Re: Syndicate: about Macedonian crisis

[Melentie Pandilovski <mpandil@soros.org.mk>]

Dear Michael,

	Regarding the Macedonia thread in its various forms, I have to
	admit to being a mite concerned. As I recall during the Kosovo
	situation there were NO Albanian voices on Syndicate. 

As for the start you do not recall right. Namely, Edi Muka (Albanian
from Tirana, also spoke on the Net Time meeting in Ljubljana, and is
frequently present in Europe) was sending reports from Albania. 
Please check the Syndicate archive.

	Now we have Eleni Laperi voicing her civilized, and you have to
	admit quite un-propagandistic and un-bombastic, message and she
	is essentially told, at least by some, that's she's way off base.
	It can't be denied that the director of the contemporary arts
	center in Skopje, Melentie Pandilovski, has been sending quite a
	bit of material to Syndicate that I'm afraid can't be described
	in as benevolent terms as Eleni's (see above). 

My dear Michael, why do you emphasize that Eleni's voice is civilized?
Are you surprised by this? I must strongly object to these paternalistic 
statements towards Albanians and any of the people on the Balkans.

As to the un-propagandistic character of the statements I would think
about it twice. I think that Eleni's statements have a political dose in them.
Eleni as first was using in her communication the wrong figures 
(speaking of up to 35% Albanians in Macedonia instead of 22%).
There is however also a possibility that she was misinformed, because of
which I sent her the right figures.
Then she (being a woman as well) inserted emotions in the communication and asked me 
how could I be so insensitive, basically trying to move the game from a question that could be 
pointed towards her (being an Albanian). But Eleni is not the issue here,
is she?
So let me point it this question to you Michael  and see how it looks
from the other way around! 
Really Michael, how can you be so insensitive? It is the sufferings of
22,000 refugees already in Macedonia (ethnic Macedonian and ethnic
Albanian), tens of dead, and hundred of wounded. Or is that you think
that the sufferings of the Albanians during the Kosovo crisis are bigger
than the sufferings of the Macedonians now? Finally why don't you write
to ethnic Albanians in Kosovo to stop the aggression towards Macedonia.
We should react upon an aggression, isn't it so?

So much for this, and as for the accusations that I have been sending 
information that cannot be describes as benevolent I can say that so far I have kept all opinions 
to my self and was just sending information by  and governmental
sources (police and military included), but much more from Press
Agencies: Macedonian (ethic Mac. and Alb.), Albanian, Kosovar,
International. 
So Michael, if it is the information that is bothering you I don't know
what to say to you. You know, there is tons of information that is
bothering me and the people on the Balkans, and still I don't react  the
way you do.

Finally, it seems that it was very "benevolent" when I was curating
exhibitions about the Albanian refugees in Kosovo throughout the region
(in Skopje and the latest ones just a few months ago in Sofia, and
Warsaw), but it IS NOT GOOD when I forward information about the
Macedonian suffering. Is this what you are trying to convey to me?


	... In one recent post  Melentie (who I have to admit has the
	nicest and most melodious name to appear regularly in my in-box) 

Thanks for the compliment about the name. ;-)
I remember being very unhappy about it though because I was the only
Melentie in town. (btw. I think we met in Ljubljana during the net-time
meeting. No?)


	Melentie also has forwarded us the Macedonian constitution in
	large doses. It promises equality, etc. This is all well and
	good, but let me point out that I could just as well have quoted
	the US constitution, say during the civil rights era, and
	claimed that because it promises equality to "all," the African
	American fight for equality was spurious. (The same story
	applies today, of course.)

Do you compare the Albanians in Macedonia to African Americans?
I would strongly disagree on this. 

However, there is an important issue here. 
Constitutions in the entire region of the Balkans.
At one point the right of national minorities will have to be equalized, 
and for a start the initiative of the ex-Macedonian President Gligorov
for a comparative study of the rights of national minorities on the
Balkans, will have to be accepted.
Otherwise it is hard, for ethnic Macedonians in this case, to change the
constitution when if we for example compare only one segment such as the
educational system we will find:
in Albania the Macedonian minority has only 4 years of education in
their mother tongue.
In Macedonia the Albanian students have numerous schools up to 12th
grade, and the New Albanian speaking University is being built.

So what I am trying to say if something is to be done it is to be done
regionally. It won't work otherwise.

Best regards,

Melentie Pandilovski


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