Macedonia had a full-blown political crisis on its hands and it was happening at the worst time possible, Macedonian president Branko Crvenkovski told a news conference in Skopje on March 13, as quoted by Reuters news agency.

Crvenkovski's words come just two days after the Macedonian Party of Albanians (DPA) threatened to withdraw from the cabinet. On March 12, DPA party leader Menduh Thaci reiterated the warning as he emerged from a meeting with US ambassador to Macedonia Gillian Milovanovic, as quoted by Macedonia's Makfax agency.

The meeting apparently was aimed at mitigating DPA's position, which conditioned its stay in the coalition government on its lists of six demands for broader rights for the Albanian minority, which it handed to Macedonian prime minister Nikola Gruevski.

In particular, the party wants the members of the former Army for National Liberation (ANO) rehabilitated, making Albanian the second most important language in Macedonia, raising the Albanian alongside the Macedonian flag on top of buildings of local authorities, as well as the end of key cases against Albanians who participated in the 2001 revolt. Last but not least, DPA wants Macedonia to recognise its fledgling neighbour, Kosovo.

The DPA central committee was scheduled to meet March 13 to decide whether to back the decision made by the DPA leadership. If it does, it could be bring down the Gruevski government.

The cabinet is already hanging on a shoestring, given that Gruevski's own party is at odds with the New Social Democratic Party of Tito Petkovski, also part of the ruling coalition. The latter would not commit to a deadline, however, when they might resort to an exit.

The international community is closely observing the situation fearing a repeat of the 2001 events. Then, as Albanians took to arms, Macedonia narrowly escaped an ethnic civil war thanks to the mediation of Nato and European Union.

Crvenkovski said the country should rather focus on the forthcoming Nato summit in Bucharest, on April 2-4, when the country is expected to receive an invitation for Nato membership. As previously reported, Macedonia's position is complicated over Greece's threat to veto its bid unless the former Yugoslav republic renounces its claims over the name Macedonia.