Macedonia calls on EU to extend its peacekeeping mission until December

SKOPJE (AFP) Jun 26, 2003
Macedonia's government has asked the European Union to extend the mandate of its peacekeeping mission here until December 15, an official statement said Thursday.

"After evaluating the security situation the government decided to invite the EU to examine possibilities to maintain the presence of its mission in the country until December 15," it said.

The government estimated that the military mission would not be necessary after December.

Some 380 soldiers from 27 countries have been deployed in Macedonia since March 31, when they took over from a NATO peacekeeping mission, in the first EU-led military operation.

International peacekeepers were sent to Macedonia in 2001 after a peace deal ended seven months of bloody fighting between government forces and ethnic Albanian rebels demanding more rights.

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