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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 196, 9 October 1995
CONTENTS
[1] SERBS SHELL REFUGEE CAMP TWICE.
[2] SACIRBEY PRAISES COMMON MUSLIM, CROATIAN INTERESTS.
[3] BELGRADE WELCOMES LATEST CEASEFIRE DEAL.
[4] MONTENEGRIN PREMIER CRITICAL OF BELGRADE.
[5] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT'S CONDITION SAID TO BE IMPROVING.
[6] ROMANIAN, HUNGARIAN PREMIERS MEET IN WARSAW.
[7] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT LEADS OPINION POLL.
[8] IS DISPUTE BETWEEN ILIESCU, EXTREMISTS SUBSIDING?
[9] BULGARIA RESTARTS NUCLEAR PLANT, DESPITE INTERNATIONAL PROTESTS.
[10] STATE DEPARTMENT PROTESTS ALBANIAN JUDGE'S DISMISSAL.
[11] NEW ALBANIAN MONARCHIST PARTY FOUNDED.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 196, Part II, 9 October 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] SERBS SHELL REFUGEE CAMP TWICE.
Bosnian Serb forces shelled the Zivinice
refugee camp just south of Tuzla on 8 and 9 October and the northern
Bosnian village of Tesnjaka on 8 October. The combined death toll is 17,
with an additional 100 wounded. The Serbs attacked at least seven places
in northwest Bosnia on 9 October in what Reuters described as an "armor
and infantry [offensive] across a broad front." Reacting to the shelling
of Zivinice, President Alija Izetbegovic called the Serbs "terrorists"
and demanded that NATO knock out the Serbian guns responsible. Planes of
the Atlantic alliance attempted a strike during the night but turned
back because of bad weather. NATO spokesmen said they would try again,
and Izetbegovic said his government might leave the "peace process" if
they did not. -- Patrick Moore
[2] SACIRBEY PRAISES COMMON MUSLIM, CROATIAN INTERESTS.
Bosnian Foreign
Minister Muhamed Sacirbey told Vecernji list on 9 October that the
Muslims and Croats are not engaged in a marriage of convenience but that
they have key mutual interests and will continue to have them once the
war is over. He noted that Croatia and Bosnia will "go into Europe"
together and that Serbia and Montenegro have degenerated into "new
fascism." The vitality of the alliance was shown again on the
battlefield over the weekend, and AFP reported that Bosnian and Croatian
forces were fighting in a joint action at Bosanska Krupa. Novi list on 7
October quoted Croatian President Franjo Tudjman as confirming that
regular Croatian troops are still in Bosnia. Vjesnik on 9 October said
that the Bosnian army has requested the help of Bosnian Croat forces.
The paper also quoted UN sources as denying Serbian reports that Kljuc
had fallen to Bosnian Serb troops. Serbian propaganda has been trying
doggedly to discredit the Croatian-Muslim alliance. -- Patrick Moore
[3] BELGRADE WELCOMES LATEST CEASEFIRE DEAL.
Rump Yugoslav state-run and
pro-government media report that officials have welcomed the latest
Bosnia ceasefire accord, signed on 5 October and slated to go into
effect on 10 October. Politika Ekspres on 6 October lauded Serbian
President Milosevic's "decisive" role in the process, observing that
"Milosevic was the first one to put his signature on this historic
agreement." Tanjug the following day quoted Socialist Party of Serbia
spokesman Ivica Dacic as saying the accord was regarded by his party as
a step toward lasting peace in Bosnia. Montenegrin Premier Milo
Djukanovic, quoted by Serbian Radio on 6 October, added his voice to the
list of officials backing the accord, saying it was "encouraging." --
Stan Markotich
[4] MONTENEGRIN PREMIER CRITICAL OF BELGRADE.
Milo Djukanovic on 6 October
criticized federal rump Yugoslav authorities for their alleged failure
to honor commitments to deliver fuel supplies and for running up debts
on the republic's pension fund, AFP reported that same day. The report
suggests this is yet another move on the part of the Montenegrin premier
to distance his republic from Serbia and that the premier may in effect
be announcing his intention "to play a more active role in the foreign
policy of the region." But Djukanovic's ambitions may be counterbalanced
by Montenegrin President Momir Bulatovic, who has given no sign of
wanting or aiming to rupture ties with Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic. -- Stan Markotich
[5] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT'S CONDITION SAID TO BE IMPROVING.
Vecher on 9
October reported that Kiro Gligorov is conscious and received visits
from his family and state officials over the weekend. Macedonian Radio
had reported two days earlier that Gligorov's condition was improving,
adding that his respiratory system is functioning normally and the
condition of his right eye is "satisfactory." Medical sources said a
team of French ophthalmologists arrived in Skopje on 8 October to
examine him further and prepare for a second operation. Meanwhile, a
second person--Hristo Hristomanov, a minister of agriculture in
socialist Macedonia--died on 7 October from injuries sustained in the
assassination attempt, Nova Makedonija reported on 9 October. No one has
yet claimed responsibility for 3 October car bomb. Experts from the
U.S., Great Britain, and Germany have arrived in Macedonia to help with
the investigation. -- Stefan Krause
[6] ROMANIAN, HUNGARIAN PREMIERS MEET IN WARSAW.
Nicolae Vacaroiu and Gyula
Horn, meeting on the weekend in Warsaw, where both attended a meeting of
the Central European Initiative, agreed to set up a joint commission to
examine educational reform, which has been the subject of an ongoing
dispute between Bucharest and Budapest. Radio Bucharest said the joint
commission will review the question of minority-language education in
the two countries and reveal its conclusions at Romanian-Hungarian
summit meetings. In a related development, Evenimentul zilei on 7
October quoted Defense Minister Gheorghe Tinca as saying Hungary and
Romania will join NATO at the same time, because the "security interests
of the region" require such joint action. Tinca made the declaration
upon returning from Budapest. -- Michael Shafir
[7] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT LEADS OPINION POLL.
A public opinion poll conducted
for the Soros Foundation by the Institute for Research on the Quality of
Life shows President Ion Iliescu and the Party of Social Democracy in
Romania (PDSR), with which he is closely associated, are well ahead of
their political rivals. Iliescu was backed by 38% of the respondents,
followed by Emil Constantinescu of the Democratic Convention of Romania
(CDR), with only 16%. The PDSR was supported by 34% of the respondents
and the CDR by 21%. The poll was conducted from 15-22 September among a
representative sample of 1,175 and the results published in Adevarul on
7 October. Presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for
autumn 1996. -- Michael Shafir
[8] IS DISPUTE BETWEEN ILIESCU, EXTREMISTS SUBSIDING?
Evenimentul zilei on 7October reported that the two sides involved in the conflict over
remarks attributed to President Ion Iliescu about extreme nationalist
leaders Corneliu Vadim Tudor and Gheorghe Funar (see OMRI Daily Digest,
5 and 6 October 1995) are seeking to play down the issue. Tudor, who is
leader of the Greater Romania Party (PRM), said at a press conference on
6 October that despite some criticism, his party considered Iliescu's
visit to the U.S a success. But he accused several of Iliescu's close
associates of misleading the president. Funar, leader of the Party of
Romanian National Unity, said he was still expecting a clarification of
the president's remark that he and Tudor acted in "Zhirinovsky-like
manner." Meanwhile, Oliviu Gherman, the chairman of the Party of Social
Democracy in Romania (PDSR), denied that his party's reaction to Tudor's
attacks on Iliescu was "an ultimatum." In a related development, the
Democratic Convention of Romania said it was willing to collaborate with
the PDSR if it renounced its alliance with the extremists. -- Michael
Shafir
[9] BULGARIA RESTARTS NUCLEAR PLANT, DESPITE INTERNATIONAL PROTESTS.
Bulgaria on 6 October reconnected Reactor No. 1 of the Kozloduy nuclear
power plant to the country's electricity network, AFP reported the
following day. The EU environment ministers criticized the decision,
saying they will express formal disapproval at the Pan-European
conference of environment ministers in Sofia later this month. An EU
official was quoted by Reuters as saying that the decision to reconnect
the reactor "will pose big problems for the Sofia meeting." Standart on
9 October reported that the German and French environment ministers,
Angela Merkel and Corinne Lepage, have threatened to boycott the
meeting. -- Stefan Krause
[10] STATE DEPARTMENT PROTESTS ALBANIAN JUDGE'S DISMISSAL.
The U.S. State
Department has sent a fax to Albanian President Sali Berisha protesting
dismissal of Supreme Court Judge Zef Brozi, DITA reported on 8 October.
This is the second time within one week that the State Department has
denounced the Albanian parliament's decision to remove Brozi. The fax
reportedly states that the parliament's decision is illegal and
"evidence" offered by the Albanian government to justify the move is
unconvincing. -- Fabian Schmidt
[11] NEW ALBANIAN MONARCHIST PARTY FOUNDED.
A breakaway faction of the
monarchist Legality Movement on 6 October--the 100th anniversary of King
Ahmet Zogu's birthday founded a new party--the National Party of
Legality, Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 7 October. Abdi Baleta, one of
the former leaders and founders of the Democratic Party of the Right
(PDD), participated in the founding meeting. Baleta lost his post in the
PDD during a political struggle with his former party co-founder Petrit
Kalakulla at the party's congress in May. -- Fabian Schmidt
This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
For more information on OMRI publications please write to [email protected]
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