Macedonia peace deal now within reach
A final peace deal for Macedonia appeared to be within reach today after Macedonians and ethnic Albanians reached a compromise on jointly running the country’s police forces.
European Union security chief Javier Solana yesterday announced that the two sides had struck a deal on the contentious issue, hours after he pressed negotiators to accept a Western plan to avert a full-blown civil war.
Solana wouldn’t give details of the deal but other Western officials, who have been mediating the peace talks for weeks, revealed that the number of ethnic Albanians in the police force would grow.
The Macedonian-dominated government, however, would retain central control over police.
Solana said that only a few technicalities remained to conclude a comprehensive peace settlement.
‘‘I think we can say that the parties have agreed on the document on police,’’ Solana said, adding that this opened the way for Macedonia to become ‘‘stable and prosperous’’.
Dozens have died and thousands have been displaced since the ethnic Albanian insurgency began in February. The rebels say they are fighting for broader rights and influence for ethnic Albanians, who make up nearly a third of Macedonia’s two million people.
‘‘It’s a major step forward ... and it is a basis for democratic change in the country,’’ US envoy James Pardew said.
Ethnic Albanian politicians have been representing their community in the talks.
The militants fighting the government forces in the volatile northwest of the country have not been directly involved in the talks.
Before Solana’s announcement, a commander of the guerrillas said that his fighters would not recognise the deal. He said they wanted a broader ‘‘international conference’’.
Asked what would happen if the rebels refused to accept the agreement, Solana just said: ‘‘They will comply.’’
Macedonians regard ethnic Albanian demands as a strategy to carve off territory and break up the country.
However, they have so far agreed to an expanded official use of the Albanian language, a minimum of minority votes needed to pass laws in the parliament, and funds for higher education in the Albanian language.
The breakthrough came the same day Solana brought Ukraine’s foreign minister, Anatoliy Zlenko, to the resort town of Ohrid, where the talks are taking place, to discuss his country’s arms sales to Macedonia.
The United States has been pressuring Ukraine to halt the sales, fearing more weapons would prolong the conflict.
