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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 210, 27 October 1995
CONTENTS
[1] BOSNIAN PRESIDENT ON PEACE PROSPECTS.
[2] WILL BOSNIAN SERBS LIFT SIEGE OF SARAJEVO?
[3] UPDATE ON MASSACRES OF MUSLIM REFUGEES.
[4] MACEDONIAN INTERIOR MINISTER RESIGNS.
[5] ROMANIAN OFFICIALS, STUDENTS DISCUSS EDUCATION LAW.
[6] ROMANIAN-UKRAINIAN TREATY HIT SNAG OVER BORDERS.
[7] ORTHODOX CHURCH CELEBRATIONS IN BUCHAREST.
[8] TOKES ACCUSES ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT OF ETHNIC CLEANSING.
[9] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT WANTS ROMANIA, BULGARIA REMOVED FROM BLACKLIST.
[10] BULGARIA, MACEDONIA TO STEP UP TRANSPORT PROJECTS.
[11] ALBANIA RECEIVES PHARE GRANT.
[12] MUSLIM CLERGYMEN MEET IN ANKARA.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 210, Part II, 27 October 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] BOSNIAN PRESIDENT ON PEACE PROSPECTS.
The New York Times on 27 October
reported Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic as saying a stable peace
cannot be forged for Bosnia-Herzegovia as long as the current Bosnian
Serb leadership remains in place. "The criminals have to be removed. . .
. That is the most important question," Izetbegovic said, referring to
Bosnian Serb civilian chief Radovan Karadzic and his military
counterpart, General Ratko Mladic. Both Karadzic and Maldic have been
accused of war crimes. Izetbegovic also remarked that any proposed NATO-
led peacekeeping operations for Bosnia ought not exclude Russia's
participation. (See related item in Russian section) -- Stan Markotich
[2] WILL BOSNIAN SERBS LIFT SIEGE OF SARAJEVO?
The UN on 27 October is toescort five civilian trucks and their cargo of humanitarian aid some 25
kilometers, from Kiseljak to Sarajevo and back, international media
reported. If this objective is reached, the UN plans to escort busloads
of civilians through Serb-held territory to Sarajevo on 29 October. In
this way, the Bosnian Serb resolve to lift the siege of the Bosnian
capital and observe the ceasefire is likely to be put to the test. The
free movement of civilians to and from Sarajevo was a key condition of
the ceasefire, which went into effect on 12 October. -- Stan Markotich
[3] UPDATE ON MASSACRES OF MUSLIM REFUGEES.
UNHCR spokesman Kris Jankowski
on 26 October said he had more evidence suggesting that earlier this
month, between 2,000 and 3,000 Muslim men from northwestern Bosnia were
"separated from their families . . . , perhaps beaten to death, perhaps
killed," Reuters reported (see OMRI Daily Digest, 26 October 1995). The
UNHCR has questioned refugees from the region who reported the beatings
and killings. Meanwhile, the Washington Post gave a detailed report of
the Bosnian Serbs capture of Srebrenica in July. The report says
"significantly less than half" of the 12,000 Muslim men who tried to
flee to Tuzla made it to safety. It also states that "the massacres
during the week starting July 11 were the worst atrocities committed in
Europe since World War II." -- Fabian Schmidt
[4] MACEDONIAN INTERIOR MINISTER RESIGNS.
Ljubomir Frckovski on 26 October
handed in his resignation to Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski, Vecher
reported. He said he felt "morally and politically responsible" because
he had been unable to prevent the assassination attempt on President
Kiro Gligorov on 3 October and because no arrests have been made in
connection with the incident. Frckovski blamed a "financial-economic
group of a neighboring country" for the attempt but refused to specify
the country. He said a member of the organization built the car bomb,
"together with fanatics and criminals from Macedonia's political
underground," in an attempt to eliminate the president and destabilize
Macedonia. -- Stefan Krause
[5] ROMANIAN OFFICIALS, STUDENTS DISCUSS EDUCATION LAW.
Representatives of
Romania's striking students have met with members of the parliamentary
education committee to discuss possible changes in the education law,
Radio Bucharest reported on 26 October. Romulus Dabu, president of the
education committee, said "all rational demands of the students were
accepted," while the spokesman of the Students' League said the results
of the negotiations were "below expectations." The two sides were able
to agree only on changes affecting the students' financial situation. A
new draft will be submitted to the parliament within one week. The
students plan to resume their protest on 30 October by blocking railway
lines throughout the country. -- Matyas Szabo
[6] ROMANIAN-UKRAINIAN TREATY HIT SNAG OVER BORDERS.
Volodymyr Vasylenko, a
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry official, has said Romania refuses to
guarantee post-World War II borders, Reuters reported on 26 October.
"Some [Romanian] political forces are trying to justify territorial
claims on Ukraine," Vasylenko commented following two days of talks with
Romanian officials in Bucharest. The Romanian Foreign Ministry denied
the accusation, saying Romania only wants recognition of the unfairness
of the post-war carve-up. Vasylenko said the treaty talks are now frozen
owing to "unilateral" changes sought by Bucharest. -- Matyas Szabo
[7] ORTHODOX CHURCH CELEBRATIONS IN BUCHAREST.
Orthodox Church leaders
gathered in Bucharest on 26 October to celebrate the 110th anniversary
of the Romanian Orthodox Church's autonomy and the Romanian
Patriarchate's 70th anniversary, Romanian media reported on 26 October.
AFP reported the same day that Russian Patriarch Aleksii II boycotted
the celebrations because Petru Paduraru--the Metropolitan Bishop of
Bessarabia, whose position was approved by the Romanian Orthodox Church-
-was attending. The Russian Orthodox Church believes that the Moldovan
Church should be under Moscow's jurisdiction. Gheorghe Armasu, head of
the Moldovan State Service on Religions, noted that granting a high
church office to Paduraru constitutes "flagrant interference by the
Romanian patriarchate in Moldova's internal affairs," BASA-press
reported on 26 October. -- Matyas Szabo
[8] TOKES ACCUSES ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT OF ETHNIC CLEANSING.
Reformed Church
bishop Laszlo Tokes, at a meeting with UN human rights representatives
in Geneva on 26 October, accused Romania's government of promoting
ethnic cleansing, Romanian media reported. Tokes, who is also the
honorary president of the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania,
said discriminatory treatment of the Hungarian minority is the reason
why ethnic Hungarians are emigrating from Romania. With the government's
passive complicity, extreme nationalist parties are promoting anti-
Semitic propaganda reminiscent of the years before the Holocaust, Tokes
commented. -- Matyas Szabo
[9] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT WANTS ROMANIA, BULGARIA REMOVED FROM BLACKLIST.
The
European Parliament on 26 October passed a resolution urging the
European Commission to remove Romania and Bulgaria from the so-called
blacklist of 101 countries for which strict visa requirements are to be
enforced (see OMRI Daily Digest, 28 September 1995), Pari reported the
following day. The vote is non-binding for the commission. Of the former
communist countries that have associate agreements with the EU, only
Romania and Bulgaria are included in the list. -- Stefan Krause
[10] BULGARIA, MACEDONIA TO STEP UP TRANSPORT PROJECTS.
Bulgaria and
Macedonia on 26 October agreed to step up joint road, rail, and air
transport projects, Reuters reported the same day. Visiting Macedonian
Transport Minister Dimitar Buzlevski said in Sofia that he and his
Bulgarian counterpart, Stamen Stamenov, discussed the completion of a
railway link between Sofia and Skopje. Only 10-20 km have to be
completed on the Bulgarian side, but long stretches still have to be
built in Macedonia, which has invested $40 million in the project this
year. Both sides agreed to go ahead with the construction of a highway
between the two capitals, which is a part of a planned trans-Balkan
highway (see OMRI Daily Digest, 24 October 1995). Skopje will also allow
the state-run Bulgarian airlines Balkan and Hemus Air to expand their
operations in Macedonia. -- Stefan Krause
[11] ALBANIA RECEIVES PHARE GRANT.
The EU on 26 October granted Albania 212
million ECU ($275.6 million) as part of its PHARE program. Reuters
pointed out that the grant will cover 25% of Albania's public investment
scheme. According to PHARE Program Coordinator Chris Hughes, 62 million
ECU were granted to develop production and 72 million ECU to improve
traffic links with Greece and Italy. Reuters said another 61 million ECU
will "promote human and natural resources" and 14 million ECU will help
upgrade legislative and other structures. Meanwhile, the Albanian
government announced it will invest $52 million of a World Bank credit
in the reconstruction of 1,000 km of roads in rural regions, Koha Jone
reported on 26 October. -- Fabian Schmidt
[12] MUSLIM CLERGYMEN MEET IN ANKARA.
A four-day meeting of Muslim clergymen
from Central Asia, the Transcaucasus, the Russian Federation, and the
Balkans ended in Ankara on 26 October, Yeni Yuzyil reported the next
day. The meeting was organized by Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate
to discuss the status of religion in the participating countries. The
participants signed a declaration calling for the establishment of a
Eurasian Islamic Council and decided that the gathering would become an
annual event. -- Lowell Bezanis
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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