26 Mar 2001

Lord Robertson calls for intensified political dialogue in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (1) NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson, travelled to the capital of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (1), Skopje, on 26 March for talks with President Boris Trajkovski and some of the country's party leaders. He met with Arben Xhaferi, the head of the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), which is in government, and with two leaders whose parties are in Opposition, Imer Imeri, at the head of the PDP which represents ethnic Albanians and Branko Crvenkovski, the leader of the SDSM which is the largest Macedonian party in opposition. In a double-tracked approach to the situation, Lord Robertson reaffirmed his support for the government in its actions against ethnic Albanian extremists in the north-west of the country. However, together with the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Javier Solana, who was also present at the talks, he urged the government to moderate its military action and appealed to the insurgents to put down their arms, stressing that violence was not an acceptable way of pressing their claims. NATO has reinforced its patrols along Kosovo's border with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (1) in order to help stop the smuggling of arms and equipment. It is also strongly encouraging the Macedonian government and ethnic Albanian parties to intensify talks so as to address the demands for better treatment put forward by ethnic Albanian inhabitants. Turkey recognises the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name.