MAK-NEWS 25/12/95 (M.I.C.)

From: "M.I.C." <mic@ITL.MK>

Macedonian Information Centre Directory

CONTENTS

SKOPJE, DECEMBER 25, 1995 (MIC)

[01] CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM GLIGOROV TO BISHOP HERBUT

The President of the Republic of Macedonia Kiro Gligorov has sent Christmas greetings to the bishop of the Skopje-Prizren eparchy Yoakim Herbut, the President's cabinet announced.

"To You, Your family and all the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia of Catholic confession, I send the most sincerest Christmas greetings, with profound wishes for good health and success in life," is said in the Christmas card of the President of the Republic of Macedonia to the bishop Herbut.

[02] MANDATE FOR NEGOTIATIONS WITH EU ADOPTED

At the Friday meeting of the EU Ministers' Council, the mandate for negotiations for signing an agreement on cooperation between Macedonia and the EU was signed, the Macedonian Interior Ministry announced.

The mandate for negotiations takes into consideration the goals of the two sides, especially their wish to strengthen their relations, and Macedonia's aspirations for closer links with the EU in the near future.

The decision of the EU Ministers' Council opens up the process of institutionalization of the relations between Macedonia and the EU, and will enable mutual cooperation, the determination of the priorities in the mutual cooperation, the creation of conditions for Macedonia's accession to this European integration, with the ultimate goal to pave the way for Macedonia's full membership in the EU.

Negotiations over the agreement on cooperation are set to start at the beginning of next year, and they will include political dialogue, economic and financial cooperation, trade, transportation, scientific and technical cooperation, etc.

The realization of intensive cooperation with the EU will depend on the adaptation of the legal and economic system of the Republic of Macedonia to the system of the EU. The reform projects and results achieved on this plan so far, enable the quicker and more comprehensive integration of the Republic of Macedonia into the EU.

[03] OFFICIAL RELATIONS BETWEEN RM AND LIBERIA SOON

During his stay in Tel Aviv, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Supply of the Republic of Macedonia Ivan Angelov had a meeting on Thursday with the Liberian Minister of Agriculture Rolan Masaki, who was also on a visit to Israel.

The two ministers discussed the possibility of eventual participation of Macedonian construction firms in building up Liberia. It was assessed that the mutual relations between the two countries should be made official.

[04] CHARGES AGAINST FATHER TSARKNIAS DROPPED

The International Helsinki Federation has applauded the decision of the Court in Voden (Greece) to postpone the four trials of father Nikodimos Tsarknias, scheduled for May 8, next year, requesting that he be released from all charges. This was announced after a three-member mission of the International Helsinki Federation followed the four trials of the activist of the Macedonian minority, father Nikodimos Tsarknias, held on November 22, this year.

Otherwise, the Court in Voden decided to postpone the trials after hearing the testimony of the representative of the Greek Helsinki Monitor Panayotis Elijas Dimitras, in which he explains why these cases raised serious and complicated issues surrounding religious freedom and the inter-state relations between Greece and Macedonia. Father Tsarknias was sentenced on December 2, 1994, for "false representation," namely, for wearing the mantle of an Orthodox priest, although the Greek church unfrocked him at the start of 1993. The Court rejected the certificate of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, showing that in the meantime, father Tsarknias joined this church, claiming that only the Greek church can appoint priests in Greece. Around ten similar sentences have been brought against father Tsarknias, mainly in his absence.

As the representatives of the International Helsinki Federation testified, a secular court in Greece can not apply the rules that regulate the affairs of the Greek church on the Macedonian church, since they are also Greek state laws, due to the inseparableness of the church and the state in Greece. The Macedonian church has its own rules which are not known to the Greek court, and furthermore, these rules do not even have any legal value in Macedonia, where - as in all post-communist countries - the church and the state are separate. Therefore, a Greek court can not apply the laws of the Greek church on the member of another non-Greek church and should accept the certificate of the Macedonian church that father Tsarknias is a legitimate priest.

[05] SOME 40 PERCENT VOTERS SHOWED UP IN ELECTION UNIT 114

Additional parliamentary elections for one MEP position in Parliament were held yesterday in election until 114, in the Skopje municipality of Center. The voting took place in 17 polling stations, with a total of 13,540 listed voters. According to the information of the State Election Commission, received directly before the closing of the voting boxes, the voters' response was somewhere between 38.9 and 41%. At the additional voting for one position in Parliament, the citizens had 11 candidates to choose from, of which nine were from political parties and two were independent. As the State Election Commission informs, there were no larger incidents. The first official results will be known some time tomorrow.

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