MAK-NEWS 23/03/95 (M.I.C.) [**]
From: " Demetrios E. Paneras" < dep@bu.edu>
Ta nea ths hmeras, opws ta eide to MIC:
[01] ** DATE FOR DIRECT MEETING NOT SET
[02] ** GREEK REACTIONS: " HOW TO SAVE THE NATIONAL INTEREST"
[03] ** PROBLEMATIC CUSTOMS DOCUMENTS
[04] * SECURITY INTERESTS IN FOREGROUND
[05] * U.S.A. HELPING IN FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS IN MACEDONIA
[06] . PARLIAMENTARY SESSION ON QUESTIONS OF MEMBERS
MONEY - Economy, Business, Finance & Market
[07] * MINISTERIAL MEETING OF CEI IN SKOPJE
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SKOPJE, 23 MARCH, 1995 (MIC)
[01] DATE FOR DIRECT MEETING NOT SET
" We had a meeting with the mediator of the UN Cyrus
Vance, last Friday. However, the date for a direct Macedonian-
Greek meeting has still not been set. In principle, our position,
from the very beginning of the dispute, has been known. We have
always been for direct negotiations, because we feel it is normal
for two neighboring countries to sit down and equally, face to
face, discuss all open problems," stated Foreign Minister
Crvenkovski, following his return from the several day visit to
New York, Washington and Paris.
" We believe that in order to have a joint meeting,
first all the preparations have to be completed for it to give a
certain result. Therefore, I believe that at this moment it is
much to early, due to a number of reasons, to prognose such a
meeting, and the date has also not been fixed," Crvenkovski said.
" I believe that the contacts with Cyrus Vance will
continue, and if and how things continue to develop and how much
we will be able to come to objective and realistic conditions for
equal dialogue, we will see."
In response to the question whether Macedonia has
promised to change the flag and, for the Greeks, controversial
article in the Constitution, in exchange for the lifting of the
embargo and the quick opening of an U.S. embassy in Skopje,
minister Crvenkovski said: " No, that is not correct at all, we
haven't made any promises, nor was that discussed. It's logical
that such news can not have a realistic basis, because we clearly
said that we do not accept for the embargo to be the subject of
any kind of negotiations, nor are we prepared to give anything in
exchange for the lifting of the embargo. More so, because even 13
months from its implementation, it is apparent that the embargo
can not achieve the effects that the other side expected. The
Republic of Macedonia is a much better organized state, than some
people assumed.
In relation to the meeting with the U.S. Defense
Secretary William Perry and whether the increase in the number of
American soldiers in Macedonia was discussed, the minister said:
" We had a long, very good and sincere discussion with William
Perry, on a number of issues. The talks concentrated mainly on
the role of the peacekeeping forces on our territory, the
separation of the mandate of UNPROFOR, foremost due to the
success of the mission and its different character from all UN
missions conducted so far, and we also assessed that no concrete
actions are foreseen at this moment for expansion of the number
of the troops. However, the question should remain open, in case
of certain changes of the situation in the whole region."
[02] GREEK REACTIONS: " HOW TO SAVE THE NATIONAL INTEREST"
The statement of the representative of the Macedonian
Government Gjuner Ismail, and prior to that, the statement of the
Foreign Ministry, according to assessments from Athens, show that
there are serious complications before the resumption of the
direct dialogue between the two countries in New York, " Nova
Makedonija" reports from Greece. Although the Republic of
Macedonia is immediately accused of not respecting what was a
greed in the talks with the mediator Vance at the UN
headquarters, the two statements, as it is emphasized " added
quite some confusion, which is what they were meant to do." While
the press is interpreting them differently, the Government
representative Venizelos, refusing to reveal any details, only
briefly reiterated what he constantly says " Macedonia would like
the embargo to be lifted before the beginning of the bilateral
talks." But, he immediately warned " if Macedonia doesn't give any
clear evidence of good will, the Greek counter-measures will not
be abolished."
In Skopje, as the press conveys, nonetheless, it is
believed that the groundworks and schedule for the upcoming talks
have been laid in New York. Therefore, in addition to the broad
parts of the statement of Ismail, the commentary of " Nova
Makedonija" is also quoted, which criticizes the Under Secretary
of the Foreign Ministry Victor Gaber, who called the statements
of the Greek Foreign Minister Papoulias " press information."
Beside the fact that the statement of the Government is
improvised, as well as its unclear contents, it is remarked that
the stance in relation to the Greek counter-measures is not
categoric. That is immediately interpreted in two ways, according
to which the Foreign Ministry still wants to find ways for
justification, or is indirectly trying to put pressure on the
Greek Government to abolish the measures, at the last moment. It
is also clearly noted that there are such who believe that
neither side will give in during the first phase of negotiations,
and that it will come to a lifting of the embargo in the second
phase, that is, during the meeting of the foreign ministers, as
announced, on April 6, in New York. At the same time, it is
presumed in Athens that it will come to a changing of the
Macedonian flag, but not also the controversial " articles" in the
Constitution, which would require an " entire procedure."
The latest developments, to a certain extent, surprised
even the oppositional press, which is reacting much more calmly
than earlier. So, " Elefteros tipos" only writes in brief in the
inside pages that " Athens is extending hands, while Skopje is
setting conditions." Also, the newspaper can not forgive its
authorities the fact that, while formal or informal meetings of
official Greek figures with representatives of the Macedonian
Government are multiplying, such as the meeting on the margins of
the Paris summit, between the assistant foreign minister Mangakis
with Crvenkovski, all hopes of reaching a solution to the
" Macedonian question" worthy of the " Greek national interests,"
disappeared.
[03] PROBLEMATIC CUSTOMS DOCUMENTS
The office of the Greek railways from Gevgelija made an
official announcement a week ago that the Macedonian-Greek border
will be open for the delivery of 20,000 tones of crude oil and
petrol from the PHARE program, for Macedonia. Immediately
afterwards, preparations for organizing this transport started.
The Macedonian railways fulfilled all obligations. 70 empty
wagon-cisterns with markings of the German, Bulgarian and former
Yugoslav railways headed for the port in Salonika. And, when
everything was expected to end in the best order, again, the
Greeks made up new problems. The wagon-cisterns, though delivered
on time, are still waiting in the Salonika port to be loaded.
We found out that the customs had blocked the petrol
transport allegedly due to the incomplete customs documents for
transit passage through that country.
[04] SECURITY INTERESTS IN FOREGROUND
The U.S. Under Secretary for land forces Joseph Rider
paid a visit to Macedonia yesterday, for a couple of hours. The
high guest from America was received by President Kiro Gligorov,
as well as the Macedonian Defense Minister Blagoy Handziski. The
talks centered on the realization of the elements for cooperation
on a military plan, defined in the memorandum for cooperation and
their further specification.
Following the talks with President Gligorov, the U.S.
official gave a short statement: " In the meeting with your
President, we talked exclusively about the Republic of Macedonia
and the security interest that we share."
To the question whether the possibility of increasing
the number of U.S. soldiers in Macedonia remains, the head of the
U.S. Liaisons Office Victor Comras replied instead of Mr. Rider,
who said that the situation in Macedonia was followed closely.
" Now we have 541 soldiers in Macedonia, and they are
obviously doing their job. We are satisfied that there is a fine
peacekeeping mission here," was Mr. Comras' short response.
[05] U.S.A. HELPING IN FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS IN MACEDONIA
Representatives of the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration, the acting country attache George Karountzos and
the special agent Thomas Landrigan will be staying in Skopje from
March 23, in order to help the Macedonian authorities in the
efforts to fight illegal drug trade. The visit, which is under
the patronage of the U.S Liaisons Office in Skopje, will
contribute to the expansion and strengthening of the cooperation
between the Interior Ministry and U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration.
The two American officials were received by the Under
Secretary in the Interior Ministry Dime Gjurev and his
associates. They also held a seminar for the personnel of the
Macedonian police, on the techniques of detecting drug smuggling,
as well as the models and techniques of drug trade on the
Balkans. The aim is to make the visit a part of a series of
contacts and cooperation between the Macedonian Interior Ministry
and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The two American
officials are permanently serving in Athens and have regional
competence for the entire Balkans.
[06] PARLIAMENTARY SESSION ON QUESTIONS OF MEMBERS
The Macedonian Parliament yesterday resumed and
finished the work of the 15th session. The remaining items from
the daily agenda passed expressly and without debate, while the
main accent to yesterday's session was given by the questions of
the MPs. Forty parliamentarians tabled some hundred questions to
the Government, that is, the ministries, in a matter of two and a
half hours, expressing interest mainly in the situation and
problems in the spheres of economy, agriculture, health, culture,
civil engineering, construction, public utilities, the budget....
The ministers responded orally to some of the questions, however,
in most cases, the MPs wanted written answers to their questions.
Since the constitution of Parliament, yesterday was the second
session dedicated to questions of the MPs. As a reminder, in the
ninth session, held on January 26, this year, the MPs tabled 76
questions, while the Government answered 56.
MONEY - Economy, Business, Finance & Market
[07] *** MINISTERIAL MEETING OF CEI IN SKOPJE: The meeting
of the Foreign Trade Ministers of the member-states of the
Central European Initiative starts tomorrow. 10 full members, as
well as four associated members, including high UN
representatives and representatives of the European Commission
for questions of economic development and trade, will be taking
part in the meeting. Out of the full members of the CEI, the
following will be taking part in the meeting in Skopje: Italy,
the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia,
Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while from the associated
members - Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine.
In yesterday's press conference, it was said that the
main themes at the meeting will be the economic development of
Central Europe and the role of the small and middle-sized
companies in the economies of the Central European countries,
then, the economic cooperation between the member-states of the
CEI, with a special accent on trade, assessment of the European
agreements and the perspective of the trade in the integrating
processes and the economic importance of the border and regional
cooperation.
The meeting will consist of two parts: the national
coordinators of the CEI and the members of the CEI working group
for small and middle-sized companies will hold a meeting
tomorrow, while the heads of delegations of countries
participants in the conference will meet on Saturday. In the end,
a final document will be adopted which, as part of the regulation
of the economic cooperation between the member-states, with a
special accent on international trade, will encompass the
abolition of the trade barriers and administrative obstacles that
make the economic connections of the countries from Central
Europe with the European and world associations more difficult.
As the Under Secretary in the Foreign Ministry Dimitar
Belchev mentioned, beside the economic significance, which is
expressed through the establishment of bilateral relations in the
sphere of foreign trade, the holding of the CEI meeting in Skopje
also has political significance for Macedonia. Namely, for the
first time, the Republic of Macedonia is host of an international
event of such magnitude.
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