Leaders of Macedonia's main political parties yesterday agreed to form a national unity coalition government to combat the ethnic Albanian insurgency which has been threatening the country, the official spokesman, Mr Antonio Milososki, announced.
The government would be made up of the main Slav and ethnic Albanian parties and would attempt to defuse the ethnic tensions which were threatening to destroy the Macedonian state, Mr Milososki said.
The administration will include current coalition members - the Macedonian VMRODPMNE of the Prime Minister, Mr Ljubco Georgievski, the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), and the Liberal Party (LS) - as well as the main opposition parties, the Social Democratic Union (SDSM) and the ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP).
In addition, Macedonia will hold early elections by January 27th, instead of in autumn 2002 as had been scheduled, according to Mr Milososki.
The announcement of a new, broader coalition and snap elections came as Skopje struggled to contain tensions provoked by an ethnic Albanian guerrilla movement confronting security forces near the country's northern border with Kosovo and Serbia.
The political development came after marathon talks, prompted by the visits to Skopje on Monday of the NATO Secretary-General, Lord Robertson, and the EU foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana.
The PDP, the main ethnic Albanian opposition party, had said earlier it would join a coalition only if the army declared a unilateral cease-fire and stopped bombarding northern villages where the guerrillas were fighting.
The bombardment resumed yesterday, according to the Defence Ministry spokesman, Mr Georgi Trendafilov, but witnesses close to the embattled village of Vaksince said the shelling was less intense than in the past five days. Under the new deal, Mr Georgievski remains in the premier's office and it is expected that his party will run the ministries of the Interior, Finance, Transport and Communication, Science and Education and Culture.
Mr Arben Xhaferi's PDA was set to give its Albanian rivals of the PDP the Justice portfolio, but will hold on to the Economy, Health and Labour ministries.
The SDMS, led by the former Prime Minister Mr Branko Crvenkovski, appeared to be the biggest winner from the share-out, taking four ministries - Foreign, Defence, Health and Environment - as well as three deputy prime minister posts.