MAK-NEWS 31/03/95 (M.I.L.S.)

From: "Demetrios E. Paneras" <dep@bu.edu>

CONTENTS

  • [01] UNPROFOR RESOLUTIONS TO BE ADOPTED

  • [02] MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT ADDRESSES BOUTROS-GHALI

  • [03] STATEMENT BY HUGO ANSON ON GHALI'S REPORT

  • [04] PRESS-CONFERENCE OF ARENS

  • [05] GREECE ACCEPTS VANCE'S INVITATION

  • [06] DIPLOMATIC BRIEFS

  • [07] POLICE REVEALS ILLEGAL ISLAMIC ORGANIZATIONS

  • [08] HALITI MEETS WITH BBC REPRESENTATIVES

  • [09] BULGARIAN-MACEDONIAN PROTOCOL REMAINS UNSIGNED

  • [10] FIRST GREEK-KOSOVO MEETING

  • [11] TEXTILE WORKERS TO GO ON A GENERAL STRIKE

  • [12] ECONOMIC BRIEFS

  • [13] DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF MACEDONIA HOLDS PRESS-CONFERENCE

  • [14] INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL FAIR

  • [15] BALKAN TOURISM PRESENTATION

  • [16] CLOTHES FOR THE ORPHANS

    •

    M I L S N E W S

    Skopje, 31 March 1995

    [01] UNPROFOR RESOLUTIONS TO BE ADOPTED

    The UN Security Council is expected to adopt 3 resolutions to regulate the new mandate of UNPROFOR troops in the former Yugoslavia and divide the UN mission into 3 separate operations. The name used for the troops in Macedonia will be UNPREDEP, those in Bosnia will keep the name UNPROFOR, while the UN group in Croatia will be referred to as UNCRO. UN Secretary General Boutros-Ghali's suggestion to have the UN troops renamed to UNPROFOR - 1, 2 and 3 was not accepted. The new mandate will last 8 months for UN troops in Macedonia and Bosnia , and for one year in Croatia. The 3 operations will have separate chiefs'-of-staff, under a common command with headquarters in Zagreb. The French General, Barnard Jeanvier, will be a commanding officer and Yasushi Akashi a political coordinator. The former mandate of the 40,000 UN troops in the former Yugoslavia expires tomorrow.

    [02] MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT ADDRESSES BOUTROS-GHALI

    UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali submitted a report on 22 March to the Security Council, regarding the UNPROFOR missions in Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Croatia. The report is an analysis of the security situations in the states where UN forces are deployed. All 3 states, Macedonian Television reports, have reacted to the way Boutros-Ghali presented the situation before the Security Council. The report was submitted to Macedonia on 28 March. Macedonian Television disclosed an unusual practice of the Secretary General - he neglected to consult the states prior to submitting the report and therefore did not allow them to state their objections, if any. It seems, the television comments, that Boutros-Ghali also failed to consider reports on the situation in Macedonia which had been sent in by his own monitoring team deployed in the country. In regard to this, the Macedonian Government sent a written protest to the Secretary General, demanding explanation. Boutros-Ghali reportedly deviated from the facts when describing the last elections in Macedonia, mentioning only the irregularities in the first round, but not the final results. The Macedonian Government's stand, which is not included in the report, is that the boycott of the second round of elections by the opposition parties came as a result of their defeat in the first round. Furthermore, Ghali's report says that leaders of Albanian parties in Macedonia deny the results of last year's population census, despite its having been verified by international experts. The Government explained to Ghali that the initiative to establish an Albanian-language university in Tetovo has political instead of educational goals. Speaking of ethnic relations in Macedonia, Boutros-Ghali failed to mention efforts undertaken by the Government to resolve the problems. The report also includes incorrect facts - instead of referring to the Greek embargo as an illegal and one- sided act, the Secretary General calls it a "trade embargo". Despite being well aware of the fact that Macedonia has been admitted to the UN within its internationally recognized borders, Ghali says Macedonia's boundaries are administrative. He should be reminded that Macedonia and Yugoslavia are not in dispute over territories, but are discussing the demarcation line, Macedonian Television comments. It is Belgrade which has not yet answered the Macedonian suggestion to form a joint commission to deal with the issue. "All in all," the comment concludes, "Macedonian diplomacy will have to keep an eye on the activities of Boutros-Ghali's cabinet. It would be very unfortunate if the mistakes and disputable statements in the report have a negative effect on the good relations so far developed between the Republic of Macedonia and the United Nations."

    [03] STATEMENT BY HUGO ANSON ON GHALI'S REPORT

    In regard to the UN Secretary General's report on Macedonia, his political representative in Macedonia, Hugo Anson, made the following statement: "I am fully aware of the concern of the Government with the Secretary General's report. What I must underline, as his political representative in Macedonia, is that there are absolutely no doubts about the regularity of the last population census here, which was verified by international observers, despite what some political leaders and segments of population may think of it. It is the UN's view that the census results are correct. In my opinion, the report presents this correctly. As for the elections, I believe it is worth mentioning that the UN joined other international organizations in describing them as generally regular. The fact that some parties like VMRO- DPMNE and the Democratic Party viewed the election differently, by no means indicates that the United Nations shares their view. The UN considers that the elections were conducted regularly and resulted in the appointment of a legitimate and legal government. This is a Government that the United Nations respects and cooperates with. As for Macedonia's boundaries, it is of vital importance to emphasize that there are no differences in opinion on this issue. There are some smaller problems on the exact demarcation line, especially on the northern border with Serbia. I would like to stress that both the UN and the Secretary General are very well informed of the efforts by the Government and President Gligorov to cope with the various temptations the country faces - the economical, interior and exterior problems, dealing with all of them through dialogue and constructive promises. There ought to be no doubt about this at all."

    [04] PRESS-CONFERENCE OF ARENS

    Gert Arens, coordinator of the Ethnic Issues Department of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia, held a press conference yesterday to describe the nature of his mission to Macedonia. The goals of his visit, he said, are a part of the mandate he has been assigned to help resolve ethnic problems. "We have always thought that to have a federation of two nations formed within the borders of this state would be a big mistake. We are also deeply convinced that this country could not be based on a two-nation concept. Any autonomies in this direction would mean drawing lines, and this is bound to bring about bigger problems." Arens told reporters of his talks yesterday with representatives of all Albanian subjects in Macedonia. The talks, he said, focused on educational issues. Arens also met with Erdogan Sarac, president of the Democratic Party of Turks in Macedonia. He said Sarac had objected to failures in securing the right to education in their mother tongue. Arens also met with Interior Minister Ljubomir Frchkovski and Minister of Education Emilija Simoska, and was received by Parliament President Stojan Andov.

    [05] GREECE ACCEPTS VANCE'S INVITATION

    Makfaks reports that Evangelos Venizelos, spokesman for the Greek Government, stated that Athens has accepted the invitation of UN mediator Cyrus Vance to take part in the meeting on the Macedonian-Greek dispute in New York. Not stating the exact date, Venizelos said Greece will maintain its publicly presented and well-known standpoints at the talks. The Macedonian side has not yet presented an official answer to the invitation to the talks in New York.

    [06] DIPLOMATIC BRIEFS

    - Macedonian Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski received Suha Hoyan, ambassador of Turkey in Macedonia, on a request from the latter. They discussed bilateral relations and joint appearance and participation in international organizations. - Macedonian Parliament President, Stojan Andov, yesterday received Gert Arens, coordinator of the Ethnic Issues Department of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia. They conferred on ethnic relations and implementation of basic rights by national minorities, concluding that these rights must be implemented within the legal framework of the state. - Macedonian ambassador to Luxembourg, Jovan Tegovski, handed over his credentials, by which President Gligorov appoints him an ambassador to Luxembourg, to the Grand Duke Jean.

    [07] POLICE REVEALS ILLEGAL ISLAMIC ORGANIZATIONS

    Two days ago Macedonian police searched offices of the illegal Islamic humanitarian organization "Igase". They arrested the organization's director, his deputy and two other individuals from Jordan on grounds of suspicion of their being members of the terrorist organization "Moslem Brothers". According to Macedonian Television, all 4 Jordanians, who have been working on a long-term infiltration of Islamic organizations for 3 years, will be deported from Macedonia. They have established a web of 10 Islamic organizations with 50 delegates throughout the Balkans. Under a humanitarian guise, the Skopje center of the organization covered Kosovo, Serbia, Sandzak and Bosnia. The World Islamic Humanitarian Organization approved 1,630,000 German marks for the activities of "Igase". The organization had 17 projects planned in Macedonia, such as special clinics and medical centers for Muslims only. A large number of political leaders in Macedonia, Sandzak, and Kosovo, as well as the Belgrade mufti (jurist) were on the payroll of the "Igase". The police search discovered Islamic fundamentalist propaganda material, video and audio tapes, a large amount of foreign currency and financial documentation, as well as a list of companies included in money-laundering operations with this alleged humanitarian organization.

    [08] HALITI MEETS WITH BBC REPRESENTATIVES

    During his visit to Great Britain, PDP president Adburahman Haliti yesterday met with high ranking BBC officials. They discussed Macedonia's political party system, events regarding the university in Tetovo and the general position of Albanians in Macedonia.

    [09] BULGARIAN-MACEDONIAN PROTOCOL REMAINS UNSIGNED

    Traffic expert teams from Macedonia and Bulgaria negotiated goods transportation for two days but failed to sign a protocol on the issue, due to the Bulgarian team's objections to the Macedonian language. The representatives from Bulgaria, however, claim they will continue to be flexible in the future and will free up the passage of Macedonian transportation companies to the greatest extent possible. Boris Chaushevski, under-secretary in the Macedonian Ministry of Traffic and Communications, explained that the Bulgarian side had been instructed to act in accordance with Bulgarian official policy and could not sign the protocol. The Macedonian side, he said, insisted on writing and signing the document in Macedonian and in the language of the other country before signing the agreement. The two teams agreed to introduce measures to overcome problems in transportation, currently experienced by both countries. Licenses for transportation of passengers will come into effect on May 1, 1995. They also determined regulations for transport of dangerous materials, in accordance with international conventions. The Bulgarian side was asked to coordinate their part of construction work on the Macedonia-Bulgaria railroad, which has been assigned a deadline of the end of 1996.

    [10] FIRST GREEK-KOSOVO MEETING

    A1 Television reports that yesterday Greek officials had their first official meeting with leaders of Kosovo Albanians. Ibrahim Rugova, leader of the Kosovo Albanians, met with Mihalis Tinelis, Greek charge d'affaires in Belgrade, and adviser Kirijakos Laukakis, in Prishtina yesterday. Rugova presented the difficult situation in Kosovo, stressing the standpoint of Albanian leaders in Kosovo - that of a need to resolve the Kosovo question through a referendum for independence and neutrality. He repeated the request to have Kosovo placed under an international protectorate, as a transitional stage to help normalize life in the region and create conditions for resolving the problem through dialogue. Political circles in Kosovo say this is an act to normalize relations between Kosovo and Greece.

    [11] TEXTILE WORKERS TO GO ON A GENERAL STRIKE

    Textile, leather and shoe workers announced their intention to go on a one hour general strike on 28 April. The strike is supported by 63 per cent of the workers association's 30,000 membership. The Textile Trade Union adopted the decision by a two-thirds majority of votes. Workers stated the following demands: to introduce economic measures to secure competitive production, particularly in export- oriented companies, to secure the economic and social rights of textile workers in the privatization process, and to determine the lowest minimum wage.

    [12] ECONOMIC BRIEFS

    Annual statements of companies submitted to the Payment Operations show Bureau negative results for the Macedonian economy for last year. The total income amounted to 350 billion Denars, while expenses were higher by 5.2 per cent.

    [13] DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF MACEDONIA HOLDS PRESS-CONFERENCE

    At yesterday's press conference, leader of the Democratic Party of Tomislav , Macedonia,Stojanovski, spoke of a "faithless blockade of township committees" in Gostivar, Tetovo and other municipalities in western Macedonia. The constitution and law continue to be violated with unprecedented forces in the spheres of construction and education. This is also facilitated by certain Macedonians in Skopje and Tetovo, he said. Stojanovski bitterly criticized individuals who arbitrarily interpret the legal regulations for the use of minority languages in township committees.

    [14] INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL FAIR

    This year's International Medical Fair will be held in Skopje, 5 - 7 April, to present the latest medical and dental equipment. 86 companies from countries throughout the world will present their products and participate in a series of seminars.

    [15] BALKAN TOURISM PRESENTATION

    85 tourist agencies, associations and air companies from Macedonia, Yugoslavia, Croatia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Egypt, Russia, France and Holland will take part in the Balkan Tourist Presentation in Skopje, 5-7 April.

    [16] CLOTHES FOR THE ORPHANS

    Members of the US. Battalion of UNPROFOR plan to deliver a pallet of clothes to the Orphanage "11 October" in Skopje on March 31. The clothes were donated by the Marantha Bible Church in Webbuille, Kentucky, USA.

    (end)

    mils-news 31 March '95

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