April 1997 Monitoring.

(This summary is based on the April reports only from Greece and the FRY. Unfortunately, by the end of July 1997, no one of the other national reports was available in the form agreed upon by the project coordinators in their April 1997 meeting).

Mariana Lenkova

April saw a very large number of articles on ALBANIA. Albanophobia was frequent in the extensive coverage of the turmoil in the neighboring country, dominated though by references to the actual events and to the Albanians’ poverty and despair after the pyramids’ collapse: "I have written it several times. Be careful with the Albanians. They are the official goat thieves of the Balkans. In the ancient times with bows and arrows. Now with Kalashnikoff…" (Ad.T. 22/4); "But it is not possible not to point out that Albanians evolve into the ignominy of Europe. We support them, feed them, give them work and help, we send our children there to defend them and to take care of them. But they rob us, plunder us, kill us, they fill our country with drugs and worst of all - they hate us. Not only they don’t thank us for everything we do for them, since gratitude is an unknown word in their modern vocabulary, but they hate us. During Easter they drowned every single Greek in grief, with the brutal murder of the young guard of our sea Thermopylae, at the northern extremes of the Ionian Sea" (Ap. 29/4); "[There is] an important difference in regards to previous years, in which similar phenomena of illegal immigrants flocking into the country were observable. But this time many Albanians are armed with Kalashnikoff". (E.TR. 3/4). However, when it came to reports on the ramming of the Albanian ship by an Italian corvette at Otrando straits, the Greek press condemned the event and blamed it on the Italian authorities and the Italian intellectuals ["The Albanians have no more the right to hope, to live. To their heart-rendering call we answer with death, because now we are able to live only through the other’s death. The other, the stranger, the despised has no place in this horrible civilization" (El. 3/4)] and even on the Greeks themselves ["The Greeks who consider the Albanians living in our country to be pieces of garbage deserving only contempt, rudeness and fierce exploitation, are not very likely to have been in the least infuriated by the ramming of the Albanian ship by the Italian corvette" (K. 2/4).]

The people’s poverty was, as usual in recent months, the main trait in the coverage of BULGARIA: "Drowned in poverty, black economy and under the domination of organized crime, Bulgarians are carried away to vote with one particular idea on their mind - the fury against corruption and crime…" (Ap. 19/4); "They even sell their relatives’ corpses! 82% of the population of Bulgaria is below the poverty level" (K, 15/4). Quite cynical was a comment by a journalist of Ad.T. (6/4) which speaks of "Bulgarian beggars" referring to the representatives of Bulgaria at the reunion of the Socialist parties of Europe. The journalist asks: "why they remembered PASOK and ‘beautiful Greece’…Only because they came to borrow without paying back. It would be good if PASOK keeps in mind that Greece has been burned not a few times from these pre-electoral invigoration of the parties of neighboring countries, when the ‘subsidized’ governments proved to be self-interested and against our national interests!". Moreover, elections in Bulgaria gave rise to many articles on the fear of a pro-Turkish tilt of the new government: "The victorious political party traditionally boasts good relations with Ankara and the party of the Turkish minority. (…) The country’s international relations are dependent mainly on its internal situation which, in spite of the majority that has been assured by the coalition of the Union of Democratic Forces, is fragile." El (21/4); "it is not impossible to rekindle the Greater Bulgaria spirit which will go along together with Turkey." (Ap. 27/4). Yet "[Greece counts] primarily on the Bulgarian position against Turkey. Sofia naturally takes this into consideration. This is valid even more, since the numerous Turkish minority provides Ankara not only with the excuse for a mounting territorial claim, but also with an incite to influence Bulgarian political relations and governmental decisions" (N. 23/4)

A Greek music concert in Skopje ["a musical bridge of friendship" (Eth. 14/4)] inspired for the first time a positive climate in the Greek press with respect to MACEDONIA with some politicians and journalists even supporting the need of Greece’s acceptance of a composite name and also to the need to resolve the question of the Civil War political refugees: "[the concert constituted] a concrete disapprobation of all the nationalistic hysteria which had led to the embargoes, the humiliating statements about ‘Skopjan gypsies’ and to the development of enmity and hatred towards a neighboring people; we ought to say, ‘Listen, friends, we’ve committed indescribable mistakes, it’s time to turn the page and taste the benefits, not of hostility and hatred, but of co-operation." (El. 20/4, quoting L. Kyrkos); "according to International Law what stands out is what we refer to as self-determination of peoples". (El. 12/4, quoting M. Papakonstantinou). However, some of the politicians and the journalists expressed worries and fears that the name issue is hastily led to a closure against Greece’s interests, thus producing a feeling of endangerment and setting off an already tense atmosphere: "They argue, with the unbearable hypocrisy which characterizes them, that Mikis conquered Skopje. Wrong. M. Theodorakis gave a concert for the President of pseudo-Macedonia. He legitimized with his artistic authority pseudo-Macedonia, which in the Greek people’s comprehension is a non-existent story. That is the bitter truth." (E.T. 15/4); "whose logic and what international law legitimize a people’s illicit exploitation of a name and a history which don’t belong to it. And what internationalist order, what political shortsightedness and profitable wind which bring Greek businessmen to Skopje, have the right to strengthen the endurance of the neighboring nationalism" (El. 14/4); "Skopje is not only a non-durable state, but it could constitute a factor of destabilization for the whole area" (Eth. 2/4, a declaration of a member of the PASOK Executive Bureau, M. Charalambidis).

When speaking of ROMANIA, the Greek papers usually referred to the grave economic plight of the people there: "[the Romanians of the Rezita area] find themselves in such a dreadful economic situation that they sell their gold teeth to the National Bank in order to supplement to their monthly income." (E.T., 4/4)

SERBIA’s coverage was scanty and mixed. Nevertheless, the news of the assassination in Belgrade of Serb Assistant Minister of the Interior, General Stoisic, was spread and the general was described as "the right hand of Milosevic, [a servant of] the regime’s perception of things, that which expressed itself all these years with the destruction of the cities, ethnic cleansing, plundering in Bosnia, Croatia, but also of fellow-countrymen in Serbia. The last public undertaking of Stoisic’ special unit took place in Belgrade on December 27, 1996 when dozens of citizens, who participated in the demonstrations, were injured. This was a ‘confirmation’ of his statement that ‘Belgrade is the most secure city in Yugoslavia’" (El. 12/4). The presentation of the second edition of L. Hatziprodromdis book (B. 6/4) on the war in ex-Yugoslavia, which contained a critique of Greece’s stand in the previous years, recognized in the writer one of "the Greek and foreign researchers who had informed us on time about the truths of the Yugoslavian tragedy [when, at the same time] most fellow-countrymen didn’t consider it their obligation to do whatever possible in order to re-establish a good peace in the inflamed Yugoslavia. On the contrary, they chose to revert into fanatic allies not to Serbia and the Serbians, but to the Milosevic regime, praising as well the Bosnian Serb leaders (creations of Karadjic and Mladic)".

The extensive coverage of TURKEY was full of the usual negative images of her and her society: "Turkish savageness on the Kurdish New Year Day"(El. 4/4); "‘Hellenism’ also a target of the Islamists" (Ap. 19/4, quoting Italian papers); "It was a victory of a Greek team (and in fact a Macedonian Greek one) against a Turkish one, which had a European coverage. The victory was realized in Brusa, a city with great emotional weight for the Greeks, a lost fatherland" (Eth. 5/4); "Bottles of Champagne were opened, Bengal lights were thrown, the national anthem was sung, while an huge sign said: ‘The capital of Greece is Constantinople’" (Ap. 4/4). However, there were some reports on a more friendly note: "Greece-Turkey one embrace!…" (Ad.T. 16/4, referring to the exchange of visits between Turkish and Greek students); "A country which is thirsty for change. Besides all its evils, we shouldn’t lose sight of this encouraging side of Turkey." (N. 15/4) Foreign Minister Pangalos’ repeated statement that "I am on the alert when one practices politics on the basis of religion... That is why I don’t understand those who think that Europe ends somewhere between Zagreb and Belgrade... And here, in the Balkans, exists a Europe which it is not permitted to abandon. (...) Islam is not a foreign body to Europe, but a known component of its cultural physiognomy. Islam belongs to the future of Europe, a future which will be shared with the Moslems…" (El. 5/4) provoked a rather negative reaction. The conservative Greek papers were especially vocal: "The origin of the Turks is clearly Asian. Their remoter ancestors seem to have been the horrible Huns, whose invasions destroyed Asia and Europe, so much that their name rests in history as a symbol of abysmal barbarism and disaster... Concerning ‘the crowning’ [statement] of our Minister, we will not even comment on the assimilation of the two countries, of which one stood as the infinite source (‘paga laleousa’) of a splendid civilization and the teacher of Europe, while the other was throughout time and throughout the continents a slaughterer, a vandal, Irostratos" (B. 6/4); "Turkey is the last colonial state, whose policy is racist in respect to all ethnic groups and especially to the Kurds" (Ap. 21/4, quoting PASOK MP, Ch. Kipouros)

The Greek press continued to treat with hostility both the national minorities and foreign media or parliamentarians who addressed the issue of intolerance in Greece. The minority issue was present in the following articles: "unfortunately the heads of the Muslim minority believe that by the number and by the size of the mosques they will achieve the alteration of the Christian Orthodox character of Thrace. Their effort is in vain. The Orthodox churches, old and new, prove the faith of Thrace’s Christians, especially their attachment to peace and the principles of respect for religious freedom" (E.T. 20/4, quoting archbishop of Alexandroupolis Anthimos); "the Turkish Consulate has exhumed Kemal’s saying: ‘Thrace belongs to Turkey and one day it will become ours again. It is your fatherland’" (E.T. 22/4). In opposition to all of the above is the declaration of the Dean of Democritus University of Thrace, G. Panousis, who was quoted by El. (11/4): "The problem of Thrace is not the composition of its population. It is the lack of a strategy and a plan, so that ‘our national solitude’ develops into a national and multicultural peaceful creative co-existence… Wherever there is a minority there will be respect for and protection of the rights of every citizen". Apart from that, there was an article in E.T. (9/4) entitled "Anti-Hellenic comments by the New York Times" [referring to an article in the US paper which spoke about "the unjustifiable delay and the unbearable silence of Salonica" and "Greece's distrust towards the religious and ethnic minorities, and her persistent unwillingness to recognize their place in its history…"]. Albanophobia was intensely cultivated: "We have no problem with the lady [an Armenian woman who was refused to be given an apartment, because she is a foreigner], but who can guarantee us that the next one won’t rent his apartment to an Albanian? Aren’t Albanians after all the scourge for Greece now?" (El. 7/4); "the tragedy of the Greek villages at the frontier [where the inhabitants] sleep and wake up with the shot gun on their pillow" (N 8/4); "[those villages that] at the mercy of Albanians who spread fright and panic in the area" (A.T. 1/4). There were a few articles which cultivated Roma-phobia as well: "[The Roma] use even minors as carriers of drugs" (A.T. 19/4); "use their women to push drugs" (E..T. 18/4).

Guide to newspaper initials: Ad.T. Adesmeftos Typos (center-right); Ap. Apogevmatini; E.T. Eleftheros Typos (center-right); El. Eleftherotypia (center-left); Eth. Ethnos (center-left); K. Kathimerini (center-right); N. Nea (center-left); V. Vima (center-left - Sunday equivalent to Nea)

Despite the fact that of all Balkan countries ALBANIA was the most covered country during April, all reports were neutral and with no comments, but clearly showing that the situation is still dramatic and far from reaching a solution. Independent Nasa Borba (3/4) enthusiastically welcomed the deployment of NATO troops in Albania ["At the moment when NATO forces start helping the Albanians to bring order, [...] the Albanian state will, without any restraints, head on its final trip to Europe"], while pro-regime newspapers didn't comment the issue.

April saw a process of cooling of the official relations in between the FRY and BULGARIA due to the latter’s criticism on the lack of protection of the rights of the Bulgarian national minority in the FRY, raised at the UN Commission for human rights. Politika (23/4) which published a statement of the local branch of the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia for Dimitrovgrad and Bosilegrad, which was full of bitter words and accusations of the Bulgarian diplomacy for "trying to manipulate with the Bulgarian national minority", but this was obviously done with the purpose of giving a low-profile answer. This was one of the few articles on the issue which did not provoke the media to keep up their pressure. The attitude towards the UDF’s electoral victory contributed to this, too. This victory was met surprisingly well in the pro-regime FRY media. It was again Politika (27/4) which offered an extremely favourable portrait of the new Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan Kostov. The headline of the text ["The way out of the abyss"]  was followed by equally strong praises of Kostov: "[he] has been collecting parts of a mosaic which should pull the country out of catastrophy with tolerance and persistence." 

Most texts about GREECE in the FRY media were descriptions of the leading articles that appeared in the Greek media, and many of them were not related to politics - they were interesting stories from everyday life in Greece. A few other praised Greece for its humanitarian aid sent to the Serbs ["The first man of Kalamaria has brought hope back. That is why he will be remembered as a humanist and a philanthropist forever." (VN, 5/4)] and for its beautiful summer resorts.

Political consequences of the collapse of the financial "pyramids" in MACEDONIA were the most discussed topic in the FRY newspapers during April. On the other hand Macedonian relations with Greece and the FRY were also discussed extensively, without resorting to explicit comments. Politika and Dnevnik strongly attacked the Macedonian singers who had waved aside the offer for participation in the performance "Greek Zorba", directed by Mikis Theodorakis in Skopje ["cheap politics; media sabotages of every cooperation between Belgrade and Skopje come from the same rows." (D, 11/4)], while Nasha Borba presented a quote of Greek Prime Minister Simitis who said the following about the Macedonian President: "Gligorov brings luck to Greece!" (2/4).

Most texts on ROMANIA were on the current economic reform of the new Romanian government, and Politika, as by far the biggest source of information on that country, intensified its criticism of this reform: "Romanian economy is plunging downwards; The authorities are attacked because it turns out that they are much more concerned with pleasing the West than with defending their national interests" (8/4).

In regards to TURKEY the struggle between Islamists and Secularists naturally provoked the concern of all the FRY media and – just like in some foreign and Turkish media - it was obvious that the latter ones were the media favorites. The struggle itself was labeled the "drama of one civilization" and President Demirel was compared to a "lion [who has been] fighting for months to save lay Turkey"  (P, 25/4). While the policy and the supporters of Prime Minister Erbakan were portrayed extremely critically, the Turkish army, the Leftist opposition and the President were described in the best possible way.

When it comes to the ethnic minorities, it should be mentioned that the ALBANIANS were constantly present in the newspapers. The large number of comments was unprecedented and the image portrayed remained negative. However, it was not the ordinary members of this ethnic community who interested the FRY media, but rather the political leaders of the Kosovo Albanians, who were - together with the leadership of the Serbian democratic opposition – the target of incessant attacks on the part of the "official press" for alleged joint work for the break up of Serbia. "It means that the creation of democracy presupposes the destruction of one’s own state for the sake of the narrow interests of those who were in New York." (P, 11/4); "The problem of the Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija is, first of all, a problem in themselves, i.e. in the fact that many of them do not recognize the state they live in, its Constitution and laws which guarantee them all democratic rights and democratic freedoms according to the highest international standards. [...] Is there any other country in the world which would kneel in front of its citizens and beg to them to include themselves in the political life, to elect and get elected, to work and earn, to make suggestions and to influence the suggestions of the others?" (VN, 6/4); "The relations between the Serbian and the Albanian nation are not at stake. What is at stake is the confrontation of the Albanian separatist movement with the Serbian state." (P, 15/4)

The MUSLIMS were mentioned in several texts, mostly critically because of their growing demands in Sandzhak: "With the call for a ‘referendum’ on the autonomy of Raska, which was held secretly and was used by numerous domestic and foreign journalists primarily with the aim of taking pictures, the ‘Memorandum on the special status of Sandzhak’, which basically asks for a state within a state, ‘the Muslim national council of Sandzhak (MNCS)’ has again (after several years of peaceful life and calmness) stirred the passions in this part of Serbia and Yugoslavia. After the takeover of the local power in Novi Pazar, Sjenica and Tutin, the MNCS goes further, as was expected. Autonomy is the next stage, and later (if the chance for that comes) - even more than that." (VN, 9/4).

The ROMA - because of their Congress and the celebration of the International Roma Day - were portrayed in the best possible way, which runs counter to their real position within the FRY society and to the almost complete negligence for their interests both on the part of the state and of the media.