Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- Monday August 13, 5:52 PM NATO, EU envoys arrive for Macedonia peace signing SKOPJE, Aug 13 (AFP) - NATO Secretary General George Robertson and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana arrived in Skopje Monday for the signing of a peace accord between the country's Macedonian and ethnic Albanian parties. Robertson described the signature as "a very proud day for this country" but stressed peacekeepers from the trans-Atlantic military alliance would not move to disarm ethnic Albanian rebels until a ceasefire held and rebels showed they were serious about laying down their arms. "This is a very proud day for this country and for the parties of the coalition government, because they have developed an accord which is historic and which I believe marks the entry of Macedonia into modern day Europe," he told reporters on arrival. Robertson insisted the accord constituted a "great step forward". "I hope for all the people of Macedonia that the ceasefire holds, but there is still a lot to be done, to make the ceasefire durable," he said. Robertson said he and Solana would be discussing how to achieve a lasting ceasefire between Macedonian government forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas. Asked when NATO peacekeepers would move into the Balkan country, he said: "Clearly there has to be a sustainable ceasefire." "There has to be a clear indication from the insurgents that they mean business in terms of disarming completely and handing over all their weapons and all their ammunition," Robertson insisted. Macedonia declared a unilateral ceasefire late Sunday, after the country's political parties said they would go ahead with the signing, but the night was marked by new clashes between rebels and government forces. Solana said on arrival: "I think this is a great day in the history of Macedonia." Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, also arrived for the signing ceremony. Western negotiators are hoping that Monday's signing ceremony, expected around 5:00 pm (1500 GMT), will maintain the momentum of the peace drive and serve to isolate extremists on both sides. Leaders of the four main democratic parties -- two Macedonian and two ethnic Albanian -- are expected to sign the accord, which they approved in principle after intense Western-backed discussions. The wording of the accord meets many of the demands made by the rebels and moderate ethnic Albanian leaders, providing for Albanian to become a second official language and boosting the community's presence in the police force. But the reforms have yet to be ratified by parliament and would take years to implement. And it remained uncertain whether the agreement would stem the tide of violence that has swept the country since last week. Rebels have been excluded from the negotiations, and as the guerrillas continued to battle government forces over the weekend, there were conflicting signals over whether they would accept the plan. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
