MAK-NEWS 23/11/95 (M.I.C.)

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

Macedonian Information Centre Directory

CONTENTS

SKOPJE, NOVEMBER 23, 1995 (MIC)

[01] MACEDONIA WELCOMES DAYTON AGREEMENT

The Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Macedonia welcomes the successful completion of the negotiations in Dayton, Ohio. The signing of the peace agreement between the leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, marks the end of the three-and-a-half year old war that took away many lives, caused enormous material damages, destroyed many families and left many people homeless, fleeing from the horrors of war, is said in the announcement of the Interior Ministry.

This brave and wise act undoubtedly opens up perspectives for a stable and lasting peace in the region. This will also contribute to the creation of a favorable climate between the states in these regions, for cooperation in all spheres of mutual interest. The Americans certainly deserve a lot of merit for the positive outcome of the negotiations, being the organizers and hosts, as well as members of the Contact group and co-chairmans of the Peace Conference on former Yugoslavia.

On the occasion of the successful finalization of the Dayton negotiations, Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski sent out messages to the U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, as well as his colleagues in Bosnia and Herzegovina, FRY and Croatia.

[02] WILLIAM PERRY IN MACEDONIA TODAY

Today, on the occasion of Thanksgiving Day, the U.S. Defence Secretary William Perry will be paying a one-day visit to the Republic of Macedonia. During his stay, he will have a brief meeting with President Gligorov, together with the Defence Ministers of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, as well as Parliamentary Speaker Stojan Andov, Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski and Defence Minister Blagoy Handziski.

During his stay, Secretary Perry will attend a Luncheon in the U.S. UNPREDEP camp, organized on the occasion of Thanksgiving Day, which will also be attended by high officials from the Republic and the Defence Ministry.

Mr. Perry will also meet with the U.S. soldiers serving as part of UNPREDEP, and the Nordic ministers will visit the Scandinavian peacekeepers from the Nordic battalion.

[03] BULGARIA AND GREECE FOR MACEDONIAN SOVEREIGNTY

"We are on a good path toward normalization of the relations with FYROM," the Greek President Constantinos Stefanopoulos stated at yesterday's news conference in Sofia, which marked the end of his three-day official visit to Bulgaria.

"The question of the name remains very important. I expect we will be starting negotiations very soon. I would like to believe that we will have results," Stefanopoulos stated.

The Bulgarian President Zhelyu Zhelev emphasized that "Macedonia, which was the apple of discord during the 20th century, should now be a small state which will enjoy support from all neighbors."

"If all the neighbors support and respect the territorial entity and sovereignty of the state, it will contribute to stability in the Balkans," Zhelev emphasized.

[04] FORGER OF MACEDONIAN PASSPORTS ARRESTED

A special unit of the Italian police in Torino, investigating the forging of travel documents, has succeeded in arresting the chief forger of Macedonian passports.

Namely, 47-year old Maras Hani from Struga was arrested while trying to "rid" himself from five forged passports. During the searching of his apartment, the agents found another 80 unfinished Macedonian passports, as well as 30 Italian, French, British and Rhoman identity documents.

The buyers of his passports were mainly Albanians from the Republic of Macedonia, who could not get a permit for temporary residence in Italy.

[05] CITIZENS OF MACEDONIA - 1.5 MILLION ADULT CITIZENS

There are 1,648,208 adult citizens living in Macedonia, of which 1,527,202 or 92.65% are adult citizens with regulated citizenship documents, whereas 121,006 are not listed in the register of citizens of the Republic of Macedonia. These figures, presented in the information of the Interior Ministry on the regulated citizenship status to the present moment, and the results from the survey conducted by the Interior Ministry, date back from October 20.

On the basis of acceptance, determination and statement, 90,578 citizens have regulated their citizens' status, of which 24,916 are Bulgarians, 968 are Montenegrins, 931 are Rhomas, 301 Slovenians, 651 Turks and other nationalities, such as Czechs, Jews, Hungarians, Italians, Vlachs, etc. 16,673 children have also had their citizenship regulated.

During this September, the Interior Ministry conducted a poll of 1,788 randomly selected persons out of those 121,006 citizens with unregulated citizenship, from the five Skopje municipalities. It was determined that most of the people polled came from the rural areas. The results also showed that out of the total number of persons with unregulated citizenship status, 39.6% live outside the country, i.e. moved out of FRY and the other former YU republics, or are on temporary work abroad, or that 2.23% of them do not live at their given address, and moved out without reporting it to the authorities.

[06] STATE ELECTION COMMISSION GETS A NEW PRESIDENT

Liljana Ingilizova - Ristova, Supreme Court judge, has been appointed president of the State Election Commission, replacing Petar Najdanov, who was dismissed from his post because of retirement. This decision was made by the Macedonian Parliament yesterday.

[07] "SKOPJE" REFINERY WITH ITS OWN PRODUCTION

Starting from next year, the "Skopje" Refinery will start with the distribution of its own petrol with certified quality. Following the lifting of the Greek embargo, the Refinery is prepared to start 1996 with one million tones of primary petrol, which will satisfy the county's needs for bitumen and all other types of oil. The "Skopje" Refinery also plans to expand its production plants in the sense of completing its refinery and the financing of its own oil pipeline. This investment cycle will require between US$ 180 and 300 million.

[08] PDP NOMINATES A CANDIDATE IN ELECTION UNIT 114

The PDP nominated Nevail Ramadani for participation in the additional elections in election unit 114 in the Skopje municipality Center yesterday. So far, only two candidates have been nominated, Vladimir Golubovski from IMRO-DP, and Hristo Georgievski, bankruptcy worker, as an independent candidate.

The Alliance for Macedonia is expected to nominate its own candidate shortly, who will be from the Socialist Party, like the recently deceased Kiro Popovski, who was elected at the last elections a year ago.

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