At the end of his mandate, UN Secretary General's Special Envoy to Macedonia and Chief of the UNPREDEP Mission, Hugo Anson was received yesterday by President Gligorov. The president said Anson's mission was very successful, expressing his belief that the good relations with UNPREDEP will continue in the future, as well.
Anson later met with Parliament President Stojan Andov and Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski. They exchanged ideas on the current political situation in the country and the wider region, as well as on the preventive role of the UN forces in Macedonia.
In an interview with Macedonian Radio, Anson said, 'I believe the mission was successful both professionally and personally. People here have a good opinion of the UN, they understand our work. I think that all internal problems will be overcome, but I also share the concerns of many. I understand that this country has difficulties with the Greek-imposed embargo and the danger of spillover of the Bosnian war, but I believe that if the people and leaders in Macedonia were not exposed to strong outside pressure, this country could have a nice future. As long as all problems are resolved within the framework of the constitution and law, and as long as the Government treats all citizens equally, I believe Macedonia has good prospects.'
Invited by West European Union (WEU) president Dally Smith, Macedonia President Kiro Gligorov will pay a two-day visit to Paris beginning Monday to take part in the coming WEU assembly. Gligorov will give a speech on "Europe and Improvements of the New Peace and Security Order". During the visit, he will meet top French politicians, such as the chairmen of the French Senate and Chamber of Commerce.
The Macedonian Foreign Ministry held a press-conference yesterday to inform reporters of the three-day official visit of the Danish Foreign Minister Neil Helve Petersen who is due to arrive in Macedonia today. Petersen was invited by Macedonian Foreign Minister Crvenkovski, and the visit is part of the two countries' regular contacts. Petersen will talk with Stevo Crvenkovski, cabinet members, President Gligorov and leaders of parties of Albanians. The visit is given high importance, particularly as Denmark has fully supported Macedonia from the very beginning of its independence. Denmark is also one of the countries that have completely fulfilled its obligations to Macedonia, as agreed at the Edinburgh Summit of 1992. The Danish Government has so far granted $2.4 million in support of Macedonia's payments system.
Talks are expected to include all aspects of the bilateral relations between Macedonia and Denmark.
Colonel General Dragoljub Botsinov, Chief-of-staff of the Macedonian Army, has been visiting Slovakia for two days. He has already met his Slovakian counterpart, Colonel General Joseph Tuhina, as well as several officials of the Slovakian General Chief-of-staff. Talks explored the possibility of military cooperation. Today, Botsinov will meet senior officials of the Slovakian Defense Ministry and members of the country's military industry. Following the visit to Slovakia, Botsinov is scheduled to visit the Czech Republic.
A delegation of the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Governments is currently on a several-day visit in Macedonia. In Ohrid, they talked with Blagoja Siljanovski, president of the Association of Cities and Municipalities in Macedonia, to get acquainted with the functioning of local self-government. European delegates will also meet officials of the ministries for foreign and internal affairs and justice. Yesterday, they were received by Zoran Petrevski, vice-president of the Assembly of the city of Skopje.
The main objective of the visit is to determine whether Macedonia satisfies the requirements for a full Congress membership. Upon passing a law on local self-government, chances are an embassy of local democracy will be open in Macedonia.
Over the past two days, delegations of the Russian and Macedonian ministries of transportation met in Skopje to discuss ways to regulate road transportation between the two countries. Yesterday, they determined the text of a draft- agreement. Both sides agreed to exchange 2,300 transportation licenses for this and the coming year with possibilities to increase the number if necessary. A regular Skopje-Moscow bus-line is to be introduced, and vehicles will be exempted of all taxes and road tolls. The Russian delegation was also received by Minister of Transportation and Communications Dimitar Buzlevski.
A group of members of the Macedonian Helsinki Citizens Assembly arrived on a three-day visit in Athens today by invitation of the Greek Helsinki Committee. The goal of the visit is to exchange ideas on the situation in the Balkans and the possibility of mutual cooperation in the future.
At a session two days ago between the Macedonian Government Commission on Privatization and the Privatization Agency, it was agreed that the latter will work out detailed regulations for each procedure in compliance with the chosen privatization model to be accessible to all interested parties at all times. The procedures will be subject to government approval. The Agency agreed to complete the criteria for evaluation of offers, which will also be examined by the cabinet. The Agency is also to precisely determine appeal procedures and authorities in dealing with potential complaints.
President Gligorov yesterday ceremonially included the Macedonian Academic and Research Network (MARNET) into the international computer network (INTERNET). The ceremony was also attended by Parliament President Andov, Prime Minister Crvenkovski, other ministers and numerous professors and scientists. INTERNET has over 40 million users and 20 other networks are embodied in it on a daily basis. The MARNET project was financially supported by the Government, Ministry of Science, Ministry of Traffic and Communication, Open Society Institute, Austrian National Academic Network and Austria's PTT.
Commenting on the recent visit to Bulgaria by a delegation of the Macedonian Parliament, the Sofia daily Continent writes, 'Instead of searching for a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, Skopje is better advised to resolve its dispute with neighboring Greece and its Albanian minority.' The paper adds that Macedonia is still referred to as a 'former' republic and that its flag is not hoisted in front of the UN building in New York, reminding that this is certainly not due to Sofia's policy toward Macedonia. Continental reminds that the organization OMO Ilinden is banned and any signs of support for it from Skopje indicate territorial ambitions, since the ideas of OMO Ilinden are purely separatist ones.
Macedonian Radio quotes the Information Service of the Yugoslav Air Transportation (JAT) as reporting an agreement signed two day ago between JAT officials and representatives of the two Macedonian air companies Pallair and MAT. The two sides reportedly agreed to establish a regular Skopje- Belgrade flight three times a week, starting on June 25.
Through its deputy to Parliament, the Democratic Party of Macedonia (DPM) will initiate the gathering of 10 MP signatures to include the situation in western Macedoniaon on the agenda of the next parliament session, party officials said at a press-conference yesterday. The party will insist on detailed information on the government's foreign policy and the presentation of the country's debts and plans for settling them. DPM condemned the recent letter of PDP to the Council of Europe, noting at the same time that Macedonian national symbols are increasingly ignored while Albanian symbols dominate in western parts of the country. The party also attacked the judiciary for having failed to sentence the killer of Vase Trpcevski of Tetovo for as long as an entire year after the incident.
MAAK will continue its congress (temporarily interrupted to elect a new party president) on June 17 in Skopje. 14 local party branches, however, regard the scheduled continuation of congress as illegitimate. The congress is expected to elect a party president from the two nominees, Angelovski and Kunovska.
(Puls, 16 June 1995)
During the entire last week, the political scene in Macedonia was mainly characterized by dialogues between party leaders in the coalition triangle. The PDP letter to the Council of Europe was followed by a meeting between Crvenkovski and Aliti, filled with tense mutual criticism of rushed decisions in the political, parliamentary and international arenas. Immediately afterwards, partners in the Alliance for Macedonia held a joint session. Liberals and Social Democrats renewed contacts that were frozen after the affair over campaign money and the political activity of the president. Certain participants in the talks say Mr. Gligorov focused on ethnic relations, stabilization of the economy and international policy of Macedonia, as issues of highest priority. This again was followed by a tjte-`-tjte meeting between government teams of SDSM and PDP held within SDSM premises. Shortly before this, Gligorov had summoned to Ohrid the closest associates of the prime minister. All this occurred away from public eyes, the usual practice when it comes to issues like this, but not usually so intense and concentrated. Such a style of mutual reconciliation in the form of multipolitical compensation, has already been seen in the communication between Macedonian parties. Depending on the degree of dissatisfaction expressed at such meetings, the latter would either end in blocking the work of government (mostly prior to significant international activities) or in stepping forward to achieve determined goals. The last 'excursion' of PDP into Europe and its request not to have Macedonia included in the Council of Europe was probably due to miscalculated timing and reasons. Consequences will probably include a new wave of anti- Albanian sentiment, despite the fact that this gesture is hardly likely to prevent Macedonia's admission to the Council. The attempt to attract international attention by this blow against the state will most probably have counterproductive effects for the initiators themselves. The latest PDP-SDSM dialogue, although begun from opposed positions, also exhibited a willingness to coordinate common views on key issues regarding the current transformation of both the economy and politics. Yet, despite the success of the talks, certain events (such as the recent refusal by professors in the Tetovo high-school to play the Macedonian national anthem during the celebration of the school's Patron Day) are at the same time unacceptable for both the domestic and international public. On the other hand, potential attempts to introduce a harder policy on Albanians in the country is bound to lower the international rating of Macedonia and the chances to secure ethnic tolerance in the country.
These inter-party talks cannot be interpreted as only a means to calm down the situation before the coming election of minister deputies. Yet, if the procedure does start, it will surely bring back trust in the government. The Crvenkovski administration, although not directly endangered, no doubt underwent strong temptations that brought about disharmony in its work. This also affects the work of the cabinet's lower ranks. The absence of the creator of the privatization, Dr. Jane Miljovski, from the last session of the government's Privatization Committee, at a time of serious criticism coming from the cabinet and regarding certain privatization procedures, has its own specific political dimension, even if Minister Miljovski is with 'full hands of work'.
The last government session continued with debates on the report of the work of the Privatization Agency. The report ought to be submitted to and discussed by the cabinet at least twice a year, while parliamentary control over the process is carried out through a yearly analysis of achieved results. The Agency's report was sent back twice and approved only at the last cabinet session, having once completed the requested corrections of certain questions and the ambiguity in the interpretation and implementation of legal regulations. This government position, stated by the spokesman at a regular press-conference, is in fact a sign of reduced ambitions of some top officials of the Agency and attempts to arbitrarily interpret its authority in the monitoring and opinion on privatization models. The Government's viewpoints, spokesman Ismail said, will be clearly stated to people in the Agency, so that 'the transformation process can be brought back into the framework determined by the law.' This could mean two things; first, the process has left the framework, and second, the Government is warning the Agency of its insufficient transparency when determining and publicly presenting criteria for models including competition of offers.