STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Get a low APR NextCard Visa in 30 seconds! 1. Fill in the brief application 2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds 3. Get rates as low as 2.99% Intro or 9.99% Ongoing APR and no annual fee! Apply NOW! http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/NextCard ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [For the terminally naive, the first report suggests that Javier Solana, the EU 'dove,' is attempting to put out the fire that Javier Solana, the NATO hawk, helped ignite and stoke. But an attentive reading of the first piece will establish that Solana, always a hawk, is up to the same tricks: Fanning the flames of ethnic division and animosity, providing diplomatic fuel for a secessionist conflagration. The second report will remind us of the inevitable, intentional consequences of the Balkans policy pursued by Solana and his fellow NATOites over the past few years.] 1) Solana Set for Macedonia Visit as Talks Falter SKOPJE, Jun 5, 2001 -- (Reuters) EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will return to Macedonia before the June 15 EU summit in Gothenburg to help local leaders agree measures to address minority Albanian grievances, his spokeswoman said on Tuesday. His visit, at a date yet to be fixed, comes amid growing evidence that an unwieldy all-party coalition is making little progress in righting wrongs that have fuelled a violent revolt. Ethnic Albanian rebels have held a string of villages nestled under the northern mountains for more than a month, in the latest round of an insurrection that began in February and which threatens to tip the small Balkan state into civil war. In April Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski set the Gothenburg summit in Sweden as a deadline for tackling state-backed discrimination against ethnic Albanians in education, media, administration and language use. But continued fighting, the lengthy foreign-backed process of forming an emergency government and fundamental disagreements over the scope and speed of concessions to Albanians, who amount to up to a third of the population, have slowed progress. No concrete measures have yet been agreed and the core Albanian demand of changes to the constitution to equalize their status to that of Slavs is not even up for discussion. Western diplomats were hoping for faster progress to prevent support for the rebels growing. "It is important that the coalition is maintained but also that it delivers," said one Western envoy. "We'll be looking for the first clear results of inter-ethnic dialogue." Solana has played a central role in the Western response to the crisis. He rushed twice to Skopje last week to rescue the coalition, whose Albanian members signed a secret deal with the rebels to the horror of their Slav governing partners. A deal on more Albanian-language television, a greater share of jobs in state bureaucracy and university rights is the goal. "More significant measures require more talks and much more consensus than prevails currently," the envoy added. If nothing has been agreed before Gothenburg, President Boris Trajkovksi may not attend the summit. Envoys would then pressure the Macedonians to take concrete steps by a June 25 meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Luxembourg. But Georgievski himself is not sounding optimistic. He has lambasted his coalition partners for posturing, derided the all-party arrangement as unworkable, called for new elections, and ducked out early of meetings on inter-ethnic relations. 2) Macedonian Government Forces and Guerrillas Continue Face-off SKOPJE, Jun 5, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) Macedonian government forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas held their positions Tuesday around rebel-controlled villages in the north of the country. The Macedonian army spokesman, Colonel Blagoja Markovski, said a brief exchange of fire had been reported early Tuesday, "a response to provocations" by ethnic Albanian guerrillas of the National Liberation army (NLA) in the village of Matejce. Markovski said the rebels were reported to have regrouped overnight in the villages of Slupcane, Orizare and Otlja, held by the guerrillas since early May. A guerrilla leader in the region, commander Hoxha, told AFP by phone that the situation in the flashpoint area was calm Tuesday. Macedonian troops were "very tired and have no morale to face a living wall" of rebel groups in villages near the northern town of Kumanovo. "They have armored vehicles, tanks, but we have the morale to fight," Hoxha said. He insisted that the rebels had no intention of disarming and were "not concerned" by a draft amnesty proposed last week by top Macedonian officials. More than 15,000 people remained in the trouble-hit region of Lipkovo, he said, "with nothing to eat and in very serious conditions." The International Committee of the Red Criss (ICRC), which evacuated 66 people on Monday, said Tuesday it had failed to obtain fresh guarantees from Skopje authorities to send another mission to the region. Macedonia launched a fresh offensive to try to reclaim a dozen villages in the northern Kumanovo region on May 24 but only managed to gain control of two, Baksince and Lojane. ((c) 2001 Agence France Presse) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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