MAK-NEWS 21/04/95 (M.I.L.S.)

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] WORLD BANK BOARD APPROVES CREDIT FOR MACEDONIA

  • [02] NEGOTIATIONS ALREADY FINISHED, GREEK MEDIA CLAIM

  • [03] ANDOV RECEIVED NOYAN

  • [04] MACEDONIAN DELEGATES' ACTIVITIES IN AUSTRALIA

  • [05] CEI MINISTERS' MEETING STARTS TOMORROW

  • [06] INITIATIVE FOR COLLECTIVE DEMAND BY BALKAN COUNTRIES

  • [07] CHINESE AMBASSADOR VISITS TETOVO

  • [08] ALBANIA REACTS TO TORN DOWN ILLEGALLY BUILT OBJECTS

  • [09] SAME EVENT CELEBRATED BY TWO PARALLEL MANIFESTATIONS

  • [10] VMRO-DPMNE SUPPORTS GENERAL STRIKE INITIATIVE

  • [11] SDSM TO HOLD CONGRESS

  • [12] EASTER HOLIDAYS

  • [13] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: WHAT FRIGHTENED THE MACEDONIAN PEOPLE - PART I (Puls, 21 April, 1995)

    •

    M I L S N E W S

    Skopje, 21 April 1995

    [01] WORLD BANK BOARD APPROVES CREDIT FOR MACEDONIA

    The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank approved on April 18 a $24 million credit for Macedonia, to be used for the project of improving the transport through the country. The Macedonian Government already prepared a draft- law to propose guarantees for the loan, which is to be passed byt he parliament.

    [02] NEGOTIATIONS ALREADY FINISHED, GREEK MEDIA CLAIM

    "Athens and Skopje have already finished their talks concerning the so-called 'small package' and UN mediator Cyrus Vance is only waiting for President Kiro Gligorov to announce this to the Macedonian public," wrote yesterday the conservative Greek paper Kathimerini, citing an anonymous American diplomat. The pro-government Ta Nea also published an identical article on the issue. As agreed, the Greek press writes, Vance will firstly summon representatives of both sides to separate meetings and demand that they informally promise him to make the retreats stated in the "small package". This means that the Macedonian side will have to change its flag and constitution, while Greece will be obliged to lift its embargo and re-establish economic cooperation with its northern neighbor, Athens papers comment. Reacting to such news in the Greek press, Macedonian Government spokesman Djuner Ismail told Makpress that Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski has so far had no contacts or talks with any Greek representatives in New York. All these rumors are nothing but sheer speculations and fabrications, Ismail assured.

    [03] ANDOV RECEIVED NOYAN

    Before leaving for Turkey to take part in the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Grand People's Assembly of Turkey, Macedonian Parliament Andov met Suha Noyan, ambassador of Turkey in Macedonia. Andov expressed satisfaction with the fact he has been invited to the ceremony in Istanbul.

    [04] MACEDONIAN DELEGATES' ACTIVITIES IN AUSTRALIA

    Macedonian Minister of Education Emilija Simoska and foreign under-secretary Victor Gaber, currently in a several-day official visit to Australia, met yesterday in Perth with Paul Omodey, Minister of Multiculture and Ethnic Issues. The talks focused on the issue of education of ethnic groups in Western Australia. Gaber met with officials of the Government, exchanging ideas on possible cooperation between Western Australia and Macedonia in the fields of economy and culture.

    [05] CEI MINISTERS' MEETING STARTS TOMORROW

    The regular meeting of ministers of the Central European Initiative will begin tomorrow, April 22, in Krakow, Poland. A Macedonian delegation, led by Dimitar Belcev, under- secretary in the Foreign Ministry, will also take part in the conference.

    [06] INITIATIVE FOR COLLECTIVE DEMAND BY BALKAN COUNTRIES

    Macedonian Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski met in New York yesterday with Stanimir Aleksandrov, Bulgaria's Deputy Foreign Minister. They discussed an initiative by countries in the Balkans affected by the UN sanctions on Yugoslavia to demand loss compensation.

    [07] CHINESE AMBASSADOR VISITS TETOVO

    Li Shuyuan, ambassador of China to Macedonia, yesterday paid a visit to Tetovo. He discussed the situation in Tetovo, Gostivar and other cities in western Macedonia, with Tomislav Stojanovski, leader of the Democratic Party Macedonia. Stojanovski said that, along with extremely high birth-rate among Albanian newcomers to the region, there is an enormous mechanical inflow of Albanians from Kosovo and Albania, which is drastically changing the demographic structure of the population. Despite all this, he said, the Macedonian Government is making retreats to ethnic Albanians beyond any legal frameworks, introducing anxiety among Macedonians there, who feel deprived of rights and second- rate citizens in their own state.

    [08] ALBANIA REACTS TO TORN DOWN ILLEGALLY BUILT OBJECTS

    Citing Makpress sources in Tirana, A1 Television reports the Albanian national television and radio yesterday commented the recent acts of tearing down illegally built mosques in Kumanovo and Titov Veles and closing down the illegal Albanian-language high-school near Struga. The actions were described as "acts aimed against ethnic Albanians in the country by the Macedonian Government, likely to have strong impact on ethnic relations there."

    [09] SAME EVENT CELEBRATED BY TWO PARALLEL MANIFESTATIONS

    A1 Television cites the Bulgarian Public Prosecutor Ivan Tatarcev as saying the mayor of the Bulgarian city Sandanski has made an "unhappy" decision to officially mark the 80th death anniversary of Jane Sandanski on the same day (22 April) and at the same place where it is traditionally celebrated by OMO Ilinden, Macedonian organization in Bulgaria. In other words, the occasion will be celebrated by two parallel manifestations. The one organized by OMO Ilinden - which considers Jane Sandanski a Macedonian - is regarded as illegal by the authorities. The initiative to officially mark the event, however, divided the position (Bulgarian Socialist Party) and the opposition (Right-wing Alliance of Democratic Forces, which includes VMRO-SMD). Tatarcev, formerly member of VMRO-SMD, told a A1 Television reporter the Bulgarian Government is making a wrong move, as Sandanski is no part of the Bulgarian history. Therefore, he said, he will not undertake steps to prevent the manifestation of OMO Ilinden, adding the Ministry of the Interior would be responsible for any potential negative consequences. OMO Ilinden plans to put up a memorial bust of Jane Sandanski at the place called Papaz Cair and has already published the paper Pirin Macedonia, as part of the celebration. Ilinden activists say they will do all in their power to avoid conflicts with the Bulgarian police, but cannot give up the celebration.

    [10] VMRO-DPMNE SUPPORTS GENERAL STRIKE INITIATIVE

    VMRO-DPMNE fully supports the initiative for a general strike by workers in Macedonia, brought by the Union of Independent Trade Unions, scheduled to start on April 27. At yesterday's press conference, the party announced its political demands as follows: resignation of the current and forming a new government, scheduling new elections and self- dismissal of Parliament. The party expects a dozen more out- of-parliament opposition parties to support the strike initiative. Party leader Ljupco Georgievski said the recent buy-out of the companies Skopska Pivara, Makedonijaturist and Fershped upon an agreement with the Privatization Agency, is a peak of the economic criminal in the country.

    [11] SDSM TO HOLD CONGRESS

    The Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia (SDSM) will hold its Second Congress today and tomorrow. Branko Crvenkovski is again running for president of the party, and the following are candidates for vice-presidents: Jane Miljovski, Ilinka Mitreva, Erol Hajretin and Blagoj Handziski. Eftim Ancev and Ljubomir Popovski are nominees for a party secretary. SDSM has invited only representatives of parliamentarian parties and no foreign delegates to attend the congress.

    [12] EASTER HOLIDAYS

    Orthodox Christian believers in Macedonia will be celebrating the major religious holiday Easter in the next few days. Solemn liturgies in churches throughout Macedonia were held yesterday to start the celebration. The main ceremony will take place tomorrow, one hour before the traditional midnight mass in all churches. The central manifestation will occur at the "St. Clement of Ohrid" church in Skopje.

    [13] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT:

    WHAT FRIGHTENED THE MACEDONIAN PEOPLE - PART I

    (Puls, 21 April, 1995)

    The following is an interview of Ljupco Georgievski, leader of the largest opposition party in Macedonia, VMRO-DPMNE, with a Puls reporter. Question: Would you please tell us something about the political activities of VMRO-DPMNE during the past period of its being an out-of-parliament opposition party? Answer: It is obvious to all that, following the elections, VMRO-DPMNE has been leading a calm and quite politics which has in a certain way contributed to revealing all weak points, mistakes and failures of the group referring to itself as the government in this country. We used this period to establish active cooperation with foreign diplomats in and out of Macedonia and are now able to boast that we have played an important role in enabling the UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to present a truthful report to the Security Council on the situation in Macedonia. We like to think of this as victory of ours at an international level. Question: What is the main loss for the country resulting from the fact that the opposition is currently mute? Do you regret that you are not included in the work of Parliament, after all? Answer: The basic loss is that the people cannot hear our voice in the parliament and our standpoints on many quite relevant issues in and about Macedonia. Normally, every political party sees parliament as the best opportunity to state its vies, and we are now deprived of this opportunity. Still, despite all negative consequences for us, we firmly remain on our position not to participate in the work of parliament, as in this way we help fully reveal activities of the ruling parties. We do regret, of course, that we are not there, but we have chosen this way fully aware of the consequences, since we believe it is better to be out of parliament than to have some 15 to 20 seats to have no choice but to help the government to build a mask of democracy. The parliament remains our main goal and that is exactly why we insist on new elections, which we believe will be scheduled in the near future. Question: What major changes in VMRO-DPMNE are expected from the coming Second Congress? Answer: The Congress will bring about certain changes in the party's Statute and Program Resolution, as well as a series of declarations to clarify certain moments which might have been unclear to the Macedonian public and even a part of our membership. I believe the Congress will only reaffirm the continuity in the work of our party, one of the rare parties to have organized a second congress in the past formally democratic years in the country. This speaks by itself of the serious attitudes of VMRO-DPMNE, which is firmly determined to remain on the Macedonia political scene as the most serious factor against the current government. Question: What are your personal expectations of the congress? Answer: First of all, I believe we will demonstrate our power and prove that we are still a major political factor which could replace the government and offer a true alternative for both the Macedonian nation and all citizens in Macedonia. Then, we will also demonstrate our continuity and prove that we are a party which has succeeded in achieving its goals as determined at the first congress of 4 years ago. I expect we will complete the definition of the party's Program Resolution and the new directions in our political activity, refreshing and improving the quality of the leadership. If I am re-elected, I will suggest that the leadership is divided into a central committee, to base its work on reports from municipal committees, and an executive committee, to be completed with qualitative membership and carry out political decisions. Question: Why is the congress to be held in Kicevo instead of, as previously announced, in Salonika, Greece? Answer: This is just another example of exaggerating statements of certain VMRO-DPMNE members. Those against us remember nothing else from our first congress but that a delegate of ours in Australia had said we would hold the second congress in Salonika. What they "forget", however, is that we were the first to have loudly demanded independence for Macedonia, while the former Yugoslav People's Army was still here. Question: Could you recapitulate all changes in the leadership and loosing members so far, for which you blame the State Intelligence Agency? Answer: We all know that VMRO-DPMNE went through quite a number of changes in structure. We have frequently presented to the public evidence on involvement of the police in our matters, but the evidence was unfortunately not presented fully to the Macedonian public. Besides this, a certain number of members left the party on grounds of personal dissatisfaction and disagreement with the party's main directions or as a result of having unreal ambitions for progress within VMRO-DPMNE. And, of course, the moment which must not be forgotten is that we have been under an enormous pressure ever since the party was formed. The media often exaggerate the meaning of the fact that some of our former members left the party. Our main opponent - SDSM - also underwent some turbulent times (they changed the president and certain leaders of branches), but this was not paid the same attention to as our case. I must also point out here that SDSM is able to "calm down" its members by "rewarding" them with high positions. For instance, they can now offer every dissatisfied member of theirs a managerial place in a factory and thus shut them up. Question: What do you think were the mistakes made by VMRO- DPMNE during the election campaign and the elections themselves? Answer: We are quite happy with the organization of our election campaigning meetings and the response of our followers. Except for in a couple of smaller towns, in which we did not meet with the expected response either because people were afraid or for other various reasons, we had people coming to our meetings in numbers twice or three times higher than at meetings of our political opponents. Still, where did we maybe go wrong? Some people were perhaps somewhat frightened by the uncompromising ways in which we revealed the true situation in Macedonia and our radical approach. After these 5 years of my political career, I am convinced that people in Macedonia are still afraid even of slogans like "Macedonia is a national state of Macedonians"! The Macedonian is just not used to something like this. We might have been able to attract more layers of the population if we had been more moderate. This is pitiful, having in mind our vision for Macedonia's future, but this is the reality. Question: When will an ethnic Albanian or an ethnic Albanian intellectual vote for VMRO-DPMNE? Answer: Why, we already have probably a hundred such examples and we are even seriously considering this as potential advantage in future, from the aspect of certain European processes. Yet, the problem of trust in Macedonia still has to be analyzed from the aspect of the attitude of the Albanian minority, as a minority with the most extreme demands. In the post-war years, and especially over the last 4-5 years, the Macedonian state has made hundreds of concessions toward the Albanian minority, thus showing that the Macedonian will live with the Albanian and desires to see an equal treatment for them. Unfortunately, even a short glance is enough to see the negative energy coming from the Albanian side. Question: How, then, according to you, are Macedonians and Albanians supposed to live together? Answer: Recently, there have been hundreds of letters by Macedonian intellectuals who insisted on co-existence, while there have been but a few Albanian intellectuals who have even spoken on the subject or stood behind co-existence. Regardless of who is in power, the Macedonian state has proven and will continue to prove that it has no intention of assimilating its minority groups. This is exactly why VMRO-DPMNE asks ethnic Albanians, particularly those included in the government, to show that they consider Macedonia to be their home state. This would be only fair from them, having in mind that Albanians in Macedonia live much better than their fellow co-patriots in Kosovo, Greece, and even Albania itself. If we only once heard them declaring as loyal citizens of Macedonia, it would be much easier to sit down and discuss any problem. However, if we keep hearing demands for recognizing Albanians here as a nation or if they continue to present conditions of all kinds and speak of federalization... this leads to nowhere. to be continued

    (end)

    mils-news 21 April '95

    MILS SENDS BEST WISHES FOR THE EASTER HOLIDAYS

    Note: Due to the Easter holidays, the MILS-NEWS reports will

    continue next Tuesday, April 25.

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