MAK-NEWS 14/12/95 (M.I.C.)

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

Macedonian Information Centre Directory

CONTENTS

SKOPJE, DECEMBER 14, 1995 (MIC)

[01] ERVE DE SARET:"MUTUAL RECOGNITIONS SOON"

In the wake of today's ceremony of the signing of the Paris peace agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the French Foreign Minister Erve De Saret stated this morning that there will be a number of mutual recognitions of the states from former Yugoslavia. In response to the question regarding the situation with the mutual recognition of Yugoslavia and Macedonia, he said: "We are working on it. We expect it to happen, but at the moment, the most important thing is to keep the peace."

The fact that Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski will not be present in Paris, at the same time when the presence of the Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Drnovshek is announced, is interpreted here as a sign that something is "stuck" in the talks about the mutual recognition of Macedonia and FR Yugoslavia. We have learned that there were Macedonian-Serbian contacts at expert level yesterday. We could not get any more details, although according to some announcements there was a scenario, provided everything goes well, for the Macedonian Prime Minister to arrive in Paris. Officially, it's said that the President of the Macedonian Government is preoccupied with problems surrounding the state budget, and that therefore, he will not be attending the formal ceremony in the Elysseys Palace in Paris.

Thus, at today's ceremony, Macedonia will be represented by its Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski, who took part yesterday in the afternoon session of the Paris Peace Conference in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[02] STEVO CRVENKOVSKI: "RECOGNITION - PRECONDITION FOR PEACE"

"Macedonia has demonstrated a new approach in the resolution of the problems in the region, through open dialogue with the neighbors, and expects them to behave the same way. A precondition for that is mutual recognition," the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Macedonia Stevo Crvenkovski said, upon the adoption of the Declaration on stability and good- neighborliness in South-Eastern Europe.

He said that the signing of the agreements from Dayton marks the end of a tragic phase of the wars in the region. Crvenkovski emphasized that the region can not be integrated into Europe with the problems that exist at present, and that dialogue is necessary in order to resolve them.

[03] COOPERATION WITH U.S. FOR TRAINING OF MACEDONIAN ARMY

Macedonian Defence Minister Blagoy Handziski yesterday received the Commander of the National Guard of the federal state of Vermont (U.S.A.) General Major Donald Edwards, together with the U.S. Deputy Assistant Defence Secretary Joel Resnik.

During the talks, the possible forms of cooperation between the two states were reviewed, on a military plan as well as other fields of interest to both sides. As to the military cooperation, before all, it would take place in the field of training and education of noncommissioned officers for the needs of the Macedonian Army. The cooperation between Macedonia and Vermont is within the framework of the program "Bridge to America." During the meeting, General Edwards sent out an invitation to minister Handziski from the governor of Vermont, to pay a visit to this sister state.

General Edwards also had a meeting with the Chief of the General Staff of the Macedonian Army General Colonel Dragoljub Bocinov, at which they exchanged opinions on the future contacts on a military plan, which will get the Macedonian Army and the Vermont National Guard better acquainted.

Today, the Commander of the National Guard of Vermont will visit some military objects of the Macedonian Army, as well as the Military Academy.

[04] ECONOMIC AGREEMENT BETWEEN MACEDONIA AND ROMANIA

A delegation of the Macedonian Foreign Ministry held talks in Bucharest over the past two days with the delegation of the Trade Ministry of the Republic of Macedonia, which focused on the strengthening of the economic cooperation between the two countries.

The two sides coordinated the text of the Agreement on economic and business cooperation between Macedonia and Romania, which is expected to be signed at the start of next week.

Furthermore, the two sides reviewed questions about the establishment of higher forms of economic cooperation between the two countries, especially on the plan of founding mixed and other types of companies.

[05] MEETING BETWEEN MACEDONIAN AND GREEK RAILROAD WORKERS

Representatives of the Macedonian and Greek railways are holding bilateral meetings in Skopje these days, discussing the commercial, tariff and financial work of the two railroads, as well as the inter-border railroad traffic.

According to the Macedonian railways, an emphasis was placed on the transportation of crude oil from the Thessaloniki port, as well as the transport of other goods from Macedonia to Thessaloniki and vice versa. Simultaneously, the talks on the ways of regulating the commercial services are nearing the end, and the signing of a special protocol on the manner of payment is planned for today.

Otherwise, a separate working group is working on the coordination of the text of the agreement, while the tariff part of the services of the two railways for goods transiting on the railroads of the two neighboring countries, is also expected to be discussed. As part of these talks, there are also announcements about the participation of a delegation of the Yugoslav railways.

[06] ALBANIAN POLICE ARRESTS MACEDONIAN DRUG DEALERS

Yesterday, the Albanian police seized 40 kg of heroin, the largest amount of drugs ever to be confiscated in this country, and arrested to Macedonian citizens, who were travelling to Italy.

The two persons, otherwise, Albanians from Macedonia, were arrested on Tuesday in the Albanian port of Duress, before boarding a ship for Ankona.

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