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OMRI Daily DIgest II, No. 217, 7 November 1995
CONTENTS
[1] SERBIAN PRESIDENT SAID TO BE "UPSET."
[2] BOUTROS GHALI SAYS DUTCH DID "GOOD WORK."
[3] SARAJEVO GAS SUPPLIES CUT BACK.
[4] BOSNIAN REFUGEE AGREEMENT NOT YET IMPLEMENTED.
[5] SANDZAK PARTY DEMANDS UNITY OF BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA.
[6] CROATIA ANNOUNCES MAJOR OIL FIND.
[7] BALKANS HIT BY BLIZZARDS.
[8] ROMANIAN ACTORS STAGE PROTEST.
[9] ROMANIAN PREMIER ON ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE.
[10] AMERICAN PRAISE FOR MOLDOVA.
[11] CHIEF EDITOR OF ALBANIAN OPPOSITION PAPER FACES TRIAL.
[12] TURKISH GOVERNMENT WINS PARLIAMENTARY CONFIDENCE VOTE.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 217, Part II, 7 November 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] SERBIAN PRESIDENT SAID TO BE "UPSET."
Nasa Borba on 7 November reportedthat Serbian President Slobodan "Milosevic is upset because he thinks
the Americans brought him to Dayton on false pretenses." Milosevic is
said to be most concerned about the demand that his negotiating team
agree to the ouster of Bosnian Serb civilian leader Radovan Karadzic and
his military counterpart, General Ratko Mladic, before the
implementation of any regional peace accord. Milosevic is reportedly not
opposed to Karadzic and Mladic facing trial at the Hague on charges of
war crimes, but he has stressed that both men must first be convicted in
Serbia of any wrongdoing. He also insists that the Dayton talks focus
only on issues agreed to in advance, which allegedly do not include the
fate of the Bosnian Serb leaders, Reuters reported. * Stan Markotich
[2] BOUTROS GHALI SAYS DUTCH DID "GOOD WORK."
The Frankfurter AllgemeineZeitung on 7 November quoted the UN secretary-general as saying that the
small "Dutchbat" stationed at Srebrenica had acted within the limits of
its mandate. He noted that UN member countries did not make available
anywhere near the number of troops that the world body had requested for
peacekeeping in the first place. The Dutch have been widely criticized
at home and abroad for allegedly turning a blind eye to Serbian
massacres of thousands of Muslims, primarily civilian males, in July.
Boutros Boutros Ghali said it was not Dutchbat's assignment "to defend
the enclave" and that he has "no criticism [of the Dutch]. They
performed good work." Meanwhile Nasa Borba reported that in Banja Luka,
the number of Serbian refugees stands at 71,750. More than 60,000 have
been moved out of reception points and into "individual accommodations."
* Patrick Moore
[3] SARAJEVO GAS SUPPLIES CUT BACK.
Three weeks after natural gas again
started flowing to the Bosnian capital, supplies have been reduced
again, Hina reported on 6 November. A UN official said the reasons are
technical and not political. Besides the great losses of gas due to the
makeshift pipelines, the biggest obstacle is money. UN experts estimate
that supplies for November will cost around $1 million, while the total
for the winter will be $20-30 million. Meanwhile, the Russian gas
supplier Gazprom wants to charge the Bosnian government for October gas
deliveries, while agreeing to freeze a debt from previous years. The
spokesman said that the UN has been looking for international donors but
without results. * Daria Sito Sucic
[4] BOSNIAN REFUGEE AGREEMENT NOT YET IMPLEMENTED.
Implementation of the
agreement reached in Dayton on 2 November by Bosnian President Alija
Izetbegovic and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman to allow 600 families
inside Bosnia to return home has not yet begun. According to a 6
November AFP report, Sarajevo accused Bosnian Croat authorities of not
allowing several hundred Muslim families to return to Jajce, while
Tudjman blamed "extremists" on both sides. At the same time,
repatriation of Velika Kladusa refugees organized by the UNHCR on a
voluntary basis has successfully started, Hina reported on 6 November.
* Daria Sito Sucic
[5] SANDZAK PARTY DEMANDS UNITY OF BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA.
The Executive
Committee of the Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak issued a
declaration saying a "just peace" is not possible "without the unity of
Bosnia-Herzegovina [in its internationally recognized borders]; the
return of refugees to their houses; and free, democratic elections under
international control." The declaration, published by Montena-fax on
6 November, also states that no war criminals be allowed to participate
in elections. * Fabian Schmidt
[6] CROATIA ANNOUNCES MAJOR OIL FIND.
The Croatian oil company INA has
discovered an important new oil and gas field near Bjelovar. AFP on
6 November quoted INA spokesmen as saying it will be the third-largest
such field in Croatia and that it is expected to yield 70 tons of oil
and 3 million cubic meters of natural gas daily. The annual revenue is
expected to be $3 million. Plans are under way to begin operations
before the end of the year, despite the onset of harsh winter weather.
* Patrick Moore
[7] BALKANS HIT BY BLIZZARDS.
Local and international agencies on 6 November
reported that heavy snowstorms in the Balkans have disrupted
transportation, shut down ports and airports, and contributed to a dozen
traffic deaths in Romania. In Sarajevo, the supply route over Mount
Igman was blocked and there were a rash of traffic accidents, some
involving UN vehicles. The Bulgarian Black Sea port of Varna and the
Romanian port of Constanta were closed due to four-meter high waves. The
weather caused a backup of trucks and buses on the main Bulgarian
highway to Greece and Macedonia. A large number of roads and some
airports had to be closed in Romania. In Moldova, hundreds of villages
were plunged into cold and darkness when heavy snow disrupted
electricity supplies. * Michael Shafir
[8] ROMANIAN ACTORS STAGE PROTEST.
Prime Minister Nicolae Vacaroiu received
a delegation of Romanian actors on 6 November after they had staged a
protest march in Bucharest to demand pay increases and better working
conditions. Local and international media reported that actor Ion
Caramitru, who heads the actors' trade union, said the monthly wage of a
professional actor-150,000 lei ($66)-was not enough to survive on, while
technical staff in theaters earned about half that amount. The union,
which represents 13,000 actors and technical staff, is demanding a 70%
rise. * Michael Shafir
[9] ROMANIAN PREMIER ON ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE.
Vacaroiu told a 6 November
meeting with ministers and officials in charge of the country's economic
structures, that from January to September, imports considerably
exceeded exports. Vacaroiu said immediate measures must be taken to
redress the country's trade balance but added that agreements concluded
with the EU and GATT must be respected. Romanian TV reported the premier
saying imports geared toward investment are welcome but that imports of
consumer products are often "competing unfairly " with local goods.
* Michael Shafir
[10] AMERICAN PRAISE FOR MOLDOVA.
US Ambassador James Collins, at the head of
a delegation in Chisinau on a one-day visit, said the U.S. reconfirms
its support for Moldova's sovereignty, independence, and territorial
integrity, Infotag reported on 6 November. Collins, who is special
adviser to the secretary of state for the new independent states, told a
press conference that Washington considers Moldova to be a leader in
political and economic reforms among those states. He added that the
U.S. welcomes the Chisinau-Moscow agreement on Russian troop withdrawal
and will be backing all efforts for its implementation. "As an
independent state, Moldova has a full right to decide whether or nor
foreign troops should remain on its territory," Collins said. The
delegation met with President Mircea Snegur, Prime Minister Andrei
Sangheli, parliamentary chairman Petru Lucinschi, and other officials.
* Michael Shafir
[11] CHIEF EDITOR OF ALBANIAN OPPOSITION PAPER FACES TRIAL.
Blendi Fevziu,
chief editor of the opposition Democratic Alliance's weekly Aleanca, is
facing trial for "slander," Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 7 November.
Blerim Cela, head of the anti-corruption agency, has accused Fevziu and
Democratic Alliance deputy Perikli Teta (who enjoys parliamentary
immunity) of incorrectly reporting his involvement in the illegal
activities of the oil import firm EPIDAMN, including falsifying
documents. Fevziu claimed that the state lost about $1.6 million as a
result of these activities, while Teta published a list of politicians
who he claims were involved in corruption. * Fabian Schmidt
[12] TURKISH GOVERNMENT WINS PARLIAMENTARY CONFIDENCE VOTE.
The week-old
coalition government of Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's center-
right True Path Party (DYP) and the social democratic Republican
Peoples' Party (CHP), led by Deniz Baykal, has won a vote of confidence
in the parliament by a margin of 243 to 171, international media
reported on 5 November. Baykal, who was instrumental in bringing down
the coalition in September and subsequently helped block Ciller's
efforts to form a minority government, will serve as deputy prime
minister and foreign minister. The Turkish Constitutional Court must now
decide if early elections, announced for 24 December, can take place.
* Lowell Bezanis
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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