In its session, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions 981, 982 and 983, which apply to the newly developed situation with the UNPROFOR activities. Resolution 983 is a separate resolution which determines the mandate of the UN forces in the Republic of Macedonia, and which emphasizes the preventive mission by changing the name into UNPREDEP, the first of its kind in the history of deployment of UN peacekeeping forces, the Macedonian Foreign Ministry emphasizes.
The permanent Macedonian representative to the UN Denko Malevski stressed the significance of this resolution and the readiness of Macedonia, as a country that realized its independence through the policy of peaceful self-orientation, to work on achieving the common goal - peace on the Balkans.
All the members of the Council took part in the discussion on this Resolution, accenting the positive example of UN deployment in RM and the success of the preventive deployment of the peacekeeping forces. Furthermore, the support of the territorial integrity and state sovereignty of RM, and the efforts for successful peaceful orientation in the settlement of the outside and internal political questions, was reaffirmed. Certain speakers used the constitutional name of the Republic of Macedonia in their speeches, the Ministry's announcement states.
The Macedonian Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski told Makpress in relation to Resolution 983 which was adopted by the Security Council that: "we've been asking for the separateness of the UN mission in Macedonia to be emphasized for a longer time, as it is different from all the rest according to the mandate and the function it is carrying out here. It is the first preventive mission in the history of the UN, and an extraordinarily successful operation."
"Therefore, we are satisfied, particularly as now the name of the operation stresses the preventive deployment of the UN forces. We are also satisfied with the fact that it is a separate Resolution only for the Republic of Macedonia, which emphasizes the separateness from the war, in which we are not participating," Stevo Crvenkovski assessed in his statement.
The Greek media report that last Thursday, in a telephone conversation, the head of the Macedonian diplomacy Stevo Crvenkovski told UN mediator Cyrus Vance that his country was not able, at least in this phase, to respond to the invitation for the negotiations to start April 6. According to the same sources, the proposal has not been fully dismissed. There will be negotiations, however, not now, but in the near future. The Greek media are blaming the latest delay in the settlement of the Macedonian-Greek dispute on Macedonia.
At the debate of the Inter-parliamentary Union in Madrid, Friday, the parliamentarian from the Macedonian Parliament Ismet Ramadani particularly emphasized the positive experiences of the preventive diplomacy, expressed through the presence of the UN peacekeeping forces in RM. He also emphasized the need to end the war in B&H with political means and by deterring its expansion to the south, as soon as possible. In that context, Ramadani pointed out some new threats to the peace and stability in the region, which obstruct the preventive and peacekeeping efforts of RM and the international community, such as the illegal embargo imposed by Greece.
"VECER": EXCERPTS FROM INTERVIEW WITH ARBEN DZAFERI:"THE PRICE MIGHT BE MUCH TOO HIGH"
According to the leader of the seceded PDP wing Arben Dzaferi, the inter-ethnic relations in Macedonia have deteriorated and are filled with distrust and intolerance, while the state authorities are resolving the problems with great ease, so the price for that kind of attitude toward the inherited problems can well be much too high. "We must give up the habit 'mandate-policy' which obviously brings occasional and superficial solutions, leaving the 'ballast' to the future generations," says Dzaferi, adding that "Parliament sees the alienation of its function in its attitude toward the ethnic dimension."
Vecer: "Seeing that your activities surrounding the so- called Tetovo university were considerable, would you accept any other solution in relation to the education of the Albanians in Macedonia, or with other words, are you ready for compromise?"
Dzaferi: "The question is wrongly addressed. The competence is in the hands of the legal organs of the Tetovo university and the Ministry of Education, if we agree that the university should not have a political dimension. Therefore, the Government should urgently release the rector Fadil Sulejmani and the others, and start seriously facing up to the problem with the competent subjects of the university. As for us, we will support the idea of the university to the end, as it is a part of our program."
Vecer: "According to you, one of the theses why Macedonia needs the Tetovo university is the possibility of influencing the prevention of Islamization in these regions through it. Would you like to elaborate on this thesis?"
Dzaferi: "The idea I expressed applies to culture, and not religion. There is a clear and precise distinction between religion and culture. The Albanians have an unique cultural heritage, regardless of whether they are Moslem, Catholic or Orthodox. Their folk dresses, customs, their whole folklore, history, aspirations, creativity, are unique, and, to a certain extent, I would also add the common celebration of the religious holidays. The more we develop our culture which is characterized with a western code, the easier we will survive as an only nation. The loss of cultural identity of the Albanians opens possibilities for the penetration of outside influences, which are alien not only to our culture, but also the overall system of values in the area we live in. Respecting the conscience of religious orientation, we will certainly strive to keep our culture, and that can not be done without institutions. Now, we are living under informative, cultural, and even subcultural rays. Survival is possible only through building adequate informative, cultural, educational and other institutions. That is not at all in contradiction with the existing system.
"I'm convinced that this report is not satisfactory for you, but what's stated in it are facts and, as far as I'm concerned, the Secretary-General should answer to them. As you know, the UN oversaw the elections in Macedonia together with OSCE and the Security Council, and just like they, they assessed them, generally, as being correct and regular. Actually, the report does not say anything different from this stance, except that it mentions that IMRO and DP boycotted the elections and did not recognize the results, which, actually, is correct. But, I will underline once more that the UN does recognize the results."
"As for the census, the assessment of the Secretary- General is also clear. Despite the fact that the international community verified them as correct, some Albanian leaders are still disputing the results. That is true, but it is also true that the report states that they are practically disputing the entire international community, as it assessed the census was correct."
As to the remark that it is seriously claimed that a considerable part of the Macedonian citizens do not support the Parliament and president, and that the border with Serbia is administrative, Anson said: "According to me, what the report wanted to say is that IMRO-DPMNU and the Democratic party have an influence on a considerable part of the voting body. I absolutely feel that the President, the Macedonian Government and the ethnic leaders made certain efforts to overcome the problems in Macedonia through constructive dialogue. I am not a pessimist, although I am also not a professional optimist, but I believe that there is an even greater 'capacity' to solve the problems in this country."
Speaking of Macedonia's involvement in the international economic organizations, Dimitar Belchev, Under Secretary in the Foreign Ministry said in the interview for "Nova Makedonija" that Macedonia was presently an observer in the World Trade Organization and UNKTAD, that talks have started with OECD, and that as a member of the UN, Macedonia was working in the Economic Commission for Europe, in Geneva. Macedonia is also negotiating with the European Commission for cooperation in certain fields, while the cooperation with the EU is at a level in which that is possible, in view of the general stance of the Union. Only basic documents have been exchanged with EFTA.
Mr. Belchev believes that the first thing that should be done is to become a full member of the World Trade Organization, in order to enable the Macedonian economy to function under the same conditions as the other economies.
As for the state interventions in Macedonia, Mr. Belchev stated that a new customs tariff has been introduced in Macedonia in December, 1993, which liberalized trade, while only 2-3% of the producers are under a regime, which means that for them, the companies have to address the state.
The rice producers from the Kochani region decided to plant 756 hectares of rice this year, instead of the planned 1,500. In the hydro- land reclamation system "Bregalnica," according to the latest measures, only 26 million cubic meters of water were determined, which is the basic reason for deciding to reduce the areas planted with rice.
This is the smallest quantity of areas to be planted with rice since the building of HLRS "Bregalnica," which, according to the rice producers, presents a last warning that the rice is threatening to disappear from the Kochani regions.
The factory for tin packaging materials "Palm Bit" from Bitola has made changes to its equipment and technology and is now able to manufacture 10,000 tones of tinplate. The factory mainly produces wrapping materials for meat, vegetables, fruit and is also equipped to produce cheese cans, lids for various purposes, and recently, it has started making aluminium lids which are used to pack infusion mixtures. Furthermore, the production line for lithography has been finished in the factory. There are 295 workers working at the factory, and for now, there are now problems with the marketing of the products.
The factory is working for the Macedonian market, and it has also held on to its partners from former Yugoslavia. Until two years ago, as long as it was possible, the factory also worked for Greek customers.
The expropriation of the land for the building of the track to the Bulgarian border is underway. It has been completed on a part of the track from the villages Ginovci and Petralica, of up to some 2 km. A total of 32 deals have been made with the customers, and the compensation has been paid.
At the moment, work is being done on expropriation of the land in Psaca, Petralica and Dalbocica, with a total length of 6 km.
As for the part of the track that passes through the town Kriva Palanka, 56 buildings have to be expropriated, however, there is still no main project for that part, and a survey has been done of the owners who want construction land in the same region.