Struga Riots Show the Fun May Just Be Starting in Macedonia

Ever since the Macedonian government decided to wed decentralization of power with territorial realignments, the 64 million dollar question has been whether or not the people would someday rebel. Up to now, the gradual whittling away of the country has been met with at most dark grumblings and complaints. Yet while continuing to richly deserve their label as the most apathetic, fatalistic and lethargic people in the Balkans, the disgruntled Macedonians are starting to show some signs of life.

Thursday night riots in the southwestern city of Struga left over 30 injured, including 17 police officers, numerous wrecked cars, and a defense minister temporarily holed up in a party headquarters coming under improvised explosives fire.

Since the elevation of Branko Crvenkovski to president, the SDSM has been without a leader. The closest they have right now, Defense Minister and party Deputy Head Vlado Buckovski, decided to make the trip to Struga together with SDSM General Secretary Nikola Kurciev “…in a bid to appease party members who remained adamantly opposed to government's proposal on new territorial organization.” However, their arrival succeeded only in enraging the locals, who gathered to hurl rocks and Molotov cocktails at the building, joined by other protesters from a nearby village.

This farcical situation continued until 2 AM, when a “special police unit” attempted to “open a corridor” and extract the beleaguered Buckosvki and Kurciev. The trapped minister angrily condemned the “anarchy,” and darkly intoned that opposition forces were behind it. But the police action, which employed “shock-bombs, tear gas, rubber bullets and truncheons,” did not win any fans, either. A much-publicized statement from Struga citizen Tanja Shishkova casts light onto the riot and its rationale:

“…As a citizen of Struga I feel insulted by police's conduct, which shot rubber bullets into the people who gathered to peacefully protest, displaying its revolt against the coming of minister Buchkovski to Struga. We stated that if the government refuses to listen to us, it better not come to Struga. In spite of our peaceful gathering, and expectation that the minister will come forward in good faith and ready to hear our opinions, Buchkovski stated that we are just a mob of young hooligans which will soon disperse so he can leave.

But, he misjudged. We were not a mob of young hooligans, but a gathering of all Struga citizens [of all ages]. This is a very sad event, because our government and police beat up its own people. Not even in 2001, during the war, the people did not suffer such violence. Tomorrow we'll go to Proxima [the EU police mission] and ask them to bear witness to this.”

However, an interior ministry spokesman claimed on Friday that the police had not used rubber bullets, and that in general excessive force had not been used in the operation.

In a live report from Struga, A1 TV on Friday evening claimed that the local police had not wanted to launch the crackdown but that a special police unit arrived and took control. According to the station, there are currently 14 policemen left injured from the riot.

The riots were somewhat of a damper on Struga’s tourism industry. This popular resort town on the northern tip of Lake Ohrid is currently filled with local and foreign visitors, many of whom grew frightened as police tear gas filled the halls of the largest hotel, Hotel Drim, and the tumult continued outside. The unrest did not die down for good until around 4 AM.

So how has the outside world appreciated the situation? The Chinese Xinhuanet gave a fairly simplistic account of it, mentioning but not identifying the root cause, fears of losing control to the Albanian bloc. The BBC, for its part, reassures us that “the defence minister has been rescued” (well thank God for that!)

Most brutal in its simplicity was Reuters, which managed to state that rioting began “…after violence flared over plans to give greater local powers to the country's 25 percent ethnic Albanian minority.” One would think that these are the kind of people who torture puppy dogs; but hey, since it’s the “angry Slavs” we’re talking about…

All in all, it seems not a little ironic that while the outside world media is on hand to take note when angry rioters protest the government’s Western-imposed wisdom, they somehow fail to notice when that same government tries through fraud and deception to make this same wisdom seem universally appreciated.

Macedonian leaders have been full of comments today regarding the Struga adventure. Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski said that what happened there yesterday was “not real democracy but vandalism.” On the other side of the debate, Struga Mayor Romeo Dereban said that “what happened yesterday was a crime, because the people’s right for peaceful demonstration was killed. Buchkovski’s coming to Struga was just meant as a provocation- the citizens of Struga have told this government very clearly that they are not welcome in Struga.”

According to A1, the “rescued” Buchkovski announced on Friday evening his request to VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski “to answer in public and in writing whether or not he was behind this organized demonstration in Struga.”

Gruevski, brushing off the accusation, charged that the riot proved the need for a new government, “because this one is not able to control the situation.”

While nothing on the level of the Struga riot is expected elsewhere, it is being reported today that small groups of people have been demonstrating in front of houses belonging to parliamentarians in other Macedonian towns, “as a means of warning them to be careful how they vote [regarding decentralization],” according to A1.

Ironically, while the essential reason for the Struga activism is the feared over-empowerment of Albanians, the protesters are symbolically quieting down for the next three days- in order to allow a traditional Albanian cultural festival to proceed.

Here is an excerpt from the same site.... I wonder if this group is involved ?

"[Counter-terrorism officials in the Balkans have become increasingly interested in the phenomenon of Salafi Islam- the austere school of Islam that preaches a return to the “pure” teachings laid down by Muhammad, before they were allegedly corrupted by innovations and wayward religious thought.

Salafi revivalists have shown interest in the Balkans for years, and though not great in number, some are conspicuous for their long beards and white robes. Yet is the definition itself perhaps too vague to be very useful for the authorities?

Although the word Salafi has always had meaning within traditional Islamic scholarship, it has only been since approximately 100 years ago that the concept took on its modern, revivalist significance, in the movement led by one Muhammad Abduh. “…Its basic claim was that the religion had not been properly understood by anyone since the prophet Mohammed and the early Muslims--and themselves.”

In a recent report from Iraq, Time Magazine contended that the Salafi movement based there is dedicating itself to global jihad, and leaning towards Taliban-style austerity.]"

This issue of decentralisation is causing a lot of problems in Macedonia at the moment. Apparently a contraversial phone poll was held in Macedonia on Tuesday concerning the subject of decentralisation and led to a "Phonegate" inquiry involving government ministers. RealityMacedonia had this to say about Phonegate:

"Phone-gate: On Tuesday, it seems that the Macedonian government reached an embarrassing new low in its desperate attempts to sell to the public the proposed municipal division part of the decentralisation package. Apparently, the government attempted to affect the outcome of the phone-in poll organised by A1 Television’s political programme “Chumu” by having some 5000 calls in favour of its proposal made from several phone numbers belonging to government institutions."

More about Macedonia's Phonegate located here: http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=3465

Greece insisted that Macedonia adopt the name "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia". Macedonia is landlocked and under pressure from Albania (via ethnic proxy within Macedonia), a Moslem monster growing in Europe. Greece is getting radicalized due to Albanian activity (watch for Albanian terror during the Olympics) and the Islamicist gov't (in all but name) that has arisen in Turkey; the ongoing, nearly 45 year stalemate with Turkey over Cyprus (which should be divided); by the US/NATO destruction of its ally (also Christian), Yugoslavia (now Serbia and Montenegro); and if some of the FR threads can be believed, by the Olympics themselves.

Hosting the Olympics has been a long-term goal of Greece, but there have been xenophobic and isolationist fringe groups which oppose the Olympics on Greek soil, promising to make life miserable for the gov't and for visitors. If I had the cash, I'd go, just to sit in the original Olympic stadium, which was refurbed for use for just a few traditional Olympic events.

As you noted, there's a Macedonian area of Greece. I think it's only a matter of a couple years before FYROM votes itself out of existence and joins the Greek union.

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