SKOPJE, SEPTEMBER 29, 1995 (MIC)
During his stay in New York, Macedonia's Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski met with Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans. The Australian minister described the accord between Macedonia and Greece as an important step in the normalization of the relations between the two countries.
Among the rest, the two sides also reviewed the necessity to establish diplomatic relations between Macedonia and Australia soon.
Minister Crvenkovski repeated his dissatisfaction with the treatment of the Macedonians in Australia and the term used to describe the Macedonians in Australia - "Slav Macedonians."
Minister Crvenkovski also had a meeting with the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbruk, which focused on the latest developments in relation to the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The American side informed about the course of the negotiations led with the mediation of the contact group in New York. The two sides also exchanged opinions on the future role of UNPREDEP in Macedonia, which also consists of U.S. soldiers. They also reviewed questions from the sphere of bilateral relations of both countries.
Following the Wednesday accession of Macedonia to the Council of Europe, the daily "Vecer" brings a statement of the MP of the Conservative party of Great Britain Lord Finsberg, otherwise, vice-president of the Political committee. Directly before the address of the Speaker of the Macedonian Parliament in Strasbourg, he stood up and said: "I didn't vote for or against the amendment for the name, and I abstained. Not because I don't have an opinion of my own, but because of the strong pressure that was exerted by one side and the threats it made. Many of us truly wanted to vote for the amendment for the name of Macedonia, but I'm not prepared to get into risks and blackmail and vetoes and to be blamed for things that would follow later on. That's why I didn't vote for the amendment. But, now I'm making the note that if the negotiations for an internal agreement are postponed for more than six months, I will personally submit a Resolution which will give meaning to the previous amendment," Finsberg said.
The "Vecer" reporter comments that these moments surrounding the accession have only disturbed the spirits among the MPs. However, unlike before, most of the countries are not hiding their sympathies for Macedonia.
The Speaker of the Macedonian Parliament expresses the hope in yesterday's edition of "Elefterotipia" that some kind of compromise over the name will be reached, Makfaks reports. In response to the question as to whether there will be negotiations over the name, Andov said: "The accord speaks of differences in the name, and not the name itself, while on the other hand, the whole world and the UN has absolutely no problems with the Republic of Macedonia. There are differences with Greece, and we will talk about those," adding that he could not discuss that since negotiations on that topic were coming up. Andov expressed the conviction that some compromises would be made.
"In any event, we don't want our name to be changed," the Speaker of the Macedonian Parliament Stojan Andov said, as reported by Makfaks, assessing that the New York accord presents a huge step forward in the relations with Greece, and that its implementation will contribute to the stability in the region, and neutralize the extremists in both countries.
A peace protest is scheduled to take place in the center of Skopje on October 4, one day before the parliamentary session at which the state flag is expected to be changed and the Interim Accord for normalization of the relations between Macedonia and Greece is expected to be ratified. This was announced at the news conference of the "Convention for Macedonia." The representatives of the signatories of the Convention - a couple of parties that are not in Parliament: IMRO-DPMNU, the Labor party, MAAK - Conservative party, the Democratic party, as well as a number of NGOs from the country and the world, informed yesterday that the protest was motivated by the great concern and distress which was caused in the public by the recently signed agreement between the two countries, and that it presents a form of demonstration of that anxiety and attempt to influence the authorities, as well as the domestic and world public.
The meeting place of the protest procession will be the plateau in front of the Cathedral church St. Clement of Ohrid in Skopje, at 19.00 hours, from where it will head toward the building of the Macedonian Government, and then in front of Parliament building. The organizers have announced that the protest will be peaceful and that the existing state symbols will be raised.
Demonstrations are also expected to take place in front of the building of the United Nations on November 1, when the UN Secretary-General will be handed the declaration of the "Convention for Macedonia."
On October 5, the Macedonian Parliament is scheduled to discuss the Proposal for the adoption of a law on the flag and state, and 4 days later, it will discuss the ratification of the Interim Accord between Macedonia and Greece, signed in New York on September 13.
Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski and the president of the Confederation of Trade Unions Zhivko Tolevski have signed an agreement on privatization. The act of signing was also attended by representatives of the Macedonian Chamber of Commerce. The president of the Confederation of Trade Unions Tolevski emphasized that the agreement was very important and that it would contribute to speeding up the privatization. The basic new element that is achieved with this agreement is the possibility for the workers to buy the shares in installments and with a period of delay in payments.
According to the Prime Minister, this should stimulate the privatization. He conveyed the stance of the Commerce Chamber, saying that although the agreement is signed by two parties, it agrees with this agreement and feels it will contribute to the more successful realization of the privatization.
According to the reached agreement, the shares valued at 30% of the estimated value of the capital, which the workers will be able to purchase with concessions, will be paid off over a period of 5 years with a 2 year grace period. During the grace period, the shares are not allowed to be sold or transferred to another owner, while the shares give the right to profits and management to the owner.
Furthermore, it has been agreed for at least 15% of the funds realized by the Privatization Agency to go to the workers who have been left without jobs, as well as development projects and programs. Prime Minister Crvenkovski stated this document had legal effect and that it would not be necessary to make any changes in the law since it can be realized within its frameworks. Therefore, the legal framework remains, and only the methodology will have to be worked out.
The Macedonian Government signed an agreement with the Swiss Federal Council in the palace in Bern yesterday, for providing assistance in the balance of payments, in the promotion of the economic and social reforms in Macedonia.
The agreement, with which the Swiss Government approves 7 million CHF to the Macedonian Government, was signed on behalf of the Macedonian side by the Minister of Development Bekir Zhuta, and from the Swiss side, by the vice president of the Swiss confederation and Minister of Economy Jean Pascal Delamira.
Over the course of the day, minister Zhuta also had a meeting with ambassador Rudolf Ramzauer, who is in charge of economic help and cooperation with Eastern European countries in the Swiss Government. The talks concentrated on taking concrete steps in the direction of realization of the irretrievable help amounting to 17 million CHF which the Swiss Government approved this year to the Republic of Macedonia. At the same time, it was agreed for the State Secretary in the Swiss Ministry of Economy Frank Blankhart to visit Macedonia soon, to sign an agreement on trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. In addition, a line of activities were arranged, aimed at signing a bilateral agreement on reprogramming Macedonia's debt to Switzerland, within the Paris club, the Macedonian Foreign Ministry announced.
The pubic company PTT "Makedonija" signed an agreement yesterday with the French telecommunications company "Alcatel CIT" from Paris for the delivery, assembly and release into work of digital telephone exchanges, valued at US$ 22.95 million. Namely, state of the art telephone exchanges will be installed in the towns and out of town regions of the municipalities of Skopje, Bitola, Demir Hisar, Struga, Prilep, Krushevo, Ohrid, Resen and Debar, with a total capacity of 197,440 telephone connections. These telephone exchanges are supplied through the Macedonian telecommunications project 1995, otherwise financed by the credit of US$ 42.5 million from the EBRD from London. The agreement services the needs for telephone connections in the aforementioned municipalities, in line with the Plan for investments in the telecommunications, to the year 2,000.