MAK-NEWS 22/05/95 (M.I.L.S.)
CONTENTS
[01] NEW PAGE IN US-MACEDONIAN RELATIONS
[02] TRIPLE MILITARY TRAINING MANEUVERS
[03] US BATTALION COMMANDING OFFICER REPLACED
[04] SERBIA MOST LIKELY TO RECOGNIZE MACEDONIA FIRST
[05] KARADZIC ADVISES MACEDONIA TO JOIN YUGOSLAVIA
[06] FORUM OF LEFT AND PROGRESSIVE FORCES IN THE BALKANS
[07] BOUTROS-GHALI SPEAKS POSITIVELY OF MACEDONIA
[08] EVERT MEETS BOUTROS-GHALI ON SKOPJE
[09] ITALY HAS CONSTRUCTIVE RELATIONS WITH MACEDONIA
[10] ITALY APPROVES CREDITS FOR MACEDONIA
[11] WORLD BANK TO OPEN MISSION IN SKOPJE
[12] BRITISH PARLIAMENTARIANS TO VISIT SKOPJE
[13] MACEDONIAN DELEGATION VISITING MOSCOW
[14] "SLAV-MACEDONIA" TERM PROTESTED AGAINST IN AUSTRALIA
[15] TRI-LINGUAL UNIVERSITY IN MACEDONIA
[16] GOVERNMENT HAS NO RIGHT TO GIVE CONCESSIONS, DP SAYS
[17] PRIVATE RADIO AND TV STATIONS TO PROTEST WITH THE MINISTRY
[18] HALILI SENTENCED TO 1.5 HALF YEARS
[19] RED CROSS CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY
[20] RACE FOR PEACE
[21] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT : KOSOVO PROBLEM GOES BEYOND THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RIGHTS (PART I)
MILS NEWS
Skopje, 22 May 1995
[01] NEW PAGE IN US-MACEDONIAN RELATIONS
Upon returning from a one-week official visit to the United
States, Macedonian Defense Minister Blagoj Handziski said,
"a new page has turned in the mutual relations between the
Republic of Macedonia and the United States." He said this
was a result of Macedonia's constructive internal and
foreign policies and its efforts to preserve peace in the
region. Handziski particularly emphasized his meeting with
the US Secretary of Defense William Perry with whom he
discussed new forms of cooperation in the field of defense.
The US, Handziski told reporters, has set aside one
million dollars for Macedonia from its budgeted funds set
aside for aiding member countries of the Partnership for
Peace program along with other finances within the
framework of the program for training Macedonian army
officers in the US.
Meeting with UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali
in New York, Handziski reported that the UN peace-keeping
mission in Macedonia has been the most successful so far and
that the Secretary general ought to appoint a special envoy
for Macedonia as soon as possible.
Asked by reporters whether Macedonia is ready to
make concessions on the flag and constitutional issues,
Handziski said his statement in New York was probably
either misinterpreted or taken out of context.
[02] TRIPLE MILITARY TRAINING MANEUVERS
Macedonian and US defense ministers have agreed to hold a
joint American-Albanian-Macedonian military training
maneuver in the near future, radio Tirana reports. No
details were given as to the place and exact date of the
training.
Meanwhile, troops from four Balkan states and the
United States began a first ever joint military exercise today,
Athens News Agency reported. Soldiers from Greece, Bulgaria,
Romania, Albania and the United States will participate in a
five-day military maneuver code named Operation New Spirit.
The exercise is being held near Kalamata, southern Greece.
Defense Ministry sources said the operation will focus on a
drill on distribution of humanitarian aid.
The Agency also reported that scores of protesters
rallied at the site of the operation to voice opposition to
what they called plans by NATO to extend its boundaries of
action. Peace movements extended a written protest letter to
Greek Commander Anastasios Kanellopoulos, who will lead the
exercise.
[03] US BATTALION COMMANDING OFFICER REPLACED
A ceremony took place in the UNPREDEP military camp in
Petrovec near Skopje two days ago, to mark the replacement
of Topper Rush, officer commanding the US contingent of UN
forces in Macedonia. Jean Camena will be the new commanding
officer over the next six months.
[04] SERBIA MOST LIKELY TO RECOGNIZE MACEDONIA FIRST
Belgrade Politika writes that the chances are that Federal
Yugoslavia will recognize the Republic of Macedonia sooner
than any other former Yugoslav republic. However, the paper
comments, due to widely known conditions, the recognition is
not likely to occur soon or easily. Politika quotes Zhivorad
Jovanovic, Assistant Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia, as
saying, "The key conditions for the recognition of Macedonia
are that Skopje accepts the continuity of the international
and legal subjectivity of today's Yugoslavia with the old
one, and that a principled compromise be found for its
dispute with Greece. We are not hiding that Macedonia is our
first, and Greece is our somewhat further neighbor, but also
an important one." He said Macedonia and Yugoslavia have a
common interest to improve economic, cultural and other
forms of cooperation, as the two nations have much in common
from a cultural and mentality point of view.
[05] KARADZIC ADVISES MACEDONIA TO JOIN YUGOSLAVIA
In an interview with the Athens TV station STAR, Radovan
Karadzic, leader of Bosnian Serbs, answered several
questions regarding the Greek-Macedonian dispute.
Expressing gratitude for the support and aid from the
brotherly Greek nation, Karadzic underlined his full
understanding for the sensitivity of Greece "concerning the
name Macedonia." He said the only possible way out for
Macedonia is to become annexed to Yugoslavia.
[06] FORUM OF LEFT AND PROGRESSIVE FORCES IN THE BALKANS
Nova Makedonija says the Greek Foreign Minister Karolos
Papoulias is expected to address the Forum of Left and
Progressive Forces in the Balkans, to be held in Athens,
June 2-6. The forum will contribute to a further
establishment of close relations between Balkan nations and
the improvement of mutual relations, Athens spectators say.
The forum will be attended by officials of the ruling
parties in Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania,
Macedonia, and some organizations from Turkey and all Greek
parties.
[07] BOUTROS-GHALI SPEAKS POSITIVELY OF MACEDONIA
"Authorities in Macedonia are for peace and complete
stability in the Balkan region," said UN Secretary General
Boutros Boutros-Ghali during his visit to Australia.
Speaking of the positive and preventive role of the UN
forces there, he referred to Macedonia by its constitutional
name, which was welcomed by the Macedonian community in
Australia.
[08] EVERT MEETS BOUTROS-GHALI ON SKOPJE
Miltiades Evert, the leader of Greece's main opposition
party, met UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali last
Friday for a half-hour meeting on Greek national issues.
Replying to a question on whether he was still optimistic
over a solution to the FYROM issue after meeting the UN
chief, Mr. Evert said that as he had stated at the very
beginning, "I am neither optimistic nor pessimistic. I
simply see an effort being made on the part of the United
Nations and the Americans for a just solution. The problem
is difficult, but one should always be optimistic without
backing down from Greek positions," he said.
[09] ITALY HAS CONSTRUCTIVE RELATIONS WITH MACEDONIA
Macedonia is a state with which we have constructive and
friendly relations, said Italian Foreign Minister Suzana
Anjeli, speaking before the Italian Parliamentary Foreign
Relations Committee during a debate on the situation in the
former Yugoslavia. "Rome is quite pleased with the peaceful
policy of independent Macedonia, and mutual relations are
developing well," she said. Anjeli announced a coming visit
to Italy by Macedonian Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski
who will accompany President Gligorov on his visit to Italy
and the Vatican.
[10] ITALY APPROVES CREDITS FOR MACEDONIA
The Italian Government decided to guarantee the approved
credits for Macedonia by banks in Italy, A1 Television
reports. Macedonia will immediately be granted a 10 million
German marks loan, with the possibility of obtaining an
additional credit of 10 million German marks. The guarantee
was necessary for Italian companies to become included in
more important projects in Macedonia.
[11] WORLD BANK TO OPEN MISSION IN SKOPJE
The World Bank plans to open a representative office in
Skopje to follow the implementation of programs of the Bank
and the International Development Association. This will
change the status of the temporary office in Skopje, already
working for several months. Alberto Eguren will remain chief
of the mission.
[12] BRITISH PARLIAMENTARIANS TO VISIT SKOPJE
On an invitation of Parliament President Andov, a delegation
of the UK Parliament will arrive in Macedonia on May 29 for
a four-day official visit. During their stay, British MP's
will meet senior officials of the Macedonian Parliament.
[13] MACEDONIAN DELEGATION VISITING MOSCOW
A delegation from Macedonia went to Moscow two days ago, to
attend a ceremony dedicated to the Slav educators St. Cyrill
and Methodius. The delegation, led by Assistant Minister of
Culture Olgica Trajkova, will meet with Russian and foreign
diplomats.
[14] "SLAV-MACEDONIA" TERM PROTESTED AGAINST IN AUSTRALIA
The Association of High-schools of the Australian state
Victoria recently protested against the Federal Government's
decision to rename Macedonians on the continent as "Slav-
Macedonians". Explaining the decision brings about
additional practical difficulties in education, the
Association initiated a procedure for the abolishment of the
decision with the Australian Federal Trade Union.
[15] TRI-LINGUAL UNIVERSITY IN MACEDONIA
The idea for opening an Albanian-English university, now
expanded to an Albanian-Macedonian-English university on an
initiative by George Soros, is likely to be realized in the
near future, the daily Vecher cites Radio Tirana as
reporting. Both the Albanian and Macedonian sides have
accepted the idea as a solution to current problems in
higher education, the radio says. Macedonian Minister of the
Interior Ljubomir Frckovski reportedly said that, if a
private university is to be open in the country, courses are
to be given in a foreign and, of course, in the Macedonian
language.
[16] GOVERNMENT HAS NO RIGHT TO GIVE CONCESSIONS, DP SAYS
With regard to official announcements of possible retreats
to be made by Macedonia toward Greece, the Democratic Party
of Macedonia said this government has no right to make any
concessions, especially none which endanger the vital
national interests. "We all heard Defense Minister Handziski
say in Washington what the current government is ready to
give Greece. This statement is obviously not a personal view
of the minister, but of the highest leadership; it clearly
indicates that the government is ready to give up the flag
and the 49th constitutional article. Moreover, the
government is trying to convince the Macedonian public that
even some opposition parties are backing the concessions.
The opposition, however, has never participated in any
collaboration on these issues," party leader Petar Goshev
said. The Democratic Party has never stated any readiness
for bargaining agreements with Greece, he firmly stressed.
"Meaning, we have not stated so even to Mr. Soros, like he
said, if he said, as Nova Makedonija wrote. We are fully
aware that the current government is negotiating such
bargains with Greece and is at the same time looking for a
way to blame this on someone else, or at least win over
collaborators for what it is doing."
[17] PRIVATE RADIO AND TV STATIONS TO PROTEST WITH THE MINISTRY
The Initiative Committee of the private commercial radio and
television stations in Macedonia has started a campaign to
gather signatures of support by citizens in order to
complete a petition to be submitted to the Ministry of
Traffic and Communication. The campaign started two days ago
and will last 7 days. The Committee also requested a meeting
with Minister Buzlevski to discuss ways for obtaining a
solution acceptable to both sides. The private radio and
television stations will ask for a period of six months to
adopt to the legal requirements on technical equipment.
[18] HALILI SENTENCED TO 1.5 HALF YEARS
The District Court in Tetovo sentenced Nevzat Halili, leader
of PDP -Party for National Unity and professor at the "Kiril
Pejcinovic" school in Tetovo, to 1.5 years in prison,
prolonging his custody until the decision comes into effect.
Halili is sentenced for participation in crowds and
preventing police officers from executing their duty.
[19] RED CROSS CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY
The Red Cross of Macedonia organized a number of ceremonies
last weekend, to celebrate its 50th anniversary and three
years of acting as an independent organization. The primary
celebration took place in the Army Center in Skopje two days
ago, and the participants were addressed by President
Gligorov. The president of the country, the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent and the
International Committee of the red Cross were awarded a Gold
Token tribute.
[20] RACE FOR PEACE
A so-called "Race for Peace" began in Gevgelija yesterday,
which will cross 830 kilometers throughout Macedonia. In the
end, the peace torch will be handed over to racers from
Yugoslavia, at the border-crossing of Tabanovce.
[21] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT : KOSOVO PROBLEM GOES BEYOND THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RIGHTS
(PART I)
Dr. Thomas Veremis, professor of political sciences
and an authority in international affairs, was conspicuous in
the last years because of the criticisms he has made toward
the foreign Greek policy, which caused reaction with its
neighbors and isolated Greece in the European Union. At
the same time, he was and is engaged to obtain close Balkan
relations. These days, in a fact-finding visit, he was in
Prishtina to continue afterwards in Skopje and Tirana. At
the very beginning, we addressed Mr. Veremis with the
question: what does the institution, which he leads, do.
Veremis: Our Foundation (Hellenic Foundation for
European and Foreign Policy) with its center in Athens, is
a non governmental organization and is led by the Council of
directors, which is composed of professors, intellectuals,
retired diplomats etc. Our work has to do with the
analyses of the present priorities of the foreign policies
of the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Middle East and, in a few
cases, with that of Northern Africa.
Our visit in Kosovo had as its aim the finding of
the best ways to prevent a possible conflict there, and the
discussion and the gathering of the necessary materials, out
of which, our team will compile and publish the respective
study. Our team is composed of personalities of different
nationalities: Albanians from Kosovo and Albania, Serbs from
Belgrade, Hungarians, Turkish and French.
Koha: How are you going to comment on the impressions
that you got from the present situation in Kosovo ?
Veremis: Terrible, no doubt. Being for the first
time in Kosovo, everybody can create an image that everything
is going smoothly, if he is oriented from what he sees in the
streets, which, most of the time presents (relatively) a
normal situation. But, it is very difficult to illustrate
the situation which prevails here. We came with views and
ideas which used to go approximately with the situation and
with notes from books and newspapers that almost give a
different impression. After the contacts and discussions we
had with important political and social personalities in
Kosovo, we arrived in a nonpublic conclusion that this
region is in a deep and escalating crisis, which can explode
at any time. I think that the psychosis of explosion is an
approximate characteristic of the situation in Kosovo today.
Naturally, we are going to publish and distribute the
studies and researches on Kosovo, as much as we can, to the
non governmental sister organizations, to the personalities,
in conferences etc.
Koha: Did you talk with both sides involved in the
conflict? What might be your impression?
Veremis: The Serbian attitude was very irritated,
especially that one that insists on having Kosovo as their
cultural center and identity, which approves that the ethnic
structure in Kosovo has been changed because of the
Albanian pressure during the autonomy, etc. The Serbs are
trying to treat the situation in Kosovo as wholly Serb,
which has nothing to do with Kosovo meaning, that it is an
integral part of the Serbian territory. Based on what we
were informed in Belgrade, among other things, was their
refusal to the international engagement in the Kosovo
question and the obvious dissatisfaction for the aim of our
mission.
I am of the opinion, at the same time, that the
Albanian side has an abnormal social life there. I came to
this conclusion, especially, after the violent closer of the
important Albanian institutions. I think that here the Serbs
can not say that the Albanians applied a voluntary
isolation, which is their frequent explanation. The
arguments on the Albanian side that the acceptance of the
Serbiam state is going to be a legitimacy of dictatorship
and the violation of human rights, is a non deniable
reality. Naturally, the biggest question is how much time
the Serbs need and how far they will go to make Albanians
participants of their state. Considering the present
situation, it's difficult to find any kind of interest from
both sides. That's why, I think, that both parallel states
that are functioning in Kosovo, that of the official Serbian
and the Albanian parallel, are going to exist up to the time
that this crisis is not going to exceed its limits.
Koha: Did you talk with President Rugova?
Veremis: Mr. Rugova is of the opinion that the
Kosovo independence is not a utopia; it is possible and it
might be beneficial to the Serbs, as well, if such a thing
is going to be accepted. Surely, as I can consider the
actual situation within the framework of Belgrade-Prishtina
relations, I do not see any possibility that such a thing
will be realized. But, it might be that Mr. Rugova can have
a clearer vision than I and can see more deeply in the
political future. It might be possible. But I doubt that
such a situation that is prevailing today, of a full
polarization, can exist for a long time. The evident crisis
in Kosovo can be turned easily into an explosive crisis, if
not today, in the coming years, if nothing is going to be
done. On the other side, I do have the impression that the
international opinion seems to be discouraged in this
aspect.
(to be continued)
(end)
mils news 22 May '95
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