244 北约和联合国试图重新启动马其顿地区和平进程

244 北约和联合国试图重新启动马其顿地区和平进程

NATO, EU Officials Try to Restart Macedonia Peace Process
Roger Wilkison
Brussels
26 Jul 2001 15:52 UTC

Two western envoys¹ are in Macedonia on yet another 1)mission to stave off civil war in the 2)Balkan country. It is still not clear if the two - NATO Secretary-General George Robertson and European Union EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana - can help 3)avert a conflict.
Mr. Robertson said on his arrival Thursday in Skopje, the Macedonian capital, that if collapsed² peace talks between majority Slav and minority 4)ethnic³ Albanian political parties can be 5)revived, Macedonia could be saved from the killing⁴ and 6)carnage that have characterized other Balkan civil wars.
Mr. Robertson and Mr. Solana decided⁵ on Wednesday to make another trip to Macedonia, despite anti-western riots in Skopje Tuesday night during which ethnic 7)Macedonians accused NATO and western mediators of supporting the ethnic Albanian insurgents⁶ who say they are fighting for more rights for their community.
Slavic Macedonians say the rebels are terrorists who aim to 8)carve off parts of the country where Albanians are a majority and unite them with heavily ethnic Albanian Kosovo. NATO and the EU strongly denied giving support to the 9)insurgents.
The chance of reviving political negotiations⁷ appeared to improve after NATO brokered⁸ an agreement calling for the rebels' 10)withdrawal from positions near Tetovo, a town with an ethnic Albanian majority. In exchange, Macedonian security forces promised to exercise 11)restraint, saying they would not launch another offensive as long as the guerrillas committed themselves to the 12)pullback.
But can the talks make progress after five months of fighting and broken 13)truces? Analyst⁹ Mike Taylor of the Economist¹⁰ Intelligence Unit, a London research institute, says that is the key question. "NATO and the EU are not going to give up very easily," Mr. Taylor said. "They've got a lot invested in keeping Macedonia together. And I suppose they'll keep on trying as long as they think there is some hope."
Mr. Taylor says the main 14)sticking point in the negotiations that were broken off by ethnic Albanian political parties last week is whether Albanian should be an official language of the country, alongside Macedonian. The Macedonians have been reluctant to accept that. "The existing constitution says that Albanian can be the official language at the local level" Mr. Taylor says. "What seems to really anger the Macedonians, and it does seem quite a fine distinction, is that the state will have to use Albanian."
Even if Mr. Robertson and Mr. Solana can find a way around that problem, NATO officials in Brussels wonder whether the parties are really serious about the on-again, off-again negotiations. One official says that, so far, each side's aim seems to be to blame the other every time the so-called peace process unravels¹¹ and the fighting begins 15)anew.

(1) mission[5mIF(E)n]n.使命, 任务, 使团, 代表团
(2) Balkan[5bC:lkEn]adj.巴尔干半岛的
(3) avert[E5v:t]v.转移
(4) ethnic[5eWnIk]adj.人种的, 种族的, 异教徒的
(5) revive[rI5vaIv]v.(使)苏醒, (使)复兴, (使)复活
(6) carnage[5kB:nIdV]n.(尤指在战场上的)残杀, 大屠杀, 流血
(7) Macedonian[mAsI5dEJnIEn]adj.马其顿的n.马其顿人
(8) carve out雕刻,开拓,创业
(9) insurgent[In5s:dVEnt]adj.起义的
(10) withdrawal[wIT5drC:El]n.收回, 撤退, 退回, 取消, 退股
(11) restraint[rI5streInt]n.抑制, 制止, 克制
(12) pullback[`pJlbAk]n.撤退, 拉回, 障碍物
(13) truce[tru:s]n.休战, 休战协定, 休止
(14) sticking point n.顶住点, 关键, 症结
(15) anew[E5nju:; (?@) E5nu:]adv.重新, 再

 

1 envoys   

使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份

参考例句：

• the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys 国家相互驱逐对方使节这种惯常的报复行动
• Marco Polo's travelogue mentions that Kublai Khan sent envoys to Malgache. 马可波罗游记中提到忽必烈曾派使节到马尔加什。

2 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

7 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

8 brokered   

adj.由权力经纪人安排（或控制）的v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的过去式和过去分词 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• a peace plan brokered by the UN 由联合国出面协商的和平计划
• Your husband brokered the deal to go in, transfrer the assets and get our man out. 你丈夫后来插了一脚，把生意都抢了过去，我们的人也被挤了出来。 来自电影对白

9 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

10 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

11 unravels   

解开，拆散，散开( unravel的第三人称单数 )； 阐明； 澄清； 弄清楚

参考例句：

• Khrushchev's Cold War unravels the tangled contradictions in his leadership of the Communist Party. 赫鲁晓夫的冷战》这本书揭示出赫鲁晓夫作为共产党的领袖，面临着一些棘手的问题。