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Thousands Rally in Australia Against NATO, EU
Thousands of protesters chanting "shame" marched Sunday to demand that NATO forces pull out of Macedonia and allow an unrestrained crackdown on Albanian guerrillas.
Police estimated about 5,000 people, many of Macedonian descent, took part in the peaceful protest to condemn NATO and the European Union, saying they were obstructing the Macedonian defense forces in their fight against Albanian fighters.
Australia should use its diplomatic influence to push for a NATO pullout, said Igor Aleksandrov, chairman of the Macedonian Australian Council of Sydney, which organized the rally.
"We want to see the Australian government, NATO and the European Union support an immediate and legitimate elimination of all terrorist movements from the Balkans as a basic precondition to peace in Macedonia and the Balkans," Aleksandrov said.
"We will continue to lobby for a stop to negotiations with Albanian terrorists and nationalist extremists," he said.
The protest followed NATO's role in encouraging the Macedonian government to sign an agreement with an Albanian nationalist group.
Macedonian leaders and ethnic Albanian rebels agreed Thursday to a cease-fire, clearing the way for NATO to disarm the rebels and take steps to ensure an insurgency does not engulf this Balkan nation in war.
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