The Occupying Forces Sent Their Propaganda Machine Ahead

In the run-up to the parliamentary passage of the Macedonian peace deal huge pressure was applied by the Americans. In the following we are reprinting excerpts from an article that describes in detail the planned American media campaign prior to the vote in parliament.

Skopje, Macedonia: The U.S. government is planning to finance an intense political advertising and lobbying campaign here in the next 45 days to secure parliamentary passage of a peace deal that expands the rights of the ethnic Albanian minority, but is regarded with deep skepticism by Macedonian political parties and the Macedonian public, according to sources here and in Washington.

The United States could spend up to $250,000, a significant amount of money for a media campaign in this country of two million, buying radio and television spots, and newspaper advertisements. U.S. officials are also considering direct mailings to every household, which would be the first such effort in this Balkan country.

The campaign, which could be launched in the next few days with radio spots, will be coordinated with the office of President Boris Traikovski, whose advisers, working with Western strategists, will help fashion a message that could change week to week as in an electoral campaign.

The president’s involvement is regarded as critical because U.S. officials remain nervous that the project will be construed as interference.

The media campaign, organized by the U.S. Agency for International Development and American non-profit organizations, will be directed to the Macedonian and ethnic Albanian communities in each of their languages. Local advertising agencies will be hired to translate the strategy into a viable public campaign.

And the message will differ from community to community. Macedonians are likely to hear that the deal offers ‘Gstability’ and ‘security’ without any great emphasis on the details of the agreement which they largely regard as a sellout that could result in the ultimate partition of the country.

Albanians are likely to hear that the agreement is a just response to their civil rights grievances and they should now abandon any extremists who want to wring out more concessions from the Macedonians or continue a campaign of violence.

The United States will encourage local mayors and community leaders to lobby those members who are opposed or wavering to vote ‘yes’ on ratification of the agreement. Western diplomats are also expected to visit parliamentarians, and a Western donor conference for Macedonia is regarded as a particular sweetener.

The United States is also considering flying Macedonian members of Parliament, particularly members who are hostile to the accord or uncertain about how they will vote, to some American states, possibly California or Texas, to see how bilingualism works in those places; one of the most controversial aspects of the agreement is the elevation of Albanian to the status of a second official language.

The International Republican Institute, a Washington-based non-profit organization with some U.S. government funding, has already commissioned a nationwide voter survey with 35 questions, mostly about the peace agreement. The results of the survey, expected in the next few days, will allow Western consultants, working with the president’s advisers, to tailor what they are calling “public service announcements” to the pu blic and legislators.

The International Republican Institute was heavily involved with the media campaign of Otpor, the Serbian student movement that helped defeat former President Slobodan Milosevic in presidential elections last year.

The campaign here is likely to be more restrained and overt, but the stakes are just as high because if Parliament fails to ratify the agreement, it could plunge the country back into a state of war, with North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops on the ground.

‘We are trying to ensure that the peace plan is widely discussed and that the public is well-informed,’ said a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Skopje, who said the campaign may also include call-in shows on radio so that naysayers can make their arguments.

Western officials continue to worry that enough backbenchers in Parliament, particularly from the party of Prime Minister Lupko Georgievski, could vote to bring down the agreement, sparking a new political and military crisis.

Hence, U.S. officials believe a public information campaign, coupled with backroom lobbying, is essential.

Yet Americans, while not discounting the critical value of lobbying in Parliament, insist that the agreement must, at the very least, be fully explained to the public.

Source: International Herald Tribune, 17 August 2001