OMRI Daily Digest I,II, No. 112, 9 June 1995
CONTENTS
[01] RUSSIA FEARS REPETITION OF SOMALIA IN BOSNIA.
[02] BOSNIAN SERBS SAY THEY WILL LIFT ROADBLOCKS TO SARAJEVO.
[03] NATO DEFENSE MINISTERS AGREE ON BOSNIA.
[04] SERBS HAND OVER REMAINS OF BOSNIAN FOREIGN MINISTER.
[05] MORE KOSOVAR POLICEMEN SENTENCED.
[06] KULIKOV: RUSSIA MAY GIVE BULGARIA TANKS.
[07] MILITARY SEA EXERCISE IN BULGARIA.
[08] DRUGS SEIZED IN BULGARIA.
[09] ENVER HOXHA'S SON SENTENCED TO ONE YEAR.
[10] TURKEY AND GREECE CLASH OVER TERRITORIAL WATERS . . .
[11] . . . AND AGREE ON NATO MILITARY BUDGET.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 112, Part I, 9 June 1995
RUSSIA
[01] RUSSIA FEARS REPETITION OF SOMALIA IN BOSNIA.
Despite reassurances from
Western leaders, the Russian government still has reservations about the
deployment of a NATO rapid reaction force to Bosnia. A senior Russian
diplomat told Interfax on 8 June that he feared the new peacekeeping
troops might turn " into a group for enforcing peace, and then into a
multi-national force like the one...in Somalia." He added that only the
full incorporation of the NATO force into the existing UNPROFOR command
would completely defuse such concerns. Also on 8 June, opposition
deputies in the State Duma continued to criticize what they termed "
unilateral power actions by NATO in Bosnia," Interfax reported. --
Scott Parrish, OMRI, Inc.
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[02] BOSNIAN SERBS SAY THEY WILL LIFT ROADBLOCKS TO SARAJEVO.
The Bosnian
Serb leadership on 8 June agreed to reopen land routes to the Bosnian
capital, allowing humanitarian aid to pass, international media
reported. According to Reuters, the Bosnian Serbs have also agreed to
guarantee the safety of UN truck drivers delivering aid on the territory
they control and to provide escorts. Bosnian Serb vice president Nikola
Koljevic described the development as " an important step" and added
that " we really believe in further peaceful developments." Meanwhile,
the BBC on 9 June reported continued shelling of Sarajevo, where at
least two people were killed, and Gorazde. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[03] NATO DEFENSE MINISTERS AGREE ON BOSNIA.
The BBC on 9 June reported that
NATO defense ministers, meeting in Brussels, reached a consensus on the
creation of a rapid response force in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The U.K. is
slated to provide the bulk of the 10,000-strong reinforcement to the
war-torn country. The New York Times on 9 June cites British Defense
Minister Malcolm Rifkind as stressing that the new forces will fire in
self-defense but will not " blast their way through resistance to ensure
that relief supplies are delivered and other UN tasks are carried out."
However, both Rifkind and French officials have raised the specter of
withdrawal if the parties involved do not accept the UN role. -- Stan
Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[04] SERBS HAND OVER REMAINS OF BOSNIAN FOREIGN MINISTER.
Vjesnik and Nasa
Borba on 9 June reported that the remains of Bosnian Foreign Minister
Irfan Ljubjankic have been handed over to Bosnian authorities in Bihac.
Ljubjankic was killed on 28 May when his helicopter was downed in Bihac
by hostile Serbian fire. The Bosnian justice minister and five others
also died in the incident. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[05] MORE KOSOVAR POLICEMEN SENTENCED.
A court in Gnjilan on 8 June sentenced
15 ethnic Albanians to up to three years in jail, Reuters reported the
same day. The former policemen are charged with creating a separatist
shadow-state police force. Seven were tried in absentia and the court
dropped charges against another four. In the largest legal proceedings
ever in Kosovo, the trials of 159 ethnic Albanian former policemen are
under way, while 16 policemen were sentenced in April. Defense lawyers
have denied the charges, saying the policemen formed a trade union, not
a paramilitary force. About 3,500 ethnic Albanian policemen were fired
in 1991, after the abolition of Kosovar autonomy two years previously.
-- Fabian Schmidt , OMRI, Inc.
[06] KULIKOV: RUSSIA MAY GIVE BULGARIA TANKS.
Marshal Viktor Kulikov, former
military commander of the Warsaw Pact armed forces and now an adviser to
Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev, has suggested that Bulgaria
might receive some of the tanks Russia must destroy under the
Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, BTA reported on 5
June. This message was conveyed by Bulgarian Industry Minister Kliment
Vouchev following his meeting that day in Sofia with Kulikov. Bulgaria
would then destroy older tanks in its inventory to meet its CFE limits.
Such a " cascading" of excess weapons is common within NATO but has not
occurred among the former Warsaw Pact states. -- Doug Clarke , OMRI,
Inc.
[07] MILITARY SEA EXERCISE IN BULGARIA.
A one-day military sea exercise took
place along Bulgaria's Black Sea coast on 8 June, international agencies
reported. Dutch, Greek, Italian, and Turkish ships from NATO's southern
fleet in the Mediterranean and eight Bulgarian ships participated in the
maneuvers, which are taking place within the framework of the
Partnership for Peace. NATO ships are expected to hold another joint
exercise in Bulgaria and Romania later this year. -- Fabian Schmidt,
OMRI, Inc.
[08] DRUGS SEIZED IN BULGARIA.
Bulgarian customs officers seized 21.7 kg of
heroin at the Turkish border on 7 June, AFP reported the following day.
The heroin, worth an estimated $3.3 million, was hidden in a British
truck and two British citizens were detained. The consignment brings the
total heroin haul this year in Bulgaria to 101 kg. -- Fabian Schmidt ,
OMRI, Inc.
[09] ENVER HOXHA'S SON SENTENCED TO ONE YEAR.
Ilir Hoxha, the youngest son of
Albanian communist dictator Enver Hoxha, was sentenced to one year in
jail on 8 June, AFP and Reuters reported the same day. Hoxha was found
guilty of " inciting national hatred by endangering public peace" and
of calling for " vengeance" and " hatred against parts of the
population" in an interview with the newspaper Modeste. Hoxha was
quoted as saying during the trial that " The day will come when all
those who have betrayed my father will have to answer for their
actions." He is the first person to be tried under a new penal code
that took effect in Albania on 1 June. Hoxha denied the charges, saying
his trial was motivated by political revenge. -- Fabian Schmidt , OMRI,
Inc.
[10] TURKEY AND GREECE CLASH OVER TERRITORIAL WATERS . . .
The Turkish
parliament on 8 June passed a resolution empowering the government to
take military measures against Greece, Reuters reported the same day.
The resolution follows the Greek parliament's decision to ratify the Law
of the Sea Convention, which would allow Greece to extend its
territorial waters. The resolution says that " the parliament has
decided to invest the government with all powers to take all measures
including military steps deemed necessary to protect the vital interests
of our country." The resolution, however, was proclaimed " to the world
and Greece with friendly sentiments." Ankara claims that an extension
of the six-mile zone to twelve miles around the Greek Islands would make
70 percent of the Aegean Sea Greek and choke Turkey's access to the high
seas. -- Fabian Schmidt , OMRI, Inc.
[11] . . . AND AGREE ON NATO MILITARY BUDGET.
Turkey and Greece agreed at a
meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels to freeze a series of
bilateral disputes that have blocked the adoption of the 1995 NATO
military budget, AFP reported on 8 June. Under pressure from NATO
allies, Turkey agreed to lift for six months its veto on adopting the
military budget. Greece, for its part, pledged that for a period of
three to four months, it would suspend its opposition to the financing
of key NATO headquarters in Izmir. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
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