MAK-NEWS 17/03/95 (M.I.L.S.) [**] Ta nea ths hmeras, opws ta eide to MILS: [01] ** OSCE DISCUSSES ADMISSION OF MACEDONIA [Ejakoloyqei na mplokarei thn entajh ths pGDM h Ellada.] [02] * CRVENKOVSKI MEETS US SECRETARY OF DEFENSE [03] * UNPROFOR COMMENTS ON NEW MANDATE ISSUE [04] * BALKAN STABILITY A REQUIREMENT FOR EU MEMBERSHIP [05] * DIPLOMATIC BRIEFS [Epetai apostolh stratiwtikoy akoloyqoy ths pGDM sthn Toyrkia, kaqws kai episkech toy arxhgoy twn enoplwn dynamewn ths Toyrkias sthn pGDM.] [06] * SERBIAN ARMY PROWLS AROUND PRIZREN [07] ** GREECE TO OPEN BORDER FOR OIL TO MACEDONIA [20 xiliades tonnoi petrelaio gia thn pGDM, mesw Qessalonikhs, me ellhnika kai boylgarika traina.] [08] ** PAPOULIAS MODERATELY OPTIMISTIC [09] . MUNICIPALITY LEADERS DISCUSS LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT [10] . DEMOCRATS DEMAND NEW LAW ON LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT [11] . BAKERS DEMAND BAN ON IMPORTS OF FLOUR AND CORN [12] . OHRID HUNGER STRIKERS END PROTEST [13] * POLICE DISCOVER KUMANOVO GRAVE DESTROYERS [14] . MACEDONIAN FOLK POEMS FROM MALA PRESPA [15] . SKOMRAHI '95 DRAMA MEETING COMES TO SKOPJE [16] ** "DIGNITY" CALLS GLIGOROV TO DEFEND MACEDONIAN NATION [Nea "organwsh": "Enwsh gia thn prostasia twn anqrwpinwn dikaiwmatwn twn Makedonwn stoys opoioys ginontai diakriseis apo thn Dhmokratia ths Ellados" (Nai, olo ayto einai to onoma..)] [17] . CULTURE VULTURE [18] * MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: MACEDONIA THROWS OFF YUGOSLAV BURDEN (Puls, 17 March, 1995) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ M I L S N E W S Skopje, 17 March, 1995 [01] OSCE DISCUSSES ADMISSION OF MACEDONIA In Vienna, yesterday, the Permanent Council of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) again discussed the issue of admitting Macedonia to the organization. The debate was initiated by Macedonian Foreign Minister Crvenkovski's letters to the foreign ministers from Italy, Hungary (current OSCE president), and Switzerland. Crvenkovski called on to these countries to undertake political efforts to resolve the problem with the long- standing Greek veto on Macedonia's OSCE membership. The Greek representative underlined at the meeting there has been no changes in his country's standpoint on the issue. A huge majority of the members, however, supported Macedonia as a country which fulfills all admission requirements. The Macedonian representative said it is high time that the issue be resolved, and that it is unprecedented to block a country's admission because of its bilateral problems with any member states of the organization. It was concluded that the issue be discussed again following the special report by the ministers of Italy, Hungary and Switzerland, to be presented at the next OSCE Council meeting. [02] CRVENKOVSKI MEETS US SECRETARY OF DEFENSE Macedonian Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski met with the U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry in New York. They discussed the UN mandate in Macedonia and its role in maintaining stability in the region. The talks also touched on new forms of bilateral cooperation and general security in the Balkan region. [03] UNPROFOR COMMENTS ON NEW MANDATE ISSUE The Headquarters of UNPROFOR in Skopje has officially commented on the letter sent by the Macedonian Foreign Minister to the U.N. Secretary-General concerning the Macedonian government's request for a new mandate and structure for the U.N.'s political and military presence in this country: "The government has informed this headquarters about the letter from the Foreign Minister and about their reasons for making this request. Any decision concerning this request will be in the hands of the Secretary-General and the Security Council, in mutual agreement with the authorities of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia." [04] BALKAN STABILITY A REQUIREMENT FOR EU MEMBERSHIP A stable Balkans is a prerequiste for EU admission, according to results from an EU meeting yesterday in Brussels. The EU looks with sympathy upon Macedonia, Bosnia, and Albania, but the admission will have to be put off until greater stability is achieved in the Balkan region. This was published by the London-based Guardian newspaper, as cited by A1 Television. According to the paper, Slovenia is most likely to be the first country admitted to the EU, along with the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary. Yugoslavia and Croatia are believed not up to admission requirements. [05] DIPLOMATIC BRIEFS - Macedonian Minister of Development Bekhir Zhuta yesterday received Patrick Chrismant, the French ambassador to Macedonia, and Jean Bourjois, an economic adviser. They discussed ways of implementing French aid to Macedonia. - Minister Zhuta met with Ralph Johnson, coordinator of the U.S. Program for Aiding Eastern and Central European Countries. The meeting was also attended by Victor Comras, Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in Skopje, and Lynda Gregory, Director of the Agency for International Development office in Macedonia. They discussed possibilities of U.S. financial aid for Macedonia, pointing to the infrastructure, agriculture and Macedonia's debts toward the Paris Club as priority problems requiring credits. - Macedonian Defense Minister Blagoj Handzhiski yesterday received Suha Noyan, Turkish ambassador to Macedonia. Also present was General Bocinov, Chief-of-staff of the Macedonian Army, and the Turkish military attachi in Macedonia. They discussed military cooperation between Macedonia and Turkey, the planned visit to Macedonia by the Turkish Army Chief-of-staff, and the appointment of a Macedonian military attachi to Turkey. [06] SERBIAN ARMY PROWLS AROUND PRIZREN Macedonian Radio cites Albanian news agency reports of reinforced Serbian army and police troops being deployed around Prizren. The maneuvers intensify the tension in Kosovo and along the Yugoslav-Albanian border, the agency says. [07] GREECE TO OPEN BORDER FOR OIL TO MACEDONIA Greek Railway officials at their representative office in Gevgelija have announced the Greek government's decision to release 20,000 tons of crude oil and diesel oil for Macedonia, presently stored in Salonika port. The oil, owned by the Skopje oil refinery, will arrive in Greek and Bulgarian freight cars. [08] PAPOULIAS MODERATELY OPTIMISTIC Nova Makedonija writes that the Greek Foreign Minister Carolos Papoulias may be softening his attitude towards Macedonia. The newspaper quotes him as saying, "I am sure certain activities concerning the Skopje question will be undertaken during the next few days or weeks, and slowly start resolving the enormous problems." [09] MUNICIPALITY LEADERS DISCUSS LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT Municipal leaders met in Bitola yesterday to discuss the proposed law on local self-government which has recently been opened public debate. They said the suggested novelty of direct election of city township committees and mayors is more acceptable than the current scheme of a township committee and a president. [10] DEMOCRATS DEMAND NEW LAW ON LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT The Democratic Party yesterday held an open debate on the proposed law on local self-government. The party said the suggested changes are a reflection of the current situation regarding local self-government, with the exception of the suggestion for electing city mayors. The efficiency of the system, they said, is closely connected with the process of decentralization and self-regulation and, therefore, a new law is needed. They pointed out any structural and institutional solutions must clearly determine the obligation by ethnic minorities to respect the rights of the majority existing as a minority in a certain municipality. The suggested concept, Democrats said, grants the state too much authority and fails to provide a clear picture of local self-government. [11] BAKERS DEMAND BAN ON IMPORTS OF FLOUR AND CORN The government's recent increase in the price of 500-type bread does not cover production costs, according to mill and bakery representatives. At their meeting yesterday in Titov Veles they also said large amounts of cheap imported corn and flour were driving down the price of the Macedonian product. Millers and bakers demanded that the government ban imports of these products in 1995 so that reserves are used and conditions are created for the purchase and storage of this year's harvest. [12] OHRID HUNGER STRIKERS END PROTEST Nearly 100 workers in the insolvent Ohrid-based stock- companies "Ilinden" and "Bebika" of Ohrid yesterday ceased their hunger strike. The government met one of their demands - the immediate opening of bankruptcy proceedings which stops the sale of the companies. [13] POLICE DISCOVER KUMANOVO GRAVE DESTROYERS The Ministry of Interior has discovered those who destroyed 135 Christian graves in the Kumanovo cemetery. They were three underage Macedonians (16 to17 years old), who committed the crime while coming back home drunk. Despite their age, criminal charges will be brought against them because of the weight of the crime. [14] MACEDONIAN FOLK POEMS FROM MALA PRESPA The publishing house "Matica Makedonska" issued a collection of "Macedonian Folk Poems from Mala Prespa", by Nikolina Spase. The collection, consisting of 182 poems, is in both Macedonian and Albanian. [15] SKOMRAHI '95 DRAMA MEETING COMES TO SKOPJE The international meeting of faculties of drama called "Skomrahi '95" will take place in Skopje from 27 March to 1 April. The Skopje Drama Faculty is an organizer of the meeting and the finances were provided by the ministry of education and the Open Society Institute. For the first time the meetings will include faculties from Amsterdam, Bratislava and Prague, along with those from Warsaw, Vroclav, Kiev, Novi Sad, Tirana, Ljubljana and Glasgow. [16] "DIGNITY" CALLS GLIGOROV TO DEFEND MACEDONIAN NATION "Dignity", the Association for Protection of Human Rights of Macedonians Discriminated by the Republic of Greece, issued a public statement calling on President Gligorov to direct his international activities toward defending the Macedonian national identity currently endangered by all Macedonia's neighbors. Otherwise, the association says, the Macedonian nation and state could disappear in a potential Balkan and European armed conflict. [17] CULTURE VULTURE The French Cultural Center in Skopje and the Skopje Museum of Contemporary Art has organized an exhibition of works of the renowned French reporter Andre Kertesz, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his death. The exhibition will open at the museum on 19 March at 7 p.m.. [18] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: MACEDONIA THROWS OFF YUGOSLAV BURDEN (Puls, 17 March, 1995) The final decision by the Croatian Parliament and President Tudjman has been revealed in Copenhagen. Although many elements concerning the plan to change the mandate of UNPROFOR in Croatia remain unclear, it seems that Franjo Tudjman, naturally with the help from the U.S. and Germany, has succeeded in his efforts. He changed the mandate of 'blue helmets', who proved quite unsuccessful in their role of guarding the non-existent borders in Croatia. They were more a symbol of the status quo since no agreement for reintegration of the Croatian territory was implemented during their mandate. The initial intention to avoid turning Croatia into another Cyprus has been achieved, but all sides are aware that it will not be easy to erase the consequences of the Serbian "uprising" in Croatia and the Serbian state created within the Croatian territory. Yet changing the mandate of UN troops will reaffirm the initial conclusion that Serbia invaded a part of the Croatian territory. The world has witnessed the ongoing war and European diplomats have more and more accepted the opinion that the current conflict in the former Yugoslavia is a civil war; this helps Miloshevic look like a winner at times. Only American and German policy have adhered to the initial definition of the conflict at the London Conference, and their policies were reaffirmed in Copehangen recently. UNPROFOR will be renamed into UNFIC (United Nation Forces in Croatia), with a task to observe the internationally recognized boundaries of Croatia toward the now smaller Yugoslavia and Bosnia-Herzegovina (i.e., the territory under control of Karagjic). This is the intention and such promises were given, but the Serbian side is hardly likely to accept it. Just like it turned down all initiatives which failed to make official Serbian aggression and ethnic cleansing. This means that the situation will again turn into a long-lasting series of negotiations and waiting. If the resolution currently being prepared by Madlin Allbright is presented, chances are it will not be implemented (initial reactions indicate Russia will not veto it this time, although it will surely defend Serbia). After all, which one of the numerous resolutions regarding the crisis in the former Yugoslavia has so far been implemented? If one is to judge by experience, Tudjman did not gain much after all, at least not as expected by Croatia. Yet, the obvious intention by Belgrade to minimize the decision means that Serbia is anxious and ready to resist it. This resistance is yet to be seen at the UN Security Council, where the Contact Group is divided into three groups: American, European ministers, and the Russians. The French initiative, had it been accepted, would have faded away somewhere in the turbulent Balkans, the European trio's view on the latest U.S. idea to change the UNPROFOR mandate remains unclear. The situation was complicated by the latest announcement by Moscow, a sort of a counteroffensive. It is now perfectly clear that the world has neither a common view nor a common approach to the Balkan crisis. As always, opposing interests emerged on the surface, struggling for dominance through the strength of the great powers. The U.S. believes the crisis was caused by aggressive and invasive politics; Russia treats the situation as an ethnic or civil war; the EU stands somewhere in the middle with its opinions on the crisis varying from state to state. The essence of a common policy on the crisis is first a unanimous decision on whether Yugoslavia disintegrated due to the recession of its republics or as a result of Serbia's aggressive politics. (end) mils-news 17 March '95