- Title: KOSOVO: Town lies in the middle of border dispute between Kosovo and Macedonia
- Date: 1st April 2008
- Summary: TWO BOYS PASSING BY VILLAGE MOSQUE
- Embargoed: 16th April 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVAR6FPEWG3226EGSIPF6P62B8T
- Story Text: Kosovo and Macedonia are conducting difficult talks over a border crossing.
The demacration has been hampered by Macedonia's unwillingness to recognise Kosovo independence and Kosovo's failure to accept a 2001 border agreement between Macedonia and Serbia.
The border between Kosovo and Macedonia has been left unmarked after Kosovo failed to recognised a 2001 border agreement between Macedonia and Serbia. Kosovo's recent independence has left Albanian villages on either side of the border unsure of their fate.
Recent demarcation talks have been hampered by Macedonia's failure to recognise Kosovo as an independent state.
When Yugoslavia broke apart in the 1990s, the administrative boundaries between republics became recognised as international borders. But Macedonia's northern border with Kosovo has never been officially delineated since the former Yugoslav republic gained independence in 1991.
The border agreement with Kosovo was signed in 2001 after Serbia lost formal control over the territory at the end NATO's air war.
Ethnic Albanian villages lie on both sides of the border. And Kosovo Albanian villagers, concerned about the fate of what they claim is the land of their ancestors, are looking for a proper resolution.
"We who live in Debelde village have our hopes in the Kosovo government," said village resident, Afrim Beqiri.
"Now the Kosovo government wants to make a deal with Macedonia accepting the 2001 borders. This disappoints us. Now we only have two things to do, either leave this village because we will not a have life here, or as everyone in Kosovo understands, we will have to fight," Beqiri added.
Kosovo says the 2001 deal gives away some 2,000 hectares of its territory.
Since Kosovo's February 17 declaration of independence, leaders in Pristina say they can now rightfully settle the border, but its demarcation was hampered by the fact that Macedonia has not yet recognised its northern neighbour.
It is expected that the demarcation process will last nearly a year and a committee meeting is expected to take place in Skopje in the coming days.
Bekim Qollaku, the head of Kosovo's demarcation team, says that Kosovo's independence has left the 2001 agreement void.
"The key problem is that when Macedonia, the Macedonian government negotiated the border issue they negotiated at that time with the former Yugoslav Republic. And this thing now is causing problem because part of this disputed border is with Kosovo, with Kosovo and now Kosovo is obliged according to Ahtisaari proposal to do the demarcation of its own parts,"
he said.
NATO and the European Union urgently want a solution to the dispute for the sake of stability in the Balkans, already threatened by Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia.
Macedonia was on the verge of ethnic war in 2001 after an Albanian insurgency, but a power-sharing agreement brokered by the European Union and NATO pulled it back from the brink. Macedonia's population of two million people consists of an ethnic Albanian minority of 25 percent, predominantly living in the areas bodering Kosovo and Albania.
Macedonia is hoping to be invited to join NATO and already have small contingents of troops serving in United Nations and NATO-led missions.
NATO declined its membership invitation, inviting Albania and Croatia to join NATO. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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