[ALBSA-Info] Fighting on Macedonia-Kosovo border

[Iris Pilika]

Fighting on Macedonia-Kosovo border

President Trajkovski has vowed to protect Macedonia's borders
February 26, 2001
Web posted at: 2039 GMT


BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- Fighting has broken between ethnic Albanian 
gunmen and Macedonian troops near the Macedonian border with Kosovo.

Heavy weapons, including anti-aircraft guns, were used during Monday's 
clashes which lasted about one hour, sources told CNN.

The fighting took place near the Macedonian village of Tanusevci, which has 
been the centre of recent tensions.

The clashes came as Yugoslav leaders vowed to take action against ethnic 
Albanians who they blame for attacks on Serbs in the buffer zone separating 
Kosovo from the rest of Serbia.

The gun battle with Macedonian troops is the latest in a series of reported 
clashes with ethnic Albanian militants belonging to a group called the Army 
for National Liberation.

Western Macedonia is inhabited mostly by ethnic Albanians who make up one 
third of the Balkan country's population.

Ethnic Albanians are claiming control of the small area inside Macedonia.

Boris Trajkovski, President of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 
appeared on national television on Monday saying recent provocation by 
groups he described as ethnic Albanians was connected with the tense 
situation in southern Serbia.

He said Macedonian troops would do all they could to protect their borders.

NATO commanders in Kosovo also believe there could be a connection between 
all the armed separatist groups in the region.

The head of the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo said his troops would 
step up border patrols on the Macedonian-Kosovo border after reports of 
incursions by ethnic Albanian fighters.

The Serb and Macedonian governments recently signed an agreement on security 
cooperation.

The European Union warned the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo last week 
that they faced international isolation unless attacks on Serbs were halted.

EU officials attending the Balkan summit in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, 
on Friday warned that continued fighting just outside Kosovo could dry up 
international aid to the Serbian province.




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