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SAT, 19 JAN 2002 23:14:19 GMT
PRESS REVIEW, December 28 - January 4, 2002.PRESS IN BELGRADE PRESS IN TIRANA PRESS IN ZAGREB PRESS IN PRISTINA PRESS IN BANJA LUKA PRESS IN SKOPJE PRESS IN SOFIA
PRESS IN BELGRADE
POLITIKA, Dec. 29, 2001
Adem Demaqi Speaks for Politika
"WE LIVED TOGETHER FOR CENTURIES"
(...) "Here in Kosovo we lived together with the Serbs, we mixed,
traded, visited each others through fair and foul, so it is very
difficult now that the people do not dare move without being escorted by
foreign soldiers. That is why I decided together with respectable
Albanians, Mr. Pajazit Nusi inclusive, to re-establish interethnic
confidence and create conditions for interethnic coexistence. In other
words, two years ago I fought for the rights of the Albanians, and
nowadays that the rights of non-Albanians are threatened, I sided with
them.
* Do you believe that the new Kosmet (Kosovo&Metohija's) authorities and
the international community will contribute to reducing interethnic
tensions and finally bring peace to Kosovo?
"To be honest, I do not believe much in these authorities. All
authorities, these inclusive, have little interest in essential
questions, people's problems, because they are, more or less, concerned
only with their own interests. The new authorities will have to shoulder
a part of the burden in order to move things from the standstill.
However, I personally believe that the greatest burden will be carried
by non-governmental organisations such as the Committee for Co-existence
and Tolerance in Kosovo, boards for the protection of human rights,
media, intellectuals, respectable individuals and denominational heads.
(...)
Milan Laketic
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NACIONAL, Dec. 29-30, 2001
Dusan Janjic, director of the Forum for Ethnic Relations, announces
scheduling of an international conference where the destiny of Kosmet
will be resolved
EUROPE PREPARING "KOSOVO DAYTON" FOR MAY
"The beginning of 2002 will bring rising of tensions between the
Albanians and the international community which will try to postpone the
final solution of the status of Kosovo. The world will do anything to
frustrate the attempts of the extremists to deny the election of Rugova
and prevent further normalization of the situation in Kosovo", says
Dusan Janjic.
"The return of the Serbs into political life evidently disturbed
extremist Albanians who believed that they would become independent
overnight and who did not expect that cooperation of the Serbs with the
international community would improve, so it became clear to them after
November elections that the international protectorate in Kosovo would
last much longer than they had expected", Janjic stresses.
Janjic claims that the international community is increasingly inclined
towards the idea that the final solution of the status of Kosovo should
be postponed until a firm agreement of the Balkan countries is reached.
"World power wielders are becoming aware that it is absolutely necessary
to organize a Balkan conference, but not as the one proposed by
Kostunica and Svilanovic. The conference would be similar to the one
held in Dayton. It is very important what stand Belgrade will take,
because there is a trend in diplomacy to resolve the question of the
status of Serbia and Montenegro together with the status of Kosovo",
says Janjic and estimates that "Kosovo Dayton" could take place in May
next year.
R.M.
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BLIC, 3.1.2002.
Interview: Goran Svilanovic, Federal Foreign Minister
THEY WILL ALL BE EXTRADITED TO THE HAGUE
(...) * Do you expect new extraditions in the beginning of the year?
The "Vukovar three" and Ratko Mladic are mentioned.
"Extraditions will certainly continue. It is not right to speak about
names. I believe it is best for the persons who were indicted to appear
before the Hague Tribunal on their own. An atmosphere is created here
that, although indicted, these persons will never appear in court. They
are wrong, they will all have to answer. Those who think that the
interest for the indicted by the Hague Tribunal will disappear in time
and that it is possible to run away from what they were indicted for are
terribly wrong. The topic such as the Hague Tribunal will last for some
time and all demands will be met..." (...)
Jelena Bulajic
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NIN, Jan. 3, 2002
Montenegro and Serbia
STEP BY STEP
(...) More attention than the contents of the experts' meeting is given
to the stand and behavior of the Europeans who managed to arrange the
dialogue at the moment when both parties had concluded that the Belgrade
and the Podgorica platforms were irreconcilable. What are the European
observers doing?
Their plan seems to be based on reversing the agenda of the talks which
will begin from resolving simple economic issues (monetary policy,
transportation, customs, power industry), then they will deal with legal
questions (such as citizenship, property rights), and in the end deal
with the state status). (...) The federalists would, however, have
serious reasons for concern if in the negotiations they made compromises
in connection with the economic and legal issues for the sake of
preserving the union and in the end realized that Podgorica did not
intend to depart from the state-creating slogan about two chairs on the
East River.
Connoisseurs of the policy of independists believe that before the
referendum, in negotiations and otherwise, Djukanovic will try to
convince his citizens that they will live in an independent state, but
not lose the rights they enjoyed so far in Serbia (education, medical
treatment, employment). Perhaps that is the reason why president
Vojislav Kostunica said at a press conference that "nobody has the
right" to promise the status of the most privileged nation if the third
Yugoslavia dissolved. (...)
The latest public opinion polls in Montenegro show that the popularity
of Yugoslav option is slightly rising, which should sound alarm bells
for the ruling coalition, but that did not happen because of very
depressing electricity cuts. (...) Investigations in Serbia show that
the pulse of the public is moving in the opposite direction - the latest
show that between 50 and 55 per cent are in favour of preservation of
the joint state. Tired of constant accusations of Greater-Serbian
hegemonism, and myths swarming with Milosevic's propaganda, Montenegrin
trauma from the past and traitors, the citizens of Serbia are speaking
of preservation of the joint state with diminishing enthusiasm. (...)
Batic Bacevic
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PRESS IN TIRANA
SHEKULLI, Dec. 29, 2001
SILENT DEPARTURE OF HANS HAEKKERUP
Hans Haekkerup does not head the international mission in Kosovo any
more. The decision is officially considered personally motivated by
"family reasons"; he departed from the post of OUN administrator for
Kosovo at the moment when stabilization processes in the country have
entered the decisive phase of formation of institutions. Instead to wait
for the formation of the government and the new president of Kosovo,
Haekkerup seems to have decided to wait for his child who is expected to
be born soon. Of course, such an unexpected departure from the difficult
job of the administrator of Kosovo leaves behind a considerable number
of open questions and dilemmas which are the very essence of the crisis
of Kosovo.
The enigmatic Dane is leaving Kosovo at the time when the political game
has entered a very delicate phase. The unsuccessful election of Rugova
for president by the parliament which with its political temperature
reminds of the assembly of Albania, the still unclear government
coalition and a series of other questions that depend (or do not) on
these Gordian knots, have created a difficult climate concerning the
imminent future of the institutional process in Kosovo. Haekkerup and
other representatives of international institutions in the country were
engaged in relieving tensions that were expected in the post-election
situation. This was, it seems, the biggest problem that gradually arose
between the UN representative and a part of the political parties on the
scene. Yesterday, the leader of AAK Haradinaj declared for the press
that Haekkerup departed because of the clash with a part of the ethnic
Albanian parties. If this is not the exclusive reason of Haekkerups
resignation, it partially certainly seems to be. OUN, OSCE and other
institutions that had until recently set the rules of the political game
in Kosovo, were accused more than once by the radical faction of Kosovar
politics - Thaci, Haradinaj and others - of being one-sided in treating
political protagonists. The repeated appeals of the international
community that a moderate road should be taken for the resolution of the
problem of Kosovo were experienced by the local political parties as
masked siding with Rugova and DSK. The latest instance was the first
session of the parliament when Thaci did not shrink from directly
attacking the OUN representative for violation of human rights in his
speech held to the deputies.
What seems to add to the complexity of the relations between the Danish
politician and Kosovar representatives are somewhat personal relations
the former has established with Belgrade. The agreement signed with
Serbian vice premier Covic signed a few weeks ago provoked sharp
reactions not only in Kosovo. It is not clear whether Haekkerup had to
pay the political account for that move. It is a fact that in time he
became vulnerable to the growing attacks of two communities in Kosovo:
the Albanians that considered him to be a man inclined towards
compromise, in other words who departed from the road to independence,
and the Serbs who accused him of impotent policy in reference to what
they consider the Albanian threat.
Nevertheless, Haekkerup's departure is not expected to considerably
affect the developments in Kosovo. Yesterday's reactions in Pristina are
clear evidence that the political process in that country will not be
eroded by the departure of international officials, even if they may be
caused by unexpected resignations such as the one that happened
yesterday. For the fanatics of political chronicles, Haekkerup will
remain a pale figure without the Latin impulse of his predecessor
Kouchner, but with the typical calmness of a Nordic. Now that none of
the two are at the leading post of international presence, the Kosovars
can judge who was better for Kosovo.
Ilir Kamenica
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GAZETA SHQIPTARE, Dec. 30, 2001
KOSTUNICA KNOCKING ON RUGOVA'S DOOR
On Dec. 27, President of FRY Vojislav Kostunica publicly invited
President of DSK and main candidate for the president of Kosovo Ibrahim
Rugova to discuss the future of Kosovo. This is the second time in
twelve months that Kostunica is addressing an invitation to Rugova via
media and not officially, which shows that he is either afraid that the
invitation will not be accepted or speaks of a megalomania of the
leaders of the old Serb school who still live in the times of obsolete
relations of a metropolis and colony between Belgrade and Pristina.
The invitation is, therefore, no news, but the situation is and the time
when it is addressed and that is why it deserves a detailed analysis. We
are at the point of constitution of new state institutions in Kosovo:
the parliament, government, president, etc, which will pursuant UN
Security Council Resolution 1244 gradually take over the responsibility
and the power to rule Kosovo. The first session of the new parliament
after the election of Nov. 17 was not successful in the effort to elect
the president and a new session is scheduled for Jan. 10 in order to
repeat the attempt to elect the president of Kosovo. Regardless of the
delay, Kosovo will soon have its ethnic Albanian president.
Without waiting for several more days for the Kosovo parliament to pass
another exam and officially elect the president who would legally have
the mandate to represent Kosovo, Kostunica hastily addressed the
invitation to Rugova. Is this haste of the President of FRY justified?
It does not seem to be neither from the aspect of internal Serbia's
relations nor from that of internal development of Kosovo, and neither
from the relations of Serbia or Kosovo with the international
organizations. Kostunica himself is up to his neck involved in the
entangled knot of the talks between Montenegro and Serbia on the future
of FRY in which mutual estrangement of the two republics is an evident
process and in which the first leaf that will fall in the dissolution of
the union is the post of the federal president.
It is truly regrettable when one notes that the new leaders in Belgrade
who have come to power with the slogan of democratic changes still do
not realize that Kosovo is an international issue. It is not a question
of bilateral talks neither between Kostunica and Rugova nor between
Belgrade and Pristina. Even Milosevic had realized it when he accepted
to send Serbia's president to the talks with the delegation of Kosovo to
the international conference on Kosovo in Rambouillet chaired by the EU.
Kostunica tried to bluff on Dec. 27 by declaring that KFOR and UNMIK
will leave Kosovo, but he failed to mention that there will be no
departure without the realization of the status of Kosovo which will
most probably be the legal secession from Serbia.
There is in fact one alternative that would make bilateral talks between
the president of FRY and the president of Kosovo possible. The only
feasible and acceptable talks are the ones on legal secession of Kosovo
from Serbia, similar to the ones on division of property between Serbia
and other states that resulted from former Yugoslavia.
We believe that Rugova will again reject this frivolous invitation of
the federal president without the federation via media. Not only because
he still is not the president of Kosovo, and even if he is elected it is
clear to him that he will never have the mandate to preserve the
colonial status of Kosovo. The only political, historical, patriotic and
legal mandate given to him and all the other significant leaders of
Kosovo is only the mandate for its independence. Kostunica is aware of
that because he declared to an American TV network during the first
weeks of his rule that secession of Kosovo was not the end of Serbia.
However, he wishes to profiteer from the confusion created in Albanian
political environment of Kosovo in the process of the election of its
president and government. According to the principles of the Helsinki
Charter, the Paris Charter, the OUN Charter and all the other
international documents, Kosovo cannot be returned into the framework of
Serbia. Instead to create colonial illusions with the tactic of
diversionary invitations, it would be better for the leadership in
Belgrade to prepare its public for new Balkan reality the first chapter
of which is that FRY is dead and that the attempts to keep artificial
federal institutions alive only prolong the days of the Balkan
nightmare. Kostunica should therefore knock at the door not of Rugova
but of reality and future.
DIPLOMATICUS
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PRESS IN ZAGREB
NACIONAL, Jan. 1, 2002
ETHNIC SCANDAL ABOUT THE HIGHWAY ROUTE
The main reason for the change of the route of Zagreb-Split highway in
the most controversial section from Lokve to Licko Lesce, was not
environment protection as the local authorities persistently repeated,
but 25 million German marks the authorities did not wish the Serb
refugees from Lika to get that would have happened had the A variant of
the route of the future highway been chosen. The interpretations of the
new trade with the Serbs and Serb land went to the length of accusing
the architects of the highway for intentionally designing the route to
pass over Serb land that the Serbs had allegedly already sold to the
state although such real-estate turnover was not at all registered in
the land register. They were also accused of designing the route over
their land in order to prevent the Serbs from returning to this part of
the country. (...) As nobody cares about the Serbs, but everybody cares
for 25 million marks, and that is the amount planned to be paid as
compensation for the land the state has to purchase for the construction
of the highway, the situation was used created by the Government's
publishing of the plan of construction of Zagreb-Split highway, so the
resolution was prevented of the problem of unremoved mines and neglected
Serb estates, and the money was reallocated according to the wishes of
local authorities and obvious private interests of individuals from the
political leadership of Otocac and Lika. (...) Manipulating Serb
property and further preventing of the resolution of the problem with
Serb estates - although the construction of the highway across them is
not the best solution - shows the incapability of the Government to deal
with the problems it faces. ...
Milivoj Djilas
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GLOBUS, Jan. 4, 2002
FINANCIAL FIASCO OF RIJEKA-ZAGREB HIGHWAY
(...) Judging by the latest developments concerning the construction of
Rijeka-Zagreb highway, the current authorities do not think it is in
their interest to expose the construction lobbies by making the deal
transparent, although all the money the state as the investor is
investing in these projects comes solely from the pockets of its
citizens. What is this all about? At one of its sessions in July the
Government decided that the contract on the construction of Veliki
Glozac, Javorova Kosa and Pod Vugles tunnels along the Kupjak-Vrbovsko
section signed in November 1998 with French Spie Batignolles/Mediteran
Union Tunnel - was disadvantageous. It explained this with suspicion
about corruption of certain people who were involved in the deal. That
is why it recommended the Supervisory Commission of Rijeka-Zagreb
Highway Company to cancel the contract and discharge Ivan Prgomet,
Director of the company. The director was discharged, the police
launched preliminary investigation against him because of the suspicion
on corruption, but it has not found anything to this day! (...) The
French company will ask for international arbitration and demand
indemnity of one hundred million German marks. The tunnels are not
finished and as we learn they will be completed by local firms for the
price of 130 million kunas, which is by 30 per cent more than what the
French firm would have done it for. (...) According to the information
we got from the well informed about this, we can say, construction
scandal, it is all the result of the doing of persons from the powerful
lobby gathered around Jure Radic who influenced Slavko Linic to advocate
that the contract with the French be cancelled.
Renata Ivanovic
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PRESS IN PRISTINA
KOHA DITORE, Jan. 3, 2002
JUSTICE, NOT REVENGE
... However, when speaking of Kosovo, it seems that knowledge of the
truth is not a big difficulty for us, because everybody is in favour of
more or less the same viewpoint. Only most of the Serbs defend a
"different truth", as they have always done. This leads to the
conclusion that the objective of facing war crimes in Kosovo is not the
truth, but realization of justice. Since this is a matter of flagrant
violation of international humanitarian law and since genocidal acts
against a whole people have happened, the only and the most moral way is
for those responsible for war crimes to be publicly condemned.
Not only the bearers of Serbian and Yugoslav policy indicted by the
Hague Tribunal should face justice, but all the other persons -
soldiers, policemen, paramilitary and civilians - who were directly
involved in crime in various forms. When we have in mind the proportions
of the committed crimes it seems that the number of persons responsible
for them is considerable and they should be tried in Serbia or in the
Hague. Taking criminals to court was the main demand of the victims in
postwar Kosovo.
The last reason for facing the past is compensation which according to
experience should take two main forms. The first refers to the
phenomenon of asking absolution. In case of Kosovo it is especially
important that the Serbian and Yugoslav governments assume
responsibility for the crimes committed by the state they are ruling and
to pay reverence in respect of the dignity of the victims. Yugoslav
president Kostunica and Serbian Prime Minister Djindjic should explain
to their fellow citizens that mass murders, torture, rape, "ethnic
cleansing" and other war crimes are a tragedy for the Serbs, not just
the Albanians.
The other form of compensation would be financial although it is
believed that there is no real compensation for mass murders committed
in the past. This is a very complex issue and certainly the view on this
question of the victims and their families should be heard. Since
different forms of crime were committed in Kosovo - destruction of
private and social property, historical, cultural and religious heritage
- financial compensation without doubt is a special aspect of the
process of facing the past.
Enver Hoxhaj
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ZERI, Jan. 4, 2002
HANS HAEKKERUP'S LEGACY
It seems that the sudden departure of Hans Haekkerup from Kosovo in the
end of December and the slow establishment of central authorities in
Kosovo, that together form the current political crisis in Kosovo, have
brought Jean Mari Genoix, OUN Deputy Secretary General Koffi Anan.
Genoix, responsible for peace missions of the OUN who had last time
stayed in Kosovo last spring in order to accelerate the process of
passing the Constitutional Framework, this time visited Pristina more
because of psychological than for political effects. In the
circumstances of profound political crisis Genoix was supposed to bring
a message from Anan on the continued preoccupation of the OUN with
Kosovo. Genoix was also supposed to reconfirm the value of Hakkerup's
political legacy that is according to him built on the Constitutional
Framework and "joint document" of Haekkerup and Covic. Identification of
the legal framework of Kosovo with a problematic political document
cannot but be estimated as a wrong stand and highly debatable message
for Kosovo leaders and public. This stand in fact confirms the concern
of many people in Kosovo about a kind of "political smuggling" of Serbia
into the central institutions of Kosovo through the Belgrade document
and introduction of political parallelism which can bring nothing but
trouble to Kosovo. Should something like that actually happen in the
foreseeable future, the forecasts are realistic that problems may arise
in the relations between the Kosovars and UNMIK in the period after
creation of central authorities. Whoever comes to Kosovo after Haekkerup
will have to face problems the latter has left behind.
Blerim Shala
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PRESS IN BANJA LUKA
NEZAVISNE NOVINE, Jan. 3, 2002
NEW YEAR'S BLUFFING
Politicians in B&H, especially the ones in power, wished the citizens
all the best in the new year and that it be better than the previous
one. In the holiday spirit the ruling team skillfully avoided its own
role in the events that marked the year that has just passed, so
everything that is positive is exaggerated, and everything negative is
put in the context of the general objective crisis.
Radomir Neskovic
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NEZAVISNE NOVINE, Jan. 4, 2002
---
The declarations of some of the high officials of B&H Croat Democratic
Union (HDZ) who have "admitted a part of their own responsibility" for
the failure to found a TV station in Croat language in Mostar sound as
platitudes. It is as if they said the following but put it mildly:
“Sorry, but we have robbed you", that can refer to most that they
stressed in their statements, in a somewhat changed and vulgar form.
Josip Blazevic
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NEZAVISNE NOVINE - REVIJA, Jan. 5-8, 2002
CELEBRATION OR COMMEMORATION
Among the church and state holidays there is yet another - January 9,
the Day of Republika Srpska and its patron saint's day, St. Archdeacon
Stefan's Day. The parliament of Serb people's deputies from the prewar
Assembly of B&H proclaimed it the day of the "state of Bosnian Serbs" at
the time when it was still not in sight how it would end up. It is
extremely cynical that members of the Academy of Sciences of RS were
also squeezed into this celebration although, through the fault of the
very same authorities, nobody knows where this Academy is or what it
does.
Branko Peric
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PRESS IN SKOPJE
UTRINSKI VESNIK, Dec. 31, 2001
THE WAR WAS A SKILFULLY CONTROLLED CLASH
To give the general evaluation of what has happened to us, as many say,
perhaps it is too soon. A longer time distance is needed because in the
evaluation we are still under the impression of what we have seen and
felt, what has happened to us, and that affects our conclusions. "In any
case, this was an untypical clash", believes Zoran Nacev from the
Institute for Defence in Skopje and explains that the crisis cannot be
included into the generally known views of conflicts.
"It was a skillfully designed and controlled clash, from within and
without. The main thing is that this crisis is just a single phase in
reaching the dominant goal of Albanian extremism: creation of a greater
state", Nacev is resolute. He believes that what speaks of the fact that
the conflict was well controlled is that its escalation was prevented in
the manner it happened in Croatia and Bosnia.
The specific quality of Macedonian war is that the conflict got the
support or a permission from abroad. The timing of the beginning of the
war was chosen with no will of ours. The war was launched at the most
awkward moment, in the period when the Ministry of Internal Affairs and
the Army of Macedonia were in the process of restructuring, and it was
easy to do that because extremists were involved in the authorities and
because they had the essential information on the advantages, but
especially of the weaknesses of the enemy - Macedonian authorities.
In his explanation of the involvement of foreigners in the crisis in
this country Nacev says that the main reason why Macedonia was pushed
into war was to eliminate the formerly dominant thesis of Macedonia as
an oasis of peace. "An oasis of peace is an untypical state for this
region. It simply cannot be fitted into the general situation. Even if
an exception was made and Macedonia was an oasis of peace while the
whole region was in a turmoil, that state should be given preferences,
such as membership in the EU and NATO. Therefore, in view of the
situation in the entire former YU, we had to be pushed back to fit in
the average since it is not advisable to have anyone in the region stand
out from the others. This status should refer to all, to Bulgaria,
Croatia, Serbia, Albania, and Macedonia as well. Suddenly, the thesis
about the oasis of peace is not valid any more and the situation
reversed. It may sound strange, but we were supposed to be thrown back,
although with the money from Telecom, for instance, we could have had an
advantage over our neighbours. That is why I say that everything was
controlled".
Sasko Dimevski
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PRESS IN SOFIA
MONITOR, Jan. 2, 2002
Vice Premier, Kostadin Paskalev:
THE DEADLINE OF OIL PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION TO VALONA DOES NOT DEPEND
ON BULGARIA
"The construction of Burgas-Valona oil pipeline will depend on the
calculation of oil giants Chevron and Texaco whether it is profitable
for them to transport oil from the Caspian Sea across Bulgaria and
Albania for Western Europe", declared Vice Premier Kostadin Paskalev.
According to him the destiny of the alternative oil pipeline across
Bulgarian Territory, from Burgas to Alexandrupolis, is directly
connected to the question whether Russia can provide the transportation
of sufficient quantities of Caspian oil to the Greek port and from there
to the countries of the EU.
According to preliminary calculations, the construction of
Burgas-Alexandrupolis pipeline would cost 630 million dollars, and the
alternative, Burgas-Valona, 1.3 billion dollars. Bulgaria could annually
earn 80 million dollars from transportation taxes. For the purpose, it
is necessary to build a new oil terminal in the port of Burgas where
150-thousand ton tankers would land. However, our country cannot ensure
this investment with the present state of the budget, minister of
regional development is decisive.
Todor Varcev
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MONITOR, Jan. 4, 2002
PARLIAMENT PUTS UNREGISTERED PLANE AT KFOR'S DISPOSAL
AN-26 airplane that the parliament put at the disposal of KFOR mission
in Kosovo does not have orderly documents, a source from the VVS General
Staff stated. The military airplane was not registered as an aircraft
and that was the reason why the airport authorities arrested the plane
and the crew. There were several such cases at the Pristina airport. The
paradox was that the airplane was detained at Sofia airport as well when
it had brought members of KFOR on leave, the military pilots add. In
Kosovo all flights are already controlled by civilian authorities and
military planes enjoy no privileges.
The confusion began because of bureaucratic irregularities - in Bulgaria
there is no Register of military airplanes so they do not have the legal
foundation to be used abroad. "We lack resources to register planes
according to the requirements of IKAO international flight
organization", it was stated at the General Staff. Head of General
Staff, Miho Mihov, confirmed that the problem exists. He confirmed that
negotiations are under way with the Ministry of Transportation on the
regulation of the status of Bulgarian aircrafts.
Vencislav Lakov
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TRUD, Jan. 4, 2002
MACEDONIA, WHO ARE YOU WITH?
Will there be a new "Berlin Agreement" on the future of Macedonia? This
is the main question caused by disintegration processes on ethnic basis
stirred up by Albanian extremists in the still unstable civil society of
our neighbour. The cruel reality has like who knows how many times
before put ethnic identity on test and caused the accelerated process of
stratification especially in intellectual circles. Among Macedonian
writers and journalists it is nowadays customary to openly put the
following question: "If in an extreme situation you would have to choose
between Serbia and Bulgaria which country would you be in favour of?" It
seems that the answer of the majority would be - Serbia.
Perhaps speculating with the pronounced and understandable anti-Albanian
disposition from the period of open violence, pro-Serb circles have
launched a massive offensive in electronic media, newspapers, publishing
companies. Majority of the announcers in private TV stations are Serbs
and pro-Serb Macedonians. Serbs are the editors of printed editions such
as Dnevnik, Start and Aktuel. In the administration there are pro-Serb
officials who are uniting into closed "interest groups". The activities
of various associations of local Serbs have suddenly become active as
well as women's organizations, cultural and educational societies that
are inclined towards them. Literary Racin's award was awarded to
Dimitrije Duracovski, a writer of Vlach origin. His book "Insomnia"
openly advocates the "northern option" (Serbia) as the only alternative
to Macedonian culture (?). It appears that the objective is to announce
(especially to the foreigners) high relative weight of the Serb element
in the sphere of culture especially in Skopje and the region around it.
Suggestions that Skopje and Kumanovo are undoubtedly in the sphere of
Serb cultural influence seem to be unambiguous announcements of certain
aspirations. And why not of a future division of Macedonia, too?
Petar Georgijev
end
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