OMRI Daily Digest I,II, No 69, 6 Apr 95
CONTENTS
[01] TURKEY CRITICIZED BY LDP.
[02] POLITICAL MOVEMENT AMONG BOSNIAN SERBS.
[03] MILITARY ACTIVITY IN EASTERN CROATIA.
[04] SERBIAN FARMERS SCORN "SUPER DINAR".
[05] PERSONNEL CHANGES IN BULGARIAN SECURITY SERVICES.
[06] GREEK-MACEDONIAN TALKS UNCERTAIN.
[07] ALBANIA SIGNS GAS DEAL WITH RUSSIA.
OMRI Daily Digest I, No 69, 6 Apr 95
TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] TURKEY CRITICIZED BY LDP.
The Liberal Democratic Party faction in the
State Duma has protested against Turkey's foray into northern Iraq,
Interfax reported on 5 April. The LDP condemned the UN and NATO for
their alleged indifference to the violation of the borders of a
sovereign state and claimed, "The Turkish war machine has long conducted
genocide in northern Kurdistan. Now, with the whole 'civilized' and
'democratic' world watching, it is victimizing people who are not even
Turkish citizens." -- Lowell Bezanis, OMRI, Inc.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 69, Part II, 6 April 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[02] POLITICAL MOVEMENT AMONG BOSNIAN SERBS.
AFP on 4 April reported that the
Bosnian Serb parliament will meet next week to discuss Bosnian Serb
leader Radovan Karadzic's plans for a federation with Krajina. He has
been pressing for closer ties between the two rebel Serbian states,
while the Krajina leadership has been divided over how far to embrace
him, given that he has fallen out with Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic. Meanwhile, news agencies said on 5 April that a delegation of
Bosnian Serbs loyal to the government in Sarajevo returned pleased from
their first official visit to Serbia. They met with numerous politicians
close to Milosevic and in the opposition, as well as Orthodox Patriarch
Pavle. The delegates, representing 200,000 Serbs living on Bosnian
government-controlled territory, expressed optimism that Serbia's
political climate is changing for the better. AFP on 4 April quoted a
Bosnian diplomat who met with Milosevic in late March as being similarly
optimistic about the prospects for Belgrade's recognizing Sarajevo,
although his first public remarks after the meetings were much more
sober. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[03] MILITARY ACTIVITY IN EASTERN CROATIA.
AFP on 5 April reported that
Croatian troops are quietly moving into the UN-controlled Sector West,
around Daruvar in Slavonia. The UN's future mandate in the area remains
unclear, and it is widely believed that Zagreb wants UNPROFOR out of the
sector. UN sources speculated that Croatia is anxious to achieve the
appearance of a military success at little or no real cost. The big
prize remains Sector East, beyond Osijek, which is rich in oil and
agricultural resources and which many think Milosevic plans to annex as
his price for supporting an eventual peace settlement. Reuters reported
that Krajina authorities have suspended permission for UNPROFOR patrols
in eastern Croatia. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[04] SERBIAN FARMERS SCORN "SUPER DINAR." Nasa Borba on 6 April reported that
farmers in Serbia's Sumadija district are the latest to express a lack
o
f confidence in the stability of rump Yugoslavia's currency, the dinar.
They are now asking the government for payments in sugar refined from
locally produced sugar beets, and not in cash. The "super dinar" was
pegged to the value of the German mark at an exchange rate of 1:1 in
January 1994. But it recently plunged in value, trading on Belgrade
streets at a rate of 5:1. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[05] PERSONNEL CHANGES IN BULGARIAN SECURITY SERVICES.
The Supreme Judicial
Council on 5 April elected Boyko Rashkov as interim director of the
National Investigation Service, Otechestven Front reported the following
day. He will hold this post until the council elects a permanent
successor to Ani Kruleva. The council on 29 March voted to dismiss
Kruleva as director on grounds of incompetence. Rashkov is one of six
deputy directors of the National Investigation Service and head of the
Sofia Investigation Service. Also on 5 April, Interior Minister Lyubomir
Nachev appointed Lieut.-Col. Pavel Nikolov as deputy director of the
National Security Service. He replaces Lieut.-Col. Borislav Rangelov,
who was dismissed on 4 April. According to Otechestven Front, another
three high-ranking officials in the National Security Service are to be
fired in the next few days. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.
[06] GREEK-MACEDONIAN TALKS UNCERTAIN.
Radio Skopje on 4 April, citing
Matthew Nimetz, U.S. President Bill Clinton's special mediator in the
dispute between Greece and Macedonia, reports that the date for direct
bilateral talks is still not known. Greek officials said earlier that
talks were scheduled to begin in New York on 6 April under UN mediator
Cyrus Vance. Macedonian Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski, in an
interview with Le Monde on 4 April, said that Macedonia is willing to
negotiate but "it's difficult to negotiate seriously while the [Greek
embargo against Macedonia] remains in effect." The interview prompted
speculations in the Greek press that Macedonia might be willing to start
talks even with the embargo in place. Greece has said the embargo will
remain in force during the talks, while Macedonia has insisted it will
not negotiate unless the blockade is lifted. Greek diplomatic circles
said there is not enough time to start talks on 6 April, the Athens
daily Elevtherotypia reported on 4 April. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.
[07] ALBANIA SIGNS GAS DEAL WITH RUSSIA.
Albania has signed an agreement with
the Greek-Russian company Promitheas providing it with 1 billion cubic
meters of Russian natural gas per year, AFP reported on 5 April. The
pipeline, which runs from Russia via Bulgaria and Greece, is still under
construction. According to a Greek-Russian agreement, it is scheduled to
carry 50 billion cubic meters of gas for a period of 25 years beginning
in December 1995. A pipeline to Albania will also be built. Albania has
a 300 km natural gas network that has been out of use since Albanian gas
reserves were exhausted. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
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