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  FINANCE MINISTRY, WORLD BANK SIGN LOAN AGREEMENT WORTH EURO 53 MILLION

Finance Minister Trajko Slaveski and World Bank Resident Representative to Macedonia Markus Repnik signed Tuesday three loan agreements worth Euro 53 million.
The first agreement refers to the Second Programmatic Development Policy Loan (PDPL 2), the second to the Trade and Transport Facilitation in Southeast Europe Program (TTFSE 2), and the third to the Agricultural Sector Strengthening Project.
The payment timeframe is 17 years with a five-year grace-period and libor plus 0,3 percent interest rate.
"PDPL 2 is worth Euro 23,3 million, designed to support Government's efforts for improvement of investment climate in the country, as well as strengthening of public sector management. The program includes reforms in judiciary, labor market, financial sector, business regulations, as well as public administration sectors, health and decentralization", said Minister Slaveski.
The World Bank has approved Euro 15 million for TTFSE 2. The project's goal is facilitation of trade and transport in Southeast Europe.
"TTFSE has four components. The first will finance the improvement of road corridor 10, the second will modernize the passengers' terminal at Blace border crossing, the third will support the modernization of toll systems, while the fourth will finance the completion of modernization of telecommunications system along Corridor 10 railway", emphasized Slaveski.
The project for strengthening of the agriculture sector is worth Euro 15 million, aimed at improving the allocation of state assistance in this area, in line with EU pre-accession requirements.
"This project is also comprised of four components. The first refers to the strengthening of the Agriculture Ministry administrative and management capacity, the second will assist the Ministry in distribution of European funds for rural development, the third will help the development of an efficient veterinary capacity, while the fourth will complete the reform in the irrigation sector", added Slaveski.
According to Repnik, although all projects are of different nature, their goal is unique - support to the growth of Macedonian economy and assistance to Macedonia in its approximation to the European Union.

EU MINISTERS MEET ON BORDER CONTROLS

EU justice and interior ministers meeting in Brussels today are expected to agree on the need to reinforce border controls to stop hundreds of thousands of immigrants from entering the bloc illegally each year – just as long as it doesn’t cost them more money.
According to a draft document by the Portuguese presidency, the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council will “encourage” governments to “co-operate”, “share responsibilities” and provide “support” to fellow member states such as Malta that are struggling to prevent the seemingly unstoppable tide of would-be immigrants who depart from ports in North Africa and enter the EU after crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
However, ministers are unlikely to agree on providing more funds to Frontex, a recently-established EU agency tasked with co-ordinating member states in the field of border security, officials said.
EU governments believe that the responsibility for the control of external borders lies with individual member states and have accordingly granted a budget of just 40mn euros ($55mn) to the Warsaw-based agency.
Some governments, including Germany and Italy, have pledged to supply it with a total of 21 aeroplanes, 27 helicopters and more than 100 boats. But while the agency is understandably reluctant to disclose exactly how many vehicles it has actually received, their number is believed to be infinitely smaller.
Reinforcing the EU’s southern maritime borders has emerged as a priority among ministers because of the numerous reports over the summer months about would-be immigrants drowning during their ill-fated voyages across the Mediterranean Sea.
In fact, experts say most of the illegal aliens who penetrate so-called “Fortress Europe” – possibly as many as 500,000 per year, says the UNHCR – are believed to do so through the bloc’s sketchily-patrolled eastern land border or by simply catching a plane and entering the EU on a temporary tourist visa.
Ministers will also be expected to devote much of today’s day-long meeting on the Schengen agreement allowing the abolition of systematic border controls between participating countries.
More specifically, discussions will focus on the state of play of shared data among participating countries – the so-called Schengen Information System – and on the exchange of people’s fingerprints and biometric data.
A total of 15 countries have so far implemented Schengen – including non-EU states Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
Nine new EU member states – the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia – have started using the Schengen information system as of September 1 and the Portuguese presidency hopes that ministers meeting in Brussels will agree to abolish passport controls at airports for passengers travelling to and from these nine countries as from March 2008.
Issues that are not on today’s official agenda, but which threaten to hijack it, include Polish opposition to a European Day against the Death Penalty that has been scheduled for October 10 and which Warsaw would like to widen to include abortion and euthanasia, and the mandate and profile of a new EU anti-terrorism co-ordinator.
The co-ordinator post was created in 2004, in response to that year’s train bombings in Madrid, but has been left vacant since March, when Gijs de Vries of the Netherlands resigned citing personal reasons.

SKOPJE PREMIERE -"SOLARIS" SPECTACLE AT THE MAKEDONIJA SQUARE

"Solaris," a futurist spectacular play directed by Zlatko Slavenski will be performed on the Makedonija Square in Skopje on Tuesday.
The play that had its premiere at the Ohrid Summer is produced by the Macedonian National Theatre. The cast mainly includes young actors: Daniela Stojkovska, Dragana Kostadinovska, Blagica Trpkovska, Dimitrija Dokesvski and Borce Nacev. Ballet dancers Suzana Gosevska and Tatjana Adam and sopranos Slavica Petrovska Galic, Ana Rojdeva and Aleksandra Lazarevska are also performing.
Director of the Macedonian National Theatre Saso Milenkovski says "Solaris" will be performed in Zagreb on 30th May next year followed by performances in Belgrade and Ljubljana.
The play, which was announced spectacularly because of the imposing character of the stage, uses photographs borrowed from NASA seen from the lens of the Hubble. The whole team of “Solaris” has very ambitious expectations. The play is performed outdoors and free of charge.
The number of expected audiences per play is also ambitious – 20,000 viewers, or a million per 50 performances of “Solaris,’ Milenkovski adds.		  
     
     
     
 

 

  
     
     
     
 

 

  
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 NEWS

  MACEDONIA, EU SIGN AGREEMENTS ON VISA FACILITATION AND READMISSION

The agreements on visa facilitation and readmission between the Republic of Macedonia and the European Union were signed Tuesday in Brussels, European Commission delegation in Skopje informed.
In the preamble and in the separate Joint Declaration, the Agreement consists of provisions, outlining the visa facilitation is a transitional phase towards establishing visaless regime for the Macedonian citizens to travel to the EU, which is to be implemented on the grounds of a positive assessment regarding Macedonia's headway in implementing the relevant reforms.
By signing the readmission agreement between Macedonia and EU, the process of signing such agreements is being wrapped up. A total of 16 agreements were signed. Hence, Macedonia confirms itself as a serious partner to EU in tackling illegal migration, reads MoI's Monday press release.
The agreement is envisaged not to be subjected to separate ratification. Instead, it will enter into force following its ratification by the European and Macedonian parliaments.
The visa facilitation and readmission agreements were signed in a ceremony that took place in Brussels with the participation, from the EU side, of Vice President Franco Frattini (from the Commission) and Minister of Interior Ruiz Carlos Pereira (from the Portuguese Presidency) and, from the Western Balkan countries, of the Ministers of Interior of Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.
"The signature of the agreements is an important political decision towards closer cooperation between the EU and the Western Balkan countries in the sensitive areas of migration and movement of persons. The smooth implementation of these agreements, together with tangible progress in basic JLS areas, will enable the Commission to start a structured dialogue on a possible visa free regime for the citizens of Western Balkan countries in the future", Vice-President Frattini stated.
"I warmly welcome the signature of these important agreements. They are very important for the people of the Western Balkans and help to improve people-to-people contacts between the citizens of the EU and the region. They are a further proof of the EU's commitment to the region's European perspective. Now we expect proper implementation of both agreements, so as to pave the way for a dialogue on visa-free travel and its conditions with each of the countries of the region", Commissioner for enlargement, Olli Rehn added.
The agreements' signing comes as a result of the three-rounds of talks, which have provided a series of visa facilitation.
The Agreement envisages Bulgaria and Romania - countries that implemented the Schengen law, but do not issue Schengen visas yet - to be able to issue free national visas for brief stay to the citizens of Macedonia until they become full-fledged members of the Schengen system.
Overall the agreements aim at making it easier for citizens of Western Balkan countries, in particular those who travel most, to acquire short stay visas for the EU, whilst simultaneously putting in place clear rules for combating illegal immigration, reads the press release by EC's delegation in Skopje.
The Visa Facilitation agreements make it possible to maintain the visa handling fee of 35ˆ instead of 60 ˆ for all Western Balkan citizens and provide a total exemption from the visa fee for certain categories of applicants.
The agreements on Readmission set out clear obligations and procedures for the authorities of both the Western Balkan countries and of EU Member States as to when and how to take back people who are illegally residing on the territories covered by the agreements. In this respect, the agreements cover not only the illegally staying nationals of both parties but also third country nationals and stateless persons being in an irregular situation provided they have a clear link with the requested Party (e.g. visa or resident permit).
The effective implementation of the Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements will ensure a better management of the migration pressure and will make it possible to envisage a structured dialogue along the path set out by the Thessaloniki agenda towards a visa free travel regime also for the citizens of Western Balkan countries.
In this context, the Western Balkan countries are expected to accelerate the implementation of relevant reforms in basic JLS areas, such as strengthening the rule of law, fighting organised crime and corruption, and increasing their administrative capacity in border control and security of documents by introducing biometric data.