MAK-NEWS 31/01/96 (M.I.C.)

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

Macedonian Information Centre Directory

CONTENTS

SKOPJE, JANUARY 31, 1996 (MIC)

[01] BRANKO CRVENKOVSKI: MACEDONIA WITH A EUROPEAN ORIENTATION

Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski gave an exclusive interview for the independent Albanian newspaper "Koha e jon" these days, which focuses on the principles of the Macedonian foreign policy.

In the interview, he emphasizes that Macedonia's strategy is European integration, while the policy of balance is practiced in the relations with the neighbors.

"That is Macedonia's long-term policy," Crvenkovski says, "a policy that suits Macedonia, and our neighbors as well. It guarantees our country independence and establishes balance in the Balkans. We look upon Macedonia as a part of the European common house, but we are aware that hard work still lies ahead on that path, which can not be finished in one day."

In relation to the upcoming visit of the Albanian Prime Minister Aleksandar Mekshi to Skopje, Crvenkovski says that "it comes at a time when monumental events are taking place in the region, starting from Dayton, which should put an end to the bloody war in Bosnia, and whose consequences are being felt in the region." As to the cooperation between RM and Albania, Crvenkovski assesses that both countries are implementing political and economic reforms, and have the chance, by taking advantage of that positive wave, to continue to develop the mutual cooperation.

"The meetings at high level are a factor for strengthening the cooperation. The meeting Gligorov-Berisha marked the beginning of that cooperation, and now the states have to sign a number of agreements which will develop the cooperation in various spheres," Crvenkovski said.

Crvenkovski explained that the reason why many of these agreements had not been signed earlier was Albania's insistence to have the name under which Macedonia was accepted to the UN written on the documents. Crvenkovski described that as inappropriate, since almost all the countries in the region had already put that question behind them.

The Macedonian Prime Minister added that the Albanian question in Macedonia would be settled according to international standards, explaining that if it were to be done any other way, it would mean interference in the country's internal affairs.

[02] EU CONDITIONS BELGRADE WITH RECOGNITION OF RM -- REACTIONS FROM NEIGHBORS

ATHENS: The pro-government newspaper "Ta Nea" did not exclude the possibility yesterday of Belgrade recognizing Skopje in the next couple of days, under the constitutional name Republic of Macedonia. According to diplomatic sources, it is possible that in return, Belgrade could have received some promises from Skopje in relation to succession to former Yugoslavia. Former prime minister and presently honorary president of New Democracy Constantinos Mitsotakis claimed on the state television that he had received guarantees that Belgrade would probably not recognize Macedonia under its constitutional name.

SOFIA: Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georgi Pirinski stated that Belgrade and Skopje needed to be given a chance to find a solution that would be equally beneficial for them as for the whole region. The Sofia daily "Trud" commented yesterday that "the agreement for recognition of Macedonia is further evidence of the artistic skills of Serb President Milosevich and the former Yugoslav reformer, President Kiro Gligorov." The newspaper feels that the two presidents made an excellent performance in front of the west. Recognition, according to this Bulgarian newspaper, is Belgrade's response to the violation of the embargo through the Serb-Macedonian border, which eased FRY's condition considerably.

BELGRADE: The Belgrade press and official circles have still not made any comments about yesterday's decision of the EU Ministers' Council to condition the recognition of FRY by the EU with the previous recognition of Macedonia by Belgrade. The independent daily "Nasha Borba" writes that, according to western claims, Belgrade will have to make "certain progress" in the resolution of the Kosovo problem. The newspaper conveys the discontent of the EU with the brief announcement which makes it clear that the draft-agreement on the normalization of the relations between Belgrade and Skopje can easily be revised by the Serb president.

[03] UNPREDEP AWAITING OFFICIAL UN REPORT

Soon, UNPREDEP is expected to become a fully independent mission with a direct command from New York. The Security Council has until today to make a decision regarding its independence.

According to unofficial sources, the only thing left now is for Secretary-General Boutros Ghali to submit his last report to the UN Security Council.

[04] IMF CHECKING RESULTS

An IMF (International Monetary Fund) mission is staying in Macedonia for talks with representatives of the Macedonian Government and the Central Bank, in relation to the rate of fulfillment of the conditions stipulated in the Stand-by arrangement, signed last year.

According to the Macedonian press, the talks will center around results in the monetary policy, the realization of the budgetary obligations in the handling of the policy of the Central Bank and the control of the bank investments.

[05] 5,104 FRESHMEN TO BE ENROLLED

At yesterday's session, the Macedonian Government accepted the draft-competition for the enrollment of students to the two universities in Macedonia in 1996/1997. According to this competition, a total of 5,104 new students will be able to be enrolled.

Furthermore, the competition foresees the additional enrollment of students who will bear the costs of their education independently. Their number will be determined subsequently by the Ministry of Education.

As before, part-time students, foreign citizens, will also have the right to study at the two universities.

MACEDONIAN PRESS REVIEW:

[06] "NOVA MAKEDONIJA": SKOPJE-BELGRADE VIA BRUSSELS

In Brussels on 29 January Europe was ready to establish normal diplomatic relations with Belgrade. Belgrade had a lively interest in this. Only Greece, although it is a member of the European Union, had the usual reservations and it threatened with veto, normally. As we know, normalization of relations was not established. The reason, although it may look over-pretentious, was the Republic of Macedonia. That is, on the one hand it was the unprecedented strong support that the European Union this time gave to our country, on the other it was Belgrade's unpreparedness to let go the "Macedonian trump card" in the further bargaining with the international community, and finally it was Greece's fear that it will definitely lose the battle for the name if Serbia recognizes the Republic of Macedonia under its constitutional name. This was exactly the condition that the European Union made for re-establishment of diplomatic relations between its member countries and Belgrade.

This entanglement, which basically contains a positive outcome for Macedonia, and which was created with the first step that the Serbian-Montenegro federation made on the post-Dayton road to its come-back to the international community, was probably hardly expected by anyone. First, the most important international factors, helped by the Dayton agreement, manifested a barely disguised intention to return the Serbian-Montenegro federation into all international organizations and institutions abridged and to place it on the vacant place of the former SFRY. Second, it was the so many times before evinced inconsistency and non-adherence of the same factors which interpret the effective principles and defined norms of international law according to their own interests, which are frequently controversial. After Dayton, Belgrade gambled on the one and the other Although one of the "minimum" conditions for its comeback to the international community was the mutual diplomatic recognition with Macedonia, it [Belgrade] was postponing the beginning of the negotiations for as long as it could. That is, as long as some member countries of the Union did not "press" it to embark on them. When the negotiations on normalization of relations finally started, it became clear that there is not another bigger problem in Skopje-Belgrade relations except the question of state continuity to the former collective federation. According to what we could squeeze out from the very introverted teams of the two countries, the name of the Republic of Macedonia was allegedly never a disputed question and that this is exactly what was written down in the text of the agreement.

As far as the continuity is concerned, the same sources say that upon the insisting of the Serbian party, a "historical formula" was finally accepted, according to which the continuity of the Macedonian state dates from the National Liberation Was, and the Serbian from 1918. The time and the legal experts will say what is the precise text of the agreement and whether this formula, which has been communicated in such a way and extracted form the whole context, will become a hybrid or not. In any way, the text of the agreement was agreed, but Milosevic was not in a hurry to sign and make this document official, internationally valid and committing. Instead, he sent his Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic to a "private" visit in Greece to explain to the "traditional friends" why he has to recognize Macedonia under its constitutional name. In other words, he wanted to check if he could obtain the so-much-desired privileged status in the Thessaloniki Harbor. In return, he would delay the possible mutual recognition with Macedonia and thus -- helped by Athens -- he would open another "European dispute" over the name. It was only in the morning of 29 January, while the ministers of the member countries of the European Union started to gather for the Brussels meeting, whose main topic was re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Belgrade, that the federal government in Belgrade adopted the draft text of the agreement. Milosevic had hoped that this act and this unsubstantiated paper would have given sufficient evidence about his good intentions and promptness and that he would have allured the European Union and the Republic of Macedonia. That same morning the telephone lines between Skopje and Rome (the present EU chair person), and Skopje and Bonn, were heated because of frequent utilization in making consultations about the possible consequences for the Republic of Macedonia and for the stability and peace in the south of the Balkans if the international "rehabilitation" of Belgrade starts without a previous normalization of relations with Skopje.

Greece played an interesting role in the complex event that took place two days ago. It showed anger because of the preparations that Belgrade made for normalization of relations with the Republic of Macedonia and its new Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos left his Yugoslav counterpart strolling around "privately" in Athens for three days before receiving him. He did it only after the Belgrade press (why did it do it exactly at that hour?) had published the letter that Milutinovic had sent to Karolos Papoulias, the former Greek foreign minister, in which he resurrected the request for a privileged use of Thessaloniki Harbor, which Greece had formerly rejected. After the meeting [of the two ministers] there was no release of any communications and the public was not informed whether the bargain on "the name in exchange for the harbor" ended with success. Athens did not hide its anger with the European Union which, once upon a time, was even ready to change our name under Greece's pressure, and now it presses Serbia to recognize the Republic of Macedonia under its constitutional name.

The Greek pro-government press threatened that Athens will put a veto in Brussels if this happens. There was not a possibility to check whether this threat was said from an authorized place or whether it was simply an empty speculation of the press because the re-establishment of EU - Belgrade relations has not yet taken place. However, diplomatic sources in Brussels say that Greece behaved as a "blown-out balloon" there, aware that many of the European countries have not yet pardoned the disgrace that it once imposed on them by involving them in the "dispute" over the name and over the illegal and unilateral blockade of the Macedonian border. It is also aware of the gravity of the present assessments of NATO circles, according to which, had it not been for the Greek obstructions in the Union's policy in favor of Serbia, the Bosnian crisis would have been solved in the same way and with the same means at least a year ago.

It is no wonder why Athens, surrounded by "hostility" from its own partners in Brussels, was relieved -- while the ministerial meeting was on-going -- after the statement of the U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher in which he said "not to hurry" with the recognition of Belgrade. The warning from Washington is very indicative considering that it was the main author of the Dayton peace agreement: It can be interpreted in many ways, even as a reminder to the European allies that diplomatic, but also (enormous) military means personified in the presence of 60,000 NATO troops, are at their disposal for the solution of the crisis in the Balkans.

It will be interesting to monitor the further development of the events in relation to the Serbian-Montenegrin federation's comeback to the international community. The Republic of Macedonia, which has this time done its job with perfection, judging by the outcome of the EU meeting in Brussels two days ago, can now afford the luxury to be tranquil. Its international position is good and stable: Macedonia's membership to international organizations or its access to the main financial institutions does not depend on the mutual recognition with the Serbian-Montenegrin federation because it is already there. Only its normalization of relations with Belgrade depends on this, and it is something that is important to it and something that it has been waiting for so long. It can afford to wait a little longer...