OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 130, 6 July 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] "ZUBAK DEMANDS PRECISE ANSWERS."

  • [02] SERBIAN PLANE FIRES AT BIHAC POWER PLANT.

  • [03] FERAL TRIBUNE EDITORS LAMBAST GOVERNMENT'S SILENCE.

  • [04] UPDATE ON RUMP YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS.

  • [05] SANDZAK'S MUSLIM NATIONAL COUNCIL WRITES TO BILDT.

  • [06] TURKISH PRESIDENT ON TIES WITH BULGARIA.

  • [07] GREEK-TURKISH WAR OF WORDS OVER PKK.

  • [08] ALBANIA REQUESTS DEFENSE TREATY WITH NORWAY.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 130, Part II, 6 July 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] "ZUBAK DEMANDS PRECISE ANSWERS."

    This is how Vjesnik on 6 July headlinesits story on talks between Bosnian Croat leader Kresimir Zubak and French General Andre Soubirou. The Croats refuse to let the newly arrived troops of the Rapid Reaction Force into Tomislavgrad until key questions are cleared up regarding the RRF's mission. The Muslims and Croats want to know, among other things, why the troops are being deployed only in peaceful territory under their control and not in Serbian-held or battlefront areas. Suspicion is rife that the RRF does not want to antagonize the Serbs and will simply protect a UNPROFOR withdrawal from Bosnia. EU mediator Carl Bildt also talked to Zubak and promised answers within a few days, AFP reported. The VOA and Nasa Borba added that a UN commander said the RRF will force open a relief route to Sarajevo but that UN headquarters in Zagreb promptly overruled him. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] SERBIAN PLANE FIRES AT BIHAC POWER PLANT.

    A Serbian Super Galeb jet, apparently based at the Udbina airfield in Krajina, flew into Bosnian airspace on 5 July and fired rockets at the Ostrozac power plant. It is unclear what damage, if any, was done to the facility, which is the only source of electricity for the embattled Bihac pocket. Bosnian government forces have been gaining territory there at Serbian expense. The VOA said that NATO did not retaliate against the violation of the no-fly zone because it could not determine that the plan had actually come from Udbina. Nasa Borba wrote on 6 July that NATO has no record of the flight at all. Reuters the previous day quoted Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic as saying he wants an explanation from NATO leaders in Brussels. On a related subject, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said the war in Bosnia has become a threat to global security because it has thrown into question the ability of international organizations to deal with a crisis. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] FERAL TRIBUNE EDITORS LAMBAST GOVERNMENT'S SILENCE.

    Novi list on 6 July carries a statement by the editors of the independent satirical weekly criticizing national, regional, and local authorities for their silence following attacks against the paper on 26 -27 June. Thugs grabbed and publicly burned copies of Feral Tribune with journalists and television cameras present but no police. The editors suspect the governing party of at least complicity in the attacks, which were applauded by neo- fascist leader Mladen Schwarz. At least some of the thugs were from Australia, where right-wing sentiment is strong among Croatian emigrants. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] UPDATE ON RUMP YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS.

    Nasa Borba on 6 July reports that the UN Security Council the previous day voted 14 to 0 to continue easing some sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia. Russia abstained from the vote. Sanctions related to travel and sports and cultural events will continue to be eased for an additional 75 days, until 18 September. They were first relaxed on 5 October 1994 following an announcement by Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic that Belgrade's contacts with the Bosnian Serbs side would be severed, except for humanitarian aid. Recent media reports, however, suggest that Milosevic was insincere about breaking relations with the Bosnian Serbs (see OMRI Daily Digest, 5 July 1995). -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] SANDZAK'S MUSLIM NATIONAL COUNCIL WRITES TO BILDT.

    Sulejman Ugljanin, president of the Muslim National Council of the Sandzak, has sent a letter to EU mediator to the former Yugoslavia Carl Bildt reporting on the political situation in the region. The council claims that "terror and ethnic cleansing" are continuing. It also calls on the special group on the Sandzak at the Geneva conference to invite the parties involved to discuss a solution to the status of the Sandzak, Montena-fax reported on 5 July. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc. BULGARIAN PROSECUTOR-GENERAL SLAMMED OVER DRUG DECISION. Bulgarian officials on 5 July attacked a decision by the country's prosecutor- general, Ivan Tatarchev, not to confiscate illegally planted opium poppies, Reuters reported the same day. At least 22 hectares planted with opium poppies are known to exist, in violation of Bulgarian law as well as the UN convention on drugs. Tatarchev, who was asked by the Ministry of Health to investigate the issue, said growing the plants does not in itself constitute drug production. Health Minister Mimi Vitkova he was "astonished" by Tatarchev's stand, adding that Bulgaria will be censured by the UN. Bulgaria no longer grows poppies that are used in the production of pharmaceuticals. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] TURKISH PRESIDENT ON TIES WITH BULGARIA.

    Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, during his official three-day state visit to Bulgaria, announced on 5 July that Turkey and Bulgaria are planning to set up a free trade zone, but he provided no details, international media reported. Demirel also spoke to the Bulgarian parliament, expressing satisfaction over Bulgaria's treatment of its ethnic Turkish minority since the collapse of communism. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] GREEK-TURKISH WAR OF WORDS OVER PKK.

    Following the recent meeting between Greek deputies and the leader of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Lebanon, Turkey has repeated allegations that the Greek government is backing the PKK, AFP reported on 5 July. Four Greek legislators from the ruling socialist party and two from the opposition participated in the visit. Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Omer Akbel said that Ankara "will not drop this matter," adding that documents and photos of the Greek deputies shaking hands with the PKK leader have been turned over to the Greek ambassador in Ankara. The charges prompted a swift denial on 4 July. Greek government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos called the claims "unfounded and defamatory." He said "Turkey must learn that this strategy of . . . exporting its domestic problems . . . constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and further alienates Europe and the West in general." -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] ALBANIA REQUESTS DEFENSE TREATY WITH NORWAY.

    Norway has received a request from Albania for a bilateral defense treaty, AFP reported on 5 July. According to a spokesman for the Norwegian Defense Ministry Albanian authorities have approached the Norwegian embassy in Tirana about such an accord. The Norwegian ministry is considering the request. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

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

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