SKOPJE, (Islamweb & Agencies)-A new European Union peace envoy has arrived in Macedonia to try to help end fighting between Macedonian security forces and ethnic Albanian fighters that have raised fears of another Balkan civil war.
Former French Defence Minister Francois Leotard (Photo)was appointed on Monday as resident EU representative to Macedonia - a job created to try to revive stalled peace talks.
He said the Macedonian Government enjoyed the support of the international community, which wanted to see the former Yugoslav republic's borders respected.
Mr Leotard said a civil war in Macedonia would jeopardise the work the EU had done to promote peace in the region since the former Yugoslavia broke up in 1991.
US bars funding
In another development, President George W Bush signed an order barring Americans from financing Albanian leaders. He also issued a proclamation restricting the entry into the USA of people seeking "to undermine peace and stability in the region".
In his strongest statement on the crisis in Macedonia so far, he also refused to rule out sending US troops to the country.
Macedonia's President, Boris Trajkovski, welcomed Mr Bush's order and appealed to European leaders to follow his lead.
He said Germany, Belgium and Switzerland were countries the Albanians liked to use as safe havens for their accounts.
But on Thursday, Nato chief George Robertson endorsed Mr Bush's decision to bar fund-raising for the Albanians and told Reuters that the European Union was "already looking at visa restriction and at closing off money supplies."
Human rights
As the new EU envoy arrived in Skopje, a European human rights watchdog based in Strasbourg urged Macedonia not to punish Albanian fighters who lay down their arms.
At the same time, however, the 43-member Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly strongly condemned the actions of extremist groups.
The assembly also called on Macedonia to protect the rights of ethnic Albanians and ensure that they were properly represented in public bodies including the police and army.
Shelling
Meanwhile, Macedonian troops continued to bombard two villages in the north east of the country - despite further appeals from Nato for the fighting to end.
The shelling of the village of Nikustak, which began on Tuesday, followed the evacuation of fighters from nearby Aracinovo in a Nato-led operation.