Closer to war, or peace

The lyrics of the Macedonian folk song Sardisale, sardisale/Lešoćkiot manastir/Sardisale Arnauti/Arnauti Slatinćani, which were written by the folk singer more than 100 years ago, and which were sung ten years ago by Johnny Štulić, are still relevant. Not only the Lešoć monastery, which is otherwise the eternal home of the venerable Kiril Pejčinović, but the entire village of Lešok these days was surrounded (surrounded) by Arnauts (Albanians), more precisely by Albanian extremists from the nearby village of Slatina (Slatinčana), who daily showered Lesok with bullets and grenades . The village of Lesok, which is located only a few kilometers from Tetovo in the direction of the Jažince border crossing to Kosovo, is the only Macedonian village in that area that still defies the attacks of terrorists who these days managed to "cleanse" 5-6 villages with a majority Macedonian population.

"They shoot both day and night." These are our neighbors from Slatina. The other day I went to my friends from Slatin to remind them how we helped each other until recently and to tell them to stop the shooting. "They didn't receive me, but told me from the door that it's best to keep quiet and go back where I came from," says a middle-aged woman from Lesok.

NATO Special Envoy Peter Faith managed to agree with the terrorists to withdraw two kilometers from Leshok, but the attacks, kidnappings and mistreatment of the non-Albanian population by ONA members in this area continue.

ONA members are increasingly setting up checkpoints on the Tetovo-Jažince road, and there were cases when they searched civilians even in Tetovo itself. The ceasefire, which was signed a few days ago by representatives of the Macedonian government and ONA in other crisis areas, with the help of Western diplomats, is generally respected.

THE BATTLE ZA GREEN BY THE TABLE: The biggest battle is now being fought at the negotiating table, where, regardless of the occasional optimistic statements by politicians, things are clearly in place. The leaders of the Albanian political bloc, Arben Xhaferi and Imer Imeri, rejected the constitutional changes proposed by international experts these days, stressing that the proposed changes are not enough to prevent war. "I didn't start this war, but I want to stop it." The problem is that it will not be possible with the proposed proposals," said the president of the Democratic Party of Albanians, Arben Xhaferi.

The main stumbling block between the Macedonian and Albanian negotiators is the Albanian side's proposal to introduce a consensus democracy in the country with a mechanism vein, which would prevent the majority of the Macedonian majority over the Albanian minority. The Macedonian political bloc is unanimous in asserting that such a mechanism opens up space for federalization of the country. That Macedonian suspicions are not unfounded are best expressed by the words of ONA leader Ali Ahmeti, who stated in an interview with the French newspaper "Figaro": "I see the solution to the Macedonian crisis in the federalization of the country, which would be reorganized on the model of Switzerland or Belgium." This is by the way, this is the first time that the Albanian factor is openly asking for the federalization of Macedonia.

DPA President Arben Xhaferi and PDP President Imer Imeri, who are much more discreet in their demands for the federalization of the country, insist on bringing ONA representatives to the negotiating table. Due to such demands of Jaferi and Imeri, some analysts have already come to the conclusion that there is almost no difference between the political platform of ONA and the platform of legitimate political parties of Albanians in Macedonia. According to the same analysts, the difference can only be found in rhetoric.

DOMESTIC I FOREIGNERS: The leaders of the Albanian political bloc in Macedonia recently hired the American legal expert Paul Williams as their adviser, who during his ten-year stay in the Balkans was an adviser to the Bosnian delegation in Dayton and an adviser to the Albanian delegation at the negotiations in Rambouillet. The engagement of Williams by DPA and PDP is interpreted by analysts in Skopje as an attempt to compete with the French expert Robert Badenter, who rejected the ideas of federalization as unfounded and dysfunctional ten days ago in Skopje.

Negotiations on resolving the Macedonian crisis between SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE on the one hand and DPA and PDP on the other are being conducted far from the eyes and ears of the public, which has begun to annoy some smaller parliamentary political parties who believe that are unfairly excluded from the dialogue, the outcome of which depends on the future of the country. The most vocal opponents of the non-transparent dialogue are Vasil Tupurkovski's Democratic Alternative and Boris Stojmenov's VMRO-VMRO, as well as parties of other nationalities in Macedonia, who believe that the Macedonian-Albanian dialogue has practically erased other national minorities from the political map of Macedonia. The latest information is that Jaferi and Imeri accepted Badenter's proposal to change the Constitution, but few believe that this is the beginning of the end of the Macedonian crisis.

And while political leaders of all colors and nationalities are arguing, the number of Macedonians and Albanians who lost their homes in the clashes is increasing dangerously, and the bad economic situation and unemployment, which according to some estimates is up to 50 percent, give little chance that they will Macedonia pulls itself out of the abyss into which it has already stepped with one foot. Even the most optimistic prognosticators point out more and more often that a lot of blood has been shed and that many homes have been destroyed on both sides, and people's hopelessness is always a more fertile ground for extremism than for moderation, more fertile for war than for peace.