"I have a feeling that moments for making progress in relation to the Greek blockade could come up at this time," said the German Foreign Minister Claus Kinkel at yesterday's joint press conference with his Macedonian counterpart Stevo Crvenkovski. He underlined this sentence twice, supporting it with an appeal "to both sides, to make an attempt at this time to reach an unblocking." Emphasizing that, at this moment,he would "not like to incite wrong expectations and to create euphoria, as the question is sensitive," and calling upon the talks with Gligorov and Crvenkovski, as well as the Greek Foreign Minister Papoulias and the Assistant Minister Mangakis, with whom he met in Luxembourg, two days ago, Kinkel said that he had the impression that "both the Greek and Macedonian side have some opinions that should be included in the negotiations, under the sponsorship of Cyrus Vance." Minister Kinkel said that the "unblocking of the conflict between Macedonia and Greece is for the stable development of Macedonia, but also the stability in the region." He turned the attention to his program made up of six items, while he was chairman of the EU, which also included the questions regarding the flag, Constitution, embargo, the signing of an agreement for good neighborly relations between Greece and Macedonia, and intensive economic help for Macedonia, among the rest, also from Greece. To the question whether he brought new proposals for the resolution of the Greek-Macedonian dispute to Skopje, he replied: "I would not like to be quoted now with some new proposals, in the sense 'deus eks makina' or some solution from the nearest village that can settle all problems from today to tomorrow." In relation to the Greek embargo, Kinkel said that they were "showing solidarity with the partner Greece, however, all other 14 members of the Union did not hide that this economic embargo, inflicted onto Macedonia, is wrong."
To the question when a dialogue for signing an agreement between Macedonia and the EU can be expected to start, he said that it could happen "only after Greece gives up its negative stand." Kinkel reiterated several times that the path to stable political and economic development should be freed, underlining that Germany supports that, however, "Macedonia can always have confidence in us, and I hope that it will remain further on."
Macedonia's Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski also underlined the support that was coming in from Germany in the key moments for Macedonia. He expressed "great" satisfaction over this visit, as it is a very important step in the relations between Macedonia and Germany, which have noted excellent progress in the past period.
Kinkel said that "this country has the need to develop economically, and Germany has the wish to continue with bilateral help, within its possibilities." He also announced that an agreement for cultural cooperation between the two countries would be reached very soon, which, due to the problem with the name, would be carried out with the exchange of verbal notes.
The German minister was asked whether the talks with Gligorov and Crvenkovski also included the issue of eventual inclusion of German military forces in the UN peacekeeping mission, to which Kinkel responded: "Until now, we have not received any concrete request and we have not had the need or the possibility for such a solution to be made. If such a question is tabled, we will review it calmly."
The minister-spokesman in the Macedonian Government Gjuner Ismail also met with the German reporters, who arrived together with minister Claus Kinkel yesterday. Most of the questions of the German reporters applied to the Greek-Macedonian dispute. Below are a couple of answers that minister Ismail gave regarding the name and how much Macedonia is ready for compromise.
"In regards to the name, we are ready for compromise, and, in essence, if the situation surrounding this name question was not so complicated, it would be a very silly one. It would never occur to Macedonia to tell someone how to call himself."
About the changing of the Constitution? "We are prepared to present our stances and to explain what we understand under good-neighborly relations. If there are some unclarities in our Constitution, if our neighbors don't understand some of our articles, we are prepared to explain them."
About the date of the negotiations? "There are some preconditions within what is called civilized conditions for talks. We can't talk under the shadow of the embargo."
In yesterday's meeting with the Greek Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs Mangakis, the head of the German diplomacy Claus Kinkel "proposed the temporary lifting of the embargo against Macedonia, over the course of the negotiations in the UN, with the mediation of Cyrus Vance."
This was claimed yesterday by the Athens newspaper "Katimerini," adding that the Monday meeting Kinkel-Mangakis in Luxembourg, was held at the initiative of Bonn.
"The conclusion of the general advocate is only the first stage. The European Court will probably not be making its decision for another month. We can not comment until we see the Court's decision," is said in yesterday's report of the British Foreign Office, concerning the stance of Francis Jacobs, over the charges of the European Commission against Greece.
"Regardless of the outcome before the Court, Britain still feels that the Greek closing of Salonika for Macedonian trade dangerously destabilizes the region and without justification. We call on Greece to immediately abolish these measures, without any pre-conditions.
We still believe that the best way of settling the Greek dispute with Macedonia is with the mediation of the mediator Cyrus Vance. We want both sides to fully cooperate with Vance," the announcement says.
The President of RM Kiro Gligorov yesterday received the two U.S. congressmen Dough Bireuter and Gerald Solomon, who were staying on a one-day visit to Macedonia. The talks were also attended by the head of the U.S. office in Skopje Victor Comras. It was jointly concluded that the establishment of diplomatic relations between Macedonia and the U.S.A. is a necessary step, that would round off the general progress in the mutual relations. The presence of the U.S. soldiers in Macedonia was positively assessed, as an expression of the interest of the U.S.A. for keeping the integrity of the Republic of Macedonia and the peace on the south of the Balkans.
On this occasion, President Gligorov reiterated Macedonia's readiness for direct negotiations with Greece, as the only possible way of making progress in the relations. For exactly this reason, the lifting of the Greek embargo would be the necessary step for the realization of equal and successful negotiations.
According to the Skopje newspaper "Vecer," Macedonia is flooded with products that are copies or forgeries of well-known firms, and according to the newspaper, these copies come, mainly, from Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey. The newspaper claims that, beside being sold at very cheap prices on the markets, the same can also be found in shops, even though they have proper declarations and labels. According to the director of the Institute for protection of industrial ownership Gjorigji Filipov, a producer that has secured his seal or stamp, provided he has knowledge of forgeries of his product, can report that to the Institute for protection of industrial ownership, which then submits a demand to the authorities to stop the sales of that product. The example used is "Joy Cola," an imitation of "Coca Cola." After the forgery was reported to the customs administration, the import of this product was stopped.
Yet, it is still believed that it will be difficult to put an end to this trend.
The Macedonian delegation has ended its visit to London and the annual assembly of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development with an agreed support of several new programs and presentation of the possibilities for investment, which Macedonia is offering.
In relation to the supported programs, the issue at hand are funds that will stimulate and strengthen the reform processes, this time, with an emphasis on the small and middle- sized enterprises, that is, a stimulation for entrepreneurship, investments in traffic and relations, among which the support for the navigation and reconstruction of the Skopje airport or making investments in the construction of some energetic objects, was rounded off. EBRD is also expected to put some funds into "Stopanska banka," that is, to become a shareholder.
Borko Stanoevski, the governor of the National Bank of Macedonia, emphasized that before the plenary session, a presentation was carried out of the Macedonian possibilities and the offers for investments in the state.
According to the statement of the Minister of Construction and Urbanization Yorgo Sundovski, in relation to the construction of the Balkan gas line, which is to transport petrol for Macedonia from the Russian Federation, there are dangers that the same might not pass through Macedonia.
The initial idea was to build a gas line that would deliver petrol from Russia to Europe, and for the same to cross through Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, and then, Italy. In November, last year, a protocol was signed in Skopje for the preparation of a feasibility study for the construction of a gas line between Macedonia, Bulgaria and Albania.
According to minister Sundovski, there are plans for the gas line to pass through Bulgaria and Greece, and then also Albania, while in some variants, it is foreseen for it not to pass even through Albania. Sundovski claims that the Bulgarian and Greek side had convened in Bulgaria, where they discussed this variant. According to this, minister Sundovski asserts, Bulgaria is "sitting on two chairs."
Otherwise, in Macedonia, the route of the gas line is being prepared, and the feasibility study should be presented before the international institutions.
According to Sundovski, Macedonia must not, under any circumstances, give up this kind of gas line, as, beside the possibility of transport of petrol through Bulgaria with trucks, and eventually railway, this would give another possibility for the transport of petrol, despite the Greek blockade. Sundovski also claims that even if the Greek embargo is lifted, the Macedonian side would still not have to pay taxes to the Salonika port.
Apart from that, Macedonia will have to come out before the international institutions with this project due to the fact that the gas line itself costs US$ 800 million, which Macedonia does not have, but even beside that, "one must not regret the money spent on such an investment."
The company for the exploitation of non-metals and geological research "Bitolastil" from Bitola will start with the construction of a new plant for the production of thermo- isolation blocks, made of perlit, toward the middle of the year.
This firm has been approved 2.1 million DEM from the PHARE program, for the construction of the plant. Deals have already been signed with several foreign firms, while the English-Dutch firm "Smitvens" has been assigned to do the job.