MACEDONIA: EMMA BONINO VISIT (2)

(9 May 1999) English/Nat The European Union's (E-U) top humanitarian chief has left Macedonia after touring the border town of Blace and Stankovic refugee camp. Emma Bonino was on a mission to assess how the influx of Kosovar refugees is being handled in the former Yugoslav republic. She said the refugee situation in FYR Macedonia was fragile but under control, and that Serb attempts to destabilize the region had failed. But she expressed concern for those ethnic Albanians still reported to be trapped in Kosovo. The E-U's Acting-commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Emma Bonino, arrived in Macedonia on Sunday amid a row over the tiny Balkan nation's decision to temporarily close its border to refugees from neighbouring Kosovo. Bonino visited the border crossing at Blace to see - at first hand - the situation at the border crossing. She also said refugee agencies were receiving no information on whether the refugees were stuck in Kosovo or whether there were still trains coming from the province. Although the border crossing was technically open no-one was coming across. Bonino then visited the main refugee camp, Stankovic 1, at Brazda and talked with relief workers. Then it was on to the French run Stankovic 2 camp, touring the French Civil Defence and Emergency units there. Macedonia has absorbed the bulk of the refugee flow out of Kosovo since NATO air strikes began on March 24, and the signs of stress are beginning to show. On Wednesday Macedonia claimed it could no longer handle the thousands who have been pouring in on a daily basis. Officials later clarified their statement, saying Macedonia's borders were to be 'controlled' not closed. But the effect was the same; hundreds instead of thousands of refugees trickling in by Saturday morning. Bonino said this could mean Yugoslav President, Slobodan Milosevic, was considering whether to let them go en masse to destabilise neighbouring countries. But she insisted that Macedonia and its neighbours would be able to cope. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I don't know what kind of game is being played inside (Kosovo) by the Serb army. Maybe they are stopping them or keeping them in the same place to be ready to use as human weaponry (shields) tomorrow or the day after tomorrow - I don't know. But, from a political point of view, if the strategy was to destabilise the region it seems to me that that strategy has failed." SUPER CAPTION: Emma Bonino, European Union Humanitarian Aid commissioner Bonino's tour of the region also included visits to Montenegro, Bosnia and Albania. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...