SKOPJE, Macedonia Macedonia celebrated 15 years of independence from the former Yugoslavia on Friday, with officials stressing the need to lay the ghosts of recent ethnic tension to rest.
An ethnic Albanian party also ended a parliamentary boycott that had threatened political crisis.
Friday's celebrations included mountaineers scaling the landlocked country's highest peaks and an international motorcycle rally in the capital Skopje.
President Branko Crvenkovski and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski addressed the nation from Skopje's main "Makedonija" square.
"The great historic victory we have achieved is that today we can make decisions for ourselves. We can say that we have found the formula for good interethnic relations ... but we have paid a high price for that," Crvenkovski said.
One of Europe's poorest countries, Macedonia split peacefully from Yugoslavia in 1991 following an overwhelmingly pro-independence referendum vote. The tiny country is troubled by a stagnant economy and unemployment at 36 percent.
Relations also remain tense between the Macedonian majority and an ethnic Albanian minority that makes up about a quarter of the country's 2.1 million population, following a 2001 insurgency by ethnic Albanian rebels.
Before the independence celebrations, the deputies of the ethnic Albanian DUI party, returned to parliament, ending a two-month boycott.
The DUI launched protests after being left out of Gruevski's conservative coalition government formed after July 5 general elections.
The boycott had threatened to cause a political crisis, but the DUI could still exploit the country's complex power-sharing rules to block legislation in parliament.
"The DUI will always be in the parliament when the bills agreed with the peace deal will be on the agenda," party leader Ali Ahemti said.
Macedonia could face serious political difficulties if DUI blocks two pending bills on police reform and minority rights — both stemmed from the 2001 peace deal that ended the ethnic conflict.
SKOPJE, Macedonia Macedonia celebrated 15 years of independence from the former Yugoslavia on Friday, with officials stressing the need to lay the ghosts of recent ethnic tension to rest.
An ethnic Albanian party also ended a parliamentary boycott that had threatened political crisis.
Friday's celebrations included mountaineers scaling the landlocked country's highest peaks and an international motorcycle rally in the capital Skopje.
President Branko Crvenkovski and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski addressed the nation from Skopje's main "Makedonija" square.
"The great historic victory we have achieved is that today we can make decisions for ourselves. We can say that we have found the formula for good interethnic relations ... but we have paid a high price for that," Crvenkovski said.
One of Europe's poorest countries, Macedonia split peacefully from Yugoslavia in 1991 following an overwhelmingly pro-independence referendum vote. The tiny country is troubled by a stagnant economy and unemployment at 36 percent.
Relations also remain tense between the Macedonian majority and an ethnic Albanian minority that makes up about a quarter of the country's 2.1 million population, following a 2001 insurgency by ethnic Albanian rebels.
Before the independence celebrations, the deputies of the ethnic Albanian DUI party, returned to parliament, ending a two-month boycott.
The DUI launched protests after being left out of Gruevski's conservative coalition government formed after July 5 general elections.
The boycott had threatened to cause a political crisis, but the DUI could still exploit the country's complex power-sharing rules to block legislation in parliament.
"The DUI will always be in the parliament when the bills agreed with the peace deal will be on the agenda," party leader Ali Ahemti said.
Macedonia could face serious political difficulties if DUI blocks two pending bills on police reform and minority rights — both stemmed from the 2001 peace deal that ended the ethnic conflict.
No comments:
Post a Comment