MAK-NEWS 09/11/95 (M.I.L.S.)

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

Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory

CONTENTS

MILS NEWS

Skopje, 09 November 1995

[01] THE ADMITTANCE OF MACEDONIA IN THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE WILL BE CONFIRMED TODAY

On the occurrence of the ceremonial admittance of Macedonia at the Council of Europe, Steve Crvenkovski, Macedonian Foreign Minister, has departed to Strasbourg. He had a meeting with the General Secretary of the Council, Daniel Tarshis. Both sides expressed satisfaction on Macedonia's promotion as 38th member of this institution. Minister Crvenkovski also had meetings with the Assembly President, Miguel Angel Martinez and with the President Officer of the Ministries Committee, the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zhelenec.

The ceremony will start today with the speech of the General Secretary, Tarshis. Minister Crvenkovski and Ukrainian Prime Minister Marchuk will then sign the European Convention on Human Rights. Minister Crvenkovski will also sign the protocol on culture which had been vetoed by Greece. It is expected that the Macedonian national flag will be hanged up in front of the Council, and both Macedonian and European anthems will be played.

[02] ALL EU MEMBER STATES HAVE SIGNED THE UNIFORM AGREEMENT

Yesterday the EU member states have signed the Uniform Agreement concerning the recognition of Macedonian green cards for vehicle insurance.

According to the Macedonian Radio, the document was signed with special efforts of the Macedonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Diplomatic Missions of Great Britain, Italy and France in Macedonia also helped for the agreement.

Macedonian green cards will be valid from 01 December. Until then, Macedonian authorities will issue insurance for the member states of EU on reciprocal basis.

[03] MAX VAN DER STOEL AGAIN VISITS MACEDONIA

According to the announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the High Commissioner for National Minorities of the OSCE, Max van der Stoel, visited Macedonia yesterday. He had separate meetings with Ministers Ljubomir Frckovski and Emilija Simoska.

[04] THE ARMY POLYGON KRIVOLAK WILL BE ACTIVATED SOON

Macedonian Ministry of Defense and the US Defense Office announced that Special Units of 'Fort Karson' have arrived in the Army base Krivolak in order to get more information on the coming mutual activities between Macedonian and the US Army. During the visit, the delegation will participate at the parachute activities which will be held at the airport 'Razanovce' in Kumanovo.

As A1 TV reports, the planned activites at Krivolak may turn into mutual Macedonian -US maneuvers.

[05] TALKS BETWEEN MACEDONIAN AND TURKISH CUSTOM REPRESENTATIVES

For the first time after a period of four years, Macedonian delegation of custom services had a meeting with the Turkish one.

At the meeting of the Union of Stock Markets, the President of Macedonian Chamber of Commerce stressed the importance of establishing closer relations in the fields of railroad and the traffic transport, PTT communication, etc. The Directors of Custom Services of Macedonia and Turkey had talks on the issue of custom taxes. It was agreed that invoices will be additionally arranged by both sides.

[06] GERMANY STRONGLY SUPPORTS MACEDONIA

"We strongly support the economic reforms of Macedonia, which have been partially postponed by the Greek embargo and the Serbian aggression on the Balkans." This was said by German Minister of National Economy Karl Spranger for the interview in the Macedonian Radio Program in Germany.

"I personally support Minister Klaus Kinkel who stated that Macedonia should be included in the aid program for the victim-states of the Serbian aggression. I support that statement because Macedonia was a victim of political aggression," added Spranger.

[07] MACEDONIAN DELEGATION VISITS NORWAY

A delegation from Macedonia led by the Undersecretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Victor Gaber, had talks with representatives of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on issues of political and economic cooperation between the two countries. Macedonian delegation stressed that any support from Norway concerning Macedonian integration in European institutions will be helpful.

[08] MODERNIZATION OF MACEDONIAN ECONOMY

Macedonian Parliament President, Stojan Andov, received Christopher Finn, the Acting Secretary of the US corporation OPIK. They exchanged views on the modernization of the Macedonian economy and possibilities of US investments in Macedonia. In that respect both Andov and Finn agreed that Macedonian economy needs financial support in the fields of finances, trade, information and communication. Acting Secretary Finn was also received by Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski who stressed that signing of an Investment Accord will open the way for American investment in Macedonia.

[09] COMMENTS ON THE RECENT DEBATE IN THE GREEK PARLIAMENT

"The Greek Government will continue its policy on the 'Skopje issue' and protect its national interests", said Nikes Atanassakis,the Acting Spokesman of the Greek Government. He added that he hoped Greek political parties will reach consensus on the 'Skopje issue'.

The Greek daily 'Elephterotypia' concerning the Parliament debate, stated that the political atmosphere in Greece is close to reaching an agreement on the name issue. The daily pointed out that the opposition, except the Spring Party, allowed the Government to resolve the name issue by a compromise which will include the term 'Macedonia' in the name of the northern neighbor.

'Ta Nea' concluded that Government's position after the debate is stronger and that Papandreou will soon start to resolve the name problem of 'Skopje'. 'Ta Nea' also mentions that 'Skopje' does not accept any negotiations concerning the name and insists on its Constitutional name -Republic of Macedonia.

[10] GREECE WILL COOPERATE WITH ALL FORMER YOGOSLAV REPUBLICS EQUALLY

Athens News Agency reports that National Economy Undersecretary Ioannis Anthopulous told journalists today that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) remained in the throes of a major economic crisis characterized by a drop in per capital income, rising inflation and stagnation of economic activity.

"Skopje is no El Dorado," Anthopulous said, adding that the National Economy Ministry viewed the promotion of commercial and economic relations with FYROM in the same light as the promotion of such relations with the other republics of former Yugoslavia.

"FYROM" should be treated with the same economic policy with the other republics of former Yugoslavia," he said, stressing that he hoped for a positive outcome to efforts for peace in the broader region.

Anthopoulos said that the National Economy Ministry was ready to assist the neighboring country with export credits, particularly for the purchase of capital equipment, but he said that this would depend on the outcome of the name issue.

"The interim agreement brought a compromise between the two countries. As far as i am concerned, the provision of financial assistance to FYROM depends on the choice of the name, " Anthopoulos said.

[11] CHANGES IN THE BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT

As A1 TV reports, the Bulgarian Prime Minister, Zan Videnov, will make certain changes in his Government. It is expected that the Bulgarian Internal Minister, Ljubomir Nacev, will be soon replaced and will be appointed in the Bulgarian Embassy in France. Opposition parties in Bulgaria demanded resignation of Nacev after his insinuations about the health condition of President Gligorov.

[12] ADOPTION OF THE LAW ON DENATIONALIZATION POSTPONED

The deputies in the Macedonian Parliament continued the 26th session, yet they did not adopt the proposed Law on denationalization as the quorum was lower than needed.

The proposed Law has been explained by the Finance Minister, Yane Miljovski, who stressed that this law should be the basis of privatization, as well as returning nationalized properties to former owners.

The proposed Law has many alternative versions so that deputies and other commissions can accept the best one, said Miljovski. These alternatives are classified in two parts.

According to the first, the denationalization will be done by returning the confiscated property, and, according to the second, it will be done through compensations. Since both alternatives are not perfect, the Minister asked the deputies to express opinions which one should be taken into consideration.

During the debate, most of the deputies agreed that this Law must be adopted as soon as possible since it is of great importance. However, there were many comments on how both privatization and denationalization Laws are put into effect. Some deputies disagreed with the article that provides returning of property that has been confiscated from 1944 to 1968 and demanded extension of the period to 1990. They also stated that denationalization should also refer to those that do not have Macedonian citizenship.

[13] AUTUMN SOWING POSTPONED

The Ministry of Agriculture of Macedonia announced yesterday that the autumn sowing has been postponed as a result of the recent heavy snows. According to the Ministry information, autumn sowing has been completed on 125.417 hectares or 63% from the planned. Some of agricultural fields have not been sowed, so it is expected that the sowing will continue after the improvement of weather conditions.

MILS SUPPLEMENT:

[14] THE NEW LAW ON PUBLIC MEETINGS

('Nova Makedonija' 9 November '95)

The Macedonian Parliament deputies at the 29th session adopted the Law on public meetings. The Law defines the Constitutional right of public meetings as follows- "Citizens have a right on public meetings and express public protest without previous allowance from the Police. This right may be limited in cases of war or in state of emergency".

The Law on public meetings actually defines all meetings in an open or in closed space. Public meetings are those of cultural, religion, humanitarian, social, political, economic, and sports character, and other meetings of citizens organized to express opinion or protest. However, religion ceremonies, burial, meetings, seminars, tribunes and political parties' meetings are not considered as public meetings.

According to the 3rd article of the Law, citizens are not obliged to demand allowance from the Police, however the article says that the meeting may be reported to the police so the organizer must inform the Ministry about the meeting.

This special possibility allows police security of the meeting. In that sense the organizer and participants are prohibited to carry weapons. The security will be provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The Law on public meetings considering professional police guard introduces a policy on paying for professional service of the police. It basically means that the organizer must pay the police for securing the meeting, in case if such service is demanded. However there was a debate on this issue, especially on the proposed amendment of deputies Rami Tuda and Zekir Kadriu. The amendment says that police will pay costs of security. The main point of the amendment is that if public meeting security is paid by organizers, than many people will not have a chance to express their opinion through public meetings since costs on security are high. Minister Frckovski refused this proposal.

Concerning the issue on possible prohibition of a public meeting, the Law says that organizers must interrupt the meeting if public security is endangered. On the other hand, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will prohibit public meetings that hinder public transportation according to the international agreements which provide undisturbed flow of traffic. In that sense, the amendment of Veljo Trajanov was not accepted since it proposed blocking of traffic in order to pursue the state to fulfill its duties in the area of agriculture.

According to the Law, foreign citizens must demand allowance from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for holding public meetings in Macedonia. The Ministry will decide whether the meeting should be held or not. The Law also says that damages done during the public meeting must be compensated by organizers. However the law does not provide advance paying before public meetings, which is a case in many West European countries.

This short Law of 12 articles introduces penalties for those who do not obey the aforementioned articles. Legal entities will have to pay from 4 to 20 average salaries if they break the Law. If illegal meetings are organized by physical entities the penalty will amount from 1/5 to 1/2 average salaries or imprisonment of 30 days.

(end)

mils news 09 November '95