OMRI Daily DIgest II, No. 125, 28 June 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] KARADZIC REJECTS TRUCE.

  • [02] BOSNIAN CRISIS DEEPENS.

  • [03] SACIRBEY: BOSNIA PREPARED TO ACCEPT UN WITHDRAWAL.

  • [04] TUDJMAN'S WELLINGTON PRESS CONFERENCE.

  • [05] DEMONSTRATORS CALL ON BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT TO RESIGN.

  • [06] AMOCO TO ENTER BULGARIAN MARKET.

  • [07] CHIRAC CRITICIZES GREEK EMBARGO ON MACEDONIA.

  • [08] ETHNIC ALBANIAN JOURNALIST ARRESTED IN KOSOVO.

  • [09] ALBANIAN AND AMERICAN MILITARY ENGINEERS TO EXERCISE.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 125, Part II, 28 June 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] KARADZIC REJECTS TRUCE.

    Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, responding to European Union calls for a negotiated temporary four-month truce, rejected the idea outright on 27 June. Karadzic, speaking to the Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA, observed that "temporary ceasefires . . . have been misused by our enemies for regrouping and for the further obtaining of weapons." He said also that he wanted a permanent end to fighting, and hinted that a meeting with EU mediator Carl Bildt could be only days away. Meanwhile, on 27 June Reuters reported that Bosnian Serb military leader General Ratko Mladic has threatened that his Serb forces will continue to fight, and hinted that they are prepared for a protracted military involvement. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] BOSNIAN CRISIS DEEPENS.

    International media report on 27 and 28 June that there are few signs that fighting throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina will abate. On 27 June, the Croatian news agency Hina reported that Bosnian Serbs launched cannon attacks on civilian targets throughout northeastern Bosnia. Bosnian Serb forces also launched infantry attacks against several Bosnian army defense lines, but were reportedly repelled. Meanwhile, shelling and sniping continues in and around Sarajevo, where at least two were killed and 15 injured on 27 June. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] SACIRBEY: BOSNIA PREPARED TO ACCEPT UN WITHDRAWAL.

    Bosnian Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey on 27 June said that the Bosnian government would be prepared to accept the departure of the UN mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, although he stressed that his government was not seeking such an eventuality. Reuters reported that he also observed that Western hints of a withdrawal could be met or compensated for by ending the UN arms embargo against Bosnia and Herzegovina. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] TUDJMAN'S WELLINGTON PRESS CONFERENCE.

    Vecernji list on 28 June reports on Croatian President Franjo Tudjman's continuing overseas visit. Tudjman met with New Zealand's Premier James Bolger and other high- ranking officials on 27 June and later gave a press conference which dealt extensively with conditions in Croatia and throughout the former Yugoslavia. Tudjman said that Croatian military forces were not planning to launch offensives against rebel Serbs occupying parts of Croatia often referred to as Krajina unless provoked into action by Serbian extremists. Hina coverage of the press conference observed that Tudjman stressed that Croatia would not "agree to an extension of the UN peacekeeping mandate if it failed to produce any results in solving the problem of occupied territories and their reintegration into the constitutional and legal system of Croatia." -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] DEMONSTRATORS CALL ON BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT TO RESIGN.

    About 20,000 protesters gathered in Sofia on 27 June to demand the resignation of the Socialist-led government, international agencies reported the same day. They accused Prime Minister Zhan Videnov and his cabinet of failing to halt falling standards of living and of resorting to Communist-era methods of running the country. The demonstrators demanded that the government stop taxing social benefits, lift restrictions on wage increases in the public sector, freeze energy prices, and change its method of measuring inflation. It was the first rally uniting supporters of the two largest trade unions, Podkrepa and the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (KNSB). KNSB Chairman Krastyo Petkov said the rally "shows that people with different political views disapprove of government policy." Social Minister Mincho Koralski dismissed the unions' demands as hysteria. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] AMOCO TO ENTER BULGARIAN MARKET.

    Amoco corporation on 26 June announced plans to invest $50 million in Bulgaria over the next decade, international agencies reported the following day. Amoco plans to build 50 gasoline stations in the country as part of its expansion program for Eastern Europe. The managing director of the company's Bulgarian Branch, Norman Benson, said Bulgaria "is one of the key countries in the company's strategy in Eastern Europe," adding that Amoco will watch for possible investment opportunities if the country's state-owned petroleum refining and distributing industry is privatized. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] CHIRAC CRITICIZES GREEK EMBARGO ON MACEDONIA.

    French President Jacques Chirac on 27 June strongly criticized Greek policy towards Macedonia, calling it "a to-do over flags," Reuters reported the same day. Speaking at a concluding news conference of the EU summit in Cannes, Chirac said Greece stood alone against the other 14 EU members in refusing to lift its embargo on Macedonia. The French president said the Greek embargo threatened Macedonia's existence, deprived it of EU aid and kept it out of the OSCE security framework. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] ETHNIC ALBANIAN JOURNALIST ARRESTED IN KOSOVO.

    International agencies reported on 27 June that Ramadan Mucolli was arrested in Pristina by Serbian police. A statement by the Democratic League of Kosovo, an ethnic Albanian party, said that Mucolli's flat was searched and his tape recorder and passport were confiscated. According to the statement, Mucolli worked for Radio Pristina until he was fired five years ago, and since then has filed reports for Albanian media, including Tirana radio and television. There was no confirmation of the arrest from Serb police. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] ALBANIAN AND AMERICAN MILITARY ENGINEERS TO EXERCISE.

    A combined engineering exercise involving U.S. and Albanian forces will be held in Tirana from 1 July to 16 September, the Pentagon announced on 27 June. Named "Uje Kristal 95", the exercise will be the first of its kind in the area. Active duty and reserve American engineers will work with their Albanian counterparts at a trauma hospital to improve its sanitation and emergency operation infrastructure. -- Doug Clarke, OMRI, Inc.

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

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