EU to take over Macedonia peacekeeping

European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels today are expected to approve the bloc’s first military mission: taking over the small Nato peacekeeping operation in Macedonia.

The EU is aiming to take charge of the force of about 450 soldiers in March. Nato troops have been in Macedonia since 2001, following a six-month insurgency waged by ethnic Albanian rebels against government troops.

Underlining the tense atmosphere there, attackers in Skopje fired machine guns and a rocket-propelled grenade yesterday at the party office of a former ethnic Albanian rebel leader.

The building was damaged but no one was hurt, a local official said.

It was the fourth such attack on Ali Ahmeti’s Skopje headquarters. Police said they suspected a rival ethnic Albanian party was behind the assault.

European nations see the Macedonia operation – which is expected to have an initial six-month mandate – as a vital testing ground for the EU’s military aspirations.

The EU is also considering taking over Nato’s Bosnian peacekeeping force - which currently has 15,000 troops – next year.