Status of language key to Macedonian conflict, say Albanians Posted July 23, 2001
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010723/1/19mjb.html
Tuesday July 24, 12:44 AM
Status of language key to Macedonian conflict, say Albanians
SKOPJE, July 23 (AFP) -
After months of drawn-out talks, Macedonian Slav and ethnic Albanian leaders are close to a reform deal to end a conflict that has sparked fears of a new Balkans bloodbath, but one key issue is still hindering a final accord: the status of the Albanian language.
"It is a very emotional issue," said one Western diplomat close to the talks, adding that more than 95 percent of the other issues had been ironed out.
The ethnic Albanians, who constitute up to a third of the population of two million, say they cannot feel at home in the multi-ethnic state as long as their language is not officially recognised.
The Macedonian Slav majority, on the other hand, have refused Albanian calls for their mother tongue to be given the status of second official language after Macedonian, and for it to be an official language of local government in areas where Albanians make up more than 20 percent of the population.
The Macedonians see the move as a bid to gradually drive a wedge between the communities and open the door for Albanians, concentrated near the northwestern border with Albanian-dominated Kosovo, to form their own separate entity.
But the Albanians are adamant they cannot compromise on the language issue, and walked out of the internationally sponsored talks last week after Skopje refused to accept their proposals.
"The status of your language tells exactly what your social and political status is," said Ismail Mehmeti, professor of Engish at a new internationally funded university in Tetovo in the northwest.
He said many Albanians, who generally feel they are discriminated against in education and the workplace, have difficulty speaking Macedonian, and need their own social facilities to finally feel at home in the state.
He said the language factor puts them at a disadvantage in courts and official institutions, as well as in Macedonian-staffed hospitals.
"The key is to make Albanians feel at home in the state. If you feel at home you don't need another state," said Mehmeti, whose South East European University is to open in October, offering courses in Albanian, Macedonian and English.
"There is no effort to integrate the Albanians as they are. You cannot create a new Macedonian identity including Albanians: they can live in the same state but there is no American-style melting pot here," he stressed.
In the Bit Pazar market in the centre of Skopje's old town, Albanian traders dominate a cultural mix including Macedonian Slavs, Turks, Roma gypsies and Bosnians, where most tradesmen speak each other's language.
But even here, Albanians insist on the need for official recognition of their tongue.
"We don't want a war, that would be a catastrophe," said one Albanian barber. "But we won't give up on the language."
On the edge of the market is the Theatre of the Nationalities, which in better times staged plays in Albanian and Turkish as a counterpoint to the National Theatre, where productions are in Macedonian.
Theatre director Sefedin Nuredini said Albanians need plays in their own language to express their cultural identity, but said money was scarce and that the six-month conflict had only made things worse.
Actors could not rehearse their latest production in June after police set up control points in the markets and closed it to traffic as tensions soared when ethnic Albanian guerrillas moved into a town on the edge of the capital.
Instead of coming to see plays in their own language, fearful Albanians stayed at home, preferring to watch the news.
But Professor Mehmeti, speaking as gunfire rattled in a nearby suburb of Tetovo, said European-standard education was the only solution, eroding nationalist enmities just as it had between France and Germany after World War
"It is the only way out of the crisis this society is facing in all spheres of life.
"If we start with education then we might influence future generations. The stereotypes that have been built won't disappear so quickly, but I don't see any other solution.
Macedonia Warns Rebels to Retreat or Face Assault Posted July 23, 2001
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Monday July 23 2:25 PM ET
Macedonia Warns Rebels to Retreat or Face Assault
SKOPJE, Macedonia (Reuters) - Macedonian Defense Minister Vlado Buckovski warned ethnic Albanian rebels in the flashpoint town of Tetovo on Monday to withdraw from territory they have occupied during an 18-day truce or face an all-out assault.
Government forces fought a fierce all-day battle with the guerrillas for control of the suburbs of the predominantly Albanian town on Monday, ripping apart a cease-fire brokered by NATO (news - web sites) as the rebels appeared to extend their grip on territory.
``If the terrorists do not retreat to their positions of July 5, there's no alternative but an offensive by the Macedonian security forces to restore the previous situation,'' Buckovski told reporters in the capital, 25 miles to the west.
``We are asking NATO to use their influence and authority over the terrorists to get them back because if they don't they know what follows,'' he warned before meeting representatives of the alliance, which mediated a truce to facilitate peace talks.
``There are two alternatives. One is to find the strength to continue with the cease-fire and the dialogue and the other is to take your hands off everything that leads to a peaceful solution and go for a military one.''
Fighting grips Macedonia city Posted July 23, 2001
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1451000/1451153.stm
Monday, 23 July, 2001, 17:51 GMT 18:51 UK
Fighting grips Macedonia city
Smoke has been billowing over Tetovo
A 12-year-old girl has reportedly been killed in clashes between Macedonian security forces and ethnic Albanian rebels in the country's second-biggest city, Tetovo.
Fourteen people have also been wounded, five of them members of the security forces, the director of Tetovo hospital told French news agency AFP. The girl who died was an ethnic Albanian, he said.
Today we have real war in Tetovo - Tetovo resident
The clashes began in Tetovo on Sunday, in what officials said was the most serious threat so far to the country's 18-day-old ceasefire.
The rebels were reported to have taken control of the town's football stadium and to have fired mortars at a military barracks.
Macedonian Government forces responded by pounding villages in the mountains above the town, seen as a refuge for fighters from the rebel National Liberation Army.
"Today we have real war in Tetovo," a 38-year-old resident told Reuters news agency.
Stalled talks
The fighting came as US and European envoys met with President Boris Trajkovski in the capital Skopje, in the hope of luring Macedonian and Albanian leaders back into making progress in stalled negotiations.
Fighting undermines an 18-day-old ceasefire
As the two sides in Tetovo continued to exchange fire, scores of cars were seen fleeing in the direction of Skopje, the capital.
Two Macedonian soldiers were reported to have been injured during Sunday's fighting, which lasted a couple of hours.
Tetovo is regarded as the unofficial capital of Macedonia's ethnic Albanian minority.
In March the city and its surrounding villages were the scene of a month of fighting between the rebels and government forces.
Peace proposals
Talks between the two sides have been stalled since a draft peace proposal was rejected last Wednesday.
It suggested retaining Macedonian as the primary official language and keeping central state control over the police, but proposed Albanian as a second official language in some areas - a key demand for rebel leaders.
The language issue was the main sticking point, with many Macedonians opposed to any suggestion that Albanian become an "official" language.
The Albanian rebels say they are fighting to end discrimination.
The Macedonian authorities argue the rebels are trying to seize territory in order to secede from the country.
Albanian rebels mortar bomb Macedonian barracks Posted July 23, 2001
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010723/1/19m97.html
Monday July 23, 8:33 PM
Albanian rebels mortar bomb Macedonian barracks
TETOVO, Macedonia, July 23 (AFP) -
Ethnic Albanian rebels on Monday hit a Macedonian army barracks with several mortar rounds in the flashpoint northwestern town of Tetovo, military officials in the town told AFP.
There were no immediate reports of casualties among the soldiers stationed in the barracks, situated on the eastern edge of the town, the officials said.
Tetovo has been the scene of intense clashes between the rebel National Liberation Army and security forces since Sunday.
Macedonia's Factions Prepare to Talk Posted July 22, 2001
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010721/wl/macedonia_306.html
Saturday July 21 12:20 PM ET
Macedonia's Factions Prepare to Talk
By ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC, Associated Press Writer
SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) - As Macedonia's feuding factions prepared Saturday to relaunch the faltering peace process, an ethnic Albanian rebel leader said insurgents will lay down their arms if political demands at the negotiating table are met.
Peace talks between representatives of majority Macedonians and ethnic Albanian politicians stalled after Macedonia's ruling party rejected a Western-backed peace proposal. The ethnic Albanians pulled out in protest.
Officials close to the suspended talks said expert groups for the two sides were meeting privately to fine-tune positions ahead of a resumption of negotiations on Monday.
A senior representative of the ethnic Albanian rebels, who launched an insurgency in February, said the guerrillas will stop fighting only if the minority's demands are accepted.
``Albanians do not want civil war but they will not give up their arms if they do not receive what they deserve,'' Ali Ahmeti told the daily Utrinski Vesnik. ``If Albanian demands are accepted, their fighters will lay down their arms and will be integrated into society.''
New hope for the talks came on Friday - after a day of closed-door lobbying by Western envoys, ethnic Albanian officials signaled their willingness to return to the negotiations aimed at averting full-scale war in Macedonia.
Imer Imeri of the Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity told reporters his party was ready to return to the peace talks if the group of participants is narrowed down to the two biggest parties each on the Macedonian and Albanian side. Close to a dozen parties from each sides have been participating in talks so far.
A senior member of Arben Xhaferi's Democratic Party of Albanians, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his party was also likely to return to the talks mediated by two Western envoys, James Pardew of the United States and Francois Leotard of the European Union (news - web sites).
The draft peace proposal rejected by Macedonian leaders on Wednesday retains Macedonian as the primary official language and maintains central state control of the police, but proposes Albanian as a second official language in some areas - a key demand by leaders of the minority.
A Western diplomat said Macedonian negotiators remain opposed to the language proposal as well as others that would allow areas with an ethnic Albanian majority to select their own local police chiefs, even though the choice would be restricted to names proposed by the interior minister, now a Macedonian.
Ethnic Albanian militants launched their insurgency against government forces in February in a campaign to demand more rights.
Majority Macedonians say the ethnic Albanians, who make up nearly one-third of Macedonia's population of 2 million, already enjoy enough protection under the constitution and that their struggle is aimed at carving up the country.
Deaths of EU monitors in Macedonia complicate peace moves Posted July 20, 2001
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010720/1/19iyb.html
Saturday July 21, 1:00 AM
Deaths of EU monitors in Macedonia complicate peace moves
Two EU monitors and their translator were killed by a landmine in an ethnic-Albanian rebel held area of Macedonia, officials said, further complicating efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.
The members of the European Union Monitoring Mission -- identified by the Swedish foreign ministry as a Norwegian and a Slovakian, plus their ethnic Albanian translator -- were the first international officials to be killed in the six-month-old conflict.
Their car hit a landmine and was blown off the road into a deep mountain ravine between the flashpoint northern town of Tetovo and the Kosovo border, the Slovak defence ministry said.
Monitors Lubomir Orsag of Slovakia and Brjarte Gundersen of Norway were found inside the vehicle, while the body of their translator Valon Sadik was found 100 metres (yards) away.
The Norwegian defence ministry and the European Union described the deaths as a accident, while the army and Albanian guerrillas both accused the other of planting the powerful landmine.
President Boris Trajkovski and top EU officials -- including EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana -- sent their condolences to the families of the victims.
The monitors were part of a team observing a fragile NATO-brokered ceasefire in Macedonia, introduced on July 5 to give political leaders a chance to hammer out a reform deal to boost Albanian rights and undermine the armed campaign by the guerrillas, who say they are also fighting for more rights.
NATO and EU officials, as well as members of the Macedonian army, were on the scene recovering the vehicle Friday, although the operation was hindered by the rugged terrain.
A Macedonian official described the area as completely under rebel control and "very dangerous."
The European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) is tasked with observing the crisis in Macedonia. It has hundreds of observers in Macedonia, the UN-run Yugoslav province of Kosovo across the northern border, Bosnia, Croatia and southern Serbia.
A KFOR spokesman in Skopje said it was too early to say how the incident might affect a planned deployment of 3,000 NATO troops to disarm the rebels if a political reform deal is reached and a two-week ceasefire proves durable.
NATO plans a month's in-and-out mission to Macedonia if the rebels agree to a presidential amnesty and lay down their weapons.
But that move depends on political leaders first reaching a deal on constitutional and institutional reforms.
A breakthrough still appeared a long way off Friday after Albanian leaders walked out of the the talks, accusing the Macedonian Slav parties who dominate the emergency coalition of trying to start the talks over from the beginning.
Zamir Dika, a senior official of the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), said the Macedonians were trying to restart the talks from scratch, but said time was running out as the situation on the ground was rapid deteriorates.
Expert groups from both communities were meeting again Friday, after President Trajkovski and the US government urged the Albanians to return to the negotiating table.
EU Monitors Killed in Macedonia, Peace Hopes Fade Posted July 20, 2001
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010720/wl/balkans_macedonia_dc_164.html
Friday July 20 12:58 PM ET
EU Monitors Killed in Macedonia, Peace Hopes Fade
By Daniel Simpson
SKOPJE (Reuters) - A three-man European Union (news - web sites) team was found dead in Macedonia on Friday after their vehicle was blown into a ravine by a mine while monitoring a fragile cease-fire in the divided former Yugoslav republic.
The Norwegian and Slovakian monitors and their translator, a member of Macedonia's large Albanian minority, disappeared on Thursday in hills near Tetovo, a flashpoint town in five months of fighting between government forces and Albanian guerrillas.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in a statement he deeply regretted their deaths, the first among a growing number of international officials hoping to secure peace in Macedonia.
``The EU will not be deflected in its determination to help bring lasting peace and stability to the region,'' he said.
In the capital Skopje, 30 miles away, Western envoys struggled to salvage a political deal to end the rebellion that has dragged the tiny Balkan state toward civil war.
Prospects for peace have worsened since the Macedonian government condemned the latest Western proposals as tantamount to dividing the country at the behest of separatist rebels.
Macedonian leaders want to return to earlier versions of the peace plan and accused Albanian parties of blocking progress by failing to show up for talks on Thursday.
NATIONALIST RHETORIC
Gloomy diplomats worry nationalist Macedonian rhetoric could block compromise on a package of reforms granting Albanians greater civil rights in the hope of avoiding major bloodshed.
``I hope the Macedonians don't try to shred the process apart but I don't know what their ultimate goal is. I hope it is to get a political deal,'' one Western diplomat said. ``But there are some irrational people involved here and that's very dangerous.''
U.S. envoy James Pardew and the EU's Francois Leotard have persuaded Albanian parties to send constitutional experts back to the table in a bid to keep the talks alive.
But serious negotiations have all but collapsed. There are no plans for party leaders to meet unless new proposals on the sensitive issues of language rights and police reforms emerge.
Each day of deadlock increases fears that a NATO (news - web sites)-brokered truce, which has contained fighting for 15 days, will unravel.
``Everything depends on the political will of the Macedonian bloc,'' warned Imer Imeri, a prominent Albanian party leader. ''They have the last word. They will decide for war or peace.''
Macedonian newspapers poured scorn on the insistence of Albanian leaders that they could not give ground on demands that their language gain official status, accusing them of being in the pockets of the National Liberation Army (NLA) rebels.
NLA political leader Ali Ahmeti vowed there could be no compromise beyond the terms Macedonian leaders have rejected, which he claimed were sufficient to persuade the NLA to disarm.
``The last document contains all the things with which you can end the war,'' he told independent daily Utrinski Vesnik in the first interview he has granted to a Macedonian newspaper. ''It's the minimum of all minimums for the demands of Albanians.''
RISING TENSION
Diplomats admit it will be tough to overcome the perception among many Macedonians that their country is being carved up at gunpoint, despite the fact that the rejected plan would merely devolve some power and make Albanian a semi-official language.
``Tensions are rising,'' a Western diplomat said. ``We're down to the last issues but the gulf will be very hard to bridge.''
Despite the stalemate, no politician is yet advocating a return to the battlefield to attack the NLA guerrillas who have seized swathes of Macedonia's northern hills.
The strain on the cease-fire is starting to show, however, as sporadic shooting grows more frequent around the main Albanian town of Tetovo, where a football stadium separates front lines.
The Macedonian Defense Ministry said a new NLA mortar position had appeared in Lavce, a village just above Tetovo, and said security forces would open fire unless it was dismantled.
Reported deaths of EU monitors shakes Macedonian peace process Posted July 20, 2001
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010720/1/19inn.html
Friday July 20, 7:59 PM
Reported deaths of EU monitors shakes Macedonian peace process
SKOPJE, July 20 (AFP) -
Efforts to resolve the crisis in Macedonia suffered a severe setback Friday when three European Union observers were reported to have been killed by a landmine in a rebel-held area, just a day after talks to resolve the crisis collapsed in acrimony.
The members of the European Union Monitoring Mission -- identified by the Swedish foreign ministry as a Norwegian, a Slovakian and their Macedonian Albanian translator -- were the first Western officials to be killed in the six-month conflict.
They died on Thursday when their vehicle apparently hit a landmine in a rebel-controlled zone near the northwestern town of Tetovo, Swedish foreign ministry spokesman Goesta Grassman said.
Macedonian army spokesman Blagoja Markovski said the monitors' vehicle had been spotted 100 metres (330 feet) down a ravine in mountainous terrain near the village of Novo Selo, around 10 kilometres (six miles) from the northwestern town of Tetovo.
A1 television reported that members of the NATO-led Kosovo peacekeeping mission (KFOR), the Macedonian army and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe were at the scene but had not been able to reach the vehicle nor confirm the deaths.
Markovski blamed Albanian "terrorists" for the incident, as the vehicle was in rebel-held territory, but the guerrillas denied all knowledge of the incident.
"We have no information that EU observers hit a mine in the area controlled by the National Liberation Army," rebel spokesman Nazmi Beqiri told AFP by telephone.
"The Macedonians accuse us all the time, but any mines were surely planted by the Macedonian army. We are cooperating with the European observers and other international missions," he said.
A Western official said that two unidentified bodies had been found in a ravine in the search area.
The European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) is tasked with observing the crisis in Macedonia and reporting back to Brussels. The mission also has observers in Kosovo, the UN-run Yugoslav province across the northern border from Macedonia, and Bosnia.
A KFOR spokesman in Skopje said it was too early to say how the incident might affect a planned deployment of 3,000 NATO troops to disarm the rebels if a political reform deal is reached and a two-week ceasefire proves durable.
NATO plans a month's in-and-out mission to Macedonia if the rebels agree to a presidential amnesty and lay down their weapons.
But that move depends on political leaders first reaching a deal on constitutional and institutional reforms.
A breakthrough still appeared a long way off Friday after Albanian leaders walked out of the the talks, accusing the Macedonian Slav parties who dominate the emergency coalition of trying to start the talks over from the beginning.
Zamir Dika, a senior official of the Democratic Party of Albanians, told AFP there was no time to restart the talks as the situation on the ground was rapidly deteriorating, with a NATO-brokered ceasefire already showing signs of weakening.
Another DPA deputy, Demush Bajrami, said the talks should be held on neutral ground outside Macedonia, where emotions are running high over Albanian demands for their language to be granted official status, secondary to Macedonian.
The Macedonian Slavs see any granting of official status to the Albanian language -- even if, as planned, Macedonian remains the country's first official language -- as the thin end of the wedge in splitting the country into separate ethnic entities.
Western officials said that expert groups from both communities were due to meet for low-level discussions again on Saturday, after President Boris Trajkovski and the US government urged the Albanians to return to the negotiating table.
But both sides say they have made enough concessions, while Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski earned a sharp rebuke from the European Union and NATO on Thursday for accusing Western envoys facilitating the talks of backing rebel demands to carve up the country.
Ethnic Albanian guerrillas have been fighting for six months for more rights for the Macedonia's large Albanian minority, a conflict that has left dozens dead and threatened to push the country into all-out war.
Three-Member EU Team Feared Dead in Macedonia Posted July 20, 2001
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010720/wl/balkans_macedonia_dc_161.html
Friday July 20 6:46 AM ET
Three-Member EU Team Feared Dead in Macedonia
SKOPJE (Reuters) - A three-man European Union (news - web sites) monitoring mission was missing in Macedonia on Friday and officials feared they might have been killed by a mine that blew their vehicle off the road.
Macedonian defense officials said the badly damaged EU vehicle had been spotted at the bottom of a ravine, but the monitoring team had not yet been found.
``The vehicle has been found, but we haven't pulled it out yet because it's in rough terrain. We can't confirm it yet, but all the indications are that the EU team is dead,'' said Marjan Gjurovski, a defense ministry spokesman.
The Norwegian and Slovakian monitors, who were with a translator from Macedonia's ethnic Albanian minority, went missing on Thursday while on a routine cease-fire monitoring mission in the hills near the Albanian-dominated town of Tetovo.
``Their Land Rover hit a mine,'' Tetovo police chief Shaip Bilalli said.
The vehicle was last seen heading out of Macedonian government controlled territory into a mountainous area that is in the hands of ethnic Albanian guerrillas who have staged a five-month-long revolt in the small Balkan state.
A blast was heard around 3:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. EDT) on Thursday from the direction in which the team had traveled.
A rebel commander in the region known as Commandant Ilir said he believed the EU team members were victims of a simple road accident.
``We heard the blast, but we don't have detailed information,'' he said, denying that the EU staffers had reached territory under his control.
``We became concerned yesterday evening when there had been no contact for some time,'' an EU mission spokesman said from its Balkan headquarters in Sarajevo.
``We know there an explosion was heard,'' he added. ``But they were in an area that was believed to be safe from mines.''
The EU teams, who wear distinctive white uniforms, are trying to restore calm in the ethnically divided country. There are around 115 of them in the Balkans, with fewer than 30 in Macedonia.
EU team feared dead in Macedonia Posted July 20, 2001
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1448000/1448438.stm
Friday, 20 July, 2001, 11:57 GMT 12:57 UK
EU team feared dead in Macedonia
Tensions are rising as the political talks stall Two European Union observers monitoring the conflict in Macedonia are feared dead after a road accident which could have been caused by a landmine.
Their interpreter is also believed to have died in the incident.
The observers - one Norwegian and one Slovakian - were on a mission in the north-east of the country, near the city of Tetovo.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry said all three died when the vehicle left the road, either by accident or after a landmine explosion.
Reports say their car has been found at the bottom of a ravine in mountainous terrain.
There is no suggestion so far that the incident was the result of deliberate action by either of the two sides in the six-month conflict between ethnic Albanian guerrillas and security forces.
Deadlock
"We have knowledge about three people being killed in Macedonia. One was Norwegian, one from Slovakia and one a translator from Albania," Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman Goesta Grassman told the AFP news agency.
"It was probably a mine accident, but we don't know the exact reason for the mine exploding. It could be an accident but it could also be intentional," he added.
Macedonian Defence Ministry spokesman Marjan Djurovski said: "According to our information, the observer team was supposed to have been carrying out a mission in the area of Mazdraca and Novo Selo.
"A loud explosion was heard in this zone on Thursday, after which all contact with them was lost," he said.
The European Union has taken a prominent role in negotiations to find a political settlement in Macedonia but talks have stalled in recent days.
Negotiations are set to continue on Friday despite threats by the ethnic Albanian representatives to walk out.
The talks have become deadlocked over proposals by Western envoys to raise the status of the Albanian language - a plan criticised by the Macedonian prime minister.
Efforts thwarted
The BBC correspondent in Skopje says the two international mediators Francois Leotard and James Pardew appear to have managed to convince the Macedonian President, Boris Trajkovski, that their efforts will not jeopardize the territorial integrity of Macedonia.
Prime Minister Lubco Georgievski poured scorn on the mediators earlier this week, accusing them of siding with the Albanians.
Conscious that international efforts are being thwarted, the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana and Nato Secretary-General Lord Robertson, have issued a statement calling Mr Georgievski's comments undignified and rejecting the idea that the international community is siding with anyone.
A slight increase in the number of minor violations of the ceasefire, brokered by Nato two weeks ago suggests that the guns cannot remain silent forever.
Peace Talks in Macedonia Appear to Be Near Collapse Posted July 19, 2001
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15777-2001Jul18.html
Peace Talks in Macedonia Appear to Be Near Collapse
Mediators Accused of Acting on Ethnic Albanians' Behalf
By Peter Finn
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, July 19, 2001; Page A20
SKOPJE, Macedonia, July 18 -- Talks aimed at averting a civil war in Macedonia were on the verge of collapse tonight after Macedonian leaders verbally attacked Western mediators and rejected the package of reforms they had presented as the basis for a new political future in this ethnically divided country.
Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski said the Western draft deal, accepted by ethnic Albanians, is "a blatant violation of Macedonia's internal affairs . . . which would mean carving up the country if it is accepted."
He went on to say he was "concerned" by the "cowboy style" of the two mediators, U.S. envoy James Pardew and European Union envoy Francois Leotard. He said the envoys were acting as surrogates for ethnic Albanian rebels who launched an insurgency five months ago to claim greater political rights.
"Now the masks are off," said Georgievski, "and it's evident the terrorists are supported by Western so-called democracies."
Even if the talks can be resurrected, the government appears to be stoking the worst fears of its already radicalized constituency and preparing public opinion for failure. President Boris Trajkovski said in a statement tonight: "The reason we are here today is because a group of armed and violent extremists are bent on using guns to achieve power, either political or economic. Let us also be clear about one thing. If we cannot come to an agreement today or tomorrow, there will not be a war."
A fragile cease-fire between the ethnic Albanian rebels, known as the National Liberation Army, and Macedonian government forces continues to hold, but there were reports of gunfire tonight in the largely ethnic Albanian city of Tetovo. However, the Defense Ministry warned today that the NATO-brokered cease-fire is fraying.
"It's possible there will be a new escalation of the conflict in the crisis zones" in the north and northwest, said Marjan Djurovski, a ministry spokesman. "The cease-fire is holding up with difficulty because provocations by the Albanian terrorists who do not respect it are becoming more and more frequent."
Both sides have been using the cease-fire to resupply and reposition their forces in preparation for a new conflict, according to NATO sources.
Pardew and Leotard responded to today's accusations in a joint statement that said their draft proposal "preserves the sovereignty, territorial integrity and unitary character of the Republic of Macedonia, retains Macedonian as the primary official language, and maintains central control of the police."
In Washington, State Department spokesman Phillip Reeker said: "We do not support armed insurgency, we do not support violence. . . . We've made very clear that we support the territorial integrity of Macedonia, we've been a strong friend and ally of Macedonia since its independence over a decade ago, and we have tried to help as much as possible in getting the parties to pursue a peaceful negotiation to come up with a political solution to Macedonia's problems."
Macedonian officials are balking at a provision that would make Albanian a second official language, although not on the same constitutional level as Macedonian, Western officials insist.
"It's a tragedy," said one Western diplomat tonight, dismissing the Macedonian objections as primarily emotional. The Macedonians "get almost everything they want and give up very little in return."
At a meeting of political leaders and the Western mediators today, ethnic Albanian leader Arben Xhaferi walked out after listening to political attacks on himself and his community by Macedonian officials, sources said.
All week, talks had been limited to four major political parties -- two ethnic Albanian and two Macedonian -- but at today's meeting, called by Trajkovski, all parties in parliament were invited. And Trajkovski presented them with the original Western proposal, not reflecting the substantial revisions it has undergone in the last 12 days. That suggests that, for the president at least, the process is back where it began, despite more than a week of intensive negotiations.
The original document is unacceptable to ethnic Albanians who insist on full language rights.
NATO Secretary General George Robertson and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who were expected here Thursday to push the negotiations forward, have canceled their trip because of the impasse, Western sources said. And Pardew and Leotard's position is becoming increasingly tenuous as senior officials here use the local media to attack them.
Macedonian officials have nonetheless asked Pardew and Leotard to continue to work in the capital, and the two are willing to stay because their departure could serve as "a trigger" for renewed fighting, Western officials said.
2001 The Washington Post Company
Slavs and Albanians at Odds in Peace Talks in Macedonia Posted July 19, 2001
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/19/international/19MACE.html
July 19, 2001
Slavs and Albanians at Odds in Peace Talks in Macedonia
By CARLOTTA GALL
KOPJE, Macedonia, July 18 After nearly two weeks of intensive Western-brokered negotiations, Macedonian Albanian and Slav leaders still appear unable to reach a political agreement to end the five- month-old conflict and set the stage for the deployment of a NATO task force to disarm Albanian rebels.
Albanian political leaders agreed on Monday to a package of constitutional and administrative reforms that would address many of their complaints of discrimination and recognize the Albanian language as an official language. But Macedonian Slav leaders have so far rejected the package and criticized Western mediators for siding with the Albanians.
"It's not going so well," one Western diplomat close to the negotiations said this evening. A more telling sign is that in the absence of an agreement NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson has postponed a trip to Skopje scheduled for Thursday.
International pressure on Macedonia's leaders to forge a political agreement has been intense. A cease-fire has been holding for two weeks, with minor violations by both sides. But both government and rebel forces have been using the lull to regroup and rearm, Western military observers say.
"The military situation is tense," said one Western diplomat. He said that movements by the Macedonian military had been reported and that the National Liberation Army, or N.L.A. as the rebels call themselves, was "rearming and getting ready for a fight."
The next step in negotiations has been up to the Macedonian Slav leaders since Monday, but Western diplomats said they knew the package would be hard for those leaders to accept and sell to their people. The most contentious detail has proved to be the demand for the Albanian language to be made an official language.
Albanians, who make up about 30 percent of the population, want Albanian to be used in Parliament and government institutions when requested. Macedonian Slavs, who rarely can speak Albanian, argue that the use of a second language will polarize and eventually split the country.
President Boris Trajkovski has led the meetings of the leaders of the two main Macedonian Slav parties with the two Albanian parties. Today, he tried to expand the negotiations over the language issue by drawing more political parties into the discussion. As the discussion became bogged down in old arguments, the leader of the main Albanian party, Arben Xhaferi, walked out.
NATO, EU chiefs postpone Macedonia trip as bombs rock capital Posted July 19, 2001
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Thursday July 19, 7:38 PM
NATO, EU chiefs postpone Macedonia trip as bombs rock capital
SKOPJE, July 19 (AFP) -
NATO chief George Robertson and EU foreign policy supremo Javier Solana postponed a trip to Macedonia on Thursday as two bomb blasts rocked Skopje and talks to solve the six-month ethnic Albanian uprising became bogged down in a storm of recriminations targeting Western mediators.
The defence ministry said in a statement Albanian rebels from the National Liberation Army (NLA) were regrouping across the north and west, firing on police near the northwestern town of Tetovo and showing up for the first time near the southwestern border with Albania.
Robertson and Solana put off a joint two-day trip that was to have started on Thursday, deeming the situation there too difficult, Solana's spokeswoman Christina Gallach said.
"Their trip depends on the situation on the ground," she said. "They prefer to wait because the situation is very difficult in Macedonia."
News of the postponement came a day after Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski accused the West, which has been sponsoring strained peace talks in Skopje, of supporting ethnic Albanian rebels fighting the government.
He accused EU and US envoys Francois Leotard and James Pardew of creating "a scenario for fracturing Macedonia" between its Slav majority and large ethnic Albanian community.
The Macedonian Slav leaders and press accused the Western envoys of backing demands -- shared by both the Albanian political leaders and the rebels -- to grant Albanian the status of a second official language and giving local police extra jurisdiction.
The Macedonians see in both moves an attempt to split the country into two separate ethnic entities, something they refuse to countenance.
The envoys rejected the charges, while in Washington the State Department said the West repected Macedonia's territorial integrity.
"We are trying to help as much as possible to come out with a political solution," State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said, calling the charges "truly untrue".
Meanwhile the leader of the main ethnic Albanian party in Macedonia's coalition government accused Macedonian Slav parties of trying to restart from square one the difficult two-week discussions on boosting Albanian rights.
"The Macedonians want to go back to the positions held at the start," said Arben Xhaferi, the president of the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA).
Zamir Dika, head of the parliamentary group of DPA deputies, warned there was no time to start over again with the slow-moving dialogue, with the strained ceasefire between the rebels and the army already showing signs of unravelling.
"If we have this situation much longer we will have civil war," he said.
Violence seemed to be gaining momentum again as two bomb explosions rocked the capital late on Wednesday and early on Thursday.
Two handmade devices planted under a car injured a Macedonian woman, while a blast in a shopping centre in a mainly Albanian district caused substantial damage but no injuries. No one claimed responsibility for the explosions.
Meanwhile the defence ministry accused the NLA of exploiting the two-week ceasefire, brokered by NATO to give the political talks a chance.
It said the guerrillas were regrouping across the north and west of the country.
Firing targeted police checkpoints from Albanian villages on the edge of Tetovo in the northwest, while uniformed fighters were seen in the predominantly Albanian town itself, the ministry said.
Men in civilian clothes were also spotted by security forces stockpiling crates in mosques in the area, the ministry said, hinting that the rebels were preparing for a renewed escalation if the talks failed to bear fruit soon.
A defence spokesman said on Wednesday a new escalation was possible in "crisis zones" where the guerrillas are active.
NLA guerrillas were also spotted for the first time near Struga, a town close to the southwestern border with Albania, and near water reservoirs just west of the capital Skopje.
Groups of rebels also opened fire on a police checkpoint at a petrol station close to the northern town of Kumanovo, while the army opened fire and repulsed another group of fighter strying to cross near the northern hill village of Tanusevci, where the rebellion broke out in February.
No injuries were reported in the various incidents.
Two Blasts in Skopje As Macedonia Talks Hit Crisis Posted July 19, 2001
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Thursday July 19 7:56 AM ET
Two Blasts in Skopje As Macedonia Talks Hit Crisis
By Daniel Simpson
SKOPJE (Reuters) - Two explosions damaged property and wounded at least one person in the Macedonian capital early on Thursday after leaders of the divided republic's dominant ethnic group lashed out at Western peace proposals.
A police source said one device exploded overnight in the vicinity of the Caircanka shopping center in a northern Skopje suburb populated mostly by minority Albanians. No one was hurt.
A second blast followed in the early morning in the eastern district of Kisela Voda, the source said, adding that one woman had been injured according to as yet unconfirmed reports. State television said grenades were to blame for both explosions.
Efforts to unite Macedonia's leaders behind a deal designed to end five months of sporadic warfare between government forces and Albanian guerrillas were in turmoil after Macedonian parties accused Western mediators of brutal interference.
Nationalist Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski said U.S. envoy James Pardew and the EU's Francois Leotard were forcing Macedonia to cave in to demands from guerrillas whose five-month rebellion has dragged the tiny Balkan state toward civil war.
``As much as their text is brutal, more brutal and worrying is the fashion in which they are trying to break up Macedonian state institutions,'' he said, dismissing a draft that would devolve some power and make Albanian a semi-official language.
WAR PARTY IN ASCENDANCY
Diplomats scrambled to deny their plan, which aims to grant Macedonia's large Albanian minority more civil rights in a bid to avert major bloodshed, would do anything of the sort.
But they questioned whether Macedonian leaders would retreat from hardline rhetoric as tensions rise toward boiling point.
``There's a fatalist war party but there's also a deal party,'' a Western diplomatic source said. ``The war party hasn't won yet, but they're more corrupt, they've got more money, they control a bunch of newspapers and they're more ruthless.''
NATO (news - web sites) Secretary-General George Robertson and EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana postponed plans to visit Skopje for a last-ditch attempt to rescue a deal they hope will induce rebels to surrender some of their weapons in return for amnesty.
In a joint statement, Robertson and Solana reacted angrily to what they called Georgievski's ``undignified'' criticism.
``It is also disappointing, given that the international facilitators are in Skopje at the invitation of the government, which has been informed of every move made,'' they said.
Macedonian politicians, whose united front diplomats view as risky brinkmanship, denied they were exploiting fears of renewed conflict to negotiate a better deal in a fresh round of talks.
``It is better to talk for 100 days than to have a bloody war for one day,'' Social Democrat leader Branko Crvenkovski said.
But Albanian parties are refusing to tear up the draft and go back to square one as President Boris Trajkovski wants. They are not even certain to turn up to talks later on Thursday.
``If it's of the same character as yesterday, I surely won't go,'' said Imer Imeri, one of Macedonia's top Albanian leaders.
Diplomats say the meeting, which tiny hardline Macedonian parties will also attend, is unlikely to resurrect an agreement.
``It's necessary political theater. It keeps the process alive but won't get us closer to any sort of deal,'' one said.
TROOPS AT THE READY
Despite the stalemate, no politician is yet advocating a return to the battlefield to attack the National Liberation Army (NLA) rebels who occupy swathes of Macedonia's northern hills.
But a two-week truce, punctured almost daily by sporadic shooting, looks increasingly shaky after the chief of staff of Macedonia's army signed an order permitting troops to resume fighting if guerrillas within 200 meters (yards) open fire.
Both Macedonian forces and the NLA have used the cease-fire to resupply and reposition troops in case talks collapse, with the main Albanian town of Tetovo the likeliest flashpoint.
Diplomats conceded, however, they had little up their sleeves to force Macedonian parties to accept the revised plan.
``They should think long-term and not get caught up in the emotions of the present,'' one Western diplomat pleaded.
The new proposals would make Albanian an official tongue in all but name. But while Macedonians would not be forced to learn it, public officials would have to communicate in Albanian.
The plan would also allow local police chiefs to be elected, though only from a shortlist drawn up by the Interior Ministry to limit the potential for the NLA to maintain its grip on the arc of western and northern Macedonia where most Albanians live.
Many Macedonians remain convinced, however, that their country is being taken from them at gunpoint.
``If we accept this proposal, we will become the second-class citizens Albanians now claim to be,'' Georgievski said.
Macedonian PM accuses West of backing Albanian rebels Posted July 18, 2001
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Thursday July 19, 1:50 AM
Macedonian PM accuses West of backing Albanian rebels
Macedonia's bid to ward off a civil war suffered a severe blow as hawkish Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski accused the West, which has sponsored strained peace talks, of supporting ethnic Albanian rebels fighting the government.
As the drawn-out peace talks faltered and shooting erupted in the tense north of the country, Georgievski pointed the finger at the US and EU envoys, James Pardew and Francois Leotard, who this week presented ethnic Albanian proposals to push forward the dialogue aimed at boosting Albanian rights.
"The changes in the proposals from Leotard and Pardew are a long way from the draft framework which has won support" in two weeks of discussions on political reforms between Macedonian Slav and ethnic Albanian leaders, the premier said.
"This is a scenario for fracturing Macedonia," Georgievski said.
"We are concerned by their cowboy style, with which they are trying to break down state institutions," he said, after the envoys presented the package of Albanian proposals Monday, including recognition of Albanian as an official language.
The package, which also featured calls for a local police force to be set up independent of the interior ministry, met with a swift rejection from the Macedonian Slav parties Tuesday and an anti-Western outcry in the Macedonian press.
"Leotard and Pardew propose civil war as an alternative," the main dailies headlined, accusing them of coming down on the side of the Albanians.
Ethnic Albanian guerrillas have been fighting the government for more rights for six months, and the recent political talks were aimed at introducing reforms to end discrimination and quell the insurrection.
Georgievski echoed the press's sentiments, saying the new proposals were "brutal" and that the Macedonian Slav parties who dominate the fragile national coalition were "seriously concerned by the style and methods being employed by these so-called Western democracies."
He said the proposal for Albanian to be recognized as an official language was an "ultimatum" to the Macedonians, who fear the Albanians want to federalize the country into two separate ethnic entities.
Skopje sees such a move as an end to Macedonia as it currently exists.
Georgievski said the Macedonians had "accepted enough."
"Now the masks are off and it is clear that the terrorist organisations in Macedonia enjoy serious backing and logistical support from Western democracies," he said.
"This is a serious interference in internal Macedonian affairs," he added before going into another round of talks.
The two envoys were due to sit in on the talks Wednesday, hosted by Boris Trajkovski and including the leading figures from the four coalition parties, two Macedonian Slav and two ethnic Albanian.
In a statement released Wednesday, the US and EU envoys said the latest draft political settlement on the table provided for retaining Macedonian as the "primary official language" throughout the country, and maintaining central control over the police.
Macedonian Backlash Endangers Peace Plan Posted July 18, 2001
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Wednesday July 18 2:37 PM ET
Macedonian Backlash Endangers Peace Plan
By Daniel Simpson
SKOPJE (Reuters) - Leaders of Macedonia's ethnic majority denounced a Western blueprint for peace in the divided republic as brutal interference on Wednesday, refusing to accept terms they claimed would rip the former Yugoslav republic apart.
Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski accused U.S. envoy James Pardew and the EU's Francois Leotard of forcing Macedonia to cave in to demands from Albanian guerrillas, whose five-month-old rebellion has dragged the tiny Balkan state toward civil war.
``As much as their text is brutal, more brutal and worrying is the fashion in which they are trying to break up Macedonian state institutions,'' Georgievski said, dismissing a draft which would devolve some power and make Albanian a semi-official language.
Diplomats scrambled to deny that their plan, designed to grant Macedonia's large Albanian minority more civil rights in a bid to avert major bloodshed, would do anything of the sort.
``We think it's the proposal that's key to preventing war,'' one Western diplomat said, questioning whether Macedonian leaders would back down as tensions rise toward boiling point.
``It's the best offer that's ever been made. But they've rejected offers before and if they don't want to take this one then, that's their choice.''
Macedonian politicians, whose united front diplomats view as risky brinkmanship, denied they were exploiting fears of renewed conflict to negotiate a better deal.
``It is better to talk for 100 days than to have a bloody war for one day,'' said Branko Crvenkovski, the leader of Macedonia's Social Democrats, as he entered cross-party crisis talks.
FRAGILE RESTRAINT
Despite the stalemate, no politician has yet publicly advocated a return to the battlefield to attack the ethnic Albanian guerrillas who have seized swathes of Macedonia's northern hills and resisted months of long-range bombardment.
But a 13-day-old truce, punctured almost daily by sporadic shooting, looks increasingly shaky after the chief of staff of Macedonia's army signed an order permitting troops to resume fighting if guerrillas within 200 meters (yards) open fire.
And both Macedonian forces and the National Liberation Army (NLA) rebels have used the NATO (news - web sites)-brokered cease-fire to resupply and realign their troops in case the talks collapse.
Diplomats conceded they had little up their sleeves that could force Macedonian leaders to accept their revised plan, which Albanian politicians said they were ready to sign up to.
``We accepted the solution although a great percentage of our demands were not included,'' said Arben Xhaferi, the president of Macedonia's leading Albanian party. ``The Macedonians are now annulling 10 days of work and want to start from scratch.''
LAST-DITCH EFFORT
NATO Secretary-General George Robertson and EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana were expected in Skopje on Thursday for a last-ditch attempt to rescue a deal designed to induce the NLA to surrender some of its weapons in exchange for amnesty.
But diplomats said they would only come if the divide were close to being bridged, not if it was about to be ripped open.
``There's no point bringing them down if the thing is stalled and there's nothing for them to do,'' a diplomatic source said.
A breakthrough looks increasingly elusive, however.
Although there is a consensus on giving local authorities more power, the hardline Macedonian reaction to other proposals, which were modified only slightly from a draft they had deemed almost acceptable, illustrates the obstacles to a final deal.
The new proposals would make Albanian an official tongue in all but name. But while Macedonians would not be forced to learn it, public officials would have to communicate in Albanian.
The plan would also allow local police chiefs to be elected, though only from a shortlist drawn up by the Interior Ministry to limit the potential for the NLA to maintain its grip on the arc of western and northern Macedonia where most Albanians live.
Many Macedonians remain convinced, however, that their country is being taken from them at gunpoint, despite assertions to the contrary in a joint statement from Pardew and Leotard.
``The EU and U.S. draft preserves the sovereignty, territorial integrity and unitary character of the Republic of Macedonia,'' they stressed.
But fears these concessions would be the first step on the road to Albanian separatism appear to speak louder than facts.
``People in this part of the world find it hard to sign up to binding deals if principles are at stake,'' one diplomat warned.
West Scrambles to Save Macedonia Peace Plan Posted July 18, 2001
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Wednesday July 18 8:22 AM ET
West Scrambles to Save Macedonia Peace Plan
By Daniel Simpson
SKOPJE (Reuters) - Western envoys struggled on Wednesday to salvage a blueprint for peace in Macedonia after what they called their best offer was savaged by the divided republic's dominant ethnic group.
Macedonian politicians rejected proposals to make Albanian a semi-official language as part of a reform plan to grant greater civil rights to the tiny Balkan country's Albanian minority.
Diplomats conceded they had little up their sleeves that could force majority leaders to accept their revised plan, which would also give local governments more power over the police.
``We think it's the proposal that's key to preventing war,'' one Western diplomat said. ``It's the best offer that's ever been made. But they've rejected offers before and if they don't want to take this one then that's their choice.''
Vecer, a newspaper close to Macedonia's nationalist Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski, accused U.S. envoy James Pardew and the European Union (news - web sites)'s Francois Leotard of making ''scandalous'' attempts to impose separatist Albanian demands on the majority.
Although less outspoken, Macedonia's leading daily Dnevnik was equally convinced the proposals on reforms designed to end five months of sporadic guerrilla warfare were unacceptable.
``With all respect to their bid to ease political dialogue, we must respond to Pardew and Leotard's suggestion with a short, clear, categorical and above all cold-blooded 'NO,''' it urged.
``There is no Macedonian politician that can accept ripping up the national fabric of the Macedonian state.''
The two envoys scrambled to deny that their proposals on language and police reforms would do anything of the sort.
``The EU and U.S. draft preserves the sovereignty, territorial integrity and unitary character of the Republic of Macedonia,'' Pardew and Leotard stressed in a joint statement.
FRAGILE RESTRAINT
Efforts to revive the talks are unlikely to get very far before Thursday, when EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and NATO (news - web sites) Secretary-General George Robertson will fly to Skopje in a bid to rescue a deal designed to avert civil war.
Despite the stalemate, no political leaders are yet publicly advocating a return to the battlefield to attack the ethnic Albanian guerrillas who have seized swathes of Macedonia's northern hills and resisted months of long-range bombardment.
But both the National Liberation Army (NLA) rebels and Macedonian forces have used a 13-day-old truce brokered by NATO to resupply and realign their troops in case the talks collapse.
The main Albanian town of Tetovo is the likeliest flashpoint.
Robertson and Solana are expected to renew calls for both sides to exercise restraint. Diplomats say there is no sign these calls will fall on deaf ears in the Macedonian government.
But a breakthrough in the talks looks increasingly elusive.
Although there is a broad consensus on devolving some power, there are major obstacles to agreement on a quick reform package to grant Albanians greater civil rights, which Western powers hope would induce the NLA to surrender some of its guns.
The new proposals would make Albanian an official tongue in all but name. Although Macedonians would not be forced to learn it, public officials would have to communicate in Albanian.
The plan would also allow regional police chiefs to be elected, but only from a shortlist drawn up by the Interior Ministry so as to limit the potential for the NLA to maintain its grip on the arc of western and northern Macedonia where most ethnic Albanians live.
Many Macedonians remain convinced, however, that their country is being taken away from them at gunpoint.
``People in this part of the world find it hard to sign up to binding deals if principles are at stake,'' one diplomat warned.
NATO, EU Expected to Push for Peace Posted July 18, 2001
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Wednesday July 18 6:25 AM ET
NATO, EU Expected to Push for Peace
By ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC, Associated Press Writer
SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) - Ethnic Albanians signaled their willingness Wednesday to salvage peace talks after Macedonia's largest political party denounced a Western-backed proposal for making too many concessions to the country's Albanian minority.
Zehir Bekteshi of the influential ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity told The Associated Press that Thursday's expected arrival of NATO (news - web sites) Secretary-General Lord Robertson and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana could mark a turning point in the talks aimed at ending a rebel insurgency and averting a civil war.
``We are waiting for the arrival of Solana and Robertson, and the possibility of signing the agreement when they arrive is still open,'' Bekteshi said.
The negotiations hit a snag Tuesday when the ruling party of President Boris Trajkovski lashed out at the peace plan in general, and other Macedonians objected to a provision that would make Albanian an official language alongside the majority Macedonian tongue.
Gjorgji Trendafilov, a spokesman for the party known by its initials VMRO, decried the draft proposal as ``shocking and unacceptable'' and called it an attempt ``to undermine the unity and integrity of Macedonia.''
Trendafilov refused to say if the objections from the party, which holds 46 of 120 seats in Macedonia's parliament, signaled the imminent collapse of the negotiations. But a source close to Western mediators told the AP the talks were continuing and suggested the VMRO statement could be a negotiating tactic.
Western diplomats said they were working to salvage the talks and get the feuding sides to set aside their differences and reach a peaceful settlement to end the rebellion.
On Wednesday, Bekteshi expressed hopes that the Macedonian side would accept a compromise and that ``progressive forces can be found to push the deal.''
``These two days are critical,'' he said. ``We must be strong and we'll do our best to overcome the crisis.''
Macedonians are ``extremely reluctant'' to accept ethnic Albanian demands that their language be considered official, a Macedonian party leader told the AP on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. But the official said Macedonian political leaders had agreed to most other provisions of the peace deal.
The cultural difference underscores the deep distrust between Macedonia's two main ethnic groups, both of which fear dominance by the other.
Despite scattered clashes, a shaky cease-fire brokered earlier this month by NATO and the EU largely has held, but there are fears that fighting could resume in full force if the talks collapse.
U.S. envoy James Pardew and his European Union (news - web sites) counterpart, Francois Leotard, met Tuesday with Macedonian Defense Minister Vlado Buckovski, who issued a statement cautioning against demands that could frustrate majority Macedonians ``and lead to a deterioration of the security situation.''
``The talks are very difficult and have lasted for a long time, but patience must not be lost,'' Buckovski said.
A top ethnic Albanian representative, Iljaz Halimi, told the state-run MIA news agency that his side had accepted a final draft proposal and was awaiting a response from the Macedonians.
The U.S. State Department, citing significant progress in the negotiations, said Tuesday it believed a political settlement was within reach. ``Now is the time to bring the negotiations to closure and come to an agreement,'' spokesman Philip Reeker said.
Ethnic Albanians account for nearly a third of Macedonia's 2 million people and live mostly in the north and northwest of the country. The rebels continue to control dozens of villages in those areas.
A decentralization of authority, which is also envisaged in the peace plan, would bring a degree of self-rule to ethnic Albanian-populated areas.
If a peace deal is signed, the rebels would disarm under the supervision of some 3,000 NATO soldiers, who could be deployed within days of an agreement.
Macedonia Party Denounces Peace Plan Posted July 17, 2001
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Tuesday July 17 7:43 PM ET
Macedonia Party Denounces Peace Plan
By MISHA SAVIC, Associated Press Writer
SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) - Macedonia's ruling party denounced a peace plan with ethnic Albanians on Tuesday, as talks between the feuding sides hit a snag over demands that Albanian be declared an official language.
The draft proposal is ``shocking and unacceptable'' and an attempt ``to undermine the unity and integrity of Macedonia,'' said Gjorgji Trendafilov, spokesman for the largest Macedonian political party, VMRO.
He refused to say if the objections signaled the imminent collapse of the negotiations. A source close to Western peace envoys mediating the talks said they were continuing.
The VMRO, the party of President Boris Trajkovski, holds 46 of 120 seats in Macedonia's parliament and is crucial to any peaceful settlement of the country's four-month insurgency.
Macedonians are ``extremely reluctant'' to accept ethnic Albanian demands that their language be considered official alongside the majority Macedonian tongue, a Macedonian party leader told the AP earlier Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. But the official said Macedonian political leaders had agreed to most other provisions of the Western-designed peace deal.
The seemingly cultural difference underscores the deep divisions and distrust between Macedonia's two main ethnic groups, both of which fear dominance by the other. Tensions have soared since February, when ethnic Albanian militants launched their insurgency.
Despite scattered clashes, a shaky cease-fire brokered earlier this month by NATO (news - web sites) and the European Union (news - web sites) has largely held, but there are fears that fighting could resume in full force if the talks collapse.
U.S. envoy James Pardew and his European Union counterpart, Francois Leotard, continued their efforts Tuesday to persuade the feuding sides to sign the peace plan. In addition to the language provision, the plan would guarantee a ``proportionate'' representation of ethnic Albanians in central and local governments, courts, police forces and education.
Leotard and Pardew met on Tuesday with Macedonian Defense Minister Vlado Buckovski, who issued a statement cautioning against demands that could frustrate majority Macedonians ``and lead to a deterioration of the security situation.''
``The talks are very difficult and have lasted for a long time, but patience must not be lost,'' Buckovski said.
A top ethnic Albanian representative, Iljaz Halimi, told the state-run MIA news agency that his side had agreed to a final draft proposal with the envoys and was awaiting a response from the Macedonians.
Ethnic Albanians account for nearly a third of Macedonia's 2 million people and live mostly in the north and northwest of the country. The rebels, who are well-armed and well-organized, continue to control dozens of villages in those areas.
A decentralization of authority, which is also envisaged in the peace plan, would bring a degree of self-rule to ethnic Albanian-populated areas.
If a peace deal is signed, the rebels would disarm under the supervision of some 3,000 NATO soldiers, who could be deployed within days of an agreement.
U.S. Hails Progress in Macedonia Posted July 17, 2001
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Tuesday July 17 3:24 PM ET
U.S. Hails Progress in Macedonia
WASHINGTON (AP) - Citing significant progress, the State Department said Tuesday it believes a political settlement between the Macedonian government and the country's minority Albanian population is within reach.
``We think that now is the time to bring the negotiations to closure and come to an agreement,'' spokesman Philip Reeker said.
He said all sides need to continue to respect the cease-fire agreement they signed earlier this month.
``We expect the parties to come to closure rapidly,'' Reeker said. ``We expect them to continue moving forward.''
One problem yet to be resolved is a demand by ethnic Albanians that their language be given official status.