MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT COMMENTS ON KOSOVO CRISIS

SKOPJE, April 15 (Hina) - Although having nothing to do with it, Macedonia has found itself in a catastrophic situation due to a huge number of refugees, and it is in danger of being drawn into a war. Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov told members of parliament on Thursday. He called on the international community to share the care for Kosovar refugees, and advocated a peaceful solution to the Kosovo crisis. Macedonians are not insensitive to the exodus of Kosovar Albanians, which we are being accused of by international media, because they had lived through the exact same thing in Greece, when they were displaced in all directions, Gligorov said. Macedonia has since the beginning been warning that it could only receive 20,000 refugees, and 200,000 people turned up on the border. This is the same as if 35 million turned up at the United States' door or six and a half million on the German border. The rich countries could not cope with this, Gligorov said. He added the funds being invested into the war should be used for the economic development of the Balkans. This is the only way to overcome the conflicts in the Balkans and its joining Europe, but not by using a regional approach, Gligorov said. He repeated his request for NATO's guarantee for Macedonia's territorial integrity and the inviolability of its borders. (hina) lml jn