STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Sopranos fanatics, this one is for you. Tony Soprano's autographed Suburban is available for purchase on eBayTM. James Gandolfini has personally signed the vehicle. Find this and over 800 other Sopranos items for sale on eBay. http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/ebay ---------------------------------------------------------------------- KATHIMERINI ATHENS, TUESDAY, JULY 17, 2001 Opinion Balkan uncertainty By Giorgos Kapopoulos ...One way or another, NATO and EU pressure will lead the Slav-Macedonians and the ethnic Albanians to some compromise formula. The rebel leaders, who do not participate in the talks, will surrender some of their weapons without having to assume any comprehensive commitments, while also retaining the ability to resume fighting when conditions are favorable. Accepting the compromise formula will cause serious tribulations in the Slav-Macedonian leadership... The intervention by NATO troops will consolidate the de facto independence of the regions dominated by ethnic Albanians and will thus promote the maximalist aim of Albanian irredentism in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Given the upsurge of nationalism in the previous months, it seems likely that NATO will become the object of Slavic rage, be it instigated or spontaneous. The first real engagement by NATO forces in the Balkans and on FYROM territory will have repercussions for Kosovo and Bosnia. The international community will be faced with the dilemma of either escalating the conflict or of a humiliating withdrawal which will mark the beginning of regional destabilization. Whatever the USA's change of tack may be - in terms of both rhetoric and substance - toward Albanian irredentism, the basic parameter which determines the power equilibrium in the FYROM conflict remains: Ethnic Albanian rebels have the political and military prerequisites, which gives them the initiative... __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
