Ethnic unrest at school closure

Macedonia's fledgling Albanian-language university in Tetova may become an unexpected victim of last year's Kosovo war.

Macedonia faces a growing Albanian irredentist movement. A quarter of its people are ethnically Albanian, and while trying to answer their demands, the government in Skopje is wary of alienating the rest of the population.

But last month several thousand ethnic Albanians took to the streets of Tetova, the largest Albanian-speaking town in Macedonia, on the borders with Kosovo, to protest against plans to close the university, which has never been officially recognised, and replace it with a multilingual institution.

Jusuf Zeneli, a student leader, said: "This institution is not a political problem, as some are attempting to present it. This university functions according to Macedonian law, similar to the other two universities."

Nevertheless, Tetova's diplomas are not yet officially recognised.

A new education law is being drafted with the collaboration of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Max van der Stoel, the organisation's high commissioner for national minorities, has proposed a formula for minority higher education that was accepted by the governing coalition - including the Democratic Party of Albanians - but was vehemently rejected by the more extreme Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity.

The new regime would require Albanian-language students to pass another government test for their diplomas to be recognised.

At a recent "graduation ball" in Tetova's Hotel Macedonia, most of the undergraduates felt resentful that their diplomas were not fully recognised.

"We are Albanians, we need to study in our own language" was a typical comment, along with: "This is our town, this is our country and this is our university."

Tensions in Tetova have been rising steadily following increasing demands for a Greater Albania in the aftermath of the Nato intervention.

Many nationalists would like to see Albanian-speaking parts of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia join with Kosovo and Albania.

When the university was established in 1994, there were serious clashes between police and students, and the government is reluctant to add any more fuel to the fire. It is in no mood to grant any further concessions to Albanian nationalism, warning of the dangers of ethnic separatism, but it is also wary of the dangers of upsetting this increasingly militant minority.