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- Workshop entitled "Financial literacy and debt management" will take place from 21st to 23rd of July 2010 in the GEM Club in Skopje's Old Bazaar.
The goal of the workshop is to provide basic knowledge on personal finance management for the participants, so they can adequately plan and manage their expenses, in order to prevent excessive indebtedness. |
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- Calendar of Activities Archive |
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News and Events ECONOMIC REFORMS PROGRAM
My Money - Personal Finance Management Manual
Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia published the publication "My Money - Personal Finance Management Manual" by the Croatian author Stribor Erega as part of the Personal Finance Management Project. The publication has been translated from Croatian into Macedonian language, and adapted in accordance to the Macedonian legislature and the conditions of the local finance products markets.
The goal of the manual is to help readers break free from overwhelming indebtedness and how to smartly manage their personal and family budgets. | | | | TRILATERAL FORUM
Opening Dialogue and Developing Relations among Think Tanks in Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania
The trilateral forum “Opening Dialogue and Developing Relations among Think Tanks in
Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania” will be held on July 14th (Wednesday) 10:00h, in the Hotel Continental, Skopje. The forum is an initiating event within the framework of the project for connecting research centres in these three countries.
The project is initiated by Forum - Centre for Strategic Research and Documentation, Skopje in partnership with the KIPRED Institute, Pristina and the Albanian Media Institute, Tirana.
The project is aiming at creating a platform for promoting and devising more specific forms of joint actions and projects of the research centres in both a long-term and short-term perspective. The development of an intellectual think-tank line between Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania, in cooperation with the academic, NGO and media community from all three countries will be aimed at improving the cooperation between the influential centres of these neighbouring countries from the Balkans.
The event will consist of three thematic sessions dedicated to the cultural and academic cooperation, media and NGO cooperation and inter-ethnic relations in Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo.
Speakers at the event: Slavica Indzevska, Gjuner Ismail, Kim Mehmeti, Aleksandar Matovski, Sasho Ordanovski, Adelina Marku, Zoran Bojarovski from Macedonia, Remzi Lani, Piro Misha, Adri Nurelari from Albania and Ili Hoxha, Krenar Gashi, Burim Ejupi, Alejtin Berisha from Kosovo.
The project is financially supported by the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia through the East East: Partnership Beyond Borders program.
Download the agenda (.pdf, 449 KB)
| | | | | | | | ANNOUNCEMENT
The start of the application of the Law on free legal assistance marked by many discovered omissions in the text of the Law!
On the occasion of the beginning of the implementation of the Law on free legal assistance1, which was adopted in December 2009, and became effective on July 7, 2010, the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia (FOSIM) and the Macedonian Young Lawyers’ Association (MYLA) supported by Guardians of Civil Rights, held an informational meeting on the topic "Challenges before the establishment of the free legal assistance system in the Republic of Macedonia".
The meeting, held at the Holiday Inn hotel, was the last of the series of meetings with citizens’ associations that took place throughout Macedonia over the last month as part of the project "Monitoring of the application of the Law on free legal assistance," implemented by FOSIM and MYLA. The meeting was attended by representatives of associations that are providing legal assistance as part of their activities, as well as representatives of state institutions whose jurisdiction covers certain aspects of the implementation of the Law (Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Public Revenue Office, Central Register of the Republic of Macedonia, etc.).
During the meeting, the representative of the Ministry of Justice presented the solutions provided in the Law, whereas the representatives of FOSIM and MYLA presented some of the dilemmas arising from the text of the Law, that could lead to problems for its implementation. The narrow scope of the Law, i.e. the small number of potential beneficiaries of free legal assistance was said to be part of the weaknesses of the text of the law, as well as the difficult conditions for associations to obtain authorization for providing free legal assistance and the vague and imprecise solutions in the Law that would lead to problems in practice. During the discussion, some of the representatives of the associations were sceptic as to the motivation of associations to apply for authorization for providing free legal assistance, due to the very difficult conditions.
FOSIM and MYLA will continuously monitor the process of implementation of the Law, and an analysis will be prepared about the application of the Law in the first year after its adoption.
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1"Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia" No. 161/2009
| | | | LETTER TO THE COMMITTEE
LETTER TO THE COMMITTEE
Dear members of the committee,
Last Thursday you have once again demonstrated total disregard for democracy as a system. As a ruling party in a formally democratic country, you have once again demonstrated that you do not care about your responsibility to create and nurture a democratic setting. On the contrary, you have once again presented the public with your lists and a short video that was supposed to reveal some kind of a conspiracy. What would that be? That some people were actually where they have previously announced they would be! We understand that the preparation of your termination lists has deep historical roots in your party, since it was established. We also understand the latest totalitarian party that you have recently discovered, coming down to a recommendation from you on how to watch and read the media, and lately, how to perceive some public persons. With this attitude, it seems that you will end up giving recommendations on the type of wallpapers and curtains that citizens should have in their living rooms and what kind of food they should be buying...
Download the complete text (Macedonian) (.pdf) | | | | | | | | LAW PROGRAM
The citizens interested in the right to free access to public information
Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia and the Macedonian Young Lawyers’ Association are familiarizing the Macedonian citizens with the right to free access to public information through the project "The right to know, the right to participate".
Today (July 5th, 10-13h), an information stand was placed before the building of the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia, where the interested citizens were asking questions and getting legal assistance concerning free access to public information.
Leaflets in Macedonian and Albanian language were distributed to more than 200 citizens who were willing to know more about the right to free access to public information. In addition, 100 Comments on the Law on free access to public information and on the amendments to the law effective since June 1st this year were also distributed.
This meeting with the citizens is the second of the four planned for 2010 as part of the project "The right to know, the right to participate!".
| | | | CEM Debate in Kumanovo
The people are encouraged to fight against the pharaoh policy of Gruevski
The Government is conducting a confusing policy in the name dispute with Greece, and the different statements of the Macedonian statesmen before the Macedonian and the international public reveal the desire of the government of Macedonia to never enter the EU and NATO. These are some of the conclusions from the debate "Can we join the EU and NATO without a compromise?" organized by the "Citizens for European Macedonia" initiative, held on June 29 in Kumanovo.
Zarko Trajanoski stated that last week's opposition rally is encouraging and proves that the Macedonian public is becoming louder against the non-European policy of the current government.
According to Mersel Biljali, Prime Minister Gruevski is conducting a pharaoh policy, which will have far-reaching consequences for the Republic of Macedonia, "Gruevski is conducting a policy of a pharaoh. And where there are pharaohs, there are also pyramids. Hence, we have a pyramidal administration that consists of about 12 percent of the work-capable population, and we also have a pyramidal economy based on the new debts. During the last four years, our foreign debt has been increased by one billion euros, and the domestic debt has also been increased. We would have already joined the NATO if it wasn’t for this irresponsible policy that made our country lose the leading position in the Balkans, and become the last country on the list.
Vladimir Milcin holds a similar position; that the ruling regime is often acting surreal, not seeing that with every day that passes life is getting worse here and that the number of people leaving the country is constantly increasing. Milcin believes that the government does not want to join the EU, because it does not want any external control over the unproductive money spending.
With the debate in Kumanovo, the cycle of debates "Can we join the EU and NATO without a compromise?" has been completed, and according to the CEM initiators, Vladimir Milcin, Roberto Belicanec, Branko Geroski, Mersel Biljali, Nikola Gelevski and Zarko Trajanoski, the debates showed that the domestic public needs a public debate, and that the civil resistance to this government is constantly increasing.
| | | | | | | | LAW PROGRAM
Free access to information, meetings with citizens
The Macedonian Young Lawyers’ Association and the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia marked the beginning of the implementation of amendments to the Law on Free Access to Public Information on June 28, 2010 (Monday), 10:00h.
For this purpose, a stand was placed before the building of the Macedonian Radio and Television (10-14:00h) and educational leaflets for free access to public information were being distributed. At the same time, citizens were able to ask questions and obtain legal assistance regarding free access.
250 leaflets were distributed to the citizens who were interested in the right to free access to information. "We believe that through these direct meetings with the citizens we will be able to raise the awareness about the existence of this right, because according to the research carried out last year, more than 60 percent of the citizens are not familiar with this law," - Jasmina Brezovska from the Macedonian Young Lawyers’ Association stated for Makfax.
Some of the more important novelties in the law which came into force are: (1) deadline for response to a verbal request for free access is now reduced from ten to three days, (2) introduction of a harmfulness test as a mandatory procedure which the Information Holder is required to conduct prior to denying access, and (3) an obligation for information holders to inform the public about their work by publishing their work reports, as well as the laws and bylaws related to their scope of work, statistics etc.
The event was covered by some of the Macedonian media:
À1: http://www.a1.com.mk/vesti/default.aspx?VestID=124736
Ìàê ôàêñ: http://www.makfax.com.mk/_home/home#110962
Íåò ïðåñ: http://www.netpress.com.mk/vest.asp?id=73639&kategorija=1
ÌÐÒ: http://www.mrt.com.mk//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30428&Itemid=27
Àëôà ÒÂ: http://www.vesti.alfa.mk/default.aspx?mId=36&egId=6&eventId=24307
This meeting with the citizens is the first of the four planned to take place in 2010 as part of the project "I have the right to know, the right to participate!" implemented by the Macedonian Young Lawyers’ Association and supported by the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia.
Doanload the leaflet "Free Access to Public Information" (only in Macedonian) (.pdf)
| | | | CEM Debate in Bitola
Admission to the EU and NATO of vital interest to Macedonia
The Citizens for European Macedonia initiative continued the series of debates "Can we join the EU and NATO without a compromise?" At the debate held on June 23, in Bitola, Vladimir Milcin, Zarko Trajanoski, Roberto Belicanec, Mersel Biljali, Nikola Gelevski, Branko Geroski and Lidija Dimova re-actualized the debate on European integration. According to them, although admission to the EU and NATO is of vital interest to Macedonia, the citizens are being manipulated that the country can join the EU and NATO without a compromise in the name dispute.
Economic analyst Mersel Biljali believes that Macedonia has lost 15 billion euros of foreign investments by missing the chance to join NATO in 2008: "If we compare Macedonia to the countries that became NATO members in 2008, and compare all the parameters such as territory, population, etc., Macedonia would have received about 15 billion euros in these three years (2008, 2009 and 2010). This would mean 100,000 new jobs, but instead, we were not included in the AMBO project said Bilali, adding that the quickest way to join the EU and NATO is without Gruevski, i.e. with a responsible government.
The other initiators of CEM highlighted the manipulation to which citizens are exposed regarding the name dispute. According to them, associating the name and national identity is an artificial phenomenon and the result of the dangerous propaganda of the government. Therefore, the initiators of CEM asked the public to actively participate in the creation of its own future. "The fact is that we do not have much time. Things can be fixed, but it all depends on us”, said Vladimir Milcin.
Lidija Dimova from the Macedonian Centre for European Training presented several examples supporting her opinion that the Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is actually not interested in EU and NATO accession, although he declares to be.
| | | | | | | | Announcement of the CEM initiators
Dear citizens,
We, the initiators of the "Citizens for European Macedonia” movement, inform the public that we have decided to support the protest which is to be held on Sunday, June 27, starting at 20.00, before the building of the Government of RM. Our support also means our participation in the rally and a call to the members and supporters of CEM to do the same: attend the rally and support the strengthening of a large opposition front against the current government, a front that should not consist only of political parties, because politics is not a prerogative of the political parties; that front is mostly needed because the current Government is seriously jeopardizing the future of the whole country.
For four years now, our country has been straying away from the road that leads to the European Union and NATO. The current government, although it has an absolute majority in the parliament, and therefore the greatest responsibility and obligation to realize our goal to become part of the European family, leads an anti-European policy and encourages Euroscepticism as well as the illusion that Macedonia has an alternative to the EU and NATO.
What is worse is that this adventurous policy, which also undermines the inner cohesion of our multiethnic society, is presented as "patriotism" to the nation. To that end, the government is leading a systematic pursuit against pro-EU forces in Macedonia, stigmatizing them as "traitors". So-called journalists from corrupted media are engaged in this dirty propaganda, while the freedom of public speech is suppressed with hate speech, threats and staged court processes against the political opponents.
We, the initiators of the "Citizens for European Macedonia" movement believe that we should not and must not be silent anymore. The result of the Government’s fatal policy is evident - Macedonia is sinking into a crisis, unemployment and spiritual poverty. More and more people’s money are being spent on unproductive and megalomaniac projects, baroque buildings and monuments, spent for strengthening the secret police, for employments of party soldiers, propaganda campaigns and for building a cult of Nikola Gruevski’s personality, rather than the money being returned to the taxpayers in the form of capital investments, better health, education and other public benefits.
We believe that opposing this government is not a matter of daily political manoeuvrings, but common sense, honour and concern for our future. This is why we see the June 27 rally as yet another opportunity to join our forces against the false patriotism and against the policies threatening the freedom, democracy and European perspectives of our homeland. We don’t want to just stand by and calmly watch as the government manipulates the people and spreads fear, apathy and escapism before the elections - that would make us hypocritical and dishonest.
We are expecting the support of the members and supporters of “Citizens for European Macedonia”, confident that our voice against obscurantism and the attempts to divide us is now our most patriotic task.
Sincerely,
Roberto Belicanec, Mersel Biljali, Nikola Gelevski, Branko Geroski, Vladimir Milcin, Zarko Trajanovski
| | | | CEM in Veles
Can we join the EU and NATO without a compromise?
In the past four years, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has been constantly deteriorating the international position of Macedonia and has not been working on the national interests. At the debate held on June 18 in Veles, the initiators of the Citizens for European Macedonia (CEM) movement accused PM Gruevski for spreading false patriotism to the detriment of the Macedonian integration in the EU and NATO.
"Could we have joined the EU and NATO without a compromise, before Gruevski? If we were able to obtain candidate status in 2005 and be in front of the doors of NATO under the FYROM acronym, then surely we would have been able to become a NATO member and get a negotiations date, if it wasn’t for the nationalist policy of Gruevski" stated Zarko Trajanoski.
Nikola Gelevski shared the same position, pointing out the project Skopje 2014 as an example of a forced rearrangement of the Macedonian identity. On the other hand, aside from the poor domestic policy, Merselj Bilali also pointed out the poor foreign policy as a reason for the stalemate, i.e. making personal interests a priority, to the detriment of national interests.
Irena Stefoska from the Institute of Natural History noted that Macedonia has always shared the European values and that the Macedonian authorities must find a reasonable solution to the name dispute, and that we should become part of the EU as soon as possible, where we actually belong.
A long and fruitful debate took place at the forum attended by a hundred citizens of Veles, which proved that the citizens of Macedonia are eager for discussion and exchange of arguments.
| | | | | | | | Action for Europe in Kavadarci
The European market demands wine with a constant quality
Macedonia's wine producers should produce quality bottled wine from indigenous varieties with a geographic origin that would be recognizable on the European market. Only in this way, the Macedonian wine would not be exported as non-bottled, in large quantities and at a low price. This is the recommendation of the conference "Wine - European experiences and Macedonian opportunities" held in Kavadarci on June 16, 2010, as part of the "Action for Europe" initiative, organized by the Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia (FOSIM), the Macedonian Centre for European Training (MCET), the Youth Educational Forum (YEF) and the 11 centers for local development.
In the introductory part of the conference, the Greek Ambassador to Macedonia, Alexandra Papadopoulou and acting Slovak Ambassador Robert Kirnag, talked about the priorities of their countries in terms of foreign policy and EU enlargement. Papadopoulou and Kirnag sent a message that they want Macedonia to be a stable country integrated into the EU after findind a resolution to the name dispute.
Speaking of wines with geographic origin, Alfonso Chakon, enologist from Mendtrida, Spain, stressed that the production of quality wine requires full control of the production process. Starting from the planting and processing of the vineyards up to wine storage and packaging. Chakon emphasized that quality must exceed quantity, citing the example of his winery, which is producing small quantities of wine with a high price, but is well accepted among consumers, above all because of the continuity of quality. According to Chakon, Macedonia should place itself on the international wine map by organizing wine related events. Janis Butaris, a renowned wine producer from Nausa, Greece discussed the production of quality wines from traditional varieties. Speaking about the Macedonian wines, Butaris said that Macedonian winemakers must create recognizable indigenous varieties which would be known for their quality.
Mihail Petkov from the Faculty of Agriculture and a member of the European wine club presented the new trends in the Macedonian wine industry. Comparing the situation from previous years, Petkov stated that Macedonian wineries, particularly smaller ones are increasingly focusing on the production of quality wine varieties, which they manage to export as bottled wine in the EU, although in small quantities. Petkov said that nowadays only quality can win the fight with big wine producers.
Through an interesting and educational presentation, Serkos Harutunijan from the Faculty of Agriculture in Athens presented the project for management of waste from the wine industry "Dionysus". Not only that the environment is protected with this project, but new products are created from the wine waste via chemical processes, generating additional income. Harutunijan emphasized that the processing of wine waste results with organic fertilizer, raw materials for the cosmetic industry as well as high-nutrition forage supplementations.
Aleksandar Nikolovski from the Secretariat for European Affairs pointed out the new challenges for Macedonian wine, such as the increase of bottled wine production, determination of geographical origin and the strengthening of the national administrative capacities. According to Nikolovski, all of these aspects will be covered by the national strategy for viticulture and enology.
| | | | VIGOROUS DISCUSSION OF HUNDREDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE:
What does the Republic of Macedonia offer to its youth?
 Young people should demand more and if necessary even get into a conflict with the government, but that must be in the interest of the society and state. This is one of the messages of about a hundred young people, participating at the debate which was held last night, June 15 in the CEM club. The discussion, organized by the Youth Educational Forum (YEF) and the Citizens for European Macedonia movement (CEM), confirmed as relevant and important the questions about the uncertain future of the young by delaying the EU integration, and the exclusion of the youth from the decision-making processes on all state levels.
According to the young participants in the debate, youth is not only the future of Macedonia, but also the present and we can not speak about the EU if the young are required to be members of a political party if they want to be employed.
"If the problem is in Macedonia, the solution is in the EU. Otherwise, the youth will lose the opportunity to live like the western world and we will continue to be offered political abuse by all political parties”. - said Andreja Stojkovski, president of the Macedonian Centre for European Training.
 Calling for activism, high school graduate Marinela Majnova from the NGO Focus from Veles suggested that we must not disseminate the false thesis that if Macedonia joins the EU, there will be a mass exodus of the country’s youth.
Martin Galevski also confirmed the confusion of many young people in Macedonia, presenting initial data from the latest survey of YEF. According to the partially processed results of the survey, 40% of high school students in Macedonia believe that the government’s decisions do not affect their life, while 48% of them do not see their future in this country 10 years from now. Participants in the debate stressed the necessity of joining the young people around their interests, and the need to actively implement youth policy. "We must learn to work together, even for small and unusual purposes," said Nikola Gelevski from CEM.
 According to Dona Kosturanova from YEF, the official representatives of student and high school organizations are also the culprits for the apathy among young people.
"Working in politics does not make you a criminal. It means you have decided to express your views publicly”, believes Kristina Lelovac from the Social political ineligible theatre, adding that the youth could bring democracy to Macedonia, with their reasoned actions.
The discussions with the audience at the three-hour debate of YEF and CEM were opened by Bojan Maricic (Youth Educational Forum), Andreja Stojkovski (Macedonian Center for European Training), Mersel Bilali (Citizens for European Macedonia), Marinela Majnova (Local Youth Initiative - Veles, NGO Focus ) Martin Galevski (Youth Educational Forum), Anastas Vangeli (analyst and blogger), Marjan Zabrchanec (Youth Educational Forum), Dona Kosturanova (Youth Educational Forum), Nicholas Gelevski (Citizens for European Macedonia), Jabir Derala (CIVIL), Christina Lelovac (Social political ineligible theatre), Sead Dzigal (blogger), Arti Kormemeti (Local Youth Initiative - Debar, Centre for Sustainable Community Development). | | | | | | | | ACTION FOR EUROPE IN KOCANI
Renewable energy sources - unused potential of Macedonia
 Macedonia has enormous potentials for development of the renewable sources of energy, but the legal, administrative and technical obstacles are hindering the opportunity for their greater exploitation. These were the conclusions of the participants at the conference "Energy Efficiency - European experiences and Macedonian Perspectives" held on June 14 in Kocani, organized by the Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia (FOSIM) and the Macedonian Centre for European Training within the framework of the program "Action for Europe".
Independent expert and long-time chairman of the Energy Regulatory Commission, Slave Ivanovski, discussing about the Macedonian energy policy and what should be done, highlighted the shortcomings of the legal provisions pertaining to energy and energy efficiency: "In 2006 we adopted the Law on Energy, and the amendments introduced in 2008 brought us to an international arbitration. I hope that the new Law on Energy which is being prepared will provide a secure legal framework. The Law on Waters is also important, though it is not functioning yet, and it should regulate the function of the small hydroelectric power plants.
 According to him, except the legal, there are also administrative barriers to achieving energy efficiency in Macedonia, i.e. the high fee needed for the transformation of agricultural to industrial land, as well as the poor technical conditions – the weak power network that can not withstand more producers of electricity.
The representative of the German Embassy Sonja Bonnet and the representative of the EU Mission, Daniel Alexander Schrot, discussed the priorities of the EU in the area of energy policy”, and stressed that the EU is supporting the development of renewable energy sources and that the EU 2020 Strategy projects the renewable energy sources to participate with 20 percent of the total electricity production.
Gabriela Kostova, from the European Information & Innovation Centre Macedonia (EIICM) in the session dedicated to the European funds for support of energy projects, familiarized the guests with the opportunity to obtain funds for projects from the European programs for competitiveness and innovation and the 7th Framework Programme. Sonja Gushkova from Geoterma Kocani presented the project for exploitation of geothermal waters in obtaining thermal energy as a practical example of renewable energy sources exploitation. | | | | CIA Rendition Case Reaches Top European Court
Macedonia Challenged for Complicity in Wrongful Abduction
Contact:
Rachel Aicher, +1 (212) 548-0135, +1 (917) 294-2641, raicher@sorosny.org (New York)
Filip Medarski, +389 70 333 552, filipmedarski@yahoo.com (Macedonia)
NEW YORK, June 14, 2010—The European Court of Human Rights will consider the case of a German citizen who was kidnapped and beaten in connection with the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program, the Open Society Justice Initiative revealed today. This is the first time an extraordinary rendition case related to the “war on terror” has reached Europe’s top court.
Macedonian security forces seized Khaled El-Masri at the request of the United States in December 2003 and held him—incommunicado—for 23 days. El-Masri was then handed over to the CIA and flown to a detention center in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was confined in appalling conditions, interrogated, and abused. After several months, El-Masri was finally released and dumped on a roadside in Albania. Despite overwhelming evidence of its collaboration, Macedonia has denied that El-Masri was detained illegally on its territory or handed over to the CIA.
“European governments must be held accountable for participating in torture, abuse, and kidnappings in association with the CIA’s rendition program,” said James A. Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, which is litigating the case. “United States courts may have closed their doors on this matter, but we hope that El-Masri will find justice before the European Court.”
As with rendition survivor Maher Arar, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear El-Masri’s case. The U.S. government asserted the “state secrets privilege” when challenged in the United States, which resulted in the case’s dismissal. The United States has yet to publicly acknowledge El-Masri’s rendition. He has never been charged with a crime or given any explanation for his treatment.
“Official recognition of what happened is essential for survivors like El-Masri, who are trying to deal with this traumatic experience and move on with their lives,” said Rupert Skilbeck, Justice Initiative litigation director. “Khaled El-Masri has a right to public acknowledgement of the injustice he has suffered, and the people of Europe have a right to know the truth about how their governments colluded with the CIA.”
In May, the Open Society Justice Initiative sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, requesting that the U.S. government publicly confirm that it wrongly rendered El-Masri, as well as provide, in light of its observer status with the Council of Europe, any assistance sought by the European Court. The Justice Initiative also wrote to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, asking her to confirm that the United States government has privately acknowledged its error in El-Masri’s case, as was widely reported in 2005. The letter encouraged Germany to consider intervening in the case on El-Masri’s behalf.
Secretary Clinton has not responded to the Justice Initiative to date. The German government replied, referring the Justice Initiative to a transcript of Merkel’s previous remarks, in which she acknowledged that the U.S. privately admitted to having wrongfully detained El-Masri.
The Open Society Justice Initiative uses law to protect and empower people around the world. Through litigation, advocacy, research, and technical assistance, the Justice Initiative promotes human rights and builds legal capacity for open societies. | | | | | | | | The call for protection of citizens’ privacy submitted to the Assembly
Fifteen organizations assisting the development of the Republic of Macedonia in various aspects, reacted to the threats to privacy and democracy contained in the Draft-Law amending the Law on Electronic Communications, on June 11, calling for the withdrawal of the law from parliamentary procedure.
The call has been supported by more than 250 citizens so far, including prominent solicitors and other intellectuals, and was prepared based on expert analyses, taking into account the views of relevant stakeholders, especially NGOs dealing with human rights protection, expressed in public and at the round table "Privacy in Macedonia" held on June 4, 2010 in Skopje.
The reason for this reaction to the proposed amendments is that those amendments are creating legal opportunities for arbitrary and unlimited use of eavesdropping and other forms of interception of electronic communications that violate the basic postulates of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia (Article 17 and 25) that guarantee the inviolability of all forms of communication and protection of privacy and dignity.
The proposed amendments are in direct contravention with the European Convention on Human Rights and other international agreements ratified by the Macedonian Assembly and the EU Directive 2009/136/EC. The amendments circumvent the norms established by the Law on Personal Data Protection, the Law on Interception of Communications and the Law on Criminal Procedure, and grant the Ministry of Interior with a “constant and direct access” to telecommunication networks’ traffic data.
The initiative launched by the Metamorphosis Foundation, Transparency Macedonia, FOSIM and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights was supported by the Macedonian Centre for European Training, FORUM - CSID, Kontrapunkt, the Council for Global Cooperation, Reactor, YEF, Children's Theatre Centre, CA Common Values, the Centre for Media Development, Freedom Square and Free Software Macedonia.
The full text of the call is available on the website of the Metamorphosis Foundation, and was also submitted to all MPs in Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Minister for Transport and Communications, and to the Delegation of the EU to Macedonia along with relevant supporting documents.
| | | | Press conference of CEM and FOSIM with a debate
The ruling for Boskoski is not a political decision and did not harm Tarculovski
 The "Citizens for European Macedonia" (CEM) movement and Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia (FOSIM), on June 14, in the CEM club, organized a press conference with a debate titled: "The acquittal of Ljube Boskoski is not a political decision". The defence of Ljube Boskoski, Edina Rashidovic and Genel Metro, elaborated the acquittal for Boskoski by The Hague Trbunal and a great number of journalists participated in the discussion, as well as legal experts and university professors. On behalf of the organizers, the "Citizens for European Macedonia” movement and FOSIM, moderator Vladimir Milcin stressed that the purpose of this public debate is to contribute to the setting of a clear boundary between law and politics.
The defence team of Ljube Boskoski, Bosnian lawyer Edina Rashidovic and Dutch Genel Metro, were not willing to talk about the political implications of this case, but spoke about and emphasized its legal aspects. According to them, neither was Macedonia indicted by The Hague tribunal, nor was its right to defend itself violated. Ljube Boskoski was not tried because he ordered or carried out what was happening in Ljuboten, but it was being determined whether there is a command responsibility and how much he as a Minister of Interior has taken all necessary and reasonable measures to punish the perpetrators. The acquittal of Boskoski is not a political decision, but a legal one, based on evidence. He did not harm Johan Tarculovski in any way, or with any document or statement, because he actually never testified against him.
 Lawyer Metro, author of the book "The law of command responsibility”, which is soon to be translated into Macedonian, stressed that this principle is well known in the international law and is used for cases from Sierra Leone to the countries of former Yugoslavia. "The Court Council found that Boskoski had performed all his duties as a superior, although the investigation conducted for the Ljuboten case was not perfect and had many flaws," said Metro.
The press conference was not attended by Ljube Boskoski, so that it would not be deemed political: Before the event, a group of supporters of Johan Tarculovski protested before the CEM club. | | | | | | | | ACTION FOR EUROPE IN STRUMICA
The lack of interest and urban plans - a hindrance for IPARD
The “Action for Europe” held a conference on European experiences and Macedonian perspectives in agriculture, organized by the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia (FOSIM), the Macedonian Centre for European Training (MCET), the Youth Educational Forum (YEF) and the 11 centres for local development on June 11, in Strumica. Over a hundred representatives of numerous nongovernmental and agricultural organizations had the opportunity to be familiarized in detail about the procedure for obtaining funds from the IPARD program, and to also hear the experiences of representatives from EU member states in the field of rural development and agriculture.
Margarita Deleva, state advisor in the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Management familiarized the guests with the procedure for obtaining financial support from the Ministry of Agriculture. By using specific examples, Deleva analyzed the advantages of the modernization and diversification of the production processes.
Daniela Andonova from “Euro Center”, Sveti Nikole, presented the project "Better absorption of the European agriculture funds”, implemented from 2008 to 2010. According to Andonova and her experience, the main obstacles for successful projects for the Macedonian farmers are the lack of interest for registration of individual farmers or legal persons, and not having an urban plan in many rural areas, which prevents applying for subventions.
Jan Barshvari, an expert from Slovakia, shared the experiences from the “Support to IPARD preparation” project in his country: "It is very important that you have begun to use the funds from the IPARD program even before the start of accession negotiations. In the negotiation process, Slovakia was a beneficiary of the SAPARD program, from which we received 26.5 million euros annually. In addition, we were using funds from other programs as well, and today we are receiving more than 250 million euros through the European funds”. Presenting the benefits for farmers from using the SAPARD program, Barshvari emphasized the safety and transparency in awarding grants: "The first benefit for the farmers were not the money, but the increased security as well as easier access to European funds. We have established strict criteria, and strengthened control over the allocation of subventions, i.e. each farmer was able to see how much money he received for his engagement, and this raised the quality of production and increased the competitiveness with other farmers in the EU”.
Ivan McCutcheon from West Cork, a region in the Republic of Ireland showed how a rural region can become a respectable brand. West Cork is a long-time user of the LEADER program through which it became a well known regional brand. Through practical examples and a vivid presentation, McCutcheon presented the entire course of the branding of a rural region: "The strategy of branding a region must be based on natural resources, environmental quality, and on the local knowledge and networking of NGOs and agricultural organizations. The benefits of branding are very important for the overall industrial development."
Slovak Ambassador to Macedonia, Robert Kirnag, referring to the EU integration of Macedonia, expressed reassurance that Macedonia and the Western Balkans have no other alternative to the EU and NATO. Kirnag expressed hope that Macedonia can use the experience of Slovakia when it comes to European integration: "In the 90s we were an isolated country with a population of four million. You have the problem with the name dispute, but we had a problem with our perceptions and the uncertain future. But luckily we prepared a strategy with which we were ready to carry out reforms and in a few years we became full members of OECD, EU and NATO."
| | | | DECLARATION
Respecting the clearly expressed desire of most of the citizens of the Republic of
Macedonia to become part of the European Union and NATO,
Fully aware that in the last two years, irrespective of the progress made in the reform
process, especially before and after receiving the EU candidate-country status,
Macedonia did not live up to the expectations of its European partners and friends,
Understanding the necessity of eliminating the biggest obstacle of the accession
process of Macedonia within NATO and the European Union – the persistent name
dispute with the Republic of Greece,
Sincerely determined to reaffirm the Euro-Atlantic agenda by means of cooperation
and to improve security, stability, interethnic relations and the economy of the
country,
In light of the upcoming European Council, we, the undersigned signatories, adopted
in Skopje, on 11th June 2010 the following
D E C L A R A T I O N
1. The internal integration of Macedonia is tightly intertwined with its integration within
the European Union and NATO since our country shares the civilisation values on
which the Euro-Atlantic integrations are firmly based on;
2. We do not accept the problems encountered on the road of accomplishing our
strategic objective, which resulted from the irrational dispute that has no bearing in
the relations between the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Greece and
between both neighbouring nations to be an excuse for our country to abandon the
Euro-integration process;
3. We announce our earnest support and commitment to resolve the name dispute
with Greece, thereby replacing the provisional reference “Former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia” with a solution that will not pose a threat or jeopardise the attributes of
the ethnic identity of the majority population in our country in a manner inherent to
responsible politicians, with intensive, pro-active and fruitful talks;
4. We believe that a wide public debate in the Republic of Macedonia is necessary to
fulfil these objectives, to encourage pro-European forces, and to break the
stigmatizing attitude towards the European idea due to the tension created by the
name dispute with Greece and the emotions set thereof;
5. We believe that responsible politicians should not avoid leadership obligations,
and we are prepared to contribute in that respect;
6. We call upon the European Union, USA, the Republic of Greece, and all other
European friends to recognise the pro-European forces in our country, as
demonstrated by this Declaration, and to decide to encourage the citizens of the
Republic of Macedonia by strongly supporting their hopes and energising their drive
for European integration of our country.
Skopje, 11th June 2010
| | | | | | | | CEM DEBATE IN GOSTIVAR
Divisions on all grounds, rather than progress of Macedonia in the European integration processes
In the past period, Macedonia has not made any progress in the EU integration processes and instead of results, the government is performing divisions on all grounds, concluded the participants of the debate “Can we join the EU and NATO without a compromise." The debate, organized by the "Citizens for European Macedonia" (CEM) initiative , was held on June 10 in Gostivar.
Speaking about the future of Macedonia, the initiators of CEM, Vladimir Milcin, Branko Geroski, Nikola Gelevski, Roberto Belicanec, Mersel Bilali and Zarko Trajanoski shared different views. Branko Geroski believes that we are going to reach a compromise in the months to come. Gerovski based his views on the recent visit of Boris Tadic and the alleged new proposal that the Macedonian and Greek authorities should discuss. On the other hand, his position was not shared by Roberto Belicanec, according to whom, the government successfully uses force as a ruling instrument and things will not change until the government is faced with another greater force, when it would give in.
The debate in Gostivar showed that a good part of the citizens identify the name change with the change of identity, and the initiators explained through examples that the name change does not mean a change of the identity and cultural heritage.
The city of Veles is the next to host CEM, and the debate will be held on June 18, starting from 18:00
| | | | CEM DECLARATION ON THE EURO-ATLANTIC ORIENTATION OF MACEDONIA
Seventeen pro-European political parties and 55 associations supported the Declaration
Seventeen political parties and 55 associations and foundations, today, June 11, 2010, signed the Declaration for Macedonia in the EU and NATO, initiated by the "Citizens for European Macedonia" movement.
In the CEM club, the signatories of the Declaration, unequivocally stressed that the internal integration of Macedonia is closely related to its integration into the European Union and NATO and that “they will not accept the problems we face on the way towards achieving our strategic goal, which resulted from the groundless irrational dispute in the actual relations between Macedonia and Greece and the two neighbouring nations, to be an excuse for the country to give up the EU integration process."
Political parties: VMRO - National Party, Citizens Liberal Party of Macedonia, the Movement for National Unity of Turks, the Democratic Alliance of Vlachs in Macedonia, the Green Party of the Republic of Macedonia, Liberal Party of Macedonia, New Alternative, New Democracy, New Social Democratic Party, United for Macedonia, Party of Pensioners of the Republic of Macedonia, Party of the Movement of Turks in Macedonia, Party of Free Democrats, the Progressive Party, Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia, Association of Tito left forces, Party for Democratic Action of Macedonia expressed their willingness and commitment, to resolve the name dispute with Greece as responsible politicians with intensive pro-active negotiations giving results, replacing the temporary reference "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" without challenging or threatening the attributes of the ethnic identity of the majority population in the country. At the same time, they stressed that responsible politicians must not avoid the duties of leadership and that they are ready to contribute.
In order to realize these goals, the signatories of the Declaration, believe that it is necessary for Macedonia to instigate a broad public debate whose goal will be to encourage the pro-European forces and stand in the way of the stigmatization of the European idea because of the dispute with Greece and the emotions it is causing.
At the end, the pro-European political parties and citizens associations urged the European Union, USA, Greece and all their European friends, to make a decision at the forthcoming EU Council in Brussels, a decision with which they will encourage the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia and strongly support their hopes for the European perspectives of the country.
| | | | | | | | PRESS-CONFERENCE WITH A DEBATE
The acquittal of Ljube Boskovski is not a political decision
The initiators of the Citizens for European Macedonia movement (CEM) and the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia (FOSIM) are organizing a one hour press conference with a debate “THE ACQUITTAL OF LJUBE BOSKOVSKI IS NOT A POLITICAL DECISION" on June 14, 2010 (Monday) starting at 11 am in the CEM club (Menada, Old Skopje Bazaar).
The defenders in the Hague cause will be speaking at the event (Edina Rashidovic and Guenael Mettraux). Mettraux is the author of the book “The law of command responsibility”. Vladimir Milcin, the executive director of FOSIM will be moderating the debate.
The public experts are also invited to participate with their discussions, comments and questions to speakers in order to contribute to overcome the ambiguities about the basis for the ruling of the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in Hague. | | | | CEM DEBATE IN STRUMICA
Admission to the EU and NATO - a way out of poverty and transition
The government must stop with the false patriotism and reach a compromise with Greece that will ensure a stable future for the country and the nation. This is the message of over 300 participants at the debate, "Can we join the EU and NATO without a compromise" held on the 8th of June in Strumica.
The hall in the House of ARM was too small for all the interested guests, who together with the initiators agreed that Macedonia has been going in the wrong direction for a long time now, when it comes to foreign policy and the process of European integration. Vladimir Milcin once again reiterated that EU and NATO accession is not possible unless a compromise is reached with Greece. "We want to join the EU without a compromise too, but unfortunately, we can’t. We need to make efforts to find a solution that would secure the future of the country and thus the future of the nation”, said Milcin.
According to Zharko Trajanoski, this period is crucial because if we miss this last chance, i.e. the Brussels Summit scheduled for June 17, we are risking not being included in the agenda anymore, and remaining in the European waiting room. When asked about the way out of this situation, Trajanoski replied that the exit is actually the entrance: "Entrance in the EU is the way out of the transition”.
The initiators of the Citizens for European Macedonia (CEM) movement require all pro-European parties in Macedonia to sign a Declaration emphasizing that the pro-EU forces in Macedonia are ready to wrap up the negotiation process with the EU and they are urging Brussels to send encouraging messages to Macedonia because it is very important for us to remain in the process of European integration.
The next debate of CEM will be held in the Centre of Culture in Gostivar, on June 10, 2010, 18:00h.
| | | | | | | | LAW PROGRAM
Promotion of publications on personal data protection
 Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia (FOSIM) and the Directorate for Personal Data Protection (DPDP) promoted the publications: "Comments on the Law on Personal Data Protection" and "Guide for practical implementation of the Rulebook on technical and organizational measures for ensuring secrecy and protection of personal data processing", on June 7. The purpose of these publications is to raise the level of personal data protection.
The Comments on the Law on Personal Data Protection review the systematics of the Law and serve as a tool for its better understanding and implementation. On the other hand, the Guide for the practical implementation of the Rulebook explains the methods and offers solutions for the controllers and people processing the data in the process of ensuring secrecy and protection of the personal data processing, depending on the nature of the data, such as the processing and the risks during the personal data processing.
According to Valentina Dimkovska from the Directorate for Personal Data Protection (DPDP), although the Law on Personal Data Protection is in full compliance with the European standards, and has received words of praise from the relevant European institutions, it can still be better implemented.
 On the eve of the celebration of the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the legal framework for personal data protection in the Republic of Macedonia, the Comments on the Law will aim to contribute to overcoming the identified problems in terms of realizing the protection of personal data.
Aside from the publication, the numerous guests had the opportunity to ask questions related to personal data protection, and the representatives of FOSIM and DPDP were elaborating segments (via examples and presentations) of the Law on Personal Data Protection, that were indicated as problematic segments in the practical application of the Law.
The publications are result of the long term cooperation between the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia and the Directorate for Personal Data Protection.
| | | | PRESS CONFERENCE OF MCET AND FOSIM
Macedonia must not give up the EU integration
 At the press conference held on June 4th, Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia (FOSIM) and the Macedonian Centre for European Training (MCET) urged the Macedonian government not to give up the EU integration and to be fully committed to implementing the reforms.
During the press conference, the results and impressions from last week's summit in Sarajevo, "EU-Western Balkans" were presented. At the summit, the written address by about 500 NGOs from Western Balkan countries was presented, with which they are requiring the opening of a new chapter in the negotiations of the EU with the Western Balkans countries. “Through the press conference in Sarajevo, we have sent a clear and unambiguous message that the EU must provide clear and precise guidelines on how each of the Western Balkans countries should act, in order to make the accession process visible and accessible for the countries from the region. The initiative was accepted very well, especially by the EU officials and representatives of the European Parliament, who saw this initiative as a step forward when it comes to the civil society sector and a kind of a signal that the citizens of these countries want to see their countries in the EU," said Fani-Karanfilova-Panovska from FOSIM and added that the EU has not yet lost interest for the Western Balkans, which is best reflected in the 2020 Development Strategy.
Lidija Dimova from MCET expressed her concern about the apparent indifference of the government when it comes to European integration. According to her, this is obvious due to the reluctance to reach a compromise with Greece, the halted reforms, and the overall foreign policy activities. Dimova suggested that the bilateral disputes should be resolved in a European spirit. "The European spirit means finding a compromise that would show that you are a leader and that you can see the future".
According to FOSIM’s executive director, Vladimir Milcin, the reasons for the standstill of the EU accession process lay not only in the name dispute, but in failing to implement the necessary reforms. "The more reforms we implement, the less weight the bilateral problem has, i.e. the more successful we are in the reforms, the more arguments other EU members will have for exerting pressure on Greece; and the more unsuccessful we are in the reforms, the stronger the arguments of Greece will be.” said Milcin.
| | | | | | | | EROSION OF PRIVACY IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
With the draft-amendments to the Law on Electronic Communications, the right to privacy in the Republic of Macedonia is again at stake these days. This is not the first time that the government is seriously limiting the right to privacy, one of the fundamental civil rights, without opening a wider public debate on such an important issue. The allegedly "technical" law on electronic communications is actually an attempt for intrusion into the most protected spheres of privacy guaranteed by the international agreements on human rights and the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia. Namely, with the proposed amendments, this Law is actually entering the sphere of criminal law, since it projects new authorizations for the police and secret services, beyond the already stipulated authorizations with the Criminal Procedure Code and the Law on Interception of Communications.
The entire announcement can be downloaded from the following link www.transparentnost-mk.org.mk/wp-content/uploads/microsoft-word-soopstenie-za-zek.pdf
The announcement is part of the Project: “Monthly reports on the situation in the fight against crime and corruption and the situation with transparency in the society” implemented by Transparency Macedonia, and supported by FOSIM.
| | | | CITIZENS FOR EUROPEAN MACEDONIA
The misconception that our country can become a member of the EU and NATO without a compromise is dangerous
The government, through its propaganda, has led to a misconception among citizens and created an impression in the public that further European integration is actually possible without a compromise over the name dispute, believe the initiators of the "Citizens for European Macedonia" movement. This is why, at the press conference held on June 1, 2010 in the CEM club, they announced a number of debates to be held in the cities throughout Macedonia, during which they would try to present the public with the actual positions of the Republic of Macedonia in the EU integration process.
"It is alright for Macedonia not to join the EU and NATO if that’s what the people want. But a recent poll of the daily newspaper “Dnevnik” showed that people are actually so confused that they don’t know what they want anymore and how to achieve it. We will try to discuss with them about these issues and to once again initiate the debate on the EU integration processes" said Roberto Belichanec.
The other participants at the conference shared a similar position. Executive Director of the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia, Vladimir Milcin noted that Macedonian politicians have an obligation to explain the reality to the citizens, and if the government is no longer interested in EU or NATO membership, to present the alternatives. "Admission to the EU or NATO is not possible without compromise. It is a very hard thing to say and it is very unpopular, but it must be said and it must be repeated. The issue of EU and NATO admission is not ideological. EU membership has overwhelming support by more than 80 percent of the citizens. If so, then the following question arises: why the political parties seeking to join the EU and NATO cannot gather the courage and wisdom and say “this is our common position”? Is that how much personal interests are more important than the interests of 80 percent of the population? I am calling on them and expecting them to respond and tell the nation what they are willing to do for Macedonia to join the EU and NATO?” asked Milcin, adding that all political parties advocating for the European integration of Macedonia have the support of CEM.
The debates throughout the country will start on June 8, in Strumica. CEM expects mass attendance and a constructive public debate, because this is one of the most important moments for the EU integration of the Republic of Macedonia.
| | | | | | | | PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM PROGRAM
Results from the public procurements monitoring published
 Today (June 1), the Center for Civil Communications published the results from the regular public procurements monitoring in the country and the results from the survey of companies about their experience with the public procurement procedures.
Presenting the Quarterly report with the results from the public procurements monitoring in the Republic of Macedonia for the period from January to March 2010, Mrs. Vanja Mihajlova and Nikola Tupancheski PhD stressed that there is still space for improvement of the public procurement process in the country especially in terms of more consistent abiding by the legislation by the state institutions, and they also emphasized the need to further stipulate the legal provisions to reduce the space for possible abuses in practice.
The monitoring of the public procurements at a central and local level resulted with the following findings key findings:
• Increased use of scoring criteria for the bids which doesn’t guarantee the selection of the most favourable bid;
• Inadequate criteria are selected for determining the ability of companies to participate in public procurement procedures;
• High percentage of annulled public procurement procedures (20% of the monitored procedures);
• e-auction is only used in 5.5% of the public procurement procedures, which is several times less than the legal threshold of 30%;
• Rapidly increasing number of framework agreements concluded without specifying the ways in which contracts are awarded to firms;
• The legal obligation to inform the companies in detail about the reasons for selection of the most favourable bid or rejection of a certain bidder is not adhered to;
• The requests for submitting a bank guarantee for the bid as well as the amount of the guarantee are reduced,
• The fee for obtaining the tender documentation is being slightly reduced.
In the survey conducted for representatives of the public procurement departments of 138 companies, members of the Economic Chamber of Macedonia and the Union of Chambers of Commerce, the main problems that companies said they were facing in public procurement procedures were: vague tender documentation and technical specification, improper scoring of the bids and favouring a certain bid; use of inadequate criteria to award the contract, and late payment for the assets and services supplied. The score of the companies in the country in the overall public procurement process has dropped. The average score in this survey is now 2.80 as opposed to last year's score of 2.93 (on a scale of 1 to 5).
The complete report is available at the website of the Center for Civil Communications www.ccc.org.mk. | | | | CEM CLUB OPENED
A place for promotion of citizen activism
On May 28, 2010, the "Citizens for European Macedonia" (CEM) club was formally opened in the Old Bazaar in Skopje, at the site of former Menada, with 100 CEM members attending the formal opening as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps and other citizens from the socio-political life in Macedonia.
The initiators of CEM, Vladimir Milcin, Branko Geroski, Nikola Gelevski, Roberto Belicanec, Mersel Bilali and Zarko Trajanoski opened this club with the support of the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia (FOSIM), intending to make it a place for exchanging ideas and views, a place for debates and meetings and a place for promotion of the civic movement in Macedonia. Branko Geroski, one of the initiators of CEM spoke about the idea to open this club and about its purpose.
The club was opened with the promotion of FOSIM’s new edition – the CD album I Šutka tani mo than (Šutka my hometown) by the Executive Director of FOSIM, Vladimir Milcin. The album is a compilation of 14 rap and hip hop songs written and performed by talented young Roma from Macedonia.
At the same time, the publication with the discussions from the debate, "What Orwell didn’t know" held in October last year was promoted, on the occasion of publishing the collection of essays, "What Orwell didn’t know – Propaganda in the new American policy," published by FOSIM.
| | | | | | | | LAW PROGRAM
Training for journalists "Discrimination and Media” held
 FOSIM organized a training for journalists from several national and local electronic and print media, which was held on May 28-30, 2010, in the "Bistra" hotel.
The training covered several topics in the area of the principle of equality and non-discrimination: introduction to the concept, the foundations and forms of discrimination and their presentation in the media, introduction of the new mechanism established with the Law on prevention and protection against discrimination and compliance of the Macedonian legislation with EU legislation in the field.
 During the practical part of the training, special attention was paid to the double role of the media, as a factor of discrimination on one hand, and as an instrument to combat discrimination on the other hand, and to raise public awareness about this social phenomenon. Participants had the opportunity to discuss several domestic and foreign examples about the position of the media in addressing discrimination. Throughout the discussions, representatives of the media shared the experiences from their daily work.
| | | | Press conference of MCET and Zoran Thaler (MEP)
Thaler: Government should take responsibility and find a resolution to the name dispute
 Rapporteur for Macedonia in the European Parliament, Zoran Thaler, at today’s press conference (May 27) organized by the Macedonian Centre for European Training, urged the Macedonian PM to gather strength and resolve the name dispute, otherwise Europe could soon lose its interest in Macedonia.
"Without a resolution to the name dispute, there cannot be a negotiations date. The government should take responsibility and cross the Rubicon”, said Thaler, discussing the perspectives of Macedonia at the upcoming EU-Western Balkans summit which is to be held in Sarajevo in early June. According to the Slovenian rapporteur, the Macedonian Prime Minister should not fear that he is alone in this process. “He should count on the support from the civil society sector and the influential intermediaries, kind-heartedly accept the suggestions, because in the process of finding a resolution, no matter how difficult that may be, one should be much more active."
Thaler noted that Europe is starting to believe that Macedonia is losing interest in EU membership, hence there is a risk for Macedonia to be removed from the European agenda and Europe may not be interested in Macedonia anymore.
Thaler reminded of the need for Macedonia to reactivate the reform process and also announced that he would take an initiative in the European Parliament for bilateral issues, if not resolved within a certain period, to be automatically transferred to international arbitration, meaning that the accession progress of the potential candidates would not be limited.
During the press conference, Member of the European Parliament – Zoran Thaler and MCET presented the Declaration of the non-governmental organizations from the Western Balkans, in which they are asking the President of the EU, the Governments of the EU member states and the President of the European Commission for a new momentum and approach for the EU integration negotiations.
According to Lidija Dimova from the Macedonian Centre for European Training (MCET), the Declaration - which will be officially presented on June 1 at the Ministerial meeting in Sarajevo, proves that the civil society sector of the Western Balkans can be united when it comes to European integration. "The NGOs have agreed to hold a joint press conference in Sarajevo on the first of June, just before the summit. This is when we are planning to officially present the declaration and later deliver it to the conference participants”, Dimova said.
The declaration, among other things, is emphasizing that bilateral issues should be resolved by the parties involved, and that they must not hinder the accession process, as well as the negotiations date for Macedonia this year.
Audio recording from the conference
| | | | | | | | MOMENT OF TRUTH
On the eve of the European Council meeting which is to be held in Sarajevo on June 16-17, a Ministerial meeting of the EU and Western Balkans countries plus the European Commission (EU Enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule) and the High Representative Katherine Ashton, Turkey, Russia and the United States will be held on June 2. This summit in Sarajevo is expected to result with conclusions confirming the European perspective of the Western Balkans countries and retaining the region’s EU integration process.
We (Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia - FOSIM and the Macedonian Centre for European Training - MCET) as representatives of the civil society, believe that we should present our position and our expectations for the summit. For this purpose, we have prepared the below provided Declaration with logistical support from the Open Society Institutes throughout the region. As you can see, we are requesting a negotiations date for Macedonia by the end of 2010, at the latest.
All of you who agree with the theses in this Declaration, please provide your support by signing it and sending your letter of support along with your organization’s general information (name and address, e-mail address and telephone number of the contact person) in electronic form to: mcet@mcet.org.mk
We are planning to hold a press conference on June 1st in Sarajevo and distribute our Declaration before the beginning of the ministerial meeting, and at the press conference we would like to publicize all the regional organizations that have provided their support.
Download the Declaration
| | | | ACTION FOR EUROPE IN VELES
A better environment with funding from the European funds
The funds from the programs “Life plus” and “CIP” can be used to improve the environmental protection. During the conference held in Veles on May 26, organized by the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia, the Macedonian Centre for European Training, the Youth Educational Forum and 11 Centres for local cooperation, experiences were shared on the use of funds from the European programs in the area of environment.
Antonis Rigas from the “Arktouros” Environmental center from Florina, Greece presented the example with the protection of the brown bear for which 400,000 euros have been obtained through the national program for protection of endangered species and the Euro funds from the Community programs, particularly the Life Plus program.
As a specific example for the funding from the European funds, Margarida Belém from Portugal presented the project for the Geopark “Aruka”. The Geopark “Aruka” located at about ten kilometers from Porto became one of the most distinguished national parks thanks to the EU funding, containing a large number of endemic rocks, as well as waterfalls and caves.
Natasha Jovanova from the Macedonian Center for European Training familiarized the participants with the programs of the European Union and the opportunity for funding projects in the area of environment from the Life Plus and CIP programs and through the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA).
Macedonian experiences were also shared at the conference, and Biljana Puleska indicated the problematic Law on Waters. According to her and according to the European Commission, although the law is a relatively new one, it needs certain changes. Due to the delay of its implementation, the law is not corresponding with the European environment policy and therefore it is directly jeopardizing 16 million euros, funds that we would receive from the IPA and use to build a waste water collection and treatment system in Prilep and for the project for strengthening the capacity of the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning for implementation of the Law on Waters.
During his presentation, independent expert Slavko Dameski, former director of the National Park Pelister spoke about the rise and fall of the national park Pelister. Unfortunately, according to him, the partisation of the national parks contributed for the Swiss Agency for Development to terminate the contracts for projects and destroyed the image of the country before the potential foreign donors.
The joint conclusion after the conference “Let’s talk about the environment” was that the implementation of the European legislation on environment is an expensive and painstaking process and that the European Union is aware of it. This is why the EU is providing funding through the EU structural and cohesion funds, IPA and several Community programs. The Republic of Macedonia must be committed to the implementation of the European legislation if it wants to start membership negotiations and successfully complete them. The Republic of Macedonia must also use all the available instruments, including the Life Plus program, which it has the potential to use, as well as the capacities to some extent.
The next conference will take place in Strumica on June 11, on the topic of agriculture.
| | | | | | | | INVITATION
For the opening of GEM club
| | | | Second International Seminar: Postgraduate courses in Law, Human Rights and Patient Care
Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia (FOSIM), in collaboration with the Law and Health Network Program of the Open Society Institute - New York, the Program for awarding grants for projects on human rights from the Open Society Institute in Budapest and the Faculty of Law and Medicine in Skopje, holds the Second International Seminar on Postgraduate courses in Law and Health, dedicated to human rights and patient care (May 18-21, 2010).
Professors and experts from seven countries (Macedonia, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine) shall participate at the seminar, and the topics covered are related to the public health and its relation to the fundamental human rights.
During the first part of the seminar, participants had the opportunity to share experiences in the area of public health and human rights, to discuss topics such as commercialization of the public health, organization of health education, new technologies in healthcare, restriction of human rights in public health etc.
Bridget Toubs, PhD, professor at the University in Aberdeen held a presentation on privatization and commercialization of health care. Representatives from the prestigious medical academy “Bogomolec” from Kiev familiarized the participants with the unique experiences of organizing medical education in Ukraine. The seminar continued with a review of specific court cases dedicated to human rights, sharing of experiences from different countries about respecting human rights, guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights.
The second part of the seminar, held on May 20, included a panel discussion in which prominent experts participated, and during which the global development in the area of public health and human rights was presented, using examples and experiences from Canada, USA , Scotland, Denmark and Hungary. Robert Lawrence, a doctor and professor of medicine at the School of Public Health Bloomberg, using examples of doctors in the Nazi concentration camps to cases in Abu Ghraib, spoke about the abuse by the medics, who sometimes consciously or even forcibly forget the Hippocratic oath.
The seminar ends Friday, May 21.
| | | | | | | | “ACTION FOR EUROPE” IN RESEN
Macedonia has the capacity for development of alternative tourism
 The new cycle of the project "Action for Europe", organized by the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia (FOSIM) and the Macedonian Centre for European Training (MCET) began with the conference dedicated to alternative tourism, held today in Resen.
The conference “Alternative tourism - European experiences and Macedonian perspectives” was divided into two parts. During the first part of the conference, the debate focused on the foreign policy of the EU member states. Lidija Dimova from MCET and the Romanian Ambassador Adrian Stefan Constantinescu agreed that the Republic of Macedonia must use the positive climate of the current Spanish Presidency to get a negotiations date as soon as possible.
During the second part of the debate, the participants focused on alternative tourism. Eli Viten from Norway shared the experiences from the project “Cycling around the North Sea” using a vivid presentation, and showing the participants how to overcome problems when implementing projects in the field of alternative tourism.
As a local representative, Dragi Pop Stojanov from the Macedonian Chamber of Tourism presented the model for promotion of alternative tourism in the country. Stojanov presented the project for connecting Lake Prespa with the National Park “Pelister”, focusing on the village of Brajcino.
After the closing of the conference, participants visited the village of Brajcino where they had the opportunity to see for themselves how alternative tourism works in Macedonia. The general conclusion of the participants was that Macedonia has natural capacities for solid development of alternative tourism.
This is the second year in a row that the project “Action for Europe” is organized. The next host city will be Strumica, where a conference dedicated to agriculture will be held on May 26, 2010.
| | | | MK@EU
New cycle of “Action for Europe” begins
The new cycle of the project "Action for Europe" will start with the thematic conference scheduled for tomorrow, May 14, 2010 in Resen, organized by the Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia (FOSIM) and the Macedonian Centre for European Training (MCET).
The topic of the first conference which is to be held in Resen,with a visit to the village of Brajcino, will be “Alternative Tourism - European experiences and Macedonian perspectives”, during which experts from the European Union will share their experiences in the field of alternative tourism. The conference will bring together representatives of the local self-government, all the interested local organizations and representatives of the embassies of the EU member states.
The project "Action for Europe" will be conducted in several cities throughout Macedonia, in two cycles. In the first cycle, from May to June 2010, after Resen the action will continue in Strumica, Veles, Kavadarci and Kocani. In the second cycle, which is planned for September, the cities of Veles, Prilep, Bitola, Ohrid, Debar and Kumanovo will host “Action for Europe”.
The topics of the conferences are closely related to the host cities and their local development. Namely, the topic of the conference in Strumica will be agriculture, and environment in Veles. The main topic of the conference in Kavadarci will be wine, and energy efficiency in Kocani.
Additional brochures related to the project will be printed in Macedonian and Albanian language, and will be available in electronic form on the websites of FOSIM and MCET.
DUE TO TECHNICAL REASONS, „ACTION FOR EUROPE“ WILL CONTINUE WITH A NEW SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Download the new schedule of events (.pdf, in Macedonian) | | | | | | | | Promotions in Kichevo and Kratovo
The promotion of the three books from the new edition “The City” (“Disorder and grotesque", “They’re stealing city” and “Architorture and antiquisation”), continued on May 4-5 in Kichevo and Kratovo.
On May 4, the editor of the edition, Nikola Gelevski, promoted the books before thirty visitors of the NGO support centre in Kichevo. The afternoon was quite interesting, with a live conversation between the citizens attending the promotion and Nikola Gelevski, who was speaking primarily as an editor of the edition, but also on behalf of GEM (“Citizens for European Macedonia”) and “Freedom Square”. In his opening address Gelevski presented the key arguments against the project “Skopje 2014”, especially emphasizing the nationalist background of the project that could disturb the already delicate interethnic relations. In the conversation that ensued, some of the citizens brought up the catastrophic situation in the city of Kicevo (70% unemployment rate and an apocalyptic economic situation creating deep resignation and despair), saying that only crumbs of the megalomaniac project "Skopje 2014" could dramatically improve the situation of the thousands of residents of Kicevo.
Next day in Kratovo, similar setting: venue for the promotion: NGO support center (after the Museum of Kratovo cancelled the planned promotion in the last minute); citizens present: about 30, and another ruined and neglected city.
This time the books were promoted by Nikola Gelevski and Aneta Spaseska from the “First Archibrigade” association. Gelevski talked about the need for civic activism and civil resistance, especially in situations when the local or central government “strays”. Although people are powerless to change anything in their “dying” city, (as stated by some participants in the conversation), Gelevski suggested that “the only point from which we can start is actually the one we’re standing on”. “We can’t wait for conditions to improve” said Gelevski “so that we could act and at least try to make a difference in our own lives and environment”.
Aneta Spaseska elaborated how the initiative “First Archibrigade” emerged among young architects and students of architecture and wholeheartedly supported the edition and its authors, considering it to be a small lighthouse in our dark situation.
In both Kratovo and Kichevo, as part of this small promotional tour, the Publishing house “Templum”, (published the edition “The City”), donated about 200 books for the needs of the library of the NGO Infocentre and the local libraries.
The promotions were organized by FOSIM in collaboration with the former NGO support centers; FOSIM also provided financial support for the publishing of the three books.
| | | | Conference
The Macedonian Government suppresses the private sector and continues incurring debts to cover the current expenses. The position of all participants in today’s (May 5, 2010) conference “Can our country go bankrupt?” organized by the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia is that excessive indebting and poor debts programming can lead to an empty budget.
“For the state sector to go bankrupt, the private sector should go bankrupt first. State sector goes bankrupt last because it has the taxes available and can therefore suppress the private sector, which we are actually witnessing in the last year or two” says professor Den Donchev, referring to the state’s debt to the domestic companies. According to him, the anti-crisis measures offered by the government, are actually neither anti-crisis, nor can they be useful for the segments of the private sector that are currently in crisis.
Professor Abdulmenaf Bedzeti holds a similar position, and believes that there is a latent deficit in the state which is not proved, i.e. there is a public debt to the companies, for which there are no accurate figures. According to Bedzeti, our budget is far from bankruptcy, but the social funds are bankrupt.
Professor Vanco Uzunov believes that the Greek scenario is still far away, but urges for caution. "The government must reduce the pressure on the private sector so that we would not go bankrupt like Greece – said Uzunov. For the conference participants, it is particularly important that the government makes an arrangement with the International Monetary Fund, in order to provide funds under favorable conditions, and to put control on the spending of funds.
Presentation of Abdulmenaf Bedjeti (.ppt)
Presentation of Den Doncev (.pptx)
Presentation of Vanco Uzunov (.ppt)
Presentation of Gjorgji Gockov (.ppt)
Audio from the conference (on macedonian language)
| | | | | | | | Fifth report from the monitoring of Macedonia’s EU accession process
The government is working against getting a negotiations date
Not only that the government is doing nothing to obtain the negotiations date, but it openly and directly opposes what the European Union has set out as a priority. This is the general conclusion from the report “Why do we need a Parliament” published today (May 4, 2010) by the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia (FOSIM) and the Macedonian Centre for European Training (MCET).
According to the report, several indicators suggest this. One of the most important indicators is the complete discrediting of the Parliament, i.e. tendentious blocking of the political dialogue in the Parliament and a boycott of all political parties at different levels and in various working bodies. In addition, the government is not implementing the planned reforms, does nothing to resolve the name dispute, and there is also a restriction of the access to public information, particularly by the institutions in charge of the European integration.
According to Lidija Dimova from MCET, the government is not interested in being admitted to the EU, and will probably organize early elections. "The final conclusion from all this is that the government has no intention of moving towards the EU, but instead intends to organize early elections after June and after the summit at which we would not get a negotiations date. We draw this conclusion from the fact that the Prime Minister and the Government are devaluating the Parliament, restricting the access to public information, and going against the recommendations set out in the 2010 Audit”, stated Dimova. According to her, the reprogramming of the debts of some public enterprises is also suspicious, and is another indicator that the Government is considering early parliamentary elections.
At the end, FOSIM and MCET presented their proposal for improving Macedonia’s position before the Summit scheduled for June. FOSIM and MCET suggest a joint conference to be organized for the Joint Parliamentary Committee of the Republic of Macedonia and EU, a few days before the Summit, in Brussels. The Summit would be attended by MPs from all parliamentary parties, representatives of NGOs and think-tank organizations from Macedonia, Greece and the EU, and all the reasons for obtaining a negotiations date would be discussed. At the Summit, it would be emphasized that the bilateral disputes are not part of the Copenhagen criteria. At the end of the conference, the Joint Parliamentary Committee RM-EU would take the initiative for the signing of a declaration which guarantees the Macedonian integrity.
If the government is interested in organizing such a conference, MCET and FOSIM are offering to provide all kinds of assistance.
| | | | Promotion of three books from the edition
 At the end of April 2010, the publishing house "Templum" and the “Freedom Square” association went on a small tour throughout Macedonia to promote the first three books from the new edition “The City”. The following books were presented: “Disorder and grotesque” (texts by sixteen authors), “They’re stealing a city” (eighteen authors) and “Architorture and globalization” by Nikola Gelevski (collected articles dedicated to the city phenomenon). All three books analyze the government project “Skopje 2014” and are very reprimanding. Within the framework of the sub-program "Books for debates on open society", FOSIM provided financial support for the printing of the books and organized the promotions around the country in collaboration with the former NGO support centers.
The first promotion took place on April 26 in Resen. The books were promoted by Nikola Gelevski, editor of the edition, Nita Mucha (from "Freedom Square") and Zharko Trajanoski (columnist and activist). In front of thirty attendants in the NGO Support Centre in Resen, the promoters discussed about the cons of the project "Skopje 2014" (irrationality, megalomania, the Government’s inability to establish the true priorities for the country ignoring the problems inside, etc.). Nikola Gelevski also highlighted the one positive thing that came out of the “pharaonic and foolish” government project: “it made us think about the architecture and urbanism of our cities”.
 The second promotion took place on April 28 in the NGO Support Centre in Delchevo, where Nikola Gelevski and Nita Mucha discussed once again in front of twenty citizens from Delchevo. The second part of the discussion turned into a conversation between the audience and the promoters. Most of the people who took part in the conversation expressed negative opinions about the government project "Skopje 2014" but one gentleman, a geography teacher, said the project is good because it would bring Macedonia closer to the EU, in particular because our capital would start looking like the European cities. Nita Mucha and Nikola Gelevski said something completely different: that this anachronous project, with the naive understanding of national identity, with the desire to turn the center of Skopje into an ethno-park – is only taking us away from Europe even more and getting us closer to certain despotic areas in some parts of Asia (Turkmenistan’s dictator Niyazov was mentioned as an example, with his megalomaniac buildings that were compared to the colossal monument of Alexander the Great which is planned to be placed on the Skopje square).
In each of the cities where the promotions are (will be) taking place, the publishing house "Templum" is giving away a small package of books (about 200) – mostly collections from the Margine magazine and books from the prose edition “Magma”.
  | | | | | | | | LAW PROGRAM
World Press Freedom Day 2010
Skopje, May 3, 2010. Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia, the Macedonian Young Lawyers’ Association and the Youth Educational Forum are marking the World Press Freedom Day 2010, this year dedicated to free access to information.
Today’s date MAY 3rd ONCE AGAIN REMINDS US ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR RIGHT TO KNOW!
Free access to information is a principle, according to which, the state authorities are obliged to provide information, i.e. provide access to the information that they are keeping and creating, to all interested parties requiring information. The right to free access to information is a fundamental right for exercising the other rights for a greater transparency, justice and open society development. This right, along with the right to freedom of expression lies at the root of democracy.
We believe that the access of journalists and media to information is extremely important for conveying and presenting the truth. By celebrating the World Press Freedom Day 2010 we want to point out that YOU CAN USE FREE LEGAL ASSISTANCE to advocate the exercising of this right before the courts and institutions.
Contact us at TOLL FREE PHONE NUMBER 0800 44 222.
| | | | Decentralization in Macedonia – slowing down
 The decentralization process in Macedonia is slow, yet the government is still not ready to increase the funds that should be allocated for normal functioning of the local government. This is an opinion shared by the majority of participants at the conference "Decentralization in Macedonia - sluggish or forgotten” held on April 23, 2010 and organized by the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia (FOSIM).
The former Mayor of Veles, Ace Kocevski called for reforms that would increase both the competences and funds of the City of Skopje and its municipalities. According to Kocevski, it is truly a shame that the capacities of the local self-government are not being fully used, and according to him the state cannot be strong without having strong municipalities.
The mayor of Strumica - Zoran Zaev, shares a similar position, stating that decentralization, although being the biggest reform process since Macedonia’s independence to date, is in a standstill due to the selectivity of the central government. "We must highlight another major problem, such as the capital investments. Politics plays a huge role here, same as it does in every other sphere. Strumica, unlike some other municipalities, such as Prilep and Bitola, only receives 5 or 10 percent of the funds intended for capital investments. Most of the funds for capital investments go to the municipalities whose mayors are members of the ruling party”, Zaev said.
However, mayors from the governing parties are also unsatisfied with the allocation of funds between the central and local government. Izet Medziti, mayor of Chair municipality, believes that funds amounting to 3% of VAT and 3% of personal income tax are not sufficient for the normal functioning of a municipality, but according to Marjan Gjorcev, the mayor of Kisela Voda, the reason for the poor implementation of decentralization are the laws from 1995 and 2004. Representatives of the Association of Local Self-Government Units (ZELS) announced that they would require an increase of the funds from VAT to 6 percent, and funds from personal tax to 30 percent. All the mayors demand the swift adoption of a law on legislation of illegal buildings, because with the current situation, municipalities are losing significant funds due to unpaid utilities and property tax.
Although invited, the representative of the central government, Minister of Local Self-Government Musa Xhaferi did not attend the conference.
Presentation of Ljubomir Janev (.ppt)
Presentation of Goran Angelov (.ppt)
Presentation of Rufi Osmani (.pptx)
Keynote speach - Ace Kocevski (.pdf)
Audio from the conference (in macedonian)
First part
Second part
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