MAK-NEWS 01/06/95 (M.I.L.S.)
From: "Demetrios E. Paneras" <dep@bu.edu>
CONTENTS
[01] CRVENKOVSKI - CHI CHEN TALKS
[02] RUSSIAN-MACEDONIAN RELATIONS DEEPEN
[03] TALKS WITH GREECE TO START?
[04] EVERT CRITICIZES GOVERNMENT AND PASOK
[05] PERRY MEETS ARSENIS IN WASHINGTON D.C.
[06] BERISA AND ARENS TALK RIGHTS OF ALBANIANS IN MACEDONIA
[07] GOVERNMENT PRESENTS VIEW ON BOSNIA SITUATION
[08] BRITISH PM's MEET COMMITTEE MEMBERS
[09] SESSION ON CRIME PREVENTION
[10] SOCIALISTS TO ATTEND MEETING IN GREECE
[11] RETAIL PRICES WENT DOWN IN MAY
[12] DEMOCRATS TO HOLD PROTEST GATHERING
[13] "SERBS WILL MOVE OUT, ALBANIANS WILL MOVE IN," SERBS SAY
[14] SKOPJE DRAMA THEATER PERFORMS IN ISTANBUL
[15] CONTRACT BETWEEN PALLAIR AND MAT CONCLUDED
[16] CULTURAL EVENT TONIGHT
[17] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: LABYRINTHS IN PARLIAMENT WORKING REGULATIONS (Nova Makedonija, 1 June 1995)
M I L S N E W S
Skopje, 1 June 1995
[01] CRVENKOVSKI - CHI CHEN TALKS
Yesterday in China Macedonian Foreign Minister Stevo
Crvenkovski began official talks with Chien Chi Chen, Deputy
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of China. In attendance
was Vladimir Petkovski, ambassador of Macedonia to China.
Both sides concluded that bilateral cooperation is
developing at a satisfactory pace. The Chinese minister
underlined his country's interest in seeing the Balkan
crisis resolved and he pointed out the role and importance
of Macedonia in the development of peace and stability in
the region. Chi Chen spoke highly of Macedonia's foreign
policy and stressed his government's support for ongoing
reforms within Macedonia. The two ministers signed a
protocol on cooperation between the foreign ministries.
Yesterday at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade Minister
Crvenkovski signed another agreement on trade and economic
cooperation and at the Ministry of Culture he signed an
agreement on cultural links.
Crvenkovski invited his Chinese counterpart to pay a visit
to Macedonia.
Next Monday, June 5, Crvenkovski will visit Tokyo as invited
by Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs.
[02] RUSSIAN-MACEDONIAN RELATIONS DEEPEN
Macedonian Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski received
Stanislav Smirnov, president of the Trade and Industrial
Chamber of the Russian Federation. They discussed possible
ways to widen and improve bilateral cooperation, as well as
possible joint appearance in third markets. A need was
pointed out for legal regulations to overcome payment
operations and tax policy problems. Both sides agreed to
form a working council to follow the current economic
situation in both countries.
[03] TALKS WITH GREECE TO START?
Macedonian Radio reports that the most popular Greek TV
station, Mega, announced two days ago that negotiations
between Athens and Skopje would begin in about 10 days at
the UN's main office in New York. Citing unknown diplomatic
sources in New York and Washington, the television claims a
so-called transition agreement is to be signed in New York
to confirm that Macedonia will erase the disputed symbol
from its flag, that Greece will lift the embargo on
Macedonia, and that a free flow of goods and passengers will
be re-established. According to Mega this is a direct result
of the recent talks between President Gligorov and mediators
Nimitz and Vance in Rome. After these talks Gligorov said
he would not insist on a lift of the embargo prior to the
beginning of talks.
At the same time Mega reports that Gligorov informed the US
State Department two days ago that Nimitz and Vance had
probably misunderstood him in Rome. Meantime, in an
interview with Radio Skopje, Matthew Nimitz refuted news on
an exact date of talks having been determined in Rome. A1
Television, however, cites TV Mega as assuring that
Gligorov's new tactics will not prevent Vance from summoning
both sides to talks very soon. Nevertheless, as the TV
station points out, he first of all wants to complete
negotiations on the so-called transition agreement, the
realization of which was interrupted at the point on how to
refer to Macedonia and whether Greece will accept Macedonia
as a legal successor of the former Yugoslavia.
In regard to this news item, Macedonian government's
spokesman Djuner Ismail explained that talks between
Gligorov, Vance and Nimitz in Rome were aimed at creating an
atmosphere for negotiations. But, he said, Macedonia's
standpoints remain clear on the issue - the Government is
ready to negotiate but not under an embargo.
[04] EVERT CRITICIZES GOVERNMENT AND PASOK
Differences between Skopje and Athens ought to be resolved
on the basis of a "large package", including the name issue,
Miltiades Evert, leader of the opposition New Democracy
Party, said in Athens yesterday. At yesterday's meeting with
the party's parliamentary group devoted to the "Skopje
issue", Evert bitterly criticized the Greek Government and
the ruling PASOK party, saying they had lost their compass
for foreign policy.
Constantin Mitsotakis also strongly suggested that the
negotiations package includes the name, adding that no
consensus is possible among parties in Greece concerning
talks with Skopje.
[05] PERRY MEETS ARSENIS IN WASHINGTON D.C.
The US Secretary of Defense William Perry met his Greek
counterpart Gerasimos Arsenis in Washington two days ago .
Among other things they discussed the Bosnian situation,
Athens-Skopje relations and possible deployment of
headquarters for quick intervention units in Greece.
[06] BERISA AND ARENS TALK RIGHTS OF ALBANIANS IN MACEDONIA
In Tirana, two days ago, Albanian President Sali Berisa met
Gert Arens, coordinator for minority issues for the
Conference on Former Yugoslavia, A1 television reports. They
conferred on the rights and liberties of Albanians in
Macedonia. Berisa said he supported a dialogue between the
political parties of Albanians and authorities in Macedonia,
as part of efforts to solve the problems of ethnic Albanians
in education and the lack of Albanians employed in state
administration. Radio Tirana says Arens informed Berisa of
efforts by the International Committee to secure guarantees
for basic human rights and the liberties of Albanians in
Macedonia.
[07] GOVERNMENT PRESENTS VIEW ON BOSNIA SITUATION
Djuner Ismail, spokesman for the Macedonian Government,
yesterday stated the country's official stance on the
situation in Bosna-Herzegovina. As a member of the UN, he
said, the Republic of Macedonia resolutely condemns the act
of taking UN peace keepers as hostages by Bosnian Serbs,
especially as the mandate of the UN soldiers is such that
they are disabled to answer to such terrorist activities.
With acts like this Bosnian Serbs leave no space whatsoever
for any diplomatic solution to the crisis. Macedonia has
always insisted on diplomatic ways to resolve armed
conflicts and believes it is high time to make the effort
and enable diplomacy to act.
[08] BRITISH PM's MEET COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Members of the British parliament, already three days into
an official visit in Macedonia, met yesterday with members
of the Committee for Labor and Social Policy. Problems in
both countries were discussed including the main one for
Macedonia, unemployment, and for Great Britain, the drug
problem.
The British delegation later met with the Committee for
Ecology, Youth and Sports to exchange ideas on ecology
protection, implementation of European conventions and
organizing youth life and sports.
The British also met with their counterparts in the
Committee for Foreign relations where they were informed of
Macedonia's relations with neighboring countries - of the
Greek-imposed embargo, the absence of diplomatic relations
with Yugoslavia, of Bulgaria's refusal to recognize the
Macedonian nation and of the current relations with Albania.
The delegates from Britain particularly pointed to the issue
of ethnic problems in Macedonia, assuring the future of
Macedonia depends on resolving the problems.
[09] SESSION ON CRIME PREVENTION
A Macedonian delegation, led by Minister of the Interior
Ljubomir Frckovski, is currently in Vienna to attend the
fourth session of the Committee for Prevention of Crime and
Criminal Justice. One of the basic goals of the session is
to widen cooperation and strengthen UN programs for crime
prevention.
Minister Frckovski is expected to make several bilateral
contacts.
[10] SOCIALISTS TO ATTEND MEETING IN GREECE
A delegation of the Socialist Party of Macedonia, consisting
of Dr. Mikhail Levenski and Jovan Peikovski, will take part
in the planned meeting of socialist, social democratic and
left progressive forces in the Balkans and several European
countries, to be held in Athens on June 4-6.
[11] RETAIL PRICES WENT DOWN IN MAY
A deflation of 0.9 per cent in retail prices in Macedonia
was registered in the past month, mainly as a result of the
13 per cent increase in prices of agricultural products.
Even despite this, living expenditure went up by 0.1 per
cent.
[12] DEMOCRATS TO HOLD PROTEST GATHERING
At a press-conference yesterday the Democratic Party
announced a protest gathering, entitled "Stop for the
Dishonest and Illegal Privatization", for next Thursday at
the Universal Hall in Skopje. The gathering is envisaged as
a political means for opposing the "utterly discredited
privatization process and ways of political regulation of
dissatisfaction among citizens." The participants will be
addressed by several private businessmen, a representative
of the Association for Denationalization and the Democratic
Party leader Petar Goshev.
[13] "SERBS WILL MOVE OUT, ALBANIANS WILL MOVE IN," SERBS SAY
The Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia informed
reporters of the intention of a large portion of Serbs in
Macedonia to move out of the country and into Yugoslavia.
The main reason stated was "the authorities refusal to grant
Serbs Macedonian citizenship, despite their meeting all
legal requirements." Furthermore, it was said, Macedonian
police have frequently visited the homes of Serbs and the
number of Serbs thrown out of work is increasing. The party
says they possess information on a large number of Albanians
from Kosovo planning to settle in Macedonia. The party
leader Dragisha Miletic said the authorities in Macedonia
are nothing but American servants.
[14] SKOPJE DRAMA THEATER PERFORMS IN ISTANBUL
As part of the renowned world drama festival in Istanbul,
Turkey, the Skopje Drama Theater performed two days ago the
show "Starting With the First Breath" by Danilo Kocevski.
Due to the great interest among the audience, the Skopje
Theater performed twice at the national Theater in Istanbul.
Besides the Macedonians, performers from Spain, Germany,
France, Italy, Greece and the host country are also
attending the festival.
[15] CONTRACT BETWEEN PALLAIR AND MAT CONCLUDED
Macedonian air companies Pallair Macedonia and Macedonian
Air Transportation (MAT) yesterday signed an agreement for
the joint transportation of goods and passengers to and from
Macedonia. The agreement should provide high quality
transportation, a stable time table, better economic
exploitation of planes, a considerable decrease in
expenditure and reduced losses. In other words, starting
from yesterday, Pallair and MAT have common flights, time
table, flight numbers and a common plane on the routes
Skopje-Zurich, Skopje-Dusseldorf, Skopje-Hamburg and Skopje-
Berlin. They announced the possibility that the third air
company, Makedonija-Avioimpeks, might join the agreement in
the near future.
[16] CULTURAL EVENT TONIGHT
The French Cultural Center in cooperation with the Youth
Cultural Center of Skopje have organized a concert featuring
traditional Irish music by the group Hempson. Tonight's
concert will start at 8:30pm at the Youth Cultural Center.
This group will also perform in the village of Dolneni this
Saturday during the Dolneni folk festival which lasts all
weekend.
[17] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: LABYRINTHS IN PARLIAMENT WORKING REGULATIONS
(Nova Makedonija, 1 June 1995)
After almost three long years wandering through the
parliamentary labyrinths of the Working Regulations of the
Macedonian Parliament, the committee finally obtained the go
ahead this week for submitting a procedure for approval,
thus improving their chances for adoption in the near
future. The last version of these long-expected regulations
was relatively quickly processed at a session of the
parliament committee in charge of such issues. The next step
will be determining the text, to be followed by gathering
signatures from the parliament members proposing the
regulations. After this there should be no problems with
following the procedural phases.
Still, this small parliament by-law, as expected, stirred
spirits and passions in parliament. PDP deputies are highly
dissatisfied with the proposed text. They will not agree
with the new fifth article which does not allow for the use
of the languages of minorities in parliament debates, a
possibility which otherwise exists in the current working
regulations. To be true, this right was only symbolic and
never made use of. The fact that the same right is not
included in the new text, according to PDP deputies, is an
unexpected and irresponsible move by the most responsible
leading structures in the country. The very change in this
"language provision" is, for PDP parliamentarians, solid
proof of an intention of Macedonian authorities to wipe out
the Albanian language from official use and to deprive this
minority group of a right they used to enjoy.
Macedonian parties, on the other hand, sought a different
solution for the use of languages in parliament in the
Constitution itself. According to them, this highest legal
postulate is the basis for everything, including the use of
languages. Unlike the parties of Albanians, the Macedonian
ones cite article 7 of the Constitution which sets the
Macedonian language as the sole official one in the country.
As the parliament is a state body, parliamentarians will be
obliged to address the public in the state in the only
official language, i.e., in Macedonian. According to those
supporting the text, it is exactly this constitutional
provision that resolves the question of what languages shall
be used in parliament. True the former working regulations
did allow the use of languages of the minorities, but it had
been developed under different circumstances and under a
different constitutional concept.
Still, the loss of existing rights is always experienced as
a loss of a democratic achievement. Their lost right to
address parliament in their native language shows Albanians
that the state is not ready to give any concessions
whatsoever. The PDP deputies' demand to keep the "symbolic
right to the use of a language, which is essential for the
further development of events", seems to indicate their
future behavior in politics. This may easily end up in their
walking out of the halls of parliament. The option is no
secret, especially as it has been announced, and the
definite decision, as PDP leaders say, is to be made as
things progress. Yet this would raise the question of the
purpose of having political parties which are out of the
political system. The move may be an exclusive one, but it
would probably not be a very wise one.
Be as it may, the regulations are in fact probably the first
in a series of future dissatisfactions encountered by the
Albanians in Macedonia. A period of procedural debates on
many crucial system laws is yet to come (to include the
judiciary and local self-government) which will touch
sensitive spheres in ethnic relations, the right to use a
minority language being one of them. It remains to be seen
what the ethnic Albanians' attitude toward the issue will be
like and whether those legal regulations will also be
adopted without making any concessions.
(end)
mils-news 1 June '95
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