| The Honorable George W. Bush Re: Ethnic Albanian Violence in the FYROM Dear Mr. President: I write concerning the present state of violence between ethnic Albanian guerrillas in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and security forces of the FYROM. Although envoys from the European Union recently concluded a trip to Skopje in which they helped prevent the present violence from escalating into a formal state of war, the United States should also consider taking an active role by putting greater political and military pressure on the Albanian guerrillas. At present, the violence perpetrated by the Albanian rebels risks dividing the FYROM and plunging the nation into civil war. It is highly encouraging that NATO member nations have agreed to offer bilateral military aid and training for the FYROM's military forces. A key strategy for the United States would be to deprive the nationalist rebels of political and military support. At a time when the FYROM is staring into the abyss of a greater Balkan conflict, the U.S. has a strategic interest to take an active role in helping government forces avert a deeper crisis. A wider Balkan conflict will cause countless political and economic problems for Greece, a NATO member and the key U.S. ally in southeastern Europe. In addition to causing tens of thousands of Albanian refugees to flee into Greece, such a wider conflict might also threaten the territorial integrity of Greece. The U.S. should be wary of this growing trend of violence by xenophobic ethnic Albanians, whose nationalist aim of a "greater Albania" risks plunging the entire Balkans into another round of ethnic and religious bloodshed. The U.S. must send a strong and unequivocal message to the Albanian government, the Albanian leadership in Kosovo and the FYROM, and to the KLA directly to halt arms and financial support for Albanian guerrillas operating in the FYROM or else the U.S. will seek joint action against them. The U.S. must also be vigilant about how Albania treats its own minorities, particularly the thousands of Christian Greeks who live under the threat of ethnic violence perpetrated by Muslim Albanian extremists. It is ironic indeed that the Albanian government habitually complains about the treatment of ethnic Albanians in other countries, even as they regularly subject the Greek minority within Albania to unfair and inhumane treatment. The U.S. must insist that whatever rights Albania demands for minorities in the FYROM should also be granted to Greek minorities who reside in Albania. The U.S. has a strategic interest in supporting measures that will halt the violence by Albanian guerrillas in the FYROM and ensuring full human rights for the minorities in Albania. Respectfully, Eugene T. Rossides CC: Vice President Richard B. Cheney |
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05-15-01 Letter to President George W. Bush
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