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Archived Articles
Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Macedonia: Keeping on the divorce trackAlmost a year of relatively quiet political development in Macedonia was too much for its population to hold and especially for its government. The reason for the new turn of interethnic tensions with prospects of violence is the governmental proposal for municipal reform, reducing the number of municipalities from 123 to 80. The catch is that this measure coupled with the administrative decentralization will increase the political power of the Albanian minority (minority in the country but majority in its western parts), which gradually becomes more and more numerous. To put more salt into the dish, the capital city of Skopje for the first time will become bilingual town by acquiring additional Albanian suburbs. In other western communities this mechanical aggrandizement will make Albanians majority, and Macedonians minority in their own country. Our last year projection of incoming gradual process making Macedonia a multinational state slowly but surely becomes reality. For those who have made plans to acquire properties in this country, it might be useful to look at the new territorial division because it could be the next interstate border. The present tensions have a long history of mutual ethnic mistrust in this country, going back into the times before Yugoslavia broke down, even before Yugoslavia was born on the ashes of the Ottoman Empire. This tensions existed even when there was no ethnic consciousness among the local population and the main dividing line went between religious groups, present day Macedonians being predominantly Orthodox Christians and Albanians predominantly Muslim Sunni's. When Yugoslavia took over these lands in 1912 nobody in Belgrade really cared about dividing the territories along strictly ethnic borders. It was the rule of the strongest. Since then much water passed down the rivers, different ethnic groups have experienced different demographic developments but the mistrust has remained a powerful, although not always dominant factor in their relations. Many in the world have seen images of ethnic cleansings in the Serbian province of Kosovo and the appropriate NATO military reaction in early 1999. Few remember that ethnic clashes in 2000-2001 did occur between Macedonians and Albanians in Macedonia too. Unlike the Serbian case where the bad guy in the Western media Milosevic was opposed to the Albanian freedom fighters, in Macedonia the West wasn't prepared to make clear distinction between good and bad guys. That's why the solution was found not in putting parts of Macedonia under some sort of international protectorate like Kosovo but in brokering an interethnic compromise, which would have led to country's division along ethnic lines, although this wasn't stated by the sponsoring states in Europe. The political framework for this compromise was drawn 3 years ago and the European Union strongly supported its further implementation, meaning more rights for the minorities and less power for the central authorities. This is exactly from this point of view that the present Macedonian majority perceives the new municipal reform. They fear that gradually they are becoming minority in their own country, first in some areas, then given the demographic trends, on the whole territory. Taught from the childhood about their rights on the land, the Macedonians can hardly accept the fact that this may change with no second chance been given to rewrite the history books. In fact except maybe Basques in Northern Spain who can claim perpetual prehistoric rights on any land in the earth? The first popular reactions are as irrational as are shortsighted. The new municipal law is to be derailed by organizing a referendum, which without major political surprises, will be won by those who oppose the new administrative division. That will mean, seen from Brussels, turning back to the EU and NATO, which sponsor the new reform. In domestic plan this will mean growing tensions between the two communities. Albanians already threatened to organize their own referendum. If the politicians in Macedonia from the both main ethnic groups fail to find mutually acceptable formula for peaceful coexistence, all bets will be off. And a new, hopefully bloodless international border will appear through the heart of Macedonia.
 The municipal changes will affect mostly three cities, the capital Skopje, but also Struga and Kicevo in the west. Skopje will increase its Albanian population above 20% threshold, which will allow the minority to introduce its language as official along with Macedonian. Struga will shift from Macedonian to Albanian majority. The changes in Kicevo will take effect in 2008 and this town will also shift its ethnic majority. --------------------
See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Macedonia.
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