Western officials declare breakthrough in Macedonia talks

Western officials have declared a breakthrough in Macedonia's peace talks, breaking an impasse on the contentious issue of the use of the Albanian language in the troubled Balkan country.

US envoy James Pardew and his EU counterpart, Francois Leotard, offered only the general outlines of the new proposal.

The deal only goes into effect if there is progress on ethnic Albanian demands for broader autonomy for local police departments.

Mr Pardew said: "This is a significant development in the negotiating process. The language (issue) has always been the toughest issue and now we have both parties agreeing.

"It is conditional, until the entire framework agreement and all its annexes are agreed. That means that nothing is completed until everything is completed. The language issue now we can set aside."

The peace talks had dragged into a third week over the demands of ethnic Albanian leaders that Albanian become the second official language, together with Macedonian.

Under the new plan, Albanian would now be accepted as an official language in areas where 20% of the population is ethnic Albanian, Mr Pardew said. Albanian would also be acceptable in Parliament.

He said: "This is a good deal for everyone but I am not euphoric.

There's a lot of tough work ahead. This is not the end of the negotiations."

Macedonia's president, Boris Trajkovski said the deal was "a significant improvement on one of the most sensitive issues".

The country's ethnic Albanian parties also expressed optimism. "We hope that something positive is developing," said Zehir Bekteshi, spokesman for the ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity.