Macedonia's first national unity government of Slav and ethnic Albanian parties convenes today to tru to resolve the Albanian guerrilla uprising threatening to plunge the country into civil war.
Approved by 102-to-1 in a national assembly vote late last night the grand coalition has already been dismissed by guerrillas who say that only armed struggle can win genuine equal rights for the one-third Albanian minority.
The former Yugoslav republic, which became independent 10 years ago, has had two Slav-Albanian coalitions. But this is the first team to include all four main parties.
Mr Ljubco Georgievski remains prime minister. The new cabinet was immediately sworn in before President Boris Trajkovski. It was a relief to Western ambassadors in the gallery.
Diplomatic representatives of the European Union and the United States brokered the deal. They persuaded the country's number two Albanian party not to let concern about the army's handling of the guerrilla crisis block an agreemtnt.
"We are aware of the risk we are taking by entering this coalition government in the interests of peace," Mr Ismet Ramadani of the Albanian Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP) told the assembly.
He said: "Our main motive in joining is our desire to achieve safety and security for the country but only through peace and dialogue, not by killing and being killed."