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Wednesday March 24 11:15 AM ET
Macedonia Tense As Strikes Loom
By PATRICK QUINN Associated Press Writer
SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) - With NATO airstrikes on Yugoslavia imminent, neighboring Macedonia worried about the possible consequences to its own fragile stability.
The only republic to emerge unscathed from the breakup of Yugoslavia, Macedonia is in a delicate position because of the presence of more than 10,000 NATO troops.
The NATO troops were sent to prepare for monitoring a peace agreement in Kosovo, but Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic refused to sign the deal, saying he would not allow NATO forces in his territory.
Macedonia and NATO have said the troops in Macedonia would not take part in airstrikes.
However, there are fears of retaliatory attacks by Serbs and a tide of ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo, which could destabilize Macedonia.
After an emergency meeting of Macedonia's National Security Council, the leader of the opposition Albanian minority party said the government had received written assurances from NATO that the alliance would guarantee Macedonia's security.
Arben Xhaferi said NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana made the guarantee in a letter to President Kiro Gligorov.
On the streets of the capital, many Macedonians said they oppose airstrikes, hinting at the fear NATO's presence has generated.
The leader of the main opposition Social Democratic Alliance party, former prime minister Branko Crvenkovski, said his party will demand the government reconsider its agreements allowing NATO's deployment here.
Speaking shortly before an emergency session of parliament, Crvenkovski said the NATO presence could have ''dangerous consequences'' for Macedonia.
NATO forces are spread across the republic, from the Albanian enclave of Tetovo in the west to Kumanovo in the northeast. Both areas border Kosovo, a province of Serbia, Yugoslavia' dominant republic. Milosevic has massed an estimated 20,000 troops along the border.
Serb tanks could be heard firing volley after volley for nearly two hours today near the Blace border point 12 miles north of the capital.
An Associated Press Television News crew saw three devastated villages with about 110 houses ablaze about three miles across the border from Blace.
Macedonia's interior minister, Pavle Trajanov, said the republic's 9,000-member police force was on alert.
Macedonia reopened its borders to Yugoslav citizens, including Kosovo Albanians. It had closed the border on Tuesday, saying it could not cope with more than the estimated 20,000 refugees that have already entered.
Macedonia worries that an influx of Albanian refugees could upset its own delicate ethnic balance. Albanians are thought to make up as much as 40 percent of Macedonia's population.
Unlike Albanians in Kosovo, they have not openly called for autonomy, but many nationalists have espoused the hope of one day uniting Albanians spread out in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia.
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