Asymmetry of the Albanian‑Macedonian Military Conflict in 2001

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the circumstances and course of the Albanian‑Macedonian conflict in 2001, the political situation in Macedonia after 1991, the relationship between Macedonia and its western neighbour – Albania,Macedonian police and armed forcesand the structures of National Liberation Army (KLA) as well. The author presents a thorough analysis of the asymmetric action of the Albanian terrorists and security forces of Macedonia. It is emphasises that the Macedonian Albanians’ revolt began when the military and security forces of Serbia joined the operations against Albanian terrorists in southern Serbia. Additionally, the threat of destabilisation of the Macedonian state is still valid. Former KLA structures were only partially disassembled, a large amount of equipment and weapons was hidden. Despite of the numerous international initiatives and progressive (but also illusory) stability, the ethnic and political conflict has been deferred and it is only a matter of time for someone to reopen the Macedonian “Pandora’s box”. Moreover, the Security System of the Republic of Macedonia must be constructed so that at the start of the rebellion all subsystems could be able to counter the threat effectively. Therefore, it is necessary for Macedonia to cooperate between its security forces and neighbours as well as to build a military infrastructure, to be able to use it to manoeuvre troops and special forces.

Keywords

• asymmetric conflict
• international relations
• armed forces
• Macedonian Army
• National Liberation Army
• military operations