Brussels, 19/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Javier Solana, NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson and Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, who is also President-in-Office of the OSCE, were in Skopje on Thursday to persuade the Macedonian authorities to accelerate the reform process, that has been in deadlock for several weeks at the parliament. The government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) decreed an amnesty last week for the rebels, but the parliament has still not adopted the reforms that are essential for effective implementation of the 13 August agreement. An agreement had, however, been reached on Wednesday evening between the western representatives and the Macedonian government concerning a pilot plan for redeployment of the police in five villages in the regions of Tetevo and Kumanovo in the north of the country. Redeployment is to begin next Monday and concerns the agglomeration made up of a mixed population (Macedonians and Albanians), which should lessen the risk of incident.
After their various meetings, the three western officials said during a press conference that they had managed to put an end to the parliamentary impasse that was threatening the peace process. "We have a timetable that is fixed, clear, and I think all political parties will be present", said Mr Solana. He made an implicit reference to the "filibustering and absenteeism on the part of Macedonian nationalist hawks, who oppose compromise with 'Albanian terrorists', and tactical boycotts by ethnic Albanians themselves". "Things are moving and we hope that by the end of this month the (ratification) process in parliament may be over", he added. According to the Reuters Agency, one of the main Albanian leaders, Imer Imeri, confirmed that President Trajkovski and Parliament President Stojan Andov had agreed to present the 15 amendments of the constitution for examination "as one bundle", and that there would therefore be no reason for new boycott actions. However, according to a source close to the government, this package would only be presented if the Albanian representatives agreed that the "Macedonian people" should be mentioned ahead of other ethnic communities in the preamble. Lord Robertson pointed out that the meetings also covered the implementation of the amnesty decreed last week but made no comment about the possible solutions that could have been found to correct the shortcomings of the text and guarantee its practical application.