"Three years from the beginning of the war in Bosnia, the attention of the international public is still focused on the fate of this tragic nation. However, Macedonia may be an even more dangerous spot on the Balkans. If the international community does not undertake decisive measures, we could be witnessing the beginning of an all-out Balkan war, which could also include the European forces, and even the U.S.A.," is said in the comment of James Baker, published in the "Washington Times."
The tension between the Macedonian majority and the Albanian minority is already enormous. The escalation of the civil war could trigger an intervention of Albania. The conflict could spread also to Macedonia's northern neighbor - Serbia, where there is Albanian population living in Kosovo. Greece, which is already disputing the existence of Macedonia, could be dragged into the war. Turkey, Bulgaria and other countries could also join in. Under such a scenario, the Western European countries, the U.S. and even Russia will be forced to pick their side with catastrophic consequences to the peace in Europe. The Clinton administration is aware of the risks in Macedonia, yet seems to be indecisive in undertaking decisive action.
The attitude of the administration toward Macedonia is not only confusing, but also contradictory. The U.S. is in a grotesque position in relation to the request for territorial integrity of the nation it is refusing to establish full diplomatic relations with. The Greek embargo is aggravating the economic situation and increasing the tension between the ethnic Macedonians and Albanians, which is threatening to split up the country. The administration should cross from the formal disapproval of the embargo to strong condemnation. The administration should also announce the appointment of an U.S. ambassador and immediately send him to Skopje. This will be a clear signal to Athens and the other capital cities in the region about our seriousness in relation to the support of the independence of Macedonia and its territorial integrity.
The administration should take over the leadership within the framework of NATO for implementing an efficient policy for deterring a conflict on the Balkans. This should start with an explicit warning by NATO to all neighbors of Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria and of course, even the member of NATO - Greece, that any kind of adventuring in Macedonia will be regarded as a threat to European peace and stability and that it would be retaliated against with the full force of the alliance.
Before leaving for Teheran, the Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias said that he noticed clear progress in relation to the Macedonia question, which is owed to the efforts of the UN mediator Cyrus Vance, as well as the special envoy of Washington Matthew Nimetz. Without revealing any details in regard to this, Papoulias expressed hope that some specific results would be achieved.
According to some announcements in the Greek press, the dialogue, but at the level of diplomatic representatives in the World organization, is expected to resume some time this month.
A large part of the Greek press is writing that a number of proposals for the implementation of the so-called "small package" are on the negotiating table. That implies reaching an agreement between Greece and Macedonia for the lifting of the economic embargo in exchange for taking the Sun of Vergina off the Macedonian flag and "a satisfactory interpretation of the controversial articles in the Macedonian Constitution."
"The situation in FYROM is becoming more and more tense, in particular after the beginning of the rigged political process against the activities of the 'Tetovo University', led by the rector Fadil Sulejmani," the secretary of PDP Naser Ziberi and the coordinator Ismet Ramadani assessed during their meeting in Skopje with the Under Secretary of the British Foreign Office, Radio Tirana reports.
They informed about the "still unresolved problems of the Albanians in the education, in particular the higher education," then, about the problems in the cultural sphere, the information and the equal use of the Albanian language.
The Under Secretary John Kouls said that the British Government was following the events in the Republic of Macedonia with regular and particular interest, especially the position of the Albanians in it.
"The specific geo-strategic position of the Republic of Macedonia on the Balkans, the instability and the conflicts in the region, as well as the imposed Greek embargo, are creating an unfavorable climate for the political and economic changes in the country, and that has a reflection also on the plan of security," said Macedonia's Interior Minister Ljubomir Frckovski, at yesterday's general debate on the 9th UN Congress on crime prevention and the treatment of offenders, that is taking place in Cairo.
In setting such a frame, the head of the Macedonian delegation identified the main sources of the potential security threats to Macedonia from the routes of the international organized crime.
The first source, as minister Frchkovski emphasized, is money laundering, carried out by companies that trade with arms with the Near East. The second source is arms and drugs trade, and the third is derived from the connection of these two forms of crime with terrorism. The head of the Macedonian delegation also spoke about attempts the launder money by some Islamic fundamentalist organizations, through the formation of various companies and humanitarian organizations in the country.
"Macedonia is giving special attention to international cooperation. The inclusion of the Macedonian police in Interpol, the protocols for cooperation with a number of European interior ministries, but also the relevant UN conventions, the international standards and norms, present a solid basis for the inclusion of Macedonia in the mechanisms of the international cooperation for crime prevention," said minister Frchkovski.
"The acceptance of Macedonia in the Council of Europe, in that sense, will present a new quality moment in the development of its preventive strategy against organized crime," Frchkovski concluded.
In one of the two congressional committees, the member of the Macedonian delegation Elena Andreevska proposed the amendment improvement of the text of the Resolution for juvenile justice. Five amendments are in question, which have already been agreed to receive support from the delegations of Austria, Belgium and Israel. This is the first and probably most successful attempt of a Macedonian delegation to propose amendments to a congressional resolution at a convention of such character.
Macedonia's Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski met with the vice-president of Government and Foreign Minister of Japan Yohen Koho in Budapest, Monday. The two sides underlined their satisfaction with the to-date development of the bilateral relations and cooperation in the international institutions and organizations. A special accent was placed on the continuous political dialogue and cooperation on an economic plan.
Stressing the significance of the Republic of Macedonia as a factor of peace and stability in the region, minister Koho explained the Japanese concept for giving help to the Republic of Macedonia in the support for regulating its debt to the international financial institutions, as well as for overcoming the problems faced by the Macedonian economy.
Minister Stevo Crvenkovski held a separate meeting with the Hungarian minister Laslo Kovach, who is also the current chairman of the OSCE. They reviewed some issues regarding the acceptance of the Republic of Macedonia as a full member of the OSCE, as well as the work of the OSCE Mission in Skopje.
In addition, they expressed satisfaction with the development of the bilateral relations and the useful cooperation in the international institutions. Minister Kovach informed about the decision of the Hungarian Government to open an embassy in the Republic of Macedonia, which is to take place in the near future.
The Macedonian Government delegation, composed of Emilia Simoska, Minister of Education and Physical Culture and Victor Gaber, Under Secretary in the Foreign Ministry, was received in Canberra yesterday by the Australian Foreign Minister Senator Gareth Evans.
In the longer discussion, the two sides exchanged opinions about the advancement of the bilateral relations and cooperation, for which both sides expressed readiness. They also reviewed a number of possibilities of realizing such efforts, which should also give specific results in the coming period. The two sides stressed the unacceptability of the present situation in the bilateral relations, in particular the drop in economic exchange and cultural cooperation.
In the meeting with the State Secretary of Education and Employment Walker, the Macedonian delegation emphasized the interest in future development of the ethnic schools in Macedonian language throughout Australia, from the supply of appropriate textbooks, qualification of the teaching staff, to the exchange of experiences and specialists between the two countries.
The delegation of the Holy Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, composed of the metropolitan of Prespa and Pelagonija Mr. Petar, the metropolitan of Bregalnica Mr. Stefan and the archdeacon Ratomir Grozdanoski, secretary of the Holy Synod, was formally welcomed at the Melbourne airport on Saturday by a large number of Macedonians. Several hundred Macedonians from all Macedonian orthodox church communities and Macedonian associations from Victoria, accompanies by a number of folklore groups, gave a warm welcome to the high-ranking delegation.
From the airport, the delegation headed toward the Macedonian church center "Sunshine," where the Macedonians from Victoria were celebrating the Easter holidays, and had a joint meeting with representatives of all Macedonian orthodox church communities in Victoria. Following the meeting, the delegation visited the church "Sv. Georgji" in Melbourne (the first Macedonian orthodox church built outside Macedonian borders), where a mass was held. This marked the beginning of the official visit of the delegation in the Australian eparchy.
The delegation also paid a visit to the newly built church "Sv. Nikolaj" in Preston, whereby it was sanctified in the presence of several thousand Macedonians from Melbourne, as well as guests from the other Macedonian orthodox church communities in Australia and representatives from the social life of Melbourne and Victoria.
The church was blessed by the metropolitans Mr. Petar and Mr. Stefan, as well as a number of ministers from the Macedonian Orthodox eparchy for Australia.
In the chemical-electrometallurgy combine "Jugohrom" from Jegunovce, a new capacity has been opened by the production of silicium metal and other pherro-alloys, at an investment of 6 million DEM.
The general director Jovan Srbinovski stated that the capacity would produce some 6,500 tones of silicium metal, intended for exports in Europe, U.S.A. and the Far East, at the value of 7 million DEM.
The manufacture and assembly of the equipment is mainly carried out by the experts of "Jugohrom," while only 1 million DEM have been spent on the import of equipment that could not be manufactured.
The Ministries of Development and Economy in the Government of Macedonia are organizing consultations on tourism in Ohrid from May 4-6, in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Economy of FR Germany.
The German delegation, made up of 7 experts on tourism and catering will be led by Ilze Richter, representative of the Federal Ministry of Economy of FR Germany.
The consultations will focus on the revival and development of the tourist offer in Macedonia and its marketing o the German and other tourist markets.
The meeting of the delegations of the Commerce Chambers of Russia and Macedonia was held in Skopje last weekend. The Russian delegation was made up of 21 members, including representatives of the Russian economy and state associations.
In the concrete talks, the guests were presented the Macedonian tourist offer, in view of the fact that the Russian delegation had a number of representatives of the tourism. The presence of Macedonian construction workers in Russia was also discussed. The guests from Russia were informed that the Macedonian Chamber of Commerce is working intensively on preparing the exhibition of the Macedonian economy, that is to be held in October, in Moscow.
In 1991 and 1992, Macedonia and Russia had an exchange of US$ 500 million, which presents 30% of Macedonia's overall exchange with the world. Nevertheless, last year, the exchange with the Russian federation was US$ 121 million, which is 4.7% of the overall exchange. Last year, Macedonia realized exports to Russia to the value of US$ 76 million, namely, shoes, ready-made clothing, furniture, foodstuffs, electric conductors and aluminium.
Imports were estimated at US$ 45.5 million, with a main emphasis on petrol, on which US$ 11.8 million were spent, then, leather and pipes for the gas line.
The Department for Civil Air Traffic is announcing new stricter sanctions against the air companies, in particular when it comes to servicing regular lines.
This applies especially to the servicing of the lines toward Austria, in relation to which the Macedonian air companies to not adhere to the rules regarding the manner of issuing the tickets and the type of tickets, and also, there are great differences in ticket prices.
According to the Department, the tickets issued by Palair did not contain any markings about the tariffs that would correspond to the price, with MAT, there were many tickets with the markings for group travel, and a lack of appropriate documentation, while Avioimpex sold tickets with the markings "charter," although it is a regular line.
This situation, according to the Department, goes to the disadvantage of the passengers, but there is also a possibility of a reaction of the Austrian air traffic authorities.