MILS NEWS 24/04/96

From: "M.I.L.S." <mils@MILS.SPIC.ORG.MK>

Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory

CONTENTS

MILS NEWS

Skopje, 24 April 1996

[01] FRCHKOVSKI - 'MACEDONIAN-YUGOSLAV AGREEMENT - A PRECEDENT'

Referring to the postponed visit of the Bulgarian Foreign Minister Pirinski to Macedonia, Frchkovski said Macedonia is willing to solve the 'funny dispute' between the two neighbours, and Bulgarian party should come to talk about that, and about all other open issues. Frchkovski said the relations between Macedonia and Bulgaria were good so far.

He stated the announced visit of the Albanian Prime Minister had still been waited for, in order to complete the good relations with Albania.

Positively defining relations with Greece, Minister Frchkovski said the New York discussions on the name issue would continue, adding that Macedonia would firmly keep its stand that it could not accept a complex name for the country.

He also informed that, during his Nordic tour, he gained support for Macedonia that the regional approach should not be a condition for certain countries' associating with EU.

Nordic governments belive that Macedonia should be treated according to its achievements in the fields valued for associating the Union, informed Frchkovski. He stressed the readiness of Macedonia to have a radical international presence, but, according to him, the various monitoring groups should evaluate the level of the results achieved according to the specifications of each country.

[02] PIRINSKI'S VISIT POSTPONED BY MACEDONIAN MEDIA?

A-1 Television reported Pirinski's statement for the Bulgarian paper 'Trud' saying he would pay the visit later, when the moment for achieving more concrete results would be more suitable. The independent 'Standard', however, wrote that a scandal between Skopje and Sofia was in perspective.

[03] BALKAN COMMERCE CHAMBERS MEETING IN SOFIA

[04] FRCHKOVSKI AND PANGALOS WILL NOT DISCUSS THE NAME ISSUE

In the meantime 'Makpress' reported Minister's statement for the Moscow agency 'Novosti', saying that: 'Regarding the complex disputes with Greece on our country's name, we seem to be making a progress towards a mutually acceptable solution.'

[05] INFORMATIVE MEETING ON THE SUCCESSION PROBLEM

Slovenian, Croatian, and Bosnian delegations are also meeting EU representatives these days. Meanwhile, the European Commission yesterday confirmed the EU Ministers' stand that all five newly formed countries were legal, political and material successors of SFRY.

[06] ARMED INCIDENTS IN KOSOVO

The doers have still not been caught, but the ruling Serbian Party SDS leadership had accused Albanian separatists. They said Albanians had turned to the terrorism since the international community clearly stated that Kosovo must remain within FRY borders.

According to Macedonian Television, the incidents were a reaction to the murder of the Albanian student Armendo Daci last Sunday, who made an attempt to steal the car of Zlatko Jovanovic from Pristine.

[07] GLIGOROV WILL RECEIVE THE 'CRAN MONTANA' AWARD IN BUCHAREST TOMORROW

[08] GLIGOROV MET WITH TIMOTHY WIRTH

Wirth also met with Macedonian Internal Affairs Minister Tomislav Chokrevski, the Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs Ministry Victor Gaber. He discussed the actions for protection of Ohrid Lake with the Mayors of Ohrid, Struga (Macedonia) and Podgradec (Albania), and the cooperation with the American State of Vermont.

[09] MACEDONIAN DEFENSE POLICY DISCUSSED

[10] SWEDISH MEDIA ABOUT MACEDONIA

Macedonian economy was described as positively developing, which gave the country the opportunities to obtain favourable credits from the international finance institutions. The article concludes that the young political leadership had very successfully and wisely met the requests of the numerous Albanian minority in Macedonia, by offering them solutions in the frames of the wide democratization process of the society.

[11] EMIGRANTS ASSOCIATION JUBILEE

The President of 'Matica' Dimitar Keramitciev informed the media that the Anniversary would be marked actively, by meetings and talks of the emigrants with the Church and governmental officials, in order to harmonize the stands and ways for improving the cooperation.

[12] MEETING WITH EUROPEAN COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES

[13] PDPA-NDP - 'VOTING NOT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW'

The leaders of these two opposition parties consider the Macedonian-FR Yugoslav agreement is contrary to the interests of all nations in the region and will not help in preserving the peace. It is, as alleged, a continuation of the secret actions of both governments and ignoring of the Albanian political subject in Macedonia, who fully support the independence of Kosovo.

MILS SUPPLEMENT

[14] 'A Diplomatic Scandal'

('Nova Makedonija', 24 April 1996)

Strahil Cervenkov, Chief of the Bulgarian Foreign Affairs MInistry Department for South-Eastern Europe, said that Pirinski would not pay the planned visit to Macedonia because of 'the great number of anti-Bulgarian articles issued in the Macedonian media, which do not create a favourable atmosphere for a ministerial visit' (?!). The second reason was said to be that 'the formulas suggested for solving the disturbed bilateral relations are not constructive'.

Republic of Macedonia had already witnessed other moves of the Bulgarian side which could hardly be qualified a normal diplomatic behaviour. But this last one, that is nearly a diplomatic scandal, makes Sofia a non-serious partner, with whom we could not communicate according to the diplomatic norms and standards. Macedonia does not need to justify itself, nor do its media, but it should be reminded that there were no 'anti-Bulgarian articles' at the period of accepting Minister Frchkovski's invitation and of organizing the visit. Even Cervenkov himself stated that nothing that had happened recently provoked the postponing, also excluding the Rozen Monastery incident. One has to conclude that the first reason is only a curtain behind which Bulgaria hides its true reasons. On the other hand, that accusation sounds funny when one takes into account the fact that the Bulgarian media had been using every chance to question the existence of the Macedonian nation. And similar, mildly said, provocations coming from the highest Bulgarian officials, definitely do not contribute to the strengthening of good relations, nor to a relaxed situation in the region. Just as reminding, the Chief Bulgarian Prosecutor Ivan Tatarchev rudely denied the existence of the Macedonian nation.

The second reason, i.e. 'the non-constructive formulas suggested for solving the disturbed relations', refers to the statement Macedonian Foreign Minister Ljubomir Frchkovski gave in Helsinki, that the stand of our Republic is that all agreements should be signed both in Macedonian and Bulgarian language, i.e. in accordance with both countries' Constitutions. Bulgaria, obviously not free from the historical confusion, can not accept that. The fact that the Bulgarian side had proposed signing of the agreements in both languages makes the situation even more absurd. Their pointing out this as the reason for the postponing of Pirinski's visit once again shows how serious partner Macedonia has in this case.

Although it is difficult to find out the true reason for the non-exemplary diplomatic behaviour of neighbouring Bulgaria at this moment, it is definite that its attitude toward Macedonia is neither sincere nor friendly. The reason might simply be the bad timing calculations of Pirinski's headquarters. Namely, it is probably not exactly the best time for him to visit Macedonia now, when his chances to become a presidential candidate of the Bulgarian Socialist Party and of the democratic left wing are very big. It might be considered risky for the future Bulgarian President to declare himself openly for good neighbourly relations with Macedonia. Especially at the time when Macedonia had normalised its relations with FR Yugoslavia, which is a result of the Macedonian foreign policy persistantly based on the principles of equi-distance with all its neighbours.

But it is obviously in disagreement with the Bulgarian taste.

(end)

mils news 24 April, 1996