OMRI Daily Digest I,II, No. 158, 15 August 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] FOREIGN MINISTRY BACKTRACKS ON YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS.

  • [02] "SINISTER" DEVELOPMENT IN BANJA LUKA EXODUS.

  • [03] SERBIA REOPENS BORDERS TO KRAJINA SERBS.

  • [04] MILAN MARTIC CALLS FOR GUERRILLA WAR.

  • [05] BATTLEFIELD UPDATE.

  • [06] REFUGEE UPDATE IN MONTENEGRO.

  • [07] SERBIAN UPDATE.

  • [08] ROMANIAN RED CROSS TO HELP KRAJINA REFUGEES.

  • [09] BULGARIAN OFFICIALS INVESTIGATED FOR VIOLATING UN SANCTIONS.

  • [10] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT URGED TO STAY NEUTRAL IN YUGOSLAV CONFLICT.

  • [11] MAVI MEMBERS NOT INVOLVED IN ATTACK ON ALBANIAN BARRACKS?

  • [12] ALBANIAN-MACEDONIAN VISA AGREEMENT.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 158, Part I,II, 15 August 1995

    RUSSIA

    [01] FOREIGN MINISTRY BACKTRACKS ON YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS.

    An unnamed high- ranking diplomat at the Russian Foreign Ministry backed away from earlier comments by President Yeltsin and a bill passed by the Duma, suggesting that Russia was not seriously considering unilaterally abandoning UN sanctions against rump Yugoslavia, Interfax reported on 14 August. The diplomat said that "we are not ruling out such measures, but we think we can do without them for the time being." Interfax also quoted the diplomat as characterizing the Duma bill as merely "rhetorical" and without "practical content." Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Demurin later disavowed this comment, telling Interfax that the Foreign Ministry had not yet received a full text of the bill and would "closely examine" it when it arrived. Against the backdrop of these contradictory comments, several Moscow papers have harshly criticized the lack of any coherent strategy in Russian policy towards the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. -- Scott Parrish, OMRI, Inc.

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [02] "SINISTER" DEVELOPMENT IN BANJA LUKA EXODUS.

    This is how UN spokesman Chris Jankowski described the Bosnian Serb announcement that Croat and Muslim males of military age will not be allowed to leave, international media reported on 15 August. Bosnian Serb officials had earlier ordered the expulsion of all Croats and Muslims from the Banja Luka region. Estimates vary as to what constitutes military age and how many Croats and Muslims still live there, but there appear to be roughly 50,000 persons remaining out of a prewar population of 500,000 non-Serbs. The Croats are being deported to Croatia and the Muslims to territory controlled by the Bosnian government, ostensibly to make room for refugees from Krajina. But there is plenty of other space available in Bosnian Serb-held regions following more than three years of systematic "ethnic cleansing." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] SERBIA REOPENS BORDERS TO KRAJINA SERBS.

    Another reason that the Bosnian Serbs' excuse for the expulsions rings hollow is that most of the Krajina Serbs want to get out of Bosnia and as far away from the fighting as possible. Many plan new futures in North America or Australia, Monitor reported on 11 August, but the first stop would be Serbia. Belgrade, however, had closed the crossings at Sremska Raca, Badovinci, and Trobrnica to military-aged males in order to force them to return to Bosnian Serb territory and fight. Nasa Borba reported on 15 August that those crossings have been reopened, and AFP noted that 130,000 Krajina Serbs have entered Serbia to date. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] MILAN MARTIC CALLS FOR GUERRILLA WAR.

    Krajina's "president" has issued a call for Croatian Serbs to return home to fight. AFP on 14 August quoted him as speaking from "free territory" in Krajina. Martic said all government members and other Serbs should "return and liberate" their homeland. Politika reported on 15 August, however, that "Krajina" will henceforth be limited to Sector East, or eastern Slavonia. The UN is drastically scaling down its presence in Croatia following Operation Storm 10 days ago, which effectively rendered much of the peacekeepers' mission superfluous. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] BATTLEFIELD UPDATE.

    International media reported on 15 August that Bosnian government forces continued to advance toward Donji Vakuf in central Bosnia. In the mountains above Dubrovnik, Bosnian Serb guns on 14 August pounded the region around the medieval city for the third straight day, while Croatian forces sought to relieve the pressure by shelling the Serb stronghold of Trebinje. Mlada fronta dnes on 15 August quoted the Croatian minister for tourism as saying that vacationers could now safely return to the Dalmatian coast and islands as far south as the Dubrovnik region thanks to Operation Storm. Czech officials stressed, however, that in their opinion only Istria, Kvarner, and the coast down to Rijeka could truly be considered safe for now. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] REFUGEE UPDATE IN MONTENEGRO.

    Montena-fax reported on 14 August that, according to Red Cross estimates, at least 450 refugees from Krajina have arrived in the rump Yugoslav republic. Montenegrin authorities had appealed to the international community to allow refugees to reach Montenegro via the port of Bar, which had been closed to international traffic in accordance with the international sanctions imposed against the rump Yugoslavia in May 1992 for its role in fomenting the wars throughout the former Yugoslavia. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] SERBIAN UPDATE.

    The leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), Vuk Draskovic, met with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic on 14 August. BETA the same day reported that the reason for the meeting was unclear, but noted that assembled reporters were in part "awaiting the arrival" of diplomatic representatives, who did not materialize. In other news, Nasa Borba on 15 August reports that the telecommunications firm Bel Paget appears to have plans to eventually turn Belgrade "into one of the telecommunications centers of central and Eastern Europe." A company representative and Serbia's Minister of Private Enterprise Radoje Djukic reportedly discussed an initial investment of some $20 million to build a mobile telephone infrastructure. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] ROMANIAN RED CROSS TO HELP KRAJINA REFUGEES.

    In a statement released on 14 August, the Romanian Red Cross announced that it was planning to send 20 tons of flour to help Serb refugees from Krajina. The communique, which was read on Radio Bucharest, said that the Red Cross was still awaiting the approval of the special UN Security Council committee watching over the compliance with the sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro. The Romanian Red Cross launched an appeal for further donations in favor of the refugees. In a separate development, Adrian Nastase, Executive Chairman of the ruling Party of Social Democracy in Romania and a former Foreign Minister, said on 14 August that the embargo against rump Yugoslavia has lost its justification. Nastase recommended that a European summit should examine the conflicts in former Yugoslavia. -- Dan Ionescu, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] BULGARIAN OFFICIALS INVESTIGATED FOR VIOLATING UN SANCTIONS.

    Bulgarian prosecutors are investigating several state railway officials for violating UN sanctions against rump Yugoslavia, Reuters reported on 14 August. The same day, Angel Ganev, head of the Prosecutor's Office Investigation Departments, said that the indictment against three officials is ready, and that charges are also being prepared against former State Railway Director-General Atanas Tonev, who was dismissed last year (see OMRI Daily Digest, 27 July 1995). Ganev said that "several additional legal cases [are] being prepared," but declined to give a figure. Bulgarian media said as many as 40 officials are under investigation for illegally exporting petroleum products, furniture, and cement to rump Yugoslavia. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [10] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT URGED TO STAY NEUTRAL IN YUGOSLAV CONFLICT.

    President Zhelyu Zhelev's adviser for national security Rumen Danov on 14 August told RFE/RL that the country must stick to its position of "categoric and demonstrative non-intervention" in the Yugoslav conflict, Bulgarian newspapers reported the following day. He said that a possible Russian unilateral withdrawal from UN sanctions (see OMRI Daily Digest, 14 August 1995) may be dangerous for Bulgaria as it could prompt similar reactions from other countries. He said the president's office was sure that the government "will not be so stupid" as to follow the Russian Duma's example. Meanwhile, the cabinet will not hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss the issue, Trud reports, since withdrawing from the sanctions requires a parliamentary vote. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [11] MAVI MEMBERS NOT INVOLVED IN ATTACK ON ALBANIAN BARRACKS?

    The GreekSupreme Court said it had no evidence that eight members of the Northern Epirus Liberation Front (MAVI), arrested in late March, were involved in an attack on an Albanian army barracks in Peshkepi in April 1994, Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 15 August. One of the accused was released on bail but the remaining seven still face charges of illegal possession and trafficking of weapons. With the court's ruling, charges of "endangering and troubling relations with a neighboring country [ . . . probably . . . ] leading to war" were dropped. When arrested, the MAVI members had Kalashnikov rifles that were allegedly taken from the Albanian barracks in last year's terrorist attack. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [12] ALBANIAN-MACEDONIAN VISA AGREEMENT.

    The Albanian cabinet approved an agreement with Macedonia about the lifting of visa requirements for diplomatic and business passports and the unification of border tolls for other kinds of visa. The agreement also regulates special rights for people living in both countries' border regions, especially on paying lower border tolls. According to BETA on 14 August, there is, however, no information yet available about whether the tolls will be dropped or merely reduced. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
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