The French defence minister, Alain Richard, is visiting Macedonia to meet French soldiers stationed there as part of the NATO force protecting international observers in neighbouring Kosovo.

Earlier, during a visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina he warned that the authorities in Yugoslavia faced further military pressure from NATO if the situation in Kosovo continued to deteriorate.

His comments follow an upsurge in violence in the Serbian province.in which nearly thirty people have been killed in the past week.

The former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia approved last month the deployment of the NATO force on its territory as it said it would speed up its integration into the alliance.