[ALBSA-Info] NATO urges Macedonian restraint in border crisis

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

NATO urges Macedonian restraint in border crisis

By Elisaveta Konstantinova

SKOPJE, March 1 (Reuters) - NATO urged the Macedonian government on Thursday 
not to use force against gunmen occupying a village on the border with 
Kosovo, saying this could damage fragile relations between ethnic Albanians 
and Slavs. 

"This must be solved by political means because solving it by other means may 
solve the short-term problem, but it can create larger problems for the 
inter-ethnic relations in your country," Daniel Speckhard, deputy assistant 
to NATO Secretary General George Robertson, told reporters in Skopje. 

"A military response is not the best mechanism to use and a political 
approach is much better," he said after talks between the NATO delegation and 
top Macedonian officials. 

It was the first comment from the NATO team sent by Robertson following 
appeals by Macedonian officials for help in dealing with violence they say 
could destabilise the Balkan state and Europe. 

Macedonia's government said on Wednesday it was ready to launch a military 
operation against what it says are ethnic Albanian guerrillas occupying the 
border village of Tanusevci, some 40 km (25 miles) to the north of Skopje, 
but would prefer an internationally-backed peaceful solution. 

On Thursday, Defence Ministry spokesman Georgi Trendafilov told Reuters army 
reinforcements were complete. 

"The army completed deployment of reinforcements yesterday. It is positioned 
along the border to stop further penetration of the terrorists into the 
country," he said. 

Macedonia, one third of whose population are ethnic Albanians, borders 
Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia and its mainly Albanian Kosovo province and 
is seen as vulnerable to any spillover of the recent violence in and around 
Kosovo. 

A senior Western diplomat based in Skopje who declined to be named said: "The 
majority of the armed groups have infiltrated the village from Kosovo. 

"They have taken over the village and asked the people to leave. It is a 
small number of people, 100 at most. From a military viewpoint they are easy 
to overcome, but politically it will have negative consequences." 

NATO SAYS REINFORCING THE BORDER 

Macedonia has complained that the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force in Kosovo 
does not do enough to seal the border on its side. KFOR has promised to shore 
up border controls. 

"We have already taken further measures that include increasing patrols, 
reconnaissance, information gathering and presence along the other side of 
the border," said Speckhard. 

Reuters reporters say the village of Debelde just across from Tanusevci on 
the Kosovo side is heavily patrolled by KFOR. 

"We have people with guns creating lawlessness in a particular small area and 
we have to find a solution to that. But we want to find a solution that 
stresses the multi-ethnic society and not to cause divisions," said 
Speckhard. 

Tanusevci is near the Presevo Valley in southern Serbia, where ethnic 
Albanian rebels have clashed with Serb police in a security zone adjoining 
Kosovo set up in 1999 to separate forces then led by Slobodan Milosevic from 
NATO-led troops in Kosovo. 

The village is completely cordoned off by Macedonian police who deny access 
to reporters. 

Hundreds of people have fled the area to Kosovo, although the refugees have 
differing stories about what made them go, with some talking of "Serb 
paramilitaries" and others of harassment by unknown armed men or fear of 
recent firefights.