West hopeful for Macedonia peace

President Trajkovski presided over peace talks

By CNN's European Political Editor Robin Oakley

LONDON, England (CNN) -- EU and NATO leaders remain hopeful of a peace settlement in Macedonia despite last minute hurdles placed in the way of a Western-brokered deal.

They are determined to avoid the country slipping into civil war between Macedonian Slavs and the Albanians who make up around a third of the two million population.

Two key issues between the two communities have been cracked in the talks, presided over by Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski and involving James Pardew, the U.S. representative on the spot, and Francois Leotard, the EU’s envoy.

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Albanian political parties represent their community in the talks because the Macedonians will not meet with the rebels of the guerrilla National Liberation Army.

They have been demanding parity for the Albanian language and control of the police by local, rather than national authorities because only 5 per cent of the police force is Albanian.

The Macedonians have been keen not to concede measures which could lead to the break-up of the country or to be seen to give a victory to violence.

The compromises reached provide for Albanian to become an equal language in the Macedonian Parliament and in areas where Albanians represent more than 20 per cent of the local population. Five hundred new Albanian police are to be recruited and trained by the West.

But with peace apparently in sight the talks were thrown into confusion by new demands this week from Ljubco Georgievski, the hardline Macedonian Prime Minister, on the sensitive question of rebel disarmament. Georgievski originally rejected the peace framework proposals as “an attempt to break up Macedonian institutions.”

Now he is apparently calling for the Albanian rebels to disarm swiftly before the deal is signed and ratified by the Macedonian Parliament. The NLA insist the peace deal must be seen to be working before they do so.

The plan is for a 3,500 NATO force to go in and collect the rebels’ arms, but NATO has stressed all along that such action will only follow the conclusion of a peace deal. They will not seek to disarm the rebels forcibly or go in as peace-keepers between warring groups seeking to partition the country.

President Bush greets U.S. troops in Kosovo

Crucially, the question of an amnesty for the NLA rebels remains unsolved and the position has been further complicated by the Macedonian authorities issuing arrest warrants for senior NLA figures. The rebels are not likely to rush to give up their arms in such circumstances.

Leotard concedes that the latest Macedonian demands are a setback but still hopes to conclude a deal within a few days.

In the past he has warned: “Macedonia is the last domino in the Yugoslav crisis. If it falls the wrong way, the other dominoes could follow.”

Failure in Macedonia , he has warned, could call into question all that has been achieved in Bosnia and Kosovo.

A key question will be how the Macedonian government presents any final settlement. If they insist they have been forced into it by the West there could be a popular outcry which would make it hard to implement the deal.

The latest ceasefire has faltered several times with clashes between Macedonian Army units and Albanian rebels, especially around the second city of Tetovo. Ethnic violence and episodes of attempted ethnic cleansing have been on the increase.

What has made it harder for the outside forces trying to restore calm is that trust has periodically broken down with some Macedonian officials and Macedonian Slav media accusing NATO and the EU of acting in concert with the NLA and allowing them to advance during the ceasefire period.

Both organisations deny doing any such thing, but the EU has helped to pressure the Macedonian government into political concessions by warning that up to 80 million dollars worth of aid could be lost if they are obstructive. .

On his recent visit to Kosovo President George W. Bush appealed to the Kosovan Albanians not to help stoke up the conflict.

When he visited U.S. troops at Camp Bondsteel Bush urged support for the Macedonian ceasefire. He warned Kosovo’s Albanian majority in a statement “Let me be clear: the U.S. stands against all who use or support violence against democracy and the rule of law.