OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 131, 7 July 1995
CONTENTS
[01] HEAVY FIGHTING AROUND SREBRENICA.
[02] ZUBAK GIVES THE RAPID REACTION FORCE A DEADLINE.
[03] AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT SINGLES OUT SERBS.
[04] CROATIAN JOURNALISTS DEFEND FERAL TRIBUNE.
[05] BILDT IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA.
[06] MONTENEGRIN HOTEL CHAIN REWARDS ANTI-GREEK VACATIONERS.
[07] RUGOVA MEETS WITH GLIGOROV.
[08] DEMIREL ENDS VISIT TO BULGARIA.
[09] U.S. PREPARES DEPLOYMENT OF SPY PLANES FROM ALBANIA.
[10] ALBANIAN SUPREME COURT, JUSTICE MINISTRY DISCUSS COURTS' BUDGET.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 131, Part II, 7 July 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[01] HEAVY FIGHTING AROUND SREBRENICA.
International media on 7 July reported
that tank, mortar, and artillery fire erupted the previous day between
Serbian attackers and Muslim defenders of the eastern Bosnian enclave of
Srebrenica. Government spokesmen said it was the heaviest Serbian attack
since the UN declared the place a "safe area" in 1993. The BBC reported
that a UN relief convoy was shot at near Tuzla, apparently from Bosnian
Serb lines., while the International Herald Tribune noted a similar
attack on relief vehicles heading into Sarajevo across Mt. Igman.
Vjesnik quoted UN sources as reporting successes by the Bosnian army
around Bosanska Krupa near Bihac, while Novi list reported that Krajina
Serb forces are grouping around Knin. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[02] ZUBAK GIVES THE RAPID REACTION FORCE A DEADLINE.
Bosnian Croat leader
and president of the Croatian-Muslim federation Kresimir Zubak has told
the Rapid Reaction Force that it must leave Herzegovina by the end of
the month if his questions regarding its mission have not been
satisfactorily answered by then, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung on 7 July. Reuters the previous day noted that the UN has stated
that the British and French commanders will have tactical control over
any RRF missions but that each action must be approved by the cautious
UN civilian bureaucracy. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[03] AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT SINGLES OUT SERBS.
The VOA on 7 July said
that Amnesty International has issued a report on human rights
violations in the former Yugoslavia. The study argues that the Serbs are
responsible for most, if not all, of the atrocities in Bosnia but that
all sides hold prisoners of conscience or have sent prisoners to work
under dangerous conditions. The Serbs press-gang young men in Serbia on
behalf of the Krajina and Bosnian Serb armies. They have also tortured
or otherwise ill-treated ethnic Albanian former policemen in Kosovo. --
Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[04] CROATIAN JOURNALISTS DEFEND FERAL TRIBUNE.
Novi list on 7 July carried a
statement by the Croatian Journalistic Society criticizing the recent
attacks by thugs on the independent satirical weekly Feral Tribune. The
declaration argues that one may think whatever one wants of that
particular paper but that nobody has the right to use violence against
freedom of expression. In other developments, AFP on 5 July reports on
growing social unrest in Croatia. Some 140,000 out of 760,000 workers
have not been paid in months, and the situation of the 800,000
pensioners and 385,000 refugees is also precarious. Protests by unpaid
workers have taken on political overtones, as the demonstrators argue
that the elite of the ruling party are enriching themselves while
ordinary people face hard times. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[05] BILDT IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA.
Nasa Borba on 7 July reported on European
Union mediator Carl Bildt's arrival in Sarajevo the previous day.
Bildt's visit is intended to revive the peace process, but he has
already expressed doubts over prospects for lasting peace. AFP quoted
him as saying there will be "more war in Bosnia rather than peace. . . .
There might be a solution, but it is not immediately at hand." Bildt
also noted that negotiations with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic
are key to facilitating the peace process. Milosevic on 6 July met with
Alvaro de Soto, UN deputy secretary for political affairs, but De Soto
gave few details about the discussions. The VOA said that journalists
asked Bildt if he planned to visit Bosnian Serb headquarters at Pale but
that he replied he is "not a tourist" and has no need to go there. --
Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[06] MONTENEGRIN HOTEL CHAIN REWARDS ANTI-GREEK VACATIONERS.
Montena-fax on 6
July reported that the rump Yugoslavia's Maestralturs hotel chain is
involved in the continuing controversy over the rump Yugoslavia's 2 July
European basketball championship win in Athens. When the rump Yugoslav
national anthem was played, Greek fans, who had seen their team lose to
the rump Yugoslav team in an earlier game, booed. Now as a reward to
vacationers who can prove they have canceled vacations to Greece in
protest at the fans' behavior, Maestralturs is offering a 20% discount.
-- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[07] RUGOVA MEETS WITH GLIGOROV.
Ibrahim Rugova, president of the Kosovar
shadow state, met with Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov in Skopje
after visiting the U.S., Spain, and Albania, according to the Kosovar
Daily Report and MIC on 6 July. The two leaders discussed the situation
in Kosovo and Macedonia, as well as bilateral relations. There was no
official statement on the disputed Albanian-language university in
Tetovo, but both sides confirmed that "peace and stability in the
Balkans can be guaranteed only by settling [outstanding] issues through
talks and political means and by strengthening the European option [for]
the Balkan states." Elsewhere, Fehmi Agani, deputy leader of the ruling
Democratic League of Kosovo, said after meeting with representatives of
the ruling Serbian Democratic Party in Belgrade that "the atmosphere was
surprisingly cordial," Politika reported on 7 July. -- Fabian Schmidt,
OMRI, Inc.
[08] DEMIREL ENDS VISIT TO BULGARIA.
Turkish President Suleyman Demirel on 6
July concluded an official three-day visit to Bulgaria, international
media reported. On the last day of his visit, he spoke to the
predominantly ethnic Turkish population of a town some 400 kilometers
northeast of Sofia. He described his audience as "good citizens of
Bulgaria," remarking that in recent years, the Bulgarian government has
demonstrated a sound record of protecting the Turkish minority's rights.
He also described Bulgaria's Turkish community as a "bridge" between
Bulgaria and Turkey. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[09] U.S. PREPARES DEPLOYMENT OF SPY PLANES FROM ALBANIA.
The U.S. army's
first shipments of equipment for deploying unmanned Predator spy planes
arrived in Gjader on 6 June. The unmanned planes will be operated by
remote control over Bosnia-Herzegovina by about 100 U.S. military and
civilian staff, Reuters reported on 6 June. Information gathered by the
system will be passed onto NATO and the UN command for Bosnia. The first
military operation to use the Predator system is also the first time the
U.S. has conducted a key military operation in Albania. The operation is
scheduled to last for 60 days but may be extended. -- Fabian Schmidt,
OMRI, Inc.
[10] ALBANIAN SUPREME COURT, JUSTICE MINISTRY DISCUSS COURTS' BUDGET.
Albanian Supreme Court Judge Zef Brozi and Minister of Justice Hektor
Frasheri have begun discussing the budget of the country's courts,
G
azeta Shqiptare reported on 7 July. Brozi had earlier criticized
Frasheri's plans to subordinate the courts' budget to the ministry's
authority. He claimed that a bill proposed by the ruling Democratic
Party in June was designed to undermine the independence of the courts,
which had a separate budget in 1994. The democrats withdrew the bill
after Brozi strongly protested it. -- 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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