[ALBSA-Info] EU, NATO welcome Macedonian ceasefire

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

EU, NATO welcome Macedonian ceasefire

  
BRUSSELS, July 5 (Reuters) - The European Union and NATO issued a joint 
statement on Thursday welcoming a ceasefire agreement reached between the 
Macedonian authorities and ethnic Albanian guerrillas. 

Earlier, the Macedonian government and the guerrillas signed separate 
ceasefire accords brokered by NATO officials in the tiny Balkan state. 

"We strongly welcome the open-ended ceasefires declared by the military and 
police authorities of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and by the 
armed ethnic Albanian extremists," the joint statement said. 

"We call upon all parties to respect these ceasefire declarations and to act 
with utmost discipline and restraint in avoiding incidents that could lead to 
a return to violence," said the statement, signed by EU foreign policy chief 
Javier Solana and NATO Secretary-General George Robertson. 

They said the onus was now on the political parties to make progress in talks 
aimed at tackling the grievances of the country's large ethnic Albanian 
minority, who have long complained of discrimination. 

"The European Union and NATO each remain poised to assist the government in 
Skopje in the implementation of a settlement, including through EU financial 
assistance and the deployment of a NATO military force to assist in the 
disarmament of the ethnic Albanian fighters," the statement said. 

Nearly five months of fighting between Macedonian forces and the rebels has 
brought Macedonia to the brink of civil war, stirring Western fears of a 
wider regional conflagration. 

NATO has agreed to send in a 3,000-strong force to collect weapons once the 
Macedonian parties have reached a political settlement.