BAKER Tracey Walker follows the news from the war-torn Balkans closer than most people.

Her fianc, 31-year-old Jonathon Bull, is a sergeant with the Scots Guards stationed in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, only a few miles from the Yugoslav border.

Tracey, of Rochdale Road, Britannia, Bacup and Jonathon, formerly of Stacksteads, became engaged at Christmas after a one-week whirlwind romance.

They met in their local, Farholme Tavern, Stacksteads, when Jonathon was on leave from Germany. He was posted to Macedonia in mid February.

Tracey, 26, said: "It was love at first sight. We write to each other every day and manage phone calls twice a week. But I still worry a lot and miss him terribly. We hope to marry as soon as possible."

So far Jonathon's unit has been kept busy helping ethnic Albanians who have fled Kosovo to Macedonia from Serb killer squads.

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