MAK-NEWS 10/05/95 (M.I.L.S.)

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] V-DAY CELEBRATED IN MOSCOW

  • [02] SKOPJE CELEBRATES V-DAY

  • [03] BULGARIA "LIBERATOR OF NEIGHBORS"

  • [04] OSCE MEDIATORS TO VISIT SKOPJE AND ATHENS

  • [05] MACEDONIA AND SINGAPORE ESTABLISH RELATIONS

  • [06] TRANSPORTATION AGREEMENT WITH FRANCE

  • [07] CYPRUS AND MACEDONIA QUESTIONS MOST URGENT

  • [08] GEORGE SOROS VISITS SKOPJE

  • [09] GOVERNMENT BRIEFS

  • [10] IMF APPROVES STAND-BY ARRANGEMENT WITH MACEDONIA

  • [11] ALITI ADDRESSES SOLDIERS IN ALBANIAN

  • [12] 1.8 MILLION DEUTSCHMARKS STOLEN

  • [13] "LEB I SOL" AND "BEFORE THE RAIN" ATTRACT LONDON AUDIENCE

  • [14] MAY OPERA EVENINGS OPEN

  • [15] KURBAN BAIRAM

  • [16] HUMANITARIAN BRIEFS

  • [17] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: STRATEGY FOR QUICKER REFORMS (Vecher, 3 may 1995)

    •

    M I L S N E W S

    Skopje, 10 May 1995

    [01] V-DAY CELEBRATED IN MOSCOW

    The primary celebration of the world's victory over fascism took place in Moscow yesterday, with two ceremonies: parade of war veterans and cadets through the Moscow Red Square and the revealing of the monument complex on Poklonaya Gora. Macedonian President Gligorov attended both celebrations along with 50 other presidents. During his stay in Moscow, Gligorov informally met with Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin, UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, Slovenian President Milan Kucan, as well as with foreign ministers of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia, Irfan Ljubljancic and Vladislav Jovanovic. In the afternoon, he received a group of reporters to answer questions concerning the situation in the region. The previous day, during the celebration in Paris, Gligorov met with the newly elected French President Jacques Chirac. Congratulating Chirac on his election, Gligorov expressed the hope that cooperation between Macedonia and France will continue in the future. In Paris, Gligorov also met with the president of the French Parliament.

    [02] SKOPJE CELEBRATES V-DAY

    The primary ceremony on the occasion of the Victory Day in Skopje took place by the city's recreational lake Treska. The meeting was attended by several thousand citizens, representatives of war veterans, Parliament President Andov, representatives of the Orthodox, Muslim and Catholic religious communities, foreign diplomats, UNPREDEP officials and others. The introductory speech was given by Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski. Underlining Macedonia's contribution to the victory over fascism, Crvenkovski expressed gratitude to the "generation which sacrificed to enable the Macedonian people to feel proud." Crvenkovski also sent a message to all neighbors, saying "we should all turn to the future and forget at least for a moment our mythologies and passions, cease digging for bones of our ancestors and fighting about something achieved by other generations, far behind us. We are expected to create something new and to fulfill our historical duties."

    [03] BULGARIA "LIBERATOR OF NEIGHBORS"

    As part of yesterday's celebration of the Victory Day in Sofia, Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Pavlov said among other things, "in the Second World War, Bulgaria helped in the liberation of Macedonia and Serbia... The history will always remember the heroic deeds of Bulgarian soldiers near Nis, Stracin, Kumanovo..." Fascist symbols appeared on the walls of several buildings in Sofia the same morning, Makpres reports.

    [04] OSCE MEDIATORS TO VISIT SKOPJE AND ATHENS

    Makfaks cites media in Greece as claiming OSCE Chairman-in- Office Laslo Kovac will shortly send mediators to Skopje and Athens to help in the search for a solution for the Greek- Macedonian dispute. Kovac reportedly explained this adding that the admission of Macedonia into the OSCE would be of wide importance to the entire region. The conservative paper Kathimerini writes that the Greek Foreign Minister Papoulias said in Budapest that the problem with Macedonia is a difficult one, as a number of articles in the Macedonian Constitution are opposed to the OSCE principles.

    [05] MACEDONIA AND SINGAPORE ESTABLISH RELATIONS

    Expressing a mutual desire for strengthening and developing bilateral relations, the governments of Macedonia and Singapore established diplomatic relations, the Foreign Ministry has informed.

    [06] TRANSPORTATION AGREEMENT WITH FRANCE

    During a recent visit to Paris, a delegation of the Macedonian Ministry of Transportation met with officials of the French Ministry of Transportation and Tourism to discuss transportation of passengers and goods between the two countries. The two sides agreed upon a text of a draft- agreement and prepared protocols on transportation. They decided to issue 1,500 transportation certificates for 1995, along with an additional 100 certificates for transit trips.

    [07] CYPRUS AND MACEDONIA QUESTIONS MOST URGENT

    In an interview with the Greek paper Ethnos, Nova Makedonija writes, the US Assistant Secretary of Foreign Affairs Richard Holbrooke spoke of the Greek-Macedonian problem. Speaking of Greece's problems with neighboring countries, Holbrooke said the US is determined to get involved in resolving the Cyprus and Macedonia issues, as the most urgent ones in the region. The solution, he said, would have to be acceptable for both sides. "Matters", Holbrooke said, "are in the middle of a very sensitive diplomatic procedure" and in the hands of secret diplomacy. Holbrooke still mentioned that the US has not established full diplomatic ties with Macedonia due to problems with the "name, embargo and flag".

    [08] GEORGE SOROS VISITS SKOPJE

    Macedonian Parliament President yesterday received George Soros, founder of the Foundation Soros, who has arrived in a working visit to Macedonia. They exchanged ideas on current economic and political issues in the country and the wider region. Andov spoke of the economic situation in Macedonia, expressing gratitude for Soros' understanding and aid to Macedonia, as well as for his support for the admission of Macedonia into the international community. The Open Society Institute yesterday promoted the book "Why I am for Democracy", written by George Soros.

    [09] GOVERNMENT BRIEFS

    At a session Monday the Macedonian Government discussed and approved several proposals for initiating laws to regulate ratification of agreements, platforms and conventions with the governments of China, Albania, France, Germany and Turkey. Cabinet members also adopted regulations for opening representative offices of foreign entities in Macedonia, determined the proposal for a law to obtain a $14 million credit from the International Association for Development to carry out the Social reforms and Technical Aid Project.

    [10] IMF APPROVES STAND-BY ARRANGEMENT WITH MACEDONIA

    The IMF Board of Directors approved on May 5th a stand-by arrangement to provide new finances for and to raise the rating of Macedonia in the international capital market. The arrangement provides some $55 million to be sent to Macedonia in 5 installments, commencing with this month and ending in the first quarter of 1996. Several criteria have to be fulfilled for its realization, however, including restrictive fiscal policy, consistent monetary policy of banks and stable exchange rate of the Denar. The arrangement is to be broken off should only one of the conditions not be met. Among other things, the arrangement will enable Macedonia to start negotiations for settling its $250 million debt to the Paris Club.

    [11] ALITI ADDRESSES SOLDIERS IN ALBANIAN

    During the Tetovo celebration of the Victory Day, the township assembly's president Shakir Aliti addressed soldiers in the Albanian language. VMRO-DPMNE bitterly reacted on this, asking "What state and whose army did Aliti address?", the Skopje paper Vecher writes.

    [12] 1.8 MILLION DEUTSCHMARKS STOLEN

    Unofficial sources inform 1.8 million Deutschmarks has been stolen from the safe of the exchange office of Stopanska Banka at the border-crossing of Bogorodica, at the Macedonian-Greek border. The theft was discovered by the clerk in charge of the safe. Investigation is underway.

    [13] "LEB I SOL" AND "BEFORE THE RAIN" ATTRACT LONDON AUDIENCE

    As part of last Sunday's celebration of the V-Day in London, the Macedonian rock band "Leb i Sol" attracted interest as they performed during the final ceremony. The audience in London was also attracted by the premiere of director Milco Mancevski's "Before the Rain".

    [14] MAY OPERA EVENINGS OPEN

    The international May 24th Opera Evenings in Skopje was open yesterday at the Macedonian National Theater. The celebration will last until May 31 and will include performances by about 20 soloists and conductors of several European countries.

    [15] KURBAN BAIRAM

    On the occasion of the great Muslim holiday Kurban Bairam, Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov sent best wishes to Hadzi Suleiman Efendi Redzepi, president of the Islamic Community in Macedonia. Tomorrow is declared a holiday for Macedonian citizens of Islamic religion.

    [16] HUMANITARIAN BRIEFS

    A delegation of the humanitarian organization "Johantar Unifal Hilfe" of Germany visited Macedonia to deliver humanitarian aid of 16 tons of medicines, blankets and toys. The Macedonian Red Cross will distribute the aid to health and social organizations throughout the country.

    [17] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: STRATEGY FOR QUICKER REFORMS

    (Vecher, 3 may 1995)

    Political changes, unlike economic ones, are only rarely mentioned by politicians at public appearances. It is a fact, however, that these changes are mutually intermingled and that outstanding analysts in Eastern and Central Europe consider changes in politics to be much more significant. The issue was recently raised again after a long period, this time from the parliament floor and by the Liberals, who insisted on an urgent platform by the Government to, as they said, "initiate a system of precisely determining which law means what in the practice and enable coordination of all moves and measures." Reminding that it is a usual practice to have such platforms when a cabinet consists of coalition partners, Liberals expressed dissatisfaction with the dynamics of the changes so far. In this context, Mrs. Gordana Siljanovska, member of the Liberal Party's Executive Committee and minister in the previous cabinet, notes, "It is necessary that this Government prepare a strategy so that it convinces us that it will first regulate its own reform course from the legal aspect, before it starts carrying it out." The platform that the Government ought to adopt, Siljanovska says, "should specify the completion of the reforms in terms of a determined period of time and undertake actions to convince the ordinary citizen, regardless of their economic status, that, if not today, then in 5 years the strategy will result in changes. The platform should, of course, be worked out with joint consultations. The Liberals will insist that it precisely deal with the privatization, administration, organization of trade unions, electoral laws, judiciary and local self- government. "The process of privatization is already begun and the law must be respected. If the privatization is a 'conditio sine qua non' of the entire democratization, then it is of extreme importance to know for certain whether legal regulations are respected and how the privatization is carried out. Now, several political subjects point out that the Privatization Agency is facing problems in interpreting the law. I must point out that what we lack is a parliamentary commission in charge of control over the privatization, which is a practice everywhere else," she says. The state administration, one of the key elements in privatization processes, is still not regulated in Macedonia. Liberals point to an article by a serious analyst in a last February edition of "The Wall Street Journal", as saying that Macedonia is probably a country with the least reformed administration of all countries currently in transition. "No change can be carried out if you have an administration which constantly presents obstacles; the practice has shown that it is exactly the administration which is the main prohibitor of changes," Siljanovska stresses, adding "what we need is a fundamental reorganization of the administration. The Liberals will firmly insist on bringing laws to regulate positions in the administration. The Government continues with the practice of employing personnel through its commission, and it should in fact announce open competitions. If Macedonia does tend toward democracy, it would be quite natural to expect another, even an opposition party, to maybe gain power. Meaning that, if you now employ people who are your followers and loyal to you on a party basis, they are bound to be all dismissed once a different party comes to power. Besides, the lack of a law on state administrators has resulted in the fact that there are now matters no ministry will accept as their responsibility; there is a vacuum in covering all relevant issues," Siljanovska comments. The Liberals raised the major part of these questions even during the previous mandate, but, they explain, no answers could be found because there existed no balance of power. That is why solutions are often forced out by pressure and tensions. Latest examples of this are the current strikes which, by the way, are also still not regulated by law. "It is simply impossible to work under some old regulations in which numerous situations are not addressed. No one denies the right of trade unions to associate themselves with certain parties (in England, they are connected with the Labor Party, in the US they regularly support the Democrats), but all this has to be carried out in an institutionalized manner instead of in the streets and with sheets of papers submitted to the Government. The Government has to be aware that, when it has already initiated a law on transformation of ownership, it cannot be implemented without regulating the sphere of trade union acting, since these two always go together," Siljanovska points out. According to her, the first major step to be undertaken by any Government upon gaining power, is to create a legal framework for fair elections. The old laws failed to provide this. This package of laws must be brought also because of the current vacuum in local elections, Siljanovska explains, underlining that the package should consist of separate laws for elections of parliament and at local levels. Electoral laws, she says, are closely connected to laws on local self- government, and the latter with the laws on territorial division of the country. What is exceptionally important for the reforms at this moment, Siljanovska assures, is to regulate civilian organizations. The sphere of civil initiatives is not regulated and therefore no one has differentiated between an association of foreign currency bank clients and a women's association, for instance. This sphere is of key importance in building democratic political culture, she says, and therefore a law to regulate it is indeed essential. The Liberals raised the question of a joint platform on political changes much earlier, but to no avail. Soon, they say, they will raise the problem again. It is a general impression that political changes are just beginning. "Despite all," Siljanovska says, "the changes must begin and the current Government is surely able to at least create the basic framework with the majority of votes it has. Otherwise, suspicions that the Government is only supporting the current status quo will grow even stronger. This is a second mandate of a political government and it must be directed toward stabilizing and consolidating certain legal solutions."

    (end)

    mils-news 10 May '95

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