MAK-NEWS 25/10/95 (M.I.L.S.)

From: "M.I.L.S." <mils@ITL.MK>

Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory

CONTENTS

MILS NEWS

Skopje, 25 October 1995

[01] ANDOV MEETS WORLD LEADERS

The Macedonian Parliament President, Stojan Andov, met with President Clinton who was interested in the health condition of President Gligorov. Andov also had meetings with the Albanian President, Sali Berisha, the Croatian President, Franjo Tudjman, the European commissioner, Hans van den Broek, and the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Cornelio Samaruga. Yesterday in New York, Andov met the Indonesian President Suharto, and the President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel. During the meeting with the German Vice-Chancellor, Claus Kinkel, Andov was informed about the German financial support to Macedonia.

[02] ALLEGED TALKS ABOUT THE NAME ISSUE- SPECULATIONS

The past few days there were no meetings between Cyrus Vance and representatives of Macedonia and Greece about the name issue. This announcement was made yesterday by the special reporter of the Macedonian radio in New York, referring to statements of diplomats in the UN. The same sources, evaluate the statements in the Greek press, which reports about a meeting between Vance and Zaharakis, as speculations.

However, last night A1 TV reported about a meeting between Cyrus Vance and Stojan Andov, but it did not mention details from the talks.

Considering the talks about the name issue, according to 'Nova Makedonija', the Greek Prime Minister, Andreas Papandreou stated for the Bulgarian daily '24 Casa' that he expects a large discussion on the name issue. "I think that the Greek position is acceptable and it will be supported by other countries. I expect that it will also improve our relations with Skopje", said Papandreou.

[03] FIVE PROTOCOLS SIGNED IN ATHENS

After the last Macedonian-Greek meeting which took place in Athens, the Macedonian delegation held a press conference in Skopje. It informed the press that five protocols were signed in Athens. The signed protocols are on custom issues, transit traffic and links, the green-card for vehicle insurance, visa issues and the protocol about the liaison offices.

The protocol for transit traffic will provide normal flow of people and goods, the PTT and information flow in order to intensify the economic cooperation between both countries.

It is agreed that the transport of goods will function without special licenses and taxes.

The green-cards protocol provides their issuing on a reciprocal base, and in that sense the delegations signed an uniform agreement. That means that Macedonian vehicles will not have to pay special taxes in the west European countries. It is also agreed that the radio-frequencies will be regulated in January next year.

Concerning the visas, the protocol provides four types of visas: tourist, transit, multi-entry visa and diplomatic visa which will be issued on the border until the Liaison Office is opened. The two delegations agreed to work on liberalization of the visa regime.

[04] NORMALIZATION OF THE TRANSPORT RAILWAY TRAFFIC BETWEEN MACEDONIA AND GREECE

The transport of 60.000 tons of oil from the Salonica port will start today as well as the transport of 5.200 tons of zinc concentrate for the Chemical Industry in Titov Veles.

The Macedonian radio reports that the transport will be done by 60 wagons of the Macedonian railway.

[05] THE TRIAL AGAINST GREECE-SUSPENDED

The European Commission decided yesterday to suspend the trial against Greece. The trial started last year when Greece introduced economic embargo against Macedonia. The Commission decided to withdraw the charges as Greece suspended the embargo in accordance of the Interim Accord signed in New York. The President of the European Commission Jacque Santaire after consultations with the Commissioner, Hans van den Broek, agreed to withdraw the charges against Greece. The final decision is up to the court in Luxembourg.

Concerning the written statement which was demanded from Greece, the Commission accepted oral statements.

The charges against Greece were raised in April 1994 in the Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

[06] SATISFACTION ON THE SIGNED AGREEMENT ABOUT THE EAST-WEST CORRIDOR

The Macedonian Prime Minister received the Turkish Ambassador, Unal Marasli, yesterday. They both expressed satisfaction on the agreement about the east-west corridor, and evaluated it as a project of priority for the countries in the region.

[07] GREEK DIPLOMACY AGAINST THE AGREEMENT FOR THE CORRIDOR

The Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karolos Papulias, expressed disappointment about the agreement on the East- West Corridor which was signed by four Balkan countries in New York. According to Papulias, the agreement is signed because of Turkish prejudice, 'France Press' reports. He also said that Greece has alredy started the construction of a similar corridor near the famous ancient way 'Via Egnatia'.

The Greek Minister for Transport and Communications stated that the project will need much more financing than political agreements and announcements. However the European Comissioner, Hans van den Broek, announced that the project will be supported by the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, USA as well as the EU. The project will cost around $ 1 billion.

[08] PENSIONS AND DEBTS WILL BE PAID ON TIME

The Macedonian Government Spokesman, Gjuner Ismail, informed the press yesterday that the payment of pensions and debts will be done on time. He also presented the changes in the Law on sports, the treatment of the projects for transformation of some corporations in the cultural and agricultural fields.

The regular payment of pensions will be achieved by transferring payment resources from the budget to the pension fund.

The Spokesman also informed the press that the Government had approved the projects for transformation of corporations in agriculture and culture.

The proposed law on sports will divide this field in several areas. Mass sports and recreational sports will have special treatment. In that manner the sports associations, federations and the International Olympic Committee will be defined in accordance with the Constitution. That means there will be a division in the public and private interests in the sports.

Ismail stated that the government will donate 200.000 DM which will finalize the total donation to the Macedonian TV of 1 million DM. The finances come from Denmark and Sweden aimed for modernization of the technical equipment of the TV for the programs of nationalities. The changes of staff in the Ministry of Internal Affairs were evaluated by the Spokesman as routine changes. He announced that the Minister of Internal Affairs, Ljubomir Frckovski, will appear in public by the end of the week and give an update on the investigation of the assassination attempt on President Gligorov.

[09] THE INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION, TEHNOMA 95, OPENED

The last fair for this year, the industrial exhibition Tehnoma 95, was opened yesterday in Skopje. The manifestation is held for the 21st time and advertises products and technology in the field of metallurgy, electric industry, industry for non-metals and civil engineering.

Over 400 participants from Macedonia and 14 European countries will advertise their products. The fair was opened by the Minister for Traffic and Communication, Dimitar Buzlevski.

MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT:

[10] HOW LONG WILL THE INVESTIGATORS REMAIN SILENT?

Three weeks have passed since the assassination attempt on President Gligorov, yet the authorities remain silent about the event which is the first of that kind in the Macedonian history. The public was informed from only two press conferences of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Macedonia. The first which took place at the U.S.I.S. passed without detailed information. It was led by the Under- Secretary for Public Security, Dime Gjurev, who did not say anything concrete about the attempt. These conferences ended with announcements on few fragments of the assassination which refer to the act and the technical part of the terroristic act that had been already announced. For example, it is known that the explosive had been placed in the automobile 'Ami 8' with Kumanovo registration, bought at the used-car fair on 24 September in Skopje. Accordingly, after the investigation of the previous owner of the vehicle, a composite sketch has been constructed of the suspect. As a result dozens of people, looking like the police sketch, were called in for informative talks. It is also known that the assassination attempt was done with industrial explosive activated by remote control.

It is well known, according to the schemes, that the explosive was placed professionally so as the explosion would achieve its maximum effect. In this context we should mention the statement of the Under-Secretary, Gjurev, that the assassination attempt looks like that of a well-known terrorist group. That is about everything that was said at the press conferences.

When we talk about the investigation we should mention that there is no concrete evidence that will lead to the assassin. According to the informal information, more than 2.000 people have been brought in for questioning and the border crossings were severely controlled. Also, all the industrial corporations that use explosives were investigated. The last information is that the Macedonian police do not have any concrete evidence that would lead to the possible assassins.

By all means it is understandable that there is no concrete evidence for the attempt as political assassinations cannot be solved easily. Something else is essential in this discussion. Namely the police authorities will have to explain the complete inability of the Security Service to protect the President. Unfortunately, the police did not explain why immediately after the assassination attempt they did not block all the streets near the hotel Bristol. Do we need to remind that the police are responsible to bring in everyone near the hotel at the time of the attempt, because it is logical that the possible assassins may hide in the group of curious onlookers. On October 3 it happened just the opposite- the police sent everybody away from the scene.

Also do we have to ask why the damaged cars were taken away just a few hours after the assassination attempt? Answers to these questions are very important because the issue is about the readiness of the police at the time of the attempt. Someone is responsible, but-who?

Anyhow, three weeks after the attempt, the investigators remain silent which may be counter-productive. Namely, there is a feeling that the police are hiding something from the public. That's why they avoid 'hot' issues, but they have the opposite effects in the public opinion and only provides more speculations and insinuations that are not always positive.

(end)

mils news 25 October '95