Germany, France Hopeful on Macedonia

16/04/2001| IslamWeb

BERLIN (Islamweb & News Agencies) - German and French leaders said Wednesday they are optimistic that a plan to prevent civil war in Macedonia will succeed, and pledged to work closely together on measures to establish peace there after NATO's mission to collect weapons.
``We both assume the mission will be successful and contribute to the existence of a Macedonia that is multicultural and that can be held together,'' German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said after a regular meeting with France's President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.
German and French troops are among NATO forces deployed in Macedonia last month to collect thousands of weapons from Albanian fighters under a plan for them to end armed resistance in return for greater rights for ethnic Albanians.
Opponents railed against those reforms in the Macedonian parliament Wednesday.
NATO has acknowledged that the mission could drag on past the 30 days foreseen for its mission, feeding concern that an international force may have to stay on to prevent renewed conflict between ethnic Albanians and the Slav majority.
Experts say international aid also is urgently needed to stabilize the country.
``What must and will follow (the NATO mission) will be agreed in very close consultation'' with France, Schroeder said at a news conference after the meeting, though added that it was too early to give details of the two countries' approach.
The meeting was the fourth since French and German leaders agreed to hold regular gatherings to restore traditionally close relations damaged by differences over European Union reform last year.
Chirac said France and Germany are of ``one view'' on the peace process in Macedonia ( Read photo caption below) as well as in the Middle East, where German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has been prominent in efforts to restart talks between Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
Jospin said he two countries will ``continue to fight against hate, for peace and for reason, even though the grounds for pessimism are greater than those for optimism.''
PHOTO CAPTION:
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, right, shakes hands with Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski, left, during their meeting in the Government building in Skopje, Macedonia Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2001, the second day of his visit to Macedonia. Minister Fischer also visited the German troops deployed to Macedonia, that are a part of the NATO operation "Essential Harvest." (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
- Sep 05 9:36 AM ET