SKOPJE, SEPTEMBER 28, 1995 (MIC)
With an acclamation, and with no votes against, Macedonia was accepted yesterday to the Council of Europe as a full member under the provisional name with which it was accepted as a member of the UN. Following the voting for accession, the European parliamentarians were addressed by the Speaker of the Macedonian Parliament Stojan Andov, in Macedonian language.
He spoke of the background to the proclamation of the Republic of Macedonia as an independent state, as well as the cooperation with the Council of Europe, which he assessed as fruitful and successful. He emphasized that Macedonia benefited a great deal from the expert groups of the Council of Europe, especially upon the adoption of important legal decisions and in the process of coordination of the legislation with the high standards of the Council.
The accession procedure was preceded by a debate in the Committee for legal issues and human rights, as well as the Committee for political issues. The amendments in relation to the legal legislation of the executor Freigh, as it was said, have already been built in and have yet to be incorporated in the laws which are in a phase of preparation. The Commission for legal issues has not accepted for Macedonia to be received under its constitutional name, while the Commission for human rights said that every country has the right to call itself as it chooses, however, the opinion of this commission was not submitted in the form of an amendment.
As part of his participation in the 50th session of the UN in New York, Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski had a meeting on Tuesday with the Commissioner of the European Union Hans Van den Broek. Van den Broek said he was pleased with the signing of the Greek-Macedonian interim accord. During the meeting, the two officials stressed the need for formalization of Macedonia's relations with the EU and for speedier activation of the development programs of the Union for the Republic of Macedonia.
The issue of accession of the Republic of Macedonia to the Council of Europe was tackled by the independent newspaper from Tirana "Koha Jone," which criticized the Albanian foreign policy in relation to this.
The newspaper reminds of the Greek-Macedonian dispute, assessing that in this respect, the Greek diplomacy brought Macedonia all the way to New York. At the same time, the newspaper writes, Albania had a much softer attitude toward Macedonia, without putting any particular pressure on Macedonia in the sense of giving more rights to the Albanians. Tirana made it clear to the Albanians that the borders between the two countries are definite, telling them by that exactly where their place is. Furthermore, "Koha Jone" writes, while the question of the University in Tetovo was causing problems, Tirana voted in favour of Macedonia's accession to the OSCE.
As to Macedonia, politically, it did not give the deserved meaning to the help Tirana gave to Skopje during the time of the Greek embargo, by surrendering the use of the port in Duress.
The basic requests of the Albanians in Macedonia are for them to be a constitutional nation, to be educated at all levels of education in their mother tongue, and for the Albanian language to become an official language in Macedonia, as well.
These requests were expressed by the leader of the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP) Abdurahman Aliti, in the interview for the newspaper of the Albanian opposition "Zeri i populit."
As Makfaks reports, Aliti said that all the Albanian parties in Macedonia had identical stances on the main issues concerning the position of the Albanians in Macedonia. In relation to that, the leader of PDP stressed that if the requests of the parties were not realized, then they would be left with nothing else except to change the course, or to stop existing as parties.
Delegations of experts from the foreign ministries of the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Greece are scheduled to meet in Athens next week, to review the questions regarding the practical realization of the contents foreseen in the Interim Accord, which was signed by the foreign ministers Stevo Crvenkovski and Karolos Papoulias on September 13 in New York, the Macedonian Foreign Ministry said in its press release.
67 people entered Macedonian yesterday through the border point Medzitlija on the Macedonian-Greek border, of which three were Macedonian citizens, while 80, of which three were also Macedonians, left the country, the Macedonian customs administration informs.
The Macedonian citizens were issued visas at the very border, using a special form. The frequency is also increasing on the border points Bogorodica, the Gevgelija Railway Station and Dojran.
No one has the exclusive right and monopoly on the name Macedonia, but in order to avoid any "confusion" and misunderstanding, something must be done to determine to whom this name of the region called "Macedonia" really belongs to. Efforts must be made to make "a distinction" between people from different areas, Makpress conveys parts of the interview for "Nova Makedonija" with Evangelos Kofos, who worked as an advisor in the Greek Foreign Minister for whole 30 years.
Kofos, otherwise, a well-known expert on the "Macedonian question," who notes this is the first time for him to be giving an interview for a Macedonian newspaper, regrets that the "name problem" was left out of the Accord in New York.
To a journalist's question whether he believes the Macedonians to be a people without identity, Kofos responded: "No, because there's no person without identity. That's impossible."
The charges against Hristos Sideropoulos (Risto Sidovski) were dropped yesterday with a decision of the Lerin Court of Law. Namely, Sideropoulos was acquitted on the charges that by declaring himself as a Macedonian at the CSCE meeting on June 10, 1990, and asking for the respect of the human and civil rights of the Macedonians in Greece, he spread "misinformation and rumors" which "disrupted Greece's international reputation."
Hristos Sideropoulos and his lawyer Jana Kurtovich were informed about this decision yesterday morning, after a short court session, by the judge in the court in Lerin.
A real court hearing was practically not even held, since the process lasted hardly ten minutes, and the representative of the Prosecutor's office didn't even show up. This put an end to the five-year long dispute which was initiated by the Greek state against Sideropoulos, immediately after his speech in the Danish capital Copenhagen.
Yesterday afternoon, we managed to get Hristos Sideropoulos on the phone, in person, who confirmed the news about his acquittal, describing what happened in the Lerin court in the morning.
"Firstly, I'd like to say that I'm very pleased with the outcome of the trial. Justice, which is on the side of the Macedonians, won in this case. What pleased me the most, in a sense, is that the judge sent me an apology on behalf of the court, that it had even come to this dispute. Namely, in his short address to me and the other people present in the court room, the judge said it should never have even come to this trial, for the simple reason, as the judge said, that the incident took place in another country," Sideropoulos says.
What does that mean, "the incident took place in another country?"
"It's a stance of the court that if violations in the sense of those I was charged with had really occurred, then it would have been necessary for the state, provided it is punishable according to the laws of the country (in this case - Denmark) to press charges against me, and not for that to be done by the Greek courts, which was a mistake in this case. Now, five years later, it's too late to start any such proceedings in Denmark, so the court decided to acquit me. Seeing this, in less than ten minutes, everything was over."
Were any other people present in the court room?
"Yes, there were a couple of representatives from the Helsinki Committee, from Bulgaria, Greece and Great Britain, I think, and there was also a Grecian in the name of an organization fighting against nationalism. I'd also like to say that there were some thirty Macedonians gathered in front of the Court in Lerin, who welcome the court decision with great joy."
Personally, how did you experience this verdict?
"It's that feeling that fills a man when he wins. Its a kind of victory for my own, and the efforts of the Macedonians in the struggle for the respect of our human and civil rights. And, that struggle will not stop, but continue. This is the best motive for something like that."
What was the atmosphere like these days in Greece, in light of the trial?
"Two days ago, two Greek newspapers 'Elefterotipia' and 'Avgi' published the views of ten Greek organizations fighting for the respect of human rights, which openly said that I shouldn't be taken to court and that I only said what I had the right to say as a Greek citizen. This is especially important since these Greek organizations feel that every citizen in Greece has the right to state his national affiliation.
And, what now, will you be asking for some kind of compensation from the Greek authorities for all that's been happening over the past years?
"This acquittal gives me the right to something like that, but I still haven't decided and I can't give you an answer. The most important thing is that we won this case and we showed that we are right and the Macedonians in Greece must get what rightfully belongs to them."
Returnees from abroad will no longer be able to import motor vehicles in the country, without paying duty, provided Parliament adopts the changes to the Law on duty, proposed by the Government.
With the new changes, motor vehicles have been taken off the list of household objects that can be imported free of duty. According to the government proposal, the right to import cargo vehicles free of duty is limited only to firms whose only or primary activity is the transport of goods intended for the international market. These concessions apply to trucks, trailers or semi-trailers, but only up to five tones.
The changes also include the ban on the sale of these cargo vehicles up to three years, without paying duty.
The first beneficiary of the credit from the EBRD of up to 426,000 DEM will be the Heating company from Skopje. The agreement for using a credit from the EBRD was signed yesterday by the Minister of Economy Risto Ivanov and the general director of the Heating company Dimitar Hadzimishev.
These funds will be used to supply a part of the equipment for adaptation of the installations for the use of natural gas.
The EBRD has already disbursed funds up to 8 million DEM, which will start being used in October, this year. The money from this bank will arrive in the form of credits, with pay-back periods of 10 years, which also includes a two year grace period.
In addition to the Heating company, OHIS - Skopje, "Idnina" - Kratovo, "11 October" - Kumanovo, "Evropa" - Skopje, "Godel" - Skopje and the Skopje brewery will also be able to use these funds.