MAK-NEWS 31/03/95 (M.I.L.S.)
CONTENTS
[01] UNPROFOR RESOLUTIONS TO BE ADOPTED
[02] MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT ADDRESSES BOUTROS-GHALI
[03] STATEMENT BY HUGO ANSON ON GHALI'S REPORT
[04] PRESS-CONFERENCE OF ARENS
[05] GREECE ACCEPTS VANCE'S INVITATION
[06] DIPLOMATIC BRIEFS
[07] POLICE REVEALS ILLEGAL ISLAMIC ORGANIZATIONS
[08] HALITI MEETS WITH BBC REPRESENTATIVES
[09] BULGARIAN-MACEDONIAN PROTOCOL REMAINS UNSIGNED
[10] FIRST GREEK-KOSOVO MEETING
[11] TEXTILE WORKERS TO GO ON A GENERAL STRIKE
[12] ECONOMIC BRIEFS
[13] DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF MACEDONIA HOLDS PRESS-CONFERENCE
[14] INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL FAIR
[15] BALKAN TOURISM PRESENTATION
[16] CLOTHES FOR THE ORPHANS
M I L S N E W S
Skopje, 31 March 1995
[01] UNPROFOR RESOLUTIONS TO BE ADOPTED
The UN Security Council is expected to adopt 3 resolutions
to regulate the new mandate of UNPROFOR troops in the former
Yugoslavia and divide the UN mission into 3 separate
operations. The name used for the troops in Macedonia will
be UNPREDEP, those in Bosnia will keep the name UNPROFOR,
while the UN group in Croatia will be referred to as UNCRO.
UN Secretary General Boutros-Ghali's suggestion to have the
UN troops renamed to UNPROFOR - 1, 2 and 3 was not accepted.
The new mandate will last 8 months for UN troops in
Macedonia and Bosnia , and for one year in Croatia. The 3
operations will have separate chiefs'-of-staff, under a
common command with headquarters in Zagreb. The French
General, Barnard Jeanvier, will be a commanding officer and
Yasushi Akashi a political coordinator.
The former mandate of the 40,000 UN troops in the former
Yugoslavia expires tomorrow.
[02] MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT ADDRESSES BOUTROS-GHALI
UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali submitted a
report on 22 March to the Security Council, regarding the
UNPROFOR missions in Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and
Croatia. The report is an analysis of the security
situations in the states where UN forces are deployed.
All 3 states, Macedonian Television reports, have reacted to
the way Boutros-Ghali presented the situation before the
Security Council. The report was submitted to Macedonia on
28 March. Macedonian Television disclosed an unusual
practice of the Secretary General - he neglected to consult
the states prior to submitting the report and therefore did
not allow them to state their objections, if any. It seems,
the television comments, that Boutros-Ghali also failed to
consider reports on the situation in Macedonia which had
been sent in by his own monitoring team deployed in the
country. In regard to this, the Macedonian Government sent a
written protest to the Secretary General, demanding
explanation. Boutros-Ghali reportedly deviated from the
facts when describing the last elections in Macedonia,
mentioning only the irregularities in the first round, but
not the final results. The Macedonian Government's stand,
which is not included in the report, is that the boycott of
the second round of elections by the opposition parties came
as a result of their defeat in the first round. Furthermore,
Ghali's report says that leaders of Albanian parties in
Macedonia deny the results of last year's population census,
despite its having been verified by international experts.
The Government explained to Ghali that the initiative to
establish an Albanian-language university in Tetovo has
political instead of educational goals. Speaking of ethnic
relations in Macedonia, Boutros-Ghali failed to mention
efforts undertaken by the Government to resolve the
problems. The report also includes incorrect facts - instead
of referring to the Greek embargo as an illegal and one-
sided act, the Secretary General calls it a "trade embargo".
Despite being well aware of the fact that Macedonia has been
admitted to the UN within its internationally recognized
borders, Ghali says Macedonia's boundaries are
administrative. He should be reminded that Macedonia and
Yugoslavia are not in dispute over territories, but are
discussing the demarcation line, Macedonian Television
comments. It is Belgrade which has not yet answered the
Macedonian suggestion to form a joint commission to deal
with the issue. "All in all," the comment concludes,
"Macedonian diplomacy will have to keep an eye on the
activities of Boutros-Ghali's cabinet. It would be very
unfortunate if the mistakes and disputable statements in the
report have a negative effect on the good relations so far
developed between the Republic of Macedonia and the United
Nations."
[03] STATEMENT BY HUGO ANSON ON GHALI'S REPORT
In regard to the UN Secretary General's report on Macedonia,
his political representative in Macedonia, Hugo Anson, made
the following statement: "I am fully aware of the concern of
the Government with the Secretary General's report. What I
must underline, as his political representative in
Macedonia, is that there are absolutely no doubts about the
regularity of the last population census here, which was
verified by international observers, despite what some
political leaders and segments of population may think of
it. It is the UN's view that the census results are correct.
In my opinion, the report presents this correctly. As for
the elections, I believe it is worth mentioning that the UN
joined other international organizations in describing them
as generally regular. The fact that some parties like VMRO-
DPMNE and the Democratic Party viewed the election
differently, by no means indicates that the United Nations
shares their view. The UN considers that the elections were
conducted regularly and resulted in the appointment of a
legitimate and legal government. This is a Government that
the United Nations respects and cooperates with. As for
Macedonia's boundaries, it is of vital importance to
emphasize that there are no differences in opinion on this
issue. There are some smaller problems on the exact
demarcation line, especially on the northern border with
Serbia. I would like to stress that both the UN and the
Secretary General are very well informed of the efforts by
the Government and President Gligorov to cope with the
various temptations the country faces - the economical,
interior and exterior problems, dealing with all of them
through dialogue and constructive promises. There ought to
be no doubt about this at all."
[04] PRESS-CONFERENCE OF ARENS
Gert Arens, coordinator of the Ethnic Issues Department of
the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia, held
a press conference yesterday to describe the nature of his
mission to Macedonia. The goals of his visit, he said, are a
part of the mandate he has been assigned to help resolve
ethnic problems. "We have always thought that to have a
federation of two nations formed within the borders of this
state would be a big mistake. We are also deeply convinced
that this country could not be based on a two-nation
concept. Any autonomies in this direction would mean drawing
lines, and this is bound to bring about bigger problems."
Arens told reporters of his talks yesterday with
representatives of all Albanian subjects in Macedonia. The
talks, he said, focused on educational issues. Arens also
met with Erdogan Sarac, president of the Democratic Party of
Turks in Macedonia. He said Sarac had objected to failures
in securing the right to education in their mother tongue.
Arens also met with Interior Minister Ljubomir Frchkovski
and Minister of Education Emilija Simoska, and was received
by Parliament President Stojan Andov.
[05] GREECE ACCEPTS VANCE'S INVITATION
Makfaks reports that Evangelos Venizelos, spokesman for the
Greek Government, stated that Athens has accepted the
invitation of UN mediator Cyrus Vance to take part in the
meeting on the Macedonian-Greek dispute in New York. Not
stating the exact date, Venizelos said Greece will maintain
its publicly presented and well-known standpoints at the
talks.
The Macedonian side has not yet presented an official answer
to the invitation to the talks in New York.
[06] DIPLOMATIC BRIEFS
- Macedonian Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski received
Suha Hoyan, ambassador of Turkey in Macedonia, on a request
from the latter. They discussed bilateral relations and
joint appearance and participation in international
organizations.
- Macedonian Parliament President, Stojan Andov, yesterday
received Gert Arens, coordinator of the Ethnic Issues
Department of the International Conference on the Former
Yugoslavia. They conferred on ethnic relations and
implementation of basic rights by national minorities,
concluding that these rights must be implemented within the
legal framework of the state.
- Macedonian ambassador to Luxembourg, Jovan Tegovski,
handed over his credentials, by which President Gligorov
appoints him an ambassador to Luxembourg, to the Grand Duke
Jean.
[07] POLICE REVEALS ILLEGAL ISLAMIC ORGANIZATIONS
Two days ago Macedonian police searched offices of the
illegal Islamic humanitarian organization "Igase". They
arrested the organization's director, his deputy and two
other individuals from Jordan on grounds of suspicion of
their being members of the terrorist organization "Moslem
Brothers". According to Macedonian Television, all 4
Jordanians, who have been working on a long-term
infiltration of Islamic organizations for 3 years, will be
deported from Macedonia. They have established a web of 10
Islamic organizations with 50 delegates throughout the
Balkans. Under a humanitarian guise, the Skopje center of
the organization covered Kosovo, Serbia, Sandzak and Bosnia.
The World Islamic Humanitarian Organization approved
1,630,000 German marks for the activities of "Igase". The
organization had 17 projects planned in Macedonia, such as
special clinics and medical centers for Muslims only. A
large number of political leaders in Macedonia, Sandzak, and
Kosovo, as well as the Belgrade mufti (jurist) were on the
payroll of the "Igase". The police search discovered Islamic
fundamentalist propaganda material, video and audio tapes, a
large amount of foreign currency and financial
documentation, as well as a list of companies included in
money-laundering operations with this alleged humanitarian
organization.
[08] HALITI MEETS WITH BBC REPRESENTATIVES
During his visit to Great Britain, PDP president Adburahman
Haliti yesterday met with high ranking BBC officials. They
discussed Macedonia's political party system, events
regarding the university in Tetovo and the general position
of Albanians in Macedonia.
[09] BULGARIAN-MACEDONIAN PROTOCOL REMAINS UNSIGNED
Traffic expert teams from Macedonia and Bulgaria negotiated
goods transportation for two days but failed to sign a
protocol on the issue, due to the Bulgarian team's
objections to the Macedonian language. The representatives
from Bulgaria, however, claim they will continue to be
flexible in the future and will free up the passage of
Macedonian transportation companies to the greatest extent
possible.
Boris Chaushevski, under-secretary in the Macedonian
Ministry of Traffic and Communications, explained that the
Bulgarian side had been instructed to act in accordance with
Bulgarian official policy and could not sign the protocol.
The Macedonian side, he said, insisted on writing and
signing the document in Macedonian and in the language of
the other country before signing the agreement.
The two teams agreed to introduce measures to overcome
problems in transportation, currently experienced by both
countries. Licenses for transportation of passengers will
come into effect on May 1, 1995. They also determined
regulations for transport of dangerous materials, in
accordance with international conventions. The Bulgarian
side was asked to coordinate their part of construction work
on the Macedonia-Bulgaria railroad, which has been assigned
a deadline of the end of 1996.
[10] FIRST GREEK-KOSOVO MEETING
A1 Television reports that yesterday Greek officials had
their first official meeting with leaders of Kosovo
Albanians. Ibrahim Rugova, leader of the Kosovo Albanians,
met with Mihalis Tinelis, Greek charge d'affaires in
Belgrade, and adviser Kirijakos Laukakis, in Prishtina
yesterday. Rugova presented the difficult situation in
Kosovo, stressing the standpoint of Albanian leaders in
Kosovo - that of a need to resolve the Kosovo question
through a referendum for independence and neutrality. He
repeated the request to have Kosovo placed under an
international protectorate, as a transitional stage to help
normalize life in the region and create conditions for
resolving the problem through dialogue.
Political circles in Kosovo say this is an act to normalize
relations between Kosovo and Greece.
[11] TEXTILE WORKERS TO GO ON A GENERAL STRIKE
Textile, leather and shoe workers announced their intention
to go on a one hour general strike on 28 April. The strike
is supported by 63 per cent of the workers association's
30,000 membership. The Textile Trade Union adopted the
decision by a two-thirds majority of votes. Workers stated
the following demands: to introduce economic measures to
secure competitive production, particularly in export-
oriented companies, to secure the economic and social rights
of textile workers in the privatization process, and to
determine the lowest minimum wage.
[12] ECONOMIC BRIEFS
Annual statements of companies submitted to the Payment
Operations show Bureau negative results for the Macedonian
economy for last year. The total
income amounted to 350 billion Denars, while expenses were
higher by 5.2
per cent.
[13] DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF MACEDONIA HOLDS PRESS-CONFERENCE
At yesterday's press conference, leader of the Democratic
Party of Tomislav , Macedonia,Stojanovski, spoke of a
"faithless blockade of township committees" in Gostivar,
Tetovo and other municipalities in western Macedonia. The
constitution and law continue to be violated with
unprecedented forces in the spheres of construction and
education. This is also facilitated by certain Macedonians
in Skopje and Tetovo, he said. Stojanovski bitterly
criticized individuals who arbitrarily interpret the legal
regulations for the use of minority languages in township
committees.
[14] INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL FAIR
This year's International Medical Fair will be held in
Skopje, 5 - 7 April, to present the latest medical and
dental equipment. 86 companies from countries throughout the
world will present their products and participate in a
series of seminars.
[15] BALKAN TOURISM PRESENTATION
85 tourist agencies, associations and air companies from
Macedonia,
Yugoslavia, Croatia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Egypt, Russia, France
and Holland will
take part in the Balkan Tourist Presentation in Skopje, 5-7
April.
[16] CLOTHES FOR THE ORPHANS
Members of the US. Battalion of UNPROFOR plan to deliver a
pallet of clothes to the Orphanage "11 October" in Skopje
on March 31. The clothes were donated by the Marantha Bible
Church in Webbuille, Kentucky, USA.
(end)
mils-news 31 March '95
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