MACEDONIA DRAWING NEAR TO THE NATO

Whether the number of American soldiers in Macedonia will increase from the present 300 to five thousand, is not certain. President Gligorov expresses his "great concern" because of the possible consequences on the entire region if the problem of the siege of Sarajevo is not solved. Do speculations about NATO planning to use Macedonia as a transit base in case of a military intervention in Bosnia have any foundations?

AIM, Skopje, February 15, 1994

The wish of the Macedonian state leadership to have Macedonia join the NATO project "Partership for Peace", has become official since Tuesday. The Macedonian Minister of foreign affairs, Stevo Crvenkovski, sent a letter expressing this request to NATO Secretary General, Manfred Verner. Therefore, a period of expectations for the answer from Brussels follows.

Should, besides, the announcement of the chief of Greek diplomacy, Karlos Papullas, that Greece will not exercise its right of veto to prevent Macedonia's membership in the CSCE, come true, nothing will stand in the way of the ambitions of this former Yugoslav Republic.

Whether the number of American soldiers in Macedonia will increase from the present 300 to five thousand, as already announced by the Macedonian media, is still uncertain, though. Togo West, the Secretary of the American Army responsible for political issues and the head of the high American military delegation which visited Skopje on Monday, said that he knew nothing of such plans.

The Macedonian Minister of Defence, Vlado Popovski, after the talks with the American military representatives, assessed also that in the circumstances as they are now "the present contingent is quite sufficient". In other words, as he clarified, "Macedonia and the region are considered as comparatively stable, there is no cause for alarm, nor for additional forces".

This peaceful tone of Popovski is somewhat inconsistent with the official statement of the office of Macedonian President issued on the occasion of the talks President Gligorov and the Minister of the Exterior, Steva Crvenkovski, had with the special envoy of the Russian President, Vitaliy Churkin. The words of Gligorov expressing his "serious concern" are underlined in the statement, because of the "possible consequences on the entire region" in the case a solution for the problem of the siege of Sarajevo is not found.

But, in spite of his "serious concern", the Macedonian President has no doubts concerning the solution of the current crisis in Bosnia & Herzegovina. He stressed that after the decision of the NATO, the last moment has come for all the parties in conflict to draw a lesson from the war so far - the statement reads. The main issue is, it is added, to have the weaponry withdrawn and Sarajevo protected from further destruction and human victims.

Whether that was exactly what Churkin wished to hear in view of the negative attitude of Russia towards the ultimatum of the NATO given to Bosnian Serbs, remains a mystery. His assessment, however, was unpleasant. Having emphasized at the press conference that "Russia is doing all that is necessary to find a political solution for the crisis", he said that "any type of escalation in Bosnia & Herzegovina would have consequences on the entire region, even outside the borders of Yugoslavia".

Churkin did not wish to elaborate whether that might mean a threat to Macedonia, as well. To a journalist's question what effects the air attacks of the NATO in Bosnia could have on Macedonia, he answered shortly - "It is easier for you to assess that than it is for me". So, after Monday, the day of lively diplomacy in Macedonia, when both Vitaliy Churkin and the high American Delegation consisting of Togo West, David Maddocks, the Chief of the American Army Command in Europe, and James Jonas, the Chief of Staff of the Associated Forces in Europe found themselves in its capital

• many issues still remained unanswered.

True enough, the Macedonian Minister of Defence took the opportunity to deny certain speculations. Thus he rejected as unfounded the information about the NATO plans to use Macedonia as "a transit base in possible military intervention in Bosnia". According to his words he had neither heard nor received such a request. It is a matter of a dilemma of the press, and not at all that of official politics.

VERA GEORGIEVSKA