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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 193, 4 October 1995
CONTENTS
[1] CONTRADICTORY REPORTS ON MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT'S CONDITION.
[2] REACTIONS TO ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT.
[3] PRELIMINARY SETTLEMENT REACHED IN EASTERN SLAVONIA.
[4] BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES OFFENSIVE.
[5] OTHER REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS.
[6] HUMAN RIGHTS IN KOSOVO.
[7] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ENDS U.S. VISIT.
[8] BULGARIA TO RESTART NUCLEAR REACTOR.
[9] BULGARIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT INVALIDATES ANOTHER LAW.
[10] ALBANIA TO OPEN MINORITY SCHOOLS.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 193, Part II, 4 October 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] CONTRADICTORY REPORTS ON MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT'S CONDITION.
One day after
the attempt to assassinate Kiro Gligorov (see OMRI Daily Digest, 3
October 1995), reports by international and Macedonian media about his
condition are still contradictory. Parliamentary chairman Stojan Andov
said Gligorov's life is not in danger "at this moment." A hospital
statement says that Gligorov is in a "serious but stable situation"
after undergoing surgery, that he risks losing his right eye, and that
he has several pieces of shrapnel lodged in his brain. Gligorov was
operated on for several hours, and more operations may take place in the
next few days. Surgeons from France, Greece, Germany, and the U.S. are
in Skopje to offer assistance. The New York Times on 4 October cites a
Western diplomat as saying it is "touch and go" and "not sure if he is
going to make it." Latest reports suggest that about 20 kg of explosives
were used in the attempt on Gligorov's life. So far, no one has claimed
responsibility, and the identity of the arrested suspects still has not
been disclosed. -- Stefan Krause
[2] REACTIONS TO ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT.
Representatives of all Macedonian
parties, regardless of political or ethnic orientation, have condemned
the attempt on Gligorov's life, MIC and international media reported on
3 October. Ljupco Georgievski, chairman of the nationalist Internal
Macedonian Revolutionary Organization--Democratic Party for Macedonian
National Unity, called the attempt an "act of terrorism" and canceled a
demonstration against the government scheduled for 4 October. Meanwhile,
politicians from abroad have expressed their hope that Gligorov will
recover soon and that the attempt on his life will not have a negative
influence on recent developments in the southern Balkans. Greek Prime
Minister Andreas Papandreou, Bulgarian President Zhelyu Zhelev, and U.S.
Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke were among those who
wished Gligorov a speedy recovery. -- Stefan Krause
[3] PRELIMINARY SETTLEMENT REACHED IN EASTERN SLAVONIA.
Croatian and rebel
Serb negotiators met with UN and U.S. mediators in Erdut in eastern
Slavonia on 3 October. They reached a preliminary agreement that
provides for a transition period before the region returns to Croatian
control. The area has first-rate agricultural land and is rich in oil
and gas, and there had been speculation that Serbia, which borders
eastern Slavonia, would not give it up. But U.S. Ambassador to Croatia
Peter Galbraith told the BBC that the Serbian negotiators have made the
major concession of accepting Croatian sovereignty. That broadcast said
there were differences over the length of a transition period, with the
Croats accepting a maximum of one year and the Serbs wanting five years.
Reuters reported that both sides agreed on a two-year transition, but
not on the nature of the interim authority. Croatian negotiator Hrvoje
Sarinic said that Croatia would still consider a military option if no
final settlement were reached by 30 November. -- Patrick Moore
[4] BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES OFFENSIVE.
International media on 3 October
reported that Bosnian government forces began a major offensive around
Mt. Treskavica aimed at blocking the Serbian supply route along the
Sarajevo-Trnovo road. Four heavy mortars fired scores of shells at
Serbian positions from what the UN said was within the 20 km heavy
weapons exclusion zone around the Bosnian capital. A UN spokesman called
the action "outrageous" and said there would be a protest to the Bosnian
authorities "at the highest level." He said the Serbs have demanded to
be allowed to return their big guns to the area but were told "no way."
He added that the UN intends to enforce the exclusion zone. -- Patrick
Moore
[5] OTHER REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS.
The UN Security Council on 3 October
criticized Croatia for forcing Bosnian refugees to go home before those
areas could be considered safe, the BBC reported. Novi list on 4 October
quoted Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic as saying that his government
will ask Croatia to extradite renegade Muslim kingpin Fikret Abdic.
Meanwhile in Croatia, the opposition has invited international observers
to monitor the 29 October parliamentary elections. The Rijeka daily also
carries the full declaration by the Croatian Helsinki Committee on the
"massacre in the village of Varivode" of 12 elderly Serbs by uniformed
men on 28 September. -- Patrick Moore
[6] HUMAN RIGHTS IN KOSOVO.
The Kosova Daily Report on 3 October announced
that the Helsinki Committee on the Human Rights Situation in Kosova has
just completed a 27-page report on the region since 1994. According to
the report, overall conditions remain grim, with Serbian police
continuing to exercise authority through repression and torture. The
report says that in 1994 alone, 17 Albanians were killed, six of whom
were tortured to death. As of late September, at least 11 ethnic
Albanians have been killed so far this year, most likely as a result of
torture. -- Stan Markotich
[7] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ENDS U.S. VISIT.
Ion Iliescu on 3 October ended an
eight-day working visit to the U.S., Romanian media reported. Addressing
Rand Corporation staff and the Los Angeles World Affairs Council the day
before, Iliescu said Romania's "strategic preferences" were to join the
EU and NATO. At a press conference held in Bucharest on 3 October,
Oliviu Gherman, chairman of the ruling Party of Social Democracy in
Romania, described Iliescu's visit as "an unprecedented success" for
Romanian diplomacy since December 1989. But Gheorghe Funar, leader of
the chauvinistic Party of Romanian National Unity, said in Cluj that he
expected a public apology from Iliescu for having depicted him as "a
Romanian Zhirinovsky" in the U.S. media. -- Dan Ionescu
[8] BULGARIA TO RESTART NUCLEAR REACTOR.
The Bulgarian government on 3
October approved restarting Reactor No. 1 of the Kozloduy nuclear plan,
despite appeals from Western countries to shut it down completely,
RFE/RL and Reuters reported. The Bulgarian Atomic Energy Committee gave
permission for the reactor to reopen after a last round of checks,
according to an official statement. Meanwhile, Bulgarian officials and
officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency continued their
meetings in Sofia. The BBC quotes Hans Meyer of the IAEA as saying that
Bulgarian officials have agreed to postpone restarting the reactor.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade Kiril Tsochev will meet with
the EU's representative to Bulgaria on 4 October to discuss the issue,
RFE/RL's Bulgarian correspondent reported. -- Stefan Krause
[9] BULGARIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT INVALIDATES ANOTHER LAW.
The Bulgarian
Constitutional Court on 3 October invalidated the state budget law,
which provides for judges to be paid by the government, international
agencies reported the same day. The contested article said the Justice
Ministry was responsible for the funding of the Supreme Judicial
Council, which appoints and dismisses judges, prosecutors, and
investigators. The Constitutional Court acted at the request of
Prosecutor-General Ivan Tatarchev, who claimed the article violated the
independence of the judiciary. It is the sixth time since the last
elections that the Constitutional Court has invalidated a law. -- Stefan
Krause
[10] ALBANIA TO OPEN MINORITY SCHOOLS.
Montena-fax quoted a representative of
the Interior Ministry as saying that Tirana is prepared to open schools
for the country's Greek minority in three southern cities. The
announcement comes in the wake of a series of meetings between Greek and
Albanian officials, most recently between Albanian Foreign Minister
Alfred Serreqi and his Greek counterpart, Karolos Papoulias, on 27
September. The status of the Greek minority in Albania was high on the
agenda of their New York meeting. -- Stan Markotich
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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