MAK-NEWS 25/04/95 (M.I.L.S.)

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF WORLD WAR II

  • [02] ANDOV PAYS VISIT TO TURKEY

  • [03] CEI MEETS WITH PROBLEMS IN EXPANSION

  • [04] "ILINDEN" COMMEMORATES SANDANSKI

  • [05] ETHNIC ALBANIANS ANNOUNCE PROTEST MARCH

  • [06] POLICE SHUT DOWN ANOTHER ILLEGAL SCHOOL

  • [07] ALBANIANS IN MACEDONIA DISSATISFIED WITH THEIR STATUS

  • [08] ALBANIANS IN MACEDONIA FORM ANOTHER PARTY

  • [09] NDP DEPUTIES TO PARLIAMENT GO INDEPENDENT

  • [10] CRVENKOVSKI RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT OF SDSM

  • [11] EUROPEAN STANDARDS FOR EXPORTS TO SLOVENIA

  • [12] GENEVA CONVENTIONS TRANSLATED INTO MACEDONIAN

  • [13] SEMINAR ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN SKOPJE

  • [14] HUMANITARIAN BRIEFS

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

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    M I L S N E W S

    Skopje, 25 April 1995

    [01] 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF WORLD WAR II

    France has invited leaders of all states in the former Yugoslavia to take part in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The Macedonian president is invited along with Tudjman (Croatia), Kucan (Slovenia), Izetbegovic (Bosnia- Herzegovina) and Lilic (Yugoslavia).

    [02] ANDOV PAYS VISIT TO TURKEY

    Macedonian Parliament President Andov is currently on a visit to Turkey for a celebration of 75 years of existence of the Turkish Parliament. Andov met Prime Minister Tansu Ciler, Foreign Minister Erdel Inenei, other ministers in the Turkish cabinet, as well as parliament presidents of other countries.

    [03] CEI MEETS WITH PROBLEMS IN EXPANSION

    Representatives of the 10 country members of the Central European Initiative ended the two-day session in Krakow, Poland. The meeting included debates on possible inclusion of Albania, Belorussia, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine as accompanying member countries. Hungary and Italy resolutely opposed the idea for inclusion of new members, while all other countries voted in favor of expansion of the CEI. The issue will be finally decided upon by the country members' prime ministers in Warsaw next October. The Macedonian delegation to the meeting was led by Dimitar Belcev, under-secretary of the foreign ministry.

    [04] "ILINDEN" COMMEMORATES SANDANSKI

    Members of OMO "Ilinden", organization of Macedonians in Bulgaria, along with other representatives of the Macedonian community living there organized a commemoration on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the death of Jane Sandanski. They paid respect at his tomb in the Rozhen monastery in Bulgaria. Macedonian ambassador to Bulgaria Gjorgi Spasov also laid flowers at the tomb, symbolizing the first official presence of the Republic of Macedonia at the traditional ceremony. As in previous years, the entire ceremony was monitored by reinforced police troops. A1 Television reporters were denied presence and the Macedonian Television crew also experienced problems. At the same time, the Bulgarian government held a celebration on the same occasion at a high level. Addressing those present, Prime Minister Zhan Videnov said Jane Sandanski was an outstanding activist of the Bulgarian National Liberation Movement. Furthermore, he said, neighborly relations should be built on abandoning any territorial aspirations, respect for existing borders, non- interference in other states' internal affairs and respect for basic human rights.

    [05] ETHNIC ALBANIANS ANNOUNCE PROTEST MARCH

    Parties of Albanians in Macedonia (NDP, PDPA, PDA-Islamic Road, PDP-Party for National Unity and the Association of Albanian Women in Macedonia) announced a protest march in Tetovo on April 26, raising their voice against the "fabricated court proceedings against Albanians and degenerative official policy, endangering not only Albanians but also all citizens in the Republic of Macedonia." The protest will also express bitterness against the "oppression in the field of education in the Albanian language." On the same day, the self-declared rector of the university in Tetovo Fadil Suleimani will be tried at the Tetovo District Court. The parties of Albanians decided to have members of their leadership, along with ethnic Albanian deputies in Parliament and members of local township committees, take part in the trial.

    [06] POLICE SHUT DOWN ANOTHER ILLEGAL SCHOOL

    The Macedonian Ministry of education decided to seal another illegally established school in the village of Bacista, near Kicevo. This elementary school had been working for 4 years with classes only in the Albanian language for its 87 pupils. The event went peacefully and with no need for police intervention.

    [07] ALBANIANS IN MACEDONIA DISSATISFIED WITH THEIR STATUS

    A delegation of representatives of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, consisting of Arben Dzaferi, Kenan Mazlumi, Zunjula Saliu and Mukjarem Rusi, met with Shaban Murati, ambassador of Albania in Macedonia, British ambassador Tony Millson, Chief of OSCE mission Tore Bogh, official of the US Liaison Office R. Sorensen and UNPREDEP official William Smariet. The goal of the meeting was to bring attention to the anxiety among the Albanian population with the latest events in Macedonia, especially after the closing down of the private high-school near Struga and the proceedings against Fadil Suleimani and Milaim Feiziu. Foreign diplomats were presented a petition under the motto "For Equality - Against Violence", which states the dissatisfaction of Albanians in Macedonia with their status.

    [08] ALBANIANS IN MACEDONIA FORM ANOTHER PARTY

    The former fraction of PDP led by Arben Dzaferi held a session in Tetovo to change its name into Party for Democratic Prosperity of Albanians in Macedonia (PDPA), and its head office will be in Tetovo. Participants criticized PDP and its leader Abdurahman Haliti for presenting only personal concerns and the interests of a small group instead of the concerns of the entire Albanian population in Macedonia.

    [09] NDP DEPUTIES TO PARLIAMENT GO INDEPENDENT

    Mersel Biljali and Abdurahman Vejseli, parliament deputies of the People's Democratic Party (NDP), announced they are abandoning the party and acting as independent parliament members in the future. Both of them, Vejseli told a Makpress reporter, disagree with the party's policy.

    [10] CRVENKOVSKI RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT OF SDSM

    At the Second Congress of the Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia (SDSM), members unanimously re-elected Branko Crvenkovski for the highest position. The meeting was attended by 230 delegates of local branches, along with the party's deputy group in parliament and ministers in the cabinet. They also formed a committee to deal with changes and additions in the party program and the platform for future activities.

    [11] EUROPEAN STANDARDS FOR EXPORTS TO SLOVENIA

    In the future, all exporters of goods to Slovenia will have to present certificates of origin for the goods (marked EUR1, EUR2 or LT EUR1), acording to the officials in the Macedonian embassy in Slovenia. Otherwise, exporters will have to pay full customs tariffs, as the certificate issued by the Macedonian Chamber of Commerce is no longer sufficient for full customs exemption.

    [12] GENEVA CONVENTIONS TRANSLATED INTO MACEDONIAN

    A Macedonian translation of the Geneva Conventions was presented in Skopje last Friday. The book was published by the joint efforts of the Macedonian and the International Red Cross. In addition, a high delegation of the International Red Cross paid a two-day visit to the Macedonian Red Cross last week. The delegation consisted of Ilka Usitalo, Director of the International Red Cross Department for Europe, and Angello Knedinger, Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The purpose of the visit was to finalize preparations for admission of Macedonia into the international family of the Red Cross.

    [13] SEMINAR ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN SKOPJE

    In conjunction with the Macedonian and Norwegian Helsinki Committee, a seminar on basic human rights took place in Skopje entitled "Standards on Human Rights and the Role of Non-governmental Organizations". The seminar included debates on legal standardization of civil, economic, political and social rights and international conventions regarding human rights.

    [14] HUMANITARIAN BRIEFS

    - The ambassador of Germany to Macedonia presented a machine for reverse osmosis to the Medical School in Skopje as a present of the German Government. The machine is worth 80,000 German marks. - The Open Society Institute of Macedonia, Soros Foundation, recently presented the Cardiology Clinic in Skopje with two machines as part of the Institute humanitarian program for last year.

    [15] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: WHAT FRIGHTENED THE MACEDONIAN

    PEOPLE - PART II

    (Puls, 21 April 1995)

    The following is the second part of the interview of Ljupco Georgievski, leader of VMRO-DPMNE, with a Puls reporter. Question: Are you aware of the fact that some of the political leaders of Albanians in Macedonia frighten the Albanian population with you and VMRO-DPMNE? Answer: Yes, there was such a trend, but I think that even Albanians themselves no longer believe in this, especially because the rating of PDP is in a constant decrease among Albanians (according to our analyses). I am sure this decline in popularity of PDP will continue during the next elections, since Albanians here are undergoing serious political differentiation. Question: Does this mean that, let us say, Georgievski and Dzaferi will be more likely to understand each other? Answer: Why not? It is now clear that the faction led by Dzaferi holds much more liberal viewpoints on certain issues than PDP. The black-and-white pictures about the relations between Albanians and Macedonia, that the Government was trying to impose on us, are simply no longer plausible, and we could all only gain from the fact that the ethnic Albanians tend toward rich political life. Question: Your main slogan during the election campaign was, "We fulfilled everything we promised!" The fact is, however, that all your promises were fulfilled by your political opponents in power. Would VMRO-DPMNE have had the power to achieve the same goals if it had been in power and, if yes, at what cost? Answer: The political opponents have always been and continue to be impostors. During the campaign, we spoke of intervention of the state in the economy, but the Prime Minister, the President and an entire group of economic experts, supporters of SDSM, laughed at us. And what happened? Only a month after the establishment of the so- called new administration, the very same experts came out with a program for reconstruction of the 25 highest-loss producing companies, which is legislation consisting of measures of typical state interventionism. But, unfortunately, no one seemed to notice this. Our visions and program are still the most vital ones, and the Government takes bits of our program and implements them in the practice whenever it pleases. I am convinced that, had we been in power, we would have carried out our own program in the best possible way and that the situation would have been quite different in the entire Yugoslavia if VMRO-DPMNE had come in power in 1990. Question: The entire Yugoslavia?! Answer: What they blamed us mostly for was this story that Macedonia would have certainly entered a war if we gained power. But I assure you that, if we had the power in our hands, there would have not been a war not only in Macedonia, but nowhere in the former Yugoslavia! The war started as a result of the fact that Milosevics strongly outpowered all others in the then federal government, because of the ratio being 4 against 2. Had VMRO-DPMNE won power, the ration would have been 3 against 3 and, as we would have soon won Bosnia-Herzegovina over, there would have been quite a different 4 against 2: Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina would have stood against Serbia and Montenegro. This would also have meant that the US would not support the survival of Yugoslavia and that the former Yugoslav People's Army's leadership would have been of a different structure. They would have been depending on a peaceful agreement between the states as to whether the Yugoslav federation would be disintegrated or turned into a confederation. Therefore, there would have been a different political structure. Even economically. I assure you that our radical demands in the politics would have been bound to affect the economy, and that Macedonia would have not returned the 10 to 14 billion Dinars in the federal treasury (at a time when abundant sums of Dinars came into Macedonia every day and were taken out of the country after being converted into foreign currency). We would have simply converted the amount into a state reserve of nearly a billion US dollars. Unfortunately, no one wished for an independent Macedonia at those times. Question: Ever since its foundation, VMRO-DPMNE has been accused of nationalism, chauvinism, terrorism... How does VMRO-DPMNE deal with "rebels" among its own membership? Answer: The practice is the best proof of how true those accusations were. Have you ever heard in the past 5 years that a communist or a political opponent of ours has been attacked? Of course not. On the other hand, I can tell you of dozens of VMRO-DPMNE followers who have died under very suspicious circumstances, as well as of numerous cases of our members having been and still being arrested, oppressed, black-mailed, intimidated or fired. So much for the extremism and unscrupulous ways in the struggle for power, which can also be seen in the current everyday differentiation in all ministries. As for any "rebels" among our members, I believe that all extreme elements and those insisting on different methods of action are no longer a part of VMRO-DPMNE. Question: The most "ticklish" of those accusations is that your party is linked to various foreign factors. What is the influence of Bulgaria or, according to the most recent rumors, of Serbia on your activities? Why did you insist on revision of the policy of equidistance and what is your standpoint on the issue today, especially in the light of the current offers for various confederations and associations in the Balkans? Answer: The fact that VMRO-DPMNE is contacted by foreign political factors is a matter of their evaluation of our importance in Macedonia. This can only be a compliment for us, as parties in which no one is interested are surely not a great factor in the politics. I could not deny that Bulgaria, but Serbia as well, have tried and are still trying to obtain influence on VMRO-DPMNE. The question is whether they have succeeded in this and to what extent. We are fully aware that we are being actively monitored by certain states, and we approach this in the most serious manner. I hope, however, that all those attempts have been fruitless so far and that VMRO-DPMNE has already created an image of a political power which cannot be used for infiltrating foreign influence into the country. VMRO-DPMNE is a party strongly holding on to its struggle for an independent Macedonia and the protection of Macedonian national interests. Our party firmly believes that Macedonia does not need any bilateral associations, and we are very much resistant to all such offers, as something like this would only disturb the current balance of powers. Yet, we believe that Macedonia ought to be open to all types of associations which include all states on equal bases and I repeat - ALL Balkan states, as this is in the interest of Macedonia. This would be an excellent opportunity for economic progress of the entire Balkans. The policy of equidistance is simply a copy of Tito's nonallignment policy and a sheer demagogy. Macedonia is currently not leading a policy of equidistance either at a global or on a Balkan level! The only logical behavior of Macedonia toward its neighbors is a reciprocal one; if a state is strongly against Macedonia, we should pay back in full measure, and if someone declares friendliness to Macedonia, we should also behave in the same manner. This is a question of political reality. Macedonia, unfortunately, is not equally close to all, but equally far from all of its neighbors! Question: You sound very pessimistic. Where would you say Macedonia is headed? Answer: My personal visions of Macedonia are pessimistic and will remain such for a long time in the future. By the end of this year, I expect to see about 400,000 unemployed in Macedonia. Our economic perspective, I am sorry to say, is what Albania or Romania is today, and with such economic "power", anyone can take us back to what we were before 1990. At the same time, there is this terrible national policy of oppression on the Macedonian people and of avoiding to even mention ideas for building a Macedonian state and a faith in such a homeland for the Macedonians. The will for a Macedonian state is simply being destroyed and we are witnessing a terrifying process of massive brainwashing when it comes to ideas for a national Macedonian state. This leads to moral disintegration of Macedonia and is aimed at weakening Macedonia morally to such an extent that the state could fall apart very easily under the smallest pressure in the future. This is pitiful, and we will all live to experience a real disaster, except for those who will have fled the country on time. Question: Are you afraid of a potential war in Macedonia? Answer: I am not excessively afraid of the possibility, as those who were mostly interested for a war here are already too exhausted. And as for the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, it is bound to last for a long time, in order to enable certain parties to gather energy for a new flash point. The danger of a war from this aspect is, therefore, minimal, but the real danger lies in Macedonia's internal life - we are already living out an economic and social disaster!

    (end)

    mils-news 25 April '95

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