Subject: MAK-NEWS 20/03/95 (M.I.L.S.) [**] From: "Demetrios E. Paneras" Ta nea ths hmeras, opws ta eide to MILS: [01] ** GREECE AND MACEDONIA SIGN A DRAFT AGREEMENT [02] ** FULL DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH THE U.S. EDGE CLOSER [03] * UN CONSIDERS DIVISION OF PEACEKEEPING TROOPS [04] * ALBANIA INTERESTED IN A STABLE MACEDONIA, SERECI CLAIMS [05] . DIPLOMATIC BRIEFS [06] * MACEDONIA STILL WORKING ON BILATERAL EU CONTACTS [07] . WORKERS GET 3,700 GERMAN MARKS TO START A NEW LIFE [08] * "OMO ILINDEN" TO TAKE BULGARIA TO EUROPEAN COURT [09] * SITUATION IN MACEDONIA "HOT", SAY SERBS [10] * MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: MACEDONIA THROWS OFF YUGOSLAV BURDEN - PART II (Puls, 17 March, 1995) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ M I L S N E W S Skopje, 20 March 1995 [01] GREECE AND MACEDONIA SIGN A DRAFT AGREEMENT Macedonian Media report that Skopje and Athens signed a draft agreement last Friday aimed at building mutual trust. However, a direct dialogue between Macedonia and Greece within the UN is yet to be set up. Observers in Athens say the agreement includes changes to the Macedonian flag and parts of the constitution considered controversial by Greece. In return, Greece would lift the embargo. According to the Greek media, the name issue will not be discussed for the time being. President Gligorov will reportedly give a statement promising he will fulfill his obligations. Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou is also to promise the embargo will be lifted, the same sources say. The recent statement given by the Greek Foreign Minister Papoulias at the meeting of Eropean ministers in Carcassonne, south-western France, confirms that the Greek- Macedonian dispute has finally shifted. He said high-ranking Macedonian and Greek politicians are to meet in New York in the presence of UN mediator Cyrus Vance. They will discuss all issues, he said, including the name, and Greece will not lift the embargo until negotiations are concluded. Meanwhile, Greece started the transportation of the 20,000 tons of EU humanitarian oil for Macedonia, part of the PHARE program. [02] FULL DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH THE U.S. EDGE CLOSER Following the decision by Greece and Macedonia to begin direct negotiations, the U.S. is seriously considering full diplomatic relations with Macedonia, reports Nova Makedonija's correspondent in Athens. There are no longer reasons to put off the exchange of ambassadors between Macedonia and the U.S., the State Department reportedly said. [03] UN CONSIDERS DIVISION OF PEACEKEEPING TROOPS The Macedonian media write that the UN is considering the possibility of dividing its peacekeeping troops now deployed in former Yugoslavia into three separate contingents, one for each of Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia. This was stated by an anonymous U.S. diplomat in New York. The three contingents would have separate headquarters, but still be under a common command from Zagreb. The diplomat said the Croatian decision not to extend the UNPROFOR mandate on its territory and the Macedonian request for a separate peacekeeping mission had greatly complicated matters. Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Boutros-Ghali said Macedonia is following the Croatian example by asking to have the peacekeeping troops separated from the UN. The Macedonian government has asked for a separate military, logistics and administrative structure to be led by a special UN envoy. The Macedonian Foreign Ministry says the U.S. supported the request during the New York talks between Foreign Minister Crvenkovski and Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State. [04] ALBANIA INTERESTED IN A STABLE MACEDONIA, SERECI CLAIMS "Albania is interested in a stable, democratic and market oriented Macedonia which will respect the basic rights of nationalities," said the Albanian foreign minister, Alfred Sereci, as quoted by Macedonian Radio. Sereci said the events in Tetovo introduce tension into Macedonian-Albanian relations, but both countries show readiness to overcome their problems. He denied rumors of a possible Macedonian- Albanian confederation. [05] DIPLOMATIC BRIEFS - The British House of Lords organized a ceremonial dinner in honor of Macedonia, having the Macedonian ambassador to London speak of the current situation in Macedonia. - Vladimir Petkovski, Macedonian ambassador to Socialist Republic of Vietnam, was received in Hanoi by the Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet. They concluded that their mutual diplomatic ties are a solid basis for development of relations. Kiet praised Macedonia's peaceful foreign policy. [06] MACEDONIA STILL WORKING ON BILATERAL EU CONTACTS In a interview with Nova Makedonija, the Macedonian ambassador to Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg, Jovan Tegovski said, "The EU has done all it could for Macedonia under the existing conditions. Now, we are all trying to come up with new possibilities, despite the dispute with Greece, to further develop Macedonia's relations with the EU... The Union can help Macedonia through a general agreement on cooperation, but Macedonia will still try to develop to a maximum its relations with each EU member country separately." Tegovski went on to say, "it ought to be expected that the way the 1996 EU inter-governmental conference is planned, a great deal of issues will not be resolved by consensus. Issues will be divided into those which are solvable by consensus and those voted on by a qualified majority. Some European countries would like consensus as a form of decision-making abandoned completely by the Union as far as foreign policy issues are concerned, except for security matters." Aid for Macedonia approved by EU in 1993 and 1994 is not being received, Tegovski said, due mostly to the massive bureaucracy of the European Commission. The Commission, he said, has been criticized by the European Parliament for failures in other cases, as well. [07] WORKERS GET 3,700 GERMAN MARKS TO START A NEW LIFE A total of 6,811 workers in 15 of Macedonia's greatest loss- making firms had taken redundancy by last week. The government plan is for 15,576 workers leave the 25 greatest loss-making companies. Around 800 million Denars have been set aside to compensate workers. Nova Makedonija says workers have received all their back-pay, along with a compensation sum and finances for their pension security. On average, each worker received 102,673 Denars (3,700 German Marks). This is expected to be sufficient for workers to start their own small businesses. [08] "OMO ILINDEN" TO TAKE BULGARIA TO EUROPEAN COURT The coordinating committee of OMO "Ilinden", a basic-rights- protection organization of Macedonians living in Bulgaria, announced its intention to take Bulgaria to the European Court of Justice. The organization says Bulgaria has done nothing to implement even the most basic rights of Macedonians in Bulgaria, and the organization has already used all legal means available. Bulgaria is a signatory to the 1992 European Convention on Human Rights Protection. Meanwhile, Bulgarian police have arrested Janush Sapundziev, a known activist of "Ilinden", accused of anti-Bulgarian activities and of disturbing the peace. Authorities in Bulgaria have also initiated a campaign to ban the organization's paper called "Pirin Macedonia". [09] SITUATION IN MACEDONIA "HOT", SAY SERBS Last Friday, the Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia described the situation in Macedonia as "quite hot". Ethnic relations are worsening by the day, they said, blaming the Macedonian government and foreign groups in Macedonia for this. According to the party, Serbs living in Macedonia are the most endangered part of the population, since they are under enormous pressure. As proof they point to a recent police house search of three party activists, suspecting them of illegal possession of arms. The party says Macedonia should call in a contingent of at least 50 Russian soldiers, along with the U.S. troops, to stabilize the situation. [10] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: [MACEDONIA THROWS OFF YUGOSLAV BURDEN - PART II [(Puls, 17 March, 1995) Why would this subject be of any interest to Macedonia? Despite the fact that Macedonia has already twice asked the UN to separate its troops in Macedonia from those in Croatia and Bosnia, neither the secretary-general nor any other relevant groups in the UN have dealt with the issue. The intention was to have Macedonia treated within the London Conference on the former Yugoslavia, the result of which was the Owen-Stoltenberg mission, along with the common UNPROFOR mission for the entire former Yugoslavia. Earlier, there were no conditions for this, or the international community still hoped to see results of the London Conference. But for a while it has been obvious that this conference and the two diplomats' mission are dead. Trying to save its honor, Europe came up with the French initiative, which was quickly rejected by a panicking Serbia. This rejected initiative demanded that Serbia recognize all the ex-Yugoslav states within their internationally recognized boundaries. In the meantime, the U.S. calmed down Croatia, thus opening the road to a transformation of international peacekeeping troops into troops with separate mandates and possible inclusion of, and command by, NATO. It is simply illogical for Macedonia to remain within a joint UN mission in the former Yugoslavia along with Bosnia, when Croatia is changing the mandate of the UN forces on its territory. The views of relevant UN groups and Boutros-Ghali himself are always unclear. Some of them will oppose the idea due to personal interests in the matter (the most important for Macedonia being that a part of Europe still refuses to accept that Macedonia has established itself as an independent state). Every time the U.S. announces a larger presence in Macedonia as a part of the UN forces, there are suggestions saying the idea is not to be seriously considered and there is no need for a separate mandate for the troops in Macedonia, as everything is perfectly in order there. The conclusion that all is quiet on the Macedonian front - as sent by UN observers every time America mentions its intention to increase its contingent in Macedonia - is often contradictory and could lead to disastrous consequences for Macedonia, even a spillover of the Bosnian war. Prior to the Copenhagen Summit, William Perry clearly said, "Washington may order a deployment of a considerably increased number of troops to Macedonia in an attempt to prevent a possible conflict. The troops would be under UN command, but under NATO operative control." Various reports on the latest talks between Gligorov and Boutros-Ghali indicate that the latter was interested not only to hear Macedonia's opinion on the Croatian decision, but tried to persuade Gligorov to publicly condemn Tudjman's decision. Gligorov answered," Macedonia is interested in a solution for the problem, but recognizes Croatia's right to be concerned with the status of the so-called Serbian Kraina within its territory." Normally, Macedonia's request for a separate mandate of peacekeeping troops on its territory would be considered with the same serious approach, since the troops in Croatia and Bosnia have nothing in common with those in Macedonia. In these days up to March 31, when the decision on Croatia's demands is to be brought (some say the dead line may be prolonged until April 15), Macedonia will be anxiously awaiting to see whether its own request will be discussed. Even more so because the U.S., while preparing the initial draft-decision within the Contact Group, suggested a change of the name and mission of UN troops in Croatia and an extension of the old mandate for troops in Bosnia and Macedonia. Knowing that the missions in Bosnia and Macedonia are totally different, it becomes clear that this is a political decision where the interests of great powers may be easily guessed. It was at the Vienna Conference on Human Rights that for the first time Macedonia requested a separate UN mission on its territory. Boutros-Ghali then heard Gligorov's demands and arguments, but did nothing. Now, after Gligorov repeated the request to Boutros-Ghali in Copenhagen and after all members of the Security Council were informed of this in writing, Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski made the request official. The letter says Macedonia believes it necessary to change the mandate of UN troops on its territory because of the latest regional developments. Furthermore, Macedonia should not to be treated as a part of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia, as it has nothing in common with it and has no territorial or boundary disputes with any of its neighbors. Observers say William Perry told Crvenkovski that the U.S. is not considering at present increasing its troops in Macedonia but will do so should the situation in Croatia and Bosnia change negatively. As for Macedonia's request for a separate mandate of UN troops, it was fully supported by the U.S. but sources say Boutros-Ghali has warned this would face opposition from several countries. The Security Council should issue a special resolution if it is to deal with Macedonia's request. Macedonia seems determined not to accept a mandate of UN troops in a package deal with forces in Bosnia. But what if no such decision is made by 31 March? In this case, the Macedonian Parliament would have no choice but to no longer have UN troops in Macedonia. There are rumors that such a possibility has been discussed in parliament. Could UNPROFOR then simply leave Macedonia without meeting its demand. Serious analysis shows this is not likely, as it would mean leaving the entire southern Balkans "naked" and open to all possible conflicts. Neither the great powers nor Europe could afford this. The U.S. seems deeply concerned with the latest development of events in Turkey (growth and pressure of fundamentalism), as well as with the increasingly frequent military alliances formed between neighboring countries, particularly with Russia (the latest one being the agreement on military cooperation between Russia, Serbia and Montenegro). Even Bulgaria has signed a similar agreement with Moscow, despite possible inclusion in the Partnership for Peace program. This came as a result of recent changes in the country's leadership. Statements by Pavel Gratchov, Russian Defense Minister, that "Bulgaria is within Russia's strategic interest", and by his Bulgarian counterpart, Dimitar Pavlov, that "NATO is not the only guarantee of security", open a new chapter; or better, they re-open an old chapter in international relations, thus increasing tension in the Balkans. Because of the unpredictable character of both Greek and Albanian foreign policies, Macedonia stands a good chance of defending its own interest and be granted a separate mandate for UN troops deployed in Macedonia. Even more so because Macedonia will again be a hot issue and an important strategic interest now that the dispute with Greece is to be negotiated, and in light of the possible spillover of the Bosnian war to the south. (end) mils-news 20 March '95