Macedonia Acts on Constitution

Parliament on Monday reluctantly approved in principle 15 constitutional amendments underpinning a peace agreement with ethnic Albanian guerrillas.

Hours before the vote, state security forces shot and killed an ethnic Albanian at a checkpoint, a sign of the persisting tension along cease-fire lines in the north.

Meanwhile, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s policymaking council is set today to approve a reduced security force to protect peace monitors in Macedonia once the alliance’s current mission ends, a NATO official said. The new force is expected to consist of no more than 1,000 troops.

The constitutional changes, including increased official use of the Albanian language, would improve the civil rights of minority ethnic Albanians in a trade-off for guerrilla disarmament.

But Macedonian Slav legislators vow to water down some of the draft clauses, prescribed by the Aug. 13 peace accord, before the ratification stage next month.

The pact could unravel if the assembly votes to put it to a referendum, an issue it planned to debate today. A referendum, which is not part of the accord, could derail it by giving a say to an electorate dominated by Macedonian Slavs who are thought to oppose the concessions to the ethnic Albanian minority.

Ethnic Albanians say tinkering with reforms or tossing them to a plebiscite would sabotage the deal and reignite conflict.

The relative calm that has settled over truce lines since NATO began collecting rebel arms was jolted Monday when security forces fired on three ethnic Albanians who allegedly refused to stop at a checkpoint.

The resulting death was the first related to ethnic strife since the peace accord and truce took effect.