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MILS: News from the FYROM, 97-03-03Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: "Macedonian Information Liaison Service" <mils@mils.spic.org.mk>CONTENTS
MILS NEWSSkopje, 03 March, 1997[01] FRIDAY PROTESTS DOMINATED BY SECONDARY SCHOOL PUPILS FROM KICHEVO AND GOSTIVARThe majority of protesters who demonstrated against the Pedagogical Faculty (PF) Bill on Friday, by passing the customary itinerary through the streets of Skopje, were secondary school pupils of Gostivar and Kichevo - media report. The secondary school pupils of these cities (app. 250) had arrived in Skopje by train in the morning hours, prior to joining their Skopje counterparts (university and secondary school students) in front of the Parliament. The itinerary once again commenced in front of the Parliament building, then went on to the Ministry of Education and the Government seat - and back again. No slogans were carried this time, but the well-known demands were shouted.For the first time protesters also entered the `St. Clement' Congregational Church of the OCM where their representatives lit candles and prayed. Afterwards, part of the university and secondary school students had another meeting with the OCM leader the Reverend Mihail. According to what was said at the press conference held by the protest organisers the same day, future protests would be held with the blessing of the church. As regards this latest meeting with the Reverend Mihail, the latter claims that his views aired at the previous meeting with a delegation of strikers had not been authentically and appropriately conveyed to the public. He - as it has been stressed - `supports the demands of university and secondary school students due to their Christian and Orthodox nature'. On Friday a statement of support was also given by students of the Theological Faculty - not in order to increase protest participation, it was said - but in order to support the requests launched in defence of the Macedonian language. The student representative of the Theological Faculty, Alexandar Ivanovski, stated that support had also been rendered by the OCM head the Reverend Mihail, and that inauthentic information had been conveyed by the media with respect to his first meeting with the students. The secondary school pupils of Gostivar and Kichevo visited the `St. Saviour's' Church as well on Friday, and sang the Macedonian Anthem in front of the grave of Goce Delchev. Demonstrations ended at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, whereas it was announced in front of the Parliament that protests would be continued until student demands had been fulfilled. In addition to this demonstrations continued on Saturday evening as well, on the city square of Skopje with a `protest party' starring several Macedonian entertainers. University and secondary school students were also addressed by a party leader for the first time. On this occasion MAAK-CP leader Strasho Angelovski emphasised that `no party had simply dropped out of the sky, but been formed by our brothers, sisters and parents while you are standing in defence of the most sacred - the Constitution of Macedonia'. Strikers also decided to attend the Vardar - Sloga football match in Skopje last Saturday. [02] ALBANIAN INTELLECTUALS ENCOURAGING DIALOGUE AND JOINT ACTIONOn Friday the Union of the Albanian Intelligentsia in Macedonia released a statement expressing its worry and unease in connection to demonstrations staged by a certain number of university and secondary school students of Macedonian ethnicity in Skopje and several other cities.`Some fundamental values of our existence and perspective are being endangered at these protests, in a time when every citizen of Macedonia - and Albanians in particular - expected an improvement of their status, on grounds of the newly-laid democratic foundation in the Republic of Macedonia. In our opinion the law regulating the use of minority languages at the PF merely represents an excuse. The organisers of these protests intend to instigate the creation of an Albanophobic political environment up to the point of open inter-ethnic confrontations. In the hope that these are extremes which are not encountering wider support in terms of imposing fascist and genocidal ideas, the Union appeals to Macedonian and Albanian intellectuals alike for efficient action, as well as to every other stakeholder, in order to generate new forms of mutual communication through their associations, to make a creative contribution by objective and sober assessing conditions and by implementing a relaxed approach upon resolving open issues. The Union indignantly discards anti-Albanian outbursts by Macedonian extremists whose sadism is not obscured by artificial disavowals - while it distances itself from certain anti-Macedonian manifestations surfacing at the sidelines and from the undignified behaviour exhibited by individual Albanians, regardless of the fact that both may be a response to the already mentioned events. The Union will attempt to contribute towards the calming of the situation, it will initiate and accept dialogue and creative communication with all exhibiting goodwill and kind intentions.' [03] COMMITMENT OF PARENTS TO INCREASE INTER-ETHNIC TOLERANCEThe statement released by the Council of the Parents' Association of Macedonia claims that any kind of initiative, even the question of education in minority languages, cannot be resolved outside the institutions of the system - and they may certainly not be resolved through staging manifestations and demonstrations in the streets. Due to this the Council of the Parents' Association endorses the increasing of inter-ethnic tolerance and mutual understanding as regards the needs of minorities which may not be addressed through the initiating of different nationalisms, but simply by establishing mutual respect and trust - which ensures the coexistence of all citizens of the Republic of Macedonia.[04] VETERANS' ASSOCIATION: `MANIPULATIONS IN ORDER TO DESTABILISE THE COUNTRY'The Presidium of the Skopje Veterans' Association has expressed its worries due to nationalist and chauvinist outbursts occurring at the student demonstrations and the celebrations marking the election of the mayor of Tetovo, as they are contrary to the interests of the Macedonian people with all its ethnicities.`The intention of certain destructive forces from within the ranks of some parties is quite transparent; it consists of generating inter-ethnic intolerance and conflicts, as well as social disorder in order to destabilise the country', the statement quotes. [05] MINISTER POPOVSKI: `FLAGS FOR MINORITIES'The flag of the minorities in Macedonia will differ from the national flag of another sovereign state, by containing a symbol which is to indicate that this is the flag of a certain minority of a certain country in the Republic of Macedonia. This is to be the essence of our proposal to the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia, which is to definitely resolve the issue in terms of how the minority flag will look like', stated Justice Secretary Vlado Popovski on Friday. At the press conference he added that the law regulating the use of the minority flags which is being compiled - was comprised of comparative experience. This act of law is also to codify the use of the national flag. This way - according to Popovski - the existing vacuum with regards to this issue, which has been the inspiration for the most various political views and reactions.Connected to the statements released at the PDPA meeting of Tetovo on appeals for civic resistance and the creating of a city-state, as well as on the possible suspension of Macedonian language in Debar, Minister Popovski stated: `The state will intervene in terms of establishing any kind of para-state institutions in the country, as this would mark the beginning of its end. There are no realistic grounds to establish some sort of city-state in Macedonia, as no city may be excluded from state legislation. In terms of inciting civic resistance by refusing to pay tax and upset inter-ethnic relations - as a state we have a legal response to this, completely sanctioned by law. As far as Debar is concerned, the suspending of Macedonian as an official language - based on the justification that that only 9% of the local population are Macedonian - is not feasible. Our legal system would immediately respond to such a thing, for the Macedonian language clearly possesses the status of the country's official language.' In connection to establishing the structures of local government Popovski emphasised that as of 15th this month the division of both government levels (state vs. local i.e. 34 municipalities) is to commence. Should there not be sufficient prerequisites for the functioning of the municipal level (premises, etc.), it would leave premises at their disposal or devise `additional solutions. 'In terms of potential overlapping of competencies between the state and new municipalities - for which there have been indicators - Popovski stressed that as long as the latter did not have any concretely outlined competency they could not provide state service, and vice versa. In the future - in the opinion of Popovski - the orientation will be directed towards delegating responsibilities from the state to the municipalities, especially in terms of decentralising governance and resource management. [06] CRIMINAL CHARGES FILED AGAINST ORGANISERS OF `PDPA' MEETINGOn Friday the Ministry of the Interior of Macedonia revealed that criminal charges had been filed against three residents of Tetovo who had exhibited several national flags of the Republic of Albania and played the national anthem of this country, as organisers of the PDPA meeting.Concerning the recent visit of Italian Head of state Scalfaro to the Republic of Macedonia, the Ministry expressed its gratitude to the public for their exhibited understanding. In spite of the fact that during this visit several citizens had offended and belittled police officers carrying out their duty and securing the visitor, which is why the Ministry has filed charges against three more citizens. [07] CONVENTION ON SOCIAL INSURANCE BETWEEN AUSTRIA AND MACEDONIAThe Minister of Labour and Social Policy to the Macedonian Government Naser Ziberi and the corresponding authorised Federal Minister of the Republic of Austria, Harold Kotschy, have signed the bilateral Convention on Social Insurance in Skopje on Friday - `Makpress' reports.According to Austrian Minister Kotschy this Convention is the first international treaty ratified by the Austrian Parliament, which is to regulate the rights of app. 8 000 Macedonian nationals in Macedonia who are thus to obtain the same rights as other citizens in this country. The Convention is also the first bilateral treaty signed by the Republic of Macedonia with regards to this domain with another country. [08] THE SECRETARY OF `OMO ILINDEN' ARRESTED IN SOFIAAccording to Bulgarian papers, the Secretary of `OMO Ilinden' of the city of Petrich, Dimitar Karamchev, has been arrested on Saturday. This - as the Bulgarian press reports - is due to the fact that Karamchev had threatened to blow up the houses of a police officer and a former intelligence operative of the regional security service, who had been obstructing the development of his business.As `Vecher' reports the Bulgarian press revealed that during a search of his house 4 explosive devices and 370 grams of explosive had been discovered, as well as the police statement that Karamchev had confessed planting explosive in front of a car near the city bingo hall. This story made the first page on the Sofia newspaper `Kontinent' under the title `Ilinden plants bombs at Petrich', mentioning in the article that Karamchev had received his education in Skopje four years ago, that he was a Macedonian spy - but also that `there was nevertheless insufficient evidence to support all this'. `Kontinent' further revealed that the police were searching the houses of `OMO Ilinden' members. [09] TRADITIONAL MACEDONIAN EVENING HELD IN THESSALONICA WITHOUT INCIDENTSThe traditional Macedonian Evening, which has been held in Thessalonica (Greece) this year, has been encountering great affection exhibited by the citizens of Thessalonica and the majority of Greek media - today's edition of `Vecher' reports. The paper also informs that past events of this kind had been prevented by Greek authorities or marked by incidents, unlike this time. Around 2 000 Macedonians passed an evening in singing songs and dancing presented by folklore societies of Macedonians living in North Greece. The event was also attended by many Macedonian families of Voden, Thessalonica, Bojnica, Lerin and other places.[10] TAX EVASION RESPONSIBLE FOR DEFICIT IN PENSION AND IMPAIRMENT INSURANCE FUNDThe overall revenues for the Pension and Impairment Fund in the year 1996 total 18 326.72 million denars - which is more compared to last year by 315.85 million denars (1.7%). Expenditures amount to 18 925.01 million denars, i.e. to 99.9% of those planned. This data was presented at the session of the Fund's Executive Board, which was also marked by the ratification of the final balance sheet. It has been stressed the financial operating of the Fund was particularly marked by the 12 months of disbursements of retirement pensions out of regular funds, in addition to forwarding 7 withheld pensions. Means for this have been procured by the Government of Macedonia from realistic finance sources. By forwarding withheld pension payments the period of delay has been shortened as well, while the accumulated deficit (accrued during previous years) has been decreased by 770 million denars.It has been revealed that the Fund nevertheless generated a 598.29 million deficit, which is by 66.2% more than it had been initially planned within the `96 Budget. This to be ascribed to the unexpected decrease in contribution funds. At the session it was also decided that what had to be achieved was a positive revenue - expenditure balance of the Fund in 1997, as this was also outlined by the macro-economic policy of the Republic of Macedonia for 1997. Therefore an additional 1 300 million denars had been reallocated within the National Budget. [11] DEAL ON PRIVATISATION OF `SKOPJE MINES AND STEELMILLS' DUE THIS WEEKThe Skopje-based `Tehnometal - Vardar', `Makpetrol' and `Fershped' companies are to take over governance of the `Skopje Mines and Steelmills'. The agreement on this company's privatisation is most likely to be signed by the end of this week - `Dnevnik' reports. According to reports, the companies two most important units for steel production and pressing / rolling facilities have been working with lower capacity, while a larger amount of work is being expected.The privatisation of this company is to follow the `transform demand into shares' approach, which should settle its dues of 150 million DM towards the three above mentioned companies. According to expectations all three companies are to receive the controlling majority in shares (51 to 53%), whereas employees are to retain 23% of all shares while the rest is to remain in state ownership. In addition to this `Dnevnik' reports that the company is currently employing app. 3 000, while all pay including all social insurance charges and tax have been paid in October `96. The company and its products has become incompetitive with respect to western markets due to increased production costs, due to which the majority of employees is most often laid off. The corresponding Trade Union Organisation (of metal workers, energetics employees and miners) of Macedonia. This is expected to reduce tensions in this industrial sector which employs app. 60 000 in Macedonia, and short from collapsing. `Puls' reports that in this branch around 14 000 do not receive pay on a regular basis, and 28 000 are not accruing any social benefit eligibility over a period between 3 months and 3 years since their contributions have not been paid. Of the 23 largest loss- generating businesses in Macedonia 11 fall off to the metal sector, i.e. of 45 000 employees covered by the programme for these loss-generating businesses 35 000 are metal workers and miners, while of 15 000 employees declared as technologically redundant, 11 800 are from the metal industry. [12] `JUGOMARKET' OWNER ACQUITTEDRecently the Elementary Court No. 1 passed a verdict concordant to which `Jugomarket' owner Jasmin Moralich is being acquitted of the charges that the has embezzled several million marks. `Dnevnik' informs that afterwards Moralich `promised' the victims `to sell everything to return the money he owed them.' His former clients however see this as another deception, speculating that it is being backed by a high-ranking official. They have also announced their intention to monitor the situation closely, and to assist the DA to complete his case. In the meantime they would continue to picket the Government until the Parliament adopts measures prerequisite to the restitution of deceived bank clients.[13] LP & DP ON DONORS' CONFERENCE FOR MACEDONIA`Recently Vice-President Jane Miljoski has visited Germany, but this country has not given any donation; Foreign Secretary Ljubomir Frchkovski has just returned from Great Britain and again there was no donation; as is the case with France whose Minister for European Issues has recently been staying in our country; the same applies to Italy and its Head of state Scalfaro. All this and the current state of affairs in our country, is extremely worrisome', stated LP leader Stojan Andov at the recently- held press conference, upon assessing the success of the Donors' Conference in Brussels. In the opinion of Andov the economic situation in Macedonia is disastrous, and its international ranking drastically worsened.DP leader Petar Goshev - as `Dnevnik' reports - stated that `the mere fact that we are requesting the staging of a third Donors' Conference five years after the successful implementation of economic reforms speaks louder than any words'. In his view, this Donors' Conference is a serious omen for reforms in Macedonia. Besides this Vice-President Jane Miljoski said in an interview for `Nova Makedonija' that Macedonia is to continue its reforms, aided by approved funds and means which are yet to arrive. According to whom it has been irrational to expect the raising of such a huge sum at the Donors' Conference. `Three years ago we have asked for 120 million dollars and received 30, two years ago we have requested the same sum and obtained only 18 million. The funds acquired so far, and those we are to receive yet, are necessary to cover the payment balance over the next 3 - 4 years', stated Jane Miljoski for `Nova Makedonija'. [14] DEMOCRATS ADOPTED INITIATIVE TO MERGE WITH LIBERALSOn Saturday the Central Council of the DP adopted the draft versions of the statute and programme documents of the future Liberal-Democratic Party at a closed session almost unanimously - thus supporting the initiative to hold a party congress.According to leader Petar Goshev of 59 attending members of the central leadership 58 were in favour of the latter initiative, while one abstained. As regards the draft declaration of unification and the statute - these were supported by 54 and opposed by 5. DP leader Goshev stated in an interview for `Nova Makedonija' the meeting of highest party structures which are to approve this venture, will be held at the beginning of next month. During the Central Council session the DP members were also familiarised with the fact that Executive Board members Densko Skalovski and Dragan Goranchev had submitted their resignations, which were not to be accepted or discarded by voting, as the Statute has outlined them as personal action. (end)mils news 03 March 1997Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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