UN Secretary-General Boutros Ghali met in Athens yesterday with Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou and Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias.
Following the meeting with Papoulias, Ghali expressed hope that Athens and Skopje could soon reach an accord.
In yesterday's report, the Greek state TV broadcast Ghali's statement that the negotiations for the so-called "small packet" are continuing at a lower diplomatic level. Ghali, according to the Greek TV, assessed that the solution to that question is in sight, which will be in the interest of the peace in the region.
The parliamentary delegation of the National Assembly of Albania, led by the president of the Commission for foreign politics Eduard Selami, left for a visit to RM yesterday, at the invitation of the Commission for foreign politics with the Macedonian Parliament, Radio Tirana reports.
Prior to his departure for Skopje, Selami said: "The development of relations and the cooperation between Macedonia and Albania, which is not at a satisfactory level in recent times, depends on the visit and the talks. Especially after the events connected with the Tetovo university. One of the goals of the Albanian delegation will be exactly their elevation to a higher level. We will make efforts in the direction of mutual understanding between the Albanians and the Macedonian leadership, as we don't see any other way of improving the relations, without going through this cooperation and understanding," Selami said.
He added "we are going there with concrete proposals that are related to the rights of the Albanians in Macedonia, and we are looking for what is prescribed by the international standards."
A situation of alarm has been declared in the Negotino municipality, following the catastrophic floods and rains that hit this region last Thursday. The clearing up of the residue and dirt from the rivers of water and the restoration of the vital functions in the commune required the help of 400 soldiers of the Macedonian Army, the employees in the public utility service "Komunalec," the company "Negotinsko pole" and many citizens. Otherwise, the losses are still not definitely estimated. At the factory for construction materials "8th of November," the losses are estimated at 4.5 million DM. Of them, 500 - 600,000 are for wages. In the cable factory, the losses are estimated at 850,000 DM. So far, some 2,000 citizens have reported damages to their apartments.
Kavadarci is slowly returning to normal. The situation is more difficult in the surrounding villages Rosoman, Marina, Sirkovo, Palikura. The agriculture suffered the most damages. The insurance company "Makedonija" estimated that the damages to most cultures are 50 - 100 percent, while in the viticulture, the consequences will be felt next year.
The introduction of the passport regime by the FRY, practically at the start of the tourist season, when a number of Macedonians are leaving for their vacation in Montenegro, but also at a time when in neighboring Athens, as never before, the Greek-Serb relations were undergoing the most serious test of honesty and endurance, brought a certain doze of confusion in the sense - was exactly that decisive for such an unexpected decision, or is the reasons something else? The speed with which the passport regime with FRY started brought a lot of unpleasantness to the Macedonian citizens, but also strengthened the impression that this move has a political background which, as it is interpreted, is nevertheless at Macedonia's disadvantage.
Knowing the political level of the Macedonian-Yugoslav relations, as well as the insistent refusal to accept the principle of reciprocity, i.e. to respond to the passport regime introduced by Yugoslav citizens by Macedonia, with the exclusive recognition of the Macedonian passports upon the crossing of the border, this move should, however, bring more joy than bitterness. Since, it actually indirectly recognizes the Macedonian-Serb border as indisputable, it recognizes and accepts, for the first time, the Macedonian travelling documents, which could be a step closer to the recognition of Macedonia and normalization of the relations between FRY and our country. Even more so that the crossing of the border with I.D. cards, which no matter how liberal and in line with European trends, basically, didn't reflect the harmony in the Serb-Macedonian relations, but the problems in the diplomatic communication between the two countries.
The reasons for this latest decision of official Belgrade, are probably numerous and difficult to define because of the habit of the FRY to keep the subtle questions with Macedonia far away from the interest of the public. Therefore, the presumptions and speculation remain, which give this whole episode political weight and according to which it can be assessed whether something else can be expected after the introduction of the passport regime on the plan of normalization of the relations with Macedonia, or is it a question of a move for only one use, which has practical meaning for our northern neighbor. Namely, it has been clear, for some time now, that the normalization of the relations with Macedonia is one of the conditions for the lifting of the sanctions against FRY, and knowing the other conditions, as well as the stance of the government in Belgrade that there aren't any more serious problems on the line with Macedonia which could not be solved - it is the easiest one to fulfill. Furthermore, that the Macedonian side is not making any obstacles to that normalization and the economic, geographic and other conditions make it an interest to both countries.
In contribution to this thesis is also the recent visit of the vice-president of the Socialist party of Serbia Goran Perchevich to Macedonia, who was a guest at the Congress of the Macedonian socialists, but also held talks with the highest Macedonian official figures, which, as a fact, was very positively received in FRY as well. This visit, as well as the insulting anti-Serbian outbursts at the basketball stadium in Athens, to which the Serbian spectators responded by demolishing the Greek embassy in Belgrade, was received in Athens as a signal that the relations between FRY and Macedonia are growing closer, and that the Greek-Serb alliance is not standing on such strong ground. Is the recognition of the Macedonian passports actually revenge of the Yugoslav government over the anti-Serb hysteria of the "close Greek people," or did Belgrade use the incident as an alibi to start with the normalization of the relations with Macedonia?
Whichever way, with the introduction of the passport regime, Macedonia took away a small diplomatic victory, Greece got a lesson on the theme "building friendship on the basis of hostility toward another country," while Montenegro - which views this as a devised attack against its tourism, will have to wait some ten more days, until the Macedonian tourists obtain the necessary travelling documents.
According to the data of the Bureau of Statistics, in comparison with the previous month, the retail prices in June were 1.7% lower. This is owed to the lower prices of the agricultural products, which were 24.3% cheaper in June. The biggest drop is noticed with the vegetables - 37.8%, the eggs - 10.6%, fish - 4.1%, while the fruit prices went up 22.1%.
The prices of the drinks went up 0.7%, while a minimal increase of 0.1% is noticed also with the industrial-food products.
As a result of the retail price decrease of certain products and services for personal consumption, in particular from the group of agricultural products, the living expenses in June, compared to May, were 2.9% lower. In the group that forms personal consumption, the largest drop is noticed with the groups heating and lighting - 4.2%, the food was 6.2% cheaper, the household furniture - 0.7%. The increase in living costs is noticed with the groups apartment - 1.4%, tobacco and drinks - 0.5%, clothes and shoes - 0.1%.
According to the new regulations for the export of wine, the to-date minimal protection prices under which the wine could not be sold are now being abolished, and the price of the wine will be determined according to its quality.
Macedonia will ask the authorities in Brussels to explain this move, to avoid a situation of the Macedonian wines being sold on the European markets according to dumping prices.
At the border and further on, Greek trucks are issued green cards, but now with previous permission from the Macedonian Transport Ministry. Without such permits, the Greek trucks and busses are sent back.
Speculation has already spread around Greece that Macedonia is allegedly introducing reciprocal measures on the border for Greek vehicles. All of this is done without an explanation that it is a normal matter, in the absence of contingents of bilateral permits for cargo transport via the Macedonian border.
The "First catalogue of foreign currencies" came out in print these days, in an edition of the People's Bank of Macedonia, and as a result of the three-year cooperation of the Macedonian central bank and all world central banks. The catalogue contains the means of payment of 17 countries throughout the world, which are on the currency list of the People's Bank of Macedonia.
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