SLOVENE PRIME MINISTER ON SITUATION IN MACEDONIA

LJUBLJANA, July 9 (Hina) - Slovene Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek on Monday once again advocated holding an urgent international conference which would prevent the escalation of the crisis in Macedonia. The Slovene official, however, opposes a broader international conference on the Balkans if its goal would be the "further fragmentation" of the region. "I believe that at the moment only a conference on Macedonia is necessary in order to prevent the outbreak of a total war, while a conference on the Balkans would be questionable" as its objectives and results are unknown, Drnovsek told today's issue of Madrid's daily "El Mundo". Drnovsek said this ahead of the beginning of an international conference on European Union enlargement in Spain's San Sebastian. The Slovene official also said the situation in Macedonia was getting complicated and the only to solve the crisis was to search for a compromise. Violent solutions cannot solve the current situation, he added. Moderate politicians in Macedonia tried to find a compromise, as opposed to extremists on both the Macedonian and Albanian side, Drnovsek told "El Mundo". According to him, the Macedonian government made a mistake in thinking that using military forces could solve the current situation. (hina) it sb