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MILS: News from the FYROM, 97-02-05Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: "Macedonian Information Liaison Service" <mils@mils.spic.org.mk>CONTENTS
MILS SUPPLEMENTMILS NEWSSkopje, 05 February, 1997[01] FRENCH SUPPORT CONFIRMED`Macedonia is a country of European orientation, and after this visit I have the arguments to recommend its closer cooperation with the EU', stated European Issues Minister of France, Michel Barnier during a press conference held in Skopje yesterday. The French statesman further said that two topics had prevailed in talks with the most eminent Macedonian Government representatives: the Cooperation Agreement with the EU and the imminent Donors' Conference for Macedonia to be held in Brussels towards the close of this month. In this context it has been stressed that Macedonia is not yet an Associate-member of the EU, although France would like to see the long voyage our country will embark on by parafining the Cooperation Agreement passed as quickly as possible. Minister Barnier has also underlined the French effort to procure macro-economic assistance for Macedonia at the Donors' Conference in Brussels, adding that the French Government would endorse and encourage its companies to invest in Macedonia by - among other things - initiating the process of investment protection. Upon assessing Macedonian domestic and international policy as abundant in wisdom, French Minister Barnier said that as such it should be supported in the future.In addition to this, Barnier's visit to Skopje was also marked by his meetings with Macedonian Head of State Kiro Gligorov, Parliamentary Chairman Tito Petkovski and PM Branko Crvenkovski. On this occasion our President was given a letter of his French counterpart - President Jacques Chiraques - which confirms French support in Macedonia's effort to strengthen its ties with the EU, as well as the readiness of France to render assistance contributing to the economic stabilization of the country. President Gligorov on his part extended a written invitation to the French Head of State to visit Macedonia this year. [02] DUTCH ASSISTANCE ON SETTLING DEBTS`The Netherlands will channel their economic, political and diplomatic power to facilitate the procuring of funds for Macedonia by EU member- states, the IMF and the World Bank during the upcoming Donors' Conference in Brussels...' stated Dutch Development Minister Jan Pronk after his talks with the highest Macedonian state officials in Skopje yesterday, during a joint press conference with his host / Mac. counterpart Bekjir Zhuta. Media report that both ministers stressed the necessity of Macedonia receiving financial aid as soon as possible in order to settle its dues of 35 million dollars towards the European Investment Bank - as this is one of the main impediments to the parafining of the already signed Cooperation Agreement with the EU.Yesterday Dutch Minister Pronk also emphasised that unless the debt issue concerning Macedonia is settled at the Donors' Conference - the Netherlands would instigate the increasing of possible donors and investors. Another , difficulty indicated by Dutch Minister Pronk are interest rates which are to delay the returning of debts by Macedonia even further. Both ministers have announced the signing of a series of agreements covering economic bilateral relations and measures conducive to the decreasing of Macedonia's trade deficit with the Netherlands. Concrete Dutch support has been offered for projects within the spheres of education, agriculture and environmental protection (Lake Ohrid). [03] NEW VERSION OF THE BALKAN TRANSPORT STUDYThe Regional meeting of the `G-24' Transport Working Group of the most developed countries - which commenced yesterday - has focused on the completing of the most recent version of the Balkan Transport Study which, unlike its predecessor, includes the key corridors outside the Former Yugoslav Federation. This study compiled by English company `Alexander Gibb' has been financed by PHARE and placed particular emphasis on the East - West corridor. The study is to be updated and complemented throughout the future, and it will most likely be completed in the next millennium. It is also being supported by the EU Transport Commission - and according to Macedonian media the readiness to finance certain projects had been expressed. The proposal on extending the East - West corridor towards Italy on one and Novorussiysk on the other hand, will have to be determined at the `G-24' General Conference, scheduled to be held in Brussels towards the end of February. Yesterday the Transport Working Group also concentrated on certain issues as regards the southern variant of corridor No. 9 (connections between Bulgaria and Greece), and corridors No. 4 and 5 (railway link from Budapest to Ploche). Today's key debates should revolve around the proposed North - South corridor, connecting Budapest and Athens.It should be mentioned that this regional meeting in Skopje represents the preparation to the General `G-24' Conference in Brussels this month, as well as to the third Pan-European Transport Conference of Helsinki (due towards end of June `97). The meeting is being attended by delegates of several West European countries, of Former Yugoslav constituents and neighbouring countries, of various international associations and banking houses (incl. the World Bank, the EBRD, the EIB and several private banks). [04] `GA-MA' SOON TO BECOME A SHAREHOLDING COMPANY, CONTROLLED BY THE GOVERNMENTThe transformation of the public gas distribution company in Macedonia `GA- MA' into a shareholding company should be completed in two to three months according to Macedonian weekly `Puls'. As it is already known the EBRD has approved a loan of 60 million DM to set up a natural gas distribution network in Macedonia. Of these funds 10 million DM are intended to facilitate the short-term funding of households to obtain prerequisite equipment. The EBRD is further to purchase `GA-MA' shares worth 7 million DM by the end of this year.The paper also informs that - based on estimates on capital shares - the Macedonian Government will possess the majority package of 51% in shares, followed by `Makpetrol' with between 15 and 20%, the Russian partner with 20 to 25% and the EBRD with 10%. Approximately 58 000 households in the country - i.e. 70 to 75% of all households currently dependent on central heating - should be covered by the gas pipeline network throughout the next 10 years. Besides this another 1 700 commercial users are to be integrated as well. According to minimum natural gas prices 1 000 cubic meters are to cost 145 dollars for the industrial sector, 160 $ for heating facilities, 300 $ for households and 320 $ for commercial users. [05] RICE EXPORT STOPPEDLast year's harvest in rice is most likely to remain unsold as export has been considerably decreased compared to previous years - stated the appropriate Dept. within the Economy Chamber of Macedonia. This is being attributed to the fact that only insignificant amounts have been purchased from the production sector due to lack of funds. It has been reported that the domestic market can absorb app. 8 000 tons of rice - whereas the fate of the 6 000 tons surplus remains uncertain for now. In order to overcome such conditions the Chamber Dept. stressed the necessity to speed up Government measures conducive to the signing of export contracts with Croatia, B&H, Albania and Bulgaria, the increasing of domestic production protection and of export subsidies by 20%, the conditioning of importing certain produce with exporting rice, etc.[06] LARGE AMOUNT OF SALAMI CONTAINING DANGEROUS CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES DISCOVEREDThese days the Sanitary Border Inspection of Macedonia has discovered 17 tons of salami imported from Belgium - which contains lipstick, according to information released by `Makpress'. The lipstick detected in this salami contained a large dose of health-damaging chemical substances, the Inspectorate stated. It has further been claimed that 9 tons of French meat products with a high percentage of prohibited red colour additives had been discovered. The distribution of these products has of course been halted, and goods have been returned to the importers.[07] PARTY CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING ACTIVITIES OF SKOPJE CITY COUNCILA meeting of the Skopje City Council has been scheduled for tomorrow to which, according to the media, the municipal delegates of Skopje have not been invited. Information further reveal that only 25 directly elected counsellors have been asked to attend, excluding the 14 municipal representatives. The SDSM members of the City Council have therefore forwarded a letter of protest to Council Chairman Jove Kekenovski, accusing him of discrimination and illegal practice. A letter with similar contents has been sent to Mayor Risto Penov and the IMRO-DP party by SDSM spokesperson Ljubomir Popovski.According to City Council Chairman Kekenovski the omission to invite municipal representatives may be ascribed to the fact that local government structures have not been fully constituted yet (e.g. Kisela Voda), so that inviting one segment only may create a situation of inequality. All municipal delegates are to be invited to a City Council session as soon as all above mentioned structures are set up - stated Kekenovski in an interview for MTV. [08] THE `SPM' NATIONAL COUNCIL SOON TO VOTE ON IVANOV AND FILIPOVSKI CONCEPTS`The government coalition with the SDSM has never ever been questioned - but local elections are one pair of shoes and parliamentary elections another. This does not mean that the existing of a coalition rules out different opinions to those of the SDSM on certain issues. We are nevertheless talking about the identity of the Socialist party.' ...This among other things has been stated at yesterday's press conference at the SP HQ which - as MTV reports - has been attended by some members of the party's Executive Board (Jovan Lazarov, Mihail Cvetkov and Trajko Andonovski). Most of the time debates focused on the reported dispute within the party, and on the `witch-hunt' led against party leader Ljubisav Ivanov in certain papers. The overall conclusion aired at the press conference has been that the National Council - which is to be called into session (for two days) quite soon - would have to determine whether there are factions within the party. Difficulties and differences are to be discussed openly - but it will not be accepted to endanger the survival of the party.SPM representatives have nevertheless publicly pointed out that at the moment there are two concepts for the party's future. One of them has been generated by party leader Ljubisav Ivanov and views the SPM as `a strong and independent party with its own identity'. The second option is supposedly advocated by the incumbent Deputy Parliamentary Chairman Blagoja Filipovski, and promotes the unification / merging with the SDSM. Both mentioned party officials have not attended yesterday's press conference or commented on aired conclusions. SPM representatives have also stated that the majority of their parliamentary faction supported party leader Ivanov, as well as that he had never abandoned the party agenda. Jovan Lazarov stressed that the letter to the SDSM embodies the view of party leader Ivanov, who had all authorisations between two sessions of the National Council. The Socialists further stressed that it was not necessary to stage a party congress as the National Council is capable of settling the `family dispute' within the party on its own. [09] SALI RAMADANI EXCLUDED OF THE `PDPA' PARTYWhile quoting information published by the Albanian-language paper `Flaka e Vlazerimit', `Makpress' has reported yesterday that the PDPA Central Presidium has adopted the decision to exclude MP Sali Ramadani on its session on 26th January. `Makpress' further reveals that this measure had been justified by the fact that Ramadani had been running for mayor in Kichevo without the party's blessing, thus besmearing the integrity of the latter with his approach of election campaigning. Further data state that the PDPA has also issued another decision to PDPA and NDP MPs - according to which the dissolving of the PDPA parliamentary faction had been announced. Within this context PDPA Parliamentary Members Hisni Shakiri, Sami Ibraimi and Coordinator Rami Tuda have been advised not to attend Parliamentary sessions - whereas Tuda is to stop media interaction as the coordinator of a no longer existing faction.[10] CELEBRATING 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF GOCE DELCHEV'S BIRTHThe 125th Anniversary of Goce Delchev's birth, i.e. the birth of this eminent Macedonian revolutionary, has been marked with appropriate manifestations in several cities throughout Macedonia. Thus flowers were laid down at his grave in Skopje by an official delegation headed by Deputy Parliamentary Chairman Blagoja Filipovski. Other distinguished members incl. representatives of the `Gocevi Denovi' Organisation Board, the Macedonian Armed Forces, several political parties, institutions, businesses, schools and associations. Holy mass with a `Panihida' (commemorative speech) was served by OCM Head the Reverend Mihail at the `St. Saviour's' Church on this occasion. The 125th Anniversary of Goce Delchev's birth was also marked by a festive academic session in Bitola, and flowers have also been laid down in front of the Delchev monument in Strumica - against the backdrop of a ceremonial programme.[11] MOST ACCLAIMED WORKS BY SLAVKO JANEVSKI TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISHThe most renowned two novels by contemporary Macedonian author Slavko Janevski `The Nine Centuries of Cherubim' and `The Miracleworkers' have been translated into English. To this purpose Skopje-based publisher `Detska Radost' organised a promotion of these two books. According to Prof.Gjorgji Stardelov who delivered the introductory speech the latter embody the most complex samples of Macedonian novellistic output, particularly with respect to the time span they cover. This initiative by the publisher may be attributed to the repeated nomination of Slavko Janevski for the Nobel Prize in Literature. MILS SUPPLEMENT[12] `Unrecognised Macedonian Minority'(`Dnevnik' - 4th February 1997)The northern part of Greece is home to an undetermined number (estimates vary between 10 000 and 50 000 or more) of citizens of Slav descent - the so-called `Slavophones'. Some of them still speak the Slavic dialect, particularly around Florina. A smaller portion consider themselves affiliated to a discrete ethnic group called by the name `Macedonians', and bearing evidence of the right to minority status. The Government mistreats and terrorises some of these people, monitoring the activists' encounters with human rights observers - and accusing the former of espionage for foreign governments... the US State Dept. Human Rights Report claims in its section on Greece. In its Human Rights Report for the year 1996, the US State Dept. registers that the Government of Greece continues to implement Article 19 of the Citizenship Law in order to revoke the citizenship of those Greeks who are not of ethnic Greek ancestry. Article 20 of the very same Law is used to revoke the citizenship of expatriate Greeks who declare themselves `Macedonians'. In some cases the Government has placed domestic and international human rights monitors under surveillance. This has been followed by the publishing of information contained within their private meetings and activities in the press. The human rights experts of the US Department of State have registered that the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press - though guaranteed through the Constitution - are not always respected. There are still certain legal obstructions to the freedom of speech. The Government continues to implement such legal provisions against individuals raising sensitive political issues, such as the proving of the existence of unrecognised ethnic minorities. In September the District Attorney of Florina (Lerin) has ordered that the `Vinozhito' party remove the sign from its HQ, as it contained a Greek toponym in Slavic. The sign was thus inciting discord. An official of the `Vinozhito' party was charged of violating Article 191, due to his attempt to bring two calendars into the country which had certain Greek toponyms in Slavic last March. The exact trial date has not been determined yet, it has been shelved until the very end of the year. In 1994 the Supreme Court had sustained the ruling of subordinate judiciary instances dated back to 1991, which prohibited the registration of a `Macedonian Cultural Centre' in Florina - established by Greeks who thought of them selves as of Slav descent. The 1991 ruling was based on the argument that `the true purpose of this association is... to promote the existence of a Macedonian minority in Greece, which is contrary to Greek national interests and the law in Greece'. The initiators have appealed this ruling at the European Human Rights Tribunal which acknowledged the reception of the complaint - without passing a ruling by the close of the year, however. The Government is formally recognising the existence of a Moslem minority, but not that of any other ethnicities. The leaders of various non-Greek Orthodox communities have stated that members of their denominations are subject to discriminatory practice as regards promotion within governmental administration structures. Historic records generally reveal that only worshippers of the Greek Orthodox Church can become officers within the Armed Forces. In order to master this impediment, affiliates of other religious denominations have declared that they are Greek Orthodox. To such charges of discrimination high-ranking Government officials have responded that such practice was not being conducted, while indicating individuals of non-Orthodox descent who have had a fruitful career in the Armed Forces. In this context it is worth mentioning that so far only two Moslems were given the privilege to become reserve officers. Statistic data supporting either side are not available. There are communities in Greece which have been identified as Turkish, Pomaci (Islamic Bulgarians), Vlach, Romani, ethnic Albanian or as `Macedonian' i.e. `Slavo-Macedonian'. Most of them are completely integrated into Greek society. Yet the only officially recognised minority by the Government is the `Moslem' one. North Greece is thus home to an indefinite figure (between 10 and 50 thousand and more) of people of Slav descent (`Slavophones'). Some of them still have command of their Slavic dialect, especially in the Florina area. A small part of them consider themselves members of a specific ethnic group by the name `Macedonians' - thus confirming the eligibility for minority status. The Government maltreats and frightens some of these people, including violations of their right to associate. It observes the meetings of activists with human rights monitors, and attempts to discredit the former by labelling them as agents of foreign governments. Some Greeks who consider themselves `Macedonians' are afraid to say so openly - in fear of losing their employment, or other repercussions. The irritability of the Government with regards to this issue is to be ascribed to the belief that people affiliated to the `Macedonian' ethnicity may have separatist aspirations. The dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia regarding the name of the latter, has only worsened this condition. The Government has not defined the Slavic dialect spoken by thousands of inhabitants of North Greece as `Macedonian' and Government officials deny its nevertheless being a separate language... the Report mentions. (end)mils news 05 February 1997Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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