MAK-NEWS 08/12/95 (M.I.C.)

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

Macedonian Information Centre Directory

CONTENTS

SKOPJE, DECEMBER 8, 1995 (MIC)

[01] MACEDONIA INCLUDED IN DIALOGUE ON SECURITY

Macedonia's Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski met with the U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher in Brussels on Wednesday.

The meeting, which was attended by the Macedonian ambassador to Belgium Jovan Tegovski and the Assistant Minister Yon Ivanovski, took place after the NATO Ministerial meeting, in which Macedonia participated for the first time, as an observer.

Christopher welcomed the Republic of Macedonia to the Council, which is growing into a traditional form of dialogue over the current security-political issues that are of wider interest.

Christopher underlined the historical significance of the participation of a number of European states in the implementation of the peace plan for Bosnia, and emphasized the determination for the expansion of the "Partnership for peace" program and NATO, is said in the press release of the Foreign Ministry.

In his address to the Council on Wednesday, Stevo Crvenkovski placed an emphasis on the contribution the U.S. is making for the stability in the region, through the successful completion of the negotiations in Dayton, and especially for Macedonia, with the participation of the U.S. forces in UNPREDEP. Minister Crvenkovski stressed Macedonia's efforts for a just and principled resolution of the questions surrounding the succession of the former SFRY. Pointing out the significance of the UN resolution for the lifting of the arms embargo, in the context of the completion of the defence policy of the Republic of Macedonia and its participation in the activities of the "Partnership for peace" program, minister Crvenkovski underlined the need of the Republic of Macedonia for further development of the defence system, on the basis of the principles of the democratic control of the armed forces.

[02] STRENGTHENING OF RELATIONS WITH U.S.A.

The ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to Washington Ljubica Acevska was received by Deputy Secretary Petar Tarrioff in the State Department on Wednesday.

The mutual interest for general strengthening of the Macedonian-American relations was concluded in the very sincere discussion, whereby ambassador Acevska expressed gratitude for the support the U.S. has given to the latest UN resolution on the status of UNPREDEP in Macedonia.

At the meeting, the U.S. side expressed satisfaction with the positive development of the Macedonian-Greek relations and the signing of the Interim Accord.

On this occasion, wishes for the speedy recovery of President Kiro Gligorov were expressed.

[03] GREECE DENYING START OF NEGOTIATIONS IN U.S.A.

Greek diplomatic sources have not received any official announcement from UN mediator Cyrus Vance about the start of the negotiations between Athens and Skopje over the name question.

The pro-government "Ta Nea," made this assessment yesterday, in commenting yesterday's reports on Radio Skopje, according to which the start of the negotiations is announced for the middle of this month.

The Greek Foreign Ministry, according to "Ta Nea" has no information whether mediator Cyrus Vance will be sending Athens and Skopje invitations for negotiations soon.

The diplomatic circles in Athens, as Makfaks reports, expect the negotiations to start next year, although they do not rule out the possibility of preliminary consultations taking place this month.

In commenting the announcements for the speedy start of the negotiations between Athens and Skopje, a number of PASOK MPs were in favour of postponing them in the survey of the Athens SKY Radio yesterday, until the situation surrounding Prime Minister Papandreou's health condition is cleared up.

[04] MALJAS - HEAD OF GREEK OFFICE

Greece appointed Aleksandros Maljas head of the Greek Liaisons Office in Skopje yesterday, the Greek Ministry announced.

Maljas was first advisor in the Balkans Department of the Greek Foreign Ministry, and took part in the Macedonian-Greek negotiations.

Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias informed his Macedonian colleague Stevo Crvenkovski on Wednesday about Maljas' appointment, the Greek Government spokesman Kostas Bikas said.

The personnel of the Liaisons Office is scheduled to leave for Skopje towards the beginning of January.

[05] MACEDONIA-SWEDEN: GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE POSSIBILITIES FOR COOPERATION

The Macedonian Minister of Development Bekjir Zhuta spoke with the delegation of the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden yesterday, led by the Minister of Development and cooperation with the countries from Central and Eastern Europe Pierre Suri.

At the meeting, minister Zhuta informed the Swedish delegation with the overall situation of the Macedonian economy and the possibilities for the development of the Republic of Macedonia in the coming period.

As part of their interests, the two governments agreed to make all the necessary preparations for the signing of an international agreement on cooperation between the two countries.

In the talks with the Deputy Minister of Economy Tome Cemerski, it was emphasized that the present level of relations enables cooperation only on a technical level, which will develop to the level of strategy later on.

The Swedish Government will support the signing of the Agreement on trade cooperation between Macedonia and the EU, and it is assessed that Macedonia has played a very important role in preserving the peace and stability in the region.

The Swedish delegation was received by Finance Minister Jane Miljovski as well. This meeting was attended by Transport Minister Dimitar Buzlevski as well.

[06] FRY: BILATERAL COOPERATION WITH MACEDONIA?

The foreign trade regime of FR Yugoslavia, which went into force towards the end of November, and which introduced customs duty and contingents for all countries, will stay in effect only till the end of this year.

The new foreign-trade regime will be conformed with the economic policy of FR Yugoslavia for next year, which is in preparation at the moment, and it is unknown whether any important changes will be made, Makfaks reports.

There are some announcements that within the framework of GATT, the foreign-trade exchange between Macedonia and FR Yugoslavia could be regulated with a bilateral agreement next year.

[07] FRENCH GIFT WORTH 11.9 MILLION FRANCS

A Financial protocol between the Government of the Republic of Macedonia and the Government of the Republic of France was signed in Paris on Wednesday, with which the French Government is allocating a gift-help worth 11.9 million francs, to be used for building a station for drinking water in Kochani. The Protocol goes into effect on the day of the signing.

On behalf of the Macedonian Government, the Financial protocol was signed by the ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to France Luan Starova and the director of the Treasury Jean Limierre, from the French side.

[08] SKOPJE WILL GET A NUNCIO SOON

In Budapest yesterday, during the Ministerial meeting of the OSCE, Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski met with Monsignor Jean Louis Toran, Foreign Secretary of the Holy Chair.

Monsignor Toran emphasized his pleasure with the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy Chair and the Republic of Macedonia, adding that the nuncio of the Holy Chair will be submitting his credentials in Skopje soon. In the talks, Toran was interested in Macedonia's views on the succession of the former Yugoslavia, the Dayton Agreement and the role of the international organizations in the post-Dayton period.

Inquiring in the health of President Gligorov, Monsignor Toran asked for his best wishes to be conveyed to him.

[09] GERMAN MARK - 27.15 DENARS

Yesterday, the Macedonian Bank lowered the exchange rate of the German mark again, from 27.25 to 27.15 denars. This is the second time the Macedonian Bank has lowered the rate of the German mark this week, with an intention to influence the lowering of the rate in the private exchange offices, which took advantage of the psychological effect of the opening of the border with FR Yugoslavia, and artificially raised the rate to 27.60 denars.

The first "reduction" of the German mark in the Macedonian Bank caused the lowering of the rate in the private exchange offices, which sold it for 27.40 denars yesterday, and bought it for 27.20. A lowering of the rate is also noticed in Invest Bank in which the German mark was dropped to 27.40 denars yesterday, from 27.70 denars, while it was sold for 27.49 denars in "Komercijalna Banka," instead of 27.70, which is how much it cost on Tuesday.

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