Hatred on the streets of Skopje

By CNN's Sarah Sultoon

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Skopje is "functioning but tense" after a night of fierce rioting on the streets of the capital.

Fury and hatred simmered in Skopje on Tuesday, as bitterness towards the ethnic Albanian population deepens as the crisis intensifies, journalist Juliette Terzieff told CNN.

"If there was any more hatred flying around, I would be dead from it," Terzieff said. "The polarisation is just remarkable…the number of people from the middle ground get smaller and smaller every day.

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"Before, they (the ethnic Albanians) were just seen as a few people living up in the hills. Now they are the object of hatred and loathing," she said.

She said the violence which broke out in Skopje on Monday night was a harsh wake-call for President Boris Trajkovski, whose attitude towards ethnic Albanian militants -- viewed by many as lenient -- is blamed for the tension on the streets. "People are just really, really frustrated," Terzieff said.

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Rioters hurled venomous insults at the president on Monday, demanding that he "stop listening" to European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who brokered a cease-fire deal with ethnic Albanian rebels in Aracinovo, a strategic suburb of Skopje.

"One man was standing above the crowds, screaming hysterically 'Solana is not the Macedonian President…Solana does not run this country,'" Terzieff told CNN.

Thousands ran amok in the city centre during the night, enraged by governmental handling of the Aracinovo cease-fire, where rebel forces were allowed to keep hold of their weapons as they were escorted from the Skopje suburb earlier in the day.

Frustration bubbled over as many protestors led the crowds in chants of "death to the Albanians" and "kill the Albanians." At one point, about 30 police were spotted chanting along with the rioters and waving the Macedonian flag, echoing the fury of the average Macedonian citizen, Terzieff said.

The president's car was "totally destroyed," as rioters ripped off the bumper, tore out the steering wheel, smashed all the windows and finally stamped on the roof of the vehicle, chanting and screaming.

Chaos erupted as gunshots rang out from several directions. It was not clear who was doing the shooting or who, if anyone, was targeted. At the Skopje parliament, rioters broke through a cordon of police to storm the building.

Protesters forced their way inside governmental offices, hurling stones and office furniture from smashed windows and hoisting the Macedonian flag from the balcony.

On Tuesday morning, tension on the streets of the capital was palpable. All eyes are on Trajkovski, Terzieff said.

Politicians are panicking, desperate to avoid a repeat of Monday's violence, she added. "The outcome will hinge on what the president has to say.

"But it is hard to tell how much influence the riots themselves will have on the decisions and actions of the Macedonian government," she said.