Defence minister says situation in Macedonia "fragile"
Macedonia Information Agency - March 5, 2003

Skopje, 5 March: "The situation in Macedonia is fragile and I believe its stability, after a few recent incidents, has led everyone in our country to deal seriously with eliminating any possibility for escalation of provocations and new destabilization," Macedonian Defence Minister Vlado Buckovski said in an interview for the e-paper Southeast European Times.

Buckovski says that the situation in the Presevo Valley and Kosovo imposes a daily exchange of information, better cooperation and coordination, so that the extremists can be prevented from accomplishing their goal - to destabilize the region again, Thessaloniki press agency MPA reports.

Considering the public threats by the Albanian National Army (ANA - AKSh in Albanian) and its political wing, the Front for Albanian National Unification (FANU), to launch a spring offensive, Buckovski said that Macedonia could not be destabilized and this Front, which is for unification of all Albanians and the creation of a Greater Albania, could not accomplish its goals through its military wing, ANA.

"All open issues in Macedonia were closed in 2001 when its territorial integrity and sovereignty were confirmed by a Framework Agreement," Buckovski emphasized.

He confirmed the existence of criminal groups active in western Macedonia, adding that the estimates were that these are small groups that appear in different parts of the former crisis regions of Kumanovo and Tetovo.

Regarding the series of anti-crime operations in the western part of Macedonia, Buckovski said the multiethnic composition of the police had remarkable success.

"What is especially encouraging is that there was support by the local population not only during the operations but even before. It was obvious that local communities sought the increased presence of the police, their permanent presence as some kind of a dam against terrorizing criminal gangs," he said.

He assessed the illegal weapons in the country as a huge problem, adding that the disarmament should be general.

"In my opinion, the disarmament will be the final resolution of the crisis in Macedonia," Buckovski emphasized in the interview for Southeast European Times.

MIA news agency, Skopje, in English 1449 gmt 5 Mar 03

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