A new EU peace envoy is to arrive in Macedonia after making a political gaffe that will make his daunting task even more difficult.
Former French defence minister Mr Francois Leotard was appointed today to a job created to try to kickstart stalled peace talks and to avoid NATO getting dragged into another Balkan conflict.
But Mr Leotard narrowly avoided being declared persona non gratabefore he began his mission when he said the Macedonian government should talk to the ethnic Albanian rebels it has been battling for four months.
He later clarified his comments to make clear the EU position - talks with the one-third minority's political leaders but not the guerrillas - remained unchanged.
Macedonian and ethnic Albanian political leaders have been discussing improving the minority's rights to undercut the rebellion, but talks stalled last week.Security forces shelled rebel-held areas on hills outside the capital, Skopje, yesterday, and clashes flared around the western town of Tetovo, where rebels showed signs of recapturing several villages the army secured in March after weeks of shelling.