Timeline Macedonia
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Borders Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east,
Serbia to the north and Greece to the south. Macedonians of Slav
origin
are the predominant ethnic group, although ethnic Albanians account
for
about a third of the population of 2 million. Traditionally the
poorest
of the former Yugoslavia's six republics, Macedonia is struggling to
get its postwar economy back on track. Corruption is rampant,
joblessness is about 40 percent and the average per-capita income is
about $300 a month.
The gadulka is a Macedonian
fiddle like instrument.
(NH, 6/97, p.66)
c3000BC The
town of Ohrid was established on Lake Ohrid, the 2nd deepest lake in
the world.
(SFC, 8/9/99, p.A8)
400BC-300 BC King Bardhylus united Illyria,
Molossia (Epirus) and part of Macedonia. The Illyrian kingdom
reaches its peak.
(www, Albania, 1998)
c359BCE Heraclea was established.
(SFC, 8/9/99, p.A10)
359BC-336BC Philip II ruled the
Greek kingdom of Macedonia. During this period he founded Plovdiv,
Bulgaria.
(WUD, 1994, p.1081)(SFC, 7/18/96, p.E1)
358BC Philip II of Macedonia marched his men into
territories he had ceded to Paionia, Illyria and Thrace, where he
routed his enemies and forced them to pledge allegiance to
Macedonia.
(www, Albania, 1998)(ON, 4/2011, p.10)
356BC Olympias, the forth wife
of Philip II of Macedonia, gave birth to Alexander the Great (d.323)
in Pella. Philip later hired Aristotle to be the boy’s tutor.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great)(WSJ, 5/15/98,
p.W11)(ON, 4/2011, p.10)
337BC The city states of Greece
agreed to terms set down by Philip II of Macedon unifying the
country un Philip.
(ON, 4/2011, p.12)
336BCE Alexander inherited the throne of Macedonia
and all of Greece. He went to see the Oracle of Delphi but was
initially refused entry. He forced his way and dragged the seeress
into the temple. Plutarch wrote: “As if conquered by his violence,
she said, ‘My son, thou art invincible.’” “That is all the answer I
desire,” replied Alexander. He began his campaign to acquire new
territory in Asia at age 22. Within 4 years he conquered the entire
Persian Empire.
(V.D.-H.K.p.50)(NG, Jan,1968
p.1,4)(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.13)
c333 BCE Hittite lands and the village known as
Ancyra (later Angora, Ankora) was conquered by Macedonians led by
Alexander the Great.
(HNQ, 4/15/02)
323BC Jun 10, Alexander died in
Persia at Babylon at the age of 32. His general, Ptolemy, took
possession of Egypt. Apelles was a painter in Alexander's court. He
had been commissioned by Alexander to paint a portrait of Campaspe,
Alexander's concubine. Apelles fell in love with Campaspe and
Alexander granted her to him in marriage. In 1984 Curtius Quintas
Rufus authored "the History of Alexander." In 1991 Peter Green
authored "Alexander of Macedon, A Historical Biography." “Alexander
the Great” by Norman F. Cantor (d.2004) was published in 2005.
(BS, 5/3/98, p.12E)(WSJ, 2/11/00, p.W6) (ON,
1/01, p.11)(SSFC, 12/25/05, p.M3)
285BC Ptolemy II (b.c309,
Philadelphus) of Macedonia began his rule of Egypt. During his reign
(285-247) he founded the Cyprian port of Famagusta.
(WUD, 1994, p.1162)(NG, 8/04, Geographica)
199BC-150BC Early in the 2nd
century BCE the Romans made Macedonia into a province and
obliterated the city of Corinth.
(WSJ, 12/26/97, p.A7)
42BC Octavian and Mark Antony
defeated Brutus and Cassius at Philippi in Macedonia.
(WUD, 1994, p.1081)
9CE Emperor Tiberius of Rome
subjugated the Illyrians and divided present day Albania between
Dalmatia, Epirus, and Macedonia.
(www, Albania, 1998)
c67CE St. Paul, Catholic
apostle to the Gentiles and writer of many epistles, died. He
founded one of the first Christian churches in Europe at Philippi in
Macedonia.
(WUD, 1994, p.1058,1081)
700-800 Invading Slavs assimilated the Thracians
in the area of modern Bulgaria and parts of Greece, Romania,
Macedonia and Turkey.
(SFC, 8/17/05, p.A2)
886 Aug 29, Basilius I,
the Macedonian, Byzantine emperor (867-886), died.
(MC, 8/29/01)
1335 The Orthodox church of St.
Atanasie and the Holy Virgin in Lesok was begun. A monastery was
added that played a role in Christian resistance to the Ottoman
Empire.
(SFC, 8/22/01, p.A10)
1895 Jul 15, Stephen Stambulov,
ex-prime minister of Bulgaria was murdered by Macedonian rebels.
(HN, 7/15/98)
1903 Sep 8, Between 30,000 and
50,000 Bulgarian men, women and children were massacred in Monastir
by Turkish troops seeking to check a threatened Macedonian uprising.
(HN, 9/8/98)
1908 Feb 14, Russia and Britain
threatened action in Macedonia if peace was not reached soon.
(HN, 2/14/98)
1910 Aug 26, Agnes Gonxhe
Bojaxhiu (d.1997), later known as Mother Teresa and care-taker of
the poor in Calcutta, was born to an ethnic Albanian family in Uskub
(later Skopje, Macedonia). In 1950 she founded the Missionaries of
Charity in Calcutta and in 1979 was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for
her work.
(SFC, 8/26/97, p.C3)(AP,
9/26/04)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa)
1912 May, Albanians rose
against the Ottoman authorities and seized Shkup (Skopje,
Macedonia).
(www, Albania, 1998)
1912 Aug 25, Different
nationalities battled with each other in Macedonia.
(chblue.com, 8/25/01)
1912 Oct 18, The First Balkan
War broke out between the members of the Balkan League-- Serbia,
Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro--and the Ottoman Empire. A small
Balkan War broke out and was quelled by the major powers. Albanian
nationalism spurred repeated revolts against Turkish dominion and
resulted in the First Balkan War in which the Turks were driven out
of much of the Balkan Peninsula. Austria-Hungary’s 1908 annexation
of Bosnia and Herzegovina spurred Serbian efforts to form the Balkan
alliance with its neighbors. As a result of the war on Turkey,
Serbia doubled its territory with the award of Northern Macedonia.
Albanian leaders affirmed Albania as an independent state. [see Oct
8]
(V.D.-H.K.p.290)(CO, Grolier’s/ Albania)(HN,
10/18/98)(HNQ, 3/27/99)(www, Albania, 1998)
1912 Oct, Fighting against
Turkish dominion began throughout Macedonia.
(www.maknews.com/html/articles/stefov/stefov61.html)
1912-1913 During the Balkan Wars the Kingdom of
Greece acquired Macedonia from the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
(SFC, 4/23/98, p.B4)
1912 Dec 4, An armistice was
signed to end the First Balkan War. Following several victories over
the Ottoman army, coalition forces occupied Macedonia and forced the
Ottoman Empire to seek an armistice.
(www.maknews.com/html/articles/stefov/stefov61.html)
1913 Jun 24, Greece and Serbia
annulled their alliance with Bulgaria following border disputes over
Macedonia and Thrace.
(HN, 6/24/98)
1913 Jun 29, Anticipating
assistance from Austro-Hungary the Bulgarian army attacked its
former allies. This Second Balkan War was at first waged entirely on
Macedonian soil. Bulgaria defeated Greek and Serbian troops.
(www.maknews.com/html/articles/stefov/stefov61.html)
1913 Jul 10, Rumania entered
the Second Balkan War war and four days later the Ottoman Empire
joined the general assault on Bulgaria. Faced with four fronts,
Bulgarian armies were defeated piecemeal and the government at Sofia
was forced to seek peace. Atrocities were widespread. For example,
in pursuing the Bulgarian army Greek forces systematically burnt to
the ground all Macedonian villages they encountered, mass-murdering
their entire populations. Likewise, when the Greek army entered
Kukush (Kilkis) and occupied surrounding villages, about 400 old
people and children were imprisoned and killed. Nor did the Serbian
"liberators" lag behind in destruction and wanton slaughter
throughout Macedonia. In Bitola, Skopje, Shtip and Gevgelija, the
Serbian army, police and chetniks (guerrillas) committed their own
atrocities.
(www.maknews.com/html/articles/stefov/stefov61.html)
1916 Nov 16, French
adjutant-chief Eugene Rouges died with several of his men when a
German artillery shell exploded in their trench in Gradesnica,
Macedonia. In the 1990s villagers began finding a liquid fortune in
vintage cognac buried in the old trenches.
(AP, 7/23/07)
1917 May 3, Kiro Gligorov
(d.2012) was born in the central Macedonian town of Shtip. He later
served as the first president of Macedonia (1991-1999).
(AP, 1/2/12)
1917 Nov 21, German ace Rudolf
von Eschwege was killed over Macedonia when he attacked a
booby-trapped observation balloon packed with explosives.
(HN, 11/21/99)
1929 Oct 3, The Kingdom of
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes formally changed its name to the Kingdom
of Yugoslavia. It included the regions of Serbia, Montenegro,
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Macedonia. King
Alexander I renamed the Balkan state called the Kingdom of Serbs,
Croats, and Slovenes, Yugoslavia. The Kingdom had been formed on
December 1, 1918 and was ruled by the Serbian Karageorgevic dynasty.
It included the previously independent kingdoms of Serbia and
Macedonia, the Hungarian-controlled regions of Croatia and Slovenia,
the Austrian province of Dalmatia, Carniola and parts of Styria,
Carinthia and Istria.
(AP, 10/3/97)(HN, 10/3/98)(HNQ, 3/26/99)(LCTH,
10/3/99)
1943 Bulgarians occupying
Macedonia rounded up and deported 7,148 Macedonian Jews to the death
camp at Treblinka. Of a pre-war population of some 8,000 Jews, only
350 remained after the war.
(Econ, 7/16/11, p.88)
1945 Kiro Gligorov was one of
the organizers of the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the People's
Liberation of Macedonia, or ASNOM. The organization worked to
establish Macedonia's identity and territory within the Yugoslav
federation and is considered the cornerstone of the Macedonian
state.
(AP, 1/2/12)
1963 Jul 26, Skopje,
Yugoslavia, was destroyed by earthquake and over 1,000 were killed.
(MC, 7/26/02)
1967 The Orthodox church in
Macedonia broke free from its Serb overlords.
(Econ, 9/10/05, p.50)
1990 Nov, A party that
advocated a confederation of independent states of Yugoslavia won
power.
(SFC, 6/11/96, p.A14)
1991 Jan, Kiro Gligorov
(1917-2012) became president of Macedonia while it was still a
Yugoslav republic. He served two consecutive presidential terms,
leading the nation to November 1999.
(AP, 1/2/12)
1991 Macedonia gained
independence from the former Yugoslavia. Its president was Kiro
Glogorov. A quarter to a third of the population is Albanian. Its
population is about 2 mil. Its capital is Skopje.
(www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mk.html)
1992 April, The denar was
introduced to replace the old Yugoslav dinar currency.
(WSJ, 11/27/95, p.A-7C)
1993 Jul, The first American
ground troops entered the former Yugoslavia as 300 Americans joined
a UN peacekeeping force in Macedonia.
(WSJ, 6/11/96, p.A14)
1993-1999 Feb 28, The US Operations Deny Flight,
Provide Promise, Deliberate Force, Decisive Edge, Joint Endeavour
and others began in Bosnia and Macedonia. They cost $9.7 billion to
date and left 4 US casualties with 5 wounded.
(WSJ, 9/22/99, p.A8)
1934 Oct 9, In Marseilles, a
Macedonian revolutionary associated with Croat terrorists in Hungary
assassinated King Alexander of Yugoslavia and French Foreign
Minister Louis Barthou. The two had been on a tour of European
capitals in quest of an alliance against Nazi Germany. The
assassinations brought the threat of war between Yugoslavia and
Hungary, but confrontation was prevented by the League of Nations.
(HN, 10/9/98)
1994 Greece put a 2-year
embargo on Macedonia for usurping the name of a northern province.
(SFEC,11/2/97, p.A22)
1995 Oct 3, Pres. Gligorov
(1917-2012), leader of Macedonia, was critically hurt in a car bomb
attack in Skopje, Macedonia. The bomb, which targeted his car as he
headed to work in the capital, cost him an eye and killed his driver
and a bystander.
(WSJ, 10/4/95, p.A-1)(AP, 1/2/12)
1995 The Macedonian government
signed an accord with Athens agreeing to remove a particular symbol
from its flag and revising some articles of the constitution. Talks
on the country's name have made little progress. In official bodies
such as the United Nations, the country is known as the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
(AP, 1/2/12)
1996 Apr 9, Yugoslavia and
Macedonia established diplomatic relations.
(WSJ, 4/9/96, p.A-1)
1996 Macedonia opened a stock
exchange.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)
1997 Jul, Three ethnic
Albanians were shot to death during riots after police removed an
Albanian flag from the town hall.
(SFC, 9/18/97, p.A11)
1997 Sep 17, In Macedonia the
mayor of Gostevar, Rufi Osmani, was sentenced to 13 years in prison
on charges of inciting ethnic hatred in the July riots.
(SFC, 9/18/97, p.A11)
1998 May 28, NATO Ministers
agreed to help Albania and Macedonia strengthen their border
patrols.
(SFC, 5/29/98, p.A16)
1998 Oct 18, In Macedonia
elections were held and the opposition coalition later claimed
victory by winning 44 seats of the 120-seat Assembly. Ljubco
Georgievski became the prime minister.
(SFC, 10/20/98, p.C12)(SFEC, 4/11/99, p.A26)
1998 Nov 1, A 2nd round of
elections was scheduled. Right-wing parties unseated the ruling
ex-Communists. The center-right coalition of VMRO-DPMNE and
Democratic Alternative parties won 59 of the 120 seats in
parliament.
(WSJ, 11/2/98, p.A1)(SFC, 11/3/98, p.C3)
1998 Dec 2, Macedonia agreed to
provide a base for NATO to get to Kosovo it the need should arise.
(WSJ, 12/3/98, p.A1)
1999 Jan, Prime Minister Ljubco
Georgievski took office after an alliance led by his center-right
Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity ousted the former
Communists, who had been in power for 8 years.
(SFC, 4/22/99, p.A14)
1999 Feb 9, China severed
relations with Macedonia after the government in Skopje recognized
Taiwan.
(WSJ, 2/10/99, p.A1)
1999 Feb 24, China announced
that it would veto a Security Council resolution to renew a UN
peacekeeping force in Macedonia, which had recently established
relations with Taiwan.
(SFC, 2/25/99, p.A10)
1999 Feb, Ismail Bexheti (40),
an ethnic Albanian and a Muslim, was appointed as the police chief
in Tetovo. Most of his officers were Slavic Christians.
(WSJ, 5/28/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 29, Albania and
Macedonia appealed for help as thousands of refugees fled Kosovo on
the 6th day of bombing. NATO said Serbs were targeting ethnic
Albanian leadership for executions and the US accused Milosevic of
"crimes against humanity."
(WSJ, 3/30/99, p.A1)(SFC, 3/30/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 31, Three peacekeeping
US soldiers were captured by Serb forces near the Yugoslav-Macedonia
border. James Stone, Stevem Gonzales and Andrew Martinez were shown
on Serbian TV. Azen Syla, founder of the KLA, said that his
guerrilla supply lines from Albania were cut off when the bombing
began. Yugoslav soldiers herded ethnic Albanians onto trains bound
for the Macedonian border as NATO bombing continued for the 8th day.
(SFC, 3/31/99, p.A1,12)
1999 Apr 3, Macedonia,
overwhelmed by some 70,000 Kosovar Albanians, declared that it won't
accept any more refugees unless they are sent on to other European
countries.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 5, In Macedonia ethnic
Albanians were blocked at the border due to extremely slow
processing by government officials. Political stability was feared
and the UN was denied a mandate to process the refugees.
(SFC, 4/6/99, p.A8)
1999 Apr 7, In Macedonia the
government evacuated a huge refugee encampment overnight and sent
them to locations in Albania, Greece and Turkey.
(SFC, 4/8/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 14, Some 3,000
refugees reached the border of Macedonia and another 7,000 were
expected. Another 3,000 arrived in Albania. An estimated 18,000 were
making their way to Montenegro. Over the last 3 weeks 305,000
arrived in Albania, 121,000 in Macedonia, and 61,000 in Montenegro.
(SFC, 4/15/99, p.A12)
1999 Apr 16, NATO troops began
to pull out of refugee camps in Macedonia. Management of the camps
was turned over to Macedonian NGOs supervised by the UNHCR. Refugees
were reported to be in fear of the Macedonian police.
(SFC, 4/16/99, p.A17)
1999 Apr 16, Thousands of
refugees poured out of Kosovo as NATO blasted oil refineries,
military barracks and airports around Yugoslavia. At least 5,000
refugees crossed into Macedonia, and 8,000 into Albania. Some
100,000 were believed to be enroute to Macedonia.
(SFC, 4/17/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 20, NATO bombing
continued in Yugoslavia. The UN refugee agency in Macedonia declared
its camps full beyond capacity and left 2,000 to 3,000 refugees at
the border. Another few thousand crossed the border to the hamlet of
Milana. The border with Albania was again opened but only a few
crossed over.
(SFC, 4/21/99, p.A1,10)
1999 Apr 21, Macedonia allowed
another 3,000 Kosovo refugees to enter from the frontier.
(SFC, 4/22/99, p.A14)
1999 Apr 26, Over 2,000 ethnic
Albanians arrived from Kosovo.
(SFC, 4/27/99, p.A8)
1999 Apr 27, Up to 5,000 ethnic
Albanians entered Macedonia and many more were said to be following.
Another 2,000 entered at the Lojane border post.
(SFC, 4/28/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 29, In Macedonia
another 6,500 refugees arrived. 3 refugees were killed by a mine as
they attempted to cross the border northwest of Blace.
(SFC, 4/30/99, p.A13)
1999 May 3, British PM Tony
Blair visited the Stankovec I refugee camp in Macedonia and pledged
to double Britain's aid from $32 million to $64 million.
(SFC, 5/4/99, p.D1)
1999 May 14, In Macedonia
Hillary Clinton announced a $21 million aid package to support
Kosovo refugees and the Macedonian people who have helped take them
in.
(SFC, 5/15/99, p.A10)
1999 May 18, NATO missiles hit
at least 4 cities in Yugoslavia and one woman was reported killed
and 12 injured. Some 1000 ethnic Albanians crossed into Macedonia.
(SFC, 5/19/99, p.A14)
1999 May 23, Some 14,000 ethnic
Albanians crossed the border from Kosovo to Macedonia in the last 2
days.
(SFC, 5/24/99, p.A12)
1999 May 25, As many as 150,000
Kosovo refugees were reportedly bound for Macedonia.
(SFC, 5/26/99, p.A10)
1999 Aug 29, In Macedonia a
NATO soldier from Norway was arrested for a car crash that killed a
Macedonian official, his wife and daughter.
(WSJ, 8/31/99, p.A1)
1999 Oct 31, In Macedonia
elections Tito Petkovski, representing the former communist Social
Democratic Party, led with 38% of the vote vs. Boris Trajkovsky
(VMRO) with 24.6%. A runoff was scheduled in 2 weeks.
(SFC, 11/2/99, p.A14)
1999 Nov 14, Boris Trajkovsky
(43) of the right centrist VMRO DPMNE party was the winner in a
runoff election with 53% of the vote. Some 35,000 people later
protested the results.
(SFC, 11/19/99, p.D2)
1999 Nov 28, The high court
nullified the election results in 230 mainly Albanian districts and
threw Boris Trajkovsky's victory into doubt.
(WSJ, 11/29/99, p.A1)
1999 Dec 5, A repeat ballot in
239 contested polling stations upheld the election of Boris
Trajkovsky and the ruling coalition.
(SFC, 12/6/99, p.A14)
1999 Caroline Baron founded
Film Aid Int’l. as a one-time trial to show films to the refugees in
Macedonia. The project was later expanded Africa.
(WSJ, 10/23/02, p.B1)
1999 The 2 million population
included about 25% ethnic Albanians.
(SFC, 4/22/99, p.A12)
2001 Mar 4, Macedonia sealed
its border with Kosovo after 3 soldiers were killed in heavy
fighting with ethnic Albanian rebels.
(WSJ, 3/5/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 5, In Macedonia heavy
fighting against ethnic Albanian rebels continued for a 2nd day on
the border with Kosovo.
(SFC, 3/6/01, p.A12)
2001 Mar 9, Ethnic Albanian
rebels launched attacks on Macedonian and Yugoslav forces on the
Kosovo border. 2 people were killed.
(SFC, 3/10/01, p.A8)
2001 Mar 12, Yugoslavia and
NATO agreed to use their forces to squeeze Albanian rebels from
separate flanks as the rebels signed a cease-fire.
(SFC, 3/13/01, p.A15)
2001 Mar 14, The ethnic
Albanian National Liberation Army (UCK) extended its fight to
Tetovo, the country’s 2nd largest city.
(SFC, 3/15/01, p.A12)
2001 Mar 15, Prime Minister
Ljubco Georgievski said that a direct involvement of NATO troops
might be required to stem rebel attacks.
(SFC, 3/16/01, p.A14)
2001 Mar 16, Albanian rebel
mortar shells exploded in Tetovo.
(SFC, 3/17/01, p.A12)
2001 Mar 18, The government
ordered a general mobilization to counter the guerrilla assault.
(SFC, 3/19/01, p.A8)
2001 Mar 19, NATO asked for
additional troops in Kosovo to help stop Albanian guerrillas from
crossing into Macedonia. Macedonia moved tanks and troops into
Tetovo.
(SFC, 3/20/01, p.A10)(WSJ, 3/20/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 20, Security forces
began a heavy attack against guerrilla fighters and issued an
ultimatum that weapons be laid down.
(SFC, 3/21/01, p.12)
2001 Mar 21, The government
rejected a rebel cease-fire and planned to proceed with its military
offensive.
(SFC, 3/22/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 22, Two Albanians were
killed by police at a checkpoint when they appeared to pull
grenades. The EU urged Macedonia to show restraint and intensify
discussions with Albanian militants.
(SFC, 3/23/01, p.D4)
2001 Mar 24, Macedonia began
using attack helicopters against ethnic Albanian rebels.
(SSFC, 3/25/01, p.C2)
2001 Mar 25, The government
sent infantry troops backed by tanks and helicopters into the hills
above Tetovo to push back ethnic Albanian insurgents.
(SFC, 3/26/01, p.A8)
2001 Mar 28, Macedonia began
final assaults on rebels near the Kosovo border as political talks
were set to begin.
(SFC, 3/29/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 29, Macedonian forces
chased rebels into Kosovo and 3 people were killed from mortar fire
in Kosovo.
(SFC, 3/30/01, p.A16)
2001 Mar 30, Macedonia declared
a successful conclusion to their offensive against ethnic Albanian
insurgents.
(SFC, 3/31/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 31, Rebels engaged
government troops in a firefight.
(SSFC, 4/1/01, p.C5)
2001 Apr 28, In Macedonia 8
government soldiers and police were killed by rebels near the Kosovo
border.
(SFC, 4/30/01, p.A8)
2001 May 1, Slavs rioted in
Bitola and trashed Albanian shops following the funerals of soldiers
killed in a rebel ambush. US Sec. of State Powell met with Pres.
Trajkovski.
(SFC, 5/2/01, p.A8)
2001 May 3, Troops backed by
helicopter gunships began a fresh offensive against ethnic Albanian
rebels after 2 soldiers were killed and one kidnapped in an ambush.
(SFC, 5/4/01, p.A13)
2001 May 6, Macedonian forces
lobbed shells into villages seized by ethnic Albanian rebels.
(SFC, 5/7/01, p.C1)
2001 May 7, Prime Minister
Georgievski said parties agreed to form a coalition government to
include all main ethnic Albanian and Slav parties.
(WSJ, 5/8/01, p.A1)
2001 May 9, Macedonian forces
intensified assaults on suspected ethnic Albanian positions.
(WSJ, 5/10/01, p.A1)
2001 May 10, Macedonian and
Serb leaders agreed to work together to fight ethnic Albanian
guerrillas.
(WSJ, 5/11/01, p.A1)
2001 May 12, The Parliament
approved a national unity government. The VMRO, DPA, SDSM and PDP
made the move to avert an all out war.
(WSJ, 5/14/01, p.A1)(SFC, 5/25/01, p.A14)
2001 May 15, The new unity
government ordered a halt to attacks on ethnic Albanian rebels but
warned them to clear out of northern villages within 2 days or face
full-scale assaults.
(SFC, 5/16/01, p.A10)
2001 May 20, Government troops
shelled ethnic Albanian positions in response to machine gun and
sniper fire.
(SFC, 5/22/01, p.A11)
2001 May 24, Albanians said
that government fire killed 7 civilians.
(WSJ, 5/25/01, p.A1)
2001 May 25, Government troops
began a ground assault against rebels and some 3,000 civilians fled
the area.
(SFC, 5/26/01, p.B12)
2001 May 29, Key leaders agreed
to set aside a dispute over a joint declaration signed by ethnic
Albanian politicians and a guerrilla leader that did not require an
immediate stop to fighting.
(SFC, 5/30/01, p.A10)
2001 Jun 1, The government
offered amnesty to the ethnic Albanian militants if they lay down
their weapons.
(SFC, 6/2/01, p.A9)
2001 Jun 5, US Defense Sec.
Donald Rumsfeld visited Macedonia as Albanian rebels clashed with
government troops near Tetovo.
(WSJ, 6/6/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 6, The government
threatened to declare a state of war after 5 soldiers were killed in
an attack by ethnic Albanian rebels.
(SFC, 6/7/01, p.A12)
2001 Jun 8, Rebels seized
Aracinovo, 5 miles from Skopje, without firing a shot.
(SFC, 6/13/01, p.D2)
2001 Jun 10, Ethnic Albanian
rebel leader Commander Hoxha threatened to take the insurgency into
the cities unless government stopped fighting in the north.
(SFC, 6/11/01, p.A10)
2001 Jun 11, In Macedonia
ethnic Albanian rebels and the government announced cease-fires.
(SFC, 6/12/01, p.A10)
2001 Jun 12, Macedonia broke
ties with Taiwan and restored relations with China.
(WSJ, 6/13/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 12, Gunmen shot dead
Naser Hani (42), an intermediary between militants and government
parties.
(SFC, 6/14/01, p.C3)
2001 Jun 14, Macedonia asked
for NATO troops the help disarm ethnic Albanian rebels. NATO Sec.
Gen. Lord Robertson ruled out military
intervention.
(SFC, 6/15/01, p.D6)
2001 Jun 15, Rebels declared a
unilateral cease-fire as politicians began talks to resolve the
crises.
(SFC, 6/16/01, p.A7)
2001 Jun 22, Government troops
ended an 11-day cease-fire and attacked ethnic Albanian rebels with
tanks and helicopter gunships.
(SFC, 6/23/01, p.A9)
2001 Jun 25, In Skopje rioting
erupted after US troops escorted rebels away from the capital.
(WSJ, 6/27/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 5, The government and
ethnic Albanian rebels signed a cease-fire agreement under pressure
from Western powers. Fighting continued.
(SFC, 7/6/01, p.A16)
2001 Jul 20, Two int’l.
monitors and their interpreter were found killed by a land mine near
Tetovo.
(SFC, 7/21/01, p.E1)
2001 Jul 22, Ethnic Albanian
rebels attacked government forces in the Tetovo area.
(SFC, 7/23/01, p.A8)
2001 Jul 23, In Macedonia
security forces engaged ethnic Albanian rebels in fierce fighting
around Tetovo. Macedonian mobs in Skopje, angered by Western efforts
at mediation, attacked symbolic targets.
(SFC, 7/24/01, p.A6)
2001 Jul 30, Peace talks
dragged into a 3rd day as rebels controlled part of Tetovo.
(SFC, 7/31/01, p.A7)
2001 Aug 4, Ethnic Albanian
rebels lobbed mortars at Macedonian police stations near Tetovo.
(SSFC, 8/5/01, p.A14)
2001 Aug 5, Rival factions
agreed to restructure the police force and removed a major barrier
to a peace accord.
(SFC, 8/6/01, p.A8)
2001 Aug 6, Peace talks hit a
snag over government demands for a quick rebel disarmament.
(SFC, 8/7/01, p.A6)
2001 Aug 7, Police conducted a
predawn raid in Skopje and 5 members of the National Liberation Army
were killed.
(SFC, 8/8/01, p.A8)
2001 Aug 8, Political leaders
initialed a peace agreement as rebels ambushed an army convoy and
killed 10 soldiers.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.A8)
2001 Aug 9, Government forces
battled rebels for control of Tetovo and one policeman was killed. A
peace agreement was scheduled to be formally signed Aug 13.
(SFC, 8/10/01, p.A12)
2001 Aug 10, Two mines hit
military trucks near Skopje and 7 soldiers were killed. The army
retaliated with an assault on Ljuboten.
(SFC, 8/11/01, p.A8)
2001 Aug 10-12, Security forces
killed 6 ethnic Albanian civilians and burned at least 22 houses in
the village of Ljuboten. Another 3 were killed from indiscriminate
shelling and another died when shot while fleeing.
(SFC, 9/6/01, p.E4)
2001 Aug 12, Macedonia's
interior minister Ljube Boskovski watched from a distance as police
under his control rampaged through Ljuboten, killing seven ethnic
Albanian men and torching and blowing up houses. In 2007 defendants
Boskovski and a top police official faced a possible punishment of
life imprisonment. The policemen who allegedly carried out the
killings were not on trial.
(AP, 4/16/07)
2001 Aug 13, In Macedonia a
peace deal was signed by rival leaders of the 2 main ethnic groups
and paved the way for NATO troops to arrive and disarm ethnic
Albanian rebels. Representatives of the EU, USA and NATO helped
Macedonian politicians produce a plan for peace at Lake Ohrid called
the Ohrid agreement.
(http://tinyurl.com/y8j2yh)(AP, 8/13/02)(Econ,
10/21/06, p.62)
2001 Aug 14, Albanian
guerrillas agreed to disarm under NATO supervision and the
government agreed to extend amnesty for the fighters.
(SFC, 8/15/01, p.A6)
2001 Aug 15, NATO authorized
400 first wave peacekeepers for Macedonia.
(SFC, 8/16/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 17, NATO’s 1st advance
troops of Operation Essential Harvest arrived in Skopje.
(SFC, 8/18/01, p.10)
2001 Aug 19, Government shelled
the rebel-held village of Neprusteno for 4 hours.
(SFC, 8/21/01, p.A6)
2001 Aug 21, In Macedonia a
14th century monastery, St. Atanasie and the Holy Virgin, in Lesok
was bombed. Each side blamed the other.
(SFC, 8/22/01, p.A10)
2001 Aug 22, NATO members gave
formal approval for alliance soldiers to collect weapons from
Albanian guerrillas in Macedonia.
(SFC, 8/23/01, p.A8)
2001 Aug 23, NATO soldiers
streamed into Macedonia as part of a mission to help end 6 months of
ethnic hostilities by collecting and destroying rebel weapons.
(AP, 8/23/02)
2001 Aug 24, Rebels agreed to
hand over some 3,000 weapons. The government had earlier charged
that the rebels had 85,000 weapons.
(SFC, 8/25/01, p.A8)
2001 Aug 26, An explosion at a
hotel in Celopek killed 2 Macedonian Slavs.
(SFC, 8/27/01, p.A6)
2001 Aug 27, In Macedonia NATO
troops began collecting rebel weapons and one British soldier was
killed when a suspected block of concrete was thrown at his vehicle
by Macedonian youths.
(SFC, 8/28/01, p.A6)(WSJ, 8/28/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 30, NATO troops
suspended arms collections to await a parliamentary vote on
proceeding forward with the peace accord.
(SFC, 9/1/01, p.A7)
2001 Sep 9, EU foreign
ministers agreed on the need for a new int’l. military force to
provide security in Macedonia after NATO withdrawal.
(SFC, 9/10/01, p.B1)
2001 Sep 17, Macedonia approved
the deployment of a modest NATO security force.
(WSJ, 9/18/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 20, NATO troops began
the 3rd stage of Essential Harvest.
(SFC, 9/21/01, p.D3)
2001 Sep 25, NATO agreed to
keep troops in Macedonia beyond the Sep 26 expiration of its
mission.
(WSJ, 9/26/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 27, Ethnic Albanian
rebels declared that they had formally disbanded and were returning
to civilian life.
(SFC, 9/28/01, p.D4)
2001 Oct 4, Macedonian security
forces, in opposition to external warnings, took control of 3 ethnic
Albanian villages but met with resistance from others.
(SFC, 10/5/01, p.D4)
2001 Oct 9, Macedonia decreed
amnesty for rebels.
(WSJ, 10/10/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 11, Police found a
cache of arms in an area held by ethnic Albanian rebels.
(WSJ, 10/12/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 21, In Macedonia Pres.
Boris Trajkovski approved a plan to deploy ethnically mixed police
units in areas that had been seized by ethnic Albanian revels.
(SFC, 10/22/01, p.B2)
2001 Nov 12, Three policemen
were killed in fighting following the seizure of hostages by ethnic
Albanians near Tetovo in response to a police raid.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A1)
2001 Nov 16, The parliament
adopted constitutional changes giving ethnic minority Albanians more
rights.
(SFC, 11/17/01, p.A17)
2002 Mar 2-3, Macedonia police
killed 7 men who allegedly attempted an ambush near Butel, a suburb
of Skopje. Police said the attackers were probably Pakistanis.
Foreign officials later discounted these assertions and suspected
that they were illegal immigrants. A 2 year investigation followed
in the so-called "Rastanski Lozja" action, and revealed police
staged the killing to show they were participating in the U.S.-led
campaign against terrorism. A bomb blast at the Macedonia consulate
in Karachi on Dec 5, 2002, killed 3 people in apparent retaliation.
(SSFC, 3/3/02, p.A15)(WSJ, 3/8/02, p.A8)(SFC,
4/5/02, p.H1)(AP, 4/30/04)(SFC, 5/1/04, p.A7)
2002 Aug 29, In western
Macedonia police killed two ethnic Albanians after gunmen abducted
at least five people from a bus, as tension soared. The 5 abducted
people were released after 2 days.
(AP, 8/30/02)(AP, 8/31/02)
2002 Sep 14, In Macedonia an
ethnic Albanian was killed and two were wounded in a clash with
police, as tensions soared on the eve of key elections.
(AP, 9/14/02)
2002 Sep 15, Voters chose
candidates for the 120-seat assembly from 30 parties. The Macedonian
side was led by the center-right VMRO party, which rules in a
coalition with the Democratic Party of Albanians, and the formerly
communist Social Democrats, which was well ahead of the VMRO in
pre-election polls. Ethnic Albanians were represented mainly by the
DPA and the Democratic Union for Integration, a new party led by
former rebel leader Ali Ahmeti, which was leading among ethnic
Albanian parties in pre-election polls.
(AP, 9/15/02)
2002 Sep 15, In Macedonia the
opposition led by Branko Crvenkovski swept the ruling coalition from
power in the country's first elections since last year's armed
uprising. Premier Ljubco Georgievski confirmed the nationalists’
defeat.
(AP, 9/16/02)(WSJ, 9/16/02, p.A1)
2002 Dec 5, In Pakistan a bomb
exploded at the Macedonian Consulate and 3 people were killed.
Revenge for a Mar 2 killing of 7 militants in Skopje was suspected.
(SFC, 12/6/02, p.A16)
2003 Mar 31, In Macedonia the
EU began its first military operation by taking over peacekeeping
duties from NATO.
(AP, 3/31/03)
2003 Sep 7, Macedonian police
clashed with ethnic Albanian militants in the volatile north, and
reported killing several men in what they said was a major sweep
against groups that threaten the Balkan country's fragile peace.
(AP, 9/7/03)
2003 Nov 1, Macedonia launched
a lottery to reduce the number of light arms held by the public. An
amnesty for turning in arms was set to expire Dec 15.
(SSFC, 12/14/03, p.A14)
2003 Dec 31, Security forces
boarded a bus in Macedonia and snatched a German citizen named
Khaled el-Masri (b.1963). For the next five months, el-Masri was a
ghost. Only a select group of CIA officers knew he had been whisked
to a secret prison for interrogation in Afghanistan. He was the
wrong guy. El-Masri was dumped in Albania in a remote hillside on
May 28, 2004, without explanation or apology. Five months later
Germany withdrew warrants for the arrest of 13 CIA agents.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalid_El-Masri)(AP, 2/9/11)(SSFC,
3/6/11, p.F6)
2004 Feb 26, Macedonian
President Boris Trajkovski, a moderate leader who helped unite his
ethnically divided country, was killed when his plane crashed in bad
weather in mountainous southern Bosnia.
(AP, 2/26/04)
2004 Apr 14, Macedonians voted
to replace the president who was killed in a February plane crash.
(AP, 4/14/04)
2004 Apr 15, Branko
Crvenkovski, Macedonia's PM, took the lead in elections to replace
the president who died in a plane crash, but he didn't get enough
votes to avoid a runoff.
(AP, 4/15/04)
2004 Apr 28, Macedonians chose
between a liberal prime minister and a nationalist candidate in
presidential elections. Front-runner Branko Crvenkovski, the current
PM, and right-wing opposition politician Sasko Kedev, a
U.S.-educated doctor with little political background, competed in
the runoff election for the mostly ceremonial post. Oremier
Crvenkovski claimed victory and Kedev claimed fraud.
(AP, 4/28/04)(WSJ, 4/29/04, p.A1)
2004 Oct 18, A militant group
in Iraq said it had executed two Macedonian men accused of spying
for the US. Macedonia has 32 soldiers stationed in Taji, north of
Baghdad.
(AP, 10/18/04)
2004 Nov 4, Greece sharply
protested a US decision to recognize the former Yugoslav state on
its northern border as "Macedonia."
(AP, 11/4/04)
2004 Nov 7, In Macedonia voters
cast ballots on a referendum that would repeal a Western-brokered
law that effectively grants local autonomy to the country's ethnic
Albanians. The referendum fell short of a required 50% turnout.
(AP, 11/7/04)(WSJ, 11/8/04, p.A1)
2004 Nov 10, Macedonia
politicians gathered at Lake Ohrid to recommit themselves to a
reconciliation process begun there in 2001.
(Econ, 11/13/04, p.57)
2004 Nov 15, Macedonia’s PM
Hari Kostov resigned over disagreements with ethnic Albanian
coalition partners.
(SFC, 11/16/04, p.A3)
2004 Nov 18, The Macedonian
parliament accepted the resignation of PM Hari Kostov and his
cabinet, leaving President Branko Crvenkovski 10 days to select a
new premier.
(AFP, 11/18/04)
2004 Dec 28, Albania, Bulgaria
and Macedonia gave political support to a $1.2 billion private
trans-Balkan pipeline that will allow Russian and Caspian crude oil
to avoid Turkish waters.
(WSJ, 12/29/04, p.A7)
2005 Mar 14, The Hague tribunal
indicted former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski for war
crimes.
(AP, 3/14/05)
2005 Mar 27, Macedonians cast
ballots in municipal elections, but the voting was marred by
irregularities that could potentially harm the country's ambitions
to join NATO and the EU.
(AP, 3/27/05)
2005 Jul 27, Bishop Jovan
Vraniskovski in Skopje, Macedonia, was sentenced to at least 18
months in jail for “instigating national and religious hatred.”
(Econ, 9/10/05, p.50)
2005 Dec 17, Macedonia moved a
step closer to realizing its dream of EU membership when the bloc's
leaders gave their blessing for it to start membership talks.
(AFP, 12/17/05)
2006 Feb 16, In southern Iraq 2
Macedonians working for a cleaning company were abducted in Basra. A
$1 million ransom was demanded for their release.
(AP, 2/18/06)
2006 May 7, Vice President Dick
Cheney endorsed the NATO membership aspirations of Croatia, Albania
and Macedonia.
(AP, 5/7/06)
2006 Jul 5, Macedonia held
parliamentary elections. President Branko Crvenkovski urged a free
and fair vote in a country struggling to ease tensions between
majority Macedonian Slavs and the ethnic Albanian minority, which
makes up about a quarter of the nation's population.
(AP, 7/6/06)
2006 Jul 6, PM Vlado Buckovski
conceded defeat to the nationalist opposition in Macedonia's
parliamentary elections, a vote considered crucial for the tiny
Balkan nation's aspirations to join the EU and NATO. Nikola Gruevski
led the winning VMRO-DPMNE party.
(AP, 7/6/06)
2006 Aug, In Macedonia within 3
days of the new government taking office as many as 544 managers and
top officials from state companies were sacked or shunted aside.
(Econ, 10/21/06, p.62)
2007 Macedonia renamed Skopje
airport for Alexander the Great.
(Econ, 4/4/09, p.55)
2008 Jan 12, A Macedonian Army
helicopter returning from a peacekeeping mission in Bosnia crashed
in foggy conditions, killing all 11 people on board.
(AP, 1/13/08)
2008 Apr 12, Macedonia's
lawmakers voted to dissolve parliament and hold early elections,
following a dispute with neighboring Greece that halted the Balkan
nation's bid to join NATO.
(AP, 4/12/08)
2008 Jun 1, Macedonia's
parliamentary election was marred by violence in Albanian areas and
suspected fraud, with one person shot dead and nine wounded, and
voting halted in one town after a gun battle. PM Nikola Gruevski
scored an overwhelming election victory but monitors criticized
violence that marred the poll and could delay the country's progress
towards EU membership. The government said it will repeat voting in
22 poling stations that were shut down due to shootings or alleged
ballot fraud.
(Reuters, 6/1/08)(Reuters, 6/2/08)(WSJ, 6/2/08,
p.A10)
2008 Jun 7, Macedonia’s State
Election Commission announced it would nullify results from 193
polling stations after detecting fraud and other irregularities in
the June 1 violence-marred parliamentary election.
(AP, 6/8/08)
2008 Jun 15, A peaceful repeat
vote at dozens of polling stations in Macedonia confirmed the ruling
coalition's landslide victory in parliamentary elections that had
initially been marred by violence.
(AP, 6/15/08)
2008 Jun 23, Vlado Taneski
(56), a Macedonian journalist jailed on suspicion of murdering at
least two women in crimes he wrote about for his newspaper, was
found dead in his cell.
(AP, 6/23/08)
2008 Jul 5, Macedonia’s leading
party said PM Nikola Gruevski has agreed to form a coalition
government with the main ethnic Albanian party to aim at getting its
NATO and EU bids back on track.
(Reuters, 7/5/08)
2008 Jul 17, Macedonia's main
opposition party walked out of parliament after its deputy leader
was arrested and charged in a corruption probe.
(AP, 7/18/08)
2008 Oct 9, Montenegro and
Macedonia recognized Kosovo's independence, despite opposition from
Serbia, which called the moves by its Balkan neighbors a betrayal
and expelled the Montenegrin ambassador from Belgrade.
(AP, 10/9/08)
2008 Oct 10, Serbia expelled
the Macedonian ambassador, reflecting its fury over the recognition
of Kosovo's independence by its closest neighbors.
(AP, 10/10/08)
2008 The population of
Macedonia was about 2 million with about a quarter of them being
ethnic Albanian.
(Econ, 6/7/08, p.64)
2009 Jan 6, A natural gas
crisis loomed over Europe, as a contract dispute between Russia and
Ukraine shut off Russian gas supplies to six countries and reduced
gas deliveries to several others. Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia,
Romania, Croatia and Turkey all reported a halt in gas shipments.
(AP, 1/6/09)
2009 Mar 22, Macedonia held
elections. The governing party's Gjorgje Ivanov (49) emerged as
favorite to win the presidency in an April 5 runoff vote against
51-year-old Social Democrat Ljubomir Frckoski.
(AP, 3/23/09)
2009 Apr 5, Macedonia’s
conservative candidate Gjorgje Ivanov (49) won the runoff election
in a landslide with about two-thirds of the popular vote.
(WSJ, 4/6/09, p.A8)
2009 Sep 5, The sightseeing
boat Ilinden, carrying 55 Bulgarian tourists, sank in Lake Ohrid on
Macedonia's western border, and 15 people drowned.
(AP, 9/5/09)(AFP, 9/6/09)
2009 Oct 16, Kosovo's
authorities said they have demarcated a disputed border with
Macedonia, a scene of tensions in the past.
(AP, 10/16/09)
2009 Nov 30, The EU Council of
Ministers for Interior and Justice abolished visa requirements for
citizens of the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area#Current)
2009 Dec 19, The European Union
opened its borders unrestricted to more than ten million Serbs,
Montenegrins and Macedonians after nearly 20 years, a major boost
for the troubled region's hopes for closer ties with the 27-nation
bloc.
(AP, 12/19/09)
2010 May 12, Macedonian police
said a shootout between police and an armed group near the country's
border with Kosovo has left four people dead. Police had intercepted
them attempting to smuggle weapons across the border from Kosovo.
(AP, 5/12/10)
2010 Jun 25, Macedonian
authorities said they have broken up an antiquities smuggling ring
and recovered thousands of valuable artifacts. Police charged 2
police officers and a former mayor with attempting to sell
antiquities abroad.
(SFC, 6/26/10, p.A2)
2010 Nov 25, Macedonia police
raided the building housing A1 television, a private channel often
critical of PM Gruevski’s government.
(Econ, 2/26/11,
p.57)(www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP0jAsK9sog)
2010 Dec 24, Macedonia
police arrested Vellija Ramkovski and 14 employees of his private A1
television channel. The channel has often critical of PM Gruevski’s
government.
(http://tinyurl.com/46rkkat)
2011 Feb 13, In Macedonia
ethnic clashes, mainly Muslim ethnic Albanians and orthodox
Christians, broke out at the historic Kale Fortress in a dispute
over a new structure being built on the foundations of a
13th-century church. 8 people were injured.
(AP, 2/16/11)
2011 Mar 10, Macedonia opened a
new Holocaust Memorial Center dedicated to the Holocaust and its
Jewish community, which was almost wiped out during WWII.
(Econ, 7/16/11, p.88)(http://tinyurl.com/3uflkpj)
2011 Jun 5, Macedonians voted
in early general elections that many hope will move the country
closer to EU membership and NATO entry, stalled by a name row with
Greece. Conservative PM Nikola Gruevski won but would need to form a
coalition to govern for 4 more years.
(AFP, 6/5/11)(SFC, 6/7/11, p.A2)
2011 Nov 25, The Chinese
government donated a gift of 23 buses during a ceremony in
Macedonia's capital. News of the donation ignited a torrent of
criticism. Many asked: How could China make the donation to a
foreign country when Chinese schools contend with shoddy transport?
(AP, 11/28/11)
2011 Dec 5, The world court
ruled that Greece was wrong to block Macedonia's bid to join NATO in
2008 because of a long-running dispute over the fledgling country's
use of the name Macedonia.
(AP, 12/5/11)
2012 Jan 1, Kiro Gligorov (94),
the first democratically elected president of Macedonia, died. He
shepherded his nation through a bloodless secession from the former
Yugoslavia and narrowly survived an assassination attempt.
(AP, 1/2/12)
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