| | Words in the News |
INTRO | | Talks between Albanian and Macedonian politicians are due to begin in Skopje today. Paul Anderson reports on the difficulties the participants face in reaching an agreement. |
IN FULL | |  | Listen to the report in full |
 |  | 9th July 2001
Macedonia - talks begin |
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NEWS 1 | | | Listen to the first part of the report |
| | | Senior Albanian politicians haven't rejected outright the new set of proposals they and their Macedonian counterparts will be discussing today. But they've raised serious objections, removing any hope of a speedy breakthrough. One leader said the framework document would not stop the war.
Another said the proposals it contains were unacceptable and the Albanians couldn't be held accountable for the repercussions. He said the document failed to meet Albanian demands for greater official use of their language, better state higher education for their community and more legislative power. |
| | | | Listen to the words |
WORDS | | rejected: if you reject a proposal you refuse to agree to it outright: completely and totally
counterparts:Macedonian politicians carrying out similar jobs
breakthrough: an important development or achievement
framework document: an outline - the main points - of what has been agreed
accountable: responsible
repercussions: the effects of an event - which happen some time afterwards
legislative: related to the process of making and passing laws |
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| NEWS 2 | | | Listen to the second part of the report |
| | | The document hasn't been made public yet, and there's been no official response to it or the Albanian statements from the Macedonian side. The Macedonians however have reported several albeit minor infringements of the ceasefire which came into force last Thursday.
That and progress at the political talks are the key conditions for the deployment of a force of around three thousand soldiers drawn from NATO, which would oversee the disarming of the rebels. |
| | | | Listen to the words |
| WORDS | | made public: if something is made public it is made known to everyone and so is no longer secret
albeit: although, even though
infringements: the breaking of an agreement or law
ceasefire: an agreement between countries or groups who are at war to stop fighting for a time
came into force: started to be obeyed
deployment: the organisation and preparation of troops so they are ready for immediate action
oversee: to make sure it is done properly
disarming taking away weapons |
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| | | Read about the background to this story in BBC News Online |
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