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Clash triggers crises
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MACEDONIAN troops clashed on Monday with ethnic Albanian extremists in rugged mountain passes just outside Kosovo. Nato, meanwhile, tightened border controls to squeeze an insurgency that threatens a new Balkan nation with war.
Ethnic Albanian extremists touched off the firefight, attacking government positions with mortars for the second time in as many days, Macedonia's Defence Ministry said. Sunday's clashes killed three soldiers, but there were no reports of any dead on Monday.
Rising tensions have raised the prospects of another major crisis around Kosovo less than two years after Nato and the United Nations moved into the province.
Greek Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos on Monday urged the UN Security Council to convene immediately in order to examine the worsening situation.
He also called for the creation of a security zone between Macedonia and the Yugoslav province of Kosovo.
Tsohatzopoulos stressed that the international community must insist on UN resolution 1244 for a settlement of the problems. Reiterating Greek positions for the inviolability of the borders in the Balkan region, Reppas said that Greece will contribute in every way to the de-escalation of the crisis that will lead to consolidation of peace and stability in the region.(SD-Agencies)
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