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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 204, 19 October 1995
CONTENTS
[1] KARADZIC SAYS FRENCH AIRMEN "KIDNAPPED . . ."
[2] . . . BUT FRANCE CALLS HIS STATEMENT "GROTESQUE."
[3] KARADZIC CALLS TERRITORIAL MAP THE MAIN ISSUE.
[4] BOSNIAN SERBS CONTINUE TO ARREST FOREIGN JOURNALISTS.
[5] RUMP YUGOSLAVIA, BOSNIA TO OPEN LIAISON OFFICES.
[6] RUMP YUGOSLAV ARMY TESTS COMBAT PREPAREDNESS.
[7] NATIONAL MOVEMENT FOR THE LIBERATION OF KOSOVO CALLS FOR RESISTANCE.
[8] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT TO LEAVE HOSPITAL "VERY SOON."
[9] HUNGARIAN PREMIER IN CROATIA.
[10] ROMANIAN STUDENTS CONTINUE TO PROTEST FEES.
[11] MOLDOVAN STUDENTS RESUME PROTESTS.
[12] SUSPECT CHARGED WITH MURDER OF FORMER BULGARIAN DEPUTY MINISTER.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 204, Part II, 19 October 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] KARADZIC SAYS FRENCH AIRMEN "KIDNAPPED . . ."
Bosnian Serb leaderRadovan Karadzic told reporters on 18 October that the two French pilots
shot down on 30 August have been kidnapped by unknown men. The pilots
were allegedly undergoing medical treatment for injuries sustained in
the crash when the mysterious abductors arrived. Karadzic suggested the
kidnappers might be Muslims but did not indicate how a Muslim band might
have gotten through what was presumably a tight security net. He also
promised an investigation. The VOA on 19 October said it was the first
admission by the Bosnian Serbs that they held the pilots. -- Patrick
Moore
[2] . . . BUT FRANCE CALLS HIS STATEMENT "GROTESQUE."
Liberation reported on19 October that the issue of the airmen had been at the top of the
agenda of Foreign Minister Herve de Charette when he arrived in Belgrade
the previous day. The paper quoted unnamed French officials as saying
that they felt that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic "knows nothing
about the fate of the pilots and that is rather disturbing." Another
called Karadzic's story "grotesque," adding that "either the two pilots
are dead and Karadzic does not want to say, or they are mocking us." --
Patrick Moore
[3] KARADZIC CALLS TERRITORIAL MAP THE MAIN ISSUE.
Nasa Borba on 19 October
quoted the Bosnian Serb leader as again stressing that "the map" remains
the key question for a future settlement. He added that Pale's ties to
Belgrade have been "normalized" and that his own relations with Bosnian
Serb commander General Ratko Mladic are "good." The Daily Telegraph
quoted Karadzic as rejecting any claims that territorial gains by the
allied armies in recent months mean that the Serbs will get less than
the 49% of the republic's territory specified in the current partition
plan. "We won't accept the result of this aggression," he declared in
Banja Luka. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung stated that Bosnian Croat
forces hold 30.6% of the total land area and government troops 21%. --
Patrick Moore
[4] BOSNIAN SERBS CONTINUE TO ARREST FOREIGN JOURNALISTS.
UNPROFOR officials
in Sarajevo have confirmed that in addition to two Turkish journalists
captured by Bosnian Serbs on 13 October and kept in a military prison
near Sarajevo, Bosnian Serb police have detained one British and two
American journalists at Pale, Slobodna Dalmacija reported on 19 October.
Negotiations on their release have already started through the mediation
of UNPROFOR and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Serbs
have made the Turkish journalists' release conditional on the freeing of
two Serbian journalists held by Bosnian government forces. But according
to SRNA, the Serbian journalists have been killed in prison, BETA
reported on 19 October. No independent sources have confirmed this
story. Meanwhile, U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke told Oslobodjenje that
Sarajevo should not become a new divided Berlin, while the BBC on 19
October quoted Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic as saying that
Sarajevo must remain undivided. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[5] RUMP YUGOSLAVIA, BOSNIA TO OPEN LIAISON OFFICES.
Nasa Borba on 19
October reported that U.S. envoy Holbrooke announced in Sarajevo that
Bosnia and rump Yugoslavia have agreed to open "liaison offices" in each
other's capital. The announcement comes in the wake of Holbrooke's talks
in Sarajevo with Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic and in Belgrade
with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. Holbrooke described this
latest move as "a small step" toward improving ties between the two
countries, which have had no official relations since war broke out in
Bosnia in 1991. Belgrade has a similar "liaison" with Zagreb, but the
arrangement has failed to produce any diplomatic breakthroughs. -- Stan
Markotich
[6] RUMP YUGOSLAV ARMY TESTS COMBAT PREPAREDNESS.
Tanjug on 17 October
reported that the Yugoslav Army General Staff issued a statement
acknowledging that the Novi Sad Corps, based in Serbia's northern
Vojvodina province, was holding maneuvers to test combat readiness.
Reportedly involved in the exercise were infantry, mechanized, air, and
maritime (river) units. Tanjug said troops were "well-trained" and
"highly motivated." -- Stan Markotich
[7] NATIONAL MOVEMENT FOR THE LIBERATION OF KOSOVO CALLS FOR RESISTANCE.
According to Gazeta Shqiptare on 19 October, the National Movement for
the Liberation of Kosovo in its publication Clirimi has called for an
armed uprising to gain independence and to end the current deadlock. The
movement, however, is rather isolated within the Kosovar political scene
and does not represent the majority of Kosovar Albanians, who support
the policy of peaceful resistance pursued by shadow-state President
Ibrahim Rugova. -- Fabian Schmidt
[8] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT TO LEAVE HOSPITAL "VERY SOON."
Medical sources inSkopje were quoted by AFP on 18 October as saying that Kiro Gligorov
will be able to leave hospital "very soon." Gligorov, who was seriously
wounded in an assassination attempt on 3 October, is still undergoing
treatment, but doctors say his "condition has been fine for several
days." Gligorov is scheduled to have talks with outgoing UN Special
Envoy for the former Yugoslavia Yasushi Akashi on 18 October at the
hospital. Meanwhile, delegations from Macedonia and Greece are
continuing their talks in Athens on the opening of liaison offices in
each other's capitals. -- Stefan Krause
[9] HUNGARIAN PREMIER IN CROATIA.
Gyula Horn, during an official visit to
Zagreb on 18 October, met with President Franjo Tudjman and Prime
Minister Nikica Valentic, Croatian and Hungarian newspapers reported the
next day. The two premiers said after their meeting that discussion
focused on the current situation in the region, with special attention
given to bilateral economic relations. Horn said Hungary is willing to
participate in the reconstruction of the Croatian and Bosnian economies
by offering assistance worth $1 billion. -- Zsofia Szilagyi
[10] ROMANIAN STUDENTS CONTINUE TO PROTEST FEES.
Students on 18 October
continued to stage protests in Bucharest and other cities to oppose
official plans to implement university fees, Romanian media reported.
Education Minister Liviu Maior defended the new fees, saying they
applied only to students who fail to take their exams and have to repeat
the year. But student leader Cristian Urse claimed that the authorities
were intending to introduce "various" charges. A student delegation was
later received by Maior and other ministers, and Premier Nicolae
Vacaroiu spoke briefly to student leaders. The two sides signed a
protocol aimed at paving the way for a compromise. But Radio Bucharest
later quoted Urse as saying that the protests would continue, since the
government is trying "to throw dust in the students' eyes." -- Dan
Ionescu
[11] MOLDOVAN STUDENTS RESUME PROTESTS.
More than 8,000 students and teachers
on 18 October marched through Chisinau to protest official cultural
policies and deteriorating living conditions, BASA-press and Infotag
reported. The demonstration marked the resumption of a wave of students
protests and strikes in the spring that sparked a political crisis in
Moldova. Professor Anatol Petrencu, head of the republican strike
committee, stated that the main goal of the protest action was to force
the government to resign. He also said the students continued to insist
that the official language be renamed Romanian (instead of "Moldovan")
and that the "history of the Romanians" be taught in schools and
universities. The organizers said the protests would continue. -- Dan
Ionescu
[12] SUSPECT CHARGED WITH MURDER OF FORMER BULGARIAN DEPUTY MINISTER.
Plamen
Mironov, director of the insurance company "BG-Plan," was arrested on 17
October and charged with the murder of former Deputy Education Minister
Lambo Kyuchukov, Demokratsiya reported on 19 October. Bogdan Karayotov
of the National Investigation Agency confirmed that proceedings against
Mironov have started but gave no details about the motive or the
evidence. Kyuchukov was killed on 7 July near Sofia (see OMRI Daily
Digest, 10 July 1995), two hours after meeting with Mironov.
Demokratsiya reports that he had signed a cooperation contract with "BG-
Plan" and tried to convince the Education Ministry to become a client of
the company. Mironov's lawyer said there is no evidence against his
client and demanded that he be released. -- Stefan Krause
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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