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Fri, 27 Feb 04
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NE-@latvia-usa.org
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Feb 27, 2004 10:34 PST
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NATO ENLARGEMENT DAILY BRIEF (NEDB)
Friday, 27 February 2004, 13:32 EDT
---------------------------------------------
* NATO APPROVING TROOP ROLE, IF IRAQIS ASK IT: SECGEN / AFP
* NATO NEEDS MORE TOOLS FOR THE JOB IN AFGHANISTAN: ISAF
COMMANDER /FT / Judy Dempsey
* BUSH, SCHROEDER PUBLICLY PATCH UP TIES / AFP / Olivier
Knox
* SCHRODER GIVES SUPPORT TO BUSH'S MIDEAST PLAN / IHT /
John Vinocur
* US 6TH FLEET TO PATROL OFFSHORE AS PART OF ATHENS
OLIMPICS / FT / Kerin Hope
* LATVIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES NATO MEMBERSHIP / AFP
* ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES NATO ADHESION TREATY / AFP
* LITHUANIA EXPELS THREE RUSSIAN DIPLOMATS FOR SPYING / AFP
* RUSSIA SAYS AIR FORCE OUT OF DECADE-OLD TAILSPIN, READY
TO STRIKE / AFP
* MACEDONIAN LEADER DIES IN CRASH / NYT / Nicholas Wood
---------------------------------------------
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NATO CHIEF SEES ALLIANCE APPROVING TROOP ROLE, IF IRAQIS
ASK IT
AFP, 27 Feb 04
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Feb. 27
he believes the military alliance is likely to approve the
deployment of its forces to Iraq if the move is requested
by a sovereign Iraqi government.
De Hoop Scheffer, in Lisbon for talks with Prime Minister
Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, added in an interview with daily
newspaper Diario de Noticias that the tensions over the
U.S.-led war in Iraq which split the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization were over.
?If a sovereign government of Iraq were to ask NATO to play
a larger role in the country, I think we would have a very
serious debate and the reply would certainly be ?yes?,? he
said.
?Everyone understands that, regardless of what they thought
about the war, the international community cannot sit by
and watch Iraq return to instability,? he told the paper.
The U.S. has vowed to hand over to an Iraqi government by
June 30 this year.
NATO already provides support to the division of troops led
by Poland in south-central Iraq, and 18 of the 26 current
and future members of the alliance have a military presence
in the country.
Washington has suggested that the military alliance should
take on a greater role in the stabilization of Iraq, a move
which would help ease the burden on the mainly U.S. forces
in the country.
NATO took charge of the 6,100-troop International Security
Assistance Force in Afghanistan last year, the first major
attempt by the military alliance to expand its scope of
action beyond the Cold War European borders that it was set
up to defend.
NATO NEEDS MORE TOOLS FOR THE JOB IN AFGHANISTAN: ISAF
COMMANDER
Financial Times, 27 Feb 04, by Judy Dempsey
Lieutenant-General Rick Hillier has no illusions about how
long Nato will have to stay in Afghanistan. "A long time,"
he says.
After only three weeks as commander of the 6,500-strong,
Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul,
the Canadian general has identified the challenges facing
the US-led military alliance.
One is "harmonising" the different agencies so United
Nation-backed Isaf, commanded by Nato since last August,
can carry out its mandate. There are more than 1,500
non-governmental organisations in Afghanistan. Isaf's main
task is to provide security to Kabul and eventually create
five small military/civilian units designed to extend
government authority beyond the capital.
Nato's top commanders had hoped the PRTs would be
established well before next June's elections so they could
help register 10.5m eligible voters. So far only one, led
by Germany, has been set up even though 19 countries
promised more military capabilities for the task.
Lt Gen Hillier says he is still waiting for attack
helicopters from the Netherlands and transport helicopters
from Turkey. As for the PRTs being up and running well
before June, he diplomatically says Nato countries "did
promise to deliver" on capabilities.
Lt Gen Hillier is clear that low voter registration would
have an impact on creating a stable Afghanistan. "You can't
do an election if you don't have the right ethnic and
racial mix and balance," he says. About 9 per cent have so
far registered.
Another Nato/Isaf task is to "demobilise, demilitarise and
reintegrate" (or DDR) the militias that had opposed the
Taliban. Lt Gen Hillier says security and DDR are linked.
"The DDR is one of the fundamental pillars for providing
security," he explains. This means establishing a new army
and police. There has to be synchronisation, he says: "If
you disarm the militias without at the same time building
up the police, it might not be effective."
Many of the militia groups still operate openly, some
working closely with Operation Enduring Freedom, the
US-led, 10,600-strong force that concentrates on fighting
terrorism and is separate from Nato/Isaf.
Some Nato diplomats say this has complicated the DDR
process. Others say these militias will over time be
integrated into the new army provided there are enough
incentives. The main disincentive comes from the
flourishing drugs trade. A British diplomat says 95 per
cent of the heroin on British streets comes from
Afghanistan, while the UN says the poppy crops are back at
pre-Taliban levels.
Britain is trying to crack down on the narcotics trade and
some Nato diplomats suggest the alliance should become
involved. Lt Gen Hillier is adamantly against this. "Nato
would absolutely never be used to burn a poppy field.
Never," he says. "There is no short-term solution to this
problem. The ratio between reward and risk has to be
changed. Those involved in narcotics get big rewards. It
does not carry certain risks."
Diplomats say this shift will require a well-trained army,
police force, more security and more Nato troops and
capabilities.
BUSH, SCHROEDER PUBLICLY PATCH UP TIES
AFP, 27 Feb 04, by Olivier Knox
US President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder held talks White House on Friday ahead of a
public ending to their divisions over the war in Iraq.
Bush, who made no secret of his anger at Schroeder's
opposition to the US-led invasion and at what he viewed as
the German's anti-American reelection campaign, was to have
lunch with his guest after an Oval Office meeting.
The president and the chancellor were to answer questions
during a joint public appearance and were reportedly due to
issue a joint statement touting the strength of bilateral
ties.
"Germany has been a key partner of the United States in the
fight against terrorism and our efforts to help create a
Europe that's whole, free and at peace," Bush spokesman
Scott McClellan told reporters.
But it was unclear whether Schroeder's first White House
visit in more than two years would yield concrete progress
on the economic issues he was expected to raise, including
opening Iraqi reconstruction contracts to German firms.
"There is no update" to the US policy of restricting firms
from nations that opposed the Iraq war to subcontracting
work, McClellan said.
Still, "we've always said that circumstances can change,"
McClellan said, before praising Germany's commitment to
help ease Iraq's estimated 120-billion-dollar debt.
The German government has categorically dismissed sending
troops to Iraq, even as part of any North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) mission.
But US officials say privately that the feud over Iraq is
long buried, citing Bush and Schroeder's meeting on the
sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2003.
The United States is also pleased with Germany's expanded
role in post-war Afghanistan, where it is training Afghan
police officers, aiding reconstruction efforts, and
contributes the most troops to an international security
force.
"Germany has been a key partner of the United States in the
fight against terrorism," said McClellan. "The president
looks forward to talking about how we can work together to
make the world a safer and better place."
The US ambassador to Germany said in an interview published
Thursday by German daily Zeitung that Berlin should
increase its defense budget to two percent of its gross
domestic product, from its current level of 1.4 percent.
US officials also say that they appreciated Schroeder's
public support for Bush's plans to present a new Middle
East initiative.
But those warm feelings are not expected to translate into
action on the relationship between the dollar and the euro,
despite Schroeder recents warnings against future
"signficant shifts."
Bush, who has stepped up his reelection efforts ahead of
the November vote, is also increasingly taking on charges
from opposition Democrats who accuse him of alienating
traditional US allies -- and patching things up with
Schroeder could help.
And, according to the German news magazine Focus, the two
leaders were to unveil a joint paper on the strength of
German-US relations after their talks.
Between now and July, Bush is due to meet with European
leaders at the Group of Eight meeting June 8-10, then a
European Union - US summit in Ireland later that month.
He is also likely to go to a NATO summit in Turkey at the
end of June, and will probably attend June 6 celebrations
of the 60th anniversary of the Allies' World War II landing
in Normandy.
SCHRODER GIVES SUPPORT TO BUSH'S MIDEAST PLAN
International Herald Tribune, 27 Feb 04, by John Vinocur
Chancellor Gerhard Schroder said Thursday that Germany had
confidence in the United States' long-term effort to bring
democracy and stability to the Middle East.
At the start of a two-day trip to the United States, which
is to include a meeting with President George W. Bush on
Friday in Washington, Schroder signaled that Germany looked
favorably at the Bush administration's plan to present a
far-reaching Greater Middle East initiative at world
economic and NATO summit meetings this June.
The initiative has encountered some criticism in Europe and
the Arab world. But in a speech before the Chicago Council
on Foreign Relations, Schroder said, "Germany has
confidence in the United States in this process." He added
that "the United States has a strong partner in Europe in
Germany."
The statement had the appearance of an attempt to set an
upbeat mood for the talks in Washington, which are to focus
on the Middle East and Iraq.
The meeting was expected to provide evidence of an
improvement in German-American relations after a dismal
year following Schroder's refusal to back the United
States' role in the Iraq war.
Earlier this month, Germany's foreign minister, Joschka
Fischer, presented a parallel long-term plan for the Middle
East that included a proposal for a free-trade zone and
called for cooperation between the United States, NATO and
the European Union in developing a coordinated approach to
the region.
Schroder pointed to the economic component of Fischer's
speech, which, to the satisfaction of the Bush
administration, described "jihadist terrorism" as a "new
totalitarianism" that was the world's greatest security
threat.
"It's clear to me," Schroder said, "that we have to work
with our partners in the region itself to bring the
necessary process of modernization, democratization and
stability to this crisis area. We must not neglect a basic
Middle East problem -- the conflict between Israelis and
Palestinians -- and we must not allow this conflict to
close off or interfere with other perspectives."
Before Schroder left Berlin for Chicago, German government
sources, discussing the Middle East initiatives, told
reporters: "The ideas that Fischer laid out and the
concepts of the American administration come together in
many respects. Naturally, more conversation is needed, but
we're very satisfied that on this theme, we're having a
deep, strategically concrete exchange with the Americans."
German press reports from Brussels have spoken of
irritation within the EU and on the part of France that
Germany is making such an apparently strong effort to line
up with the United States and NATO in seeking an overall
solution for the region.
Schroder reiterated Wednesday that Germany would not send
troops to Iraq under any circumstances, but would not stand
in the way of a decision by NATO to do so.
The United States, through its ambassador to Germany,
Daniel Coats, has indicated that it is not going to openly
challenge the chancellor's position, and wanted to focus
attention on other areas of cooperation.
But the full embrace of German-American friendship was
clearly not at hand yet.
German government sources, asked to describe the personal
relationship between Bush and Schroder, declined to do so.
But pressed further, they said that the two men "both
perform following their oaths of office in relation to the
interests of their own people, and so it is when they're
together."
The sources said that "from their last meeting, the two
function with one another in a friendly and partner-like
way."
Bush and Schroder met briefly in New York last September in
the margins of the United Nations General Assembly session.
Early Thursday, Coats said in a radio interview that the
United States accepted Germany's decision not to send
troops to Iraq but was pleased that it "would not stand in
the way of a NATO engagement in Iraq."
Coats said Washington would like to see Germany take on a
larger role in world affairs. "We would welcome it if
Germany strengthened its economy, its military and its
foreign policy," he said.
Bush wanted to put aside differences with Germany, Coats
said. "The president's meeting with the chancellor is a
positive step forward," he told Bayerischer Rundfunk.
US 6TH FLEET TO PATROL OFFSHORE AS PART OF ATHENS OLIMPICS
Financial Times, 27 Feb 04, by Kerin Hope
Greece is planning the biggest sporting security operation
in history for the Athens Olympics, with almost 100,000
troops and police on alert and ships from the US 6th Fleet
patrolling offshore, the country's defence minister has
said.
In an emerging picture of the full extent of the military
might needed to protect the games, Yannos Papantoniou,
defence minister, maintains even more resources will be
required, with logistical details still to be finalised.
As the smallest country to host a summer games since
Finland in 1952, Greece has continued to seek international
help to provide protection for tens of thousands of
athletes, Olympic officials and high-profile visitors to
the games in August.
The government wants Nato to ring-fence the country's
borders while the games are under way. The alliance has
already agreed to provide Awacs surveillance aircraft to
monitor Greek airspace.
"The precise co-operation with Nato hasn't been formalised
yet, but there's an understanding that the alliance would
be on standby for any kind of emergency," Mr Papantoniou
said in an interview with the Financial Times.
He said current plans provided for a Nato rapid reaction
force to remain on standby outside Greece during the
summer, while the Italian and Turkish navies would patrol
in the Ionian and Aegean. Ships from the US 6th Fleet would
cruise within easy reach of Athens.
But amid growing popular concern that Greece might come
under pressure to transfer responsibility for security to
US experts, the government decided to postpone a final
agreement with Nato until after the March 7 general
election.
A strong anti-American tradition - over 95 per cent of
Greeks opposed the Iraq war according to opinion polls -
makes Greek politicians wary of sounding internationalist.
As Mr Papantoniou put it: "The principle is that inside
Greece there will just be Greek forces inside to protect
the games, but that forces from other Nato coun tries will
be on alert to supplement our efforts."
However, Greek officials are already co-operating with a
group of security experts from the UK, Australia, France,
Germany, Spain, Israel and the US who advise Athoc, the
games organising body, and are working closely with the
public order ministry to organise training abroad for Greek
police and security officials.
One western expert said: "Intelligence networking,
including the Nato component, seems to be progressing
adequately, but there's a lag in training people on the
ground."
Security for the Olympics will cost at least Dollars 750m
(Euros 600m, Pounds 400m), more than three times the amount
spent at the Sydney games four years ago. SAIC, the US
company responsible for co-ordinating security, has a
Dollars 250m contract with the government to install
equipment and manage surveillance of more than 100
games-related sites.
But delays in awarding equipment contracts will mean a
last-minute rush to train the 40,000 police, coastguard and
emergency service staff who will work round the clock for
the two weeks of the games.
About 40,000 members of Greece's mostly conscripted armed
forces are already patrolling the mountainous land borders
with Balkan countries and the dozens of islands used by
illegal immigrants entering the country.
Mr Papantoniou says local Greek and Turkish military
commanders are co-operating to try to stem the flow of
immigrants from the Middle East who make their way across a
river marking the frontier in northern Greece.
Another 10,000 troops will be based around Athens,
including a special force being trained to combat chemical,
biological and nuclear attacks.
The possibility of the Olympics being used to stage a
spectacular terrorist attack looms larger since al-Qaeda's
bombings in Istanbul last November. Since then Russia and
Turkey have become part of a security network exchanging
information related to the games. But Mr Papantoniou says
he is not aware of a specific threat.
The US Olympic team will be accompanied by its own security
force under an agreement with the government, and other
countries believed to face a terrorist threat, such as
Australia, Israel and the UK, are expected to follow suit.
But a bigger worry is that excessive security for the
Olympics could trigger violent demonstrations by local
protesters. With the International Olympic Committee
meeting in Athens this week to assess preparations for the
games, the Anti-2004 Campaign, a group that includes
anti-globalisation activists, is staging a series of
protests around the city.
Mr Papantoniou says: "The challenge for the authorities is
to handle security for the Olympics as effectively as
possible but without having to turn Athens and the sports
venues into a military zone."
LATVIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES NATO MEMBERSHIP
AFP, 26 Feb 04
The Latvian parliament on Thursday endorsed the Baltic
state's forthcoming accession to NATO.
Latvia is one of seven former communist countries on course
to join the transatlantic military alliance on April 2.
Each incoming country has to ratify membership before
entry.
The accession was approved by 77 members of the 100-seat
parliament. Six left-wing MPs voted against and six
abstained.
Foreign Minister Sandra Kalniete described the vote as a
"historic moment".
President Vaira Vike-Freiberga is now expected to ratify
the accession treaty within the next few days.
ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES NATO ADHESION TREATY
AFP, 26 Feb 04
Romania's parliament on Thursday ratified the adhesion
treaty for joining NATO, the last step before Romania
becomes a member of the alliance on April 2 along with six
other former communist states.
"Romania has taken a historic step with the ratification of
its treaty," Prime Minister Adrian Nastase said in
parliament.
"Romania's military contribution to NATO is the most
significant of the seven candidate countries," he said,
referring to how many soldiers Romania was making available
to the alliance.
Some 1,500 Romanian soldiers are currently deployed with
international forces in several countries, including more
than 700 in Iraq, 500 in Afghanistan and some 200 in Bosnia
and Kosovo.
Romania has let the United States use the Mihail
Kogalniceanu air base in Constanta in the east of the
country, on the Black Sea, for logistics support during the
war against Iraq.
Romania is hoping that US troops will be permanently based
on its territory when Washington decides on setting up
military bases in eastern Europe.
NATO invited Romania to join NATO at a summit in Prague in
November 2002.
The 19-member former Cold War military bloc invited,
besides Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
Slovakia and Slovenia to join it in the largest enlargement
in the alliance's history.
It had admitted three other ex-communist states -- Poland,
Hungary and the Czech Republic -- in 1999.
LITHUANIA EXPELS THREE RUSSIAN DIPLOMATS FOR SPYING
AFP, 27 Feb 04
Former Soviet republic Lithuania said Friday it expelled
three Russian diplomats last week for spying, in the
framework of a corruption scandal in which President
Rolandas Paksas faces impeachment.
"I can confirm with regret the fact that three people from
the Russian embassy were sent home for activities which are
not line with the diplomatic service," Foreign Minister
Antanas Valionis told reporters.
"We regret that we were forced to take such an actions," he
said.
He said they had been sent home for "trying to illegally
influence privatisation, and to illegally obtain
information from the parliament related to the president's
impeachment."
The revelation provided a new twist in a scandal which has
rocked the Baltic state in the run-up to Lithuania's
European Union and NATO membership which blew up last
October when a security services report accused the
president's office of links with criminal groups.
The Lithuanian parliament has set the wheels in motion for
impeaching Paksas over the scandal.
Earlier, as reports of the deportations emerged, diplomats
had said they were not linked to the Paksas affair.
The Lithuanian president's office and Russian embassy in
Vilnius declined to comment on the report.
Paksas has been accused of violating his oath of office,
leaking classified information, meddling with private
business, discredited public institutions and allowed his
aides to abuse their powers.
Valionis said Lithuania hoped the two countries could avoid
an escalation of the affair, and that relations with Russia
would "remain friendly and constructive."
RUSSIA SAYS AIR FORCE OUT OF DECADE-OLD TAILSPIN, READY TO
STRIKE
AFP, 27 Feb 04
Russia?s air force chief told dozens of international
military attaches Feb. 27 that his force was for the first
time getting the funding it needed to rapidly strike
anywhere around the globe.
Air Force General Vladimir Mikhailov said that training
time for pilots has doubled over the past year and that
Russian strategic bombers have recently staged exercises in
the Arctic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
The Moscow-based military attaches in response quizzed him
closely on Russia?s future air ambitions.
Mikhailov confirmed that strategic bombers shot cruise
missiles over the Arctic as part of broad military
exercises staged earlier this month -- billed as the most
wide-ranging war games in some 20 years.
He said Russia?s bombers never launched their missiles over
the Atlantic in a move that would have likely prompted
protest from NATO and the United States.
But he cautioned that Russia was ready at any moment to do
so.
?We are ready to go there today if necessary,? Mikhailov
announced in an address in the defense ministry?s imposing
central Moscow headquarters opposite the Kremlin.
The Russian air force -- along with the other branches of
Russia?s military -- has suffered from poor financing since
the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Training has been limited because the air force lacked cash
for fuel and spare parts to update rundown equipment.
But Mikhailov said this has all changed.
?The average pilot training time has doubled since 2002,?
he said.
?I would not want to name the exact average number of hours
-- this is not a state secret but that figure is measured
differently by different countries. Some measure the time
spent in the air and others from the engine?s ignition.?
He was peppered by questions from diplomats keen to figure
out the course of Russia?s military under President
Vladimir Putin -- who has announced reforms as one of his
top government priorities.
Mikhailov said that his agency has now changed track by
agreeing that some of its plane and chopper models were
outdated or not wanted by foreign customers.
?We are now only upgrading a small range of planes,? he
said. ?This makes more sense.?
His comments came amid displeasure in the Russian military
that NATO this week flew AWACS reconnaissance planes over
Baltic states that will soon join the U.S.-led alliance.
Russia has feared NATO expansion and issued protests over
the AWACSs flights since the sensitive radar can see deep
into Russia?s own territory.
Mikhailov said Russia has staged several reconnaissance
missions in the same area in recent days but said those
flights were made over neutral international waters.
?This should not be seen as an act of revenge,? Mikhailov
said with a grin.
And he stressed that Russia was ready to cooperate with
NATO in ?anti-terror? operations in Afghanistan and share
its new Kant base in the Central Asia republic of
Kyrgyzstan in case of emergency.
?But we would need two commanders in that case -- one who
speaks Russian and one who speaks English,? he said. ?And,
of course, an interpreter.?
MACEDONIAN LEADER DIES IN CRASH ;
TRAJKOVSKI CREDITED WITH HAVING PREVENTED CIVIL WAR IN 2001
The New York Times, 27 Feb 04, by Nicholas Wood
The president of Macedonia, Boris Trajkovski, a leader
widely respected for calming ethnic tension in a country
that almost descended into full-blown civil war in 2001,
was missing and presumed killed Thursday when the small
plane in which he was traveling crashed in mountains in
Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Trajkovski was traveling with eight other passengers and
crew to a conference in the city of Mostar. Officials from
Bosnia's aviation agency said the small propeller driven
aircraft disappeared from radar screens just past 8 a.m.
The plane was thought to have gone down near the town of
Stolac in an area which remains heavily mined from the
1992-95 Bosnian war.
The officials said the cause of crash was still unknown,
but there was poor visibility at the time. The poor weather
had prompted Albania's representative, Fatos Nano, to
cancel his flight to the conference.
Politicians from all over Europe, including Javier Solana,
the European Union's top foreign policy official, and
Joschka Fischer, the foreign minister of Germany, were
quick to issue statements mourning the loss of Trajkovski,
a 47-year-old former Methodist minister who was elected
president of his country in November 1999.
He rose to prominence that year as a deputy foreign
minister noted for his deft handling of the enormous influx
of refugees from neighboring Kosovo during NATO's war
against the then Yugoslavia.
In 2001, he helped to prevent an armed uprising by Albanian
rebels in Macedonia from turning into all-out civil war.
"He was the most important Macedonian figure in preventing
a civil war, and that has never been fully recognized,"
said Mark Laity, a NATO spokesman. "He found it personally
hugely stressful, but he held firmly to the principle that
there had to be compromise, otherwise there would be a
civil war. He knew that if he buckled the whole thing was
over."
Misha Glenny, a British author and expert on the Balkans,
noted that Trajkovski's determination to represent all
Macedonians, regardless of their religion or nationality,
and added that "his is the latest in a long line of
tragedies in the Balkans, where the best, most decent men
-- Bob Frasure, Gerd Wagner, Zoran Djindjic -- are the ones
who die." Frasure was a senior U.S. diplomat assisting
Richard Holbrooke in the negotiations that led to the
Dayton peace agreement. He and two other American officials
were killed when the armored personnel carrier in which
they were traveling crashed on Mount Igman above Sarajevo
in August 1995.
Wagner was a senior UN official killed along with 11 others
in a helicopter crash in Bosnia in 1997.
Djindjic, the Serbian prime minister, was assassinated last
spring in Belgrade.
Ron Brown, the U.S. commerce secretary, and 34 other people
were killed in the spring of 1996 when their plane crashed
as it approached the airport at Dubrovnik, Croatia, in bad
weather.
Mirjana Kontevska, a spokeswomen for Macedonia's interior
ministry, said the government was unable to officially
confirm Trajokovski's death until the crash site had been
fully examined. Forensic experts were traveling from
Macedonia to examine the wreckage and, if necessary,
recover bodies, she said, adding that Macedonia would go on
a state of alert as a security precaution. There would be
increased police patrols throughout the country.
Branko Crvenkovski, the prime minister of Macedonia, was
informed about the crash during an official visit to Dublin
where he was submitting his country's formal application
for membership of the European Union.
He immediately returned to the Macedonian capital Skopje
for an emergency cabinet meeting.
Trajkovski is survived by his wife and a daughter. No
immediate announcement was made about funeral arrangements.
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