From 10 to 13 July I visited the FYR of Macedonia, accompanied by my adviser John Packer. A list of my interlocutors is attached to this report. I decided to undertake this mission after having received information from the Head of the OSCE Mission in Skopje, Ambassador Faber-Rod, that during riots in the afternoon of 9 July two Albanians were killed in the predominantly Albanian town of Gostivar and after having verified that the Foreign Ministry would welcome such a visit. The Government gave me full liberty to go wherever I wanted and allowed me to visit one of the PDP-A leaders in prison, without prison officials being present.

The riots in Gostivar which did not continue in the following days, and clashes between the police and Albanians in Tetovo, have to be seen against the background of the tensions which have arisen in recent months regarding the use of the flags of the various nationalities. Since a number of months, the mayor of Tetovo and Gostivar, who both belong to the radical Albanian party DPA had established the practice of hoisting the flag of the Albanian nationality (which is identical to the flag of Albania) next to the flag of the FYR of Macedonia on the flagpoles in front of their townhalls. When this question was brought before the Constitutional Court, it ruled that this constituted a violation of the law on the flags. When this was challenged by the municipalities of Gostivar and Tetovo, the Court confirmed its decision, ordering the municipalities to take the flag down. This order was ignored by both the Tetovo and Gostivar municipalities. Nevertheless, the Government remained passive. It was working on a new draft law on the flags which was meant as a compromise solution. In municipalities where a specific nationality would constitute a majority of the population, it would be allowed to fly the flag of that nationality in front of the townhalls next to the state flag on official holidays of the FYR of Macedonia, while the use of the flag of the nationality would also be allowed during sport and cultural events. This draft was supported by the moderate Albanian party PDP and considered as being reasonable by the Albanian leader Rugova in Kosovo. It did, however, meet strong opposition from within the strongest Macedonian coalition party, the social democrats, because it allowed the use under certain circumstances of a flag identical to that of Albania. Finally the law was adopted by Parliament on the evening of 8 July. It entered into force the next day.

At 2.00 a.m. on 9 July the police, taking the municipal authorities by surprise, lowered the flags in front of the townhalls of Tetovo and Gostivar. The PDP later protested that more time ought to have been given to the mayors of Tetovo and Gostivar to adapt to the new law. I cannot share this criticism. The two mayors had not given the slightest indication that they would be willing to change their attitude; on the contrary they made it clear that they would continue to fly the Albanian flag.

The Government itself has justified the sudden operation with the argument that a further delay of this operation would increase the danger of serious resistance. It claims that documents found during a search of the office of the mayor of Gostivar, Mr Osmani, demonstrate that extensive preparations had been made for opposing the lowering of the Albanian flag with the help of para military units.

Even though the taking down of the flags proceeded virtually without incidents, large crowds assembled in the afternoon of 9 July, trying to break through the police cordon blocking the streets which lead to the townhall. Mayor Osmani claims that he had been willing to order the demonstrators to disperse, but he did concede that he had only been willing to do so if the police cordon would be removed as well (a condition rejected by the police because this would almost certainly lead to the renewed hoisting of the Albanian flag).

It was during the clashes between the demonstrators and the police, forming the protective cordon, that the fatal shots, leading to the deaths of two Albanians, have been fired. One policeman and 8 civilians were wounded by firearms; 16 other people were seriously injured. The versions of what actually happened differ. The police claims that it was suddenly fired at from surrounding houses; the PDP-A leader Xhaferi maintains that the police opened fire. I doubt whether further investigation can definitely establish what exactly happened or who fired the fatal shots. It struck me, however, that Mr Xhaferi did not deny that some Albanians were in possession of Molotov cocktails and of a number of firearms, while denying at the same time that any of them had actually been used.

When I visited Gostivar on Sunday morning, soldiers still patrolled the street. Live was rapidly returning to normal, however. In 5 municipalities with Albanian majorities the Albanian flag is still flying. (There was no Constitutional Court order against them so far). It is hoped that the mayors will realise the dangers of further confrontation and will agree to take the flag down voluntarily.

The most alarming aspect of the recent events in the FYR of Macedonia is in my view that the PDP-A leadership which has already in earlier conversations with me indicated its preference for "parallel institutions" on the Kosovo model and for civil disobedience, has clearly started to implement this approach in the last few months. They used their victory in the local elections in two major Albanian towns, Tetovo and Gostivar, by provoking a conflict on the use of the flag. They ignored the Constitutional Court; they told the Prime Minister who offered a compromise in the form of a new law on the flag, that they would not be prepared to obey it. At their recent party conference, also remarkable for the appearance of black-shirted armed guards in the hall, it was announced that parallel departments would be created for each Government department. Mr Xhaferi, and Mr Osmani, the mayor of Gostivar, who is even more radical, are not secretive about their tactics and their objectives. They seek confrontation, in the conviction that only with such a hard tactic they can force the Government to accept their basic demand: the transformation of the FYR of Macedonia into a state consisting of Macedonians and Albanians as constituent nations, and functioning in such a way that no decision can be taken in such a common state without the consent of the Albanians. The PDP-A (soon to be renamed DPA, Democratic Party of Albanians, because it is joined by another Albanian party, the NDP) is not interested in efforts to achieve the Albanian desiderata step by step in the framework of a democratic process. It has decided that Albanian objectives can only be achieved by undermining the present state structure. The PDP-A leaders know that they violate the constitutional order and the rule of the law. However, they argue that the Macedonian oppression is such that non-legal methods will have to be used. "Why do you criticize us for doing what the opposition in South Africa did during the years of apartheid?" Mr Xhaferi asked me.

Some observers believe that the PDP-A will start to move more cautiously now that there is a strong possibility that both mayors will be convicted to prison sentences which could vary from one to five years. This might be the case for the next few months. For the longer term, however, there is in my view a strong likelihood that the PDP-A will try to create a situation in the Albanian part of the FYR of Macedonia which might closely resemble the one in Kosovo.

A strong offensive of the PDP, the moderate Albanian party which is part of the Government coalition, might change the situation. However, its leadership is dispirited and shows little vitality. Instead of emphasizing what it has achieved for the Albanians in recent years, it tries to compete with the PDP-A in radicalism, at any rate verbally. A tactic without perspective, because the PDP can never succeed to compete successfully with the PDP-A in radicalism as long as it stays in Government, which it has so far decided to do.

No doubt there is a need for the OSCE to continue to argue for further steps to meet Albanian demands in various fields. However, it has to be recognised that, on the whole, the FYR of Macedonia has respected its commitments regarding OSCE standards on minorities, and that, in the interest of the stability of South East Europe, it deserves strong support on its efforts to maintain the constitutional order and the rule of law which is being endangered by the PDP-A.

LIST OF INTERLOCUTORS OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER ON NATIONAL MINORITIES ON HIS MISSION TO THE FYR OF MACEDONIA

10-13 JULY 1997

Mr Branko Crvenkovski - Prime Minister

Mr Blagoj Handziski - Minister for Foreign Affairs

Mr Dime Gjurev - Under-Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior

Mr Abdurrahman Aliti - President of the PDP

Mr Arben Xhaferi - President of the PDP-A

Mr Alajdin Demeri - Mayor of Tetovo

Mr Rufi Osmani - Mayor of Gostivar