Sandzak & Le Salad Macedoine

Oh, how time is flying! Am on the road this week working quite intensely, but wanted to post from my current location in Novi Pazar in southwest Serbia, just north of Kosovo. I came via Uzice, a town three hours away in the Zlatibor region. The town itself was nothing impressive, but the Zlatibor area is one of rolling hills, pastures and forests, resting atop a bed of limestone. Picturesque and pleasant to the eye, it reminded me greatly of the Ohio River Valley and southern Indiana. My colleague and I were fortunate to stay in an acquaintance’s weekend house, which was isolated and provided fresh air, not to mention an escape from the swine flu epidemic that was hitting that town hard (two deaths there, unfortunately). We were interviewing our candidates in the local high school, but no one else was there—schools are closed all week throughout the country.

But we came to Novi Pazar in the Sandzak region a few days ago and have been quite busy, but of course I’ve had a look around. Novi Pazar is, along with Novi Sad and northern Serbia’s Vojvodina region (an area mixed with Serbs, Hungarians, Germans, and others), the most multicultural and diverse part of Serbia. It has retained its Ottoman character and is predominantly Muslim. Active Mosques abound, and most of the Muslims are Bosniaks (Slavs who converted to Islam), though there are apparently still Turkish and Albanian minorities, also Muslims. Though it’s hard to say about the former—they’ve mixed in well over the last century (and before) and while I’ve seen plenty of Turkish surnames, the students all say they speak Serbian/Bosnian at home. Regardless, my colleague is actually from here, and his opinion is that this town’s diversity and chaos creates some of the most eccentric people in Serbia. Based on his character and others I’ve met so far, I might have to agree!

I hope to see one of the famous monasteries in the coming days, but that might be tough given my schedule. However, I want to post a blog below that I wrote up last week but just never got put up. It is…


Le Salad Macedoine

Upon departing from the Skopje bus station recently, I sat down in my seat and looked at the departure signs in front of my bus and the one next to us. My bus’ final destination was Belgrade, capital of Serbia, and the one next to me was Pristina, capital of Kosovo. I thought to myself “how ironic…only in Macedonia.” This is because while the “battle of Kosovo” may have originally occurred in 1389, over 600 years later it continues in a different fashion. Indeed, just a decade ago (1999) the Serbian military under Slobodan Milosevic occupied Kosovo and retaliated to an intense US led NATO attack. While Milosevic’s policies were oppressive at best and violently genocidal at worst (though genocide is a delicate word and I’m reluctant to use it), it was the NATO attack—which was the first US attack on a European city/country since WWII—that greatly escalated the conflict; it made it a war. The small country of Macedonia, right next door to both, was affected in another way—250,000 refugees poured into the country from Kosovo. They came because Macedonia was called upon to open its borders and let them in, and because there’s a significant Albanian minority right here in Macedonia.

I won’t continue with the history of that conflict, but to say that Macedonia is unique because of its strong Albanian minority (who became stronger after being emboldened from 1999-2001) and multiculturalism overall, and as my experience in Serbia recently showed me, perhaps more at odds with their previous bedfellows than before. This is because Macedonia is now a bi-national state, with the Albanian minority wielding much greater influence than ten years ago. For example, Macedonia settled a border dispute and recognized Kosovo’s independence two weeks back. It was wise and progressive, in my opinion, but it infuriated Serbia. Their foreign minister, Vuk Jeremic (a Harvard Kennedy School alum to note), threatened to rescind their support for Macedonia, as well as their ambassador in Skopje.

To add to the distance at which Macedonia puts itself from Serbia, the name dispute with Greece not only provokes the Greeks, but some Serbs as well. I testify to this after speaking to some Serbian students last week. To stipulate, Serbs are generally close with Greece. In regards to Macedonia, in the early and late 20th century, they conspired to divide it, and did in some ways-the Kingdom of and then SFR Yugoslavia occupied/possessed Vardar Macedonia from the 1930s to the 1990s, and Greece took Aegean Macedonia and made it what is most of northern Greece today. Anyhow, more recently, post-SFRY, even Slobodan Milosevic’s son was known to have suggested dividing Macedonia again, having apparently been annoyed with having an extra border between his own country and Greece.

But what I discussed with some Serbian students was their opinion that Macedonia is fabricating its history and should come to terms with the reality that they are a rather mixed lot, and certainly not the descendants of Alexander the Great. To some extent they have a fair point—it really is an absurd and irredentist notion that modern Macedonians, after millennia of invading tribes and groups, primarily the Slavs, are anything like the ancient peoples of pre-Christian Macedon. Yet identity is fluid and no one should be able to tell another who they are. This may seem logical and/or irrelevant, but here in Macedonia it’s at the fore of the country’s slow accession into NATO and the EU. That is (and which I’ve discussed before), Greece blocked Macedonia joining NATO in April 2008 because they dispute the country’s name, calling it FYROM and demanding it change. International mediators have tried unsuccessfully to persuade the two countries to find a resolution, but neither side has compromised. Hilary Clinton may get involved, sources say. Regardless, Macedonia is the underdog and has less leverage. But that’s not to say they don’t have an incentive—the EU just gave the country a green light to begin EU accession talks, but with the implicit stipulation that they shore things up with the Greeks. As one guy on the news half joked, they thus need to decide whether they’ll give their “arm or their head” for their future.

The ruling government has thus thought to put it to a referendum, yet some ethnic Albanian politicians have not only threatened to boycott that, but go it alone in joining the EU and NATO. Although this isn’t possible—only nations, not groups of people within them—can join such organizations, it’s caused quite a stir. Regardless, I think the entire situation, not to mention the upcoming visa liberalization which will allow Macedonian citizens to travel freely in the EU Schengen countries, has made some in the country realize that perhaps they need to swallow their pride and say to heck with it! Joining the EU is huge for little Macedonia, as it gives them even greater autonomy and once they’re in they have myriad opportunities within other EU countries for education, travel, and business. Indeed, a market of 450 million is far larger than their current trade partners (mostly neighboring countries) tally up to.

Anyhow, the Balkans are nowhere near short of action these days, and I’m majorly on the road in coming weeks. Currently en route to Uzice and Novi Pazar, Serbia, then off to Kosovo, Macedonia, and wrapping up the testing and interviewing season in Bulgaria just before Christmas. More on down the road!