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Wednesday, 5 September, 2001, 10:20 GMT 11:20 UK
Macedonia: Is Nato doing enough?
Nato leaders are deciding whether to give the go-ahead for a full-scale mission to disarm ethnic Albanian rebels in Macedonia.
Once Nato is confident a ceasefire is holding, the plan is for rebels to collect their own weapons and deposit them at pre-arranged collection sites. Nato troops would then move in, seal the area, pick up the guns and leave. The mission, of up to 3,500 soldiers, would be fully operational within two weeks, and would be required to finish the task in 30 days. But the operation will not undo months of bitterness between ethnic Macedonians and Albanians, and a wider political agreement will be hard to implement. Can Nato do more, and if so what further measures should the alliance take to help end the violence? This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.
Your reaction
Roy, UK
Macedonia reminds me of Serbia before the fall of Milosovic - same pattern, same logic, same hate against the Albanians;Nato might have stopped a vicious circle. Anybody who believes this is over in 3 weeks might be completely out of touch, but they can give a sense of security to both sides until political wisdom installs itself on a daily routine.
Of course not. NATO is in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. It will come under severe criticism regardless of what it does. And one may be sure it will receive little or no gratitude from the very people whom its intervention is supposed to benefit. NATO should pull out of the Balkans altogether, and leave the inhabitants of that region to solve their own problems through their own efforts.
N. Spiro Nicoloff, Canada
Until Albanians are not called terrorists by Macedonians I don't think there will be peace, because this is a serious issue. Macedonians have to change their view towards Albanians; all men are created equal - it's just too bad they don't see it that way. Peace, everyone, and thank God for Nato.
I agree that all minorities within any state should enjoy freedom and equality, however now that the KLA has seen what the West will do for them, I fear that they will not stop there - after all the objective is a greater Albania, not a free, secure and prosperous Macedonia. If I were a Nato commander I would be preparing for an indefinitely extended tour of Macedonia.
The question is not if NATO is doing enough - it should be, are they doing too much, by sticking their noses into what really may not concern them? Look what happened to Kosovo!
Leon, U.K.
May I add a note of cynicism here? People ask why Britain is in Macedonia when the war there seems to have nothing to do with Britain. The same could be said of the rest of Yugoslavia. However, anyone who has studied the Balkans is surely aware of the undignified scramble to make money out of (and influence the political allegiances of) the region when each of the various wars ended. And the scramble was headed by large western corporations. The "winner" in each of these wars also turned to the west for huge loans (from that nebulous loan-shark, The World Bank), and as luck would have it, spent much of the money buying mountains of new weaponry from (among others) Britain. Anyone who says the Balkans is nothing to do with Britain is being naive.
After the collapse of Good Friday Agreement, what gives Britain military, political or moral mandate to take active and aggressive part in disarming a terrorist organisation? If Great Britain is so successful in "conflict prevention" why aren't those talents applied in Northern Ireland successfully?
Or maybe, the British government needs help in doing so, and why don't they ask for the assistance of Macedonian Army in disarming the IRA?
Ahmed, London, England The Balkans have historically been a flashpoint that have destabilised the whole of Europe. While it would be wrong to suggest that current events could cause conflict on the scale of World War I, it is entirely right that Nato troops are being used to help bring some stability to the region. It is true that in those areas where Nato is present, there is an unhappy compromise, but at least it has given a chance to ordinary people to experience peace. In Bosnia, there are Serbs, Croats and Moslems brought together in one country, where many would like to be part of an enlarged Serbia or Croatia, but the fact that 20,000 Nato troops are in the country means that the tension it might create would be unlikely to escalate to war.
It is in the interests of the countries of the EU to prevent conflict so close to its boundaries and so it is laudable that Britain is taking the lead of a predominantly European force in Macedonia to prevent war before it happens. The good will of the NLA demonstrated in handing over weapons, meanwhile, should be nurtured and allowed to become an example to terrorists closer to home on how to settle grievances.
I am astounded at the West's blind acceptance that the Albanian's actions are based on their supposed fight for rights. They have them. They have always been able to study in their own language, have their own political parties, and are represented in parliament.
If Nato thinks that this pathetic gesture of relinquishing 3,300 weapons will have any effect on their territorial ambitions, they they're sadly mistaken. Even after the peace deal has been passed through parliament, they'll find another excuse to start their ethnic cleansing again. But when they do, please stay out of it, and let the Macedonians deal with it on their own.
It's really a shame the European Union and Nato failed to intervene before the tensions escalated into armed conflicts. Macedonia was a breeding ground for war: astronomically high unemployment, a weak state administration, rampant corruption, ethnic grievances, and communal mistrust. The West's eyes should have opened ten years ago. They should have implemented economic aid programmes, confidence building measures, and fostered democratic growth. Granted, much of the weaponry was based both in Kosovo and Albania, the West should have never allowed another conflict to explode on the European continent - and further on the road to Asia. Geopolitics should have played a more important role. Nonetheless, Nato's action is better late than never.
At first NATO supply the weapons to rebels and now they're collecting the same weapons back. Where is the sense?
Tom, London, UK
NATO are doing a great job. Looks like the only ones against it are Slav-Macedonians. They are acting as if they would have won the war! - maybe the war of words So this way everyone wins ..NATO ROCKS
NATO not only had no right to the actions they undertook in Macedonia, but their actions are in fact utterly disgraceful. American and other analysts in the west believe the NLA will not turn over all its weapons, and even NATO itself acknowledges that the NLA can easily acquire more. There is also the question of splinter groups forming from the NLA who will not be covered by the disarmament/ decommissioning, such as the ANA. Nato's actions will not deter the Albanians, yet they are deterring Macedonia from protecting its statehood and its territorial integrity. As early as 1991, despite the precarious ethnic mix in the country, Macedonia was judged to have sufficient protection for ethnic minorities in its laws by an independent EU fact-finding commission headed by M. Badinter, while four other ex-Yugoslav states (Croatia, Bosnia Serbia and Montenegro) were not.
By forcing the Macedonians to negotiate with the NLA at gunpoint, NATO has essentially negated every single effort that Macedonia has made to become a democratic multi-ethnic state, and validated the methods of the Albanians to use violence against a nation which has struggled to achieve democracy and tolerance despite being in a highly unstable region of the world.
Milenko, U.S.A.
This token gesture does nothing to deal with the upsurge in Albanian nationalism that has been nurtured and allowed to flourish by NATO by their ill-conceived intervention in Kosovo.
Ethnic cleansing by these Albanian rebels has been going on for a long time in this region and has been massively fuelled by the perceived NATO support already.
NATO used Macedonia as an access route to Kosovo and was welcomed. We now should be doing much more to support this country that welcomed us with open arms. Whose side are we on here?
South Slavs such as Serbs and Macedonians should stop saying that they are fighting to "protect" Europe from "Nazis" (Croats and Germans) and "Muslims" (Albanians); that is a myth that the leaders they voted for used to brainwash them.
Finally, the NLA has emerged because of the discrimination Albanian people were facing in every aspect of life, an issue never addressed by the government. For example, Tetova/Tetovo is around 90% Albanian town and you never find any Albanian inscriptions. Albanian has simply not been allowed to be publicly used. The NLA emerged because Albanians in Macedonia wanted a better future for their children.
To NATO soldiers in the Balkans: keep up the good work.
NATO should leave Macedonia, because unfortunately it is favouring the Albanian terrorists over the Macedonian authorities. Why does NATO turn a blind eye to the ethnic cleansing currently going on against ethnic Macedonians by the Albanian terrorist groups?? Ethnic Albanians have more ethnic rights in Macedonia than in Albania proper. It's a far cry from the ZERO rights that Macedonians have in Greece, Bulgaria, or Albania.
Pete wrote: "Things in the Balkans are going just as the US wants them to go. Albanians are carving out safe territory for the oil pipeline." And he is absolutely right. Nato has become a military arm of the international corporations and they continue their "March on the East" to eliminate the influence of Russia in Central and Western Asia, to get access to oil of Caspian See and to control entire world population.
They will not care about Albanians as soon as they (US/Nato) fulfil their objectives. Then it will be the Albanians' turn. All KLA, NLA, ANA commanders will be arrested and sent to the Hague.
And I'm sorry about majority of Albanians who had a chance to live in Yugoslavia because they lost this chance. If they compare their lives in Yugoslavia with the lives of their brothers in Albania they will cry.
Jordan, Australia
I am an Albanian from Kosovo, Serbia - Yugoslavia. I have a simple message for those who have destroyed peaceful lives in Kosovo between the Albanian and non-Albanian population: Nato must leave immediately, and criminal gangs that are operating under the watchful eye of Nato need to be dealt with accordingly. The only way to achieve this is to restore law and order by the return of the Yugoslav Army and the Serbian Police. We have a Columbia already, surely we don't need another one in the heart of Europe?
The arms Nato are collecting are only there in the first place because we helped the KLA acquire them and then did absolutely nothing to stop them filtering across the border into Macedonia. Moreover, the flood of Kosovar Albanian refugees that NATO pressured Macedonia into accepting (because we didn't want them!) seriously destabilised the ethnic balance in the area.
For Nato to be asking the Macedonian people to accept the decommissioning of just 3,000 - 4,000 weapons is like asking the Protestant community of Belfast to be happy with the IRA handing in just a couple of rusty old shotguns as their contribution to the "peace process".
The cowardice and incompetence of Nato leaders is directly responsible for the current problems in Macedonia - it would be naive to suppose that Nato is now going to make up for those past mistakes.
And so Nato has agreed to collect just 3,300 assorted weapons from an arsenal believed to be many, many more? And your question is could Nato do more? Of course they could. They could take the next plane out of Skopje and leave the Macedonian people to eliminate their own problems.
Nato is finally present in all the unstable countries of South Eastern Europe, namely Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Macedonia). In my view, Nato will assure the stability of the region for many years to come.
Mike, USA
Instead of Nato disarming only the rebels maybe they should also go about disarming the Macedonian army who are persecuting ethnic Albanians. Nato should do something about it unless they want another Bosnia to happen. My view is don't disarm the rebels if you are not ready to protect them.
I think that Nato's collection of weapons is a farce. Collecting 3000 weapons off the Albanian rebels will not create peace. Ethnic Macedonians will in the end become ethnically cleansed - it is obvious that no one will come to their defence. As the peace efforts are taking place the rebels are erasing monuments of ethnic Macedonian culture such as the Monastery of Sveti Anastasi in Lesok. I am surprised and shocked that the US does not condemn and these actions strongly and help to suppress these armed guerrillas instead of giving them a pat on the back. It is sad that those who helped Nato and tried to worked with the democratic process in their fledging republic are being let down by the world. It seems quite immoral.
I don't think Nato is doing enough to help the Macedonian's. How do they allow the Albanian terrorists to keep shooting Macedonians and bombing destroying houses, churches etc? In a democratic country problems should be solved in parliament not by murdering people and making them refugees in their own country. What would happen if the KLA did all this in Britain? Would Nato recommend the British government change their constitution? I know for a fact that this would not be accepted here.
I am an Albanian born in Kumanove raised in Australia. One thing that makes me really sick is the constant referral to the NLA as being "invaders" from Kosovo. This is not true I admit we have got fighters from Kosova in the NLA but its only natural because we are the same people...just like the Macedonians have fighters from Ukraine, Bulgaria etc.
I am so happy that Nato stepped in when they did as all Albanians are because the NLA achieved what it set out to initially do (to get Albanian their rights) and now they are willing to disarm. God Bless Nato and thank God for their intervention it spared a whole lot of lives, tears and pain!
Nato is making a mistake by getting trapped in another meaningless peacekeeping mission. As problems get worse instead of solving them, the Nato countries fall into the trap of doing something, no matter how ineffective it may be. It is time to say the Emperor is naked and admit the KLA and the ethnic Albanians are the cause of the problems in Kosovo and in Macedonia. Until Nato is willing to intervene against the ethnic Albanian rebels nothing will be accomplished.
Nato should first and foremost examine whether what it's doing, whatever it be, is in time. The slow and bureaucratic manner in which Nato conducts business is not beneficial for anyone. It took thousands of dead Albanians before Nato got involved in Kosovo (and even then it was the US, not Europe, that had the courage to act), and now it is playing its meagre role in Macedonia only after many months of fighting. Perhaps Nato should work on hastening, not enlarging, itself. After all, a quick and agile snake is sometimes more powerful than even the biggest and slowest bear.
Nick, Bulgaria
The last 10 years in the Balkans have shown that peace will not be achieved even if NATO forces remain there for the next 100 years. It made more economical and moral sense to keep and support the old Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in one rather than go through all this. And finally, those who blame Milosevic for wars in the region, remember, it takes two to tango and if the West really wanted him out of the picture, James Baker would not have advised him to send the Yugoslav People's Army into Slovenia. Maybe one day we will have peace, but only if the foreign soldier leaves our land forever and allows our Slavic people to handle our problems internally.
Aleksey, Macedonia Although the NLA is the main problem in Macedonia, you cannot disarm a people. We all saw what happened in Bosnia when people were unarmed, now many of these unarmed people are in an unmarked grave somewhere. Secondly, what does NATO expect from the rebels? The rebels know that there will be future conflict and they are undoubtably going to save the vast majority of their weapons, only handing in those that are old and unsafe to the soldier.
Although I stand behind the Slav Macedonians in the war, as I did in Kosovo, it would be stupid for the Albanians to disarm and put themselves at the mercy of a people which they have inflicted terror on. In the United States we have the right to bear arms so that the government does not have the power to enslave its citizens.
Eddie , Albanian living in UK
Why is Britain making up the majority of the troops? The armed forces are too overstretched already without taking on yet another country's problems.
NATO has a clear mission. It will last for 30 days and not a second more. After NATO leaves, the Macedonian parliament will positively vote for the new constitution. In that moment Macedonia will have full credibility to defend itself from everyone who wants to question its territorial integrity. There will be no more credit for " Albanian human rights" wars.
I would like to try to answer Roman's comment that 35 policemen could do the job. I had a friend who went into Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) as a member of the Parachute Regiment to disarm the rebels. At first the dis-arming went fine. One night, though, they came to get the weapons back and a major fire fight ensued. This is why it is necessary to have a highly trained, viable force on the ground. 35 police men would not deter rebel units.
Nato, and the Western World in general, set itself a dangerous precedence when it decided to back Albanian terrorists in Kosovo. That gave the KLA the green light to invade neighbouring states under the smokescreen that they were fighting for the rights of 'ethnic' Albanians when the real motive is to create a Greater Albania - a new Ottoman Empire if you like. What many people fail to realise is that Macedonia is a democracy where everyone, including 'Ethnic' Albanians, has equal rights.
Andy, UK
My advice to the NLA would be to reject all NATO intervention as a disgusting gesture from a hypocritical and oppressive power. These troops aren't being sent to Macedonia to provide assistance and keep the peace, they are there to reinforce NATO's dominance over the area which it so unnecessarily and brutally bombed in 1999. The Albanian people suffered as a result of that outrageous act of aggression as well as the Serbian and other peoples, and this latest invasion force should be rejected as an empty gesture of oppression and domination. NATO certainly shouldn't have troops in the Balkans, the UN should be there if anyone, but troops should withdraw from the Balkans immediately.
This whole situation is simply an exercise in NATO's credibility. NATO has to appease the Albanians because without Albanian cooperation NATO could be hounded out of Kosovo in a few days and NATO's reputation would be in tatters. So keeping the Albanians happy is NATO's major remit. NATO is a giant with a glass jaw, but at least they realise this, hence the sycophantic attitude towards those whom the rest of the civilised world regards as terrorists.
Frankie Mekilosevech, Bosnian, living in Wales
Why does NATO have to be Europe's handmaiden whenever something goes wrong outside the borders of the NATO Alliance? Does no one on the European continent have the inspiration, willpower or courage to act in a old fashioned, non-collective, bi-lateral manner any more? I'd say Europe as a group, and European nations independently, are using NATO "action" or "inaction" (depending on one's moody view on the issue) as an excuse for Europe's own systematic and ongoing incompetence in dealing with local, low-intensity security matters.
The only realistic way to stop the violence in Macedonia is to disarm Albanian guerrillas in Kosovo. If Albanian guerrillas were disarmed by KFOR there would be no need to send NATO troops to Macedonia. Given NATO's reluctance to deal resolutely with the nominally disbanded KLA and its offsprings, I am afraid that the Operation Essential Harvest is going to be as ineffective and timid as the KFOR mission in Kosovo.
Nikola, Macedonia
Most people commenting are ignorant - if you're not familiar with our situation or history DON'T comment on it! And to those who blame/claim that NATO created NLA/KLA - too ridiculous; why can't you admit that Albanians were strong enough and well organised enough to create an army? Also, will you please STOP calling them murderers when they haven't killed anyone apart from a few soldiers who were accidentally shot. What about Albanians? Does anyone talk about them? They are only asking for equal human rights which any democratic country wanting to join UN should give to its citizens.
The Albanians have not given up their struggle to carve a Muslim enclave in the middle of the Balkans. This is their chief aim. I think the struggle will go on for quite some time. Only time will tell whether or not a Muslim nation inside the Balkans will contain itself to its borders.
In regard to the blame that Macedonian Slavs give to NATO, I would say it is sad that they continue to deceive themselves. The problem was and is internally created. This means that whether NATO helps or not, the rebels were going to spring up like mushrooms, whether today or in 20 years. Therefore stop lying to yourself, because it is in your own interest to do so. Let's not forget that we are not talking here about whether Albanians are good or bad, but whether they have the right or not. Make sure you keep these two lines parallel.
How about this: if a random sample of registered voters in NATO countries can find Macedonia on a world map, send the troops. (I figure this policy would keep us safe here in Dominica for a while as well....)
Steve Johnson, UK
It was not enough in Yugoslavia and it is not enough now. My father and many more like him will be turning in their graves, with the thought of what they fought for in the Second World War was for nothing. How many lives would have been saved had Nato intervened at the outset. There is many a ghost in these countries who would say, if only we were an OIL producer, we might still be alive today.
Ethnic Albanians should have the right to be armed living in Macedonia. The only thing the region has ever known is violence. Not just violence, but violence through genocide. By stripping ethnic Albanians of their weapons, Nato is opening the gates to what the region has come to be known for. There has to be some other way. Ethnic Albanians are only trying to fight so they don't live and die the same fate as their brothers. While they had their weapons they were somewhat of a deterrent, without them they are once again strapped to a time bomb of hate that is just waiting to explode.
Pete, USA
Don't use soldiers where you want police. If you decide to use an army then you had better want a war. This isn't fair on the troops, they may be excellent people and able to adapt to the role, however it's like putting in screws with a hammer.
NATO are using the KLA terrorists as a means to establish a foothold in the region and exclude Russia. Just as the Afghan "freedom fighters" mutated into the Taleban, so will the KLA become a thorn in the West's flesh. These destroyers of churches and ethnic cleansers of Christians in western Macedonia are creating an Islamic Greater Albania right in Europe's backyard. They are the Taleban of Europe, but the false instincts of "liberal" governments in the Balkans always lead to support for the wrong side. One day in the future, Europe will have cause to rue this treachery.
It breaks my heart to see what is going on in my parents' birth place. You don't have to be Einstein to figure out what's going on - first the KLA invades Macedonia from the "Democratic Republic Of Kosova?" that is supported by the west, then NATO prevents Macedonia from defending herself warning her with sanctions - at the same time they warn Ukraine not to support Macedonia and now we have NATO entering Macedonia, 1+1 = 2. This is surely the end of Democaratic Macedonia look at Kosovo!
Both in Kosovo and now in Macedonia, NATO has shown itself to be a facilitator of terrorism not a preventer of terrorism. The alliance has outlived its usefulness and needs to close its doors. In an effort to find a new mission for itself now that the "Cold War" has ended, NATO is destroying Central Europe under the guise of "rescuing it".
NATO's function was to defend its members against a common enemy. It has no business in the Balkans, and can never resolve the never-ending squabbles and violence. NATO's intervention was a stupid idea hatched out by Messrs. Clinton and Blair. NATO needs to pull out and leave the locals to sort themselves out.
This is a simple matter unnecessarily made complex. The Macedonian government itself ransacked the country and its people. The Macedonian people remained pathetic and lost in all these events. Of course psychological warfare and propaganda had quite a bit to do with all this. The Macedonians of Albanian origin, yes that's right Macedonian Albanians, saw an opportunity to enter the vacuum of lawlessness and corruption and reach the top echelons. In the meantime Europe and NATO used Macedonia for everything and anything. Where were the Macedonians and what did they do all this time?
Sorry Macedonia and Macedonians but only you can solve "your" problem, don't expect others to look after you. That's how it's done in the west. Quite simple isn't it?
Now that NATO has given the go ahead for soldiers to patrol a peace in Macedonia will they pull out if it goes wrong? What if the war escalates and families are slaughtered like in Bosnia? Will they sit by and watch like the UN did there or will they prevent factions from fighting? Presently NATO say they are there only to receive arms from the NLA. But in reality if we see a situation like Bosnia the public at large is likely to see to ask for protection for minorities affected. It's no wonder to me that the Americans, like in wartime Bosnia, are so unwilling to take a central role.
If Nato wanted to establish an empire or protectorates, don't you think they'd try and go for an area a) more stable and b) more prosperous/wealthy than the Balkans?
As for the actual question, what more can NATO do? Public opinion has, to a large extent, created the problem of the West. If they do nothing, than the television news is bombarded with pictures of people dying by the thousand in battles, massacres, and concentration camps. The people then demand something be done. When something is done (i.e intervention) the people then say it's the wrong thing. I ask you, if Nato did withdraw from the Balkans as some advocate, would these same people then be comfortable with the pictures of dead and dying on the television?
If they are not going to forcefully disarm the Albania rebels(NLA) then they will not get what they want out of their mission - the only thing that they will get is some dead Nato troops. For their mission that they are planning they do not need 3,500 they only need about 1,000 because the NLA are not going to give in their big and powerful guns they will only give there small arms and machine guns.
As an Albanian American, I find many of the comments here highly disturbing. There is quite a bit of blame being placed on the NLA, but let's not forget the facts - the reason the NLA rose up was because the Albanians were tired of living under a Macedonian brand of apartheid, and they were fed up will false promises from the West to resolve this problem. As for the comment that the "Macedonians opened their hearts and homes to the Albanians" during the Kosova crisis, let's again examine the facts.
The Macedonians did not open their hearts and homes to the Albanians, the only ones who did this were fellow Albanians living in Macedonia. The Macedonian government did allow other Albanians to enter Macedonia, but only after they extorted money from Western governments for this service. And those Albanians were kept under guard like animals in a cage in refugee camps. I know, I visited those camps. And the country that provided the greatest level of assistance to the Kosovars was Albania. But then Albanians have a history of helping those in need - just ask the Jews who fled Nazi persecution during WWII and found safe harbour in Albania. I would also like to remind everyone that one of the most admired people of the 20th century was an Albanian from Macedonia known as Mother Teresa.
NATO is sending 3.500 soldiers to "collect" weapons of Albanian terrorists without using force. Why don't they send 35 policemen to do the same thing and with the same result (collect a couple of worn out AK-47s). Soon I hope to see NATO troops fleeing from Macedonia. Why? Because it is unsafe there...
Nikola Mizo, Macedonia
NATO failed to disarm the KLA in Kosovo, so why should Macedonia prove to be any different? What I really don't understand about all this is why NATO allow themselves to be used and duped by a bunch of 'murderous terrorists' (Lord Robertson's words, not mine).
NATO have done more then enough to achieve the goals of the Albanian separatist guerrillas - they have provided them with military information, training, weapons, even escorted them out of danger at one point (perhaps to safeguard the 16 US military advisers who were with the NLA at the time) whilst threatening the Macedonian government with everything short of bombing to make them refrain from launching an all-out campaign against the guerrillas. Instead the Macedonian government has been forced to sit back and watch as large parts of their country are occupied by the NLA, non-Albanians are expelled and a separate state in all but name established.
Henry Khiat, Singapore
30 days will pass with Nato collecting weapons but the problem will not be resolved. The KLA was shielded when Belgrade was bombarded. These are the same extremists that have attacked Macedonia. Both the UK and the US need an ally in this region, Albania is not the right choice. They'll have their own Sadam one day too.
Unlike John Ellis, I don't mind sounding callous; this is not our problem. We should never have intervened in the internal affairs of Yugoslavia - and this is a good example of why.
Nato, the EU, the US and UK and other nations have attempted to help the Balkans over the last ten years, and it has all been thrown back at us. These people no longer deserve our assistance, whether military or financial - let us turn our minds to more pressing matters at home.
Rob Howgate, London, England
Solving the problem is an unrealistic aim. The problem is two sets of people who hate each other. Unfortunately, Nato moving in will not change that.
It seems to me that Nato is a taxpayers' nightmare, sticking its nose into other people's business. Why does the UK have a vested interest in Macedonia? Should not the surrounding countries pay for the afforts of Nato?
Haven't we been down this road before?
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