OMRI Daily Digest I,II, No. 113, 12 June 1995
CONTENTS
[01] DUMA PROPOSES PEACE PLAN FOR BOSNIA.
[02] IS SERBIA CONTINUING TO SUPPORT BOSNIAN SERBS?
[03] BOSNIAN SERBS SEIZE AID.
[04] BOSNIAN VICE PRESIDENT REJECTS BOUTROS GHALI'S PEACE PLAN.
[05] CROATIAN PRESIDENT GIVES SERBS ULTIMATUM.
[06] TURKISH-LANGUAGE SCHOOLS TORN DOWN IN MACEDONIA.
[07] BULGARIA, ROMANIA SEEK LOCATION FOR DANUBE BRIDGE.
[08] BULGARIAN PREMIER ON EU, NATO.
[09] ETHNIC TURKISH DORMITORY IN BULGARIA ATTACKED.
[10] ALBANIAN FORMER COMMUNIST LEADER TO REMAIN IN PRISON.
[11] GREEK PROSECUTOR ASKS FOR NEW PROBE INTO MAVI.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 113, Part I, 12 June 1995
RUSSIA
[01] DUMA PROPOSES PEACE PLAN FOR BOSNIA.
The Duma passed a resolution
outlining a proposed peace plan for Bosnia on 9 June, Interfax reported.
The plan calls for Bosnian Serb forces to release their hostages in
exchange for a moratorium on NATO air strikes against their positions,
followed by an "indefinite truce" and negotiations between Bosnian Serbs
and Muslims on a political settlement. In a declaration accompanying the
proposed plan, the Duma expressed its opinion that the recent creation
of a NATO "rapid reaction force" to support UN peacekeeping in Bosnia
"presents a special danger" and is aimed "at the gradual replacement of
UN peacekeeping forces . . . with NATO forces." The declaration also
criticized Foreign Minister Kozyrev's suggestion that Russian troops
might be added to the rapid reaction force, calling it a "mistake." --
Scott Parrish, OMRI, Inc.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 113, Part II, 12 June 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[02] IS SERBIA CONTINUING TO SUPPORT BOSNIAN SERBS?
The New York Times on 11June reported that Belgrade seems to be still covertly helping the
Bosnian Serbs, despite Serbian President Slobodan Milo-sevic's apparent
break with the Bosnian Serb leadership in August 1994. The U.S. daily
states that according to European and U.S. officials, the Yugoslav army
has continued to pay the salaries of some Bosnian Serb officers and to
supply Bosnian Serb troops with vital commodities such as fuel. But it
is unclear how systematic and significant Serbia's support for the
Bosnian Serbs is. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[03] BOSNIAN SERBS SEIZE AID.
Bosnian Serbs on 11 June seized several tons of
food aid earmarked for Muslims in the besieged enclave of Zepa. The aid,
organized by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, was to have arrived
at its destination on 10 June but was detained at a Bosnian Serb
checkpoint. According to AFP, Bosnian Serb troops delayed the convoy
after they discovered bullets in a sack of flour, which UNHCR officials
suspect was planted by the Serbs. "We were given two options . . .
Either the Bosnian Serb army would confiscate the convoy or it would go
back fully laden to our warehouse in Belgrade," AFP quoted an UNHCR
official as saying. In other news, international media on 11 June
reported heavy fighting in eastern Bosnia, including near Gorazde, where
government forces fought with Bosnian Serbs over control of strategic
territory. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[04] BOSNIAN VICE PRESIDENT REJECTS BOUTROS GHALI'S PEACE PLAN.
Hina on 11
June reported that Ejup Ganic has rejected UN Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros Ghali's proposal for a new peace plan for Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The proposal was published by the German magazine Der Spiegel. It
advocates bringing the Bosnian Serb side back to the negotiating table
in order to restart the peace process. Ganic argues that the Contact
Group's plan, which allocates 49% control of Bosnia-Herzegovina to the
Bosnian Serbs and the remainder to the Bosnian Muslim and Croatian
federation, remains the best solution. He also observed that to invite
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to the table would again signal
that he "can keep the occupied territories," which account for 70% of
Bosnia. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[05] CROATIAN PRESIDENT GIVES SERBS ULTIMATUM.
Krajina Serb aircraft on 9
June bombed Croatian positions in the Dinara range in response to a
steady offensive by Zagreb's forces. The following day, Croatian
President Franjo Tudjman visited Okucani in western Slavonia, which his
forces took in Operation Blitz on 1 and 2 May, in his first visit to the
area since the reconquest. International media said he told the Krajina
Serbs that they will face further "lightning offensives" if they do not
seek reintegration into Croatia by the time UNCRO's mandate runs out at
the end of October. He added that he hoped that Croatian refugees from
Serbia and the Banja Luka area of Bosnia would help repopulate western
Slavonia. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[06] TURKISH-LANGUAGE SCHOOLS TORN DOWN IN MACEDONIA.
Two buildings in which
ethnic Turkish students have received schooling in their native language
for the past two years have been torn down, MIC reported on 9 June. The
buildings were in the districts of Zhupa and Papradnik and were
reportedly destroyed by the Debar local authorities' "demolition
service." Both schools were constructed without a building license in
the grounds of mosques. The demolition is reportedly unrelated to the
Education Ministry's ban on classes outside the state educational
system. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
[07] BULGARIA, ROMANIA SEEK LOCATION FOR DANUBE BRIDGE.
Bulgarian officials
on 11 June said the question of the location for a second Danube bridge
linking Bulgaria and Romania will be solved by July, Reuters reported
the same day. Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu discussed the
issue with his Bulgarian counterpart, Georgi Pirinski, in Evksinograd.
The new bridge is estimated to cost about $400 million and will ease
bottlenecks from central and western Europe to the Middle East. At
present, there is only one bridge, linking Ruse and Giurgiu, which has
become heavily congested, especially since the UN embargo against rump
Yugoslavia. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.
[08] BULGARIAN PREMIER ON EU, NATO.
Zhan Videnov, addressing the North
Atlantic Assembly conference in Sofia on 11 June, said Bulgaria wants to
join both the EU and NATO, AFP reported the same day. He noted that EU
membership has top priority for Bulgaria but that it is still early to
discuss either possible Bulgarian participation in NATO's military
framework or the deployment of nuclear weapons and foreign troops on
Bulgarian territory. Videnov also repeated his government's position
that sanctions against rump Yugoslavia must be partially lifted. He
advised against lifting the arms embargo against Bosnia and proposed a
summit of the Balkan countries to discuss infrastructure problems in the
region. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.
[09] ETHNIC TURKISH DORMITORY IN BULGARIA ATTACKED.
A dormitory for ethnic
Turkish students in Ruse was attacked on 10 June, international agencies
reported the following day. The assailants threw stones and smashed the
windows of the building, but no injuries were reported. Bulgarian media
linked the event to the 12 June trial of Anton Rachev, a local skinhead
leader accused of disseminating fascist propaganda. Rachev's prosecutor
and local newspapers have received letters threatening new attacks if he
is convicted. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.
[10] ALBANIAN FORMER COMMUNIST LEADER TO REMAIN IN PRISON.
A Tirana court on
10 June rejected Ramiz Alia's claim that he has served out his prison
term and should be released under the new penal code and an amnesty law,
international agencies reported on 10 June. The new penal code, which
went into effect on 10 June, states that every day someone spends in
prison between arrest and trial counts as one and a half days in prison.
Alia was sentenced to nine years in prison in 1992 for "violation of the
rights and freedoms of Albanian citizens." But his sentence was reduced
by various courts of appeal and an amnesty last year. Alia is due to be
released on 29 March 1996. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
[11] GREEK PROSECUTOR ASKS FOR NEW PROBE INTO MAVI.
Greek prosecutors have
asked for a new investigation into the Greek extremist Northern Epirus
Liberation Front (MAVI), which is charged with attacking military
barracks in Albania last year, AFP reported on 10 June. They have asked
the Supreme Court to investigate "anyone responsible . . . for troubling
peaceful relations" between Greece and Albania. Five Greek citizens and
four ethnic Greeks from Albania were arrested in March and indicted for
illegal possession and trafficking of weapons. Seven were in possession
of Kalashnikov rifles taken from the Albanian barracks in last year's
terrorist attack. They may now face charges of murder and attempted
murder. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
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