Macedoine

2004 — "The death of Tito and the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s shattered the Balkans, unleashing all the horror of extreme nationalism. Macedonia seemed to have been spared the blood-letting. In reality, it was only postponed Macedonia remains a powder-keg waiting to explode.A bloody rebellion by Albanian guerrillas demanding equal rights to the dominant Slavs in Macedonia has killed and wounded hundreds of people, many of them innocent civilians, and set off fears that the crisis would suck in surrounding Kosovo, Albania, Bulgaria and Greece. International intervention brought an uneasy halt to the internecine blood-letting in the summer of 2001, but hardline Macedonian nationalists, including some under investigation by the international war crimes tribunal at The Hague, have hindered full implementation of the peace agreement signed in August of that year. There are fears that the National Liberation Army will renew its campaign, and that this will set the stage for more ethnic cleansing in the heart of Europe. John Phillips has covered both the fighting on the front line in Tetovo and other cities as well as the behind-the-scenes diplomatic intrigue in Skopje. A journalist and historian by training, he shows, in frightening detail, just now dangerous the instability in Macedonia is for any hope of a lasting peace in the Balkans. This book will be vital reading for all those interested in the state of the world today and in the Europe of tomorrow." 230p. bibliography.index Book