MAK-NEWS 07/08/95 (M.I.L.S.)

From: MILS - Skopje <mils@ITL.MK>

Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory

CONTENTS

MILS NEWS

Skopje, 7 August 1995

[01] A STEP CLOSER TO A TOTAL BALKAN WAR

German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said Saturday that, although the Balkan region is a step closer to a total war after the latest Croatian offensive against the rebelled Serbs in Croatia, a large-scale conflict can still be avoided by peace negotiations.

'The danger of a total war is evidently increased,' Kohl said in an interview with weekly Bild Zeitung, adding that the conflict cannot be resolved by military means, but only by negotiations.

[02] MACEDONIANS WARNED NOT TO GO TO DALMATIA

In regard to reports by the Macedonian embassies in Zagreb and Ljubljana of a certain number of Macedonian holiday tourists headed for Dalmatia, Croatia, the Macedonian Foreign Ministry issued a statement to warn against going to the region because of the latest development of events in these parts of the former Yugoslavia.

[03] MACEDONIA TO REMAIN NEUTRAL IN CASE OF WAR

Should the conflict in ex-Yugoslavia spread in the very neighborhood of Macedonia, the question of using Macedonia's territory in war purposes would be a motive enough for a war-in side to try and get Macedonia involved in the conflict, said VMRO-Democratic Party officials at a press- conference. Party president Vladimir Golubovski stressed this would be a chance for Macedonia, in the presence of foreign military troops on its territory, to prove its sovereignty, especially in regard to the control over the behavior of the foreign troops deployed here.

The party suggests that Macedonia declares itself neutral towards all armed conflicts in the Balkans and must not allow any side to use its territory for military purposes. Golubovski also told reporters his party had broke off its relations with VMRO-MNDS, as the coalition had failed to yield expected results.

[04] DIPLOMATIC BRIEFS

Macedonian Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski summoned Russian Federation ambassador to Macedonia Yuri Petrovich Trushin, for talks on further development of concrete bilateral economic cooperation. They explored possibilities of engaging Macedonian construction companies in projects in the Russian Federation, as well as the completion of the first stage of the gassification project in Macedonia. They also discussed possibilities of Russian tourist groups spending their holidays in Macedonian resorts in the September-November period.

[05] SKOPJE REMAINS INTRANSIGENT, BIKAS SAYS

Greece reiterated Friday the 'intransigent' behavior of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was a stumbling block for mediation efforts aimed at resolving a pending dispute between Athens and Skopje, Athens News Agency reports.

Foreign Minister Costas Bikas made the statement referring to a recent visit to Skopje by US mediator Matthew Nimitz. 'Nothing positive came out of the talks Mr. Nimitz had with (Skopje President Kiro) Gligorov. Skopje is continuing with its intransigence,' Bikas said.

He said Athens was informed on the results of the US envoy's visit through Greece's United Nations representative Ambassador Christos Zacharakis.

Athens accuses Skopje of harboring territorial claims on the northern Greek province of Macedonia and insists its northern neighbor change its controversial name, flag and constitution.

In a bid to pressure the Balkan state to comply with the Greek demands, Athens imposed a stifling trade embargo against Skopje last year.

[06] STATISTIC FIGURES

According to data presented by the Payment Operations Bureau, 10,176 legal entities employing a total of 131,925 have not received wages for one or more months. This means every third company and almost every third employee in the country have not been paid for at least a month. 5,762 companies have not paid their workers (totaling to 70,370) for three or more months.

Meantime, figures on wages in productive companies show that workers in trade companies have received the highest wage of an average of 12,019 Denars, while administration officers (having received a salary of 9,980 Denars) were the best paid employees in non-productive companies. Construction workers were paid the lowest wages of an average of 6,304 Denars, followed by those employed in the education sector, which paid out an average of 8,834 Denars.

[07] MAAK DEMANDS RESIGNATION OF CABINET

At a press-conference last Friday, MAAK-Conservative Party demanded that the entire Macedonian cabinet resigns. Unless the prime minister resigns from his position, MAAK said, at least the following four ministers should do so: Minister of Economy Risto Ivanov, due to the current catastrophic situation in the economy; Finance Minister Jane Miljovski because of the 'robbery of the century', as MAAK referred to the ongoing privatization; Minister of City Construction Jorgo Shundovski because of the numerous cases of corruption in his sector; and Ljube Trpevski, minister without portfolio, for the unsuccessful negotiations with the Paris Club and the missed opportunity to write off Macedonia's debt.

MAAK also demanded that Interior Minister Ljubomir Frchkovski be replaced.

[08] INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON THE MACEDONIAN LANGUAGE OPEN

The 28th International Seminar on the Macedonian Language, Literature and Culture, organized by the Skopje University of 'St. Cyril and Methodius' was ceremonially open in Ohrid last Friday. In the presence of over 100 participants from 25 countries, University Rector Radmila Kiprijanova stated faith in the seminar's mission to ensure spiritual unity of all those throughout the world studying the Macedonian language with linguists in Macedonia and the Balkans.

[09] HUMANITARIAN BRIEFS

Local authorities in Negotino received a humanitarian package from the American Catholic Relief Service, consisting of 11 tons of foodstuff and hygiene products, to help the population in dealing with consequences of the recent floods.

The Macedonian Church Community in Berlin also sent humanitarian aid to Negotino, mainly consisting of clothes, whereas 200 families living on welfare received coupons worth DM 100 to purchase food products.

Meanwhile, estimations of the damage in Negotino say the total damage amounts to 120 million Denars.

[10] ITALY AWARDS THE SCENARIO OF 'BEFORE THE RAIN'

The international jury of the 14th Film Festival in Goriza, Italy, awarded the first prize to the scenario for Milcho Manchevski's 'Before the Rain', thus adding to the two other Italian awards for the picture - 'The Golden Lion' in Venice and 'David Donatello' in Rome.

[11] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: GREECE IN BETWEEN TWO (SELF-IMPOSED) BLOCKADES

(Nova Makedonija, 7 August 1995) Mr. Matthew Nimitz came and left, leaving the Macedonian- Greek negotiations, or better dispute, right where it had been. That is - nowhere. Even despite the optimism with which the US envoy arrived in Macedonia. And despite the 'confirmation' of that optimism which Nimitz reportedly seen during the reception by President Gligorov and the talks with Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski. Nimitz himself avoided to answer to Macedonian reporters what his optimism was based on. At the same question, Crvenkovski only shrugged his shoulders. According to him, the American mediator brought no new suggestions to Skopje. Just as the Macedonian side has not said anything that it has not said so far regarding the obstacles on the way to resuming talks and the open questions to be necessarily regulated with Greece in the negotiations. Provided, of course, that the will to resolve the dispute is sincere.

In other words, Mr. Nimitz had yet another opportunity in Ohrid last week to witness the Macedonian readiness to enter direct talks with Athens. He could also hear for himself why negotiations under an embargo not only fail to guarantee equal status to the two negotiating sides, but also fail the negotiating process itself. In addition, the US envoy was (not for a first time, to be sure) presented with Macedonia's views on the Greek ultimate requests of the so-called 'small package' of solutions.

More precisely, he was told which of those demands Macedonia is ready to meet, and which and why it is not able to negotiate on. And why it would not be sufficient to have the talks ended in a sheer declaration that the two sides are no longer disputed. Nimitz was told that the potential agreement would have to precisely set the future behavior of both (and especially of the Greek) sides in the everyday mutual communication. Starting with a Greek recognition of the Macedonian passports and transportation documents, to recognition of the Macedonian railway, post office and other international codes. Mr. Nimitz surely knows that his beloved Greece has for a long time now been world-wide known for its systematic violation of all internationally adopted codes of behavior. Greece has not signed more than a half of the existing international conventions. And those which it has signed, Greece seems to neglect. Therefore its full disrespect for the basic human rights and liberties and its negation of a Macedonian minority within its borders, let alone the lack of respect for individual or collective rights of the latter. Greece's highly uncivilized and unecological behavior towards the Dojran Lake brought the lake to a destruction. Finally, its trade embargo against Macedonia violates two international criteria - it has closed a border which is a part of the European Union and has denied Macedonia access to the Salonika port...

Mr. Nimitz is not new in diplomacy. Besides, prior to his visit to 'this' country (as he preferred to refer to Macedonia), he had spent his summer holiday in Greece, where he must have been polished with Athens' standpoints. At last, he himself said that the dispute is a burden on his shoulders and he would like to see it resolved as soon as possible.

Having all this in mind, the public in Macedonia can only hope that the American mediator has this time left Macedonia finally assured that it is not the 'endangered Greek national interests' or the 'intransigence' of the authorities in Skopje that are the main obstacle for resuming the talks, but that it is in fact only the Greek blockade and its inability to find a way out of it. Not only because the blockade is illegal and opposed to all international laws and not only because official Athens brought world-wide embarrassment upon itself by the blockade. It is because the Greek government introduced such a barbaric measure being sure that Macedonia will not endure under the Greek embargo for more than two months at the most, as it was already blocked from the north by the UN sanctions against Yugoslavia, as well as to the west by the more than poor infrastructure and to the east, because of the unannounced but practical blockade by Bulgarian customs officials who think of all they can to slow down the transportation of Macedonian goods through this country.

Macedonia, however, continues to exit for the 18th month now. Indeed, it did face numerous difficulties, but they were all bellow Greece's expectations. At the same time, Greece began to feel the consequences of its own embargo. The Salonika port, as certain top officials in Greece now admit themselves, is almost fully closed. Trade in Greece's northern parts has almost ceased. Tourist resorts are half empty. On top of all, Greece has a prime minister who works (or not, depending on his health condition that particular day) only half an hour a day at the most. Greece has a ruling party whose inner splits are no longer hidden from the eyes of the public. It has a main opposition party that is no less disturbed by inner schisms. In other words, there is simply no political power or individual in Greece at present that could bravely and pragmatically admit to the mistake and cut the knot with which it tied its own hands. It was probably this, inner political blockade which maintains the status quo in the country, that the government's spokesman Evangeos Venizelos had in mind when, in a recent interview with this newspaper, he uttered the anthology stupidity of the Greek democracy being 'the most stable in Europe!'

And what next? Will the Macedonian-Greek dispute have to wait for a new Greek party to arise, mature, win power and start cleaning behind the now ruling PASOK? One can only hope things will not be delayed for so long.

Today's countries are yet too dependent upon each other and interests are intermingled, and the behavior of the states, regardless of their power, by no means depend on themselves alone. Greece is no exception from this. On the contrary... Therefore, the 'mediation efforts to renew the Macedonian-Greek talks' - continue...

(end)

mils-news 7 August '95