CONFLICT BAROMETER 2008

18 Conflict Barometer 2008
lages. While retrospective estimates of international observers
assumed fewer than 100 civilian fatalities, South
Ossetia and Russia claimed 2,000 victims. Russia intervened
in support of South Ossetia, claiming to protect
Russian citizens in South Ossetia. The Georgian air
force tried to halt the advance of Russian tank columns
entering South Ossetia from the North through the Roki
tunnel in the early hours of August 8. South Ossetian
militias, supported by Russian ground troops, repelled
the offensive and retook Tskhinvali. Russia also carried
out air strikes on Georgia from August 8 to 12. The
brief war between August 8 and 12 left several hundred
Georgians dead [→ Russia - Georgia]. The war also
displaced 22,000 ethnic Georgians from villages within
South Ossetia. Following the termination of hostilities,
South Ossetia’s de-facto president, Eduard Kokoity, became
a signatory to the Six-Point Ceasefire Agreement
mediated by the French EU Presidency between Georgia
and Russia. The latter recognized South Ossetia’s
independence on August 26 and signed a comprehensive
treaty of friendship and cooperation with South Ossetia
foreseeing the establishment of a Russian military
base in the region. On October 15, talks brokered by the
UN, EU and OSCE in Geneva to mediate between Georgia
and Russia foundered over the unresolved question
of Abkhazian and South Ossetian participation in the negotiations.
Finally, informal talks were held on November
19, to be continued on a monthly basis. The Georgian
central government lost control over the district of Akhalgori
inside South Ossetia, which had not been under the
control of the South Ossetian authorities before the August
fighting. Georgia accused South Ossetian militias
of ethnic cleansing against Georgian villages in the zone
of conflict. Human rights organizations called on Russia
to step up its responsibilities as an occupying power in
South Ossetia in order to stop South Ossetian militias
from attacking ethnic Georgians in the Akhalgori district
still in late November. The situation in South Ossetia
remained tense, with assassination attempts, bomb attacks,
and cross-border shelling being frequent. (mak)
Greece - Macedonia
Intensity: 2 Change: Start: 1991
Conflict parties: Greece vs. Macedonia
Conflict items: other
In Greece’s and Macedonia’s conflict over a mutually acceptable
official name for the Macedonian state, compromise
remained elusive. Between November 2007 and
October 2008, UN special envoy Matthew Nimetz’s mediation
yielded no tangible results. Macedonia championed
a ”dual formula”, i.e. using its constitutional name,
Republic of Macedonia, internationally, and a special
name for bilateral relations with Greece. In October,
Nimetz proposed the name ”Republic of Northern Macedonia”
internationally and ”Republic of Macedonia” domestically.
Greece, which insisted on the transitional
name ”Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, rejected
a dual-name solution on October 7. In early April,
Greece vetoed Macedonia’s NATO membership invitation.
On June 5, Greece refused Macedonia’s President
Branko Crvenkovski permission to land in Athens
because his plane had Macedonia written on it. On
July 14, Macedonian Prime Minister Gruevski asked his
Greek counterpart Kostas Karamanlis to recognize the
Macedonian minority in northern Greece. Karamanlis
responded by denying the existence of such a minority.
On August 12, Gruevski asked Nimetz to include Greek
recognition of the Macedonian Orthodox Church in the
talks. On November 17, Macedonia filed a motion at the
ICJ accusing Greece of breaking a UN agreement by
blocking its accession to NATO. (aj)
Hungary - Slovakia (minority)
Intensity: 2 Change: Start: 1993
Conflict parties: Hungary vs. Slovakia
Conflict items: international power
The conflict between Hungary and Slovakia concerning
the situation of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia
continued. On May 15, the Hungarian foreign ministry
called in the Slovakian ambassador to discuss remarks
by Slovakian government coalition politician Ján Slota,
the leader of the Slovak National Party (SNS), who had
referred to the medieval Hungarian king Saint Stephen I
as a ”clown rider”. On May 26, Hungarian Foreign Minister
Kinga Göncz criticized the Slovakian ruling coalition
for featuring the SNS. On October 2, the Hungarian
foreign ministry called in the Slovakian ambassador to
explain the row over new textbooks for Hungarian minority
schools as well as events following an international
meeting of ethnic Hungarian MPs [→ Slovakia (Hungarian
minority/southern Slovakia)]. Slota consequently
compared Göncz to Adolf Hitler. In the days following
a violent incident between Hungarian football supporters
and the Slovakian police in Dunajská Streda on
November 1, approx. 150 people protested in front of the
Slovakian embassy in the Hungarian capital, Budapest,
and, on November 10, Hungarian nationalists blocked
border checkpoints between the two countries. The
same day, the European Commission expressed its concern
over the deteriorating relations. Slovakian Prime
Minister Robert Fico and his Hungarian colleague Ferenc
Gyurcsány held a meeting in Komárno on November
15. They released a joint statement denouncing extremism
and nationalism, but also revealing big differences in
their interpretations of recent events. Gyurcsány invited
Fico to continue the talks in Budapest in January. (aog)
Macedonia (Kosovo)
Intensity: 1 Change: END Start: 2001
Conflict parties: Kosovo vs. Macedonia
Conflict items: territory
The conflict over border demarcation between Macedonia
and the government of Kosovo, a neighboring breakaway
republic of Serbia, ended. The conflict had begun
following a border demarcation agreement between
Macedonia and Yugoslavia on 02/23/01, which foresaw
the transfer of approx. 2,400 acres of territory to the
Macedonian side. A special joint commission finally
started border demarcation on June 30. On October
8, a group of armed people from the Kosovo village of
Libiste removed stone markers laid during demarcation