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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 220, 10 November 1995
CONTENTS
[1] KRAJINA REFUGEES SUFFER IN SERBIA.
[2] MILOSEVIC SHOWS NO DESIRE TO COMPROMISE.
[3] BOSNIA, SERBIA TO RECEIVE GAS SUPPLIES.
[4] WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL INDICTS RUMP YUGOSLAV OFFICERS.
[5] MACEDONIA, UKRAINE BECOME MEMBERS OF COUNCIL OF EUROPE.
[6] ROMANIAN SENATE PASSES RESTITUTION LAW.
[7] ROMANIA DENIES BANNING HUNGARIAN TV CHANNEL.
[8] NATO AIRCRAFT ALLOWED TO FLY OVER ROMANIA.
[9] WORLD BANK ON MOLDOVAN ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE.
[10] BULGARIA PROTESTS TO ANKARA.
[11] ANOTHER BOMB ATTACK ON JOURNALIST IN ALBANIA.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 220, Part II, 10 November 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] KRAJINA REFUGEES SUFFER IN SERBIA.
The UN Security Council on 9 November
unanimously approved a resolution condemning all violence in the former
Yugoslavia. The bulk of the admonitions was directed at the Bosnian
Serbs, who were urged to close detention camps and provide international
monitors with access to suspected mass grave sites. AFP added that
Croatia was told to respect the rights of Serbs in the former Krajina
and to let refugees go home. The warnings to Zagreb reportedly came at
the behest of Moscow, Paris, and London. Mlada Fronta Dnes on
10 November showed a photo of elderly Serbs near Knin receiving UN
relief packages. Meanwhile in Belgrade, the Alternative Information
Network said that Serbian refugees in Krajina who fled to Serbia live as
outsiders and are terrorized by paramilitaries led by internationally
wanted war criminal Zeljko Raznatovic "Arkan." Many Krajina Serbs said
they would rather go home, even if their houses were in ruins, than stay
on in Serbia under such conditions. -- Patrick Moore
[2] MILOSEVIC SHOWS NO DESIRE TO COMPROMISE.
Reuters on 9 November reported
that U.S. negotiators will hand over documents to the Bosnian, Croatian,
and Serbian delegations at the Dayton talks that, it is hoped, may lay
the foundation for a regional peace. But Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic has already said that he will back no plans providing for the
ouster of Bosnian Serb leaders and indicted war criminals Radovan
Karadzic and his military counterpart, Ratko Mladic before a peace
accord is reached. Also, on 9 November, Vecernji list reports that
Milosevic will continue to refuse to recognize Bosnia-Herzegovina and
Croatia, nor will he discuss the issue of human rights in Serbia. -- Stan
Markotich
[3] BOSNIA, SERBIA TO RECEIVE GAS SUPPLIES.
Following a joint request by the
presidents of Bosnia and Serbia for domestic gas supplies to be turned
on "as a humanitarian exception" to the embargo, agreement was reached
at the Bosnia peace talks in Dayton on 9 November to partially lift
economic sanctions against rump Yugoslavia, Reuters reported the same
day. A UN committee overseeing sanctions met later in New York to
discuss the issue but postponed talks for a day after one member said it
needed instructions. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[4] WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL INDICTS RUMP YUGOSLAV OFFICERS.
Nasa Borba on 10
November reported that the International Crimunal Tribune for the Former
Yugoslavia the previous day indicted three Yugoslav army officers for
their part in crimes against humanity. Colonel Mile Mrksic, Major
Veselin Sljivancanin, and Captain Miroslav Radic have been charged in
connection with the slaying of 260 non-Serbian prisoners of war held in
the Croatian town of Vukovar. On 20 November 1991 the victims were
massacred behind a local hospital and their bodies concealed in a mass
grave. The Belgrade daily observed this is the first instance of the
court charging rump Yugoslav nationals with wartime atrocities. -- Stan
Markotich
[5] MACEDONIA, UKRAINE BECOME MEMBERS OF COUNCIL OF EUROPE.
Macedonia and
Ukraine on 9 November became the 37th and 38th member states of the
Council of Europe, international agencies reported the same day. They
are the 13th and 14th states from Central and Eastern Europe to enter
the council in the last five years. To fulfill membership requirements,
Macedonian officials made formal pledges to guarantee human rights, and
Ukrainian officials agreed to suspend and eventually eliminate the death
penalty from the country's criminal code. Ukraine is the first former
Soviet republic to abolish capital punishment. The council's legal and
human rights committees are currently reviewing membership applications
from Russia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. -- Fabian Schmidt
[6] ROMANIAN SENATE PASSES RESTITUTION LAW.
The Romanian Senate on 9
November passed a version of the restitution law that takes into account
the Constitutional Court's objections to a version passed by the Chamber
of Deputies, Radio Bucharest reported the same day. The Chamber of
Deputies amended its original version to make Romanian citizens eligible
for restitution even if they reside abroad and to allow owners of
apartments taken over by the state without appropriate legislation to
reclaim their property. The opposition considers the law too
restrictive. Romanian media on 10 November reported opposition members
as saying the vote in the Senate was a fraud, since among those who
voted "yes" were parliamentarians on a visit to China and other
absentees. The opposition says that without these fraudulent votes, the
draft would have failed to garner the necessary support. -- Michael
Shafir
[7] ROMANIA DENIES BANNING HUNGARIAN TV CHANNEL.
Romania's National Audio-
Visual Council has denied banning broadcasts of the Hungarian satellite
program Duna TV on cable network (see OMRI Daily Digest, 8 November),
Romanian media reported on 9-10 November. The controversial decision
aroused strong criticism among Romania's Hungarian minority. -- Matyas
Szabo
[8] NATO AIRCRAFT ALLOWED TO FLY OVER ROMANIA.
Romania and NATO have signed
an agreement allowing NATO transport aircraft to fly over Romanian
territory, Reuters reported on 9 November, citing the Foreign Ministry
spokesman in Bucharest. The agreement was signed in Brussels last week.
Mircea Geona said the agreement was "an important step towards Romania's
integration into NATO." -- Michael Shafir
[9] WORLD BANK ON MOLDOVAN ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE.
James Park, World Bank
permanent representative in Moldova, said the country has made important
progress in macroeconomic tightening, liberalization of trade and
prices, and privatization, BASA-press reported on 9 November. In an
interview with the government daily Moldova suverana, Park said that it
was nonetheless necessary to introduce other reforms as well, especially
in agriculture and the social sector. He said that if the reforms lost
momentum, the "achieved results would be minimized." -- Michael Shafir
[10] BULGARIA PROTESTS TO ANKARA.
Bulgaria has protested to Turkey for what
it called that country's diplomatic support for candidates of the ethnic
Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms in the recent local elections.
A spokesman for the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said the activities of
Turkish diplomats exceeded normal standards of diplomatic representation
and could strain bilateral relations, noting that their activity can be
interpreted as "an attempt to influence the outcome of elections,"
Reuters reported on 9 November. The Movement for Rights and Freedoms won
about 5% of the vote in the first round of elections, which took place
on 29 October. -- Lowell Bezanis
[11] ANOTHER BOMB ATTACK ON JOURNALIST IN ALBANIA.
Just six days after a bomb
damaged the house of Koha Jone chief editor Nikolle Lesi (see OMRI Daily
Digest, 3 and 8 November), the car of the Albanian Radio and TV
journalist Sami Selishta was destroyed by explosives in northeastern
town of Peshkopi, Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 9 November. The daily
claimed that an "anti-media Mafia" was responsible for the attacks, but
so far police have no leads on the assailants. -- Fabian Schmidt
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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