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News and Events PRESS CONFERENCE
Fourth report from the monitoring of the process of Macedonia’s accession to the EU
IS THE GOVERNMENT MAKING A MONUMENT OUT OF THE EU?
During today’s conference, the Macedonian Center for European Training (MCET) and the Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSIM) presented the fourth quarterly report on the monitoring of the process of Macedonia’s accession to the EU. The report is a summary of the achievements in the EU integration process of Macedonia in the period from October to December 2009.
The analysis indicated that the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia has enacted a total of 184 laws in 2009, out of which only 49 are with a “European flag” and envisaged with the National Program for the Adoption of the Acquis Communitaire (NPAA) for 2009, and also indicated that many laws were being adopted twice, 18 laws were being changed two or three times and the Assembly discussed about them for 39 times. This figure indicates problems in the work of the Assembly when it comes to adopting laws, and imposes the question of whether the lawmakers are good enough in doing the job for which they are elected and paid by the citizens.
| | | | ECTS - reality or illusion in the higher education
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The Youth Education Forum (MOF), promoted the brochure “ECTS - reality or illusion in the higher education” on January 27, 2010, which includes the results from the survey on the implementation of European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) in Macedonia.
The survey indicated that the faculties are on different levels of implementation of ECTS in the different segments covered by this system of education. The brochure contains findings and recommendations for: the students, academic staff, the adminstration and management of the higher education institutions, the public authorities and business sector. In order to summarize the results of the survey and provide the final recommendations, MOF used the experience and expertise in the area of implementation of the ECTS of Prof. Zoran Popovski PhD, professor at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food. The recommendations are directed towards a more effective and successful implementation of the ECTS, but also towards raising the quality of higher education in Macedonia in general.
Higher education institutions in Macedonia started to apply the ECTS in 2003 based on the standards established with the Bologna Declaration of June 19, 1999. Faculties conducted the implementation differently. This situation led to the absence of a standardized studying system, which brought into question the quality of the diploma of the future academic citizens. Also, the ECTS implementation has not been tested or monitored yet by any body or relevant entity.
The survey was conducted within the framework of the project "Access to Public Information” in the period from April 1 to December 31, 2009. A total of 495 requests for access to public information were submitted during the nine-month survey to six faculties (Faculty of Philosophy – Skopje, Faculty of Philology “Blaze Koneski” - Skopje, Faculty of Law “Justinian I” – Skopje, Faculty of Economics - Skopje, Faculty of Architecture – Skopje, and Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies – Skopje) and to the Student Parliament of the “Ss. Cyril and Methodius" University. This project served to monitor the implementation of the Law on Free Access to Public Information by the higher education institutions, in order to obtain information on how to implement the ECTS in the following areas: student rights, faculty administration, finance and student mobility and mobility of the teaching personnel.
| | | | | | | | LIBEL LAWSUIT
Libel lawsuit filed against Dragan Pavlovic - Latas for the allegations in the article “Greece is paying its own journalists, as well as the journalists in Macedonia to get the Greek proposal through”
Today, January 22, 2010, a lawsuit was filed in the Primary Court Skopje I against the editor-in-chief of the “Vecer” newspaper, Dragan Pavlovic - Latas. The suit was filed by the damaged citizens: Nikola Gelevski, Branko Geroski, Vladimir Milcin, Ivica Anteski, Maja Bojadzievska, Dzabir Derala, Lidija Dimova, Gordana Duvnjak, Gjuner Ismail, Zharko Jordanovski, Ema Markovska Milcin, Ida Protugjer, Biljana Sekulovska and Erol Rizaov, due to the allegations in the newspaper article „Greece is paying its own journalists, as well as the journalists in Macedonia to get the Greek proposal through”, published in “Vecer” on December 18, 2009.
The lawsuit states that lies have been published in the article in “Vecer” in order to harm the reputation and honor of the mentioned journalists, intellectuals and citizens’ associations representatives.
The lawsuit was lodged against the editor-in-chief Dragan Pavlovic – Latas, since the text published in “Vecer” is not signed.
| | | | DEBATE
Second day of the debate “History and Apocrypha - demythologization of 2001”
On the second day of the debate, “History and Apocrypha – demythologization of 2001”, the debaters discussed the role of the media in the 2001 conflict. The Panelists: Nebojsa Karapejovski from TV Menada - Tetovo, Snezana Lupeska from Kanal 5, Saso Ordanoski and Sefer Tahiri from Alsat TV, debated whether the journalists remained on the side of the facts during the 2001 conflict or, were they actually an extended arm of the propaganda machine, whether they remained professional or were they “patriotic and loyal” to one of the two sides of the conflict and whether the Macedonian journalism is trained and equipped for reporting in a situation of conflict and war crises.
The two-day debate ended with the session: Is the conflict over? Was there reconciliation? Did the consequences resolve the causes? Debaters: Stojance Angelov, from the Association of defenders, “Dignity”, Violeta Petrovska - Beska, Institute of Psychology, Abedin Zumberi, a member of ND, Nadica Mirchevska, former president of the Association “Heroes of Macedonia”, Filip Petrovski, Public Library “Miladinovci Brothers”, Ismet Ramadani, Euro-Atlantic Council of Macedonia, Besim Hoda, an association of war veterans of former NLA Eugen Jakovikj, Document - Center for Dealing with the past” from Zagreb, Croatia, spoke on various aspects related to the reconciliation and end of the conflict. There was a discussion about the efforts of the country for conflict resolution, about the negotiations and their content, the victims during the negotiations, about the amendments of the Constitution, the demilitarization of the NLA, the Operation “Essential Harvest” (Task Force Harvest), the amnesty and abolition, about the abducted and the victims on both sides, and about the Hague cases. | | | | | | | | DEBATE
First day of the debate “History and Apocrypha - demitologization of 2001”
Today and tomorrow (January 20 and 21, 2010), the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia is organizing a two-day debate titled “History and Apocrypha – demitologization of 2001” in the Holiday Inn hotel in Skopje. The main idea and purpose of this discussion is to bring together the positions, opinions, facts and arguments regarding the 2001 conflict from: the direct participants, politicians, analysts, the academic public and intellectuals.
On the first day of the debate, Viktor Gaber, Ambassador at the Foreign Ministry, Mancho Mitevski, editor of the "Utrinski” newspaper, Rizvan Sulejmani, from the Institute for political and intercultural studies and Ljubomir Frckoski, Faculty of Law “Iustinianus Primus”, tried to answer the question: “Do we need demythologization of 2001?” All the participants in the discussion agreed that the demythologization and demystification of the 2001 conflict is necessary. According to them, it takes both time and political will to open all issues related to the conflict and to answer the question “Why did 2001 happen to us?”. Part of the participants advocate for a legal resolution of the disputes dating from this period, and almost all of them agreed that the principle of inclusiveness of ethnic communities in society, which is integrated into the Framework Agreement - is the lesson that Macedonia learned and which turned it from a multiethnic society into a multiethnic country. Therefore, they stressed that the Framework Agreement as a guarantor of peace and stability in Macedonia should be respected and implemented. Speaking about the Framework Agreement and the principle of inclusiveness, part of the debaters emphasized that the current government does not comply with this document and that such behavior is exactly what could lead Macedonia to a new crisis.
The numerous participants in today’s debate discussed the different versions and views of key events during the 2001 conflict (among the panelists were Rafis Aljiti, Vice President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Vladimir Buckovski MP of SDSM, Mark Laity, the author of the book “Preventing War in Macedonia” and G'zim Ostreni, book author), and they also had an opportunity to listen to reviews of books translated and published by FOSIM within the framework of the project “History and Apocrypha - demythologization of 2001” (reviewers: Biljana Vankovska, professor at the Institute for Defense and Peace Studies, Veton Ljatifi, Professor at SEE University, Mirjana Maleska, Professor at SEE, Mersel Biljali, professor at FON University, Sandra Ismanovska, author, Blagoja Markovski, Balkan Forum for Security).
The debate continues tomorrow (January 21, 2010) with a discussion about the role of the media in the conflict, is the conflict over, was there reconciliation and whether the consequences resolve the causes.
| | | | ANNOUNCEMENT
FOSIM is organizing a debate on the topic of "History and Apocrypha" – demythologization of 2001”
The purpose of the debate is to share the views of, conditionally said, the two sides, which were part of the armed conflict in 2001. Politicians, representatives of associations, professors, journalists and analysts from Macedonia and abroad, who have been directly or indirectly related to the events of 2001, will be speaking at the debate.
The event will take place on January 20 and 21 (Wednesday and Thursday), 2010, starting from 10.00h in the “Holiday Inn” hotel, Millennium Hall 1.
| | | | | | | | PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM PROGRAM
The public institutions are not transparent and accountable for public money spending
Today, the Center for Civic Communications presented the fourth quarterly Report on the results of the public procurement process monitoring, which besides the regular analysis of public procurement procedures, also contains an analysis of the legal protection in the public procurement procedures. The report, inter alia, noted:
• Despite its legal obligation, some state institutions, including ministries, did not provide a notification for an agreement for public procurement to the Public Procurements Bureau.
• The number of government institutions that are not providing data to the Public Procurements Bureau on the incurred costs of 20,000 or 50,000 euros for the procurement of goods and services is increasing.
• The problem with the delays in reaching the decision to choose the most favorable bid is getting worse. Out of a total of 40 monitored public procurement procedures in this quarter, a decision for choosing the best offer has not been made in 13 cases (33%), and the time delay for reaching a decision in these procedures ranges from 50 to 120 days.
• The problem with the nullification of public procurement procedures is being mitigated. Out of a total of 40 public procurement procedures, 7 procedures have been completely or partially annulled (17.5%), leading to a certain mitigation of this problem compared to the previous quarter, when 25% of the procedures were annulled.
• Although increased, the usage of the electronic public procurement system in the last quarter of 2009 is still not on a satisfactory level. In 2009, only 2.5% of the procedures have been conducted through the electronic public procurement system, which calls into question the preparedness for the realization of the legal obligation – starting from next year, to make the share of electronic auctions 30% of the total value of the public procurements.
• The number of appeals on public procurements,submitted by companies in the last 6 months has been increased. The economic operators (companies) are disputing the decisions of the contracting authorities (state institutions) for the selection of the best bidder more and more often. The State Commission for Appeals on Public Procurements accepts the appeals, or finds them to be justified (every fourth appeal is accepted). This indicates that the contracting authorities are violating the legal provisions more and more, i.e. that they are making mistakes in the procedures.
| | | | PRESS CONFERENCE
The Government must not silence the civil society
At the press conference held today, December 28, 2009, the NGO Infocentre, the Macedonian Centre for European Training (MCET) and the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia (FOSIM), vigorously condemned the attempt of the ruling majority to silence the civil society, as well as the instruments that it is using in order to disqualify the legitimate right and duty of citizens to monitor and evaluate the work of each government.
During the last session of the National Council for Euro-integration, the NGO Infocentre, MCET and FOSIM were subject to fierce attacks and unsubstantiated labeling by the MPs of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE, members of the Council, and we were also deprived of the right to present our facts, arguments and positions. | | | | | | | | 50 blankets for the redundant workers
Representatives of the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia visited the redundant workers on hunger strike in Kumanovo and donated 50 blankets.
“The workers said that they are cold and we thought that people who are on hunger strike don’t have to be freezing as well. We should always express human solidarity, and if it’s necessary we will also provide medicines that are not on the list, and free legal assistance to the redundant workers. The state institutions must not continue to ignore the strike, especially because this is not such a large and unsurpassable financial obstacle for these people to exercise their rights – said Vladimir Milcin.
According to him, our Government is egotistical and greedy, because it is not willing to solve the problem of these people from the lowest class of society.
The redundant workers are on strike for 12 days, and so far noone from the government has visited them. They are constantly on medications because of their poor health condition, but they say that they will not give up the strike until their problem is resolved.
Source: KumanovoNews.com | | | | LIES, INSINUATIONS AND PROVOCATIONS
The editor in chief of “Vecer”, Dragan Pavlovic Latas, pretender to the position of main pogrom leader in the Republic of Macedonia, once again brought his newspaper to a level of a political landfill when on 18 December he published an unsigned article with a vague title “Greece is paying its own journalists, as well as the journalists in Macedonia to get the Greek proposal through." The unsigned text is full of lies and implications.
Looking for scapegoats and manufacturing public enemies, the “Macedonian loyalist" quickly prepared a list, a “Latas list" of journalists who, as he implies, were “paid to help pass the Greek proposal for destruction of Macedonianism.” He admits to have found the fifteen names of the “paid journalists”, on FOSIM’s website, in the Citizens for European Macedonia project. The “destroyers of Macedonianism” are published by name and surname on the website of the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia, in the Citizens for European Macedonia project?!
And who, in fact, are these fifteen “paid journalists”? Seven of them are not even journalists. And some of them have never wrote or said anything about the name dispute in any of the media. Latas knows this, and yet he is unscrupulously lying when he wants to achieve the norm, when he is “producing” enemies and inciting Putinophilia hidden behind the supposed Macedonian partiotism.
The Citizens for European Macedonia (GEM) organized 24 debates in 19 towns throughout Macedonia. Sixteen speakers and about a hundred citizens participated in those debates.
On behalf of the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia and under full material and criminal responsibility, I, as an Executive Director of FOSIM claim that none of them have received even a small honoraria. I suppose this may sound unbelievable to Latas and his “employers”, but it is the truth! Citizen membership in GEM and participation in the activities of GEM is voluntary and provides no income, regular or occasional! This is not the first time I’m claiming this and I will repeat it each time when its necessary to clear the poisonous fumes spread by the landfills commanded by Latas.
So, lets underline the lies and insinuations published in “Vecer” on December 18, 2009. First, half of the fifteen “paid journalists” are not journalists. Second, none of them are being paid! These are the facts, so the fabrications of Latas are futile.
If the fifteen citizens decide to file a suit against the libeler, FOSIM will provide a legal representative.
On behalf of the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia,
Vladimir Milcin,
Executive Director
| | | | | | | | PRESS RELEASE
The creator of the Law on Free Access to Public Information does not respect this law and does not provide public information
Three and a half years since the implementation of the Law, we are in an awkward situation because the Ministry of Justice which is actually the creator of this law, does not act upon the requests for free access to public information.
Namely, the Macedonian Young Lawyers’ Association, for the needs of its project "Support for the establishment of a system of free legal assistance in Macedonia” submitted requests for public information to the regional departments of the Ministry of Justice during the month of September this year, requiring public information regarding the capacity of the regional departments for provision of free legal assistance, i.e. the number of solicitors employed in the regional departments and the number of solicitors among them who have passed the bar exam. Given that the Ministry of Justice is responsible for the provision of that information, the requests were forwarded to the Ministry, but the Ministry has not submitted the required information yet. We believe it is worth mentioning that the requested information is of great importance for the Association because, aside from monitoring the process of establishing a system of free legal assistance, the Association also prepares analyses and comments on the draft law, thus participating in the discussions regarding the draft law, in order to contribute to the creation of a quality Law on free legal assistance.
This step of the Ministry of Justice is extremely unserious and unjustified, especially because the procedure for adoption of the Law on free legal assistance is underway, so one gets the impression that the Ministry of Justice refuses to provide the requested information, just to avoid criticism.
Moreover, the Commission for Protection of the Right to Free Access to Public Information indicates in its decisions that ”...there is no excuse for the failure of information holders to comply with provisions of the law, three and a half years after the implementation, especially when it comes to institutions like the regional departments, being part of the Ministry of Justice, which proposed the law. This is even more inadmissible having in mind that the State Administrative Inspectorate is part of the Ministry of Justice, and is competent for performing administrative inspections. …Therefore, it is absurd for an institution that has drafted the above mentioned Law and which is obliged to monitor its implementation, not to apply it." | | | | PRESS RELEASE
Participation of a citizen of Skopje in the process of making decisions that change the face and content of Skopje obviously works differently here, with our democracy! It depends on the lack of communication between the competent entities, the legal ambiguities, the unsociable Mr. Vladimir Zdravev, the sluggishness of Mr. Manevski and the wittiness of Mr. Todorovic. It is as if the municipal councilors voted by the citizens of the Centar Municipality don’t even exist!
The institutional obstruction of our initiative for a referendum is only part of the systematic suppression of different opinion, demonstrated with the intrusive behaviour at our debates, ignoring our calls for public debate, violently interrupting the protest on Macedonia Square, ignoring the polls of public opinion and the signatures gathered for the start of the citizens’ initiative
We have submitted requests, sent letters, sang songs, debated, got insulted, and we were being sent from one office to another. We were patient and cooperative, we did everything they asked for; everything we should have done “according to the law”. We had accepted and timely met all the new requirements in the process. Finally, the President of the Council of the Municipality of Centar, personally accepted the initiative, though he, by law, was supposed to schedule a meeting of the Council! And certainly the Ministry of Justice does not accept our request without a conclusion from the session that was not even held…
Citizens expressed their dissatisfaction on many occasions regarding the decision for building a church and a mosque on the Macedonia square, and their voices were still ignored. Moreover, they were used to stigmatize the initiators, because of their views. And this is not yet the worst part! The way in which activists are being “stimulated” to give up the initiative is symptomatic: misdemeanor charges, personal threats, public judgement, and even physical force before the eyes and batons of the police.
There was no support for our initiative which would allow our position to finally receive its institutional form - the citizens to state on a referendum whether they want churches, mosques and other religious buildings on the main square in their city. We got a deadline, but had no instructions, conditions, facilities and support. We got lies, vulgarity and condemnation, but not a right to our city. Therefore, the pressure will not stop. The opinion will always get new forms, but the content will remain the same. There will be sanctions for the ignorant and repressive behavior which is holding us back, but not intimidating us!
This time they deterred us from the intention to practice democracy here, and directly between us. Although the institutions are obliged to help citizens in practicing democracy, they did nothing. They just made us withdraw from the idea to initiate a referendum independently, as citizens. But the struggle will continue, though sometimes it seems impossible to win. We will find new ways to oppose and continue. | | | | | | | | “GUIDE FOR MK@EU” PROMOTION
Tool for research and analytical monitoring of the process of accession to the European Union
NGO Infocentre, in cooperation with the Macedonian Centre for European Training (MCET) and the Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSIM), today promoted the tool for journalists “Guide for MK@EU”.
“Guide for MK @ EU” is a tool for research and analytical monitoring of the process of accession to the European Union, i.e. the reforms conducted by the Government. In order to raise the level of the debate on European issues, this Guide summarizes in one place all the information that will help journalists to better monitor and analyze the relevant strategic documents that pave the way towards the EU.
According to the NGO Infocentre and MCET, the European Union is not a matter of “foreign policy” but “internal policy” because it encompasses all social areas i.e. the process of EU accession offers a viable framework for implementing reforms that will provide a modern and democratic system of policy creation in all spheres of social life.
The Guide consists of three parts. The brochure “What will we negotiate about?” is included in the first part, where all 35 chapters to be negotiated by Macedonia are elaborated, and how each chapter is organized, and what issues and sector policies are in its domain. The second part is a comparative review of the priorities and commitments of the Republic of Macedonia: the accession partnership, problems indicated in the European Commission’s Progress Reports in 2008 and 2009, the measures and deadlines defined by the Government in the National Program for approximation of the Macedonian legislation to the legislation of the European Union and all the projects that should contribute to quicker implementation of the reforms in the given chapter, which will be financed through IPA. The third part contains the contacts of national institutions and bodies responsible for the implementation of the process, organized by chapters.
The Guide was developed within the frames of the project “It’s time for the EU!”, financially supported by the Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSIM) and USAID’s Civil Society Strengthening project, and implemented by the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC).
| | | | PRESS RELEASE
FIVE REASONS WHY MACEDONIA SHOULD START NEGOTIATIONS
 The Macedonian Centre for European Training (MCET) and the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia (FOSIM) organized a press conference today, December 2, to familiarize the public with the new policy brief titled “Lisbon - Skopje – Thessaloniki: Homecoming Europe; Five reasons why Macedonia should start negotiations.”
With this document we would like to indicate five reasons why Macedonia should get a starting date for negotiations: 1) The European Commission gave a recommendation to start accession negotiations, based on the fulfillment of the 8 +1benchmarks , 2) The bilateral disputes are not part of the negotiations; 3) To maintain the positive momentum of 2009 regarding the enlargement; 4) Without Macedonia, EU cannot prove that it has the credibility to be a global player; 5) The date for Macedonia opens an opportunity for the EU to “resurrect” the Thessaloniki agenda and enlargement, and provides an opportunity for Greece to realize its ambition - Western Balkans to become part of the EU during the Greek Presidency in 2014.
 The purpose of this policy brief is to reach both the political and the professional public in the Member States of the EU. This document is distributed to: permanent missions in Brussels, foreign ministers and embassies of the Member States in the Republic of Macedonia, the EU mission in Macedonia, MEPs, the Mission of Macedonia in Brussels and to all the relevant media in the EU.
A Date for Macedonia (.pdf) | | | | | | | | DECLARATION
Disorder can not be our constitution!
The verbal attacks on those who publicly express political ideas different from the policies of the government have started again. This is becoming a chronic and worrying phenomenon. The Government is trying to mitigate every failure of the Macedonian positions at the international level from the inside, by encouraging a witch hunt, a hunt for traitors and internal enemies.
Two weeks ago, the ruling party stigmatized a few citizens (mainly from the civil society sector) in a completely nebulous way, alleging that they were on the “payroll” of the former president and current opposition leader. Several days later, “one of the pillars of the Macedonian state” (as the current government wants to perceive the Macedonian Orthodox Church), Archbishop Stefan attacked the citizens opposing the construction of religious buildings on the Skopje square, labelling them as exarches and surveyors working for someone else’s interests.
Three weeks ago, one of the most brutal perpetrators of the regime, an editor in a TV station and newspaper, attacked three activists from the NGO sector with an unprecedented vulgarity and aggression (calling them “queer”), violating all ethical and professional norms.
On the same TV station, people who have a different opinion from the government’s were called quasi-intellectuals, bribed journalists, separatists, mercenaries of various services, oppressed Albanians”… and the “conscious intellectuals”, good journalists, loyal Albanians and non-governmental organizations with a state-constituting capacity” were called to deal with the former.
| | | | COMMUNITY FORUMS PROGRAM
The citizens of Strumica voted for an Open amphitheatre - summer scene
“Construction of an open amphitheatre - summer scene”, - a project within the frames of the municipal Cultural events program, received the majority of votes at the fifth forum session, held on November 20 in the House of ARM in Strumica, being attended by 100 citizens The selected project was unanimously voted by the citizens of Strumica to be funded with 6.900.000 denars, 4.000.000 of which are a donation from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the rest from the budget of the municipality.
“The Amphitheatre will be available to all the citizens, youth, NGOs and others, and is expected to be ready at the end of next summer, said the mayor of Strumica Zoran Zaev at the session. He added that he hopes all the projects to be implemented within the municipality’s budget.
The attendants of the budget forum, divided into nine working tables, voted for seven projects within the development programs of the municipality, for which they have debated in the past two months. These are “paving the Leblebidzhiska street”, “Procurement and setup of signs and boards with names of streets and street numbers on all collective and individual residential buildings”, “Construction of an open amphitheatre – summer scene”, “Sewage in the village of Murtino”, “Sewage in the village of Kosturino” and “Reconstruction of the water supply in the village of Bansko”.
“The properly managed process can yield good results, but the participation in the process is equally important”, said Vladimir Milcin, executive director of FOSIM – the organization that implements the program in Strumica. He hopes that the project implementation will be fast, and that the forum process will become part of the practice of the municipality of Strumica.
At the session, the ten proposals of citizens to the municipal administration from the last session were reviewed again, before being submitted to the local self-government in the form of suggestions or recommendations.
| | | | | | | | ROUND TABLE
Challenges before the adoption of the Law on Free Legal Assistance
On November 20, 2009, Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia (FOSIM), in collaboration with the Human Rights Support Project and the Macedonian Young Lawyers Association, organized a round table "Challenges before the adoption of the Law on Free Legal Assistance”. In the period between the two readings of the draft-law on free legal assistance in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, the roundtable was used for a presentation of the decisions from the draft law, and for sharing comparative experiences on a level of the Council of Europe and the member states of the European Union, in light of the application of free legal assistance and access to justice.
The significance of the adoption of a quality Law on free legal assistance and FOSIM’s commitment to contributing for the improvement of the legal texts with which Macedonia is getting its legislation closer to the EU legislation was highlighted by Vladimir Milcin at the opening of the round table. Deputy Minister of Justice, Mr. Ibrahim Ibrahimi, reviewed the decisions covered by the draft-law on free legal assistance, whereas Mrs. Margarita Caca Nikolovska, former judge in the European Court of Human Rights, made reference to the right of access to justice under the European Human Rights Convention. Mrs. Marija Kolikova, lawyer and former director of the Center for Legal Assistance of the Slovakian Ministry of Justice shared the European experiences with the application of free legal assistance and challenges that Slovakia had faced during the implementation of the Law on free legal assistance.
| | | | DEBATE: PRESSURES ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Action rather than apathy and conformism
Today, November 19, 2009, in Skopje in organization of the civil initiative “Citizens for European Macedonia” the debate titled “Pressures on the freedom of expression” was held.
At the debate, which was attended by journalists, analysts and civil society activists, the current situation in the Macedonian media scene was discussed, pressures on the exercising of the right to free expression and the more and more frequent use of hate speech.
Participants emphasized that media and journalists are under constant pressure from politicians and that the government advertisements are part of the process that corrupts the media. In general, journalists are either refusing to accept reality and they are being silent, or they are intentionally becoming political agitators. In such conditions, censorship is present in the media as well as self-censorship among journalists. For some of the participants in the debate, Macedonian journalism is currently a "dead sea" governed by PR-propaganda.
Representatives of the Macedonian civil society scene believe that civil activism is sterilized due to the governing demo-Christian conservative policy, capitalism, consumerism and remnants of communism. Labeling and open hate speech, for the use of which there is no appropriate legislation in Macedonia, are the weapons which the government uses to silence the journalists and citizens. The civil sector and the media should not only react, but to openly talk about and fight against the silencing methods.
At the debate, the preparation of the so-called “Black book of shame” was also announced,in which all public outbursts of totalitarianism, verbal violence, hate speech, etc. will be noted.
| | | | | | | | PRESS RELEASE
Citizens for European Macedonia
On November 12, 2009, the President of the Council of the Centar Municipality announced that he accepts our proposed initiative and that the collection of the required 20% signatures from adult residents of the Municipality Center starts the same day. Intentionally or not, the President of the Council did not indicate the state authority where signatures are to be collected, or when.
Yesterday, on November 16, 2009 in the regional unit of the Ministry of Justice in the Centar Municipality, no form was available for collecting signatures calling for mandatory refrendum at which the citizens would have stated their position regarding the construction of religious buildings on the Macedonia square.
We as initiators, have indicated several times now that it is theoretically and practically impossible to implement such a civic initiative in conditions like these:
1. We’ve already lost 6 of 30 days for collecting signatures due to their lack of diligence and coordination. It is already clear that by not providing appropriate and timely information, they intentionally sabotage this initiative because they fear the outcome;
2. If the institutions had done their job on time and submitted the electoral list to the State Election Commission, now we wouldn’t have to discuss premises, time and fair conditions for conducting citizens’ initiatives. We (the Citizens’ Initiative) are victims of a vicious triangle of irresponsibility among the SEC, the Justice Ministry and the Council of the Centar Municipality. Citizens are not the ones that should coordinate the institutions and they are often experiencing the infamous ping-pong administrative strategy of being sent from one institution to another;
3. It is physically impossible to collect 8,800 signatures in 30 days out of which only 20 are workdays. In Macedonia, it is easier to collect signatures for a state referendum and for presidential candidacy than for a local referendum. The Law on Referendum is not only poorly written (vague, uncompleted, illogical, inconsistent with other laws, non-compliant on a local and national level), but it is also hardly applicable and fully depends on the will of the administration.
4. VMRO-NP have 3 months and 33 offices for collecting 10,000 signatures, the Minister of Justice is informing them about the procedure through television and they are signing without IDs;
5. If the Council had monitored the authentic interpretation for the collection of the initial 100 signatures for a draft-initiative on a national level, we ask why doesn't the Council monitor the practice of implementing initiatives on a national level in the area of providing conditions for collecting signatures before the official signature collection begins?
6. In Macedonia, only approved referendums can work. When the Prime Minister wants a referendum – he gets it, but when the citizens want it – they don’t get it. It all depends on the party’s will;
We demand the institutions to fulfill our demands and open more offices for collecting signatures in the urban communities throughout the municipality which will work after 16 pm, and we also demand the deadline of 30 days to be counted starting from the day when all the conditions are provided, aimed at exercising the fundamental democratic right of citizens to participate in decision making.
Respectfully,
Freedom Square
Citizens for European Macedonia
| | | | East-East Program: Cross-border partnerships
Regional Conference “Does business incubation work?”
On November 20, 2009, the Youth Entrepreneurial Service Foundation and the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia are organizing a regional conference titled “Does business incubation work?” at the Skopje Fair (Macedonian Business Center Hall)
The event is part of the regional project Business Incubators: Creating a model for a successful and favorable environment for local and regional development which is supported by the East East program: Cross-border partnerships.
The purpose of the one-day conference is presentation of the results from the research conducted on models and experiences from the operation of business incubators, as a tool for stimulating new jobs and inciting local and regional economic development. The event is an opportunity to exchange regional experiences in creating policies that encourage self-employment among the young population and to present positive experiences in finding alternative solutions for reducing unemployment.
Download the agenda
| | | | | | | | East-East Program: Cross-border partnerships
Conference 'Eurasian Patient Safety Initiative'
The final regional conference of the Eurasian Patient Safety Initiative will be held November 19-21, 2009, in the Hotel Continental. Representatives of the NGO sector and experts from Albania, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, Ukraine and Croatia are members of this initiative. This initiative is financially supported by the East-East Program: Cross-border partnerships of the network of OSI foundations.
The purpose of the event is the exchange of national and regional experiences in the development of mechanisms for improvement of the public health sector in the focus of which are the patients’ rights and safety. The event will be used for exchange of experiences in the creation of public policies on the rights and safety of patients and for development of successful models in building coalitions among the representatives of the NGO sector and the decision makers in the public/state institutions on a local and central level. Public awareness impact is expected regarding the need to include the principles of patient safety in the functioning of the health institutions.
There will also be a discussion on the mechanisms and ways to implement long-term cross-border cooperation and networking among the partner organizations in order to initiate advocacy activities to promote the protection of patients’ rights and safety.
The Center for Regional Studies and Cooperation - Studiorum is hosting the meeting and is also a partner in this regional initiative.
| | | | CONFERENCE
Social justice education - from training to reality
In the period of November 13-15, 2009, the “Creative Teaching and Learning” project implemented by the Foundation Open Society Institute - Macedonia is organizing a conference in the Hotel Metropol in Ohrid on the topic “Social Justice Education - from training to reality” Four hundred teachers from eleven high schools from across the country will take part in the conference. These teachers had previously attended the trainings for social justice education, organized as part of the activities within the frames of the “Creative Teaching and Learning” project.
Each of these schools will have the opportunity to present and discuss their experiences on implementing the knowledge acquired during the training, and all participants will be awarded certificates for their participation.
| | | | | | | | GEM in Veles
We need strong democratic pressure for EU admission
The Pro-European orientation is the most patriotic option for Macedonia. This is one of the conclusions of the last week debate, held in Veles, on November 6, 2009, organized by the citizens’ initiative “Citizens for European Macedonia”. During the debate, Branko Geroski, Mersel Biljali, Nikola Gelevski, Vladimir Milcin, Zharko Trajanoski and Roberto Belichanec had a discussion with the citizens of Veles about the challenges that Macedonia is facing before the December decision of the Council of Ministers of the EU.
The issues discussed at the debate, according to the attendants, are not issues that only concern the politicians. On the contrary, they are pertaining to all the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia, hence the need for the citizens to criticize and exert a strong democratic pressure on the Government, in order to be admitted to the EU sooner.
In a time when the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall is being celebrated as well as the establishment of the new European future, Macedonia is still standing still and still in the circle of bad governance, populism and a government that is not willing to take on responsibility. According to GEM, the organizing of a referendum for the name, without an open and clear position of the government, is one more way to manipulate the people, without taking responsibility for the key issues for the country.
The attendants of the debate think that the Prime Minister Gruevski must take responsibility and make a decision for a European future. They are afraid that by December 7 the manipulations with the public will get stronger and that this government is not ready to give up the authoritarian governance. According to them, the government is not happy with the opening of the chapters for negotiations with the Union, because the EU structures would then have a greater influence on the developments in the country.
| | | | CONFERENCE
Increasing the financial and administrative autonomy of the local self-government
 On November 6, 2009, FOSIM organized a conference in Skopje with the topic “Increasing the financial and governing autonomy of the local self government”, presenting the findings and experiences from this project, implemented in the municipality of Krushevo.
The participants at the conference, Nikola Jovanovski, President of the Council of municipality of Krushevo, Demirsha Emini-Dava, councilor in the municipality of Krushevo and president of the Council of the local community Jakrenovo, Goce Kicheski, councilor in the municipality of Krushevo and member of the council of the local community Buchin, Fani Karanfilova – Panovska from the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia, Irina Fajon, from the Initiative for reform of the public administration and local self-government from Budapest, Tome Shekerdziev and Jadranka Kungulovska, local self-government consultants and Vojtek Marchlevski, international consultant for local self-government, presented the situation of the local self-government in the Republic of Macedonia as well as the comparative experience for the local self-government administration in Poland.
 The goal of this project is to increase the financial and administrative autonomy of the local self-government and to raise the capacities of the local communities for their increased participation in the adoption of decisions on a local level, qualification for independent establishment of the local priorities and their implementation, and improvement of the institutional setup and communication with the municipality. | | | | | | | | GEM in Tetovo
Macedonia does not have the strength for another NO
Intending to motivate the citizens to demonstrate a critical opinion and exert a strong democratic pressure on the Government, with the purpose of getting admitted to the EU sooner, the Citizens’ initiative “Citizens for European Macedonia” (GEM), last week, on October 30, 2009, in the hall of the Tetovo municipality, organized a debate during which the challenges for the Republic of Macedonia were discussed, before the December decision of the EU Council of Ministers, for a date for starting accession negotiations.
At the debate, the citizens of Tetovo were addressed by Branko Geroski, Mersel Biljali, Nikola Gelevski, Vladimir Milchin, Zharko Trajanoski and Roberto Belichanec.
While speaking about the October report of the European Commission and the recommendation for EU accession negotiations, Geroski emphasized that the final deadline for resolving the name dispute, which is for now the greatest obstacle for us in getting a negotiations date, expires in December 2009. Geroski stated that the pro-European forces in Macedonia will have to support the Prime Minister Gruevski, but only if he decides to compromise on the name and resolve the open issue with Greece.
For Mersel Biljali, the prolongation of the resolution for the name dispute and the three years that have passed waiting for the EC recommendation are an irreversible loss for Macedonia, a country with a crucial interest to join the EU and NATO. Biljali warned the Government, which he doubts is openly controlling the media. “The danger is that the total control of the mind may easily turn into uncontrolled insanity”. Nikola Gelevski reminded that the civil society, in these historic moments for the country, must be united and exert a constructive pressure over the Government, be organized in a new, creative way and ask more from this Government.
Roberto Belichanec expressed his disbelief that the key issues would be resolved by December. He believes that our ordeal would continue due to the undemocratic governing structure. According to him, Gruevski will try to make an accomplice of the nation by conducting a referendum.
Zharko Trajanoski has a similar position. He believes that Gruevski will conduct a referendum, because he made a promise in his pre-electoral program to organize a referendum. According to him, there are no legal conditions for organizing a referendum, the electoral list has not been corrected, there is no political consensus, and the public is also not interested to vote on a referendum.
Vladimir Milcin emphasized that Macedonia is now in a worse position, compared to the position it had at the beginning of the year. According to Milcin, if we don’t use this moment, we may have to wait to enter the EU along with the other Balkans countries. He also emphasized that the pro-European forces in Macedonia will help Gruevski, but only if he openly states his position and suggestion regarding the name.
The citizens of Tetovo who were attending the debate, emphasized that they are getting tired of politics. They fear that the referendum would ethnically divide Macedonia once again.
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