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Macedonia Urges KFOR to Beef Up Security Along Border With Kosovo
Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski discussed Wednesday with NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) Commander Car Cabigiosu the tensions along the Macedonian-Kosovo border, and urged KFOR to beef up security in the area.
Trajkovski expressed dissatisfaction that the border was insufficiently policed by KFOR peacekeepers and stressed the "need for presence and engagement of KFOR at the Macedonian-Yugoslav border from the Kosovo side."
Gen. Cabigiosu, who arrived in Macedonia to review the border situation, agreed that "there is a link between the border tension and extremist Albanian armed groups in southern Serbia, Macedonia and also in Kosovo.
Cabigiosu also promised to coordinate more closely with military authorities in Macedonia and talked about the possibility of setting up joint patrols along the border.
"But it is up to the NATO headquarters to decide," he added.
On Tuesday, Macedonian Defense Minister Ljuben Paunovski sent a letter to NATO Secretary General George Robertson, warning that armed groups from neighboring Kosovo were trying to stir up border clashes and destabilize Macedonia.
Macedonia's National Security Council earlier put the country's border guards on alert over the weekend, following a series of shooting incidents along the border.
On Tuesday, Trajkovski met with Maj. Gen. Volker Loew, commander of NATO troops in Macedonia, on the latest developments of the border situation.
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