they took over most of the north part and if it wasn’t for NATO forces based in Kosova mediating at the time, the war would have escalated further in the Balkans.
Albanian Parliament members in Macedonia have said that those tensions are being pushed by nationalists who want only Macedonians in the country and do not want the country to move forward by joining NATO and European Union. Albanian members in the parliament of Macedonia have warned the Macedonian authorities and the ministry of education that those mistakes should not happen. This should be corrected and be distributed to schools so the new generation learns the correct history of Macedonia and not the history written by guerrillas or by people funded to write in the favour of Serbian empire. Times have changed and the country is looking to move forward and join the European Union, improve economy and reduce unemployment a speaker of Albanian Party said. The times where ethnic tensions were high and civil war is long gone, we are looking to move forward and make life easier for Macedonian people said the speaker to Albanian Times.
Last month the government of Macedonia in a statement declared that Albanian language be removed from the primary schools in the cities where the majority of population is Albanian. This was seen as nonsense by Albanian DUI Party leaders who soon replied that Albanian language will not be removed from the primary schools in Albanian inhabited cities, such as Tetova, Dibra...etc where Albanian populations counts for 95%.
For their part, the Albanian claims to equal opportunities and access to mother-tongue education is of vital importance to a community that, with its demographic growth, may eventually achieve majority status in Macedonia. The implications of an ethnic group achieving majority status without having had widespread access to higher education are self-evident and do not bode well for the future of Macedonia.2001 Macedonian War.
Beginning on January 22, 2001, after an attack by Macedonian security forces carried on Albanian civilians which killed 2 (father and son) and injured a dozen civilians in the center of the city of Tetova which is mostly inhabited by Albanians. The NLA (Albanian “National Liberation Army”) began to carry out attacks on Macedonian security forces, using light weapons. The conflict soon escalated and by the start of March 2001, the NLA had taken effective control of a large swathe of northern and western Macedonia and came within 12 miles of the capital Skopje.
In March 2001, NLA members failed to take the city of Tetova in an open attack, but controlled the hills and mountains between Tetova and Kosova. On May 3, 2001 a Macedonian government counter offensive failed in the Kumanova area. By June 8, the NLA took Aracinova, a village outside of Skopje. On August 16, NATO forces entered Macedonia mediating the two sides which then signed a peace deal ending the open conflict.
Macedonian authorities have to get around the idea that Albanian population in the country is soon becoming a majority and the only way forward is by having the same rights for everyone. Albanians deserve right to learn their mother tongue and so do all the other communities in the country. Albanians counts for 40% of the population where 50% is Macedonian and the other 10% is a mixed of Bulgarian, Serbs, Roma, Bosnian, Rumanians…etc
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