Three Albanian and a Macedonian teenager injured in riots
Deutsche Presse-Agentur - Ocotber 6, 2003

Skopje - Three Albanian and a Macedonian teenager were injured Monday in street-clashes during a student protest in Skopje that highlighted the ethnic tensions in the country, police said.

A group of some 50 Macedonian teenagers protested against the government's decision to teach classes for Albanian students in the same high schools usually occupied by Macedonian students.

The plan was put on hold following a series of protests by both Macedonians and Albanians.

Macedonian and Albanian students have been strictly segregated during the past decade, studying in different schools or, if in the same building, during different shifts.

Pressed by the international community, Macedonia tried to bring students of the country's two largest ethnic groups closer together. International observers have called the clashes between high school students "frightening and unacceptable."

October 6, 2003, Monday - 19:48 Central European Time

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