[ALBSA-Info] Russia wants international action on Macedonia

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Russia wants international action on Macedonia

  
BELGRADE, March 19 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on 
Monday violence involving ethnic Albanian guerrillas in Macedonia was getting 
out of control and only decisive international action could stop the 
fighting. 

Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov handed over a letter from Putin to Yugoslav 
President Vojislav Kostunica in which he said conflict could spread across 
the Balkans unless the violence in Macedonia was halted. 

Kostunica, after talks with Ivanov in Belgrade, stressed his strong criticism 
of NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo. 

He said the ethnic Albanian province had become "a real breeding ground for 
terrorism" since Serbia was forced to cede control there to international 
authorities in June 1999. 

Ethnic Albanian guerrillas began fighting government security forces in the 
south of Serbia, Yugoslavia's dominant republic, more than a year ago and a 
similar rebel group has emerged in the past few weeks in independent 
Macedonia. 

Putin said Ivanov would try to co-ordinate Russia's position on the violence 
with Balkan states on his visit to the region. 

"The situation is gradually getting out of control, both the countries of the 
region and Russia are worried about this fact," Putin said in comments 
televised in Russia. 

"Only decisive political and, if the need comes, military actions by the 
international community can prevent the conflict from spreading over the 
whole Balkan region," his letter to Kostunica said, according to a Kremlin 
statement. 

The statement did not make clear under what circumstances Putin was ready to 
support a military operation. 

NATO, keen for Balkan stability but wary of being sucked into conflict, has 
said it is beefing up border security in Kosovo but has no mandate to act 
militarily inside Macedonia. 

Russia -- a traditional ally of Serbia and Yugoslavia -- has been a regular 
critic of NATO and U.N. policies in Kosovo, arguing that both bodies have 
failed to isolate and clamp down on ethnic Albanian radicals. 

The guerrillas say they are fighting for greater rights for ethnic Albanians. 
But Kostunica said the rebel groups were simply terrorists and should be 
condemned as such. 

"There are people using euphemisms for this -- they speak of extremism but 
terrorism remains terrorism. People don't get killed by extremism, while 
terrorism kills people," he said. 

"We spoke about how the real exporter of this terrorism is Kosovo," he said 
of his talks with Ivanov.