Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and BDI leader Ali Ahmeti met in Skopje yesterday afternoon. Gruevski told Ahmeti at the meeting that the demands for adoption of a law for the NLA members and voting in of a Government in accordance with the Badinter principle are unacceptable to him, but he said that he is willing to discuss BDI's other demands, the media report.

Marijana Kavcic

Arabic Manuscripts and their Significance

In the rich cultural treasury of Macedonia there is a specific heritage of great value that takes a special place, a heritage which is yet to be fully researched and presented to the professional and larger public: the Arabic manuscripts. Created with the spreading of Islam, in the various places and in the various periods of history, the Arabic manuscripts, with the richness of their contents, give evidence of the high achievements in the areas of spirituality, philosophy, culture, science, and in the other fields of life in the Arabo-Islamic civilization space. However, they also testify about the permanent intellectual exchange between the East and the West and the freedom of mutual influences even in the time that was mostly characterized with the constant conflicts between the Christianity and the Islam.

The Government is prepared to accept a list of laws that would be ratified with a Badinter majority and it agrees to restructure of the assembly Committee for Relations Among the Communities. Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski also agrees to a meeting with BDI leader Ali Ahmeti in the presence of representatives of the international community. The prime minister already informed Ali Ahmeti of this. Ruling coalition partners VMRO-DPMNE, NSDP, and PDSH yesterday discussed a strategy for improvement of the political climate in the country. They held a meeting in an excellent atmosphere at which they ironed out their political differences.

At a time when Macedonia is expecting to receive a date for start of the negotiations for membership in the EU and an invitation for membership in NATO, the country needs political stability and constructive dialogue among the political parties, Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa concluded at their meeting yesterday.

•Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa arrives on two-day official visit to Macedonia.

- Under the law, the Deputy Minister heads the Ministry when the Minister is absent or not in a position to perform their duties. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, due to the nature of the post, is the most frequently absent Minister, which means that comparatively I am one of the most burdened Deputy Ministers. In addition to my everyday financial and personnel-related duties, as well as my regular contacts with the diplomatic corps, my job description also includes a series of engagements in the Government and the government bodies, as well as the Parliament and its committees. I am also standing in for the Minister whenever he is on a trip, mostly attending multilateral conferences where Macedonia should be represented at ministerial level.

Martti Ahtisaari's plan is a good basis for resolving of the status of Kosovo, which is especially important for securing peace and stability in the region, Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski assessed following the meeting with Albanian President Alfred Moisiu.

A total of 35 police officers and customs officials were detained in the "Skopje" Remand Prison for taking bribes. Six individuals employed at the Deve Bair, Medzitlija, and Bogorodica border crossings will stand trial on bail. The court made this decision following the two-day long interrogation of approximately 40 individuals who were detained on Friday under suspicion of taking bribes at the border crossings. The questioning of the 41 suspects started on Saturday morning, when the detainees were brought to the court under strong police security. Three investigating judges questioned the detainees. The procedure ended on Sunday morning, when the individuals against whom the court ruled a 30-day detention were transferred to the prison in Sutka.

Fifty Macedonian policemen and customs officers, working at several border crossings, were taken into custody this morning in a special police action, electronic media report. They were tracked with special equipment on suspicion of abusing their official position and taking bribe. Interior Ministry sources say the action is still in progress and the number of the arrested may further rise.

Macedonia's path to the EU leads via Ohrid and the country must demonstrate political maturity and consensus over the next few months. This is the message that Deputy Prime Minister for EU Integration Gabriela Konevska-Trajkovska conveyed to the European officials in the European Political Center in Brussels on Tuesday.

The Democratic Union for Integration (BDI) is prepared to enter the Government and accept a possible invitation from Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, senior BDI sources told "Vreme" unofficially.

•Assembly votes on changes in Government make-up. Imer Aliu to be new deputy prime minister for implementation of Framework Agreement.

The thesis that there is no political dialogue has been wrongly postulated. There is political dialogue, especially in the Parliament, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said yesterday, responding to questions from the members of the Rotary Club in Macedonia.

The Government took seriously EU Commissioner for Expansion Olli Rehn's messages and remarks concerning the delay in the reforms in Macedonia. A full analysis of the visit has been made and the activities related to the country's accession to the European Union will be intensified over the coming period.

In three weeks since the start of the government campaign for attracting foreign investments, "Invest in Macedonia - New Business Heaven in Europe", about 250 companies turned to the Macedonian authorities asking more detailed information about Macedonia's investment opportunities, while 64 million reactions to the campaign have so far been noted.

"The businessmen from Turkey, Germany, Slovenia, Greece and Australia are the most interested," said the Minister without Portfolio responsible for foreign investments, Gligor Tashkovich, addressing the representatives of the companies from the American Chamber of Commerce in Macedonia.

•EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn arrives in Skopje.

Rosemary DiCarlo, US deputy assistant secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs, requested of the Western Balkan countries progress in the political sphere, at the minister's conference of the Adriatic and Baltic groups, which was held in Tallinn, Estonia. DiCarlo said that the reforms in the defense are progressing well, stressing that the future of the Western Balkans lies in the Euro-Atlantic family.

"The resolutions proposed by Martti Ahtisaari as regards the final status of Kosovo do not threaten the national and state interests of Macedonia. The process of defining the document is continuing. The two sides are expected to submit proposals, after which we will get the final resolution for Kosovo. The good thing for us is that the demarcation of the border, which was one of the open issues, will start," President Branko Crvenkovski said at the end of his visit to Tetovo yesterday.

UN Special Representative for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari's proposed resolution for the final status of Kosovo is acceptable to Macedonia, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said after the meeting with Hashim Thaci, leader of the Kosovo opposition and member of Kosovo's negotiating team.

Protests are possible by Albanians from Macedonia as support for the Kosovars if Kosovo does not receive independence, but no armed groups are mobilizing in the former crisis regions in the eve of today's presentation of UN's proposal for the status of this province. The security services claim that there are no real threats at the moment for destabilization of Kosovo and spilling over of the crisis to Macedonia.

Macedonia's partners in NATO recommend to Macedonia that it get involved in the processes in Kosovo. This was the message that Macedonian Defense Minister Lazar Elenovski received in Washington yesterday. "Dnevnik" has learned unofficially that the role that Macedonia could play in future Kosovo is to assist the transformation of the Kosovo Protection Corps.

Mobilkom Austria is the only company interested in the Macedonian Government's offer for granting a third mobile operator concession. The bid was opened today at the Agency for Electronic Communications of Macedonia (AEC). Mobilkom Austria's agent was present at the opening.

•Prime Minister Gruevski on official visit to Estonia.

•President Crvenkovski meets with EU senior officials in Brussels.

The lack of political dialogue in Macedonia damages the country's image in a key year for membership in NATO and start of the negotiations for membership in the EU, Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer concluded in Brussels yesterday. They dedicated most of their meeting precisely to the political disagreements in the country.

•President Crvenkovski on two-day official visit to NATO and EU headquarters in Brussels.

Macedonia is entering a political crisis. There is no dialogue among the parties, as a result of which the relations among the key institutions are strained. The Parliament debates insignificant issues and two parties announced that they would withdraw from the Assembly. This was the assessment that SDSM Chairwoman Radmila Sekerinska presented on Friday. She proposed a package of four resolutions for a way out of the deadlock in the dialogue and for return to the basic political processes.