OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 136, 14 July 1995
CONTENTS
[01] "BIGGEST 'ETHNIC CLEANSING' YET IN THE BOSNIAN CONFLICT."
[02] SILAJDZIC SAYS SERBS "POISED FOR THE KILL" AROUND ZEPA.
[03] CONFUSION IN THE WHITE HOUSE . . .
[04] . . . WHILE FRANCE DEMANDS ACTION.
[05] AND THE LESSONS FROM IT ALL?
[06] KONTIC CALLS FOR "FAIR SOLUTION."
[07] GREEK VOLUNTEERS FOUGHT ALONGSIDE BOSNIAN SERBS.
[08] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT PASSES LOCAL ELECTION LAW.
[09] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT ADOPTS SECURITY CONCEPT.
[10] GREEK EXTREMISTS CHARGED WITH MURDER OF ALBANIAN SOLDIERS.
[11] GREEK-ALBANIAN COMMISSION MEET IN TIRANA.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 136, Part II, 14 July 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[01] "BIGGEST 'ETHNIC CLEANSING' YET IN THE BOSNIAN CONFLICT."
This is howthe VOA on 13 July described the expulsion of some 30,000 mainly Muslim
refugees from the Dutch base at Potocari, north of Srebrenica, to
Bosnian government lines and ultimately to makeshift camps in Tuzla.
Only some 400 refugees remain at Potocari, from where the Serbs have
taken 55 Dutch peacekeepers hostage. It is unclear where the Serbs got
the vehicles and the fuel to mount such a huge and obviously well-
planned operation. Familiar patterns of systematic Serbian behavior have
emerged once again: terrified civilians dumped on the edge of a heavily-
mined no-man's land that had to be crossed in darkness; military-age men
carted off in another direction for "screening"; young women abducted
and not heard from again; and robberies, abuses, and rapes reported. One
UN spokesman said "there is no justification in the world" for the
Serbs' actions. Another told Reuters that "the scale of the operation
has been flabbergasting." AFP quoted Bosnian Serb commander General
Ratko Mladic as saying that "all the civilians who expressed the desire
to leave the enclave were evacuated this afternoon." -- Patrick Moore,
OMRI, Inc.
[02] SILAJDZIC SAYS SERBS "POISED FOR THE KILL" AROUND ZEPA.
The BBC on 14
July said that Bosnia's prime minister believes that the UN-declared
"safe area" at Zepa is next on the Serbs' list as they seek to eliminate
government-held pockets and free up their scarce manpower for use
elsewhere. Berlin's Tageszeitung the previous day reported that the
remote area consists of the villages of Luka, Slap, and Zepa and is of
no strategic value. Some 15-20,000 mainly Muslim refugees are gathered
in the valley by Mt. Zlovrh. AFP quoted Bosnian Serb authorities as
claiming that "representatives" from Zepa and the "safe area" of Gorazde
are ready to recognize Pale's authority. Bosnian Serb officials said
that "all the inhabitants of the two enclaves who wish to will be
transferred in total security to the limits of Serbian control." Bosnian
Serb leader Radovan Karadzic added that he hopes to conquer Bihac,
Tuzla, and Sarajevo as well. The International Herald Tribune noted on
14 July that the Serbs have told Zepa's 79 Ukrainian peacekeepers to
leave. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[03] CONFUSION IN THE WHITE HOUSE . . .
Karadzic called for a new
international peace conference to "ratify" his forces' control of 70% of
Bosnia's territory, AFP reported on 13 July. The VOA and the French news
agency said that U.S. President Bill Clinton dubbed the fall of
Srebrenica "a serious challenge to the UN mission," adding that "unless
we can restore the integrity of the UN mission, obviously its days would
be numbered." He agreed in telephone conversations with his French
counterpart Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl that one
should "reinforce the UN mission" and that the allies should have a
common policy, but he did not spell out what that policy is. Clinton
added that the arms embargo against the Bosnian government could be
lifted only in concert with the allies and if the UN mission collapsed.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali has dispatched
mediator Thorvald Stoltenberg to the region. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI,
Inc.
[04] . . . WHILE FRANCE DEMANDS ACTION.
But Paris seems intent on showing
that its calls for a tough response to the Serbs are more than just
posturing. AFP on 14 July reports that France wants an immediate reply
from its Western allies on its call for military intervention to defend
the UN "safe areas" from the Serbs. "The situation cannot wait," Defense
Minister Charles Millon told the radio station France Inter. "If in 48
hours we do not have a response on the part of the Western powers,
France will have to draw the conclusions." Millon did not specify what
measures he has in mind but said the French contribution to the Rapid
Reaction Force is ready to act. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[05] AND THE LESSONS FROM IT ALL?
International media continued to discussthe significance of the fall of Srebrenica, and virtually all agreed it
was a watershed. Some commentators wrote that UNPROFOR must remain
because its key task is to ensure the delivery of relief shipments. Some
questioned whether this point is valid, since the Serbs block most
convoys and value the soldiers chiefly as hostages. Other observers
noted that UNPROFOR may have to stay, since any withdrawal could be
fraught with dangers. The VOA on 13 July quoted one top U.S. diplomat as
calling the fall of Srebrenica the greatest Western collective failure
since the 1930s. One commentator added that all diplomatic efforts in
Bosnia to date have lacked a serious threat of force and that force "is
the only language" the Serbian leaderships in Belgrade and Pale seem to
understand. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[06] KONTIC CALLS FOR "FAIR SOLUTION."
Rump Yugoslav Prime Minister RadojeKontic has called for "the immediate cessation of all military
operations and direct talks between the warring parties (in Bosnia) on
the basis of the 'Contact Group' peace plan," international agencies
reported. Kontic did not mention the capture of Srebrenica but added he
opposed "military pressure or war by anyone." He also said he was
opposed to bringing in external military factors or to a retreat of
UNPROFOR or a modification of their mandate. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI,
Inc.
[07] GREEK VOLUNTEERS FOUGHT ALONGSIDE BOSNIAN SERBS.
AFP on 13 July reported
that a dozen Greek volunteers fought along Bosnian Serbs who captured
Srebrenica. According to a report in the Greek daily Ethnos, they raised
the Greek flag over the town's destroyed Orthodox church. Since the
start of the war, about 100 Greeks have fought in a "guard of
volunteers" based in Vlasenica, in central Bosnia. They were recruited
in Belgrade, and liaison offices have been set up in Athens and
Thessaloniki. A student working in one of the offices said he received
may calls from "patriotic" candidates and claimed to have fought himself
in Bosnia for six months. He added the Greek authorities "never caused
any problems" and that the Greek intelligence service was in touch with
the volunteers. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.
[08] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT PASSES LOCAL ELECTION LAW.
The National Assembly on
13 July passed the law on local elections on its second reading,
Demokratsiya reported the following day. Under the new legislation, the
three mayoral candidates who receive the most votes in the first round
of elections take part in the second. The opposition objected to this
provision, saying it favors the governing Bulgarian Socialist Party.
Opposition deputies demanded that either the two best-placed candidates
or all candidates who gain a certain percentage go on to the second
round. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.
[09] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT ADOPTS SECURITY CONCEPT.
RFE/RL on 13 July reported
that the Bulgarian government has adopted a national security concept
that provides for the eventual drafting of a national military and
foreign relations doctrine. Defense Minister Dimitar Pavlov said the
document called for civilian control over the country's defense system.
Bulgaria will strive to be a factor of peace and stability in the
region, he added. The security concept will be submitted to the
parliament, which will decide whether to adopt it as law or consider it
as offering guidelines. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.
[10] GREEK EXTREMISTS CHARGED WITH MURDER OF ALBANIAN SOLDIERS.
A former
Greek army officer and a former Greek police officer on 13 July were
charged with the murder of two Albanian soldiers during a cross-border
raid in April 1994, Reuters reported the same day. The extreme-right
Northern Epirus Liberation Front (MAVI) claimed responsibility for the
attack on an Albanian army camp in Peshkepi, where 15 Kalashnikov rifles
were stolen. The weapons were found in a crackdown on MAVI members last
March, which led to the arrest of eight men who were charged with
illegal possession of firearms. New evidence led Prosecutor Apostolos
Papatheodorou to charge the two former officers with murder. Under Greek
law, the six other men cannot be charged in Greece with murders
committed on Albanian soil, since they are Albanian citizens. Instead,
they have been charged with endangering Greek relations with a
neighboring country and risking war. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.
[11] GREEK-ALBANIAN COMMISSION MEET IN TIRANA.
The joint Greek-Albanian
commission met in Tirana on 13 July, Lajmi i Dites reported the same
day. Albanian Deputy Foreign Minister Arian Starova and Greek Secretary-
General in the Foreign Ministry Konstantinos Georgiou discussed
juridical and diplomatic questions as well as border and defense
relations. The talks also focused on work migration, education, and
cultural and economic cooperation. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
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