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Macedonia Wants NATO to Do the Job and Go
By Anatoly Verbin
SKOPJE, Macedonia (Reuters) - NATO (news - web sites) troops were set to collect more weapons Sunday from ethnic Albanian guerrillas in Macedonia as a senior government source said their mission should not be extended.
``Thanks to NATO but we can handle things. After the end of this mission they should leave,'' the source, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
``At the moment there is no mood for accepting an extended military mission. Only civilian monitors are acceptable.''
A defense ministry source also said a new NATO mission was not acceptable.
The international community, concerned that violence could erupt again after NATO's 4,500 troops pull out when the ''Essential Harvest'' operation ends on September 26, is unanimous that a security void should be filled.
But the size, rules of engagement and form of any force -- whether NATO, European Union (news - web sites), or U.N. -- are still being intensely debated.
Several European Union ministers said Saturday their countries were willing to stay on in the tiny Balkan state.
``One way or another, Europe must stand by Macedonia. We must not suddenly change our stance,'' French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said in the Belgian town of Genval.
Vedrine said NATO command of a military force to protect foreign peace observers made most sense, since the EU was not yet ready to take charge of such missions.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer called for a NATO-led force with a United Nations (news - web sites) mandate.
Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique said: ``Our troops could stay for two or three months longer.''
EU diplomats said European governments did not want to serve under a U.N. command and wanted to keep the United States engaged. Russia has backed the idea of an international force.
PEACE NOT ASSURED YET
The fragility of the peace process was underscored by a report that government troops and the rebels exchanged fire late Saturday night in the western Tetovo area where the weapons collection is due to take place.
An army spokesman said there were 20 ``provocations'' by the rebels and in one case troops returned fire, near the village of Ratae. No one was hurt.
NATO confirmed the shooting took place and said it was looking into the details.
Meanwhile, Maki Shinohara, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR refugee agency, told Reuters that some 7,000 ethnic Albanian refugees had returned to Macedonia from neighboring Kosovo in the last three days.
Last week UNHCR said some 44,000 refugees from Macedonia were still in Kosovo while some 38,000 had already returned.
The Macedonian Red Cross says some 70,000 people remain displaced inside the country.
NATO had gathered a third of the rebel National Liberation Army's (NLA's) declared arsenal, but stopped when parliament's preliminary debate on reforms to give more rights to ethnic Albanians was dragged out, then frozen, by ultra-nationalists.
Western diplomats pushed hard-liners to drop deal-wrecking demands and legislators finally voted last Thursday to authorise drafting of reforms.
The changes are meant to decentralize power, allow more official use of the Albanian language and give Albanians jobs in public services, especially the police force, commensurate with their one-third share of the population.
The fragile peace process edged into round two Friday. Hundreds more guerrillas disarmed after parliament grudgingly embarked on the constitutional reforms.
NATO officials said they were satisfied with the haul.
The alliance says the second phase of weapons collections is to be completed by September 13, in time for second round of parliamentary action under the 45-day timetable for implementation of the peace plan.
Guerrillas would then relinquish the final third of an agreed 3,300 weapons to set the stage for a ratification vote in parliament, within three days of NATO's September 26 deadline for completing disarmament.
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