MAK-NEWS 25/04/95 (M.I.L.S.)
From: "Demetrios E. Paneras" <dep@bu.edu>
CONTENTS
[01] 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF WORLD WAR II
[02] ANDOV PAYS VISIT TO TURKEY
[03] CEI MEETS WITH PROBLEMS IN EXPANSION
[04] "ILINDEN" COMMEMORATES SANDANSKI
[05] ETHNIC ALBANIANS ANNOUNCE PROTEST MARCH
[06] POLICE SHUT DOWN ANOTHER ILLEGAL SCHOOL
[07] ALBANIANS IN MACEDONIA DISSATISFIED WITH THEIR STATUS
[08] ALBANIANS IN MACEDONIA FORM ANOTHER PARTY
[09] NDP DEPUTIES TO PARLIAMENT GO INDEPENDENT
[10] CRVENKOVSKI RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT OF SDSM
[11] EUROPEAN STANDARDS FOR EXPORTS TO SLOVENIA
[12] GENEVA CONVENTIONS TRANSLATED INTO MACEDONIAN
[13] SEMINAR ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN SKOPJE
[14] HUMANITARIAN BRIEFS
[15] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: WHAT FRIGHTENED THE MACEDONIAN PEOPLE - PART II (Puls, 21 April 1995)
M I L S N E W S
Skopje, 25 April 1995
[01] 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF WORLD WAR II
France has invited leaders of all states in the former
Yugoslavia to take part in the celebration of the 50th
anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The
Macedonian president is invited along with Tudjman
(Croatia), Kucan (Slovenia), Izetbegovic (Bosnia-
Herzegovina) and Lilic (Yugoslavia).
[02] ANDOV PAYS VISIT TO TURKEY
Macedonian Parliament President Andov is currently on a
visit to Turkey for a celebration of 75 years of existence
of the Turkish Parliament. Andov met Prime Minister Tansu
Ciler, Foreign Minister Erdel Inenei, other ministers in the
Turkish cabinet, as well as parliament presidents of other
countries.
[03] CEI MEETS WITH PROBLEMS IN EXPANSION
Representatives of the 10 country members of the Central
European Initiative ended the two-day session in Krakow,
Poland. The meeting included debates on possible inclusion
of Albania, Belorussia, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine as
accompanying member countries. Hungary and Italy resolutely
opposed the idea for inclusion of new members, while all
other countries voted in favor of expansion of the CEI. The
issue will be finally decided upon by the country members'
prime ministers in Warsaw next October.
The Macedonian delegation to the meeting was led by Dimitar
Belcev, under-secretary of the foreign ministry.
[04] "ILINDEN" COMMEMORATES SANDANSKI
Members of OMO "Ilinden", organization of Macedonians in
Bulgaria, along with other representatives of the Macedonian
community living there organized a commemoration on the
occasion of the 80th anniversary of the death of Jane
Sandanski. They paid respect at his tomb in the Rozhen
monastery in Bulgaria. Macedonian ambassador to Bulgaria
Gjorgi Spasov also laid flowers at the tomb, symbolizing the
first official presence of the Republic of Macedonia at the
traditional ceremony. As in previous years, the entire
ceremony was monitored by reinforced police troops. A1
Television reporters were denied presence and the Macedonian
Television crew also experienced problems.
At the same time, the Bulgarian government held a
celebration on the same occasion at a high level. Addressing
those present, Prime Minister Zhan Videnov said Jane
Sandanski was an outstanding activist of the Bulgarian
National Liberation Movement. Furthermore, he said,
neighborly relations should be built on abandoning any
territorial aspirations, respect for existing borders, non-
interference in other states' internal affairs and respect
for basic human rights.
[05] ETHNIC ALBANIANS ANNOUNCE PROTEST MARCH
Parties of Albanians in Macedonia (NDP, PDPA, PDA-Islamic
Road, PDP-Party for National Unity and the Association of
Albanian Women in Macedonia) announced a protest march in
Tetovo on April 26, raising their voice against the
"fabricated court proceedings against Albanians and
degenerative official policy, endangering not only Albanians
but also all citizens in the Republic of Macedonia." The
protest will also express bitterness against the "oppression
in the field of education in the Albanian language."
On the same day, the self-declared rector of the university
in Tetovo Fadil Suleimani will be tried at the Tetovo
District Court. The parties of Albanians decided to have
members of their leadership, along with ethnic Albanian
deputies in Parliament and members of local township
committees, take part in the trial.
[06] POLICE SHUT DOWN ANOTHER ILLEGAL SCHOOL
The Macedonian Ministry of education decided to seal another
illegally established school in the village of Bacista, near
Kicevo. This elementary school had been working for 4 years
with classes only in the Albanian language for its 87
pupils. The event went peacefully and with no need for
police intervention.
[07] ALBANIANS IN MACEDONIA DISSATISFIED WITH THEIR STATUS
A delegation of representatives of ethnic Albanians in
Macedonia, consisting of Arben Dzaferi, Kenan Mazlumi,
Zunjula Saliu and Mukjarem Rusi, met with Shaban Murati,
ambassador of Albania in Macedonia, British ambassador Tony
Millson, Chief of OSCE mission Tore Bogh, official of the US
Liaison Office R. Sorensen and UNPREDEP official William
Smariet. The goal of the meeting was to bring attention to
the anxiety among the Albanian population with the latest
events in Macedonia, especially after the closing down of
the private high-school near Struga and the proceedings
against Fadil Suleimani and Milaim Feiziu. Foreign diplomats
were presented a petition under the motto "For Equality -
Against Violence", which states the dissatisfaction of
Albanians in Macedonia with their status.
[08] ALBANIANS IN MACEDONIA FORM ANOTHER PARTY
The former fraction of PDP led by Arben Dzaferi held a
session in Tetovo to change its name into Party for
Democratic Prosperity of Albanians in Macedonia (PDPA), and
its head office will be in Tetovo. Participants criticized
PDP and its leader Abdurahman Haliti for presenting only
personal concerns and the interests of a small group instead
of the concerns of the entire Albanian population in
Macedonia.
[09] NDP DEPUTIES TO PARLIAMENT GO INDEPENDENT
Mersel Biljali and Abdurahman Vejseli, parliament deputies
of the People's Democratic Party (NDP), announced they are
abandoning the party and acting as independent parliament
members in the future. Both of them, Vejseli told a Makpress
reporter, disagree with the party's policy.
[10] CRVENKOVSKI RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT OF SDSM
At the Second Congress of the Social Democratic Alliance of
Macedonia (SDSM), members unanimously re-elected Branko
Crvenkovski for the highest position. The meeting was
attended by 230 delegates of local branches, along with the
party's deputy group in parliament and ministers in the
cabinet. They also formed a committee to deal with changes
and additions in the party program and the platform for
future activities.
[11] EUROPEAN STANDARDS FOR EXPORTS TO SLOVENIA
In the future, all exporters of goods to Slovenia will have
to present certificates of origin for the goods (marked
EUR1, EUR2 or LT EUR1), acording to the officials in the
Macedonian embassy in Slovenia. Otherwise, exporters will
have to pay full customs tariffs, as the certificate issued
by the Macedonian Chamber of Commerce is no longer
sufficient for full customs exemption.
[12] GENEVA CONVENTIONS TRANSLATED INTO MACEDONIAN
A Macedonian translation of the Geneva Conventions was
presented in Skopje last Friday. The book was published by
the joint efforts of the Macedonian and the International
Red Cross.
In addition, a high delegation of the International Red
Cross paid a two-day visit to the Macedonian Red Cross last
week. The delegation consisted of Ilka Usitalo, Director of
the International Red Cross Department for Europe, and
Angello Knedinger, Head of the International Committee of
the Red Cross. The purpose of the visit was to finalize
preparations for admission of Macedonia into the
international family of the Red Cross.
[13] SEMINAR ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN SKOPJE
In conjunction with the Macedonian and Norwegian Helsinki
Committee, a seminar on basic human rights took place in
Skopje entitled "Standards on Human Rights and the Role of
Non-governmental Organizations". The seminar included
debates on legal standardization of civil, economic,
political and social rights and international conventions
regarding human rights.
[14] HUMANITARIAN BRIEFS
- The ambassador of Germany to Macedonia presented a machine
for reverse osmosis to the Medical School in Skopje as a
present of the German Government. The machine is worth
80,000 German marks.
- The Open Society Institute of Macedonia, Soros Foundation,
recently presented the Cardiology Clinic in Skopje with two
machines as part of the Institute humanitarian program for
last year.
[15] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: WHAT FRIGHTENED THE MACEDONIAN
PEOPLE - PART II
(Puls, 21 April 1995)
The following is the second part of the interview of Ljupco
Georgievski, leader of VMRO-DPMNE, with a Puls reporter.
Question: Are you aware of the fact that some of the
political leaders of Albanians in Macedonia frighten the
Albanian population with you and VMRO-DPMNE?
Answer: Yes, there was such a trend, but I think that even
Albanians themselves no longer believe in this, especially
because the rating of PDP is in a constant decrease among
Albanians (according to our analyses). I am sure this
decline in popularity of PDP will continue during the next
elections, since Albanians here are undergoing serious
political differentiation.
Question: Does this mean that, let us say, Georgievski and
Dzaferi will be more likely to understand each other?
Answer: Why not? It is now clear that the faction led by
Dzaferi holds much more liberal viewpoints on certain issues
than PDP. The black-and-white pictures about the relations
between Albanians and Macedonia, that the Government was
trying to impose on us, are simply no longer plausible, and
we could all only gain from the fact that the ethnic
Albanians tend toward rich political life.
Question: Your main slogan during the election campaign was,
"We fulfilled everything we promised!" The fact is, however,
that all your promises were fulfilled by your political
opponents in power. Would VMRO-DPMNE have had the power to
achieve the same goals if it had been in power and, if yes,
at what cost?
Answer: The political opponents have always been and
continue to be impostors. During the campaign, we spoke of
intervention of the state in the economy, but the Prime
Minister, the President and an entire group of economic
experts, supporters of SDSM, laughed at us. And what
happened? Only a month after the establishment of the so-
called new administration, the very same experts came out
with a program for reconstruction of the 25 highest-loss
producing companies, which is legislation consisting of
measures of typical state interventionism. But,
unfortunately, no one seemed to notice this. Our visions and
program are still the most vital ones, and the Government
takes bits of our program and implements them in the
practice whenever it pleases. I am convinced that, had we
been in power, we would have carried out our own program in
the best possible way and that the situation would have been
quite different in the entire Yugoslavia if VMRO-DPMNE had
come in power in 1990.
Question: The entire Yugoslavia?!
Answer: What they blamed us mostly for was this story that
Macedonia would have certainly entered a war if we gained
power. But I assure you that, if we had the power in our
hands, there would have not been a war not only in
Macedonia, but nowhere in the former Yugoslavia! The war
started as a result of the fact that Milosevics strongly
outpowered all others in the then federal government,
because of the ratio being 4 against 2. Had VMRO-DPMNE won
power, the ration would have been 3 against 3 and, as we
would have soon won Bosnia-Herzegovina over, there would
have been quite a different 4 against 2: Slovenia, Croatia,
Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina would have stood against
Serbia and Montenegro. This would also have meant that the
US would not support the survival of Yugoslavia and that the
former Yugoslav People's Army's leadership would have been
of a different structure. They would have been depending on
a peaceful agreement between the states as to whether the
Yugoslav federation would be disintegrated or turned into a
confederation. Therefore, there would have been a different
political structure. Even economically. I assure you that
our radical demands in the politics would have been bound to
affect the economy, and that Macedonia would have not
returned the 10 to 14 billion Dinars in the federal treasury
(at a time when abundant sums of Dinars came into Macedonia
every day and were taken out of the country after being
converted into foreign currency). We would have simply
converted the amount into a state reserve of nearly a
billion US dollars. Unfortunately, no one wished for an
independent Macedonia at those times.
Question: Ever since its foundation, VMRO-DPMNE has been
accused of nationalism, chauvinism, terrorism... How does
VMRO-DPMNE deal with "rebels" among its own membership?
Answer: The practice is the best proof of how true those
accusations were. Have you ever heard in the past 5 years
that a communist or a political opponent of ours has been
attacked? Of course not. On the other hand, I can tell you
of dozens of VMRO-DPMNE followers who have died under very
suspicious circumstances, as well as of numerous cases of
our members having been and still being arrested, oppressed,
black-mailed, intimidated or fired. So much for the
extremism and unscrupulous ways in the struggle for power,
which can also be seen in the current everyday
differentiation in all ministries. As for any "rebels" among
our members, I believe that all extreme elements and those
insisting on different methods of action are no longer a
part of VMRO-DPMNE.
Question: The most "ticklish" of those accusations is that
your party is linked to various foreign factors. What is the
influence of Bulgaria or, according to the most recent
rumors, of Serbia on your activities? Why did you insist on
revision of the policy of equidistance and what is your
standpoint on the issue today, especially in the light of
the current offers for various confederations and
associations in the Balkans?
Answer: The fact that VMRO-DPMNE is contacted by foreign
political factors is a matter of their evaluation of our
importance in Macedonia. This can only be a compliment for
us, as parties in which no one is interested are surely not
a great factor in the politics. I could not deny that
Bulgaria, but Serbia as well, have tried and are still
trying to obtain influence on VMRO-DPMNE. The question is
whether they have succeeded in this and to what extent. We
are fully aware that we are being actively monitored by
certain states, and we approach this in the most serious
manner. I hope, however, that all those attempts have been
fruitless so far and that VMRO-DPMNE has already created an
image of a political power which cannot be used for
infiltrating foreign influence into the country. VMRO-DPMNE
is a party strongly holding on to its struggle for an
independent Macedonia and the protection of Macedonian
national interests. Our party firmly believes that Macedonia
does not need any bilateral associations, and we are very
much resistant to all such offers, as something like this
would only disturb the current balance of powers. Yet, we
believe that Macedonia ought to be open to all types of
associations which include all states on equal bases and I
repeat - ALL Balkan states, as this is in the interest of
Macedonia. This would be an excellent opportunity for
economic progress of the entire Balkans. The policy of
equidistance is simply a copy of Tito's nonallignment policy
and a sheer demagogy. Macedonia is currently not leading a
policy of equidistance either at a global or on a Balkan
level! The only logical behavior of Macedonia toward its
neighbors is a reciprocal one; if a state is strongly
against Macedonia, we should pay back in full measure, and
if someone declares friendliness to Macedonia, we should
also behave in the same manner. This is a question of
political reality. Macedonia, unfortunately, is not equally
close to all, but equally far from all of its neighbors!
Question: You sound very pessimistic. Where would you say
Macedonia is headed?
Answer: My personal visions of Macedonia are pessimistic and
will remain such for a long time in the future. By the end
of this year, I expect to see about 400,000 unemployed in
Macedonia. Our economic perspective, I am sorry to say, is
what Albania or Romania is today, and with such economic
"power", anyone can take us back to what we were before
1990. At the same time, there is this terrible national
policy of oppression on the Macedonian people and of
avoiding to even mention ideas for building a Macedonian
state and a faith in such a homeland for the Macedonians.
The will for a Macedonian state is simply being destroyed
and we are witnessing a terrifying process of massive
brainwashing when it comes to ideas for a national
Macedonian state. This leads to moral disintegration of
Macedonia and is aimed at weakening Macedonia morally to
such an extent that the state could fall apart very easily
under the smallest pressure in the future. This is pitiful,
and we will all live to experience a real disaster, except
for those who will have fled the country on time.
Question: Are you afraid of a potential war in Macedonia?
Answer: I am not excessively afraid of the possibility, as
those who were mostly interested for a war here are already
too exhausted. And as for the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, it
is bound to last for a long time, in order to enable certain
parties to gather energy for a new flash point. The danger
of a war from this aspect is, therefore, minimal, but the
real danger lies in Macedonia's internal life - we are
already living out an economic and social disaster!
(end)
mils-news 25 April '95
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