 |
||||||||
|
author: Igor Bozinovski |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
Thanks to EU political involvement and also thanks to the NATO and EU military missions, Macedonia remained the sole former Yugoslav republic to be unaffected by the terrible consequences of full-fledged armed conflict. Igor Bozinovski reviews NATO and EU peace-keeping and conflict-prevention operations that supported the challenging road of Macedonia from the brink of civil war in 2001 to the current peace, stability and process of integration into Euro-Atlantic structures. |
||||||||
|
War and Peace in Macedonia
During 2001, the Republic of Macedonia has faced the most serious threats for its sovereignty and territorial integrity, caused by well-organized and armed para-military groups of extreme Albanians that call themselves National Liberation Army (NLA). Using violence and terror, for the alleged “fight for protection of the interests of Albanians”, the so-called NLA try to fulfill certain political aims: federalization of the Republic of Macedonia and, in the later stage, secession and joining parts of its territory to the south Serbian province of Kosovo and the Republic of Albania. The fighting’s between the Macedonian government forces and the Albanian para-military groups escalated when the so-called NLA start to conduct the process of ethnical cleansing of non-Albanian population from the north-western parts of Macedonia they marked as “Albanian territory”. They do this in order to provoke a civil war in Macedonia, something that almost became reality after the so-called NLA took full responsibility for a number of brutal, cruel and horrifying murders and massacres committed against civilians and members of the security forces of the Republic of Macedonia.
With the signing of the
Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with Macedonia on April 9,
2001 (Macedonia being the first country of the former Yugoslavia with which
the EU signed an SAA), the EU sent a clear signal during the time of the
conflict that it is willing to help Macedonia and to open prospect for its
integration into European structures. Through the political guidance
provided and facilitated by the European Union, which was assisted by NATO
and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the
international community managed to prevent the rise of ethnical conflict in
the Republic of Macedonia, and the democratically legitimized authorities
finally signed the Ohrid Framework Agreement on August 13, 2001. According
to the Ohrid Peace Agreement, the international community was invited
to support the challenging road of Macedonia from the brink of civil war in
August 2001 to peace, stability and integration into Euro-Atlantic
structures. NATO Operation Essential Harvest
In response to a request for NATO assistance made by the Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski on June 20, 2001, this military organization drawn up the operational plan that was dedicated to the peace and stability of the Republic of Macedonia. However, NATO had imposed three conditions for its help in resolving the crisis: conclusion of political agreement between the various parties in the Republic of Macedonia, armistice linked with amnesty for the members of the so-called NLA and finally pledge of full demilitarization from the so-called NLA. Once the Macedonian political parties signed the Ohrid Peace Agreement, the way was opened for NATO’s first mission in the Republic of Macedonia. The NATO military support to the Republic of Macedonia effectively commenced on August 27, 2001, with Operation Essential Harvest / Task Force Harvest (TFH). This UK-leaded mission involved the rapid deployment of 4.600 Allied troops that were initiated to fulfill NATO’s promise to assist the Macedonian people by collecting and destroying arms and ammunition on a voluntary basis from ethnic-Albanian extremists.
By September 14, 2001, the
successful disarmament of the armed Albanians was achieve and in so doing,
established the conditions for the peaceful resolution of the crisis that
could well have engulfed this country. Essential Harvest succeeded in
collecting and destroying 3.875 weapons over 30 days. Included were four
tanks and armored personnel carriers that the so-called NLA have captured
from the Macedonian security forces, 17 Strela-2M (NATO: SA-7b Grail)
man-portable low-altitude air defence weapons systems, 161 anti-tank
systems, 483 machine guns, 3.210 assault rifles and nearly 400.000 mines,
explosives and ammunition. Because the armed insurgency was a manifestation
of “discontent” among the ethnic Albanian community in the Republic of
Macedonia, in accordance with the Ohrid Peace Agreement, constitutional
changes has been made that are granting more rights to the ethnic Albanian
minority that is 22,7 percent of the countries population of just over 2
million. NATO Operation Amber Fox
In order to prevent a rise in ethnic conflicts after the termination of the NATO Operation Essential Harvest, the Macedonian government, the EU, and the OSCE agreed that international observers should supervised the orderly return of Macedonian security forces to the areas formerly held by ethnic Albanian extremists. In order to provide additional security to the international observers, while authorities of the Republic of Macedonia had primarily responsibility for their security, on September 26, 2001, NATO began restructuring Task Force Harvest (TFH) and the next day Operation Essential Harvest was replaced by Operation Amber Fox / Task Force Fox (TFF). Further democratization and improvement in human rights through the process of dialogue and reconciliation progressed significantly and the Operation Amber Fox was extended for a period of three months in March 2002 and again in July 2002.
As a result of the greatly
improved security in the country, authorities of the Republic of Macedonia
and NATO finally decided to bring the mission to an end on December 15,
2002. The Operation Amber Fox was of great importance for Germany because
for the first time in this country history the German Federal Armed Forces
assumed leadership and logistics of a NATO military operation that was
consisting of some 700 German and other NATO nations troops. NATO Operation Allied Harmony
While acknowledging that Operation Amber Fox could be successfully finalized, the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s top decision-making body, agreed that there is a requirement for a follow-on international military presence in the Republic of Macedonia, so that risks of destabilization is going to be minimized. In response to a request from the Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski, the North Atlantic Council agreed to continue supporting the Republic of Macedonia peace and prosperity with a new mission. Under the new operation “Allied Harmony”, which entered into force on December 16, 2002, the number of NATO soldiers in the country was reduced to a total of 470. The purpose of the Operation Allied Harmony has been to advise and assist the host nation authorities with the normalization process and contribute to the overall international community aim to bring confidence and stability to the country and region.
|
On March 17, 2003, the North Atlantic Council decided to terminate Operation Allied Harmony as of March 31, 2003, with a view to the EU commencing a successor operation. The decision by the North Atlantic Council closes a chapter on NATO military and political support to the Republic of Macedonia and marks a significant milestone in that young nation’s history. But, despite ‘changing the guard’ to the EU, NATO has declared that it will remain fully committed to helping the Republic of Macedonia integrate into Euro-Atlantic structures and will continue to work for peace and stability in the Balkans. To that end NATO still maintains a Senior Civilian Representative and a Senior Military Representative in Skopje, that are now assisting the authorities in the development of security sector reform and adaptation to NATO standards.
EU Operation Concordia
On March 31, 2003, NATO relinquished its mission, Operation Allied Harmony, in the Republic of Macedonia to the European Union. The handover of the last NATO conflict-prevention mission in the Republic of Macedonia to the EU has been made possible following the agreements (the so-called “Berlin Plus” arrangements) reached by the EU and NATO on access by the EU to the collective assets and capabilities of NATO for EU-led operations. The EU has taken command of its first historic military mission, named Operation Concordia, at the explicit request of the government of the Republic of Macedonia. The core aim of the Operation Concordia is to contribute further to a stable secure environment to allow the Macedonian government to implement the August 2001 Ohrid Framework Agreement, the political accord which prevented the rise of ethnic conflict in the country. The operation is a contribution to the efforts to achieve a peaceful, democratic and prosperous country, as part of a region of stable countries, where an international security presence is no longer needed. In fact, the Operation Concordia is part of the larger commitment of the EU to the Republic of Macedonia and to its rapprochement with the EU within the Stabilization and Association Agreement. The EU high command overseeing the EU-force (EU-FOR) is located at NATO’s military headquarters in Belgium, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The Operation Commander is Admiral Rainer Feist of Germany, SHAPE Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and the Force Commander in Macedonia is Major-General Pierre Maral of France. The EU-FOR is composed of 350 troops from 13 EU states and 14 non-EU states, and is led by France. The budget for the common costs related to the operation amounts to Euro 6.2 million and is managed through a specific financial mechanism. The anticipated duration of the Operation Concordia is six months. The agreement includes an extension option that would be approved by the EU council, subject to a request from the government in Skopje. However, according the Macedonian Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski, the EU military mission could leave Macedonia in six months because the country is returning to normal. "We fully intend before year's end to declare that Macedonia definitively has no further need of international military presence" Crvenkovski said. He added that authorities have made substantial progress in re-establishing control over areas formerly held by the so-called NLA and the Macedonian police presence there was no longer merely formal.
On April 16, 2003, history was
made in Macedonia when Major-General Pierre Maral, Force Commander of the
EU-FOR in the Republic of Macedonia, officially promoted the first EU
military helicopter base named under Robert Schumann (1886-1963), the Father
of Modern Europe. What is now known as EU-FOR Camp Schumann, is in fact
Belgian Light Army Aviation helicopter base located at Petrovec, the largest
airport in Macedonia and the principal base of the Macedonian Air Force,
located near the Macedonian capital Skopje. During the ceremony for official
promoting of Camp Schumann, the EU-FOR presented three A109HA helicopters of
the Belgian Light Army Aviation. It was very interesting to note that all
three helicopters have carried clearly visible European Union flag on its
side doors.
The ongoing effort to create a
European rapid reaction force represents a major milestone in the further
development of the common European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) and,
in a broader sense, the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy. By
improving its collective military capabilities, the EU will be able to
respond effectively and independently to crisis situations as they arise and
thereby make an important contribution to lasting peace in crisis regions of
the world. The first EU military mission, Operation Concordia, is a
significant step in that direction.
Copyright © IgorBozinovski obrada © Dejan Vukmirovic AirSerbia 2003.
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||||
|
Copyright © AirSerbia
2002-2003. All rights reserved. |
||||||||
