Night of violence shakes Macedonia
Russia blames the West for meddling as tensions simmer
SKOPJE, MACEDONIA — Macedonia’s night of violence that saw protesters storm parliament and attack lawmakers elicited diametrically opposed reactions from world powers Friday.
Russia blamed the West for meddling in the Balkan nation’s internal affairs.
The European Union and the United States said the events were inconsistent with democracy.
The simmering tensions in Macedonia and the opposing views of powerful nations have led to concerns that the former Yugoslav republic — which narrowly escaped all-out civil war in 2001 — could become another flashpoint for increasingly frosty relations between Russia and the West.
Political tension has been building in Macedonia for the past two years, and the country has been under a caretaker government since inconclusive early December elections.
The hostility boiled over Thursday night over disagreements about the election of a new parliament speaker, leaving more than 100 people injured, including police, protesters and lawmakers.
By Friday, the previous night’s chaotic scenes had translated into a war of words between rival politicians despite calls for calm from abroad.
In the evening, about 2,000 people held a protest outside the EU mission headquarters in downtown Skopje, calling for new elections.
Zoran Zaev, the head of the opposition Social Democrats, wore a white adhesive bandage over a gash on his forehead as he accused his attackers of attempted murder with the parliament invasion.
Former prime minister Nikola Gruevski, whose supporters were among the mob that burst into the building on Thursday, said he deplored the violence, but accused his political rivals of instigating it with an attempted power grab.
“Greed to seize power at any cost is the direct cause which led to this adverse situation, and they bear responsibility for it,” Gruevski said, accusing the Social Democrats of violating the constitution by electing the new speaker despite the months-old deadlock in forming a new government.
The European Union and United States were swift to condemn the violence, and to recognize the new parliament speaker, Talat Xhaferi, a former military officer and defence minister.
“Democracy must run its course. We take positive note of the election of Talat Xhaferi as speaker of the parliament,” EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn and European Commission vice-president Federica Mogherini said in a joint statement.
The U.S. Embassy in Macedonia’s capital condemned the violence “in the strongest terms,” and said it would work with Xhaferi “to support democracy and to advance the interests of Macedonia.”
Russia, however, had an entirely different take on events.
“The opposition, which lost the parliamentary elections, actually tried to seize power in the country by force, having deliberately elected the chairman of the parliament with a flagrant violation of the established procedures,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
It noted the speed at which EU and U.S. representatives had recognized Xhaferi’s legitimacy as parliament speaker, and pointed out his past as a former rebel commander during a 2001 armed uprising by ethnic Albanian rebels seeking greater rights in Macedonia.
“Such a reaction, co-ordinated with lightning-speed, is undoubtedly evidence that the incident was planned in advance, with the tacit consent of the ‘external curators’ of the Macedonian opposition,” the Russian foreign ministry said.
The ministry described Xhaferi’s election as “the unceremonious manipulation of the will of citizens with the aim of removing the legitimate government from power.”
Biljana Vankovska, a geopolitical analyst and Skopje University professor of security and peace studies, said she doesn’t believe the West and Russia would be deeply involved in the country’s politics.
“The clash of the Titans is coming in the region, but not yet,” Vankovska said.
“It is normal that big powers are trying to keep their influence in this critical region. But Macedonia is too tiny, in my opinion — too insignificant — to give it such an importance.”