By Jasmina Dimitrieva
The Republic of Macedonia is a tiny country at the Eastern edge of Europe. In the process of transition from its socialist past to a democratic future, Macedonia seems to have lost its way, after the opposition leader Zaev alleged a massive prolonged wire-tapping of about 20,000 individuals by the Macedonian secret police. The opposition made public secretly recorded conversations of high-ranking politicians, of government officials, of journalists, and of the chief of the secret police. The opposition claims that the communications of at least six foreign diplomats were also kept under surveillance.
The opposition’s allegations about the mega wire-tapping scandal came in February, after Zaev was accused by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski of plotting to overthrow the Government, with help from foreign secret services. A recorded meeting in the Prime Minister’s office, with the opposition leader telling the Prime Minister that the secretly recorded conversations will be made public unless the Government stepped down, made also its way to the public through Youtube.
The general public is not only concerned with the alleged large-scale secret surveillance, but also with the content of the publicly disclosed conversations. If they prove true, that would mean that political pressure was exerted on the judiciary, on the police, and on the media by the highest level of the Government in breach of the Constitution and human rights’ guarantees.
The opposition leader is under an investigation, allegedly, for espionage. In its turn, the opposition submitted an official complaint against the Prime Minister for unauthorized disclosure of state secrets. Some of the journalists, victims of the wire-tapping, announced complaints. Foreign representatives requested transparent, honest and efficient investigation into the circumstances of the alleged wire-tapping.
Ideas how to resolve the political and institutional crises are being exchanged between politicians and experts of all ethnic and political affiliations. What is clear is that the prime minister and the government do not plan to fulfill the opposition’s demand to step down, and thus pave the way to a technical government and new elections. Meanwhile, the opposition continues with its campaign to show the involvement of the ruling party’s high officials in corrupt activities and abuse of power, by distributing the alleged wire-tapped material.
The allegations from both sides cast a shadow over the State institutions’ capacities to resolve the crises, and raise fears among the citizens about possible violent scenarios. Under the circumstances of the alleged Watergate scandal the Macedonian way, what is left for the Macedonian citizens, in addition to self-censorship?
Nevertheless, Macedonia does not live in a vacuum. In fact, in the history of independent Macedonia, the international community has been permanently present to manage crises and monitor the process of democratization and respect for human rights. The country is in a strategic location, considering terrorist security threats and the Ukrainian crisis. Moreover, it is an EU candidate country, committed to democracy and protection of human rights. However, its EU and NATO bids are “frozen”, because of Greece´s objection to its name.
The International community has been called upon by the opposition and one of the ruling parties in the Government to help manage the crisis caused by the alleged massive wire-tapping. EU officials, as well as diplomatic representatives of one EU member state have offered help, if the country wants it. Whereas the EU is the best placed to help the country see the light at the end of the tunnel, any EU diplomatic mediation and support to the negotiations of the political parties involved is expected to be neutral and gain trust from all sides. That means that the Macedonia-Greece “name issue” must not be perceived as influencing the EU actions, which should help the country restore its legal order. There is fear in the Macedonian side that EU assistance on this matter might be guided by Greece´s intentions to resolve the “name dispute” according to its strategic interests.
Furthermore, the general public deserves to know the truth and the truth must be told by an official competent body. The EU may provide an independent expertise to probe veracity of the recordings disclosed by the opposition, and support public distribution of the expert report. It should also support the rule of law providers in the country, so that justice is not prevented from taking its course by corruption or nepotism. Any serious violations of the right to privacy and freedom of expression should be addressed by the justice system and, eventually, by the European Court of Human Rights. Even more so, if complainants consider that no adequate and effective remedy exists at domestic level.
Finally, in a democracy, it is the voters who decide who is fit to govern the country for a common good. The citizens must be able to express freely their opinion through free and fair elections. Considering the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Council of Europe criticism of recent Macedonian elections, fresh elections must be organized by experts, with full support of the international community in order guarantee popular trust in the process.
At the end of the day, it is the responsibility of the citizens of Macedonia to demand demystification of the wire-tapping scandal and full adherence to the rule of law. No other international or European factor can take upon itself this responsibility, which together with freedom and sovereignty.
[Editor’s Note: the country´s constitutional name is Republic of Macedonia, while admitted in the United Nations as the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.]
Jasmina Dimitrieva is a graduated lawyer with a doctoral degree in international public law, with a focus on international and European election standards; and extended professional experience in the electoral field, working primarily in the legal and penal aspects of elections.
