Ethnic tensions in Macedonia

Abstract

A window of opportunity has opened for Macedonia in its efforts to defuse the ethnic tensions that in recent weeks have risen to dangerous levels. The security services have beaten back an offensive by the ethnic Albanian guerrillas of the National Liberation Army, while tentative talks have begun between the Slav and Albanian communities aimed at finding a peaceful way of addressing the latter's grievances. If the talks fail, a new round of violence seems inevitable, putting the survival of the Macedonian state into question.