| Series Title | European Voice |
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| Series Details | Vol 7, No.19, 10.5.01, p8 |
| Publication Date | 10/05/2001 |
| Content Type | News |
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Date: 10/05/01 External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten is using the EU's new fast-track budget procedure for the first time to send emergency aid to Macedonia. The Rapid Reaction Mechanism, set up last month, will provide €2.5 million to help rebuild houses damaged in fighting between ethnic Albanian rebels and the Macedonian army in the Tetovo and Skopska Crna Gora areas. Patten told his fellow Commissioners that the aid would boost support among the ethnic Albanian community for a negotiated solution to their demands for greater political rights in the multi-ethnic state. Talks aimed at forming a national unity government were deadlocked this week amid renewed fighting. NATO secretary-general Lord Robertson, who visited Skopje on Monday with EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana, said the country was on the "brink of an abyss". External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten is using the EU's new fast-track budget procedure for the first time to send emergency aid to Macedonia. |
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| Countries / Regions | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia |
