Word: macedonian
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...Dejan Anastasijevic: They're back on the offensive, but it's hard to tell how effective they're going to be, or even how serious the level of fighting is right now. The Macedonian security forces are not well trained or equipped for this sort of anti-guerrilla operation in the mountains, and there is always a great danger that if they inflict civilian casualties in the Albanian villages where the rebels are hiding, the fragile unity government that involves the main ethnic-Albanian parties could collapse, which could seal the fate of multiethnic Macedonia...
...MACEDONIA Peaceful Overture All major Macedonian political parties agreed to set up a coalition government that would address some of the demands put forward by ethnic Albanian rebels who have been fighting government forces north of the capital, Skopje. The agreement coincided with a temporary ceasefire during which aid groups were able to reach ethnic Albanian villages that had been cut off by shelling. But rebels rejected the idea that a new coalition would solve their problems. Some 8,000 women and children fled the fighting...
...Dejan Anastasijevic: The deadline came and went, and despite President Trajkovski giving the rebels a "final warning" on Wednesday, the government is still hesitating to fulfill its threat because of the dangers that face it in launching an offensive. The Macedonian security forces are not well-equipped or trained for an anti-guerrilla operation to drive the guerrillas out of their strongholds in a series of villages in the mountains, and it would be a disaster for President Trajkovski if his forces suffered heavy losses. And if they inflicted civilian casualties in the villages where the rebels are hiding...
...Presevo Valley region of southern Serbia, where Albanian separatists were forced by a combination of the NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo and Yugoslav army to leave the area. This was a very clear message that NATO's tolerance of the Albanian insurgents is declining fast. And the Macedonian hopes that once they realize this, the insurgents here will follow the example of their kin in Serbia and back off without much resistance...
...over whether the unity of the new government will hold. A lot depends on whether the government forces can mount a successful operation against rebel strongholds in the mountains. If it turns out to be a mess - either because of civilian casualties or because of substantial losses by the Macedonian security forces - the government may not survive. But the government's credibility is also threatened if it hesitates too long, because its very first act was to issue an ultimatum to the rebels. So the coalition government could fail, either if its forces don't do enough, or if they...