Macedonian Government close to voting on peace deal
The speaker of Macedonia’s Parliament today urged Ministers to end the debate over the NATO-designed peace accord and move quickly to vote.
The house has been discussing the peace accord’s demand for constitutional changes in exchange for rebel disarmament.
If Parliament backs the plan, NATO will be able to move onto the next phase of weapons collection, voluntarily offered by the rebels of the National Liberation Army.
Rejection of the peace deal would throw efforts into chaos and end the six-month old insurgency.
So far, the deal has been met with a torrent of opposition from conservative MPs, although it is endorsed by Macedonia’s President, Prime Minister and two top ethnic Albanian leaders.
The Government remains under massive international pressure to endorse the deal and make the necessary constitutional changes, which would upgrade the rights of ethnic Albanians.
