Word: albanians
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...years ago NATO intervened in Kosovo to defend the ethnic Albanians. Now they recognise that Albanian extremism is threatening to destroy the fragile stability in the war-torn province and beyond. As one senior NATO soldier in Kosovo puts it: "They're extremely close to pushing the entire region over the precipice and into the abyss. And that will mean a massive disaster...
...victory for the government, but the rebels have been repelled rather than destroyed. They have retreated, either into the mountains or back into Kosovo. The real challenge is now political - whether the government can cement its military gains by making new efforts to address the grievances of Macedonia's Albanian population. What is at stake now is the very survival of a multi-ethnic Macedonia, and the crisis is not yet over, even though there may be a brief respite. If the government is unable to address the political grievances that the rebels have exploited, we could see violence flare...
...fact, we can't apply purely military criteria. The Macedonian government has scored an important victory over the weekend, but it won't mean very much unless the can capitalize on it politically. The guerrilla campaign has caused the government significant political damage in its relations with the ethnic-Albanian minority, and the country's future may be determined by whether the government is able to repair that damage by political means...
...arrived from Ukraine, and just in time from the government's point of view. It's a devastating weapon against guerrillas, as the Afghan mujahedeen found during the 1980s - it was only after the Afghans got Stinger missiles from the U.S. that they could counter those gunships, and the Albanian fighters in Macedonia obviously don't have anything like that...
...There were a number of worrying incidents elsewhere. A policeman was reported killed and another wounded while in a shopping mall in the capital, Skopje, on Wednesday. And two Albanians were shot this morning by police at a checkpoint in Tetovo. Apparently there's videotape of one of the men, in civilian clothing, throwing a grenade at policemen. That tape may be very important, because unless the government can show that there was a grenade, the incident may spread alarm in the Albanian community. Also, it could put more strain on the main Albanian party in the government, which...