In an interview with the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, Stojan Andov speculated on the possible involvement of the former Serbian President Slobodan Miloshevik and the Yugoslav secret services in the assassination of Kiro Gligorov. Although Andov didn’t directly mention the name Miloshevik, through his statements of dissatisfaction of Serbian Prime Minister of the Interim Agreement between Macedonia and Greece, he indicated his involvement and possible motive for the attempted assassination of the former Macedonian President.
-The assassination was carried out by the secret services with political motive. Nothing would have happened without the involvement of the secret services. Only they could plan the assassination. Mafia had nothing to do with it – says Andov for the Greek newspaper.
One of his assumptions about the motive of the assassination was the Interim Agreement with Greece. He assumes that the Serbian Prime Minister wasn’t a big fan of the idea of signing an agreement that would lead to improvement of Macedonian-Greek relations.
-Miloshevik didn’t want the Macedonian Assembly to ratify the agreement, and surely you remember that, apart from Greece, Yugoslavia also didn’t want to acknowledge Macedonia at the time. If we would have ratified the Interim Agreement in the Assembly, we would have improved the relations with Greece, and Miloshevik didn’t want that. He wanted us to be in anticipation in order to have us where he wanted us to be, to be unstable so he can tell Greece that he will mediate for the name dispute – stated Andov for Kathimerini.
His assessment is that Miloshevik didn’t want a deal that would help put an end to the uncertainty about whether the idea to keep the new Macedonian state alive would work, and the Interim Agreement was a deal that would solve the uncertainty and bring Macedonia into calmer water.
According to him, the fact that the assassination happens two days before the vote for the Interim Agreement in the Assembly is not just a coincidence. Andov reminded that a day before the assassination attempt, Gligorov secretly traveled to Belgrade without informing him. His only traveling companion was his counselor Zhana Osmanli. He indicates that Miloshevik asked about the relations between the two countries on that trip. “When the assassination was attempted and I found out that the councilor was with Gligorov at the meeting, I asked her to brief me on the conversation. She gave me a document stating that Miloshevik requested from Gligorov Serbia and Macedonia to form a customs union. According to the document, Kiro told him that it cannot happen and that he doesn’t accept it,” says Andov.
