[ALBSA-Info] Albania urges Macedonians to speed ethnic talks

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Albania urges Macedonians to speed ethnic talks
  
THESSALONIKI, Greece, April 2 (Reuters) - Albania urged the Macedonian 
government on Monday to speed up talks with ethnic Albanian political leaders 
to ease tensions in the Balkan state and bring back stability to the whole 
region. 

In an interview, Foreign Minister Paskal Milo also said that Macedonia should 
conduct real reforms in its dealings with the ethnic Albanian minority. 

"I will be really pleased if the government (of Macedonia) starts the real 
and substantial dialogue with representatives of the ethnic Albanian 
population," Milo told Reuters. 

He was speaking on the sidelines of a Balkan economic conference in the 
northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki. 

Macedonia has in the past weeks fought off ethnic Albanian insurgents along 
the border of the United Nations-controlled Yugoslav province of Kosovo. It 
has also said it would start talks with the main ethnic Albanian parties on 
Monday. 

"It's important not to lose any time to resolve the problems for the security 
of all the region," Milo said. "The stability of Macedonia means the 
stability of all the region." 

Milo said Albania played a key role in controlling ethnic Albanian grievances 
but it was up to Skopje to push the process forward. 

"We did not support any kind of extremism but now it is necessary to have 
substantial reforms and not cosmetic ones," he said. "Reforms in education, 
public administration, decentralisation of local power." 

He said ethnic Albanians, estimated to account for one third of Macedonia's 
total population, should be treated as equal citizens. "They should never be 
seen again as second-grade people," Milo said.