MAK-NEWS 25/08/95 (M.I.L.S.)

From: "M.I.L.S." <mils@ITL.MK>

Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory

CONTENTS

MILS NEWS

Skopje, 25 August 1995

[01] ARENS VISITS TETOVO AND SKOPJE

European Commissioner for Minorities Gert Arens met in Tetovo yesterday with representatives of parliamentarian political parties of Albanians, A1 Television says. Arens talked with representatives of the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP), Party for Democratic Prosperity of Albanians (PDPA) and the People's Democratic Party (NDP), as well as with representatives of the Macedonian government.

PDPA leader Arben Dzaferi told A1 reporter he had personally offered a political platform to Arens and Stoltgenberg to resolve all open problems as early as at the meeting in Geneva. The proposal included suggestions for changes in the Macedonian Constitution. Whereas yesterday, he told Arens about the harm the government could impose if it allows laws that are still debated to be included in a cabinet and parliament procedure. In this case, negotiations on the laws on local self-government and higher education will be brought into question, Dzaferi says. He confirmed that the three parties of Albanians are unanimous on a higher education platform, asking that it be included in the new law. According to Dzaferi, the talks with Arens are in fact the only chance for negotiations between them (i.e., representatives of Albanians) and the government and further with European institutions. Asked whether these talks with Arens will be used to press on including of Albanians in the Constitution as a constitutive nation, Dzaferi replied that Arens is in no position to help them in this. The ultimate goal of Albanians in Macedonia, however, is to make the Macedonians aware of this historical need of Albanians and to only complete a constitutional provision that had already existed in the past.

PDP representative Mevljam Tairi said the talks with Arens focused on the laws on local self-government and higher education. Yet, he said, now that the cabinet has given green light for these laws, the talks cease to be relevant and necessary.

[02] MACEDONIA INCLUDED IN HUNGARIAN INITIATIVE

Today's Nova Makedonija writes that Hungary has also asked the Republic of Macedonia for an opinion on its initiative to have a conference on former Yugoslavia by the end of the year. Macedonia is expected to be one of the participants at the conference. The paper believes Macedonia, if it agrees to take part, will surely demand a different status than that of the former Yugoslav republics involved in the war in Bosnia. Slovenia has a similar approach to its own participation.

Nova Makedonija comments that the conference could be of use for Macedonia only if it provides an opportunity for the country to hold talks with all neighbors on defining mutual relations.

[03] LATVIA AND MACEDONIA TO ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC TIES

Latvian Foreign Minister Lavlis Birkas and Macedonian ambassador Tihomir Ilievski yesterday met to confirm that the two countries could soon establish full diplomatic relations (sometime in August or September). What could be an initial basis for the development of Macedonian-Latvian relations are their similar goals and positions in Europe, particularly concerning the current European integration processes.

[04] PARLIAMENT SCHEDULES SEPTEMBER SESSIONS

The Macedonian Parliament scheduled its 24th and 25th session, as well as continuation with the unfinished 20th and 21st ones for the beginning of September. MP's will meet on September 5 to hold the 24th session and discuss laws on turnover and services taxation, trade, trade associations and tellecommunications. The 25th session is to be held on September 12 and will focus on the draft-law on higher education.

[05] GOVERNMENT BRIEFS

At yesterday's continuation of its 35th session, the Macedonian government was briefed on the dynamics of the purchase of this year's corn yield.

Cabinet members made a decision on evaluation criteria for sale of enterprises to managerial teams and issuing of shares for the purpose of raising additional investments.

[06] PANIC AMONG ALLIANCE FOR MACEDONIA'S PARTIES

In regard to the recent several TV appearances of Dr. Vasil Tupurkovski, today's issue of the Skopje weekly Focus coments:

'Does this mean,' he asks, 'that where there is smoke, there is fire? And has Tupurkovski only marked the beginning of a ruthless race for a successor of Gligorov? And that he, being a 'free-lance' without a party base, will have to run against the Liberals' first man or someone else the Social Democrats might dig out in the meantime, that is if the current president resigns from the position before his [Tupurkovski's] ex-assistant at the university turns 40 (Minister of Interior Frckovski) - which is a constitutional precondition for the position of a president?'

[07] STATISTIC FIGURES

At the present moment, there are 82,613 companies registered in Macedonia. 696 new enterprises were founded only in the month of July and, according to data of the Statistics Bureau, 1.5 per cent of them are social, 1.6% are of a mixed ownership, 1.2% are cooperatives, whereas the remaining 95.7& are privately owned. 62.4% of them are in trade, and 34,206 (41.4%) have their main offices in Skopje. From aspects of their founding capital, 96.3% are founded with domestic capital, 2.4% with mixed assets and only 1.3% are founded through foreign investment.

[08] MACEDONIAN PASSPORTS SOLD AT UP TO DM 4,500

Macedonian customs officials at the Macedonian-Bulgarian border crossing Deve Bair discovered another three Kosovo Albanians with falsified Macedonian passports. The Kriva Palanka Court already started proceedings against the first revealed group of 23 Albanians from Kosovo, determining that the group consists mainly of young Albanians with Yugoslav citizenship who have not served in the Yugoslav army and were trying to flee to Western countries. They have paid DM 2-4,500 per passport, and certain Macedonian tourist agencies are involved in the operation.

[09] STRUGA POETRY EVENINGS DECLARED OPEN

The international Struga Poetry Evenings were ceremonially open yesterday evening. The manifestation is expected to gather over 100 poets from 50 countries. This year's winner of the Golden Wreath, the Israeli poet Yehuda Amihay, is invited as a guest of honor. The Evenings will promote the contemporary Danish poetry and will also include the traditional seminar on 'Poetry and Light'.

[10] BRUCELOSIS CASES REGISTERED IN TETOVO

The Medical Center of Tetovo has registered 27 brucelosis- affected cases since January 1995, but new cases appeared only recently. The largest part of the patients come from the nearby village of Bozhovce. Health inspection teams are checking the health condition of sheep, goats and other cattle in the region, but villagers refuse to cooperate.

[11] SILEKS BEATS SAMSUNG 3:1

In a European Cup qualification re-match, the Macedonian soccer team Sileks of Kratovo beat the Hungarian team of Samsung by 3:1. The goals for Sileks were scored by Memeti (2) and Borov (1 goal).

MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT:

[12] WE DON NOT GUARANTEE SAFETY TO AMERICANS IN MACEDONIA!

(Focus, 18 August 1995) The following is an interview with Dragisa Miletic, leader of the Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia.

Question: Mr. Miletic, do you not believe that certain conclusions stated by your party at the recent press- conference, particularly those concerning Macedonia, are exaggerated?

Answer: No, not at all. You know, the two largest associations of Serbs and Montenegrins in Macedonia are currently raising funds to aid the 180,000 Kraina refugees. In only four days, we have gathered an enormous amount of humanitarian aid. To be more precise, people have donated clothes for over 2,000 refugees, over DM 3,000 and 52 citizens have volunteered to donate blood. I would like to stress here that over 50 per cent of those donating both clothes and blood are Macedonians. And there you have the Macedonian government spokesman Djuner Ismail stating that Macedonia has not condemned the Croatian aggression in Kraina and even supports this, as far as I am concerned, at least disputable and utterly illogical 'reintegration of Croatian territories'. Much greater world powers than Macedonia have condemned the act but the Macedonian government, and this is clearly obvious now, only echoes the American viewpoints. The Macedonian diplomacy is completely caught in the US net. This could be very dangerous.

Macedonia resembles a human body without a head. Yet, what seems to be most tragic in this situation is that, judging by the response among Macedonians to the humanitarian campaign, the Macedonia people disagrees with its government on the issue.

Question: America is present in Macedonia with 500 troops. Unofficial sources say a deployment of an additional 15,000 US troops are to be expected in Macedonia...

Answer: The US Army, wherever it may appear, is always an enemy. They support all fascist and destructive forces in Europe. What Hitler aimed but failed to achieve, is now being done by the US with the help of its military forces.

Germany is currently investing large sums of money to secure an exit to the rivers Sava and Danube with the help of America, or to make its 'centuries-long dream', as Tudjman would put it, to create a 'Croatia reaching Zemun.' But I guarantee you that Croatia and Germany will not only fail to reach Zemun but Serbs will have an exit to the Adriatic. And as for the US and its diplomacy, may they be clearly and loudly reminded that they have troops in Macedonia as well; there will be peace in the world only when American mothers cry out their eyes over their dead sons, just like Serbian mothers are crying now.

Question: When the US troops arrived in Macedonia, you said you did not guarantee their safety. The impression is that you are now even more rigorous?

Answer: You know, when the Americans arrived in Macedonia, bombardments were announced against the positions of Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia. We pointed out that, should it come to this, the US troops will not be safe in Macedonia. We succeeded to deter the Serbian people in Macedonia from causing incidents only by restless, 24-hour watch. This time, however, we will not stop them at all, because we simply have no moral right to do so. This is normal. You would feel hurt as well if a brother Macedonian of yours was killed. It is very important for the Macedonian government and the US to know that the roots of 85 per cent of the Serbs living in Macedonia are exactly from regions currently at war. Therefore, I again claim that no one can guarantee safety to the American soldiers here. In fact, for a statement similar to this one I was even taken into custody by the Macedonian police two years ago. What I am saying now is not a threat; I am just warning against what might happen.

Question: Yet, despite all you said, I find it hard to comprehend your bitterness against the Macedonian government.

Answer: Although maybe not very visible, but there is repression over Serbs in Macedonia. This is also a part of the premeditated American strategy. The repression is carried out by the Macedonian government, but we are largely supported by the Macedonian people. After all, the people will not easily forget its kinsmen. My wife, for instance, is a Macedonian and I surely am not the only case of a nationally-mixed marriage in Macedonia. I wonder how you would react if Macedonia was now at war and if official Serbia or Yugoslavia justified a potential aggression on a territory held by Macedonia by, let's say, Albania.

Question: Still, this is only a hypothesis...

Answer: Yes. Anyway, we have recently tried to submit a demand on behalf of the associations of Serbs and Montenegrins in Macedonia to the ministry of the interior, asking that they allow us to temporarily shelter some Kraina refugees and accommodate them in their relatives' or friends' homes. No one would receive the demand, which is addressed to Deputy Interior Minister Alekso Donevski (the fact that Mr. Donevski is on a holiday is irrelevant). Yet, on the other hand, some 25,000 Muslims were allowed to do the same three years ago. I have no choice but to understand this as a sign that Orthodox Christians cannot count on help in Macedonia. The current Macedonian government, operating under directives from the US, Turkey and Germany, welcomes only those of Muslim religion. And, this is already a fact, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (and this is what we consider Macedonia to be) is the main link of the expansionist policy of the US, Germany and Turkey, aimed at enabling the Muslim religion and Fundamentalism to penetrate into the Balkans and Europe. And only one more thing in the end - even Serbs in Macedonia have a patience line under which they will certainly not decline!

(end)

mils-news 25 August '95