Senior European envoys yesterday sought to convince political leaders in Macedonia to implement a stalled peace accord aimed at definitively ending a rebellion by the country's ethnic Albanian minority, diplomatic sources said.
The NATO Secretary-General, Lord Robertson, the EU foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana, and Mr Mircea Geoana, chairman of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), met senior government officials and leaders of the main ethnic Albanian parties after arriving in Skopje for a one-day visit.
During the talks, which were extended, the envoys pressed the political leaders to approve key political reforms granting more rights to the ethnic Albanian minority, the sources said. The reforms are necessary for the full implementation of an August 13th peace agreement, but are stalled in parliament.
They also asked the government to clarify an amnesty decree issued last week by President Boris Trajovksi, which is not legally binding. They asked the government to "explain what the amnesty will mean on the ground," one source said.
Earlier, Lord Robertson warned Macedonian leaders their hopes for closer relations with the rest of Europe hinged on carrying out the reforms.
"We are here to send a very strong message that the EU, NATO and the OSCE have all delivered our part of the bargain," Lord Robertson said on arrival at Skopje airport. "It is now up to the Macedonian government and parliament to deliver on their side of the bargain."
Lord Robertson added that he wanted "to see a return of the refugees and not a return of the violence" in areas of the country hit by the seven-month-long rebellion.
The three officials met President Trajkovski and other senior political leaders who signed the peace accord aimed at preventing the ethnic Albanian insurgency from igniting another Balkan war.
As part of the deal, the rebels handed in almost 4,000 weapons to NATO troops in an operation that ended last month. But parliament has failed to pass constitutional amendments, agreed under the accord, that would give more rights to the large ethnic Albanian minority.