Skopje - A Norwegian and a Slovakian working as observers for the EU in Macedonia were killed, along with their Albanian interpreter, on Thursday when their vehicle hit a landmine, EU officials said yesterday. They were the first deaths of western officials in the six-month crisis in the former Yugoslav republic.
The EU foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana, expressed deep regrets and paid tribute to the courage and dedication with which the men had been performing their task. A spokesman for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said they were treating it as an accident.