The Balkan Flip-Flopper.(Brief Article)

Albanian rebels in Macedonia signed a NATO-brokered ceasefire with the Macedonian Army last week. If the ceasefire holds, NATO is committed to sending in 3,000 troops to disarm the guerrillas. Whether that happens may depend on the mercurial personality of Macedonia's powerful prime minister, Ljubco Georgievski. In a recent interview with NEWSWEEK, the prime minister made clear that he is no fan of NATO's role in Macedonia. "This is the worst flirting by the international community with terrorist groups we have ever seen," he said. "NATO has been too mild with terrorists and Albanian extremists."

When the 35-year-old prime minister speaks, diplomats wince. Three years ago the poet and politico became the bright young hope of Macedonia's Western supporters after he took the bold step of forging a coalition between his own Slavic-dominated party and an Albanian political party. That brought him to power--the first salaried job of his life--and brought moderate Albanian leaders into the governing coalition. But Georgievski now fiercely criticizes his coalition partners. "The Albanian political parties have become the political wing of the terrorists," he said.

Georgievski himself has destabilized the situation from time to time. Twice in recent months he has threatened to declare a state of war, which would lead to the inevitable withdrawal of Albanian moderates from Macedonian politics. The prime minister blames the West for this. "We are witnessing a monster actually created by NATO," he said. "NATO intervention made Kosovo what it is... and these terrorists all come from Kosovo." ...