April 26, 1999
Web posted at: 4:47 p.m. EDT (2047 GMT)

SKOPJE, Macedonia (CNN)-- The Macedonian economic minister resigned Monday, blaming NATO and the international community for the country's financial woes.

"I cannot continue to function as minister of Economy and hope to have any results, blocked mostly by the lack of understanding of the international community, which has so far promised everything and fulfilled nothing," Zanko Cado said.

Cado, who took over as economic minister last December 1, said Macedonia had "kept its side of the bargain" and gave NATO what it needed, but now the nation faced alone the "flood of refugees that have engulfed the economy with unbearable expenditures."

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that 3,000 new ethnic Albanian refugees arrived at the Blace border crossing Monday.

Cado told CNN that 40,000 jobs have been lost due to the NATO airstrikes. Yugoslavia is Macedonia's top trading partner.