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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 201, 16 October 1995
CONTENTS
[1] KARADZIC DEMANDS SCAPEGOATS . . .
[2] . . . BUT ONLY A MINOR LEADER GOES.
[3] BOSNIAN BATTLEFIELD UPDATE.
[4] BOSNIAN SERBS REOPEN CONCENTRATION CAMPS.
[5] SHALIKASHVILI'S BALKAN TOUR. U.S
[6] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ON YUGOSLAV-RELATED LOSSES.
[7] ROMANIAN COURT ON THRONE SUCCESSION.
[8] ROMANIA, EU DISCUSS INTEGRATION.
[9] MOLDOVAN TRADE UNIONS STAGE PROTESTS.
[10] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS ITALY.
[11] GREECE LIFTS BLOCKADE ON MACEDONIA.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 201, Part II, 16 October 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] KARADZIC DEMANDS SCAPEGOATS . . .
The Bosnian Serb parliament met in
Banja Luka on 15 October following a gathering of the ruling Serbian
Democratic Party. Civilian leader Radovan Karadzic continued his
apparent power-play with military commander General Ratko Mladic,
demanding that the army leadership "bear the consequences . . . for a
considerable loss of territory and military defeats. Army commanders
must look each other in the eyes and see which of them was taking
brigades out [of battle] without an order or approval. Those unable to
respond to enemy attacks must be either replaced or they must change
their attitude." The International Herald Tribune and Nasa Borba ran the
story on 16 October. -- Patrick Moore
[2] . . . BUT ONLY A MINOR LEADER GOES.
Independent legislator Milorad Dodig
and seven colleagues have demanded a purge of both the civilian and
military leaderships, AFP noted. Other deputies have urged the sacking
of General Milan Gvero and three other commanders. Mladic, who can
usually count on the backing of his generals and of Belgrade, simply
called for a "decisive battle," the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
added. But in the end, the legislature left both internationally wanted
war criminals, Karadzic and Mladic, in power. The only "resignation" was
that of Prime Minister Dusan Kozic, a relatively minor figure.
Meanwhile, as Serbian refugees continue to flee in northwest Bosnia, the
legislature took steps to shore up the Serbian position there. Although
it rejected a motion to move the capital from Pale to Banja Luka, it did
agree to place the supreme military command there and to call for a
reorganization of regional defenses. -- Patrick Moore
[3] BOSNIAN BATTLEFIELD UPDATE.
International media on 16 October reported
that the military situation is stabilizing. Serbian military sources the
previous day said the Banja Luka front is firming up 50 km west and 35
km south of the town. The Serbs charged on 13 October that allied forces
shelled Prijedor, where Karadzic was visiting. He called on the U.S. to
use its influence with the allies to make them stop. A UN spokesman said
that 40,000 Serbs fled Prijedor on one day alone, Reuters noted.
Croatian Radio on 15 October quoted Bosnian Foreign Minister Muhamed
Sacirbey as urging Serbian civilians not to abandon their homes.
Elsewhere, AFP quoted Bosnian General Atif Dudakovic as saying that
peace will be made only on the battlefield, and that "the Serbs must be
stopped with the only language they know." -- Patrick Moore
[4] BOSNIAN SERBS REOPEN CONCENTRATION CAMPS.
Bosnian Croats and Muslims
expelled from the Banja Luka area claim that the Bosnian Serbs have
reopened two concentration camps near the northwestern city, AFP
reported on 16 October. The Manjaca camp held between 4,500 and 6,000
people, mostly Muslims, at the beginning of war in 1992; it was later
shut down under international pressure. Meanwhile, Moslem authorities in
Sanski Most, recently recaptured from the Serbs, have found the corpses
of 85 people killed during the Serbs' retreat. They fear that 160 may
still be found. Some 1,000 Moslem men are missing in Sanski Most, and
the authorities suspect they are being held by Serbs at the Manjaca
camp. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[5] SHALIKASHVILI'S BALKAN TOUR. U.S.
army General Chief of Staff John
Shalikashvili began a tour of Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
and Croatia on 12 October, international media reported. He attended the
closing ceremony of a joint U.S.-Albanian military exercise and promised
U.S. assistance in building a military training center in Albania, which
has provided NATO with port and air facilities. Shalikashvili met with
parliamentary chairman and acting President Stojan Andov in Skopje on 13
October, saying he supports Macedonia's ambitions to join the
Partnership for Peace program. Shalikashvili the next day met with
government and military leaders in Sarajevo to review NATO plans to send
60,000 troops, including 25,000 Americans, to supervise the
implementation of a Bosnian peace settlement. -- Fabian Schmidt
[6] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ON YUGOSLAV-RELATED LOSSES.
Ion Iliescu, speaking to
journalists on 15 October in La Valletta, said the UN economic embargo
against the rump Yugoslavia has cost his country some $8 billion. He
also said that international loans granted Romania are no compensation
for those losses. Iliescu arrived in Malta on 14 October to attend a
Crans Montana conference of countries from Europe and the Mediterranean
on possible ways to ease the sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro,
Radio Bucharest reported. The next day, he began a two-day official
visit to Tunisia at the invitation of his Tunisian counterpart, Zine al-
Abidine ben Ali. -- Dan Ionescu
[7] ROMANIAN COURT ON THRONE SUCCESSION.
A court in Alexandria on 13 October
issued a statement supporting the claims of self-styled Prince Paul of
Romania to the succession of the Romanian throne, Radio Bucharest
reported. The statement proclaimed the validity on Romanian territory of
a decision taken by a Lisbon court in 1955 in favor of Paul's father,
Carol Mircea, the son of late Romanian King Carol II from a morganatic
marriage. Romanian independent media consider the court's decision a
direct attack against Romania's last king, Mihai I, who was forced into
exile by the communists in December 1947 and now lives in Swiss exile.
The 13 October decision coincided with a visit to Romania by Mihai's
wife, Ana de Bourbon-Parma. -- Dan Ionescu
[8] ROMANIA, EU DISCUSS INTEGRATION.
Romanian and European Union officials
met in Bucharest on 12-13 October to discuss Romania's integration into
European structures, Romanian and international media reported. The
participants analyzed Romania's strategy for EU integration as well as
the implementation of the European Integration Agreement. Romanian Prime
Minister Nicolae Vacaroiu said economic and legislative reforms were the
main condition for EU integration. It is hoped that in the future,
Romania and other associate members will participate in EU programs as
full members. Meanwhile, the 94th Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary
Union ended in Bucharest on 13 October, Radio Bucharest reported. The
conference adopted resolutions on the global political and economic
situation, on the role of parliaments in fighting corruption, and on
banning nuclear tests. -- Matyas Szabo
[9] MOLDOVAN TRADE UNIONS STAGE PROTESTS.
Several trade unions held protests
throughout Moldova to demand an improvement in living standards and
crime-fighting measures, BASA-press reported on 14 October. About 3,000
people attended the protest meeting in Chisinau, where speakers said
that the government owed 194.4 million lei ($43 million) to employees in
unpaid wages and that every sixth employee at state enterprises was on
forced leave. Crime in Moldova went up 19% in the first half of 1995,
with every fourth offense committed by a jobless person. -- Matyas Szabo
[10] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS ITALY.
Sali Berisha and Albanian Defense
Minister Safet Zhulali, during a three-day visit to Italy that began on
13 October, signed a friendship treaty as well as military and economic
agreements with Italian Defense Minister Domenico Corcione and Finance
Minister Augusto Fantozzi, Reuters reported the same day. Berisha
promised to stop illegal immigration from Albania to Puglia. Italian
officials said the first steps toward an agreement on the issue of visas
for Albanians performing seasonal work were taken in an exchange of
letters. Some 100,000 Albanians are estimated to have migrated to Italy
since 1991, of whom 35,000 have done so legally. Berisha also met with
President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Prime Minister Lamberto Dini, and the
pope, Gazeta Shqiptare reported the next day. -- Fabian Schmidt
[11] GREECE LIFTS BLOCKADE ON MACEDONIA.
Greece on 14 October officially
opened its border with Macedonia, international agencies reported. While
Greek sources say the border was indeed opened that day, Macedonian
reports say that only a Macedonian TV crew was allowed to cross
following the intervention of Greek colleagues. The next day,
individuals on foot and passenger cars were reported crossing the
border, but no trucks. Macedonian tourists will be given a Greek visa
stamped on white sheets of paper. Greece imposed the embargo in February
1994 in order to force Macedonia to change its name, flag, and
constitution. Under an accord signed on 13 September 1995, Greece agreed
to lift the embargo within 30 days. -- Stefan Krause
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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