OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 108, 5 June 1995

From: "Steve Iatrou" <[email protected]>

CONTENTS

  • [01] SERBS FREE SOME HOSTAGES, CAPTURE OTHERS.

  • [02] SERBS DOWN U.S. PLANE.

  • [03] WESTERN RAPID REACTION FORCE TO BE SET UP.

  • [04] HAVE THE CROATS CUT KRAJINA OFF FROM BOSNIA?

  • [05] REFUGEES RETURN TO BOSNIA FROM MACEDONIA.

  • [06] GREEK VOLUNTEERS FIGHT WITH BOSNIAN SERBS.

  • [07] SERBIAN ULTRANATIONALIST LEADER JAILED AGAIN.

  • [08] BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS LOSE PARLIAMENTARY VOTE.

  • [09] ALBANIAN COMMUNIST DICTATOR'S SON ON TRIAL.

  • [10] 5_95ALBANIAN GAY ASSOCIATION OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 108, Part II, 5 June 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] SERBS FREE SOME HOSTAGES, CAPTURE OTHERS.

    International media on 3 June reported that Bosnian Serb forces have begun freeing some 120 hostages as a "good will gesture." The BBC said the move followed a meeting between Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's secret police chief and Bosnian Serb leaders. The government-controlled media in Serbia praised the president's role, and the BBC said "Milosevic calls the shots." The Bosnian Serbs subsequently seized new hostages from encircled positions, although two French soldiers outside Sarajevo refused to go meekly and held off 20 Serbs, the BBC added on 4 June. Further releases of hostages appear to hinge on more concessions to the Serbs. The Bosnian Serbs still demand security guarantees, including a pledge of no further air strikes. The International Herald Tribune on 3 June reported that Milosevic has a long and growing wish-list. The BBC on 5 June said Russian President Boris Yeltsin pledged to his French counterpart that Moscow will try to influence Belgrade's stance. AFP on 4 June cited U.S. Senate majority leader Bob Dole as suggesting that bombing Serbia might be a way to moderate Serbian behavior. -- Patrick Moore , Copyright=A91995 Open Media Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

    [02] SERBS DOWN U.S. PLANE. A U.S.

    F-16C plane was shot down near Banja Luka on 3 June during a routine patrol to enforce the no-fly zone. Serbian surface-to-air missiles were apparently responsible, but the fate of the pilot is unclear. International media also note fighting over the weekend near Sarajevo and Tuzla, with the Serbs blasting the UN-declared "safe area" of Srebrenica with artillery fire. Elsewhere, AFP on 2 June said that Krajina Serbs want to exchange the bodies of the Bosnian foreign minister and other diplomats shot down on 28 May for Serbian prisoners. -- Patrick Moore, Copyright=A91995 Open Media Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

    [03] WESTERN RAPID REACTION FORCE TO BE SET UP.

    NATO and WEU defense ministers met in Paris on 3 June and agreed to establish a Rapid Reaction Force to bolster UNPROFOR in Bosnia. AFP said the following day that it will comprise 14,000 troops primarily from the U.K. and France. The RRF will likely suffer from the same basic contradiction between peace-keeping and peace-making that has bedeviled UNPROFOR. The men will wear their own national uniforms and camouflage gear, but they will be under the UN flag and subordinated to UN military structures. In theory, the RRF could help make UNPROFOR less vulnerable to hostage-taking and other attacks, but the question of its mission remains vague. The Washington Post on 4 June noted that further confusion surrounds Washington's policy, which promises support for the RRF and is aimed at appearing "robust" to Europeans while reassuring U.S. voters that it is cautious and limited. -- Patrick Moore , Copyright=A91995 Open Media Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

    [04] HAVE THE CROATS CUT KRAJINA OFF FROM BOSNIA?

    Croatian and Bosnian Croatforces pressed hard around Knin over the weekend of 3-4 June, expanding from their center at Livno. They came the closest ever to hitting Knin itself with artillery based in the Dinara range. Confusion nonetheless remains as to whether the Croats have succeeded in their immediate goal of cutting the Grahovo road linking Knin with Banja Luka in Bosnian Serb territory. Meanwhile in Banja Luka, news agencies on 4 June said that the Serbs blew up one of the few remaining Roman Catholic churches. -- Patrick Moore, Copyright=A91995 Open Media Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

    [05] REFUGEES RETURN TO BOSNIA FROM MACEDONIA.

    Bosnian refugees who have spent three years in Macedonia left for Bosnia via Albania and Croatia, Reuters reported on 3 June. The 733 refugees--mainly women, children, and elderly people--reportedly returned voluntarily. They were accompanied by the Bosnian ambassador to Tirana. About 100 young men said they wanted to return home to fight with the Bosnian government army. The convoy was organized by the Bosnian government and the Islamic relief group El Hilal. It was sponsored by the Third World Relief Organization, based in Vienna. -- Fabian Schmidt, Copyright=A91995 Open Media Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

    [06] GREEK VOLUNTEERS FIGHT WITH BOSNIAN SERBS.

    Greek volunteers are fighting with Bosnian Serbs against Bosnian government troops "in the name of orthodoxy" and Greek-Serb friendship, AFP quoted the daily Ethnos as saying on 2 June. Reportedly several dozen Greeks fought with the Bosnian Serbs for periods of a few months up to two years during the last three years. One Greek fighter is quoted as saying there was "an anti-Serb and anti-orthodox genocide in Bosnia." He charged UN peacekeepers with "playing a dirty role in favor of the Moslems." AFP also quoted Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic as saying "the Serbs have only two friends, God and the Greeks." -- Fabian Schmidt, Copyright=A91995 Open Media Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

    [07] SERBIAN ULTRANATIONALIST LEADER JAILED AGAIN.

    Vojislav Seselj, accused war criminal and leader of the extreme nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS), was arrested on 3 June following clashes with the police during a rally in the Kosovar town of Gnjilane the same day, Reuters reported, citing Belgrade's independent Studio B TV. SRS deputies have alleged that the police were behind the incident. Seselj has been touring in both Serbia and Bosnian Serb-held territory to stir up ultranationalist opposition to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. He was planning to attend an anti-Milosevic rally in Belgrade on 17 June. Nasa Borba on 5 June reported that Seselj will be imprisoned for 20 days. The SRS leader served prison sentences in 1994 following several incidents of assault in the federal parliament (see OMRI Daily Digest, 30 January 1995). -- Stan Markotich, Copyright=A91995 Open Media Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

    [08] BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS LOSE PARLIAMENTARY VOTE.

    The ruling Socialist Party has failed to muster the majority required to elect their candidate for head of the State Savings Bank, international agencies reported on 2 June. The reason for the Socialists' first defeat since winning last year's elections was that not enough Socialist deputies were present for the vote. The chamber voted 99 to 94 for Bistra Dimitrova, whom the anticommunist opposition rejects because she works for a private holding company reputed to be run by members of the former communist secret service. Dimitrova would have needed at least 102 votes out of 203 legislators present. -- Fabian Schmidt, Copyright=A91995 Open Media Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

    [09] ALBANIAN COMMUNIST DICTATOR'S SON ON TRIAL.

    Enver Hoxha's son went on trial on 3 June charged with inciting hatred toward various groups of people and calling for the use of violence against them. Ilir Hoxha said in an interview in April that "one day, those people who scoffed at my father and my family will have to pay for it." He denies the charges, claiming that he is the victim of Albania's ruling political forces and that he has appealed for peace and tolerance, not hatred. Prosecutor Genc Gjokutaj, however, said Hoxha has endangered public peace by referring to various people as "vandal bands" and "blind fools," Reuters reported on 3 June. -- Fabian Schmidt, Copyright=A91995 Open Media Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

    [10] 5_95ALBANIAN GAY ASSOCIATION OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED.

    For the first time in Albanian history, a gay association has been officially recognized, international agencies reported on 3 and 4 June. A court registered Gay- Albania on the basis of the new penal code, which came into effect on 1 June. Homosexuals were persecuted in communist Albania and could be sentenced for up to seven years in prison. The new penal code has also led to the release of two former Communist Party politburo members, who were sentenced to seven and eight years in prison for misappropriation of state funds. According to the new law, every day spent in prison between arrest and trial counts as one and a half days in prison. -- Fabian Schmidt , Copyright=A91995 Open Media Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

    This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a Prague-based nonprofit organization.

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