OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 95, 17 May 1995
CONTENTS
[01] SARAJEVO UNDER SIEGE.
[02] BOUTROS GHALI ON BOSNIAN PEACEKEEPING.
[03] "SEX, DRUGS, AND HEINEKEN."
[04] CROATIAN PRESIDENT IN GERMANY.
[05] TRIALS IN MACEDONIA.
[06] MACEDONIAN-GREEK UPDATE.
[07] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT, PREMIER HOLD TALKS.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 95, Part II, 17 May 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[01] SARAJEVO UNDER SIEGE.
Sarajevo and its surrounding areas came under
heavy attack on 16 May, international media reported the following day.
According to Vecernji list, it was one of the fiercest days of fighting
between Serbian and Bosnian Muslim forces in the Bosnian capital. The
same newspaper also reported that at present, there is no reliable
information on casualties. Nasa Borba stressed that serious artillery
duels have been taking place and that heavy weapons--banned within
Sarajevo's exclusion zone limits--have been used by both sides.
According to some agency accounts, Serbian forces just outside Sarajevo
have also seized a UN weapons cache. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[02] BOUTROS GHALI ON BOSNIAN PEACEKEEPING.
The BBC on 17 May reported that
UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali has outlined four options for
the future of UN peacekeeping operations in war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina.
He noted that the recent intensification of fighting in the country may
result in maintaining operations at their present level, using air
strikes, pulling out, or scaling down. Boutros-Ghali, said he preferred
scaling down. Bosnian UN ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey responded that any
such move would amount to serious losses for the Bosnian government and
people. NATO Secretary-General Willy Claes, for his part, rejected any
ideas of scaling down or withdrawal, the BBC reported on 17 May. He
argued that the UN has to get tougher to regain credibility. -- Stan
Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[03] "SEX, DRUGS, AND HEINEKEN."
This is one of the favorite mottos of Dutchpeacekeepers in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Die Presse reported on 12 May. The
men there have established a reputation for alcohol and drug abuse, as
well as for violence against local prostitutes. But now Dutch opinion is
scandalized by fresh reports that the force has used children lured with
candy as guinea pigs to test for mine fields. Military and civilian
authorities are investigating. Meanwhile, AFP on 16 May reported on the
general malaise and feeling of uselessness among the UN peacekeepers in
Croatia. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[04] CROATIAN PRESIDENT IN GERMANY.
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman met
with ranking German officials, including Chancellor Helmut Kohl and
Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel, in Bonn on 16 May, Vjesnik reported.
Tudjman reiterated his promise that the Croatian army would withdraw
from a UN buffer zone separating Croatian forces and rebel Krajina Serbs
on 16 May. But the BBC reported the next day that it is unclear whether
Croatian forces are pulling back in accordance with deadlines. In other
news, Nasa Borba reported that Vuk Draskovic, leader of the opposition
Serbian Renewal Movement, is to arrive in Germany on 17 May at the
invitation of Foreign Minister Kinkel. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[05] TRIALS IN MACEDONIA.
Defense lawyers of the director of the self-
proclaimed Albanian-language university in Tetovo Fadil Sulejmani have
offered DM 50,000 for his release on bail, Flaka reported on 16 May.
Sulejmani was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for "inciting
resistance." His case is to reviewed by a court of appeal. Meanwhile,
the trial of Nevzat Halili, leader of the ethnic Albanian Party for
Democratic Prosperity-Party for the Peoples' Unity (PPD-PUPM) began in
Tetovo the same day. Halili is charged with "participating in a rally
interfering with public authorities, executing their duties" and with
"organizing that rally." Like Sulejmani, he was arrested in connection
with a riot that broke out after the police crackdown on the Albanian-
language university on 17 February. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
[06] MACEDONIAN-GREEK UPDATE.
In an effort to settle the diplomatic dispute
between Macedonia and Greece, UN mediator Cyrus Vance and U.S. President
Bill Clinton's special envoy Matthew Nimetz on 13 May met with Greek
opposition leader Miltiadis Evert in New York, Greek newspapers reported
the following day. Vance said he expected progress in settling the
Greek-Macedonian dispute, while Evert assessed the meeting as useful and
said that his party, New Democracy, always believed in the need to
settle the questions between Greece and Macedonia by dialogue.
Meanwhile, the Athens daily Elevtherotypia on 12 May cited diplomatic
sources in Athens as saying the Macedonian-Greek talks will be completed
by the end of the summer. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.
[07] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT, PREMIER HOLD TALKS.
Zhelyu Zhelev and Zhan Videnov
on 16 May met to discuss the political situation in Bulgaria and their
differing political views, Bulgarian newspapers reported the following
day. The two leaders agreed that cooperation between state institutions
must improve, regardless of ideological and political differences. But
they avoided discussing Bulgaria's possible membership in NATO.
Kontinent wrote that many questions "remained unanswered" after the
meeting. The press centers of the president and the prime minister
announced that meetings between the two leaders will take place on a
regular basis. But 24 chasa suggests that "the cold war [between the two
men] will continue," as it is "rooted in the constitution" and there is
no qualified parliamentary majority to change it. -- Stefan Krause,
OMRI, Inc.
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