Again! The Crisis Of Rupture Of Macedonian Peace Accord

The Macedonian Peace accord for the peace in the Balkans is not going well. European media companies are dealing with the Macedonian Peace Accord as headline news and relaying the situation live. This is because of the extending effect of the Peace Accord to the Balkans, ‘the powder magazine of Europe.’

Although the Macedonian troops and ethnic Albanian rebels had reached an agreement by NATO’s arbitration on 5th to end the civil war that lasted over 5 months, sanguinary collisions continued even since then.

The truce talks was ruptured because of the bloody engagement between the Macedonian government and ethnic Albanian rebels on 23th and 24th that brought scores of death and injury.

The two parties had signed the second agreement of truce by NATO’s arbitration on 25th and the Peace Accord continued on 28th; however, the future of the Peace Accord is obscure because of the gunfight to kill the Minister of Government Administration and Home affairs.

One of the biggest huddles of the Macedonian Peace Accord is the issue of language; Albanian representatives are insisting that the Albanian language, used by one third of Macedonian population (2 million), should be adopted as a national language. But according to the BBC, the Macedonian government occupied by the ethnic Slav is rejecting this suggestion saying, ``it is the prelude of a conspiracy to build an Albanian nation in Macedonian.``

The arbitrators such as James Padue (U.S) and Fransoir suggested that they can use Albanian language where the Albanian population occupies more than 20 percent; however, neither party welcomes this opinion.

Neither Boris Traikopski Macedonian president and the leaders of Albanian party dares to make a single concession; because the result of the Peace Accord will affect the Kosobo and the Balkans at large.

Especially, because the Macedonian civil war is a kind of proxy war of religion ( Greek Orthodox and Islam) and race (Albanian and Slav), it is not easy to bring peace.

Park Jei-Gyoon phark@donga.com