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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 209, 26 October 1995
CONTENTS
[1] BOSNIAN PEACE TALKS ON HOLD FOR A DAY.
[2] NATO SENDS SURVEY TEAMS TO BOSNIA. NAT
[3] THOUSANDS OF MUSLIMS MISSING AFTER FORCED EXPULSIONS.
[4] TRILATERAL MEETING PAVES WAY FOR RETURN OF BOSNIAN REFUGEES.
[5] CROATIAN NEGOTIATORS MEET AGAIN WITH REBEL SERBS.
[6] CROATIAN POLICE ARREST ALLEGED SPIES.
[7] ROMANIAN EXTREMIST SENATOR TO LOSE IMMUNITY?
[8] ROMANIAN STUDENTS SUSPEND STREET DEMONSTRATIONS...
[9] ...WHILE MOLDOVAN STUDENTS PREPARE FUTURE PROTESTS.
[10] SOFIA ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE ENDS, KOZLODUY STAYS ON LINE.
[11] BULGARIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS UPDATE.
[12] BULGARIAN DAILY STANDART IN TROUBLE.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 209, Part II, 26 October 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] BOSNIAN PEACE TALKS ON HOLD FOR A DAY.
International media on 26 October
reported that peace talks between Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic,
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, and Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic, slated for October 31 in the U.S., will be delayed by one day
to allow the three leaders to meet first with Russian President Boris
Yeltsin in Moscow. Meanwhile, Reuters on 25 October reported that
President Tudjman will attend only the first few days of the talks,
which, according to some U.S. officials, may continue for up to four
weeks. Should Tudjman return to Zagreb, Croatia is expected to be
represented by Foreign Minister Mate Granic. -- Stan Markotich
[2] NATO SENDS SURVEY TEAMS TO BOSNIA.
NATO has begun to send soldiers into
Bosnia to gather information on infrastructure such as bridges, roads,
and communication, international agencies reported on 25 October.
According to U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry, the units will help
NATO plan for the deployment of a 60,000-strong peacekeeping force after
a peace agreement is reached. German Defense Minister Volker Ruhe is
quoted as saying that the main force could be deployed three to four
days after an agreement is signed, but he estimated that this would take
place in mid-November. U.S. President Bill Clinton, meanwhile, warned of
"grave" consequences if the U.S. fails to send ground troops to Bosnia,
arguing that the Yugoslav war may otherwise develop into a larger
European war. -- Fabian Schmidt
[3] THOUSANDS OF MUSLIMS MISSING AFTER FORCED EXPULSIONS.
According to the
UNHCR, thousands of Muslim men from the Banja Luka, Prijedor, and Sanski
Most regions are missing after being captured by Bosnian Serb forces,
Reuters reported on 25 October. More than 6,000 people were forcefully
expelled from the region in early October by units fighting alongside
accused war criminal Zeljko Raznatovic, alias "Arkan." Most of those
expelled have been pushed over the border into government controlled
territory. The UNHCR, however, said that the refugee influx stopped
about ten days ago and that an estimated 2,000-3,000 people are missing.
-- Fabian Schmidt
[4] TRILATERAL MEETING PAVES WAY FOR RETURN OF BOSNIAN REFUGEES.
The
presidents of Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Turkey, meeting in New
York on 23 October, signed an agreement aimed at creating the conditions
for the safe and voluntary return of refugees from Velika Kladusa and
Cazin who were among rebel Muslim forces in northwestern Bosnia and are
currently in Croatia, HINA reported on 24 October. The foreign ministers
of the three countries agreed on the size of the contingents each
country will send to take part in the joint police forces to be deployed
in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. Meanwhile, the Bosnian Ministry of
Justice has demanded that Croatia extradite rebel Bosnian Muslim leader
Fikret Abdic, HINA reported on 23 October. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[5] CROATIAN NEGOTIATORS MEET AGAIN WITH REBEL SERBS.
Slobodna Dalmacija
reported on 26 October that Croatian negotiators resumed talks the
previous day with representatives of the rebel Serbs who continue to
occupy a portion of eastern Slavonia. Reuters on 26 October reported
that a deal to avert a conflict between Croatia and rebel Serbs over the
occupied land is almost at hand. It quotes one diplomatic source as
saying that "on the substance of the agreement, we're 98.5% there."
Meanwhile, Nasa Borba cited Ivan Pasalic, leader of the Croatian team,
as suggesting that there were no breakthroughs in the latest round of
talks in the Serb-held town of Erdut. -- Stan Markotich
[6] CROATIAN POLICE ARREST ALLEGED SPIES.
Croatian authorities on 24 October
arrested 15 people who are accused of spying for Serbia and the Yugoslav
Army, including Radovan Jovic, a human rights activist and a participant
in the Fourth Helsinki Citizens Assembly in Tuzla, Nasa Borba reported
on 26 October. The Croatian Ministry of Internal Affairs alleges that
the 15 people (13 Serbs and two Croats) are suspected of gathering
intelligence for the so-called Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK), the
BBC reported on 26 October. All suspects are Croatian citizens, except
one person whose citizenship "has not been determined"--an indirect
reference to Jovic, who is from Belgrade and worked as a lawyer in Glina
in the RSK. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[7] ROMANIAN EXTREMIST SENATOR TO LOSE IMMUNITY?
Prosecutor-General VasileManea Dragulin, in a letter to the justice minister, has asked that the
Senate start procedures for lifting the parliamentary immunity of
Senator Corneliu Vadim Tudor, the leader of the chauvinistic Greater
Romania Party (PRM), Radio Bucharest reported on 25 October. The move
comes in the wake of Tudor's attacks against Romanian President Ion
Iliescu and Virgil Magureanu, head of the Romanian Intelligence Service.
Also on 25 October, the National Bloc, an alliance of small political
groups dominated by the PRM, issued a communique saying Dragulin wanted
to prevent Tudor from running in the next presidential elections against
Iliescu. -- Dan Ionescu
[8] ROMANIAN STUDENTS SUSPEND STREET DEMONSTRATIONS...
Several hundred
students on 25 October rallied in downtown Bucharest, despite bad
weather, Romanian media reported. Cristian Urse, leader of the Bucharest
University Students' League, later announced that the protests will
continue but street demonstrations will be suspended until 30 October
because of the religious holiday of Saint Demetrius (26 October) and
because Orthodox Church leaders from abroad are in Romania to attend the
Romanian Patriarchate's 70th anniversary celebrations. Urse also said
that student organizations were discussing possible changes in the
education law with leaders of the parliamentary parties. -- Dan Ionescu
[9] ...WHILE MOLDOVAN STUDENTS PREPARE FUTURE PROTESTS.
Chisinau students
have temporarily suspended demonstrations in order to mobilize for a
nationwide protest action, Infotag reported on 25 October. Student
League Chairman Oleg Cernei said students will continue their passive
protest by not returning to the classroom. Strike committee chairman
Anatol Petrencu said the active strike will be resumed on 31 October.
The students are hoping that the entire population will support their
demand for the government's resignation, he added. -- Matyas Szabo
[10] SOFIA ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE ENDS, KOZLODUY STAYS ON LINE.
The three-day
Environment for Europe conference ended on 25 October with a pledge by
Europe's environmental ministers to phase out unsafe nuclear facilities
as soon as possible, Reuters reported the same day. A closing communique
signed by more than 40 ministers said unsafe reactors should be shut
down through international cooperation and urged all countries with
nuclear reactors to join the International Convention on Nuclear Safety
as soon as possible. The final statement mentioned neither the
controversial Bulgarian reactor Kozloduy nor French nuclear tests.
Meanwhile, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic
Development Rumen Gechev said Bulgaria will not immediately shut down
Kozloduy, but he did not rule out talks with the EU. He said there is no
document from experts proving the reactor is unsafe and added that
Bulgaria "will take no decision...under political pressure without
concrete proof from the experts." -- Stefan Krause
[11] BULGARIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS UPDATE.
The Central Electoral Commission on 25
October set the date for the second round of the upcoming local
elections for 12 November, Pari reported. A second round will be
conducted wherever no mayoral candidate received a majority in the first
round. The three candidates with the most votes will participate in the
second round. The first round, in which municipal councils and mayors
will be elected, will take place on 29 October. -- Stefan Krause
[12] BULGARIAN DAILY STANDART IN TROUBLE.
Valeri Zapryanov, editor-in-chief
of the influential Sofia daily Standart, and his three deputies resigned
on 25 October, Kontinent reported the following day. Zapryanov gave no
reason for his resignation, while the other three said they resigned in
support of him. Valeri Kostadinov, director-general of the Standart News
Publishing House, said no one was fired and that he had not accepted
anyone's resignation. Krasimir Stoychev, whose media conglomerate Tron
owns Standart, told Pari that he wanted to move Zapryanov to the post of
editor-in-chief of the Standart News Publishing House after a three-
month vacation. Stoychev said that the daily needs "new ideas" and that
changes were necessary. Standart appeared on 26 October, but its future
remains uncertain. -- 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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