[ALBSA-Info] INTERVIEW-Macedonia condemns ethnic-Albanian fighters

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

INTERVIEW-Macedonia condemns ethnic-Albanian fighters

By Elisaveta Konstantinova

SKOPJE, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Macedonia said on Wednesday it hoped international 
diplomatic efforts would stop violence on its border it said was being 
provoked by ethnic Albanian fighters. 

But it said it would retaliate if forced to do so. 

"If the international community does not join Macedonia in overcoming 
violence, a division of the Balkans on religious grounds will be provoked due 
to Macedonia's geo-strategic position, which will seriously affect Europe," 
Defence Minister Ljuben Paunovski told Reuters in an interview. 

He was echoing international concerns of a looming new Balkan crisis, given 
that ethnic Albanians comprise a third of Macedonia's two million population 
and have had sometimes tense relations with the majority Slavs. 

A two-hour gunbattle between Macedonian security forces and what Skopje 
describes as ethnic Albanian "terrorists" at the Macedonian village of 
Tanusevci on the border with Kosovo two days ago prompted President Boris 
Trajkovski to seek support from the United Nations and NATO for a crackdown. 

"The armed group is using the village as a base and our security forces can 
take them out very quickly. But first we have to use all political and 
diplomatic means to solve the situation," Paunovski said as reports of new 
shootings came in. 

A NATO delegation arrived in Macedonia on Wednesday and went straight into 
crisis talks with Macedonian officials. 

NO PLAN TO ENTER KOSOVO 

Paunovski said Macedonia's plan of action did not include crossing the border 
into Kosovo. 

"If there is action, we will go only to the border, we must stop there. But 
any action will be coordinated with KFOR (NATO-led peace force in Kosovo)," 
Paunovski said. 

He said Macedonian forces had shown extreme restraint an effort to prevent an 
outbreak of a local inter-ethnic conflict. 

"If they have occupied a village in Macedonia, it's obvious that their 
political goals are to take that territory. We can not exclude the 
possibility that they might find support in some circles in Macedonia," he 
said 

Paunovski said the armed group of ethnic-Albanians had support from the other 
side of the border and were connected with other armed groups in Kosovo, some 
of which he said were involved in contraband and crime. 

Skopje signed a long-delayed border demarcation agreement with Belgrade last 
week, which officials said would curb a flourishing smuggling businesses in 
the area in the long term. 

Paunovski welcomed statements from ethnic Albanian political parties in 
Macedonia and Kosovo expressing support for a diplomatic solution to the 
crisis. 

He strongly rejected reports of harassment of villagers by Macedonian forces 
and accused the ethnic Albanian fighters of driving the villagers away to 
escalate violence. 

Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski said earlier he had received 
unconfirmed reports that Albanian guerrillas were holding residents of 
Tanusevci as hostages to prevent the Macedonian forces from taking control of 
the village. 

Paunovski said the reports were hard to corroborate since the army and police 
had not set foot in the village for a week. 

"We cannot go there to check, because any attempt to check the village for 
civilians will mean armed conflict with the terrorists. That is the biggest 
dilemma," he said.