YUHA ENGSTROM: "SITUATION IN TETOVO NOT TENSE ANYMORE"
The new UNPROFOR Commander in Macedonia General Yuha
Engstrom told MIC that according to reports of UN observers,
the situation in Tetovo is no longer tense. "There is no
increase in our patrols on the border with Albania. There is no
need for that as the situation is calm." General Engstrom
explained that it was normal, with the coming of spring, to
have more patrols on the other side of the Macedonian border.
General Engstrom stated that "dialogue is the only way of
finding a solution for any problem," and "the field reports
say that the Macedonian police has left the places where
the incidents took place some ten days ago." "It is in
our interest of prevent those conditions, which could also
mean a threat to the peace," said Engstrom.
U.S. MILITARY LIAISONS TEAM IN RM As part of
the program for joint contact-teams of the main headquarters of
the U.S. Command for Europe, from yesterday, as well as in
some member-states of the initiative "Partnership for peace," a
military liaisons team has been deployed in RM, on the basis of
long-term occasional duties. The beginning of the work
of the military liaisons team realizes a part of the
obligations for cooperation on a military plan, defined in the
Memorandum for cooperation, signed between the Macedonian
Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Together with representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the
General Staff of the Macedonian Army, the U.S. military
liaisons team will work on the realization of the program
for joint contact-teams in the Republic of Macedonia.
The program that also contains the project - "Bridge toward
America," the priority will be given to building up the army
structure according to the model of the U.S. armed forces, as
model of an competent army under efficient civilian control.
*** GOVERNMENT - MACROECONOMIC POLICY FOR
1995: Yesterday in the Macedonian Parliament, Prime Minister
Branko Crvenkovski and the ministers of the departments
connected with the economy read out their reports on the
economic policy over this year. The MPs from the Albanian
parties, however, did not take part in the session, as a
result of the events connected with the Tetovo university.
In his report, Prime Minister Crvenkovski said that the
economic reforms which are offered in this package do not have
an alternative and that they are already accepted by the IMF and
the WB. The package of program measures, according to Prime
Minister Crvenkovski, include curbing the inflation to 18%,
growth in the foreign currency reserves in the National bank
of Macedonia for some US$ 60 million over the year, which
presents eight-week exports of the Macedonian economy.
The prime minister said that one of the aims is keeping the
rate of the denar at the present level, as well as
eliminating the deficits in the budget. An attempt will be
made to eliminate the deficits in the Fund for pension
insurance, till the middle of the year. The second
part, according to the prime minister, applies to the
privatization and the financial rehabilitation of the banking
system. The prime minister stated that an attempt will
be made to speed up the privatization, as well as
transformation of the 25 "losers" and the sale of the business
areas. As for the banking system, linear rehabilitation
of the banks will be conducted, by transferring the frozen
debts to the state, as well as transformation of the banks and
privatization of "Stopanska banka." An important
segment in the reforms, according to the prime minister, also
presents the return of the debts to the world financial
organizations, as well as the adoption of new laws for the
business associations, for the public companies, for
denationalization, etc. As the fifth segment in this
program was the supply of credits from abroad. So far, according
to the prime minister, US$ 85 million have been provided
from the World bank and an additional US$ 14 million as
support of the social policy. Also, US$ 100 million have been
provided as credit funds for the traffic infrastructure,
the agriculture, support of the private sector and the small
economy. The Minister of Finance Jane Miljovski stated
that the main aim of the macroeconomic policy of the
Government will be the further reduction of the inflation,
and stated that last year's inflation of 57% is still much too
high. The main parts of the budget policy will the measures for
the fiscal support of the monetary policy, which, with the
surplus of purchase of foreign payment funds, will try to retain
the stability of the denar. He said that for the
conduction of the reforms, measures have been accepted
which will increase the budget 2% from the GDP, and that sum
is 3.5 billion MCD (US$ 90 million). This will be achieved
by raising the prices of the oil derivatives.
Speaking of the relations with the foreign creditors, minister
Miljovski said that a part of the unlocated debt of former
Yugoslavia to the IMF would have to be recognized, which is
estimated at 5.4% of the total unlocated debt. Only
afterwards, can the negotiations with the Zurich club start,
in which the commercial banks are represented, which previously
gave credits to the Macedonian banks and companies from
Macedonia. As for the restructuring program for the
"losers," the Minister of Economy Risto Ivanov, beside
stating the already known situation, stated that so far, the
"losers" have submitted request for the provision of revolving
capital of up to MCD 13.61 million (US$ 350,000), while, by
March 1, 1995, requests for pronouncing 3,881 workers as
technological surplus have been submitted. In addition,
government commissioners in the Managing boards of the companies
have been appointed. The Minister without
portfolio Ljube Trpevski, discussing the rehabilitation of
the banks, stated that upon the cleaning of the financial
statements of the banks and the obligations to the Paris
club, the same would be transferred to the Agency for
rehabilitation of the banks, while the obligations to the Zurich
club would still remain in the banks. In order to
lessen the dominant position of "Stopanska banka," in the state
banking system, it has been agreed for it not to be greater
that 1.8 times from the next largest bank. With that aim,
Trpevski said, one branch of the bank of up to 10% of
"Stopanska banka" will be separated, which will get a
licence from the National bank to work as an independent
bank with private capital of 51%. Minister Trpevski
also spoke of the relations with the foreign financial
organizations, for which he said that US$ 85 million would be
obtained from the International Development Agency, as well
as US$ 14 million for the social programs. These credits are
with 10 years grace period, 30 year pay back deadline,
without interest. In addition to these US$ 100 million,
negotiations are being conducted for another US$ 100 million
from the WB for development projects in the agriculture,
road infrastructure and for development of the private sector.
Minister Trpevski also stated that the stand-by
arrangement with the IMF would bring Macedonia US$ 55 million.
=================================================
SKOPJE, 3 MARCH, 1995 (MIC)
ANTHONY LAKE: "ADDITIONAL CONTINGENT OF U.S.
SOLDIERS IN MACEDONIA?" The advisor of the U.S.
President on national security Anthony Lake stated last
night that the administration in Washington is
considering the possibility of deploying an additional
contingent of soldiers in Macedonia. Lake's statement
is conveyed in a number of U.S. newspapers, pointing out
that the soldiers will be sent to Macedonia due to "the
danger of expansion of the war on the Balkans," following
the decision of the Croatian Government for UNPROFOR to
withdraw from its territory. The newspaper "Baltimore
Sun," calling upon a statement of a high official in the
U.S. administration, claims that between 1,000 and 10,000
soldiers might be sent to Macedonia, depending on the option
that will be accepted. The "Baltimore Sun" commentator,
as Makfaks reports, is assessing that a couple of thousand of
American soldiers will most probably be sent to Macedonia, as,
according to Washington, there is danger, in case the
Serbian-Croatian and Serbian-Muslim conflict continues, that
"Serbia might go into action toward Macedonia."
"Due to the large number of members of the Albanian minority
in Macedonia, as well as the strain in the relations between
Athens and Skopje, such an action of Serbia could easily pull
Albania and Greece into the conflict," the "Baltimore Sun"
writes. Pointing out that the presence of the U.S
forces in UNPROFOR in Macedonia is symbolic, "Baltimore Sun"
emphasizes that even such a symbolic participation has great
significance. The presence of the U.S. soldiers
expresses the strong determination of the Clinton
administration to prevent "the aggression of Serbia against
Macedonia or the Albanian Muslims in the Serbian province of
Kosovo," the "Baltimore Sun" concludes.
EUROPEAN INTEREST FOR PEACEFUL MACEDONIA
"Europe is very interested in seeing to it that another conflict
is not opened in Macedonia," stated the German President Roman
Herzog in the press conference held with his host Sali
Berisha in Duress, following his two-day visit to
Albania, Makpress reports, calling upon the Albanian media.
In response to numerous questions on the situation in
former Yugoslavia, the German President emphasized: "Germany
is making efforts to resolve the crisis in the former
Yugoslavia, and in that framework, the Kosovo question, and
giving autonomy to Kosovo." Germany is giving full
support to the reforms in Albania and the development of
democracy. The German President emphasized that "Germany will
be its advocate, defense lawyer in the European structures." He
also positively assessed the efforts for normalization of the
Greek-Albanian relations.
DIALOGUE FOR OVERCOMING THE TENSIONS The
Speaker of Parliament Stojan Andov received a delegation
of the Macedonian political parties, MPs and
associations from Tetovo. As it was announced, the
parliamentary speaker was informed about the current political
situation in the Tetovo municipality, following the events
with the so-called university in Albanian language.
The MPs from Tetovo emphasized their readiness, together
with the representatives of the Albanian parties and other
associations, to find the correct way of overcoming the
present situation, and expressed efforts to further building
up the mutual trust and co-existence. That way, as it
was emphasized, the problems also present in the other fields
of the citizens' lifes, regardless of nationality, would also be
able to be overcome. The announcement says that the citizens
have always been turned toward each other, and solved the
problems together. Supporting these efforts, Andov
pointed out the necessity of mutual direct dialogue through
which the present tensions could be overcome, whereby the
mutual respect and tolerance is of particular importance. In
building the mutual trust, the feeling of responsibility
and respect of the Constitution and laws will also be built.
========================================
SKOPJE, 6 MARCH, 1995 (MIC)
INCREASE IN U.S. CONTINGENT - ONLY AN OPTION
A Pentagon high official denied information that the U.S.
could soon increase its forces in Macedonia, Makpress
reports. In the statement for A1 TV, on this issue,
major Chuck Franklin said: "We discussed this question as a
suggestion and an option, but only if the time for that
comes. In any case, that will not happen in the near future,"
he said. According to major Franklin, an eventual increase in
the U.S. forces in Macedonia could be realized only if
UNPROFOR withdraws from Croatia or Bosnia, or both countries,
and the conflicts continue and expand. "Then, it is possible,
I repeat, it is possible for us to sent more troops in
Macedonia, to prevent the expansion of the conflicts,"
major Chuck Franklin added in the statement for Radio Skopje.
U.S. President Bill Clinton confirmed yesterday the
orientation of the U.S.A. to help the withdrawal of the
UN peacekeepers from Bosnia, if their mission fails. However,
he ruled out the possibility of long-term engagement of the
U.S. land forces in former Yugoslavia. Clinton also avoided
answering the question of the press whether the U.S. will
send troops to Croatia to assist the withdrawal of the UN
peacekeepers, which have to leave the country by the end of the
mandate, March 31.
================================================
SKOPJE, 7 MARCH, 1995 (MIC)
MACEDONIA DOES NOT ACCEPT FEDERATION ON BALKANS
In relation to the writing of the Kosovo newspaper
"Rilindija" that Washington has offered Skopje and Tirana
the formation of an Albanian-Macedonian federation, similar
to the one created between the Croatians and Muslims, the
spokesman of the Macedonian Government Gjuner Ismail stated:
"Recently, there are all kinds of speculations and ideas about
some kind of Balkan federations, confederations, alliances,
which, as always, come from sources that we assess as
speculative, sources which are in the function of spreading some
kind of rumors." "The Macedonian Government deems it
necessary to once more express its strong and clear stance in
regard to that. That is that we have not had the intention,
nor will we show that intention in the function of a
discussion on this theme," said Ismail and underlined: "simply,
our policy is clearly declared, that is a policy of
equidistance. We believe that any kind of alliances of this
type on the Balkans are anachronisms. Our idea, our policy and
our option in the foreign policy, beside the equidistance,
is the development of alliances and associations in Europe, that
is associations of an European type."
===============================================
SKOPJE, 9 MARCH, 1995 (MIC)
"MILOSEVICH WILL RECOGNIZE SLOVENIA AND THE REPUBLIC
OF SKOPJE" Milosevich is prepared to recognize
Slovenia and the "Republic of Skopje," yesterday's issue of
"Nasa Borba" writes on the first page. The text says that
this issue was discussed in the meeting of the Contact group
from Washington, on Monday, while unofficial sources claim
that these days, the Serbian President expressed readiness
to recognize the independence of Slovenia and the "Republic of
Skopje." In return for that, Milosevich asked
for an unconditional lifting of the sanctions against
Serbia and Montenegro, as well as the recognition of the
rights of FRY for succession of former Yugoslavia. The
Washington correspondent, calling upon reliable sources,
states that the term "Republic of Skopje" would be in the
function of the political-diplomatic terminology of Athens.
Allegedly, Milosevich received "some support" from Moscow
for this, and only then would the recognition of Croatia and
B&H follow. For now, official Belgrade has not
announced a work about this, although some oppositional parties
have been claiming for some time that the Serbian
President had accepted to recognize all the newly formed
states on the former Yugoslav regions.
REQUESTS FOR CLASSES IN TURKISH AT TEACHER'S COLLEGE
The students of Turkish nationality from the group
classroom classes at the Teacher's College "Clement of
Ohrid" from Skopje sent a written protest to this institution,
as well as the Ministry of Education and Physical Culture
and the Rector's office of the Skopje University, requesting
that the classes of this group be held, in full, in Turkish
language. Their request should be settled the same way as
the request of the students of classroom classes in Albanian
language. The Teacher's College addressed the
Ministry of Education and Physical Culture, asking for an
opinion whether this request of the students of Turkish
nationality, who have had a group at the college for a longer
time, should be settled in an identical way, and whether the
college should open a competition for hiring professors of all
subjects, the way it was done for the Albanian nationality.
The Minister of Education and Physical Culture Emiliya
Simovska will talk with prof. Yusuf Hamza, one of the signees
of the letter, these days, whereby she will suggest that
the students of Turkish nationality from this group
continue following the classes in Macedonian, seeing that
there are only two months left till the end of the school year,
and that even if a competition was opened, the classes would
not be able to start before the month of May. Minister
Simovska explained that this does not deny the right of the
students of Turkish nationality to follow the classes at the
Teacher's College in their mother tongue. She will propose
this request to be realized with the beginning of the next
school year, with which the students from the first year of
studies will gain the possibility to follow the classes in the
second year in Turkish language.
===============================================
1. MIC NEWS; (ENGLISH)
SKOPJE, 10 MARCH (MIC)
PRESERVATION OF THE INTERNAL STABILITY The
Ministry for foreign affairs of the Republic of Macedonia
announced that on the invitation of Gerd Arens, the
president of the working body for ethnic and national
communities and minorities at the international conference
for former Yugoslavia, yesterday a meeting was held
between the representatives of the RM, including the Minister
of the interior Frchkovski and the Minister of justice Popovski,
and the Albanian members of the Parliament, Ziberi, Murati,
Biljali and Dzaferi. The participants in the meeting
agreed to continue the talks on issues of common interest,
among which are education, the issue of the languages and the
local autonomy. They also agreed that the next meeting will
be held in Skopje on the 30th of March. The working
body undertakes the task of preparing proposals that will
bring about the solution of the previously mentioned issues.
These decisions would have to be reviewed by the appropriate
constitutional bodies and through appropriate procedure. The
Albanian representatives underlined the need for a swift
solution of the most urgent issues. All participants
agreed that everything has to be done to preserve the internal
stability, independence and territorial integrity of Macedonia
SERBS - A CONSTITUTIONAL CATEGORY "It is
quite probable that the Serbs in the RM will become a
Constitutional category, more precisely that they will be
added to the pre-amble to the Constitution, where the
Albanians, Turks, Vlachs and Romas are already written. There
are no principle obstacles nor disputes for this said the
president of the Council for inter-ethnic relations, Stojan
Andov, at yesterday's session of the council. The Government
accepts the opinions of the Council about a positive solution
of this issue. Otherwise, according to Andov, the initiators
of this request have to themselves estimate when would be the
best time to start the procedure to change the Constitution.
The Council discussed the requests of the Vlachs, on
which they requested a more precise opinion by the
Government. Otherwise the requests of the Vlachs are: To
learn the Vlach language in the primary schools. The
Ministry of education has already replied that it has agreed
to realization this in the form of optional classes in the
primary schools. The realization of the constitutional rights
about the right to expression, the nurturing and the further
development of the identity of the Vlach ethnicity in
Macedonia, the financing of the newspaper "Feniks", greater
participation in the programs of the MRTV, the holding of
masses in the Vlach language in Vlach churches in Macedonia.
From news.alpha.net!pacifier!usenet.eel.ufl.edu!news.ultranet.com!zombie.ncsc.mil!news.duke.edu!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!news.sprintlink.net!sunserver.insinc.net!news.bc.net!torn!news.uunet.ca!uunet.ca!io.org!io.org!nobody Tue Mar 21 00:24:00 1995
