Macedonia’s Wartime Document of Shame: The Secret 2001 Capitulation Letter Revealed

In its April 22 edition, weekly Skopje politics magazine Fokus printed the text of Macedonia’s shameful capitulation agreement that ended the war of 2001 between the government and Albanian NLA “freedom fighters.” The magazine claims that this is the first time the document has been made available to the public, and draws several provocative conclusions about its contents- showing exactly how humiliating was Macedonia’s Western-imposed, NATO-enforced defeat. The letter, addressed to NATO special envoy Peter Feith, as signed by 2 senior army and police officials. The translated text runs as follows:

Dear Mr. Feith,

I have the honor to inform you of the following things:

We are prepared to finish the crisis which is ruining the peaceful, democracy prosperity of the Republic of Macedonia and which is a direct threat to regional stability.

We believe that an unconditional ceasefire, the procedures of which are presented below, represent a concrete step for finding a solution to the crisis.

We agree with NATO’s intention to help in the disarmament and dissolution of the military ethnic Albanian groups, and [for the presence of] a NATO mission for this goal and with its precondition for [this presence] and help in the disarmament process, and especially that:

-these goals must be generally achieved unconditionally, with the ceasefire [respected] permanently;

-there must be realized sufficient progress in dialogue between the political parties, as is defined by NATO and the EU.

To confirm its sincere desire to implement without delay this plan for building trust; the Government of the Republic of Macedonia decides that it will:

1.) unconditionally respect and follow the ceasefire, and will abstain from all military operations, from using force and illegal actions against ethnic Albanian military groups;

2.) accept and adhere to the Geneva Convention (Protocol 2) from August 12 1949, regarding the protection of victims of binational conflict.

3.) [Further,] the ceasefire refers to all security forces in the Republic of Macedonia. The Government will ensure the jurisdiction of this document to also apply to all kinds of unregulated forces and paramilitary groups.

4.) By “security forces” [is meant] all groups and individuals who accept the authority and command of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, including regular forces, border police, army and police reserve, military police, intelligence services, military intelligence, local special police for counterterrorism and police for keeping public order and peace.

5. [The government will] request international observers.

6. The ceasefire will be enforced from 00:01, 6 July 2001 after a public declaration.

7. A) The ceasefire includes every kind of weapon, including mines and other explosives.
B) The authorities of the Republic of Macedonia will take every possible measure to ensure the security and freedom of movement for all members of the international community.
C) They will [be allowed to] maintain the present positions of their military forces, except for in those places where future arrangements for local disengagement are possible, or where the government forces could return to their barracks. They will not [be allowed to] use the ceasefire for changing or improving their positions.

8. Notice

a) After the ceasefire takes force, the government forces for upholding the law will be obligated without partiality and completely to uphold the laws of the Republic of Macedonia without ethnic, religious or racial prejudices.

b) None of these articles of the ceasefire agreement will be interpreted as the loss of the [Republic of Macedonia’s] inalienable right to self-defense. Self-defense means using necessary and proportional force to defend oneself and others from attack or potential attack. Every use of force must be limited to the extent, intensity and duration necessary for self-defense, and not more. Revenge is not self-defense and will be interpreted as a breaking of the ceasefire agreement.

Lieutenant General Pande Ptrovski,
Head of the General Staff of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia

General Risto Galevski,
Head of the Department of Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia


The Fokus writers add the following compelling thoughts:

“…the word tie (‘they’ in 7.c) causes a little confusion. Who are ‘they?’ If it were government forces, it would be written thus. But, they didn’t write it like that: ‘They will keep the present positions of their military forces.” So it’s logical that they are speaking about the NLA. But our side was ashamed to write that, thinking that something drastic would change. Besides, maybe it’s just easier on their soul. Still, even hypothetically, it’s interesting for example, what if there was no Ohrid Agreement? With this agreement for a cease-fire from July 5, their (the NLA’s) positions are being [officially] recognized. And let’s remember that the NLA had almost one-quarter of the territory in the Republic of Macedonia, in Lipkovo, Tetovo and other parts of the Skopje region.”

The magazine also points out the tacit implication inherent in Article 1, which insinuates that the army had been engaged in illegal acts in the past. “…In the end, except for the legitimization and legalizing of the NLA, this document doesn’t offer anything good about the government, and the fact is that it doesn’t have any articles about [what will happen to] people who break the “ceasefire,” and what NATO would do in that case. This is notable because almost all of the real wild things of the Ahmeti boys happened after July 5.”