SKOPJE, SEPTEMBER 19, 1995 (MIC)
After returning from New York on Sunday, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Macedonia gave the following statement: "Until now you attacked me that nothing has been said and that you don't know anything, now you do know everything, so it's even more difficult to give a statement. However, I think we really achieved a complete change of the situation in the southern part of the Balkans, maybe even the whole of the Balkans. I believe that all the speculations surrounding the Republic of Macedonia have definitely been stopped, as well as all opinions about the global solutions of some questions. That is the first great result. Secondly, we have the recognition from Greece, which is an important step forward because before all, every country is determined by the recognitions from the neighbors. I feel the foundations for the development of good relations have been laid, and I hope they will develop in the coming period. We should take this opportunity to thank the mediators in this dispute, foremost Mr. Cyrus Vance, who has been working tirelessly on settling this question for the past two and a half years, then, Mr. Matthew Nimetz, special envoy of President Clinton, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrook and a line of European colleagues who took an active part in supporting us these past years, and countless other people, our friends from throughout the world. The second important thing is the establishment of diplomatic relations with the U.S.A., that is to say, the first important thing, because it preceded the signing of the accord. We have had excellent relations so far as well, however, the future development of the relations has now been regulated formally. We had a truly terrific meeting with President Bill Clinton in the White House and his associates Al Gore, Secretary of State Warren Christopher and the adviser on national security Anthony Lake. We had a long and insightful discussion. We already have a lot of responses and calls from other countries, and this opens the way to many other activities of the Republic of Macedonia in the coming months."
President Kiro Gligorov is "relentless over the name again," the Greek media assess, commenting the interview with the President for the Macedonian Television.
"The U.S.A. and the UN are intensifying the efforts to find a solution about the name, and President Gligorov, speaking on the state TV on Saturday, was again steadfast on this issue," the Greek media assess.
Conveying parts of the interview with Gligorov, the Greek media underline the assessment that the New York accord is very important for the survival and affirmation of independent Macedonia, and that the next thing to come is recognition from Belgrade.
Makfaks reports that the press in Athens is giving precedent to Gligorov's statement that Macedonia will uphold the accord from New York and take the Sun of Vergina off the flag.
The Greek press conveyed Matthew Nimetz' statement yesterday, assessing it as American support of the "compound name" in the upcoming negotiations.
The signing of the interim accord between Macedonia and Greece pleases us very much and we would like for it to represent the start of a process that will lead to a complete normalization of the relations between the two countries, is said in the press release of the Turkish embassy in Skopje.
We also view the establishment of diplomatic relations between Macedonia and the U.S.A. as a positive development.
Turkey is convinced that the stability of Macedonia is extremely important also from the aspect of keeping the peace and stability in the whole region of the Balkans. Even more so since Turkey stressed a number of times that the practice of unlawful economic measures of pressure and the obstruction of the membership of Macedonia in the international community is wrong.
In this context, it is very important for the Republic of Macedonia to be accepted to the OSCE and the Council of Europe.
The Republic of Macedonia is trying to keep all the deadlines for the practical realization of the Macedonian-Greek accord, signed in New York, last week. The Law on the coat of arms, i.e. the symbol on the flag should enter parliamentary procedure in two days, at the latest. According to the rules, the procedure should last at least 15 days, before the legal proposal could be placed before the MPs, for adoption. Yesterday, a working meeting took place in the Foreign Ministry for the start of the practical realization of the accord, while similar meetings are scheduled to be held in the other competent ministries, as well as the Government, tomorrow, or in the next couple of days. The aim of the meetings is to determine the schedule and dynamics, and to administer the tasks for the activities, in order to meet the deadlines.
The subject of these meetings, however, is not the accord itself, but an accompanying document, which is mentioned as a "side letter" for a longer time already, or as a memorandum. Its initiator is the Macedonian side which made a list of documents (such as passports, customs, transport and insurance documents, etc) which are internationally recognized and which Greece must not dispute in the communication with the Republic of Macedonia, regardless of how it will regulate that internally. Then, that list is handed to the American side, which drew up the memorandum on the basis of that, and included all the Macedonian demands in it. A less spectacular, but not less strenuous work of coordination is to follow now, as well as the practical resolution of the questions connected with the every-day normal communications between the two neighboring countries. In the process, as our diplomats say, it will be necessary to "open all four eyes" in order to foresee all the possible repercussions and "different interpretations" of the Greek side, which could come from each one of the agreed solutions.
Otherwise, the work surrounding the Macedonian-Greek accord is not entirely finished even in the United Nations which are acting as mediator. Namely, it is expected for the Secretary- General Boutros Ghali to officially inform the Council of Europe about the to-date results from the mediation. As we are informed, Ghali gives appropriate space and attention to the report on the work of the World organization in the past year, in the part dedicated to the Republic of Macedonia, and the results from the preventive peace activities of the UN, and which will be read at the start of the jubilee 50th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
According to the Republic Bureau of Statistics, the retail prices in August note an 0.2% increase. The price increase of the bread and wheat products of 14%, as well as some other groups of industrial products, caused the prices in this group of products to rise 2.9%.
The prices of the services in August are 0.7% higher, while a minimal growth of 0/1% was noted with the group of industrial-food products.
Therefore, on the other hand, the prices of the agricultural products were 11.5%, and with the fruits - 14.3%, and with the vegetables - 12.4%.
The living costs in August retained their July level, i.e. they are 0.6% higher than the June prices.
A reduction of the living costs in August is noted with the group clothing and shoes - 0.8%, food - 0.4%, tobacco and drinks - 0.1%.
The following Macedonian food producers will be presented at the world fair for food products in Cologne (Germany): "Vitaminka," "Evropa," "Zitoluks," "Povardarie," "Vinojug," "Prespa," "Kooperanti," "Laskazar," and "Makedonija." This is the first participation of Macedonian producers at an international fair of such magnitude.
The seminar "Open Days - Window '95" started with yesterday's presentation of the new operative system of the world computer giant "Microsoft" in Skopje.
The chief goal of the producer of this 32 byte operative system, as Venko Gligorov emphasized, the top man of the Macedonian distributor of the Microsoft products "Login systems," actually presents an improvement and maximum exploitation of the possibilities of the personal computers.