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Ethnic Albanian guerillas in Macedonia agreed on
14 August to disarm following promises of an amnesty from
President Boris Trajkovski thereby removing the last formal
obstacle to the deployment of NATO troops. The North Atlantic
Council will meet today in Brussels to decide whether the
deployment of NATO troops in the disarmament mission, codename
Operation Essential Harvest, should commence.

A peace agreement was signed on 13 August by the
Macedonian government and ethnic Albanian leaders in a bid to
put a stop to escalating violence in the country. The NATO
secretary-general, George Robertson, and the EU's high
representative, Javier Solana, both attended the signing
ceremony that their respective organisations had been
influential in bringing about. They recognised that the
agreement represents merely the first step towards a peaceful
resolution of the conflict and called for all parties to back
the deal.

The Macedonian government proclaimed a
unilateral ceasefire on 12 August in a bid to ensure that the
signing of a peace deal with Albanian guerrillas goes ahead.
However, renewed fighting between government forces and ethnic
Albanian guerrillas in the early hours of 13 August has called
into question the likelihood of the signing ceremony going
ahead.

Macedonian and ethnic Albanian leaders have
reached "conditional" agreement on the issue of the status of
the Albanian language. This agreement depends on the result of
overall negotiations, which include the issue of ethnic
composition of the police.

An analysis of NATO's role in Macedonia, published by STRATFOR Strategic Forecasting, a US intelligence consulting firm, says that "either through intent or mismanagement, NATO has helped prepare the ground for civil war". The analysis says that NATO's recent dealings …

EU and US mediators are trying to prevent the
collapse of peace talks between the Macedonian Slav majority
and Albanian minority in order to avoid a civil war. Macedonian
leaders have turned down the proposals from the EU mediator
François Léotard and US mediator James Pardew, while
Albanians have abandoned the talks.

EU External Relations Commissioner Patten urges
Balkan regional integration and opposes redrawing of
maps

Ethnic Albanian leaders reject EU-US peace
proposal for Macedonia and insist on radical constitutional
changes

Ceasefire between Macedonian government and
Albanian rebels raises hopes for political
solution

EU considers Greek proposal for
Rambouillet-style international conference to avert civil war
in Macedonia

EU foreign ministers force Macedonian government
to stop its fight against ethnic Albanian insurgents besieging
northern Macedonia

NATO agrees to send troops to Macedonia to help
disarm Albanian guerrillas on the border with
Kosovo

NATO preparing for deployment in Macedonia to
help disarm Albanian guerrillas and put in place a peace
plan

EU mediation fails to stabilise Macedonia where
ethnic Albanian guerrillas threaten to bomb the capital
Skopje

Commission recommends negotiations on
Stabilisation and Association Agreement with
Albania

Intensified terrorist actions by Albanian
National Liberation Army push Macedonia to the verge of
war