April 2002
Vol. VIII, No.3

Macedonia

The Institute's Balkans Initiative recently supported two important activities in Macedonia that will likely contribute to peace and reconciliation there: formation of the Macedonian Media Advisory Council and convening of a workshop on the teaching of recent Macedonian history.

Macedonian Media Advisory Council Formed

The Macedonian Media Advisory Council was established in Skopje in January, with support from the U.S. Institute of Peace. The council will promote freedom of expression and access to information as well as responsible reporting, coordinator Meto Jovanovski said at a February 28 press conference announcing the organization. He noted that the council is an independent, locally operated nongovernmental organization whose members are Macedonian nationals. Council members represent all ethnic groups and are not involved in politics or the media.

The Institute of Peace's Balkans Initiative and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), London, provided funds for the initial launch of the council, which was conceived and developed by IWPR. The council's monthly reports will appear in English, Albanian, and Macedonian on the IWPR website at www.iwpr.net.

"The Institute of Peace has documented, in Bosnia and elsewhere, the role of the media in escalating ethnic tension and making violence an acceptable response to threats by others," says Daniel Serwer, director of the Balkans Initiative. "This pattern emerged in Macedonia over the past year. So it seemed crucial that the peacebuilding process now underway include a prestigious, multiethnic group of Macedonian professionals who would look at the media critically, identify coverage that contributes to the conflict cycle, and encourage moderation."

Alan Davis, IWPR director of programs, adds that the advisory council will "draw local public attention to the fact that an increasingly polarized and nationalistic media is contributing directly to divisions in the country—divisions over the ethnic conflict, international involvement, and possible paths toward resolution and reconciliation."

Council members include Ali Aliu, a literary critic and professor at Tetovo University; Oliver Belopeta, a music producer; Shpend Devaja, a human rights lawyer; Meto Jovanovski, a writer and former president of both the Macedonian Pen Club and the Helsinki Committee; Drita Karahasan, former editor in chief of Birlik, a Turkish-language daily newspaper; Blerim Kolalli, a researcher for the Institute for Sociological, Political, and Juridical Research; and Branislav Sarkanjac, a professor of political philosophy at Skopje University. IWPR's program director in Macedonia, Agim Fetahu, helped establish the council.

Discovering Macedonia's Current History

Fourteen Macedonian high school teachers and two Macedonian history researchers have developed an objective account of the recent conflict in Macedonia that can be taught in Macedonia's high schools. The Albanian, Macedonian, and Turkish educators and researchers reached consensus on a fact-based common history during a workshop on "Understanding Current History," funded by the U.S. Institute of Peace's Balkans Initiative and held in Ohrid on February 11–14. Former Institute senior fellow Violeta Petroska-Beska, director of the conflict resolution division of the Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at the University of Skopje, organized and taught the workshop, in conjunction with Mirjana Najcevska, director of the center's human rights division. A representative of the Bureau for Educational Development under Macedonia's Ministry of Education attended the proceedings.

The final product of the workshop is the basis for "a very meaningful history lecture containing only facts," Petroska-Beska notes. The participants were eager to get copies of the common history so that they could share it with their colleagues, she said. The representative from Macedonia's Ministry of Education also praised the workshop process and product, she said.

During the meeting participants explored strategies for communication in a conflict situation and the influence of perception on intergroup conflicts. They also looked at ethnic stereotypes, prejudice, majority-minority relations, and discrimination. Then they explored Macedonia's current history from a human rights perspective and began drawing up accounts of recent Macedonian history from radical and moderate perspectives. The final step was to identify the common elements in the perspectives and reach agreement on a common history.

"No problem has troubled post-conflict societies more profoundly than how to teach about a conflict after a peace agreement is signed," notes Daniel Serwer, director of the Institute's Balkans Initiative. "The separate ethnically based schools and local control that often result from conflict lead to educational programs that continue to paint negative pictures of other ethnic groups and perpetuate divisive historical accounts," he says. "We attempted to counter this tendency in Macedonia, where last year's conflict between Albanian guerrillas and a Macedonian-dominated army and police force brought the country to the brink of civil war. The workshop for high school teachers was one of many steps needed to overcome prejudices and hostilities in Macedonia."