OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 98, 22 May 1995
CONTENTS
[01] KARADZIC THREATENS TO OVERRUN "SAFE AREAS."
[02] KRAJINA SERBS REJECT UNCRO.
[03] OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN BOSNIA AND CROATIA.
[04] SERBIAN PATRIARCH DEFENDED BY STATE PRESS.
[05] SESELJ IN KOSOVO.
[06] ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADER SENTENCED IN MACEDONIA.
[07] RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER IN BULGARIA.
[08] MEETING OF BULGARIAN TRADE UNION LEADERS.
[09] GREECE'S WEU MEMBERSHIP IN DOUBT.
[10] ALBANIAN SUPREME COURT JUDGE REJECTS DRAFT ON JUDICIARY.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 98, Part II, 22 May 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[01] KARADZIC THREATENS TO OVERRUN "SAFE AREAS."
Bosnian Serb leader RadovanKaradzic has said he will take UN troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina hostage
if air strikes are ordered against his forces. He also threatened to
capture the mainly Muslim UN-declared "safe areas" in eastern Bosnia--
Srebrenica, Zepa, and Gorazde--which the UN is considering abandoning
under a new plan to scale down its presence. Nasa Borba on 22 May also
quotes Karadzic as promising that Bosnian Serb forces will not give up.
He added that his government alone among Serbs can recognize the Bosnian
government and that it has no intention of doing so. This last remark is
in apparent response to media reports that U.S. and British diplomats
think they can extract the recognition of the Sarajevo government from
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. Karadzic is taking part in a
session of the Bosnian Serb parliament in Banja Luka, during which his
differences with the military are expected to hold center stage. --
Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[02] KRAJINA SERBS REJECT UNCRO.
The Krajina Serb legislature, meeting in the
Slavonian town of Borovo Selo over the weekend, passed resolutions in
favor of unity with the Bosnian Serbs and rejecting the new UN mandate
for peacekeepers in Croatia. The peacekeeping force's new name contains
the word "Croatia," which the Krajina Serbs feel is an automatic
negation of their claim to independence. Vreme on 22 May reported on
rifts within the leadership, namely between those reluctant to attract
the ire of Milosevic and those who fear he has already sold out their
interests to the Croats. Nasa Borba on 19 May noted how these tensions
have extended to the local media and that journalists staged a brief
strike the previous day. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[03] OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN BOSNIA AND CROATIA.
International media reported
that there was intense fighting around Brcko in the Posavina corridor on
19-20 May but that the battle fronts in Bosnia were fairly quiet on 21
May. In Banja Luka, the local Roman Catholic bishop continues a hunger
strike he began on 18 May to protest Bosnian Serb "terror" against
Croats and the destruction of churches. Vecernji list on 22 May says he
has received wide support from Bosnian Catholics. Finally, the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quotes UN sources as claiming that some
1,400 Croatian troops failed to leave buffer zones in the Dalmatian
hinterland as of the 20 May. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[04] SERBIAN PATRIARCH DEFENDED BY STATE PRESS.
Serbia's state-run Borba on
22 May defended Patriarch Pavle against what it called a gross affront
by the Ljubljana government against the religious Orthodox leader and
Slovenia's 22,000-strong Serbian community. Ljubljana authorities on 18
May denied Pavle an entry visa, saying that while it was not their
intention to interfere with religious freedoms, they feared that the
Patriarch's arrival could trigger ethnic tensions within Slovenia.
Borba, however, insisted that Ljubljana's decision was the product of
"cynicism" and "two-facedness." -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[05] SESELJ IN KOSOVO.
Vojislav Seselj, leader of the Radical Serbian Party
and alleged war criminal, called for Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic's resignation on 20 May, accusing him of abandoning the
Bosnian Serb republic and the Republic of Serbian Krajina "to satisfy
the demands of major powers." Seselj was taking part in a rally outside
the medieval orthodox monastery of Gracanica, which was attended by only
some 200 people from the 200,000-strong Serbian community in Kosovo. He
also criticized Milosevic for not taking "urgent measures to protect
Serbs" against the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo. The gathering
adopted a declaration and formed a National Council for Kosovo, which
includes Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and Krajina Serb leader
Milan Martic, international agencies reported. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI,
Inc.
[06] ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADER SENTENCED IN MACEDONIA.
Nevzat Halili, leader of
the ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity--Party for the
Peoples' Unity, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, international
agencies reported on 19 May. Halili was convicted for preventing police
from carrying out their duties in connection with a police raid on the
self-proclaimed Albanian-language university in Tetovo. The 17 February
raid led to clashes between ethnic Albanians and police in which one
Albanian was killed. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
[07] RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER IN BULGARIA.
Reuters quoted foreign diplomats as
saying that Viktor Chernomyrdin's visit to Bulgaria on 18-19 May gave a
boost to bilateral relations. Talks between Chernomyrdin and his
Bulgarian counterpart, Zhan Videnov, focused on liberalization of
bilateral trade, rebuilding industrial cooperation, and energy projects.
A declaration and 15 economic, cultural, and scientific accords were
signed, including one on building a pipeline to transport Russian gas
from Bulgaria to other Balkan countries. Chernomyrdin warned that rapid
expansion of NATO may lead to a new Cold War and a division of Europe.
He added that the question of Bulgaria's possible membership in NATO was
not discussed in any depth during his visit. Joining NATO is a
controversial subject in Bulgaria. President Zhelyu Zhelev advocates
membership, while Videnov says NATO has to be reformed first. -- Stefan
Krause, OMRI, Inc.
[08] MEETING OF BULGARIAN TRADE UNION LEADERS.
For the first time in three
years, leaders of the two biggest trade unions in Bulgaria met to
discuss their position on government policy, Standart reported on 20
May. Konstantin Trenchev of Podkrepa and Krastyo Petkov of the
Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria signed a
declaration to jointly oppose the government's "monetarist and anti-
union policy." They also agreed on further talks to coordinate their
positions on social and trade-union issues. Trenchev refused to say
whether Podkrepa will change its official decision not to hold talks
with the confederation, which it considers to be procommunist. In other
domestic news, former Bulgarian party leader and head of state Todor
Zhivkov was allowed to leave Sofia on 21 May, Reuters reported the same
day. Zhivkov went to his home town, Pravets, where he was received by
hundreds of people chanting "Long live Zhivkov." -- Stefan Krause, OMRI,
Inc.
[09] GREECE'S WEU MEMBERSHIP IN DOUBT.
Greece's membership in the Western
European Union has been put in doubt after the country unilaterally
added a special clause to the document ratifying its entry to the
defense alliance, AFP reported on 19 May. The clause says Greece will
not accept the International Court of Jurisdiction's competence in
matters related to national defense. Greece was admitted to the WEU in
March on the basis of a document, signed by other members in 1992, in
which the court's competence is accepted without any reservation.
Alfonso Cuco, a Spanish senator, said the Greek clause can be valid only
with the formal agreement of other WEU members. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI,
Inc.
[10] ALBANIAN SUPREME COURT JUDGE REJECTS DRAFT ON JUDICIARY.
Chief Supreme
Court Judge Zef Brozi has accused the Justice Ministry and the ruling
Democratic Party of trying to undermine the independence of the
judiciary, Reuters reported on 19 May. According to Brozi, a new draft
law placing the judiciary under the financial and administrative
authority of the Ministry of Justice is an attempt to muzzle the courts.
He also claimed that the government earlier this year tried to undermine
the independence of the judiciary by asking the parliament to lift his
immunity. The majority of legislators, however, rejected the move. --
Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
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