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MILS NEWS 11/06/96Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: "Macedonian Information Liaison Service" <[email protected]>CONTENTS
MILS SUPPLEMENTMILS NEWSSkopje, 11 June 1996[01] VANCE: 'NEW YORK TALKS DEVELOPING WELL'A new round of Macedonian-Greek talks on the name issue, led by Ambassadors Ivan Toshevski and Hristos Zaharakis, began yesterday in New York with mediation of Cyrus Vance.This was officially confirmed by the Greek UN Mission Spokesman for A-1 Television. According to this TV station, Greek Ambassador Zaharakis announced a statement for the press after the talks, which was not practiced before. The latest information from New York are that the talks will continue today, and maybe tomorrow. 'Makpress' agency reported, according to sources from Athens, that the meeting had been planned for the last Friday, but that Vance required from Macedonia to clear its stand about the forthcoming talks. As alleged, Vance said that the talks were developing well and that he did not intend to initiate anything for the time being, nor to return his mandate to the Security Council. [02] ABC TV: 'GREECE AND MACEDONIA CLOSE TO THE SOLUTION'Macedonian Television yesterday reported about the great attention Australian media had paid to the continued Macedonian-Greek talks in New York. ABC Television reporter, as alleged, informed from Athens, according to sources close to Greek Foreign Ministry, that both parties were coming closer to a mutually acceptable solution under pressure of the US. According to ABC Television, as Macedonian leadership had rejected the suggested name 'New Macedonia' for their country and as FR Yugoslavia had already recognized its southern neighbour under the Constitutional name, it would be most acceptable for both parties Greece to be allowed to name Macedonia as it pleases, and Macedonia to be referred to under the Constitutional name by all international institutions.[03] MANIFEST ON STRAINING THE STAND ABOUT MACEDONIAToday's issue of 'Nova Makedonija' reads that 21 Greek MPs, led by Stelios Papatemelis, have signed a document with which they are accusing the Greek Government of yielding to Macedonia and of 'losing all the negotiating aces'. The 'worried' MPs are calling for a complete change of the attitude to the northern neighbour. According to them, Greece can easily do that because the Parliament had still not ratified the Interim Accord with Macedonia.They are also accusing Macedonia of violating the Accord, including Article 7, i.e. of continuing the 'anti-Greek irredentism' in the schools. MPs are 'warning everybody' that in case Skopje insists on the name 'Macedonia' and its eventual usage against Greece, it would inevitably bring to certain processes in the Greek society, which might completely change the situation. The conclusion of the document reads that Greece has to fight severely against any kind of name for Skopje that would include the term 'Macedonia'. These MPs are also accusing their Government of yielding in the Cyprus issue and are warning about the Turkish expansionism. They are interceding for having strong Greek military forces formed, because of the 'not existing international system of collective security and the current situation in the region'. [04] REGIONAL SECURITY WILL DETERMINE UNPREDEP FUTUREFuture of UNPREDEP and American engagement in keeping the peace and stability in Macedonia were discussed yesterday in Skopje by high American officials, led by Bill Clinton's Special Assistant Richard Clark, and Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov. They stressed the positive role of UNPREDEP in Macedonia and of the US soldiers participating in the Mission. Richard Clark stated that the current security situation in the region would directly influence the future of UNPREDEP in Macedonia.At the meeting American representatives had with Macedonian Foreign Minister Ljubomir Frchkovski, the mutual satisfaction with the signing of SOFA Agreement was expressed, the document which regulates the status of NATO forces in the 'Partnership for Peace' Programme. Certain issues regarding the bilateral relations were also subjects of discussion. The US delegation met with Macedonian Defense Minister Blagoj Handziski and talked about the situation in the region, the future of UNPREDEP and the American participation in preserving of peace and stability in the region. American representatives visited UNPREDEP Headquarters and met the Chief of the Mission Henryk Sokalski to examine the future of UN Mission in Macedonia in connection to the report of UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali about the security situation in Macedonia. The economic aspect of the Mission was also discussed, about which another report should be submitted to the UN Security Council in September. [05] MACEDONIA MOST STRONGLY REFUSES THE REGIONAL APPROACHNone of the four countries in the region accepted regional approach principles of the EU, and the stand of Macedonian leadership was the toughest one. According to 'Makfax', this is included in the report prepared by EU Chairman Lamberto Dini and the European Commission President Jacques Santeur, after they visited Skopje, Belgrade, Saraevo and Zagreb. The report was discussed yesterday in Luxembourg by the EU Council of Ministers, and it was said, as Macedonian Television reported, that Macedonian government is unnecessarily afraid of being pushed into a new Yugoslav federation. EU Ministers, except for the French one, had agreed that Macedonia should not be conditioned by the regional relations to become closer to the Union.EU Ministers also discussed the financial means to be given to former Yugoslav republics at the period 1996 - 1999 of ECU 400 million. These money will be given to former Yugoslav republics to renew their mutual economic connections, and the information from Luxembourg are that the allotting and realization of the means are being discussed. Meanwhile, Slovenia yesterday officially signed the Agreement on Joint Membership in the EU, after which it officially applied for a full membership. [06] DRAFT AGREEMENT WITH EU FIXEDMacedonian Government yesterday passed a report of the Vice-Prime Minister, Jane Miljoski, who led the Macedonian delegation to the negotiations with EU in Brussels on the Agreement on Cooperation. The Government viewed the current negotiations direction as positive.Draft Agreement on Cooperation between Macedonia and the EU was fixed, and it is expected to be signed at the session in Brussels on 18 and 19 June this year. The Government set the Draft Law on Copyright, by which new copyrights and similar rights are regulated and harmonized with the new political and economic system of Macedonia. The new Law will sanction the violation of those rights more severely, especially the illegal production, resale and pirate work. Also, Parliamentarian Legal Commission gave a visa for the proposed Laws on Broadcasting and Telecommunications to be passed. It was said that the Law on Broadcasting should be passed simultaneously with all other regulations necessary for this law to be applied. Regarding the Law on Telecommunications, several amendments are going to be proposed to the Parliament. [07] CARE FOR MACEDONIAN CHILDRENMacedonian President Kiro Gligorov yesterday received a UNICEF delegation, led by John Donahue, the new Regional Director in charge of south-eastern Europe. Gligorov informed his guests about the current situation in Macedonia and the region, emphasizing the peace position of the country and its efforts to contribute to the activities and noble aims of UNICEF. Donahue positively estimated the situation regarding the rights and care for the children in Macedonia and said the cooperation between Macedonia and UNICEF had developed satisfactorily.UNICEF official also had meetings with Minister of Health Ilija Filipce and Minister of Education Sofia Todorova. [08] AGREEMENTS NEEDED TO IMPROVE MACEDONIAN-CROATIAN COOPERATIONMacedonian Parliament President yesterday met with a delegation of the Croatian Parliament Foreign Policy Committee, led by President Zarko Domijan. It was said that certain Agreement would have to be signed in order to regulate mutual relations. During the talks Croatians had with Macedonian Parliament Foreign Policy Commission, led by Ilinka Mitreva, they asked for the improvement of the cooperation in all fields, and stressed the parliamentarian as a very important one. Croatian MPs handed a document to the Macedonian representatives by which Croatian Parliament greeted the establishing of a parliamentarian group for Croatian - Macedonian Friendship.[09] FAREWELL VISIT OF COMRASChief of the US Mission in Skopje Victor Comras yesterday paid a farewell visit to Macedonian Foreign Minister Ljubomir Frchkovski. They expressed satisfaction with the cooperation to date, which strengthened the bilateral relations in many areas.[10] ANDOV - SOKALSKI MEETINGLeader of the Liberal Party Stojan Andov met yesterday with the UN Secretary General Special Envoy and Chief of UNPREDEP Mission Henryk Sokalski. They discussed the political situation and the problems in the development of the democratic relations in Macedonia.[11] VMRO-DPMNE AND DP WILL MAKE A COMPLAINTToday's issue of daily 'Dnevnik' reports that the Coordination Board of the Civil Initiative for Collecting 150,000 Signatures will make a complaint at the Macedonian Constitutional Court for the decision of the Parliament to reject the Initiative as non-Constitutional. This was said by VMRO - DPMNE Vice President Dosta Dimovska, who added that this Party had informed the European Parliament and the Council of Europe that the Constitution was violated.Democratic Party representatives said they were intending to do the same. VMRO - DPMNE Law Commission President Gjorgji Naumov said that, according to Articles 108 and 112 of the Constitution, Constitutional Court was in charge of making a decision on the issue. He added that if this Court rejects to do that with an explanation of not being in charge, a complaint will be made to the Supreme Court, which is in charge of the civil rights. [12] ELIZABETH REHN DENIES MACEDONIAN RADIO COMMENTMs. Elizabeth Rehn has denied the information of the Macedonian Radio that she had said the Swedish minority in Finland who wanted to study in their mother thong had to go to Sweden. She said: 'This is far from the truth.Finland is a bilingual country where the Swedish speaking population (around 6 per cent) have the guaranteed right to enjoy education in their own language on all levels, including university instruction. Those who are acquainted with my curriculum vitae know that I have received my entire education in Swedish, and that I have graduated as Master of Business Administration from the Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration in Helsinki. Subsequently, I have also been awarded the degree of doctors honoris causa by the same Swedish school in Finland. As regards the proposal of President Gligorov to carry out a comparative study of the situation of minorities in the entire Balkans region, I wish to recall that my mandate as Special Rapporteur is limited to the human rights situation in the territory of former Yugoslavia. Because of this limitations, it is clear that my only contribution to such an ambitious project are my findings regarding the situation in the countries under my mandate as presented in my reports. This material could perhaps to a certain extent serve as background material for a more comprehensive regional study.' MILS SUPPLEMENT[13] 'Industry and Mining Enterprises Dominating'('Nova Makedonija', 11 June 1996)The most successful one hundred big and another one hundred small enterprises in the Republic of Macedonia made two thirds of the Macedonian profit last year. They employ 61,068 workers, who are almost one fifth or 19.5% of people employed in the economy. This was said at yesterday's promotion of the book '100 plus 100' about the most successful Macedonian firms in 1995. Like in 1994, the top enterprise in 1995 was the 'Skopje Brewery', followed by 'Makpetrol' and 'Lottery of Macedonia'. The most successful small firm was 'Solun' from Gevgelija, before 'Eurocar' - Bitola and 'Podravka Commerce' - Skopje. All the firms were listed according to many criteria based on an established methodology, which took into account the annual data submitted to the Excise Institute. The criteria included: total income, total assets, net profit per worker, profitability, net profitability and permanent capital ratio, average net salary, the ratio of turn over means and short-term obligations, etc. The '100 plus 100' book, published in Macedonian and English, is a reference book which gives an opportunity for various analyses of the domestic economy to be made. This year's (the third) publication contains 44% of the big and 19% of the small enterprises in industry and mining, plus 22% of the big and 49% of the small ones in trade business. Much more industry and mining enterprises were successful in 1995 thanin 1994, which is encouraging, especially in the context of efforts made to enliven the production. One the other hand, the regional analysis showed that most of the successful firms are seated in Skopje - 132; 8 in Kumanovo and 8 in Tetovo; 7 in Prilep and equally in Bitola; 5 in Strumica and 5 in Ohrid; 4 in Radovish, etc. The publisher 'Argumenti' stressed that only two small firms in Shtip were successful, a situation similar to that in Titov Veles, where there were also only two successful enterprises, although these two towns are industrial centres. Regarding the ownership, most of the big enterprises are either joint ventures or social ones (87%), while the small firms are mainly private (68%). The difference between the big and the small companies was made according to the Law on Accounting. A big company is one that employs over 50 workers, has an annual income of over 8,000 denars average gross salary per worker and assets of over 6,000 denars average salary per worker. Those enterprises that did not fulfill at least two of the above mentioned criteria were considered small. All the firms that had submitted their final annual account for 1995 to the Excise Institute, except for those which had reported less than 50,000 denars profit, were included in the choice of the most successful ones. The first analyses eliminated 63% of the big and 92% of the small companies, from the initial number of 573 big and 32,308 small ones. After that, the listing was made. This year's publication also deals with the privatization process in Macedonia, capital market and relations with international financial institutions, prepared by Olga Mihajlova Tikvarovska from the Privatization Agency, Evgeni Zografski from the Macedonian Stock Exchange and Ljube Trpeski, Vice President of the Macedonian Government. (end)mils news 11 June, 1996Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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