Syndicate: Slovenia recognized as a maritime nation

[Syndicate admin <syndicate@v2.nl>]

----- Weitergeleitete Nachricht von geert lovink <geert@xs4all.nl> -----
Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 19:34:45 +1000
From: geert lovink <geert@xs4all.nl>
Subject: Slovenia recognized as a maritime nation
To: Syndicate admin <syndicate@v2.nl>

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
___________________________________________________________
RFE/RL BALKAN REPORT
Vol. 5, No. 54, 3 August 2001

A Twice-Weekly Review of Politics, Media and Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty Broadcasts in the western Balkans

****************************
HEADLINES:
* SLOVENIA AND CROATIA REACH BORDER AGREEMENT
* ALBANIAN DEMOCRATS ANNOUNCE PARLIAMENTARY BOYCOTT
* RELIGION AND THE MACEDONIAN CONFLICT.
****************************

SLOVENIA AND CROATIA REACH BORDER AGREEMENT. After 10 years
of negotiations, Slovenia and Croatia have concluded a border
agreement, initialed on 19 July by prime ministers Janez Drnovsek and
Ivica Racan. Both parties are hopeful that ratification will take
place this fall.
The most publicized aspects concern Slovenia's access to
international waters and the ceding to Croatia of four disputed
villages, but the agreement also affects the entire 670-kilometer
border and opens the way for setting up 27 new border crossings (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 26 July 2001). The deal was initialed on the same
day as the long-awaited Slovene ratification of a previous agreement
on cross-border traffic and cooperation, and the announcement of a
draft agreement on the jointly owned Krsko nuclear plant, which is
located in Slovenia and dates from communist times.
The maritime border agreement grants Slovenia a 3.6 kilometer
by 12 kilometer passageway to international waters -- while retaining
Croatia's maritime border with Italy -- and territorial rights to 80
percent of the Piran Bay. Understandably, Slovene fishermen have
welcomed the deal, while their Croatian counterparts are less
enthusiastic. The sea agreement secures a strategic objective for
Slovenia and officially confirms its status as a maritime country.
The land negotiations proceeded from the border as of 25 June
1991, the date both countries declared their independence from
Yugoslavia. This border was based on internal Yugoslav and earlier
Austro-Hungarian administrative boundaries. It has now been adjusted
most significantly in Istria, to correspond to the course of the
Dragonja River. This resulted in the ceding to Croatia of the
settlements of Skodelin, Buzini, Mlini, and Skrili, including 20
houses and 58 residents, most of whom have declared themselves to be
of Slovene nationality. They will receive special privileges,
including tax exemptions, rights to Slovenian education and health
care, and the opportunity to apply for Slovenian citizenship.
The agreement also deals with changes in traditional border
patterns because of natural developments. No matter how well a border
is surveyed, natural forces can sooner or later set the results in
disarray. This is currently the case with some of Slovenia's Alpine
borders with Austria, originally set along watershed lines that
erosion has since shifted several meters.
A comparable phenomenon has occurred along the Mura River
border with Croatia. Years of meandering left pockets of Slovene
territory on the Croatian side of the river and vice-versa, and the
convoluted traditional border bears little resemblance to the current
course of the river. But the latest agreement creates a more natural
boundary along the Mura.
The new agreement has assigned to Croatia outright one
additional disputed area, namely Trdinov vrh/Sveta Gera in the
Gorjanci Mountains, where Croatia has received a former Yugoslav
military facility. The pact also deals with the Snezniski gozd, a
disputed forest, which is now split between the two countries.
The final demarcation process will be slow and involve a
standing commission that will take into account regional, economic,
and geographical factors with a latitude of 50 meters deviation from
the negotiated line. The daily "Vecer" pointed out on 27 July that
the negotiated line was drawn on a 1:25,000 map, on which a 1-
milimeter-wide line corresponds to a 25-meter swath on the ground --
a source of potential difficulties for even the best of neighbors.
The reaction in Slovenian political circles to the agreement
has been largely positive. Most parties have expressed satisfaction
at putting a host of problems aside and getting on with improving
life for people on both sides of the border. The government points
out that the border agreement, made quietly and without international
mediation, helps pave the way for EU accession and could serve as a
model for similar sea access issues involving Croatia and Bosnia-
Herzegovina, and Croatia and Yugoslavia. However, Zmago Jelincic's
Slovene National Party (SNS) sounded a characteristically sour note,
labeling the cooperation agreement a "big bungle." Janez Jansa's
Social Democratic Party of Slovenia (SDSS) expressed concerns about
some alleged long-term negative consequences.
For some local residents as well, the loss of 113 hectares of
Slovene territory has left a bitter taste. One vocal opponent is
Josko Joras, a Piran town councilor who led a 10-year legal battle to
keep his property south of the Dragonja in Slovenia. Although there
was initial talk of excluding his property from the transfer, his
house and 1.7 hectares were ceded to Croatia. Joras has condemned the
agreement as the result of a "flabby" foreign policy on the part of
Ljubljana. He characterizes the pact as just the latest in a series
of territorial "losses": the 1918 loss of Carinthia to Austria, the
1945 loss of Trieste and Gorizia to Italy, and the 1954 loss of
Slovene ethnic territory north of the Mirna River to Croatia (after
the dissolution of the Free Territory of Trieste).
Ultimately, it is such small-scale human terms that the border
issue comes down to. Whether it is the Cmager family home -- which
was located on Slovene territory but accessible only from Croatia --
or the cemetery near the Slovene village of Hrvoji -- traditionally
used by families from neighboring Croatian settlements but recently
inaccessible to them due to the lack of a convenient border crossing
-- people on both sides have largely welcomed measures designed to
ease their lives.
The settlement also has its lighter side: the Kalin Restaurant
in Obrezje will continue to have the border running through the
middle of its building -- with the cash register on the Slovene side.
(Donald F. Reindl. The author is a freelance writer and Indiana
University Ph.D. candidate in Ljubljana. dreindl@indiana.edu)

ALBANIAN DEMOCRATS ANNOUNCE PARLIAMENTARY BOYCOTT. The
opposition Union for Victory coalition, which is dominated by the
Democratic Party (PD), has decided not to recognize the election
results of 24 June's general elections and to boycott parliament (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 31 July 2001). PD leader Sali Berisha charged the
government with manipulating the elections and using police
intimidation during the voting process.
PD International Relations Department Secretary Besnik Mustafaj
said on 31 July that the decision to boycott parliament was the
"result of discussions within the party and it is not a decision
taken only by the five leaders" of the group.
Petro Koci, who is the Socialist Party's (PS) organizational
secretary, told "Albanian Daily News" of 1 August that the
opposition's move was "a hasty and immature decision, [which] will
not bring anything good to the opposition." Putting the blame for the
boycott on Berisha, Koci warned that the former president's decision
will serve to isolate the opposition. But Koci expressed his
conviction "that the opposition will find a way to save itself from
Berisha." He added that "the opposition boycott shows that the PD has
failed to keep promises made to the voters and the international
community [that it will assume the role of a] constructive opposition
and accept the results" of the elections.
The New Democratic Party (PD e Re) is likely to play such a
"constructive opposition" role in the future. Dashamir Shehi, one of
the senior leaders of the party, said that he agrees with most of the
PD's complaints about the electoral process, adding however, that
this does not justify a parliamentary boycott. Shehi stressed, "It is
time to deal with the country's major problems and not boycott the
parliament."
Meanwhile, according to Koci, the PS intends to continue its
Alliance for the State government coalition with several smaller
parties for the next four years. Koci added that "there has never
been any doubt about the continuity of the coalition."
The PS formed the Alliance for the State after the general
elections in 1997, together with the Social Democrats (PSD), the
Democratic Alliance (AD), the mainly ethnic Greek Human Rights Union
Party (PBDNJ), and the Agrarian Party (PA). The PS had an absolute
majority in the legislature but wanted to promote the image of being
inclusive.
In this year's general elections, in which the PS again won an
absolute majority of parliamentary seats, the PA failed to get into
parliament, while the other three coalition partners just managed to
pass the 2.5 percent hurdle. Some PSD and AD politicians have
recently questioned whether their further participation in the
coalition makes any sense.
In any event, the PS leadership will make public its
nominations for prime minister on 3 August, while the party's
steering committee will select its candidate within two weeks of that
date (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 20 July 2001). Among the most
prominent challengers to current Prime Minister Ilir Meta are former
Minister for Public Order Spartak Poci, who now has the public works
portfolio, and Finance Minister Arben Malaj.
Since the fall of communism nearly a decade ago, both of the
country's two large rival parties -- the PS and the PD -- have
offered participation in government to smaller and often numerically
insignificant parties. This practice was designed to present an image
of inclusiveness, but it may become increasingly anachronistic as
Albania moves toward a two- or possibly three-party system. (Fabian
Schmidt)

RELIGION AND THE MACEDONIAN CONFLICT. Veteran Balkan
correspondent Erich Rathfelder wrote in Vienna's "Die Presse" on 26
July that Macedonia's two most important religious organizations --
the Macedonian Orthodox Church and the Islamic Community -- are
unlikely to provide much help in bridging the ethnic divide.
The Orthodox Church received separate autocephalous status in
1957 as part of Josip Broz Tito's policy of promoting a distinct
Macedonian nation (as opposed to treating the Macedonian Slavs as
Serbs or Bulgarians). This move has not been recognized by Orthodox
churches in neighboring countries, and the Serbian Orthodox Church
still believes that it is the "rightful" church in Macedonia.
Although the Macedonian Orthodox Church claims to be the oldest
church in the region by tracing its roots to Saints Cyril and
Methodius, Rathfelder argues that, in reality, the church feels
isolated and insecure. Its proudest achievement was acquiring the
status of "state church" under Article 19 of the 1994 changes to the
constitution. The church is therefore very much conscious of its role
as a defender of national pride.
The Muslims argue that the title of "state church" is not
justified by the number of Orthodox believers. The Muslim leaders say
that only 40 percent of the population is Orthodox, while some 50
percent are Muslim. These include not only Albanians, but also Turks,
most Roma, and even some Slavic groups. (Muslim officials apparently
did not tell Rathfelder how they arrived at their figures.)
The Muslims recently sought to draft a joint declaration on the
current conflict with the Roman Catholics and other religious groups
in Macedonia, but the Orthodox Church declined to take part. In the
draft text, the signatories condemned the UCK's use of violence but
also demanded more legal equality for the ethnic Albanian population.
One Muslim official told Rathfelder that he opposes the
violence, adding, however, that he can understand how some people
became frustrated after 10 years of peaceful political activity
failed to produce sufficient redress for the Albanians' grievances.
The official added that the Macedonian forces, moreover, are making
war not only against the UCK "but also against God": he claimed that
the security forces "have destroyed 47 mosques since the beginning of
the conflict" in the spring. Again, Rathfelder's interlocutor did not
provide evidence for his figures.
The Islamic theologian noted that "the Orthodox" under
Milosevic used religion to mobilize their followers and "destroy
Yugoslavia." He charged that the Macedonian church is now mobilizing
its followers, and that the result will be to "destroy Macedonia."
Rathfelder concludes that the Orthodox Church is too insecure
to take the lead in seeking reconciliation across the ethnic and
religious divide. He also believes that the Islamic Community has not
sufficiently distanced itself from the UCK to win credibility among
the Orthodox as a force for peace. (Patrick Moore)

QUOTATIONS OF THE WEEK.

"But signing that document [for a political settlement] while our
territories are occupied by terrorists would be a shameful agreement
for Macedonia. We must take back our occupied territories because we
can't close our eyes to the fact that we are talking under the threat
of guns. Macedonia has the military equipment and able police and
soldiers who are ready to implement the [law as set down in the]
constitution." -- Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski. Quoted by
Reuters at the Prohor Pcinjski monastery on Ilinden, 2 August.

"Despite the great challenges and suffering that all people from both
sides of the River Drina have faced, the Democratic Party of Serbia
(DSS) and the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) have managed to preserve
their original principles. We in the DSS and the SDS are persistent
in our claim that there is no democracy without a national element,
and vice versa." -- Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica. Quoted in
"Politika" on 31 July in conjunction with the signing of a
cooperation pact between his DSS and Radovan Karadzic's SDS.

"The current leaders of Serbia and Yugoslavia are CIA stooges." --
Russian State Duma Defense and Security Committee member Viktor
Ilyukhin (Communist). Quoted by Interfax in Moscow on 1 August.

(Compiled by Patrick Moore)
*************************************************
Copyright (c) 2001. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.

The RFE/RL Balkan Report is prepared by Patrick Moore
based on sources including reporting by RFE/RL's South
Slavic Service. It is distributed every Tuesday and Friday.

Direct content-related comments to Patrick Moore in Prague at
moorep@rferl.org or by phone at (+4202) 2112-3631.
For information on subscriptions or reprints, see:
http://www.rferl.org/reprints/content.asp
Back issues are online at http://www.rferl.org/balkan-report/

Technical queries should be emailed to: iteam@rferl.org

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
Send an email to balkanreport-request@list.rferl.org with
the word subscribe as the subject of the message.

HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE
Send an email to balkanreport-request@list.rferl.org with
the word unsubscribe as the subject of the message.

NEWS BROADCASTS ONLINE
Listen to news for the South Slavic region daily at RFE/RL's
24-Hour LIVE Broadcast Studio on the RFE/RL Web site:
http://www.rferl.org/realaudio/

See also South Slavic Report at http://www.rferl.org/southslavic/
___________________________________________________________
RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC


----- Ende der weitergeleiteten Nachricht -----




-----Syndicate mailinglist--------------------
Syndicate network for media culture and media art
information and archive: http://www.v2.nl/syndicate
to post to the Syndicate list: <syndicate@eg-r.isp-eg.de>
to unsubscribe, write to <majordomo@eg-r.isp-eg.de>, in
the body of the msg: unsubscribe syndicate your@email.adress