Macedonia's political parties have made a breakthrough in talks to end a five-month-old ethnic Albanian rebel insurgency by agreeing on the toughest issue - the use of the Albanian language.
"We have obtained today an agreement from the four political parties on the question of language," European Union peace envoy Mr Francois Leotard said after talks between Macedonian and ethnic Albanian political leaders in southern Macedonia.
"But this accord...hinges on the outcome of the political discussions, notably on the issue of the police," he told reporters.
It was the first piece of positive news from several days of talks, which Mr Leotard is mediating with US envoy Mr James Pardew.
However, Macedonia's interior minister, Mr Ljube Boskovski, cast doubt over the by saying the only way to resolve Macedonia's crisis was to defeat ethnic Albanian rebels militarily.
"We should convince even the last optimist that the only optimistic option is to defeat the terrorists to achieve peace and we have enough force to cope with the terrorists," hesaid in televised remarks.