Diafwvia Skopiwv-Soros!!!!
Stratos Safioleas
kapoios bazei ta lefta tou se mia xwra toso adra oso o Soros, meta exei
kai logo sta politika pragmata.
Diabaste, eivai polu evdiaferov!
Stratos kai Kurstratos
Di kai Ci
"DIASPORA" Newsletter
USA: http:weber.u.washington.edu/~marios/Diaspora
UK: http:www.gla.ac.uk/~goea05/Diaspora/
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Date: Tue, 23 May 95 4:10:07 PDT
SKOPJE, May 23 (Reuter) - Macedonia has turned against
billionaire financier George Soros, whose philanthropic fund has
lent millions of dollars to the impoverished country, accusing
him of interfering in its internal affairs.
Staff of his Foundation in Skopje, once close to the
government of President Kiro Gligorov, have been openly rebuked
for articles and statements allegedly criticising the slow pace
of democratic reforms in this former Yugoslav republic.
Official criticism of Hungarian-born Soros has been
particularly sharp over his attempts to mediate in Macedonia's
dispute with Athens over the use of its name, the same as that
of a province in northern Greece.
Athens blocked international recognition of Macedonia after
it broke with Yugoslavia, saying its use of the name implied
territorial ambitions against the Greek province. Under a United
Nations compromise it is currently known as the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia.
The Skopje daily Nova Makedonija, which is close to
Gligorov, attacked Soros last Friday for proposing a new name
for the country, Slavomakedonija.
The billionaire was also criticised by the paper for
publicly suggesting that the world expected Macedonia to be the
first to make concessions to Greece as a goodwill gesture.
Soros has supported Skopje in its dispute with Athens,
loaning the government some $25 million to buy oil when Greece
imposed a trade blockade on Macedonia two years ago.
Soros also came under attack for advocating the
establishment of Albanian-language classes in some university
faculties to cater for the country's large ethnic Albanian
minority, claimed as 23 percent by the government and up to 40
percent by the community itself.
The proposal was seen as a bid to defuse a bitter row
between the government and the Albanian community after the
latter tried to open an Albanian-language university declared
illegal by the education ministry.
It was closed down by the security forces in February and
its militant dean was jailed for fomenting violence after
threatening to mobilise 200,000 demonstrators to defend it
against the police.
A young ethnic Albanian was killed during a clash with
police.
Nova Makedonija accused Soros of ``publicly suggesting...the
introduction of a second official language into Macedonia
through the back door''.
The Skopje government is worried over growing enthusiasm
among militant nationalists for the creation of a ``Greater
Albania'' linking western Macedonia where most of the minority
are located with Albania proper.
The attacks on Soros follow similar criticism of him earlier
this year in the Yugoslav media, where his philanthropic work
was described as subversive and anti-Serb.
Soros, who runs aid programmes throughout Eastern Europe
focusing on education and cultural activities, was publicly
accused of being an American agent and of perverting Serb
children by giving them travel grants to study abroad.
Soros Foundation officials in Belgrade said the campaign in
March appeared to stem from official disapproval of his support
for a free press and calls for tougher action against Bosnian
Serb military forces.