MAK-NEWS 17/04/95 (M.I.L.S.)
CONTENTS
[01] FINANCIAL SUPPORT BY WORLD BANK
[02] MACEDONIAN DEBT TO BE REPROGRAMMED
[03] DIPLOMATIC BRIEFS
[04] GOLHAN GIVES INTERVIEW FOR NOVA MAKEDONIJA
[05] ATTEMPT TO VIOLATE SANCTIONS
[06] INCIDENT ON THE MACEDONIAN-ALBANIAN BORDER
[07] BERISHA RECEIVES RUGOVA IN TIRANA
[08] WALKING OUT OF PARLIAMENT, A MORAL ACT
[09] ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY TO ADVISE PILGRIMS
[10] INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON PRIVATIZATION IN SKOPJE
[11] JUBILEES
[12] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: CHIEF AMONG AMBASSADORS - PART II (Puls, 14 April, 1995)
M I L S N E W S
Skopje, 17 April, 1995
[01] FINANCIAL SUPPORT BY WORLD BANK
At a press-conference in Skopje two days ago, Wilfred Tavic,
Vice-President of the World Bank, said Macedonia will
receive $350 to $400 million in support over the next 5
years. The funds will be used for concrete projects, unlike
the present situation where the funds are used to support
the country's balance of payments. Rachel Lomax, World Bank
Director for Europe, confirmed that Macedonia meets all the
conditions necessary for obtaining the first tranche of the
FESAK credit ($85 million for economic reforms and $14
million for social projects), expected sometime towards the
middle of May.
[02] MACEDONIAN DEBT TO BE REPROGRAMMED
Macedonian ambassador to Berlin, Srdjan Kerim, said on a
press conference at the Macedonian Foreign Ministry, that
Karl Dieter Springer, German Minister for International
Economic Relations and Development, will visit Skopje on
April 19. The visit is expected to result in concrete
financial aid from Germany, rather than the technical and
expert support previously provided. Germany is one of the
largest creditors of Macedonia - its debt to Germany ($55
million) comprises 20 per cent of its total liabilities to
the Paris Club.
[03] DIPLOMATIC BRIEFS
- In Paris last Friday, Ali Abdusalem Teki, Secretary of the
People's Bureau of Libya in France, and Luan Starova,
ambassador of Macedonia to France, signed a Protocol on
Establishment of Diplomatic Relations. The ceremony took
place at the Libyan embassy in Paris and during this the
Republic of Macedonia was recognized under its
constitutional name.
- Macedonian President Gligorov received Horhe Fuentes,
ambassador of Spain to Macedonia, who handed over his
credentials. Also in attendance was Victor Gaber,
undersecretary in the Foreign Ministry. Fuentes was also
received by Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski.
- Last week Macedonian ambassador in France, Luan Starova,
was received by the president of the French Senate Committee
on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces for talks on
bilateral relations.
[04] GOLHAN GIVES INTERVIEW FOR NOVA MAKEDONIJA
In its issue last Saturday , the Skopje daily Nova
Makedonija published its interview with Mehmed Golhan,
Defense Minister of Turkey. Asked about Macedonian-Turkish
cooperation in the field of defense, Golhan said, "Every
country has something new to learn from another state, just
like we have a great deal to learn from Macedonia and
Macedonia from us. Therefore having in mind the mutual
history, culture, traditions and customs it is obvious that
Macedonia and Turkey can continue to cooperate as two
countries with full mutual confidence. Even now cooperation
exists in the field of education and training of military
officers. But the potential is much greater. We have to
explore all possibilities of joint military production to
satisfy the defense needs of both countries. Furthermore,
there is an interesting possibility of joint products sold
to third markets." Speaking of the essence of the agreement
signed on technical and industrial cooperation, Golhan said
that every country has a right to posses modern military
equipment, provided either through aid or concrete
cooperation with other countries. The agreement includes
legal plans for future cooperation between Macedonia and
Turkey.
As for the role of Turkey as a major Balkan power in the
maintenance of peace in the Balkans, he said, "from the very
beginning, the efforts of Turkey in the UN and NATO have
focused on putting an end to the crisis in the former
Yugoslavia. There are 1,500 Turkish troops in the UN forces
deployed in Bosnia, Turkish planes are stationed in Italy
and a Turkish submarine is under UN command in the Adriatic.
The efforts have also included numerous talks between
Turkish leaders and the president of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and
meetings of the Turkish Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
with the Bosnian leaders."
Asked whether there is a real possibility of a spill over of
the Bosnian war to the south, he said he would not predict
things but that all options have to be considered when
military affairs are concerned. "All countries are
indirectly affected by the war in Bosnia and Macedonia's
concerns are fully understandable. Should the war spread
south to Sandzak or Kosovo this will mean a global Balkan
conflict. In such a case, not only Turkey, but also Western
countries to the north, like Germany, France or England,
would not be able to say 'We are far from this and can
remain aside'. We would all be affected by such a war and
that is why Turkey insists on an end to the Bosnian war."
Golhan announced the possibility of joint military maneuvers
by Macedonia and Turkey.
Commenting on statements on Albania being the Balkan country
most trusted by Turkey, he said that Albania is just as
important for Turkey as Macedonia is, and Turkey's interest
is in seeing these two countries build mutual relations in
peace and to understand and overcome all problems through
joint effort.
[05] ATTEMPT TO VIOLATE SANCTIONS
The Macedonian Foreign Ministry informed that the Customs
Department has revealed an attempt to transit oil
exploitation equipment parts through Macedonia to Serbia,
despite the UN sanctions on Yugoslavia. On their way to
Macedonia, the goods crossed several countries and many
changes were made to the documents. The parts entered
Macedonia through Bulgaria on trucks belonging to a
neighboring country. The investigation showed that certain
companies in Macedonia were also involved. The investigation
continues and the final results will be reported to the
international organizations in charge of surveillance over
the implementation of the sanctions.
[06] INCIDENT ON THE MACEDONIAN-ALBANIAN BORDER
The Macedonian Ministry of the Interior reported an incident
on the Macedonian-Albanian border, on April 14 , in which
Bashkim Tavciu, an Albanian citizen, was killed while
attempting to illegally cross the border with a group of
other individuals. The group, while crossing the border near
Debar and having entered 700 meters onto Macedonia
territory, opened fire on the police patrol.
The Albanian Interior Ministry issued a statement to
"condemn this act of the Macedonian authorities" and saying
that the killing was no accident and could irritate the
people and open doors for larger-scale incidents.
[07] BERISHA RECEIVES RUGOVA IN TIRANA
In Tirana last Friday, Albanian President Sali Berisha
received Ibrahim Rugova, leader of Kosovo Albanians, for
talks on the problems in Kosovo and the global situation in
general. They concluded that Kosovo is the main problem in
the region and that the Balkan crisis cannot be fully
resolved without a solution for Kosovo. According to them
the problem ought to be resolved through dialogue between
Prishtina and Belgrade with mediation provided by a third
country.
[08] WALKING OUT OF PARLIAMENT, A MORAL ACT
Iliaz Halimi, president of the NDP branch in Tetovo, said
that ethnic Albanian parliamentarians have a moral
obligation toward the Albanian people in Macedonia and
should abandon the Macedonian parliament. The Albanian
language, he said, should not only be spoken at parliament
but in all state institutions as well.
[09] ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY TO ADVISE PILGRIMS
The Saudi Arabia Ministry on Pilgrimage and the Islamic
Religious Community in Macedonia signed an agreement to
authorize the latter as the sole organization to approve
pilgrimage trips. The Macedonian Commission for Relations
With Religious Communities informs all those interested in
the trip to contact the Islamic Religious Community which
will inform them of all details.
[10] INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON PRIVATIZATION IN SKOPJE
Last Friday at the Skopje School of Law, the Association of
European Student Structures began an international congress
on the topic of "Privatization in Central and Eastern
Europe, With a Special Review on Macedonia". The congress
will last 4 days and be attended by students, university
professors and experts from Turkey, Greece and Slovenia as
well as eminent Macedonian professors and experts leading
the current privatization process in the country.
[11] JUBILEES
- In Skopje yesterday, a ceremony took place to mark the
50th anniversary of the establishment of the first
Macedonian Government. The ceremonial session was attended
by all previous prime ministers (except for Lazar
Kolishevski who was absent due to ill health) and cabinet
members.
- A ceremony was organized in the village of Sandevo to
celebrate the 53rd anniversary of the renewal of the Skopje
Partisan platoon.
- The Macedonian National Theater celebrated its 50th
anniversary in Skopje.
[12] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: CHIEF AMONG AMBASSADORS - PART II
(Puls, 14 April, 1995)
Question: Not only with the Pentagon's view on Macedonia in
mind, but also on several other occasions, the US has
stressed its interest in maintaining peace and stability in
Macedonia. Do American officials have a clear picture of
this, i.e., are they supporting "the integrity of the
Republic of Macedonia" or just "territorial integrity"?
Answer: I do not see how these two could be divided. We
insist on a stable development of Macedonia within its
boundaries and development of a multiethnic democratic
society. I think this is the exact image your Government
wishes to develop for itself - they want to develop this
model and become a full member of Western democratic
institutions. The model is important for us. It is important
in the sense that it is necessary for us to help you achieve
this.
Question: I asked you this having in mind speculations with
possible confederations and federations in Macedonia or even
non-existence of this state. Is your Government's position
to support the security of the state or of the territory?
Answer: Again, I would not divide those two. It is our view
that the Macedonian citizens are the ones to decide on their
own future and on how they would like to see themselves and
their relations with other states. Our orientation is to
support the territorial integrity of this state and its
growth as a multiethnic and open-market democracy. If I am
to sum up our policy here, I believe this is it in one
sentence.
Question: A certain part of the Macedonian population seems
to question the US support. There were articles in the
press, backed with figures and dollars, suggesting that the
current economic cooperation of Macedonia with the Russian
Federation and the aid sent in by Russia should make the
leaders consider turning to Moscow. The articles seemed to
have forgotten the US support at the Paris Club, the World
Bank, IMF and other institutions. Can you tell us just how
large the Macedonian-US economic cooperation and the US aid
have been so far?
Answer: First of all, let me say that the days are now gone
when we used to think in terms of the cold war and the
contest to win the hearts and thoughts of other nations, as
well as the competition of who will win more interest
spheres between the former Soviet Union and the US. The US
would be very pleased to see any other country help
Macedonia in both economic and political ways. There are, of
course, still some areas arousing our concern, but those are
not generated by the cold war. The degree of the engagement
of Russia and other countries here is a positive trend. On
our part, we still would not like to discuss our engagement
here, as this is in our mutual interest. We have a program
for considerable economic aid for Macedonia. According to
some statistics that I have read, this is the largest
program per capita in the region. All together the sum
amounts to some $30 million a year in direct aid programs,
with $13 million coming from USAID against the $8 million in
1994. Last year we had $7.5 million from the Public Act on
Aid in Food and Agricultural Products. This year we will
provide an additional $5 million under this program. We also
have a growing program for aid in military cooperation; we
are included in health aid programs and scientific
cooperation. The latest thing here is what is called the
"Southern-Balkan Initiative". The plan is currently being
discussed by the US Congress and I believe it will meet with
considerable support and will provide $30 million for
development of infrastructure in Bulgaria, Macedonia and
Albania. We will be working with these countries on the best
ways to use the funds and to increase them through
international financial institutions like the World Bank or
EBRD, for the purpose of developing the infrastructure in
the region. I myself, let me tell you, have been a strong
supporter of the development of the infrastructure even
before I came here and even before I knew I would come. It
became clear to me that it is neither in your nor our
interest to allow Serbia to have a monopoly over the road
and railroad traffic in the Balkans. In order to develop the
entire region alternative routes are highly needed. A part
of our sanctions policy was to develop the infrastructure in
Macedonia and enable transportation of products around
Serbia. When we started with what was then available we soon
realized how hard it is to go around Serbia via Albania or
Bulgaria. It became especially clear to us, while engaged in
control over the sanctions, that something must be done in
the field of infrastructure. So we started working out plans
and pushing them through Washington. We even have a name for
this; it is called the "belt road". Thus we came up with
something we referred to as our "Balkan belt road", a system
of development of the infrastructure and alternative routes.
Its implementation is not as we would like it to be, but we
hope that this year it will be better. The creation was
called a "green corridor", that is a road for transportation
of products, especially agricultural, via Bulgaria, Romania
and Hungary to Western European markets. At the same time,
this also meant coordinating activity to enable quick
transportation of goods across borders. This led to a need
for improvement of the existing border-crossings. Sometimes
it takes a long time between working out a plan and its
realization, but it is coming. We worked on the Deve Bair-
Ghueshevo border-crossing. Now we have funds and will be
working on the Novo Selo border-crossing, as well as on the
improvement of border-crossings with Albania. We did the
same on the Romanian-Bulgarian border and on the border
between Romania and Hungary. All this is helping Macedonia
since this means that products can be quickly moved upwards
and out to the markets in Western Europe. We have the OSCE
blessing for the program. There was even a special OSCE
meeting on the issue on 31 January and 1 February 1994,
immediately before I came here.
Question: Let me go back a little to the beginning of your
answer. Speaking of Russia, you mentioned economic and
political support. Accidentally or on purpose, you forgot to
mention the military cooperation, which is perhaps similar
to the one Macedonia currently has with the US. I ask this
because we are witnessing an offensive policy from Russia
toward the Balkans in this field - let me remind you of the
agreements with Bosnian Serbs, with Bulgaria...
Answer: I will be speaking from our point of view. We no
longer feel that we are engaged in a competition. What we
are interested in is to advance in establishing as good
relations with Macedonia as possible. We have brought a so-
called Contact Group from the US Defense Secretariat to
develop a program quite consistent and parallel with the
Partnership for Peace program existing in the other
countries in the region. We strongly support the inclusion
of Macedonia into the Partnership for Peace program as soon
as possible. As you know this requires a consensus in NATO,
and we all know the political reasons for the fact that this
has not yet been done. But we are behind this and are
constantly pushing Macedonia's admission into the
Partnership for Peace. I am for development of our relations
in parallel, so that when the day comes for Macedonia to be
included into the Partnership it will be quite able to join
the program with the experience acquired during current
mutual military cooperation. This is also in accordance with
your Government's decision to modernize the army upon the
NATO model. We believe this is a good way to remain. We, on
our part, will support this as much as we can and we are
pleased that you have chosen to be shaped in accordance with
these institutions. This does not mean that other models or
other parties interested in helping you should be deterred.
We do not insist on your doing this, but are pleased to see
you accepting our model.
to be continued
(end)
mils-news 17 April '95
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