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NATO

• Germany gave the three Baltic states its backing for membership of NATO on Monday, the countries said in a joint statement. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer was in Riga to discuss both NATO and European Union expansion with his Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian counterparts. "The Federal Foreign Minister of Germany confirmed continuous active support of his country to the accession of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to the EU and NATO," the four countries said in a joint communiqué. NATO will hold a summit in Prague in November and is expected to issue invites to new members.(Reuters 1751 110202 GMT Feb 02)

BALKANS

• Italy has informally been asked to take command of the peacekeeping mission in Macedonia (sic) and hopes to accept, Italian Defense Minister Antonio said on Monday. Martino’s remarks gave more shape to NATO’s mission in Macedonia (sic) a few days after EU foreign ministers broadly agreed that the 15-nation bloc will eventually take over the mission although no date has been set. "Germany is leaving the command of the Amber Fox mission in Macedonia (sic) . We have already been asked informally and we will be asked formally to substitute Germany at the helm of the mission," Martino told reporters. "I will therefore ask the government and parliament to allow Italy to take command of this mission," he said. The mission, if approved, would be the first military challenge for the EU rapid reaction force, which is due to become fully operational next year, complementing NATO in crisis management. The Macedonian (sic) government has asked for the mission, due to expire at the end of March, to be extended by three months. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the EU would not take over the mission before the summer but added that ministers had given him authority to talk to NATO to see if it was possible for the EU to cooperate with NATO on the mission during the next six months. Martino said Italy was ready to send some 350-400 soldiers to Macedonia (sic). (AP 1857 110202 GMT Feb 02)

• Macedonia’s (sic) hard-line interior minister on Monday accused an armed ethnic Albanian splinter group of continuing low-level violence in order to destabilize the volatile Balkan country. Interior Minister Ljube Boskoski claimed that after several recent incidents, the little-known Albanian National Army, or ANA, was preparing more actions against Macedonian (sic) regular forces. "This is low-level war, ANA wants to destabilize Macedonia (sic)," Boskoski told parliament. He also blamed the rebels for a booby-trap explosion in Skopje’s suburb of Aracinovo, which killed one Macedonian (sic) and seriously wounded another. "The good thing is that the ANA does not enjoy widespread support" from the disbanded rebel command and ethnic Albanian politicians, the minister said. Boskoski on Monday announced tougher police action against rebels in the tense northwestern areas of Tetovo and Gostivar, but also in the relatively quiet southwestern region of Struga. Also Monday, lightly armed police patrols comprising Macedonians (sic) and ethnic Albanian officers entered seven former rebel strongholds near Tetovo and five villages near Gostivar, spokesman Zoran Tanevski said. The deployment was monitored by international observers and NATO soldiers.(AP 111607 Feb 02 GMT Feb 02)

OTHER NEWS

• Bulgaria’s ambassador to Belgium resigned, citing differences with the country’s new president, the state-run BTA news agency reported Monday. Konstantin Dimitrov, who also headed his country’s permanent missions in the Brussels-based headquarters of NATO and the EU, said he stepped down because he "belonged to the team of former president Petar Stoyanov." "I must cede my post to a successor named by the current government and appointed by the new president Georgi Parvanov," the agency quoted Dimitrov as saying in a statement. Parvanov took office on Jan. 22.(AP 111639 Feb 02 GMT Feb 02)