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And just days before the Albanian flag was given legal rights to be flown in Macedonia:

Macedonian law allows Albanian flag to be flown

15 Jul 2005 16:05:05 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Kole Casule

SKOPJE, July 15 (Reuters) - Macedonia passed a law on Friday allowing ethnic Albanians to display the Albanian national flag in areas where they form the majority, the final stage of a 2001 peace accord .

Parliament approved the measure by 50 votes to four after two weeks of fierce debate. Opposition deputies left before the vote. The law allows the Albanian flag to be hoisted on public buildings alongside the Macedonian flag in areas where Albanians make up more than half the population, which applies to 16 of the country's 84 municipalities.

With the vote, Macedonia has met in full the terms of the so-called Ohrid accord, which ended seven months of clashes between government forces and ethnic Albanian rebels.

"This law holds more importance than just its material substance," Jani Makraduli of the ruling Social Democrats told Reuters. "Its value is greater. It completes a process."

Under the Western-brokered deal, the rebels agreed to lay down their arms and enter politics in return for greater rights for the 25-percent ethnic Albanian minority.

The accord has taken four years to reach completion, having been passed piece-by-piece by an often hostile parliament. Nationalists say Macedonia has conceded too much to the ethnic Albanian minority and risks widening the ethnic divide.

The European Union has said full passage of the deal is essential to Macedonia's membership application. The government, which includes a party that emerged from the rebel army, hopes to secure EU candidate status next year.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said implementation of the peace deal "has underpinned a process of rapid stabilisation and normalisation of the situation".

"The country is now in much better shape than four years ago. Instead of facing a destructive conflict, it is now engaged in a constructive struggle for membership in the European Union," Solana said in a statement issued after Friday's vote.

He noted that language rights might still have to be ironed out.