Macedonia: Conflict Spillover Prevention (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
July 23, 1998 |
| Report Number |
98-333 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Kim, Julie |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
Since claiming independence from the disintegrating Yugoslav federation in late1991, Macedonia has managed to avoid the kind of violent ethnic conflict that engulfed 1Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995. However, external conflicts and internalsources of instability have periodically threatened to undermine Macedonia's securityand long-term viability. International policymakers have long feared that any conflictspillover into Macedonia might swiftly involve neighboring states, leading to a regionalwar. Protracted fighting since March 1998 in neighboring Kosovo (in Serbia) hasheightened international concerns about security in the region. Current strategiesintended both to address the violence in Kosovo and to enhance security in Macedoniainclude staging NATO air and ground exercises in Macedonia and Albania, andextending the mission of a small U.N. preventive deployment military force, includinga contingent of U.S. troops, in Macedonia.
