The president of the Republic of Macedonia Kiro Gligorov will visit Belgrade today at the invitation of the President of the Republic of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic. The expected topic of the discussions are questions concerning mutual relations.
This is the first meeting of the two presidents in Belgrade after the beginning of the Yugoslav crisis. As we know, Serbia announced that it would normalize its relations with Macedonia and recognize its sovereignty after Greece had done the same. Analysts believe that after the signing of the Interim Accord between Macedonia and Greece on 13 September and after the relaxation of the tensions between the two countries there are no reasons for Serbia not to recognize Macedonia, particularly after the intervention of the U.S. diplomacy on the territories of former Yugoslavia.
"Realism is more than necessary for all of us in the Balkans. We must accept the reality that Macedonia exists and that it is an independent country and that the disputes can be solved only through dialogue. The sooner we liberate ourselves from the historical myths and frustrations, the sooner we shall transform the Balkans into a part of Europe. In this context, if we organize a meeting of the foreign ministers of Macedonia and the FR Yugoslavia and prepare the act of mutual recognition, there is nothing more logical for us than to solve this problem and organize such a meeting," President Kiro Gligorov said in the interview for Yugoslav weekly NIN, answering to the question whether it was possible to expect a soon Gligorov-Milosevich meeting on mutual recognition in a direct meeting.
"The mutual recognition of Macedonia and Serbia is something very normal and it is in the interest of peace and stability in the region, particularly because the New York Accord (between Macedonia and Greece) abates the reason for postponing mutual recognition, which was that Serbia, that is FR Yugoslavia, cannot recognize Macedonia because of its dispute with Greece. The JNA (Yugoslav National Army) left Macedonia in peace and in accord, we do not have any territorial disputes, and therefore there are no reasons for postponing the mutual recognition, because it is harmful for both sides," Gligorov also said.
As a reply to the question that after the war there might be an economic integration of the former Yugoslav republics, as an indispensable precondition for any other cooperation, Gligorov stated as follows: "I think that we must not start now with some global plans on any kind of integration. It would be politically totally unacceptable and unreal. What is current now, in my opinion, that is what we should start from at this moment, is the opening of borders. I would now not like to make any combinations about a kind of a Balkan integration or an integration of the former Yugoslav republics. We must open ourselves and start a normal cooperation in all fields, not only in the economy, and find ourselves into the European Union. This is the best orientation for the whole Balkans."
A delegation of the Ministry of Foreign affairs of the Republic of Macedonia, according to "A1" Television, will today make a working visit to the Republic of Greece.
The delegation will be headed by Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Ljupco Arsovski. This will be the first meeting at which preliminary discussions on the level of experts from both countries will be held. The topic to be discussed will be the execution of practical measures from the recent Interim Accord signed in New York, MAKPRES reports.
Radio Skopje discovers that the opening of a Communications Office will also be discussed, as well as the creation of a free flow of people and goods across the border.
Athens's "Ethnos", referring to well-informed sources in the center of the UN, informs us that the negotiations about the name will begin on 23 October.
According to these sources, the newspaper claims, both the State Department and the UN General Secretary Boutros Ghali agree with the view of UN mediator Cyrus Vance that the name "Nova Makedonija", not translated into either Greek or English, represents a nice compromise. This suggestion has been so far rejected by both sides, but now it will be put on the negotiating table again.
At the regular conference of the ruling Labor Party of Western Australia a Resolution was adopted, proposed by the Parliamentary Society for Friendship with Macedonia, which demands from the Federal Government to stop using the abbreviation FYROM and to begin immediately with the activities of establishing full diplomatic relations with the Republic of Macedonia.
The proposal was brought forward by the President of the Parliamentary Society Nick Catania and the President of the Macedonian Society for Friendship with the Labor Party Vasil Radis.
All delegates present at the conference - which includes all members of the Australian Senate from Western Australia, as well as members of the Federal House - stood in support of the proposal.
MAKPRES Agency comments that this Resolution of the Labor Party will have significant impact on the Federal Government in establishing full diplomatic relations with the Republic of Macedonia.
President of the Macedonian Parliament Stojan Andov has expressed his satisfaction due to the fact that at the voting for the reception of Macedonia in the Council of Europe the Greek Parliamentary delegation not only voted for, but also supported the reception of Macedonia".
At the news conference last Friday, after returning from Strasbourg, Andov pointed out that "Greece has shown its adherence to the regulations of the Interim Accord, signed in New York on 13 September."
He said that such conduct of the southern neighbor can already be seen in the new atmosphere in the betterment of the relations in the Balkans.
Andov pointed out, as another important event from the reception of Macedonia in the Council of Europe, the fact that the expertise has shown that the democratic process in Macedonia is in course and that Macedonia is able to accept obligations in the internal organization according to the standards of the Council of Europe.
As for the question of not accepting the amendment of a group of MP's who demanded that Macedonia be accepted under its constitutional name, Andov said that its aim was to prevent the creation of any odds of blocking the reception of Macedonia by the Council of Ministers, which is supposed to be in session this October.
One of the questions of the journalists was about the letter from NDP asking for postponing the reception of Macedonia into the Council of Europe. President Andov said that such a document has never been circulated among the delegates in Strasbourg and that the members of the Council of Europe know the situation in Macedonia well enough to be shaken in their attitudes by some letter.
During the next two months there will be an exchange of military experts between Great Britain and Macedonia in order to work out the program for mutual cooperation for 1996, declared Minister of Defense Blagoj Handziski at the Skopje airport, after returning from London, where he had met British Defense Minister Michael Rifkin.
During the visit to London a Memorandum on mutual understanding in the field of defense was signed. According to Handziski's words, one of the prime goals in cooperation in the field of education is the training of Macedonian military staff at military academies in Great Britain.
Minister Handziski said that he had discussed with his British colleague the reception of Macedonia in the "Partnership for Peace" initiative and the help that Britain could offer Macedonia to reorganize its Army according to the NATO standards.
"Sofia is ready to remove the tension in the relations with Macedonia," Sofia's newspaper KONTINENT writes, in transmissting some statements of members of Bulgarian parliament.
The MPs mainly support the Government's view on signing the "remaining" agreements with Macedonia. Some of the MPs point out that the signing of the agreements does not necessarily mean recognition of the Macedonian language, because a "Bulgarian dialect" is spoken in Skopje.
Deputy president of the Foreign Political Commission of the parliament gave a statement for KONTINENT in which he emphasizes that if Bulgaria recognizes the Macedonian language it will automatically erase its own history."
The largest Macedonian opposition party, the VMRO- DPMNE, at its first constitutional session of the Central Committee, retained the same leadership. Boris Zmejkovski was re-elected Secretary General. Dosta Dimovska and Boris Stojmenov are the two vice presidents, while Ljupcho Georgievski is still the president.
At this session there were discussions about the present political and defense situation in Macedonia with the accent on the signed Accord with Greece. According to what Georgievski said, the VMRO-DPMNE will never accept this Accord. The Central Committee adopted conclusions according to which the Accord is rejected and assessed as detrimental and treacherous for Macedonia.
This Party confirmed its participation in the Convention for Macedonia and accepted all its further actions. As we know, the day Macedonian Parliament will change the former flag, on Thursday, the Convention will organize peaceful demonstrations in Skopje.
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