As Macedonia enters a critical phase of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, it becomes the third country to get an EU-issued ‘blacklist’ of people accused of standing in the way.
16 February 2004
SKOPJE, Macedonia–Two and a half years after the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement that ended the armed conflict in Macedonia, the European Union has issued a so-called blacklist of people it says have worked against implementation of the peace agreement.
The list, which was made public on 10 February, contains 12 names–10 ethnic Albanians and two ethnic Macedonians. They are all either being sought by the Macedonian police on serious criminal charges or have leadership roles in the Albanian National Army (AKSh).
Their appearance on the list means they are now banned from entering EU countries.
Two of the people on the list–Avdi Jakupi, known as “Commander Cakalla,” and Xhemail Iseni, known as “Commander Jamie Shay”–have already voluntarily surrendered to NATO-led KFOR peacekeepers and are in a Kosovo prison awaiting extradition to Macedonia.
Another person named on the list, Sait Rusiti–who had been hiding in Kosovo since escaping from police during a raid in 2003–surrendered to Macedonian authorities on 11 February. AKSh commanders Spiro Butka and Hamdi Bajramovski (“Breza”) and the founder of AKSh, Gafur Adili, are still on the run.
UNEXPECTED INCLUSION
The names on the list caught some people by surprise.
“If they put me on the list because of the stocks I own in [tobacco company] Tetovo Tabak, then why they did not [name] the former prime minister’s wife, Snezana Georgievska–who bought half of Skopje–and many others as well?” asked Guler Sulejmani, the only woman to be named.
Sulejmani and Izair Samiu, known as “Baci,” gained notoriety when they seized control of Tetovo Tabak for the use of Tetovo University.
The founder and official head of the Tetovo University Senate, Fadil Sulejmani, also expressed surprise at finding himself on the list.
“How can one scientist, renowned in Europe, destabilize Macedonia?” he asked.
At least two names–both commanders from the former special police unit known as the “Lions,” General Goran Stojkov and Goran Ilievski-Mujo–triggered a complaint to the EU.
Nikola Gruevski, the leader of the opposition Internal Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) demanded an explanation from the EU’s envoy to Macedonia, Soren Jessen Petersen.
“Why are two former police commanders [named] together with notorious criminals, without any judicial charges or verdict?” Gruevski asked.
Petersen declined to comment on specific names on the list, saying only that “the Council of Ministers declared the ban in order to stop the violent and undemocratic actions against the implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement.”
ACCUSATIONS OF POLITICAL MOTIVATION
General Goran Stojkov called the list “a political montage by Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski and [EU foreign policy chief] Javier Solana” and accused the Macedonian government of denouncing the Lions and “equating the terrorists with the defenders of the country.” Stojkov also announced his intention to enlist European lawyers in a case against top-ranking Macedonian and European officials.
Georgi Marjanovic, a professor of criminal law at Skopje University, agreed that the list is “political” and said that although the people named on it have the right to appeal, he doubted that any EU institution would agree to hear their claims. The list itself constitutes a judgement against the people on it, he said, and, like an Interpol list of wanted criminals, it is “enough.”
The names of the police generals were included “only for ethnic balance,” added Georgi Ivanov, a professor of political science at the university.
In contrast to the dismay of those named, governing political parties in Macedonia’s ruling coalition welcomed the EU list.
It will help “bring concrete results in Macedonia concerning peace and stability in the country,” Boris Kondarko, spokesman for the ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), told reporters on 10 February.
Hisni Shaqiri, a member of the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union of Integration (BDI) and the vice president of the Macedonian parliament–who was himself on the U.S. blacklist during the conflict in 2001–said “the most important thing is that the EU supports the peace and stability of Macedonia.” The BDI is a part of the governing coalition.
In response to accusations that his government had encouraged the EU to draw up the list, Shaqiri said, “We did not accuse the political parties in Macedonia of [creating] the blacklist in 2001.”
Daut Rexhepi–a former commander known as “Leka” who controls the strongest Tetovo branch of the opposition Democratic Party of the Albanians (PDSh)–is the only politician named on the EU list. Rexhepi is suspected of organizing the kidnapping of 12 ethnic Macedonians, who are still missing, during the conflict.
U.S. BLACKLIST EXPANDED
On the same day that the EU issued its list, three new names were added to the U.S. blacklist, which first appeared in June 2001. Two of the new additions are politicians: PDSh parliamentary deputy Xhezair Shaqiri, formerly known as Commander Hoxha, and PDSh Vice President Menduh Thaci. The two, along with Avdi Jakupi, are prohibited from entering the United States or having any transactions with U.S. financial institutions. Under the terms of the list, any U.S. assets will be frozen. They also stand accused of being “obstacles to the implementation of the framework agreement.”
In his defense, Thaci said he has no power to obstruct the agreement. He added that “the biggest mistake is that the Macedonian government, which is the main obstructer of the agreement, is not … on the list.”
Thaci and Hoxha are just two of many politicians named by the United States. Others include Ljube Boskovski, who was interior minister during the conflict, and BDI members Nevzat Halili, Kastriot Haxhirexha and Xhevat Ademi.
Several names that originally appeared on the U.S. list have since been removed, among them current members of the Macedonian parliament Ali Ahmeti, Hisni Shaqiri and Fazli Veliu.
The EU list is valid for one year and will be continually updated during that period. Macedonia is now the third country for which the EU has issued such a list; the others are Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro.
Macedonian analysts have noted that this is a critical phase for the framework agreement, because the implementation of the decentralization process has just begun and presidential and local elections are scheduled for September.
–by Biljana Stavrova
