MAK-NEWS 08/05/95 (M.I.L.S.)
CONTENTS
[01] GLIGOROV ATTENDS CEREMONY IN LONDON, PARIS
[02] ANDOV INVITED TO SLOVENIA
[03] FRENCH-MACEDONIAN AGREEMENT ON TRANSPORTATION
[04] MACEDONIAN ECONOMIC DELEGATION VISITING MONTENEGRO
[05] AUSTRIA INTRODUCES VISAS FOR MACEDONIANS
[06] MACEDONIAN TRADE UNION ADMITTED TO EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION
[07] NDP DELEGATION VISIT ALBANIA
[08] PDP INSISTS ON PRE-COALITION AGREEMENTS
[09] PEACEFUL PROTEST MARCH IN GOSTIVAR
[10] VMRO-DPMNE HOLDS SECOND CONGRESS
[11] RED CROSS DAY
[12] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: SECOND CONGRESS OF VMRO-DPMNE (Nova Makedonija, 7-8 May 1995)
M I L S N E W S
Skopje, May 8, 1995
[01] GLIGOROV ATTENDS CEREMONY IN LONDON, PARIS
Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov visited London last
Saturday to attend the ceremony on the occasion of the 50th
anniversary of victory over fascism. He met with British
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Douglas Hogg, under-
secretary in the US State Department Richard Holbrooke, US
vice-president Al Gore, Russian Prime Minister Victor
Chernomirdin, British Foreign Minister Douglas Herd,
baroness Margaret Thatcher and Lord Carrington. Today,
Gligorov is to attend a ceremony for the same occasion in
Paris, France.
[02] ANDOV INVITED TO SLOVENIA
Macedonian Parliament President Stojan Andov received
Vladimir Topier, vice-president of the Slovenian parliament,
accompanied by Jozhica Puhar, Slovenian ambassador to
Macedonia. They discussed the situation in the region and
the work of the two parliaments. Andov was invited to visit
in Slovenia.
[03] FRENCH-MACEDONIAN AGREEMENT ON TRANSPORTATION
The republics of Macedonia and France signed a document to
regulate transportation of passengers and goods between the
two countries. The agreement protocols had been agreed upon
during the Macedonian-French bilateral talks in Paris.
[04] MACEDONIAN ECONOMIC DELEGATION VISITING MONTENEGRO
A delegation of the Macedonian Chamber of Commerce, led by
Dushan Petrevski, is currently visiting Montenegro. The
visit is the result of a mutual interest in intensifying
economic relations between the two countries after the UN
lifts its sanctions against Yugoslavia.
[05] AUSTRIA INTRODUCES VISAS FOR MACEDONIANS
The Austrian foreign ministry sent a note to the foreign
ministry of Macedonia, to notify the latter of the May 15,
1995 Austrian Government's decision to require border entry
visas for Macedonian passengers. Travelers having visas to
enter all EU member countries are also required visas when
traveling to or through Austria.
Citizens of Macedonia can obtain visas at all Austrian
diplomatic and consular offices.
[06] MACEDONIAN TRADE UNION ADMITTED TO EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION
Macedonian Trade Union Association's president Zhivko
Tolevski left for Brussels to attend the 8th Congress of the
European Trade Union Association, scheduled for May 9 to 12
. The agenda of the conference includes official admission
of the Macedonian Trade Union as a full member.
[07] NDP DELEGATION VISIT ALBANIA
A delegation of the People's Democratic Party (NDP), party
of Albanians in Macedonia, led by president Iliaz Halimi, is
currently visiting Albania. They met with Pietr Arbnori,
Albanian parliament president, to discuss problems faced by
Albanians in Macedonia. NDP delegates pointed out that
Albanians still have no equal rights in Macedonia and are
not allowed an education of their own choice. They
underlined their intention to undertake all democratic means
in the future to contribute to better democracy in
Macedonia.
Nova Makedonija writes that PDP president Abdurahman Haliti
and Kosovo Albanians leader Ibrahim Rugova met secretly in
Tirana yesterday.
[08] PDP INSISTS ON PRE-COALITION AGREEMENTS
PDP will not accept the position of parliament vice-
president, left empty after the resignation of Abdurahman
Haliti, until certain agreements in the pre-coalition talks
are met by the Macedonian side. Mevliam Tahiri said PDP
insists on a dialogue on fundamental issues, such as the
status and rights of Albanians and other minorities in the
country and the workings of parliament.
[09] PEACEFUL PROTEST MARCH IN GOSTIVAR
About 4,000 citizens of Gostivar, Tetovo, Debar and Kicevo
held a peaceful protest march in Gostivar last Friday, to
express dissatisfaction with the Tetovo Court's sentences
against Fadil Suleimani and Milaim Feiziu. Demonstrators,
all ethnic Albanians, said the proceedings were fabricated
and aimed against the Albanian nationality and its right to
an education. They requested that the sentences be appealed
and that the prisoners be set free. The protest was
conducted in a peaceful atmosphere.
[10] VMRO-DPMNE HOLDS SECOND CONGRESS
In Kicevo, yesterday, VMRO-DPMNE began its Second Congress
with 223 party delegates in attendance and several hundred
guests from Macedonia and abroad. Leader Ljupco Georgievski
gave an introductory speech on the work of the party in
between the two congresses and plans for future activities.
The basic goal of VMRO-DPMNE, he said, is to organize new
parliamentary and presidential elections next year. He
announced an agreement for cooperation on this agenda with
some other out-of-parliament parties. He also announced
changes in the party's strategy from ideological to
practical activities.
On the second day of the congress, Georgievski was re-
elected party president with a large majority of votes.
[11] RED CROSS DAY
An appropriate ceremony will be held at the premises of the
humanitarian organization Dare Dzambaz in Skopje, to
celebrate 8th of May, the international Red Cross Day. The
role and importance of the Red Cross will be presented by
Finn Ruda, Chief-of-mission of the International Committee
of Red Cross, and Bill Harper, Chief-of-mission of the
International Red Cross Federation.
[12] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: SECOND CONGRESS OF VMRO-DPMNE
(Nova Makedonija, 7-8 May 1995)
In Kicevo over the last weekend, 223 party delegates of
VMRO-DPMNE and several hundred guests from home and abroad,
held its Second Congress or, as the party likes to say, the
tenth congress of continuity of the legendary Interior
Macedonian Revolutionary Organization.
The congress began with the standard procedure of electing
working groups and adopting working regulations, such as the
presidency of the congress, and verifying candidate and
election committees.
Greeting addresses were given by various politicians,
including Aleksandar Jordanov, representative of the
Alliance of Democratic Forces in Bulgaria, Elke Lorens,
delegate of the Pan-European Union of Germany and CSU, as
well as members of other political parties, such as MAAK and
the Democratic Party.
The most important speech given during the first day of the
congress was the one given by party leader Ljupco
Georgievski, as it was a report on the work of the party
between the two congresses with a special emphasis on basic
points of the planned activities for the future. Remembering
the party's ideology links with the VMRO party in the past,
Georgievski pointed out this was the first congress of a
VMRO held in free, independent and autonomous Macedonia.
Speaking of previous results of VMRO-DPMNE, he repeated
there is no political party in Macedonia whose fundamental
principles and goals have been achieved to such a degree as
the one achieved by VMRO-DPMNE. He especially proclaimed the
activities of the party's parliamentary group in the
previous parliament. The group, he said, was the most
outstanding fighter for ideas of VMRO-DPMNE, as well as its
acceptance by the Macedonian citizens.
Georgievski also spoke of the failures and mistakes in the
work. The main mistake, he said, made by himself and the
top leaders, was that VMRO-DPMNE missed two chances to
participate or to even have a leading role in forming a
government in the country. The first one in 1990, and the
second one two years later. "We were building an image of a
party which refused to have anything to do with ex-
communists or extreme parties of Albanians, but we lost the
sense of pragmatism and missed a chance to form a
government." Another party weakness, he said, was that a
great number of our members left the party or formed parties
of their own with the same prefix. The third significant
mistake made by the entire leadership, according to
Georgievski, was that the party allowed people from other
parties to enter the leadership and move fast in their
political careers. It was exactly these people, he said, who
damaged the party most strongly. And the last and biggest
mistake, he said, was that sufficient efforts were not
undertaken before the second elections in the country to
create a strong coalition and win the elections.
In this context, he proposed active cooperation with three
or four out-of-parliament parties to join efforts to defeat
the current government by democratic means. "We are aware
that, despite the huge support for our party, we cannot come
out as absolute winners of any elections all by ourselves.
This," he added, "is possible only with a strong coalition
of opposition parties. The basic goal of VMRO-DPMNE in this
period will be to schedule new elections in the country." He
said this could be achieved after the local elections by
organizing a general referendum on new elections to be held
next year.
Georgievski also announced a new strategy of the party, to
consist of correcting the mistakes and introducing a
philosophy of political pragmatism to win power in the
Republic of Macedonia.
The second day of the congress, Georgievski was re-elected a
party leader by a large majority (195) of votes in favor, 11
against and one abstained. He was the only candidate for the
position. Following the election, he thanked the delegates
for their mandate and repeated the basic goals of the party,
stating that VMRO-DPMNE has always been and will remain a
symbol of the struggle for an independent and free
Macedonian state.
Meantime, at a closed-doors plenary meeting, the party
adopted a new Statute, introducing an essential change in
the organization. The current municipal committees of VMRO-
DPMNE are to be replaced by election committees, organized
on a basis of the territorial division of the country into
electoral units. Presidents of these committees, under the
new Statute, will automatically become members of the
party's Central Committee. That is why this congress elected
only a party leader, while members of the Central Committee
are to be appointed.
Party members adopted nearly 20 proposed amendments to the
text of the party resolution, which lists 31 points for the
main direction of action by VMRO-DPMNE in the future.
What was characteristic of the debate was the rational and
constructive approach by all participants, resulting in no
bitter debates or verbal conflicts. Dzevat Dzuliovski, party
delegate of Debar, gave an outstanding speech on problems of
Muslim Macedonians in western Macedonia. The former
parliament deputy of the party and delegate of Bitola
Gjorgji Kotevski insisted on new solutions in appointing
members of the leadership.
The congress was concluded with the debates and adoption of
several declarations, among the more important being the
ones against political oppression and position abuse, on the
privatization in Macedonia, on unity of the Macedonian
nation, on Macedonians of Islam religion as an integral part
of the Macedonia nation, against violation of basic human
rights and liberties, and on national reconciliation of
Macedonians scattered throughout the world.
The character of the party was somewhat redefined; from now
on, VMRO-DPMNE will be acting as a party of the right
center, very close to European demochristian parties.
(end)
mils-news 8 May '95
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