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MILS NEWS 13/05/96From: "M.I.L.S." <[email protected]>Macedonian Information Liaison Service DirectoryCONTENTS[01] GLIGOROV - 'MISUNDERSTANDINGS WITH EU SETTLED'[02] MACEDONIA-GERMANY TRANSPORT REGULATIONS[03] MACEDONIAN-DUTCH DISCUSSIONS ON THE BILATERAL COOPERATION[04] SWISS LIAISON OFFICE SOON IN MACEDONIA[05] CLINTON BELIEVES IN THE EARLY SOLUTION OF THE MACEDONIAN-GREEK DISPUTE[06] ALBANIANS LOSE FROM THE NEW TERRITORIAL DIVIDING OF MACEDONIA?[07] PDPA AND NDP AGITATE FOR SALI BERISHA[08] DZAFERI - 'AGREEMENT WITH CONCRETE SOLUTIONS IS NECESSARY'[09] ELIZABETH REHN - 'MANY ARE PLAYING WITH FIRE IN KOSOVO'[10] CIA: ALBANIA, FR YUGOSLAVIA AND MACEDONIA ARE SERIOUSLY THREATENED BY A WAR[11] USA WILL NOT ALLOW SERBIAN AGGRESSION IN KOSOVO[12] RUGOVA - 'INDEPENDENT AND NEUTRAL KOSOVO IS THE OPTIMUM SOLUTION'[13] LJUPCHO TODOROVSKI ACTING DIRECTOR OF KOMERCIJALNA BANK[14] SOCIALIST PARTY CONGRESS ON MAY 26[15] PUBLIC PROTEST AGAINST THE WAY THE SIGNATURES ARE CHECKEDMILS SUPPLEMENT[16] 'We Are Not a Monitoring Case' ('Vecer', 09 May 1996)MILS NEWSSkopje, 13 May 1996[01] GLIGOROV - 'MISUNDERSTANDINGS WITH EU SETTLED'Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov, after his three-days visit to Paris, expressed his satisfaction with the talks he had had with the French officials. He said the misunderstandings that had appeared between Macedonia and the EU about the Agreement on Cooperation and Trade had been settled. Gligorov informed the press about President Chirac's stand that 'no matter if there will be or not an insisting on a regional association, it will not be a condition for a country to join the Union'.He also informed on the agreement to have France included in the 'Vardar Valley' project (as the French experts had prepared the study), as well as to make an attempt to include Germany, some other European countries and the European Investment Bank. Mr. Chirac, informed Gligorov, had gladly accepted the invitation to visit Macedonia soon, which would be the first visit of a Head of an EU member country to Macedonia. [02] MACEDONIA-GERMANY TRANSPORT REGULATIONSMacedonia and Germany signed the Draft Agreement and the Protocol on the regulation of the transport between the two countries. At the meeting of the Transport Ministries representatives in Germany, the trucks shipment of merchandise were agreed on for 5,500 bilateral and transit licenses and 700 licenses for transport to and from third countries. It was also agreed for Germany to tolerate the Macedonian vehicles regarding the ECO 1 and ECO 2 regulations of the bus transport, which are already in force with other EU countries.The railways administrations of the two countries will also meet soon to discuss the re-establishing of the rail transport, which was disconnected when the UN sanctions on FRY were imposed. [03] MACEDONIAN-DUTCH DISCUSSIONS ON THE BILATERAL COOPERATIONRepresentatives of the Foreign Ministries of Macedonia and Holland concluded in Hague last Friday, that bilateral relations had been developing satisfactorily, and expressed the interest to intensify them further. In that context, the terms of signing agreements on the regulation of the bilateral relations were fixed.As Macedonian Foreign Ministry officially announced, Macedonian party informed on the successful completion of the negotiations regarding the Agreement with the EU, on the stand of the country about the regional approach and about the evolution clause. [04] SWISS LIAISON OFFICE SOON IN MACEDONIAMacedonian Parliament President Tito Petkovski and the Swiss Ambassador to Macedonia Gaudentz Ruff, at a recent meeting in Skopje, discussed the opening a Swiss Liaison Office in Skopje soon. Despite the well developing mutual relations, it was said that the economic cooperation should be further improved.Swiss Ambassador met with Macedonian Finance Minister Taki Fiti last Friday, when they agreed that the investments protection agreement should be signed as soon as possible. It was also concluded that the procedures on avoiding the double taxation and on protection of tax evasion should start soon. [05] CLINTON BELIEVES IN THE EARLY SOLUTION OF THE MACEDONIAN-GREEK DISPUTE'Makpress' agency informed on the statement of the American President Bill Clinton, given after the meeting with the Greek President Stefanopoulos, that he positively estimated the Macedonian-Greek relations. Clinton said they had discussed the possibilities for final solution of the dispute, adding that it was of a great importance for the stability of the Balkans.This made some Greek journalists, reported 'Makpress' conclude that 'a solution for the name dispute will be found during the next round of Macedonian-Greek talks in June'. [06] ALBANIANS LOSE FROM THE NEW TERRITORIAL DIVIDING OF MACEDONIA?Radio Tirana commented that the Albanian inhabitants would be the ones to lose most from the new territorial dividing of the Republic of Macedonia, as they will lose the towns with a developed infrastructure, and will be given the villages without a satisfactory infrastructure. It also criticized the Albanian political parties in Macedonia for not forming an expert group that would evaluate the territorial dividing and its consequences for the Albanians.Meanwhile, Macedonian media reported the statement of PDPA President Arben Dzaferi for Radio Tirana that the Albanians had faced an accomplished fact in this case, and that the Macedonian authorities would view the rejecting of the new territorial dividing a separatist act. [07] PDPA AND NDP AGITATE FOR SALI BERISHAMembers of the PDPA and NDP are actively included in the pre-electoral meetings of the ruling Democratic Party in Albania, informed 'Makfax' agency the day before yesterday.According to the information, journalists close to the Democrats of the Albanian President Berisha wrote that representatives of these two parties had spoken in favor of the Democratic Party and agitated to the people to vote for Berisha's candidates. [08] DZAFERI - 'AGREEMENT WITH CONCRETE SOLUTIONS IS NECESSARY'Leader of the PDPA Arben Dzaferi, in his interview for 'Dnevnik' daily, refers to the crisis in Kosovo and its connection to the situation in Macedonia. Asked why President Gligorov is worried about the Kosovo crisis, Dzaferi replied: 'Because he is aware that the situation inside the country is not stable, because of the great problem of loyalty of Albanians. Neither him, nor we, nor the Americans can influence the small groups that are distancing from the political eaves set in Kosovo. To avoid the fear from shooting, a solid and organised agreement with concrete solutions between the Albanians and Macedonians has to be reached.'[09] ELIZABETH REHN - 'MANY ARE PLAYING WITH FIRE IN KOSOVO'As 'Makpress' informed, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Elizabeth Rehn stated for Belgrade weekly 'NIN' that the situation in Kosovo was more dangerous for the peace than in any other part of former Yugoslavia. Ms. Rehn said this after her two-days visit to Kosovo, during which she concluded that nothing had changed since her last visit half a year ago.'I am really afraid of what I see. And I do not mean only the murders that took place recently. The tension is very big and many are playing with fire here,' said Elizabeth Rehn. She said that one of the methods for convincing the leaders of former Yugoslav republics to democratize the society and to limit their competence was the international pressure. [10] CIA: ALBANIA, FR YUGOSLAVIA AND MACEDONIA ARE SERIOUSLY THREATENED BY A WARAlbanian paper 'Koha Jone' reported on the latest CIA report, according to which Albania, FR Yugoslavia and Macedonia belong to a list of 37 countries with high war risk. As the paper wrote, CIA had used 600 different factors during the preparation of the report, and it said that these three countries could have serious problems in the ethnic relations, which could bring to a great human tragedy. 'Koha Jone' notes, however, that the report had been made to prepare the US policy for a certain reaction. The CIA analysts believe in the accuracy of their forecasts to 70%, continues the daily, but adds that such reports have proved as not precise, such as in the case of the Vietnam War and Berlin Wall Crisis.[11] USA WILL NOT ALLOW SERBIAN AGGRESSION IN KOSOVOThe US Congressman Eliot Angel stated for the Albanian Television that the USA were monitoring the politics of Belgrade and Miloshevic on Kosovo with a great interest, and that President Clinton and the Congress had clearly stated that they would not allow a Serbian aggression in this province. Angel said Belgrade should understand that as an American stand that they would continue to require the freedom and rights for Albanians, and that it would be conditioned by sanctions.[12] RUGOVA - 'INDEPENDENT AND NEUTRAL KOSOVO IS THE OPTIMUM SOLUTION''A neutral and independent Kosovo, equally opened for Albania and Serbia, would be an optimum ethnic and political solution,' said Ibrahim Rugova, the leader of the Albanians in Kosovo, during the talks with the Finnish and Swedish Embassy representatives in Belgrade. 'Makfax' informed that Rugova asked for a tempory international civil administration in the province, in order to de-militarize it and to create normal conditions for starting a dialogue.Meanwhile, Adem Demakji, one of the Kosovo Albanians leaders, said that in case the Albanians voted on the forthcoming elections in Serbia this year, they would sign their death sentence. He explained, in an interview for Belgrade weekly 'Vreme', that the Albanians would win 30 seats in the Parliament with 250 members, which would be no parliamentary power for them at all. [13] LJUPCHO TODOROVSKI ACTING DIRECTOR OF KOMERCIJALNA BANKThe Executive Board of Komercijalna Bank appointed the Deputy General Manager Ljupcho Todorovski an Acting General Manager of the Bank. In accordance with the Law, the National Bank Governor approved the decision previously, announced the Board.Governor Borko Stanoevski said that Todorovski would perform this function for three months, until when a new General Manager of the Bank would have to be appointed. He informed on the meeting with the EBRD representatives and said they had talked about the liquidity of the Macedonian banks, and that they had been very understanding about the move of the Governor (i.e. the releasing of the former Komercijalna Bank General Manager Aleksandar Manevski). Stanoevski informed that Macedonian National Bank approved of the DM 10 million investing of EBRD and the DM 4 million bought off shares in Komercijalna Bank. [14] SOCIALIST PARTY CONGRESS ON MAY 26Macedonian Socialist Party Central Committee informed that the early Congress of this Party would take place on May 26.The secret voting resulted in two candidates for Presidents of the Party: Blagoja Filipovski and Ljubisav Ivanov. [15] PUBLIC PROTEST AGAINST THE WAY THE SIGNATURES ARE CHECKEDMacedonian media reported the public protest of the Coordination Committee for realisation of the civil initiative for collecting 150,000 signatures. They protest against the way the signatures are being checked by the state bodies and accused the bodies for trying to avoid the referendum scheduling. The protest continues with a remark that the signatures are being checked without having the initiators representatives present, i.e. in the same way the votes were counted in October 1994, during the last elections.The Committee warned those included in the checking that they would have to show relevant proofs in case they intend to deny a single ballot. 'In case they do not do this, the conclusion is obvious,' concludes the announcement. MILS SUPPLEMENT[16] 'We Are Not a Monitoring Case'('Vecer', 09 May 1996)The so-called gradual approach should be introduced for the monitoring missions in Macedonia, and the prolonging of the mandate of those present, since the time of former Yugoslavia, could be only counter-productive now.This is the essence of what Macedonian Foreign Minister Ljubomir Frchkovski told the US Ambassador to OSCE, Sam Brown, at their recent meeting in Vienna. The Minister, in fact, open the issue, postponed for a long time. The issue, i.e. whether and to a what extend should Macedonia be a subject of observation for the international community, should be discussed now, after the signing of Macedonia-FRY Agreement on the Normalisation of the Relations. The situation had changed quite a lot since the time when Macedonia had been monitored in one package with the other former Yugoslav republics. First, Macedonia had completed the status of an equal member of the UN by the act of mutual recognition with its fourth neighbouring country. Disconnecting the last string to former SFRY in that way, Macedonia had stepped into the second phase of the foreign relations development, so it could not be further perceived as a part of the former federation. Second, Macedonia passed the test regarding the preserving of the stability in the region, and even obtained the epithet 'oasis of peace'. All the monitors are certainly aware of the existence of two opposite structures in the Balkans - the countries that were involved in the war and those that managed to avoid that. Speaking in mathematical terms, the northern part of the peninsula consists of three countries that were not to three that were involved in a military conflict. Namely, Slovenia (if we exclude the short-term shooting at the time of SFRY), Hungary and Romania are mainly concentrated on economic problems. Bosnia, FR Yugoslavia and Croatia are the second party, which was involved in the war. The situation in the southern part is quite different: Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Turkey and Greece (if we exclude the recent provocations between the last two) took no military actions. This questions the presence of the so-called 'spill-over' OSCE monitoring mission in Skopje, dating since September 1992, which role was to help in case the war eventually spread to the territory of Macedonia. Third, the role of the Human Rights Centre in Skopje, established by the UN Secretariat in order to observe the internal situation in Macedonia, is absurd. But it is even more absurd to have our problems put in the same basket with those of the countries involved in the war, which was done by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in former Yugoslav countries, Elizabeth Rehn, in her regular March report. Murdered and missing people, burnt homes, mental human degradation, horror scenes of mass graves are far from us, fortunately. As for the problems in the relations between the ethnic groups, it would be insincere to say that we do not have them, but it is certain that they are not so serious to threat the existence of the people. Also, there are over a thousand nations in the world and only about 180 countries, which clearly shows that Macedonia is not unique in that aspect. It should be mentioned that we have gone far ahead of all the 'non-Yugoslav' countries in the Balkans regarding the human rights. Macedonia belongs to the two very important UN Covenants that guarantee these rights - to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is not the case with Greece, for example, although it is a member of the EU. These are probably the reasons for Minister Frchkovski's appeal to have different monitoring mandates for each country. It could not be allowed a serious international subject, capable of solving its internal problems by itself, which Macedonia is constantly and intensively proving, to be chaotically monitored. It will, certainly, be a careful process, as nobody expects the international monitors to be withdrawn over night. 'The situation in and around Macedonia has changed a lot since 1992, i.e. since our mission was established,' was the answer of the Chief of OSCE Mission in Skopje, Ambassador Tore Bogh, to our question about his opinion regarding the need for the future presence of this mission in our country. But he also stressed that OSCE was still worried about the development of the situation in the region. He said that some OSCE members, including Macedonia, had given a constructive proposal for introducing a zone of peace and cooperation in the Balkans. 'I can not comment on the report from the Vienna meeting, but the Organisation, its monitoring mission in Skopje, and Macedonia itself are all interested in preserving the peace in the area,' said Ambassador Bogh. (end)mils news 13 May, 1996 |
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