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King Michael I: Simeon Is a Patriot. Former King of Romania Michael called me a patriot, because I became the PM, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha said in his residence 'Tzarska Bistritza' in Borovetz yesterday. There he received the Romania's King and his family and treated them to beans and cabbage pie.

Bulgarian artist Andrey Andreev, 31, poses in front of his work made out of 8,000 English post stamps with the image of Queen Elizabeth which his father had been collecting for 30 years. It took Andreev six months to produce the work displayed in a Sofia art gallery on January 14, 2002, dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Queen's crowning. REUTERS/Dimitar Dilkoff

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I speaks with journalists at a press conference in Tehran January 14, 2002. The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, on a visit to Iran said Muslim and Christian leaders should work together to avert a clash of religions. REUTERS/RAHEB/IRAN

Fireworks illuminate the sky above St. Marko's church in the center of Belgrade at midnight January 14, 2002 during celebrations for the Orthodox New Year. Serbian Orthodox believers celebrate New Year by the Julian calendar which has a difference of two weeks to the Gregorian calendar. REUTERS/Ivan Milutinovic

MIA

Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski realized on Monday separate meetings with Ljubco Georgievski, leader of VMRO-DPMNE party, Branko Crvenkovski - leader of SDSM, Imer Imeri - leader of PDP and Arben Xhaferi - DPA leader.

At the meetings, President Trajkovski and leaders of the four political parties concluded that the Parliament ought to develop agenda of activities that should be undertaken in the future period, and which come out from the Framework Agreement.

Parliament Chairman Stojan Andov said that list of laws that need to be adopted according to the amendments to the Constitution was submitted to signers of the Framework Agreement.

Priority law is the Law on local self-government. The draft-law is in its final stage, and should be finalized in 10 days.

By the end of their mandate, the deputies ought to adopt 12 other laws which come from the Framework Agreement.

President Trajkovski and leaders of VMRO-DPMNE, SDSM, DPA and PDP also discussed on the security situation in the country and redeployment of police forces to the regions impacted by the crisis.

On Sunday evening, President Trajkovski met with Alain Le Roy, Special EU envoy to Macedonia, who said that he would stand for removal of the road blockades in the Tetovo area.

On Tuesday, President Trajkovski will have another meeting with Le Roy, as well as with Lars Noeberg, Head of the Commission for Missing and Kidnapped Persons. At the meeting, Noeberg will inform the President on the investigation for the missing and kidnapped persons in Macedonia.

This week, President Trajkovski is also due to meet with Craig Jannes, chief of the OSCE mission in Macedonia.

MIA

Early parliamentary elections may not be held in Macedonia until meeting of obligations from the Framework Agreement, Speaker of the Macedonian Parliament Stojan Andov said Monday at a press conference.

Considering the fact that the deadline for meeting of part of those obligations has passed, Andov said he sent a letter to the deputies, asking them to immediately submit their drafts for laws that the Parliament should adopt in compliance with the Framework Agreement. He also appealed to the signatories of the Framework Agreement to meet and discuss the matter, i.e. whether these obligations will be fulfilled now or after the parliamentary elections.

"Except for the laws on local self government and election of deputies, I have no information that other laws are in some advanced phase of preparation," Andov said.

For acceleration of the process, Andov suggests to the political party leaders to meet and coordinate their proposals before submitting to the Parliament for adoption.

To the end of its mandate, current Parliament composition should pass laws on census, usage of languages, organization and work of the governmental administration bodies, governmental servants, issuing of personal documents and territorial division of the country.

Standartnews

Because of the Royal visit the guards of the palace refused to let in two groups of tourists. The royal family of Romania leaves today after having tea in 'Tzarska Bistritza'

Evgeni Genov

PM Saxe-Coburg-Gotha treated the Romania's royal family to beans and cabbage pie. King Michael I, Queen Ana, their daughter Margarete and son-in-law Radu arrived in the palace 'Tzarska Bistritza' in Borovetz at 1.30 p.m. Before that they had a walk around Sofia. The whole morning curious tourists from the winter resort stopped their cars and asked whose is the house behind the fence. The guards sent back two groups of excursionists who came there to see the residence. Romanian reporters willingly explained that King Michael I said last year after the elections in Romania that he'll return to his country only in his capacity of a monarch. The guests arrived in a white 'Mercedes' van, accompanied by two jeeps of the National Security Service. All of them were dressed in sports outfits. The guards permitted only ten minutes of conversations with the officials. After that PM Saxe-Coburg-Gotha led his wife to the palace saying: Well, chief, lets go home'. King Michael I and his family will sleep in the 'Bistritza' residence. They leave at 9 a.m. today after a cup of tea with their hosts. They will travel directly to Romania by the King's personal car. King Michael I will drive himself.

Standartnews

The mayor repel the accusations, insists on a lesser bail.

Elena Yaneva

"I'll lodge an appeal to the Prosecutor General against the accusations of misprision in office," Stephan Sofianski said in a statement yesterday. The Sofia mayor is investigated in connection with the Eurobonds loan for the Sofia municipality. He will appeal to the Sofia Prosecutor's Office about the sum of the bail (10,000 levs). "For now, I do not need a special team of lawyers," Sofianski said further. He will use the services of Chief Secretary of the Municipality, Assen Dyulgerov, who graduated in law and is familiar with the case. The two of them will ask today to be given the official text of the accusation, as well as the rest of the papers on the case. "I'm not embarrassed at all with the case, it was a clean deal," Dyulgerov was explicit. To him, however, the major aim - to tarnish Sofianski's reputation - has been achieved. Stephan Sofianski and Assen Dyulgerov came yesterday in the Sofia municipality to look through all the papers concerning the bond loan. "Mayor's guilt will be proved, though after time-consuming legal procedures," Dyulgerov forecast.

(ML)

Standartnews

The accusation against the mayor is a heavy blow to the 'Saxe-Coburg-Gotha' cabinet and will rush out the investors.

May 9, 2001, Wednesday. Dinner in Boyana. President Peter Stoyanov gathered around the table ministers from the Kostov cabinet, UDF NEC members, the coalition partners from Popualar Union and MRF.. And... Sofia Mayor Stefan Sofiyanski. He has been urgently summoned. Kostov: 'Stefan, our American partners insist that you should come out with a stand against the king' The others in chorus:'Yes, yes, Stefan, it's high time to give us support.' Sofiyanski can't manage to take the floor. Although he tries many times. The dinner turns into an inquisition against him. Moser makes it clear that the depeche from the 'American partners' has been delivered through ambassador Filip Dimitrov. It is not made clear who precisely the partners are. However, it is clear that they, the 'Kostov' circle, insist that he, Sofiyanski, should make a public statement against Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. And actively join the UDF campaign. The mayor refuses to do so. Then follow remarks like 'you'll regret, you are not with us.... and so on and so forth'. No. This is not a joke. This is only the beginning. Of the war on Stefan Sofiyanski. He doesn't like talking about that dinner. Nor of the fact that from that moment on he had to send each of his interviews to the press center of the CM. So that Kostov be certain that the mayor is not trying to topple him. Rumors in N 33 'Moskovska' St., (the City Hall) run that at that time Sofiyanski had finally understood the difference between him and them. And he expected attacks. Naturally, they were not late to come. From last Friday Sofia Mayor Stefan Sofiyanski is also an accused. Because of the Eurobond loan of 1999. Several facts, however, leave the bitter doubt that there is something rotten about this affair. Sofiyanski was called to 'Razvigor' Str., (Central Investigation Office) as a witness. However, in numbered minutes only, it became clear that he had been called to be charged. The mayor was not accompanied by a lawyer. At first it became clear that one of the accusations was that the 'decision for emitting the bonds had been taken on his own accord'. Which isn't true. Because the loan has been approved by a municipal council. And by the 'Kostov' cabinet. The grounds for the accusation - the Eurobonds issue, which all assessed as a tremendous success, was not at all accidental. All the more so that a month ago similar bonds were also emitted by the 'Saxe-Coburg-Gotha' cabinet. The message is more than clear: Kostov's government was accused of corruption. And now the weak spot of his heirs was found. The new ministers are engaged in wrongdoings, that is, they are no less corrupt. So that the blow against Sofiyanski is also a slap in the face of the cabinet and may rush out foreign investors which Bulgaria needs so badly.

(SB)

Standartnews

Milena Orozova

The access to porno is unlimited in almost all of the Internet clubs. Nobody cares what sites children are visiting. Save for beer, no other alcoholic beverages were sold at the clubs, the police officers found out. Kids, however, use to bring spirits with them, pour vodka in plastic cups and drink all night long. Many parents are not aware where their children are and usually come at midnight to search for them, the club's guards said. Most of the clients are minors. Children do not eat anything all day long to save money for the Internet. They usually wait for the first bus or tram to take them home at dawn.

(ML)

Standartnews

Amendments to the Aliens' Act are drafted to make it meet the European standards, Interior Minister Petkanov said yesterday in the 'V Desetkata' ("In the Bull's Eye") talk show on bTV. According to the present variant of the Act the extradited foreigners don't have the right to appeal the court decision. Whenever rights of citizens are violated legal control must be exercised, Petkanov said. His personal opinion is that this should be included in the new Act.

(PY)

Standartnews

Elena Yaneva

Leaders of the Party of the Bulgarian Women and Movement for National Revival 'Oborishte', Vessela Draganova and Tosho Peikov, refuse to disband their formations and join the new NMS-party. This became clear from a declaration of the coalition submitted to the media yesterday. According to her, the NMS-party, to be constituted on January 26, will be a non-parliamentary force. The holder of the mandate remain the formations of Peikov and Draganova which were registered as political parties and coalition by the Central Electoral Committee. They will get the funds and the property to which by the NMS (movement) is entitled as a winner in the parliamentary elections. Peikov and Draganova propose to the NMS constituents to conclude a trilateral agreement with them that will legitimize them as a parliamentary force. The declaration came as a checkmate to the juridical lobby within the NMS yesterday. 'I can't comment now whether the future formation can or can't be a successor to the NMS coalition', stressed parliamentary chief Ognyan Gerdzhikov. 'I haven't read the document, I can't say what the consequences might be', said Vesselin Bliznakov, chief of the commission drafting the program.

(SB)

INTERVIEW Standartnews: Emel Etem

People should get to know that reshuffles don't mean a failure of the government, but a desire for more efficiency, says Emel Etem, spokeswoman of the MFR

Elena Yaneva

- Mrs Etem, the MFR declared it wouldn't spare its criticisms to the government. What did the cabinet failed to achieve during the first months?

- The coalition government of the NMS and MFR, and the parliament should revise, as soon as possible, the laws that could help reinvigorate the economy. Because all our troubles stem from there. The aim is to help the small and medium-scale business, the entrepreneurs and the people employed in service sphere.

- At the joint sitting of the parliamentary groups of the NMS and MFR this week, will you insist on any personnel changes in the cabinet?

- At this stage we haven't discussed any concrete changes in the government on the level of ministers or deputy-ministers. I think however, that our society should know that there isn't any drama when such changes are made. Just the opposite - changes are indicative of the responsibility of the political forces who formed the government. If a minister isn't aware of or doesn't meet his commitments it's better to replace them with someone else, instead of making all people suffer. For the time being we haven't taken any decision about any specific changes. As for the NMS, no such proposals have come.

- The MFR claims that the medium-level echelon has been boycotting the government. How would you substantiate your claims?

- With lots of warnings. A big part of failures of the government is also a result of the so-called medium-level echelon. Most of these people have been appointed to their posts by the UDF for purely political reasons. They are protected by the State Employee Act and can't be dismissed. Despite the fact that they don't mean well when fulfilling their obligations. They make attempts at sabotaging the activity of the government and present it as incompetent. In this case I mean the whole team. It starts from the minister, passes through his deputies, chiefs of departments and employees. This is how things stand in district administrations.

(SB)

INTERVIEW Standartnews: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Premier Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha before journalists at 'Bistritsa' residence.

- I'm very glad to meet you. I always meet you everywhere.

- Will you accept the proposal of Vessela Draganova and Tosho Peikov for a coalition agreement with the NMS party?

- I've come here, it's Sunday now, I've come here with my guests for a little rest and let's leave aside politics for several hours.

- What did you show him, where were you today?

- Well, we were at home. My wife accompanied them for a tour of Sofia. I had to stay home to cope with some other tasks. She showed them about the center, 'Alexander Nevsky' and some other sights.

- How would you comment on the fact that you became prime minister of a republic and your guest declared he would go back to his country only as king?

- It is his own right.

- What did he tell you on this matter?

- He believes I'm rather patriotic-minded.

(SB)