17 years since the terrorist attack, the Albanian is becoming an official language: What are the rights of the Albanians and how do they live together (VIDEO)

The photo is often stronger than words. A photo appeared 18 years ago in one Skopje paper of two old troubled men. One with a hat, and the other one with taqiya. The old men were sitting right next to each other, and the question was "floating" above them: will we learn to live together? 

The Albanian language is now an official language in Macedonia: The conflict of Xhaferi and Gruevski was prevented by security, protests on the streets (VIDEO)

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The question is still active and the answers are pretty complicated because the harsh reality shows that the life between Macedonians and Albanians in happening in parallel in the majority of mixed ethnicities places. And not just that. Macedonians are increasingly selling their properties, houses, apartments, and the other Albanians are wondering why. Surely not because we are fine, the first ones responded. 

Foto: Tanjug/AP

There are almost no neighbors of different nationalities. They live in separate suburbs, they go to different schools, everybody goes to "their own" barber, doctor, dentist... Young usually go to different clubs, older people the same. The division starts from early childhood, since the preschool age.

The Albanians have their own kindergarten, schools, and Macedonians have their own. That is how generations grow knowing almost nothing or very little about the people of different nationality. 

The bloody "Kosovo drama" just concluded the work of the national political parties which was started a long time ago. During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the Albanians sided with the Liberation Army of Kosovo, and Macedonians "defended" Serbs. Over a thousand young Albanians from Macedonia fought in the KLA lines, and melodies could be heard on radio and TV stations which broadcast in Albanian which glorified the KLA, it's heroes and undertaking during the war in Kosovo.

Macedonians found it irritating because they feared they will ask an "independent state" in Macedonia some day. So the animosity towards each other was gaining in intensity, and this led only to one - war. An armed conflict has taken place. The war began in January 2001 when members of the Albanian paramilitary of the National Liberation Army (NLA) attacked the security forces of the Republic of Macedonia in the border village of Tanusevci.

After two weeks of fighting, Albanian guerrillas descended towards Tetovo, and at the end of March, Macedonian forces launched a massive campaign against members of the paramilitary Liberation National Army in Tetovo, inflicting a serious defeat to them.

At the beginning of May, between three and four thousand Albanian guerrillas charges from Kosovo and Metohija to the Macedonian territory and conquer 7 Macedonian and Serbian villages in the vicinity of Kumanovo. The Macedonian Army starts the offensive in Kumanovo area. The difficult fights happened around the villages of Lupcane, Vaksince, Lipkovo, Orizare, Ootlja. The Albanian terrorists move the center of conflicts to the south.

On 9 June, the Macedonian security forces are launching a new offensive against the paramilitary NLA in the villages of Matejce and Slupcane, and on June 22, a fierce offensive began on the Skopje village of Aracinovo. After three days of fighting, the village fell into the hands of Macedonian security forces.

Foto: Tanjug/AP

Sporadic fights with the Albanian paramilitary NLA lasted until the signing of the Ohrid Peace Accord, after which the NLA was transformed into a DUI political party, and Albanians were granted greater rights in Macedonia. Amendments to the laws deriving from the Ohrid Peace Accord, in mid-2002, Macedonia introduced bilingualism. According to the then-amended Constitution, in addition to Macedonian, the second official language in Macedonia became Albanian in municipalities with at least 20% of the Albanian population.

With great tensions, that law was "refreshed" on Wednesday. A new Law on the Use of Languages has been adopted, which means that the Macedonian language and its Cyrillic letter is the official language throughout Macedonia and in international relations, while the other language spoken by at least 20 percent of citizens and its alphabet is also the official language (Albanian).

Since the adoption of the Ohrid Peace Accord 17 years ago, there were virtually two official languages in Macedonia, but this did not bother anyone. People lived and communicated with each other as before. Most Macedonians believe that no language can be threatened by another, and Macedonia does not lose anything by giving more rights to Albanians about the use of their language.

Foto: Wikipedia/Павлица

This is what the members of the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE thought, which was the ruling party until recently, with whom the largest Albanian Party Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) of Ali Ahmeti was in a coalition. If the VMRO-DPMNE remained in power with DUI, the former leader of the party and the former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski prepared a set of Laws about the use of languages so he could form a government after the electors. It is literally the identical set of laws which was adopted on Wednesday in the Macedonian parliament, and the Skopje weekly and Fokus portal published a facsimile of that law.

However, the agreement did not happen because the DUI leader insisted for Special Public prosecution to be formed, and Gruevski was against it. 

Since the Ohrid Peace Accord has been fully implemented after the adoption of the Law on Languages, Ahmeti announced a new page on the political activities of his DUI party. He announced the session for Friday, 16th March, of the highest party organs - the Central Presidency, where DUI should choose how will it continue on the ideological, strategic and programmatical path. They announced changes in the Party's top, but also the changes in ministers and officials of DUI prior to the reconstruction of the government of the Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

Foto: Guliver/Milos Bicanski/Getty Images

DUI will stop cooperation with a part of their members, former commanders who fought against the Macedonian safety forces in 2001, and they will be replaced by fresh members.

Macedonians and Albanians lived with each other, or one next to each other in similar Law on Languages. Nothing was changed, and nothing will change, according to the famous analyst Saso Ordanovic, and Macedonia won't be compromised. The question is,  as he said, deeply political - what kind of Macedonia do we want, civic or ethnic?

His colleague Branko Gerovski has a similar opinion. He is an optimist regarding the Law on the use of Language that it won't compromise the Macedonian language, nor it will "Albanize" Macedonia, it won't block institutions and it won't compromise anyone's life.

- That law has a symbolic meaning for Albanians, and for us Macedonians because we are the ones who enable the deepening of multiculturalism in our society. This is not a handicap for Macedonia, but an advantage. This is a value that Europe will recognize - Gerovski concludes.

Watch the video:

VIDEO: MACEDONIA ON ITS FEET - 250 thousand citizens protesting

(Telegraf.co.uk / D.J.)