ABSTRACT: In this short interview published by the Sofia-based weekly "Makedonia" on 26 May 1993, Olivier Dupuis (*) talks about the situation in the former Yugoslavia, about the initiatives and the presence of the Radical Party in this region.

(MAKEDONIA, 26 May 1993)

A delegation of the Rome-based Transnational Radical Party arrived in Sofia last week. The party counts 400 MPs, especially from Italy and East European countries who are undergoing a process of democratization. Forty of our MPs are also members of this party. The list of members includes politicians from Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Croatia. I asked Mr Dupuis how the MPs from Serbia and those from Macedonia, members of the Transnational Radical Party, could get along. Dupuis said the party's militants encounter major obstacles in operating in Belgrade. "We are trying to keep contacts with the minorities of the former Yugoslavia and we hope that in addition to the MPS we can also reach people from the Serbian democratic opposition. As far as the Serbian MPs who are members of the Radical Party are concerned, they belong to the Albanian, Hungarian and Croatian minorities". Mr. Dupuis said his party has been fighting to abolish the veto placed by the EC on the recognition of Macedonia, and favoured contacts bet

ween the Italian and the Macedonian government to help Macedonia overcome its isolation.

Dupuis also explained the Transnational Radical Party wants to create a United States of Europe. Asked by one of our reporters on how he plans to integrate the Balkans, with its countless ethnic contradictions, into that future community, Dupuis answered, "as long as there is this anti-democratic and racist regime in Belgrade, which attacks the populations of the Balkans, there can be no peaceful future for the Balkans".

The TRP also wants to enhance communications between Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania and Rumania.

Translator's notes

(*) DUPUIS OLIVIER. (1958). Belgian conscientious objector, surrendered himself to the Belgian justice system and served an 11-month sentence in the prison of Saint Gilles. Worked at the French-speaking edition of "Radical News". Organized and participated in non-violent and antitotalitarian demonstrations in the countries of Eastern Europe, and was for this reason expelled from Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Currently coordinates the party's activities in Rumania and Hungary. He is working on a project called the "New Party".