Harvesting or collecting weeds

The action "Necessary harvest" (read "purchasing the chaff") for the voluntary collection of weapons of Albanian extremists has only just begun. The predecessor of 400 "harvesters" has already arrived in Skopje, and it is expected that a harvester "with" another 3100 soldiers will soon arrive, whose task is to collect rifles and mortars that the terrorists will consider obsolete. Another collection of rare examples of Chinese weapons whose museum value is far greater than their use will be collected. Most of the modern weapons possessed by ONA will, of course, be hidden for better or maybe worse times.

The majority of not only Macedonian but also Western military-political analysts are behind such and similar forecasts about the "Necessary Harvest" operation. The tragicomic nature of the whole situation is best described by a question posed by a Greek journalist to NATO officials at a press conference in Skopje: "If everything is as voluntary as you claim, then why is the arrival of Alliance soldiers necessary?" Wouldn't it be simpler for each terrorist to choose the embassy of a NATO member country, go there and hand over their weapons?" And while NATO experts and the Macedonian government claim that they do not know how many weapons should be handed over to the Alliance soldiers because they do not have accurate data on its quantity, the president of the Macedonian Parliament, Stojan Andov, brags about how he got Perdue and Leotar to implement the constitutional changes in three phases, and each phase would follow the surrender of a third of the weapons they own terrorists. However, Andov failed to explain how one third of the unknown number will be calculated.

CAMPAIGN: The US government will ensure that the implementation of the framework agreement goes more smoothly for the Macedonian public, which plans to allocate 250.000 dollars for a media campaign that will take place over the next 45 days on radio and TV stations throughout Macedonia. According to the "Washington Post", the USA will organize a trip to California and Texas for those members of the Macedonian parliament who are hostile to the agreement, in order to see how multi-ethnicity and bilingualism work in those countries. Admittedly, it would cost less to America if it organized a visit to Albania for the Albanian members of the Assembly, so that they could become familiar with the fact that their "mother" country is also a multi-ethnic country and that the only radio show in that country stopped being broadcast a few months ago. in the Macedonian language.

Unlike parliamentarians from SDSM, PDP and DPA who claim that they will vote for the constitutional changes foreseen in the framework agreement, the majority of MPs from VMRO-DPMNE claim that they will first consult with their voting body. If it is taken into account that the majority of smaller parliamentary parties oppose constitutional changes, then it is clear that the two-thirds majority required for changing the constitution is already in question. After MP Hisni Shakiri, who four months ago announced that he was leaving parliament and joining ONA, these days VMRO-DPMNE MPs Filip Petrovski and Aleksandar Pandov decided to take up arms instead of microphones. The two voluntarily joined the security forces of Macedonia, and there is no indication yet whether they will participate in the sessions of the Sobranja on changing the constitution.

"Signing a framework agreement and changing the constitution is equal to high treason." We will call on all citizens of Macedonia to block the Assembly and not allow the MPs to vote on the changes. We also launched an initiative to collect 150.000 signatures so that the Assembly could hold a referendum on whether the citizens accept the constitutional changes," Todor Petrov, president of the World Macedonian Congress, told Vreme.

CONTINUATION FIGHT: It is safe to say that the majority of the Macedonian public opposes the change of the constitution, and therefore the possibility of mass protests and riots that could disrupt the plan to approve constitutional changes should not be ruled out.

"Negotiations with terrorists, amnesty for criminals, disrespect for sovereignty, changing the constitution under pressure... This is the collapse of not only the Macedonian but also the European legal system," the leader of the League for Democracy and one of the biggest experts on criminal law in the former Yugoslavia told Vreme. Đorđi Marjanović, who is also known to ex-Yugoslavs for being the first person to sue Milosevic when he put Azem Vlasi and a dozen other Kosovo politicians in prison without any evidence.

In the meantime, the fighting in the vicinity of Tetovo and in the Karadakh-Kumanova region continues, and the bravest and most persistent Macedonians from the villages of Tetovo leave their homes under the pressure of terrorists.

Just fifty meters from the former Stenkovec refugee camp, several hundred Macedonians who left their homes blocked the road leading to the border with Kosovo. A Macedonian flag hangs on the sand blocking the road, and next to it the slogan "New Albanian Terrorist Organization (NATO)".

"We will not allow any tow truck or KFOR vehicle to cross the border with Kosovo." If necessary, we will also set up new roadblocks if the truckers or Kforovci try to find other roads. We will not allow terrorists to be supplied from here. We are staying here until the Tetovo-Jažinec road, which is held by Albanian terrorists, is unblocked and until we are ensured a safe return to our homes," says an angry middle-aged man who was expelled from the village of Neprošteno a month ago.

ONA's political leader Ali Ahmeti meanwhile held his first official press conference in "liberated" Šipkovica. He arrived at the conference driving an Audi A4 of the Macedonian government (about fifteen days ago, three Albanian ministers of the Macedonian government had their Audi A4 official cars stolen). "There are no losers in this war. We all won. We Albanians got the same rights as Macedonians, and Macedonians got democracy. "We consider that the war is over and we will hand over weapons to NATO soldiers when the Macedonian Parliament votes on constitutional changes," Ahmeti told reporters.

The other day I entered a pastry shop located in a part of Skopje where the majority are Macedonians. The Albanian owner talks to his sons in bad Macedonian. I have been to the same pastry shop at least a hundred times and whenever the owner spoke to his sons, he spoke in Albanian. Ten days ago, his shop was demolished by Macedonian protesters, and now he avoids speaking in his native language in front of customers who are mostly Macedonians, even when talking to his sons. Only six months ago, this man had the right to speak his native language freely, without fear. Making the Albanian language official and changing the Macedonian constitution will not mean greater rights for this man. That man lost the right to live without fear, and there are many such people in Macedonia... both Macedonians and Albanians.

In other words, everyone is a loser in this war. Hatred and mistrust sown among people cannot be reaped with the "necessary harvest"!