MAK-NEWS 10/11/95 (M.I.C.)

From: "M.I.C." <mic@ITL.MK>

Macedonian Information Centre Directory

CONTENTS

SKOPJE, NOVEMBER 11, 1995 (MIC)

[01] MACEDONIA IN COUNCIL OF EUROPE

"Macedonia has crossed a very difficult path, although it was the only one out of the former Yugoslav countries to achieve independence without war, blood and ethnic cleansing. It was not done easily, but in a strong and flexible way, which I would call European. The way in which this country resolves the problems with the national minorities is also the future of the European attitude and education." These were the words with which the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Angel Miguel Martinez welcomed the acceptance of Macedonia, together with Ukraine, to the family of the Council of Europe, almost four and a half decades from the formation of this organization, which is guided by the principles of protection of human rights and democracy. The formal ceremony that was organized in the Council of Europe was attended by a Macedonian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski, who welcomed this exceptionally important moment for Macedonia with the following words:

"The people in Macedonia had two age-long dreams, to become independent and to build a democratic country. The realization of those dreams coincides with the last four years, and today, this momentous event is a very important turn in the direction of their realization. Macedonia has done a lot to build a democratic society and we are aware that a lot more still has to be done until we can complete our legislation in line with European norms and standards. We are convinced that our good will is evident, as well as the readiness and qualifications to fulfill this task."

Afterwards, minister Crvenkovski thanked everyone for the support that was given to President Gligorov following the attack on his life, adding that the President was successfully recovering. He said that this incident only proved that closer cooperation is necessary in the fight against the enemies to the peace and against terrorists of every kind.

The formal ceremony ended with the raising of the Macedonian flag and the playing of the Macedonian national anthem, which was repeated in front of the building of the Macedonian diplomatic mission, which was promoted to the rank of embassy yesterday.

Minister Crvenkovski took part in the work of the Ministers' Committee, which reviewed the concept of European security.

[02] MIGUEL ANGEL MARTINEZ: "FOR ME, MACEDONIA IS MACEDONIA"

On the occasion of the formal acceptance of Macedonia to the Council of Europe, the president of the Parliamentary Assembly stated: "Today, I will call Macedonia by the name it wants to be called: by its name. You know that I don't want to hurt anyone or to irritate, but some members of the press criticized me when I addressed the Macedonian Parliament, during my official visit a couple of months ago, with the words "your country," or "this country." Fortunately, you, the leaders here and all the responsible people among you, understand how careful we had to be, in order to reach a 'happy end' in the future. The happy end we celebrate today is actually more than that, because it is a happy start."

[03] HANS VAN DEN BROEK: "A STEP CLOSER TO INTEGRATION INTO EU"

The EU Foreign Affairs Commissioner Hans Van Den Broek, who attended the meeting of the Ministers' Committee, told "Nova Makedonija": "Macedonia's admittance to the Council of Europe presents an outstanding achievement, which we have anticipated for a long time. In effect, it marks a new age in history, and we are satisfied with the integration of your country in the European structures and hope that the same will soon happen with the EU."

In reference to the unresolved problem with Macedonia's name, which was also the reason why Macedonia was accepted to the Council of Europe under the name FYROM, Van Den Broek expressed the hope that the accord signed between Skopje and Athens gives the hope of resolving that problem as well.

[04] BULGARIA PLEASED WITH ADMITTANCE OF MACEDONIA

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georgi Pirinski assessed in his statement for "Nova Makedonija" that Macedonia's admittance to the Council of Europe is a "joyous event which will contribute to the stability in the region."

Pirinski expressed the hope that he would reach a common language with minister Crvenkovski, for overcoming the language problem between the two countries. To the question as to the way he views the current media climate between Bulgaria and Macedonia, considering all the dust that has been raised over "Multigroup," Pirinski replied that the campaign has disturbed the Bulgarian Government, and characterized the matter as "unnecessary."

[05] MACEDONIA RECOMMENDED FOR "PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE"

The NATO Political Committee recommended Macedonia's acceptance to the "Partnership for peace" initiative in Brussels yesterday, Radio Skopje reports.

According to a representative of the Alliance, the procedure of silence is underway at the moment, which practically means that, if no objections come in by today, at the latest, then Macedonia should be able to sign the document that will make it the 27th member of this initiative, by the end of this year.

So far, membership was impossible since one of the conditions was membership in the OSCE, which Macedonia joined only last month.

If the recommendation of the NATO Political Committee is accepted, Macedonia will become the second "Partnership for peace" member from the former Yugoslav republics, alongside Slovenia.

[06] GREECE CONDITIONING ECONOMIC COOPERATION WITH NEW NAME

Greece is prepared to help Macedonia economically, however, it is conditioning the same with the resolution of the question over the name.

The Under Secretary in the Greek Ministry of Economy Joanis Antopoulos stated on Wednesday that the ministry is ready to help its neighboring country completely, with credits, especially by renting out capital equipment, however, the "realization of the final financial help will depend on the choice of name."

Antopoulos, speaking at the news conference in Athens, added that Macedonia was facing an enormous economic crisis and that the approach of the Greek Ministry of Economy in the development of commercial and economic links with "Skopje" will not differ from the approach to the other countries from former Yugoslavia.

[07] WILLIAM PERRY FIRST FOREIGN OFFICIAL TO SEE GLIGOROV

The Athens news agency published the news on Wednesday that after the attempted assassination, the U.S. Defence Secretary William Perry will be the first foreign official to see President Kiro Gligorov.

The Athens news agency also said, calling upon reliable sources in Skopje, as Makfaks reports, that President Kiro Gligorov will be taking over his function by the end of the month.

William Perry is scheduled to arrive in Macedonia on the 23rd of this month, Radio Skopje reports, calling upon a Pentagon spokesman.

According to the same source, Perry will meet in Skopje with the highest Macedonian leaders, as well as the members of the U.S. battalion serving as part of UNPREDEP.

[08] FIRST MACEDONIAN-AMERICAN EXERCISE

The first joint exercise of the Macedonian Army and the U.S. soldiers, called "Friendly jump," took place at the sports airport in Kumanovo yesterday. This is the first in a line of joint military exercises, which should continue in March, next year, as part of the cooperation between the Republic of Macedonia and the U.S.A., as well as part of "Partnership for peace."

Participating in this first joint EXERCISE, i.e. parachute jumps and demonstration of helicopter landing activities were the special unit of the Macedonian Defence Ministry, helicopters of the VO and PO, aircraft of the Air Traffic Association of Macedonia, as well as the special parachute landing group from "Fort Carson," Colorado (U.S.A.), which has been staying in Macedonia for a couple of days to check out the field in order to better organize the activities planned for March, next year.

Yesterday's exercises of the Macedonian and American soldiers were followed by a large number of experts, including Foreign Minister Blagoy Handziski, the Chief of the General Staff of the Macedonian Army, General Colonel Dragoljub Bocinov and Robert Sorenson, political officer of the U.S. Office in Skopje.

MACEDONIAN PRESS REVIEW:

[09] "VECER": ONE RESIGNATION - A LOT OF DILEMMA

Precisely two weeks ago, Interior Minister Ljubomir Frckovski informed that he had offered his resignation to Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski, as an act of objective political responsibility following the assassination attempt on Kiro Gligorov. At his first, and, for the time being, only meeting with the press, Frckovski explained that he wanted to give his contribution in the building of political culture in the Republic, and foremost, the feeling of responsibility. He added that the functioning of the services was most important for the state, and not the officials in charge of those services.

His appearance raised a lot of dilemmas in the public, which are still left unanswered. First, when the minister publicly emphasized his responsibility, many people differently interpreted the fact that he said "offered" instead of "submitted" his resignation. Second, since now the "ball" is thrown into Prime Minister Crvenkovski's hands, the public is wondering how long will he have to think, i.e. how long will one of his ministers, who is in charge of a very important sector, be able to stay "in resignation?" In this respect, it must be emphasized that the Prime Minister is in a really delicate situation in view of the decision he has to make.

During the past fifteen days, the public tried to "feel" the Government's pulse several times with questions directed to spokesman Ismail, however, he has been skillfully avoiding to give any tangible answers. In this situation, with a view to clearing up some of these dilemmas, we turned to professor prof. Svetomir Skarich from the Skopje Faculty of Law.

"The Constitution does not differentiate between the terms offered and submitted resignation. It only speaks of submitting a resignation. The term submitted resignation does not exist in the Constitution. Once the resignation is submitted, it is a definite act for the minister in question, and no one has the moral right to make any decisions about his fate," prof. Skarich says, adding that "the resignation is a personal act of the minister, and he is the only one who makes a decision about it. Furthermore, when a resignation is submitted, it is a definite act of the free will of the person who submits it. This characteristic of the resignation puts the moral, and not the political responsibility in the forefront. The political responsibility comes to light through the dismissal of the minister by Parliament, at the proposal of the Prime Minister."

In this context, prof. Skarich feels, "the Prime Minister must accept the offered resignation as a definite decision of the minister, and not as a proposal on which he or the Government decides. According to the Constitution, he is obliged to inform Parliament of this decision immediately, in order for Parliament to conclude, without any discussion, that the ministerial function of the person submitting the resignation is terminated and that this meets the conditions for the election of a new person to fill in the vacated position."

"In other words," prof. Skarich says, "the Prime Minister can not dismiss or ignore the offered resignation, since it has a moral, and not a political dimension. He can decide on the same only if he feels that the minister should be dismissed because of his political responsibility. The resignation is a personal and moral act of the person that holds the public position, and not a political act on which the Government or Parliament decides."

The resignation is an expression of the minister's responsibility to the public, and not an expression of responsibility to the Government. Therefore, the resignation can not be collectivized with the responsibility to the Government. If the resignation is offered just for the sake of submitting it, then the minister fully subjects himself to party or government responsibility, and not moral or personal responsibility, as the second fact of civil democracy," Skarich believes.

According to the professor, this is owed to the fact that parliamentary democracy is based more on the moral responsibility of the people who hold public functions, that it is on their political responsibility which comes to an expression through dismissal in a forceful way, and not at their own free will, the way it is with resignation as an expression of personal responsibility."

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