[ALBSA-Info] Macedonian President Claims Victory

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Macedonian President Claims Victory

By KONSTANTIN TESTORIDES

  
SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) - Macedonia's president declared Tuesday that his 
country had vanquished ethnic Albanian rebels, arguing that the military 
offensive restored confidence among Macedonians and proved the country was 
able to defend its fragile democracy. 

President Boris Trajkovski signaled, however, that negotiations for 
constitutional changes demanded by ethnic Albanians can take place now that 
insurgents claiming to fight for greater rights have been pushed from a 
position of strength near Macedonia's second-largest city, Tetovo. 

``I'm really convinced that it was not only the victory of democracy but also 
of Macedonians who, in these difficult times, were able to prove their unity 
and strength,'' he told The Associated Press in an interview. ``This is a 
victory for all citizens of Macedonia, regardless of their ethnic 
background.'' 

There was no immediate comment from the rebels on the government claims of 
victory. 

Trajkovski's remarks followed an attack that swept rebels from a handful of v
illages in the hills above Tetovo, 20 miles west of the capital, Skopje. 
Hundreds of refugees have fled the fighting, escaping mortar barrages by 
walking for hours to reach the border with Kosovo, Yugoslavia's southern 
province. 

Though the city was quiet Tuesday, military officials described the action as 
being in its final stages. Nikola Dimitrov, the presidential security 
adviser, warned that ``urban terrorism'' remained a threat, but did not 
elaborate. 

Skirmishes between government troops and ethnic Albanian rebels continued in 
the northern village of Gracane, and near the Caska border pass just outside 
of Kosovo. 

Earlier in the day, the European Union's security affairs chief praised the 
government's push for a peaceful solution to end the insurgency, urging 
rebels to lay down their arms. 

``You have to achieve a solution to these problems - not by weapons, but by 
negotiations, by participation in the political process. This is what Europe 
is all about,'' Javier Solana said after meeting with ethnic Albanian leader 
Arben Xhaferi. 

Solana declined to directly comment on proposals put forth by Xhaferi, whose 
Democratic Albanian Party is a partner in the coalition government. Xhaferi 
told reporters Tuesday that he proposed a dialogue aimed at changing the 
constitution to ensure a multiethnic state, proportional representation in 
political bodies and a new census. 

Ethnic Albanians make up at least one-fourth of Macedonia's 2 million people, 
but they have argued that their numbers are actually much higher and that 
only an internationally monitored count would give a true picture of the 
country's ethnic mix. 

It was up to Macedonia's ruling officials to make the next move and accept 
that it was time to make changes in how the government is run to reflect the 
growing numbers of ethnic Albanians living there, Xhaferi said. 

``We cannot change the reality. We cannot cleanse the territory. The only 
thing we can change is the concept of the state,'' he said. 

The guerrillas say they are fighting for greater rights and recognition for 
Macedonia's ethnic Albanians, accusing the government of discrimination. The 
government says the rebels are separatists seeking to split away northern 
Macedonia to create an independent state with mostly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo. 

Trajkovski maintained that no one is discriminated against in Macedonia on 
the basis of religion or ethnicity. He pledged, however, to discuss the 
possibility of revising the constitution to ``recognize equal participation 
of all citizens based on individual rights.'' 

Such a change would annul provisions in the constitution that allocate power 
based on ethnicity. 

The former Yugoslav republic was quiet for a second day Tuesday, but in 
neighboring Kosovo, German peacekeepers said they were holding 30 suspected 
rebels intercepted in the mountains of the Serbian province. 

Also Tuesday, clashes erupted near the town of Presevo in southern Serbia, 
where ethnic Albanian militants are fighting for a key road to Kosovo. 

The government press center in Bujanovac said ethnic Albanian insurgents 
``opened heavy fire from mortars, recoilless rifles, rocket launchers and 
machine-guns'' on a Serbian police checkpoint near Presevo, 225 miles south 
of the capital, Belgrade. 

U.N. spokeswoman Astrid van Genderen Stort said more than 1,300 refugees from 
Macedonia arrived in Kosovo on Tuesday.