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Unidentified ethnic Albanian lawmakers talk during a break of a session at Macedonia's Parliament in Skopje, on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2001. NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson arrived Wednesday in Macedonia to urge rival sides to implement the Western-engineered peace accord, including an amnesty for ethnic Albanian rebels. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson stands surrounded by unidentified associates after his arrival at a military airport near Skopje, Macedonia, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2001. Lord Robertson arrived Wednesday in Macedonia to urge rival sides to implement the Western-engineered peace accord, including an amnesty for ethnic Albanian rebels. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

'Ministry of the Economy could boast of full 'disbamboozle' (termination of shady affairs) in its work', Vice PM Nikolay Vassilev said in his report on the work of his team in the 100 days in office. We replaced the managers of more than 50 state enterprises, but we did not appoint 'cronies' of ours to any of them , Kaloyan Ninov, Vassilev's deputy, said. More than 130,000 levs are expected from the sell-off of the cars de luxe of the ministry, Vice PM said. The money is spent on lazar printers and computers. Photo Kiril Konstantinov

I W P R

Mass grave mystery threatens to derail the Macedonian peace process.

By Vladimir Jovanovski in Skopje (BCR No. 294, 7-Nov-01)

Reports of a mass grave in the mainly Albanian village of Dzepciste in western Macedonia have become the latest spoke in the wheels of the Balkan state's troubled peace process.

The Macedonian media believes the grave, which has not been excavated, may hold the key to the disappearance of 12 civilians kidnapped by Albanian rebels during their four-month insurrection earlier this year.

It may also solve the mystery about Dimitrija Dimovski, a 62-year-old pensioner from Tetovo, who vanished in the last week of July on a visit to Dzepciste, 10 km away, where he owned land.

Dimovski's Albanian neighbours said he enjoyed good relations with their community and that he spoke Albanian fluently.

Confident that he was safe, in spite of the hostilities raging in western Macedonia between government forces and Albanian rebels, he left Tetovo for Dzepciste on July 23 to water his fields.

That afternoon, as clashes erupted between troops and Albanian fighters, neighbours urged to him to take cover. "The villagers advised Dimitrija to spend the night in the village with other Macedonians from Tetovo," the village mayor Naser Jonuzi recalled. " But he did not take the advice."

Dimovski's cousin, Tomislav Dobrevski, who lives in Dzepciste, confirms the mayor's version of events. "I begged Dimitrija to stay in my house but he pumped up the tires of his bike and set off over the field to the Tetovo-Skopje highway," he said. "Since then nobody has heard from him."

Dobrevski said his cousin's assailants had no obvious motive. "He was not a reservist and was unarmed," he said. "Macedonian reservists who were kidnapped were later released by the [rebel Albanian] NLA. My son got even his gun back."

Dimovski's disappearance is linked to the existence of an alleged mass grave between Dzepciste and Neprosteno. The report surfaced in the Macedonian media as parliament threatened to block the passage of internationally-brokered constitutional amendments agreed in Ohrid in August, aimed at ending the Albanian revolt.

Before the press broke its story, the speaker of parliament, Stojan Andov, had already announced in mid-October that he would not schedule a parliamentary session to debate the amendments until the fate of 12 disappeared Macedonians was solved.

The prime minister, Ljubco Georgievski, from the nationalist Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation, VMRO-DPMNE, backed Andov's strategy. On October 31, he said parliament would not vote on the amendments until the mystery over the kidnapped civilians was cleared up.

Georgievski and Andov, strong opponents of the Macedonian peace process, have been accused of using the crisis over vanished civilians to postpone any action on the constitutional changes, which were supposed to take place in September, after NATO forces completed the disarmament of Albanian rebels.

Under strong international pressure, however, a parliamentary session on the amendments was set for November 8. Their official adoption is scheduled for November 12.

Meanwhile, reports of a mass grave and claims that the corpses were burned - and covered with dead cattle before being buried - continue to fuel public anger.

After a whole month of reports in Macedonian press, the newspaper Utrinski Vjesnik last week even published a detailed map of the grave, locating it near a factory between Dzepciste and Neprosteno.

The factory manager, Bekim Idrizi, said the report was nonsense. "I'm amazed by claims that there is a mass grave here but I don't trust the Macedonian media," he said. "We have no knowledge of any such thing in the vicinity." He pointed out the location photographed by the media, where only rubbish and weeds are visible.

To add to the confusion, the government still has not investigated the site. Deputy premier Ilija Filipovski claimed the authorities could not start digging until the interior minister, Ljube Boskovski, gave the order. When asked why no such order had come from the minister, he answered, "You should remind him."

Ljube Boskovski, the hard-line interior minister, and a hawkish member of VMRO-DPMNE, is opposed to the Ohrid peace agreement. As a fierce Macedonian nationalist, he would not hesitate to dig up the site if he thought that Macedonians were really buried there.

The international community has not investigated the site either. OSCE officials say they have no mandate or equipment in Macedonia for the task and NATO's contingent in the republic takes the same line.

However, the media believe both international bodies will co-operate with the local authorities in clearing up this case out of concern for the future of the peace process.

The newspaper Dnevnik suggested they will urge their head offices to send experts with experience in mass grave excavation from Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.

The case was internationalised on October 30, when President Boris Trajkovski wrote to The Hague chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, requesting "a procedure for determining the truth about the alleged grave in Neprosteno". The chief prosecutor's spokesperson, Florence Hartmann, told IWPR that Del Ponte has replied requesting further information about the claims.

In the meantime, Albanians worry that the nationalist parties have raised the issue of the mass grave solely to block implementation of the Ohrid peace deal.

"We are truly worried about missing people, because apart from the 12 Macedonians, 53 Albanians are also missing," said Zahir Bekteshi, of the Party for Democratic Prosperity, one of the two large Albanian parties in parliament. "But the problem is being politicised to obstruct the Framework Agreement adopted in Ohrid."

Vladimir Jovanovski is a journalist at the Skopje Magazine Forum.

MIA

The deadline for adoption of constitutional amendments and the issue of amnesty of Albanian terrorists were the central topics in the talks of NATO Secretary General George Robertson and OSCE Chairman and Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana with the representatives of the Macedonian state and political leadership.

In the statement for the media, Robertson stressed that he was assured by the Assembly President Stojan Andov that the discussion on the constitutional amendments will finish by Friday, and the voting would begin at the start of the following week.

"Macedonian Assembly will soon vote for the Framework Agreement and we will call upon all political leaders to unite and support it", Robertson stressed.

Concerning the issue of amnesty of Albanian terrorists, NATO Secretary General estimated "there has to be amnesty in order to heal the wounds of this country".

He emphasised that the discussions on the way in which amnesty would be performed were still going on. Robertson stated that Macedonian authorities assured him that there would not be "local charges for war crimes" and that all such crimes would be under the authority of the International Tribunal for War Crimes in Former Yugoslavia.

Robertson also informed that all evidence on the information of an alleged existence of a mass crypt with the bodies of the 12 persons that were kidnapped by the Albanian terrorists would be presented to the Hague Tribunal. "This country avoided bloodshed due to its wisdom and flexibility of different groups. Thus, Macedonia became an example for the entire world", Robertson stated.

Geoana added that the issue for the return of the security forces in crisis regions was reviewed at the meetings, stressing that this must be done after the completion of the political process in the country.

"It is exceptionally significant to notice some kind of progress concerning the issue of amnesty in order to prolong the mandate of our monitors in Macedonia", Geoana stated.

Robertson and Geoana were received by President Boris Trajkovski, Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski, Minister of Interior Ljube Boskovski, Minister of Justice Ixhet Memeti, Public Prosecutor Stavre Djikov and Assembly Chairman Stojan Andov, after which they had separate meetings with SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski, DPA leader Arben Xhaferi and PDP leader Imer Imeri.

At Wednesday's meeting with NATO Secretary General George Robertson and OSCE Chairman Mircea Geoana, Macedonian Parliament Chairman Stojan Andov said he expected the amendments to the Constitution to be adopted by Friday, and remained on his position that two-thirds of the Albanian deputies ought to vote in favor of these amendments.

As he said, the amendments would become functional at a separate session that would take place on November 12. To Robertson's question why Andov insisted two thirds of the Albanians to vote in favor of the amendments, he said that the constitutional changes were taking place on their request, and he would not like anyone in the future to say that the Constitution was a catalyst of crises.

In regard to the kidnapped civilians, who might be dead and buried in a mass grave, Andov said that now that was in the hands of the police and the courts, and added that the international institutions should be also engaged for resolving of this issue.

MIA

Spokesman of the Macedonian Defense Ministry Marjan Gjurovski stated Wednesday that the Ministry could not confirm the information that 100 terrorists entered from Kosovo through Zeden in Radusa, as the Macedonian Army did not register any crossings of terrorist groups.

The Defense Ministry also has no information on weapons supply in Macedonia.

"The members of the Macedonian Army are on a high alert and follow the current security situation in the country. They are on the strategic posts in the regions of crisis and every attempt for destabilizing will be obstructed," Gjurovski said.

He said that in the regions of crisis in the past few days, intensive movement of terrorist gangs and uniformed persons were registered. According to Gjurovski "it is obvious that the terrorists are nervous and the Albanian extremists are trying to take an advantage of it."

"The estimations of the Defense Ministry have been confirmed that prior to every significant event or visit in Macedonia related to the peace process there was an increased number of shots from infantry weapons, which are not targeted as well as movement of the terrorist gangs in the crisis regions probably in order to deliver message that the problems have not been solved yet," Gjurovski said. He added if this presented risk, then measures would be undertaken against the armed persons and they would be treated as legitimate target.

The Macedonian Army would not allow to the terrorist gangs to take over new posts and to endanger the security of the country and its territorial integrity.

According to Gjurovski, the Defense Ministry believed that non- adoption of the Framework agreement in the Assembly and its implementation "is in favour of the Albanian terrorist gangs."

"In that way the process of returning the police in the villages that were temporarily occupied by the Albanian terrorists as well as the other activities for taking over the control on the entire Macedonian territory are being slowed down," Gjurovski said.

MIA

In order to modernize and upgrade the electric energy system in Macedonia, the Government sign on Wednesday agreements with the Czech company "Hydropol", the British "Mak Hydro Project" and with the German "VRO Energy A.G." for ROT implementation of concession for water and for buyout of electric energy.

On behalf of the Macedonian Government, the agreements were signed by Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Supply Marjan Gjorcev, Minister of Economy Besnik Fetai and Director of Macedonian Electric Power (ESM) company Lambe Arnaudov. On behalf of the investors, the agreements were signed by General Manager of Hydropol Jan Tosmar, representative of Mak Hydro Project Alojz Krejci, and advisor in the Czech ministry of finance Jan Veverka.

The investment of Euro 20,6 million will be meant for revitalization, exploitation and transfer of water from seven small hydro plants: Dosnica, Kalimanci, Matka, Pena, Pesocani, Sapuncica and Zrnovci. The project will last for 11 years.

The Czech Hydropol, which was first-ranked at the tender opened by the Government, will carry out revitalization of the hydro-plants in the next three years and after that period it will continue exploiting these facilities. In that period, the ESM will buy out the produced electricity per price of 0,034 Euro per kWh.

News.bg

President Petar Stoyanov did not comment the intention of Stefan Sofiansky to leave the Union of Democratic Forces and to establish a new party. According to him, this move would not influence the forthcoming presidential elections, because they are much more personal than the parliamentary elections. He shared his conviction that the Union of Democratic Forces would not split, and added, "I am saying this with all my responsibility, because I am not indifferent to that what is happening in the rightist political space". Answering a question by News.bg Agency concerning the new amendments in the media law that he signed recently, President Petar Stoyanov said that according to his judgement this was the best opportunity for the Bulgarian legislative process and for the media, and emphasized that the latest amendments could not help in updating the law according to the expectations. He added that according to his explicit opinion Bulgaria needs a new media law based on a totally new interpretation.

News.bg

The National Movement Simeon II Members of Parliament from Ruse region divided in two camps after a scandal of about who should assume the Directors position in the Ruse Department of the State Automobile Inspection. Daniel Valchev, Nelly Chobanova and Botyu Botev pronounced themselves against the nomination of Evelina Ganeva, while Nikolay Chukanov and Teodora Litrova supported the nomination. For the time being, the Ruse Regional Prosecutors Office has been carrying out and investigation against Evelina Ganeva for counterfeiting official documents while being Director of the State Automobile Inspection before.

Standartnews

Bulgaria and Romania have little chances to get an invitation for NATO membership next year, the German Institute for International Policy and Security forecasted in its last report. The analysis was published in the official site of the institute and released by the electronic media.

Standartnews

There's no season when the number of the car accidents on 'Tsarigradsko Shose' Blvd. is dropping down. When it's raining the Sofia boulevard turns into a battlefield. Busses and trolleys of the urban transport are racing with whizzing limos de luxe in topsy-turvy. The itinerary mini-buses also aggravate the tumult, when stopping with a jerk, or abruptly overtaking the 'rivals'. Amidst all that chaos, elderly people jump over the road barriers to cross the boulevard. The traffic control is almost impossible. KAT (Traffic Police) is alarming that 3 incidents happen each and every day. The policemen admit that no sufficient place exists on 'Tsarigradsko Shose' where they can stop the cars for checkups. The employees in KAT can't even install their radars for the lack of turn asides.

Milena Orozova
(SH)

Standartnews

Olympic Champion Peshalov retired from the competition, Ukrainian gain the title with a planet record.

Antalia
Milena Modeva,
Reporter of 'Standart'

Stephan Georgiev won the first medal for Bulgaria at the 71st World Weightlifting Championship in Antalia. He ranked third both in jerk with split and at the combination in category up to 62 kg. Georgiev, aka Goushtera (the Lizard), won the World title in Xangmay, Thailand, in 1997, while in the spring of 1998, he became European champion. The favorites - Peshalov and Genadii Oleshchouk (Ukr) - bronze medalist from Sidney, failed twice thus granting the title to Li Inlun (China).

Standartnews

Andrei Raichev
Sociologist, before BNT

During the debate we witnessed a scandal, a genuine scandal. We saw how the incumbent president abandoned his role of a candidate-president, assumed the role of the president, opened his presidential drawer, got out a classified report of the National Security, i.e. his own service, and asked the anchorman to read out a state secret. The state secret turned out to be discrediting his competitioner. I am scandalized.

(ML)

Standartnews

Evgenii Dainov,
Sociologist, before BNT

After the debate the fear comes true that the campaign is to degenerate into everyday-affairs scandals. Since last spring, the Bulgarian society has been proposed to stop leading a political way of life and to declare all the politicos rascals of the same kind. For half an year already there have been no political clashes or political disputes in Bulgaria. As far as the elections are a clash but not a political one, then they could only be a clash of everydayness. This is what happened now. And in any country, where no political disputes and multipolitical systems exist, it is not clear who rules and who assumes the responsibility, and life is miserable.

(ML)

Standartnews

Miroslava Yanova
Sociologist, MBMD

The fact that Petar Stoyanov came up with the classified report during the debate will bring dividends to no one. On one hand, it will tighten the hard-liners among the incumbent president's followers and those of his competitioner Bogomil Bonev. On the other hand, however, those hesitant, who could at the last moment turn the balance, will probably give up. The bringing out of the report sounded like taking a peep into the kitchen of the UDF ruling. And regrettably, if to some people the UDF ruling still saved face in a way, now it got tarnished. In this sense, those of the people who are at a loss whether their ballots are important, or not, will tell themselves: "All of them are rascals, it is pointless to vote." President Stoyanov's campaign could have spared this. He was very influential while recalling his statements and reactions against corruption. There was no need to bring out the report and thus to discourage the people, and especially young ones, to cast their votes. In the long run, it is to the benefit of all the runners, including Peter Stoyanov, 50 percent of the voters to go to the polling booths.

(ML)

Standartnews

Bogomil Bonev was cool, the now president also drank up the water left for Purvanov.

Trembling hands, knit brows, staring eyes. Open mouth, unquenchable thirst. This is what people saw in Hall N 6 of the National Palace of Culture instead of the composed and artistic Peter Stoyanov. Around 150 people watched live the TV dispute between the candidate presidents at bTV. Only Georgi Purvanov was absent. However, he had sent 25 people among the audiences to applaud all the nominees except for Stoyanov. 1/3 of the guests were journalists, the rest of them - all the couples had 25 supporters each. The 5:1 ratio is to our detriment, collaborators from Stoyanov's headquarters nervously considered the situation. His propaganda group was headed by Nelly Koutskova, clad in a white polo with a provocative slash neckline. Bonev was extremely calm. With the unfolding of the discussion he grew ever more composed. Unlike Stoyanov who was ever more losing his temper. The now president completely lost control of things. He began interrupting his rivals. He drank up two glasses of water after which he resorted to the water on the empty desk of Purvanov. The audiences catcalled him loudly. A fair-haired lady from Stoyanov's supporting group didn't stop calling 'Mafia', 'You are done for' at Bonev. Having produced the compromising material against Bonev, Stoyanov switched on to the impolite form of addressing his rival. The former IM chief kept him at a distance all the time. 'Men will be men', murmured Reneta Indzhova, the only woman among the nominees for the presidency...

Elena STARIDOLSKA
(SB)

BTA

Bulgarian, Austrian Foreign Minister Discuss Bilateral Relations, Danubian Cooperation International Terrorism; President Klestil Receives Passy.

Vienna, November 7 (BTA spec. corr. Tanya Tsekova) - Bilateral relations, combatting international terrorism and cooperation among the Danubian countries were the main topics discussed by Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy and Austrian Foreign Minister Dr Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

Passy is paying an official visit to Austria at the invitation of his Austrian counterpart.

Austria fully supports Bulgaria's accession to the EU and hopes that the new Government of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Got44ha will continue the reforms launched in Bulgaria, Austrian Foreign Minister Ferrero-Waldner said at a news conference after the meeting.

Bulgaria has an important role to play in European security in combatting organized crime and drugs trafficking through the Balkans, Dr Ferrero-Waldner said. The two ministers discussed the situation in the Balkans and in Macedonia in particular.

Bulgaria deserves praise as a factor for stability in the region. During the crises in Kosovo and Macedonia Bulgaria showed it is a reliable partner that can serve as an example to other states in the region, Dr Ferrero-Waldner said.

There are untapped possibilities in the economic relations between the two countries, the two foreign ministers agreed.

At the briefing Dr Ferrero-Waldner said that she is expecting the stand of the Bulgarian Government on the closure of generating units three and four of the Kozlodoui N-plant. She recalled that Bulgaria promised to close the oldest generating units - One and Two, by 2003 and to announce when it will close Generating Units Three and Four in 2002.

According to Dr Ferrero-Waldner this should take place not later than 2006. Austria will continue its financial support for the closure of the old generating units, the Austrian Foreign Minister said.

Dr Ferrero-Waldner informed her Bulgarian counterpart of the progress of the initiative for setting up an organization for cooperation among the Danubian countries launched in July by Austria, Romania, the European Commission and the Stability Pact. The initiative is supported by Bulgaria.

The second preparatory conference has been scheduled for February in Budapest and the first meeting of the new organization will probably be held in May, the Austrian Foreign Minister said at the briefing.

Solomon Passy thanked his Austrian counterpart for Austria's support in lifting visa requirements for Bulgarian nationals and in the course of this country's integration into the European Union in general. He invited Dr Ferrero-Waldner to visit Bulgaria and the visit will probably take place next year.

Asked on Austria's stand on NATO membership, Dr Ferrero-Waldner said that the issue is not topical as a change in Austria's neutrality status requires amendments to its Constitution for which the votes of the opposition are needed.

Following his talks with Dr Ferrero-Waldner, the Bulgarian Foreign Minister met the Speaker of the Austrian Nationalrat, Dr Heinz Fischer, and delivered a message from Bulgarian National Assembly Chairman Ognyan Gerdjikov.

Passy conferred for half an hour with Austrian President Thomas Klestil. The meeting was not included in the preliminary schedule of the visit.

The Austrian President and the Bulgarian top diplomat discussed international security, the UN's role, the fight against terrorism and illegal trafficking, EU enlargement and Austria's role in this process, Passy told Bulgarian journalists after the meeting.

The Bulgarian Foreign Minister said that his Austrian counterpart Dr Ferrero-Waldner proposed that Bulgarian diplomats be trained in Austria at very favourable conditions. Bulgaria needs well-trained people to work for the country, and later, when it joins EU, for the EU structures, as well, said Passy.

Later in the day Passy leaves for Strasbourg to attend the 109th session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

BTA

BTA

Sofia, November 7 (BTA) - Bulgarian Environment Minister Dolores Arsenova and her Romanian counterpart Aurel Constantin Ilie agreed that by the end of 2001 Bulgaria and Romania will sign agreements with the EU on the supply of equipment for a project for a joint system for air quality monitoring in the Bulgarian and Romanian border cities along the lower Danube, the Environment Ministry press centre said. The system is expected to start functioning in the beginning of 2002.

Arsenova paid a visit to Bucharest November 5 and 6.

The two ministers agreed on preparing a joint proposal to the EU for technical assistance in drafting programmes in the polluted regions along the lower Danube aimed at meeting European air quality standards.

The two discussed a project for the development of a joint network for control of the emissions from stationary sources in the Bulgarian and Romanian border towns along the lower Danube. An agreement was reached on the preparation by an EU consultant of the tender documentation on the supply of the equipment. The costs for the consultant, which total 160,000 euros, will be covered by the Bulgarian side.

Arsenova and Ilie discussed other joint projects, as well, for which they expect financial assistance from the EU. Bulgaria expects support from Romania for a project for the restoration of the wetlands and reducing the pollution with biogenous elements in the Danube region, which is particularly important for this country.NK

The two ministers paid special attention to the processes of harmonization of the Bulgarian and Romanian legislation to EU accession requirements.

BTA

BTA

Sofia, November 7 (BTA) - Chief Mufti of Muslims in Bulgaria Selim Mehmed leaves November 9 on a 10-day visit to Turkey.

There he will meet with the mayors and regional muftis of Istanbul and Ankara, with the religious matters directorate director and chief mufti of Turkey Nuri Yilmaz and with representatives of the Bulgarian Christian communities. Mehmed will be accompanied by one of his deputies, by the Council of Ministers' Religious Faiths Directorate Director Lyubomir Mladenov and journalists.

The delegation will visit the center for Christian culture studies and the Bulgarian East Orthodox Municipality in Istanbul. In Ankara, they will meet with representatives of the state Diyanet Wakuff foundation, which floats money for the education of Bulgarian Muslims on annual basis. The delegation will also visit Bursa where they will meet with Bulgarian emigrants.

BTA

INTERVIEW Standartnews: Presidential Candidates, Bg.

Bonev: I was inconvenient to the president.

Peter Stoyanov: Bogomil Bonev was the first of the Bulgarian politicians to start playing in one and the same field with the Bulgarian business. I was the first ever person of a high political rank to denounce corruption. I expected support then, why not from Bogomil Bonev too, but I didn't get it. The National Security Service (NSS) was only once assigned the task of checking up the corruption signals. It was ordered by prime minister Kostov. Then we, I and premier Kostov, got the report of that service, it was top secret. And that report had later been returned or at least it had to be sent back to the NSS safe. I, being an absent-minded person, forgot to return that report. This is the notoriously known, historic report on which so many things were written and which gave rise to so much guesswork. Here, Mr Indzhev, its superscription, I'd like to ask you...

Spectator: How...

P. Stoyanov: This is my responsibility, colonel. When you become president you will be held responsible for this. The superscription on the report is 'Top secret, National Security Service', dated 4.12.1996. I'm sorry I can't see, what's written here? 'It's not subject to copymaking'. And despite that today, in this public broadcast I'll show only certain excerpts from this report, only these...

George Ganchev: This is scandalous.

Peter Stoyanov: Only the ones featuring Bogomil Bonev...

G. Ganchev: You are manipulating...

P. Stoyanov:... because Bogomil Bonev is the hero of this report. I have hidden the other names by white sheets of paper. Bogomil Bonev insisted - here is the report. Come on, read out the report.

Anchorman Ivo Indzhev: Where shall I start from, am I entitled to do it?

P. Stoyanov: Yes, yes, I give you this right.

G. Ganchev: Top secret.

P. Stoyanov: Leave it to me to shoulder the responsibility, dear George. Read it out.

I. Indzhev: 'The grouping enjoys the protections of high-ranking politicians and senior state administration officials and through Bogomil Bonev it managed to gain control over a key post in the country's rule. Through the law envisaged powers of the Interior Ministry for repressive actions the interior minister established control and exercised influence on several basic spheres of the economy connected with huge profits.

B. Bonev: Not only was that report then written duly and in this way - without any evidence whatsoever, without a single reference to a concrete fact. The report was ordered to be written like this. I'll tell you why. It was ordered to be written in this way because the then interior minister was inconventient to the president and the prime minister of Bulgaria. Their interests dictated something else. They wanted another interior minister and found him - Emanouil Yordanov. Why was this most drastic example of turning the special services into a political police tolerated by Mr the incumbent president? Why does he now resort to the methods used by the former Sixth Department of the State Security? The first to speak out about corruption was Todor Kavaldzhiev. Why isn't he now a candidate for the presidency? Why was General Kiril Radev dismissed by a decree. Because they began talking about corruption.

(SB)

INTERVIEW Standartnews: Petko Draganov.

Petko Draganov, Deputy-Minister of Foreign Affairs.

- Are there critics towards our annual program on NATO?

- Questions were rather posed. The third cycle was assessed as the best one. In Brussels they showed interested if we would cope successfully with the military reform, if Plan-2004 is to be updated, are the resources to be well-provided, etc. Questions were posed also about corruption, the military reform and about our economic policy.

- How would you comment the forecasts of the German experts that we won't be invited next year?

- I'm not well-aware with this statement. But I wouldn't even accept it. Everything is up to us. If we are to fulfil the targets planned, next year we will have the invitation.

- NATO had asked if we were capable to cut up alone the 'Skud' and SS-23 missiles. What was our answer?

- The commitment of the government to destroy these missiles was well accepted. The 'Skud' missiles are planned to be destroyed next year. On that matter, including also the SS-23, we will look for the assistance of friendly countries.

Evgeni Genov
(SH)