EU foreign ministers pledged strong political support for Macedonia yesterday, but reacted coolly to a suggestion that Western troops should be sent there.
In a statement, the EU ministers expressed "deep concern over the escalating violence" in Macedonia and urged both sides to show restraint. "Political demands should be put forward in a peaceful manner and in accordance with democratic principles," the ministers said.
Diplomats said the 15 EU foreign ministers had stressed the need for a ceasefire and an "indepth" political dialogue between Skopje and ethnic Albanian leaders during talks in Brussels with their Macedonian counterpart, Mr Srgan Kerim.
The Austrian Foreign Minister, Ms Benita Ferrero-Waldner, raised the possibility of extending the mandate of NATO peacekeeping troops operating in neighbouring Kosovo to Macedonia, but diplomats said only Greece - which also shares a border with the former Yugoslav republic - backed that proposal.
Earlier, the NATO Secretary-General, Lord Robertson, ruled out any extension of NATO's mandate and noted that the Macedonian government had made no such request. Any change in NATO's mandate would need approval by the UN Security Council, where it would be sure to provoke a veto from China in response to Macedonia's diplomatic recognition of Taiwan.
NATO said its peacekeeping forces in Kosovo will increase border patrols to deny supplies and manpower to ethnic Albanian rebels fighting government forces in northern Macedonia.
In Washington, President Bush said he was "concerned" about the violence in Macedonia and was weighing non-military aid to Skopje. "The President is concerned about the actions taken by Albania extremists, and that's why the President and NATO have authorised stepped-up patrols" by alliance-led troops, Mr Bush's spokesman, Mr Ari Fleischer, said. In Moscow, President Putin said yesterday that he would back international military action "if necessary" to end an ethnic Albanian insurrection in Macedonia.