Macedonia : mission accomplished...or is it?

The Macedonian government has announced that the mission of the country’s security forces in the north of the country has been accomplished. However, with the military battle won, the political one seems only to be starting. “Our political and military objectives have been achieved,” Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski claimed. He exhorted the whole population of Macedonia “not to destroy the country or what the police forces and army have achieved”. Recently there have been political manoeuvres in Skopje, with the opposition Social-Democratic Union of Macedonia, calling for a new government to be formed with all the political parties present in Parliament. The leader of the SDUM, Branko Crvenkovski, claimed that Georgievski’s government had “deliberately fomented the crisis and the offensive to keep its hands on power”. There are reports that demonstrations are to take place in the streets of Skopje, calling for other parties to be added to the coalition. For his part, the Albanian President of the Democratic Party of the Albanians (DPA), has given the government until 9th April to begin negotiations for a reform of the country’s Constitution.It is hoped that all such negotiations can be contained within the organisms which were democratically elected to hold them. Placing nationalism above nation will only attract the attention of destructive forces from outside the frontiers of Macedonia.

TIMOTHY BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.RU