OHRID, Macedonia, (AFP) -Pressure was building Sunday for peace talks underway in Macedonia to reach an agreement that will end a five-month ethnic Albanian revolt for equal rights in the north of the country.
President Boris Trajkovski, Prime Minister Ljubco Georgevski and the leaders of the two ethnic Albanian parties in the ruling coalition, Arben Xhaferi and Imer Imeri, were set to resume negotiations begun Saturday in Trajkovski's summer residence in this southern lake resort town.
Pushing the two sides along and working hard to narrow differences were EU and US envoys Francois Leotard and James Pardew. (Photo caption below)
Even though a July 5 ceasefire between the Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA) and the Slav-dominated Macedonian army and police had largely held since being brought back to life by NATO Wednesday, there was concern that it could again fall apart, this time sparking full civil war.
The talks themselves were meant to have started Friday in Tetovo, Macedonia's third-biggest city and the focus of recent fighting, but were relocated to Ohrid because of security fears.
A government source said it was "tough going" in the negotiations, which are considering demands from the ethnic Albanian for more say in the country, particularly in areas where they have a significant population, against the necessity to maintain the social and political integrity of the multi-ethnic country.
The two sticking points are a demand for an ethnic Albanian police force which would operate in ethnic Albanian areas independently of state control, and a demand that Albanian be made an official language alongside Macedonian.
The Western envoys have come up with a proposal for the latter issue which would make Albanian an official language in regions where more than 20 percent of the population is ethnic Albanian.
But the ethnic Albanian parties have proved reluctant to compromise, and the Macedonian Slav parties have refused out of fear it would eventually lead to the ethnic Albanians creating a de facto state.
Around 30 percent of Macedonia's population is ethnic Albanian, mainly in the north, along the border with Kosovo, and the west, towards Albania.
The displacement of around 8,000 Macedonian Slavs from the scene of clashes between the NLA and security forces and the concern that they may not be able to reclaim their homes have sparked demonstrations in the capital Skopje.
One demonstration Tuesday turned into a riot filled with anti-Western and anti-Albanian sentiment in which the British, German and US embassies were targeted by angry mobs.
The situation has calmed since, with NATO restoring the ceasefire through an agreement with the NLA that saw its fighters withdraw from villages in and around Tetovo and reverse advances made since July 5 in return for restraint by the Macedonian army and police.
But, as the participants in Ohrid are all too aware, such a tense standoff cannot last forever, and the choice between war or peace is seen as hanging on the outcome of their talks.
PHOTO CAPTION:
EU negotiator Francois Leotard glances at the reporters after full day of talks with Macedonian and ethnic Albanian leaders at the lake resort of Ohrid, 160 km south of the capital Skopje, Saturday, July 28, 2001. Leotard and his counterpart U.S. negotiator James Pardew announced another day of talks aimed at averting civil war in Macedonia.(AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
- Jul 28 5:55 PM ET