OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 116, 15 June 1995
CONTENTS
[01] SERBS HOLD BACK ON RELEASING LAST HOSTAGES.
[02] CLINTON WARNS SARAJEVO AGAINST MILITARY SOLUTION.
[03] 50 KRAJINA SERBS RETURN TO CROATIA.
[04] HOW BADLY ARE SANCTIONS HURTING SERBIA?
[05] NEW RIFT IN SERBIAN OPPOSITION RANKS?
[06] SERBIAN RADICAL LEADER' S PRISON TERM EXTENDED.
[07] MACEDONIAN ALBANIANS AGREE TO COOPERATE.
[08] WATER RESTRICTIONS IN BULGARIAN CAPITAL TO BE LIFTED.
[09] BULGARIAN CONSTRUCTION TROOPS POPULAR IN AFRICA.
[10] NAA PRESIDENT SAYS EAST EUROPEAN ENTRY INTO NATO POSSIBLE BY 1998.
[11] STRONG EARTHQUAKE IN GREECE CLAIMS AT LEAST 10 LIVES.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 116, Part II, 15 June 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[01] SERBS HOLD BACK ON RELEASING LAST HOSTAGES.
The BBC on 15 June reported
that Bosnian Serb authorities will release the 26 remaining hostages
only if UNPROFOR lets go four Serbs it has detained as "guests." The
four were captured on 27 May when UNPROFOR retook the Vrbanja bridge in
Sarajevo. The remaining hostages in Serbian hands include 15 UN military
observers and 11 Canadian soldiers. Canadian authorities said they feel
the hostage crisis is far from over. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[02] CLINTON WARNS SARAJEVO AGAINST MILITARY SOLUTION.
Leading authorities
from the U.S., the U.K., France, Russia, and the UN have expressed alarm
at the reported massing of 20,000-30,000 Bosnian government troops north
of Sarajevo. President Bill Clinton told Bosnian Prime Minister Haris
Silajdzic on 14 June that "in the end, the military solution is not
available to the Bosnian government," the VOA reported. British State
Secretary Douglas Hogg said he feared a new Bosnian offensive would set
off "a cycle of increasing violence." Bosnian Foreign Minister Muhamed
Sacirbey announced in Vienna, however, that his government had to take
"preventive measures" because the Serbs are moving new weapons into the
UN exclusion zone around Sarajevo, Reuters said. Sacirbey did not deny
reports about the massing of government troops in an apparent attempt to
break the siege of the capital, but he argued that the people of
Sarajevo have no intention of spending another winter cut off from the
world. -- Patrick Moore
[03] 50 KRAJINA SERBS RETURN TO CROATIA.
The Croatian government has approved
requests by 50 Krajina Serb refugees in Bosnia to go back to their homes
in western Slavonia, which Croatian forces retook in Operation Blitz on
1-2 May. All will receive Croatian citizenship, as have the 1,600 Serbs
who never left, news agencies reported on 14 June. Slobodna Dalmacija
noted the following day that a Serbian family left Benkovac in Krajina
for Zadar, complaining about "impossible living conditions" in the
impoverished rebel Serb territories. The Croatian authorities realize
that they must treat the Serbian minority fairly if Zagreb is to enjoy
the good graces of its friends and allies abroad. -- Patrick Moore,
OMRI, Inc.
[04] HOW BADLY ARE SANCTIONS HURTING SERBIA?
Nasa Borba on 15 June reportedthat rump Yugoslav National Bank Governor Dragoslav Avramovic has said
that much of the foreign exchange injected over the past twelve months
into the rump Yugoslav economy came from Serbian citizens with offshore
assets in Cyprus. According to Avramovic, there is still money available
from Cyprus and "other parts of Europe." Such revelations raise
speculation about the sincerity of rump Yugoslav officials, notably
Milosevic, in alleging that international sanctions against Belgrade are
causing irreparable harm to the rump Yugoslav economy. -- Stan
Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[05] NEW RIFT IN SERBIAN OPPOSITION RANKS?
Reuters on 15 June reported thatthe leaders of two of Serbia' s main opposition parties--Zoran Djindjic
of the Democratic Party (DS) and Vojislav Kostunica of the Democratic
Party of Serbia (DSS)--remain adamant that they will not support a
nationalist, anti-Milosevic 17 June rally. Vojislav Seselj, leader of
the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party and an alleged war criminal,
organized the demonstration. This latest development may signal a rift
between the three parties, which formed an electoral alliance in
February for upcoming municipal elections. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[06] SERBIAN RADICAL LEADER' S PRISON TERM EXTENDED.
A Pristina court has
extended the prison term handed down to Seselj in an apparent move to
prevent him attending the 17 June rally, Nasa Borba reported. Seselj,
together with party deputy chairman Tomislav Nikolic, was arrested in
Gnjilan on 2 June after clashes with police. Seselj' s original 20-day
sentence has been extended to 60 days. Seselj recently criticized
Milosevic for supporting the Contact Group' s peace plan and called him
a traitor. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
[07] MACEDONIAN ALBANIANS AGREE TO COOPERATE.
Ethnic Albanians in Macedonia
have agreed to meet in Tetovo to "jointly review and present the
fundamental questions" on improving the situation of Albanians in
Macedonia," MIC reported on 14 June. Agreement was reached at a meeting
of representatives of ethnic Albanian political parties and
associations. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
[08] WATER RESTRICTIONS IN BULGARIAN CAPITAL TO BE LIFTED.
Normal water
supplies will resume in Sofia next week following eight months of
rationing, Reuters reported on 14 June. The decision was taken by the
Sofia municipality after experts reported that 190 million cubic meters
of water flowed into the Iskar reservoir over the first five months of
this year. Officials said they expect another 300 million cubic meters
to flow into the reservoir by the end of 1995, thereby guaranteeing the
city' s minimum required supplies until March 1996. Under the rationing
scheme, monthly water consumption in Sofia fell from an average of 17-18
million cubic meters to some 11 million. Meanwhile, Bulgaria still has
not ratified a $98 million loan from the World Bank aimed at improving
water supplies and repairing the antiquated pipelines. -- Stefan Krause,
OMRI, Inc.
[09] BULGARIAN CONSTRUCTION TROOPS POPULAR IN AFRICA.
Bulgaria' s military
construction troops have just finished building a bridge across the
Limpopo River between South Africa and Zimbabwe, BTA reported on 12
June. The troops' General Administration has signed contracts for more
projects in both countries and is studying additional ones in Swaziland
and Mozambique. The agency said the construction troops have created
two-thirds of Bulgaria' s infrastructure. -- Doug Clarke, OMRI, Inc.
[10] NAA PRESIDENT SAYS EAST EUROPEAN ENTRY INTO NATO POSSIBLE BY 1998.
Karsten Voigt, president of the North Atlantic Assembly, told a security
seminar in Sofia on 13 June that NATO should be ready to accept new
m
embers by 1998, international agencies reported. He repeated his
assertion made last month at the NAA meeting in Budapest that because
NATO expansion was not directed at an external threat, foreign troops or
nuclear weapons need not be deployed on new members' territories. Voigt
said that Bulgaria' s prospects in joining NATO early depended on its
own actions. He praised Bulgaria for its efforts in developing positive
relations with its neighbors and quickly recognizing the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia. -- Michael Mihalka, OMRI, Inc.
[11] STRONG EARTHQUAKE IN GREECE CLAIMS AT LEAST 10 LIVES.
An earthquake
measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit Central Greece on 15 June,
international agencies reported. Its epicenter was near the town of
Eratini, on the Gulf of Corinth. At least 10 people were killed and some
100 injured. One apartment building and one hotel in Aigion are reported
completely destroyed, while the port facilities of Eratini have sunk
into the sea. The BBC said that the town of Aigion is the scene of
"complete devastation." Damage is also reported in other nearby towns.
According to Reuters, ancient Delphi suffered considerable damage, too.
Rescue operations are severely hampered by afterquakes and the breakdown
of electricity and communications lines. Northwestern Greece was hit by
a strong earthquake last month. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.
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