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MILS NEWS 09/07/96Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: "Macedonian Information Liaison Service" <mils@mils.spic.org.mk>CONTENTS
MILS SUPPLEMENTMILS NEWSSkopje, 09 July 1996[01] MACEDONIA-CROSSROADS OF TWO BIGGEST BALKAN CORRIDORSAt the meeting of 'G-24' group for European transport, held last week in Brussels, Macedonian delegation demanded for the corridor Budapest-Athens via Skopje to be determined, besides the already existing East-West corridor for which documents had already been signed and EU had approved financial support for. According to Macedonian Radio, the proposal is expected to be discussed at the forthcoming Pan- European meeting on transport in Helsinki. Macedonian Transport Ministry says proposal was not rejected at the meeting, and preparations were being made to present its technical advantages, as well as economic parameters to obtain financial support. As Macedonian Radio reported, Transport Ministry representatives underlined that the eventual adoption of this proposal would make Macedonia a Balkan crossroads of two corridors and a country of a great geo-strategic importance.[02] IRISH AMBASSADOR ACCREDITED TO MACEDONIAPresident of the Republic of Macedonia Kiro Gligorov yesterday received the Ambassador of Ireland to Macedonia Mr. Bernard Davenport, who handed him the accreditive letters. Macedonian President, expressing his gratitude for the support Ireland had been giving to Macedonia since its becoming independent, said that although the relations between these two countries had just began to develop, they would certainly find mutual interest in cooperation in many fields. Ambassador Davenport stressed that Ireland, besides the bilateral cooperation, especially appreciated the cooperation of Macedonia with EU. He underlined the importance of the recently signed Agreement on Commercial Cooperation between Macedonia and the Union, saying that it could contribute to the cooperation of the two countries within the EU.Irish Ambassador yesterday had meetings with Parliament President Tito Petkovski and Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski. They talked about the current political and economic situation in both countries and pointed out the opportunities for development of economic and tourist relations. [03] MACEDONIAN STANDS PRESENTED TO PARLIAMENTARIAN ASSEMBLYMacedonian MP Ljupcho Popovski yesterday addressed OSCE Parliamentarian Assembly in Stockholm. Macedonian media reported that he spoke about the stability and security in the region and the position of Macedonia in that context.Popovski especially stressed the need for all international organisations and institutions to abandon the term 'former Yugoslavia', and to adjust the mandate of monitoring missions to the current status of the Republic of Macedonia, as it had meanwhile been internationally recognized and had become a member of many world organisations and institutions. Popovski also emphasized the need for making a comparative study on the position of national minorities in the Balkans, which should become a basis for mutual dialogue, trust and respect, as well as a factor for strengthening the stability and security in the whole region, including Macedonia. [04] 'TA NEA': TURKEY BETRAYED SKOPJE'Makfax' agency reported that Greek media yesterday informed the public about the meeting in Sofia very shortly and formally, putting the absence of Macedonia in focus. Pro- governmental Greek daily 'Ta Nea' read that a diplomatic gap appeared between Greece and Turkey, as the latter was acting as a sponsor of Skopje. According to it, when Athens had strictly demanded 'Skopje' to be addressed as FYROM, all other countries had agreed and Turkey had retreated, although Macedonian Minister Frchkovski was promised to be supported in his request the country to be addressed as Macedonia.Bulgarian papers, on the other hand, had mainly expressed regret for the absence of Macedonia and tried to reject the accusations that the host country was the one that did not want to find a compromise for participation of Macedonia. Sofia daily '24 Casa' commented yesterday that 'the permanent duet Athens-Belgrade put Skopje aside from the ministerial meeting in Sofia with two moves'. According to 'Makfax', this Bulgarian paper claimed the crucial role had been played by Belgrade, as it rejected the proposal the countries to be presented with personal names of the Ministers and their countries flags. Yesterday's issue of 'Duma' cited the statement of Turkish deputy foreign minister that 'the decision of Skopje not to attend the meeting in Sofia would not help in finding solutions for the disputes'. It also cited the statement of Greek Foreign Minister Pangalos that 'Skopje leadership' had made a mistake by refusing to participate in the meeting. [05] WORRIED ABOUT 'KOSOVO POWDER KEGAt a conference in Salzburg, high officials of 16 East European countries are discussing whether there is an alternative for NATO that would ensure the security in the region. Albanian President Sali Berisha said the situation in Kosovo was restless and official Belgrade was using military police to protect Serbian minority in the province.As Macedonian Radio reported, Berisha pointed the nationalism as the greatest jeopardy for the peace and security in the Balkans. According to 'Deutche Welle' Radio, he also said Kosovo issue was becoming a powder keg which might explode any moment, and demanded it to be put on the agenda of all international meetings. FR Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic denied these claims, repeating that Kosovo issue was an internal issue of Serbia and Yugoslavia. British daily 'Independent' recently also wrote about the 'Balkan powder keg which might easily explode', stressing the increased tensions in Kosovo, as neither Serbs nor Albanians agreed with the policies of their leaderships any more. 'Time for an agreement to be reached between Serbs and Albanians is passing quickly, and recent recognition of Yugoslavia by several European countries broke the illusions of Albanians, who now think they have no other choice than to abandon the policy of peaceful resistance,' read 'Independent'. As A-1 Television reported, the paper wrote that Serbs in Kosovo were determined not to share the fate of Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia and were mobilizing to keep the province within Yugoslavian borders. [06] FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE SPREADING IN SKOPJE'Foot-and-mouth disease has been localized in Titov Veles municipality, but has been spreading in Skopje municipality, although around 1,400 heads of infected cattle had been destroyed so far,' said Macedonian Veterinary Administration General Manager Mihailo Zoric yesterday, after returning from Brussels. He informed the press that European Commission had accepted the report of Macedonian government about the activities made to prevent the disease spreading.Zoric said that vaccination of healthy animals will start today with 20,000 vaccines sent by the EU yesterday. Another 20,000 vaccines of A-22 type will be sent to Macedonia by EU in 14 days, but the total number planned is 240,000 vaccines, mainly to be used at border areas with Albania and FR Yugoslavia. Mihailo Zoric said these days stricter controls have began in municipalities of Tetovo, Kumanovo, Debar, Resen, Ohrid and Bitola, and problems had appeared in the village of Arachinovo near Skopje, where there was a resistance to the destroying of the cattle. He said the case had been politicized, and several MPs of Albanian nationality had interfered. According to Macedonian Radio, Greek Veterinary Administration had informed their Macedonian colleagues that type O of the foot-and-mouth disease had been transmitted to Greece from Turkey, which is the reason for vaccination in Bitola municipality to be made differently. 'Makfax' agency reported that official Albanian media were denying the existence of the foot-and-mouth disease in this country, while independent press reported that over 1,000 infected heads of cattle were destroyed only in Korne municipality. The same sources claimed that the disease had appeared in Kosovo, as well. Namely, after one infected cow was discovered, another 30 were killed for prevention, and the police had blocked several villages near the border with Macedonia. Macedonian Radio also informed about preventive measures that were being taken in Bulgaria, especially in the Pirin area. [07] MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT ABOUT THE CATTLE DISEASEMacedonian Government yesterday discussed the situation regarding the foot-and-mouth disease in Macedonia and decided to form a Ministerial group to follow the situation on the terrain. The Government pointed out the vaccination in Veles and Skopje municipalities as one of the greatest priority, as well as in areas near the border with FRY and Albania. The vaccination will be made with A-22 type, given to Macedonia by the EU. Balkan countries will report about the situation and the damages suffered from the disease at a meeting in Brussels on 17 and 18 July.Macedonian Government also fixed the protecting buy-off price for wheat, which is going to be 10 denars a kilo. This year, the harvest should bring 170,000 tones of wheat, of which 100,000 tones will be bought off by bakeries, while the other 70,000 tones are expected to be bought off by National Reserves Administration. [08] COURT DECISION ABOUT THE REFERENDUM IN AUTUMNMacedonian Constitutional Court will discuss the conclusion of the Macedonian Parliament, by which the Initiative for a referendum for early elections was rejected. Today's issues of daily 'Vecer' reads that the Court would probably decide a session to be organized of various experts in this field, and the final decision would most probably be made in the autumn. According to the paper, the essential issue about which the Court should decide would be whether Parliament's conclusion is susceptible to a Constitutional Court evaluation or not. The first point of view is that the conclusion is an 'independent act' which had solved a concrete matter, and not a regulation, so the Constitutional Court was not in charge of making decisions about it; the other point of view is that the conclusion deals with the civil governing, which is why it can be treated as a special act about which the Constitutional Court could make decisions.[09] MACEDONIAN ECOLOGISTS AGAINST NUCLEAR THREATSMacedonian Movement of Ecologists announced a manifest yesterday, demanding a ban for nuclear power stations construction in Macedonia, ban for storage and transit of nuclear waste, materials and weapons, as well as of other toxic and dangerous substances. In accordance with conclusions of the Balkan Eco-Conference in Sofia and with their own attitudes about these issues, Macedonian ecologists required Macedonia not to accept any kind of agreements and obligations that would had to do with the above mentioned and promised to make efforts for the bans to be implemented. Ecologists are also interceding for a Balkan without nuclear threats, and refuse to take over any responsibility for the 'eventual severe consequences that would multiply to the next generations' in case their demands are not accepted.MILS SUPPLEMENT[10] 'National Programme Against Drugs'('Nova Makedonija', 09 July, 1996)After five years, during which there was an explosion of drugs smuggling and abuse (especially of heroin) in Macedonia, the Government finally made the first attempt to deal with this problem, as it is one of the most destructive social evils. Namely, at its session last week, the Government passed a Draft National Programme on Preventing Drugs Abuse and Illegal Trading, which was explained with the fact that this evil is a jeopardy for the stability, security and sovereignty of the country. The Programme was designed by the Ministry of Justice, but Ministries of Internal Affairs, Education, Health and Labour and Public Welfare also participated in the work. It is based on a multi-disciplinary and multi-dimensional methodological approach, and experiences of other countries have been used in order to overcome this problem more efficiently. Furthermore, it includes activities for discovering drugs abuse and for preparing people to carry out certain global preventive activities. This ambitious Programme is made of three activity groups: legal, coordination and concrete moves strategy. The Government has obliged itself to modernize the legislation regarding this matter by passing competent laws. The most interesting of them should be the one on drugs, which should regulate the production, processing and trade with narcotics and measures against drugs abuse. The Government has also planned to pass laws on extradition and cooperation in fight against illegal trade, on confiscation of money earned from illegal trade with drugs, and on establishing a central administration which should prevent illegal trade with drugs. The Programme also includes plans for reexamining the current regulations referring to families, public welfare, primary education and health protection. In order to coordinate the activities of different subjects involved in the prevention of drugs abuse and illegal trade, the Programme includes establishing a unique data system (National Drugs Statistics). Among other activities, there will be central collecting of data about production, processing and turnover of drugs, collecting data from the police and courts about cases having to do with drugs, etc. An internal ministerial commission will also be formed, as well as a coordination commission with the Government, which should be in charge of following the situation in this field. The coordination commission will be obliged to submit reports to the Government on the national situation in demands and offers of drugs, to organize activities intended for spreading information, preventive measures and medical care researches, and to make epidemiological and statistic researches. The third group of activities is the national strategy for fight against drug addiction, which will be based on prevention. The most important factors in its realisation should be schools and families, in cooperation with public welfare centres. In context of this, the Programme includes repressive measures to prevent illegal trade with drugs, such as more strict police measures and punishments. One of the most important activities planned will be influencing the public opinion about the fight against drugs addiction, in a form of printed materials about how harmful the drugs abuse is, with introducing a national week of fight against drugs and alcohol, and with involving the Macedonian Orthodox Church and other religious communities in the prevention of drugs abuse, which is the biggest news. The National Programme for prevention of drugs abuse and illegal trade with them is, obviously, ambitious. Much greater efforts will be necessary, however, to realize in practice what has been put on paper. (end)mils news 09 July, 1996Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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