http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-11/03/content_12381600.htm

    SKOPJE, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Macedonia's ethnic Albanians are urging
the government to reach a deal with Greece over the name issue that
has dogged the two neighbors for the past 18 years, local media
reported Tuesday.

    The ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), a
junior partner in the coalition government, has set a deadline for its
senior ethnic partner, the Democratic Party for Macedonian National
Unity (VMRO DPMNE), to solve the ongoing spat until December.

    Macedonia hopes to get a date from the December EU council to
start its EU accession talks, a decision that needs consensus from all
27 member states. Greece, a full member of the EU, threatens to block
the move if a solution for the name row is not reached.

    Last year, Athens blocked Skopje from entering NATO due to the
same reason, insisting that Skopje's official name, "the Republic of
Macedonia," implies its territorial claims toward Greece's own
northern province, also with the name of Macedonia.

    After the blockade, the DUI has given the center-right VMRO DPMNE
party a free hand to deal with the name issue. However, the ethnic
Albanians have made it clear that their patience will not last
forever.

    If there is no solution until December, "Albanians will enter NATO
and EU without Macedonians," DUI's parliament member Rafiz Aliti said
Monday, without clarifying whether that would mean that the DUI
considers leaving the government or other radical steps.

    VMRO DPMNE has so far reacted only by saying it would not succumb
to ultimatums when issues of national interest such as the name
problem are concerned.

    Ethnic Albanians make up a quarter of the two million people
living in the western Balkan country. The EU and NATO prospects of the
country are seen by observers as the strongest ties that bond the
Macedonian majority and the Albanian minority. Without that, some fear
the ethnic tensions of the past might return.

    In 2001, Macedonia suffered a short-lived Albanian insurgency that
ended with a peace agreement foreseeing greater rights for the
Albanian community. The insurgents subsequently disbanded and their
leaders formed the DUI.

    The pressure on Prime Minister and VMRO DPMNE leader Nikola
Gruevski to swiftly reach a deal with Greece started to mount last
month after his country got a positive assessment from the European
Commission that included a recommendation for EU accession talks.

    EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has urged Skopje to "seize
the window of opportunity" before the December EU council.

    In an interview with BBC Macedonian last week, Macedonian
President George Ivanov hinted at the possibility of a near-future
solution.

    "This (solution seeking) process cannot be removed from the United
Nations. It has been hosted by the UN for almost 16 years and lately
some kind of solution can be sensed," Ivanov said.

--
June Samaras
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