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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 231, 29 November 1995
CONTENTS
[1] KARADZIC SAYS HE BACKS DAYTON AGREEMENT.
[2] GERMAN CABINET DECIDES TO SEND TROOPS TO BOSNIA.
[3] PRO-PALE SERBS TO LEAVE SARAJEVO?
[4] TURKISH PREMIER IN BOSNIAN CAPITAL.
[5] SERBIAN PRESIDENT PURGES PARTY OF "HARDLINERS."
[6] CROATIAN UPDATE.
[7] DID TUDJMAN SELL OUT POSAVINA CROATS?
[8] SLOVENIA OPPOSES BELGRADE'S ATTEMPTS TO ASSERT JURISDICTION OVER ASSETS.
[9] ROMANIAN PREMIER IN RUMP YUGOSLAVIA.
[10] STUDENTS, TEACHERS DEMONSTRATE IN BUCHAREST.
[11] MOLDOVAN-DNIESTER SUMMIT CALLED OFF.
[12] BULGARIAN ETHNIC TURKISH PARTY ASKS PRESIDENT FOR HELP.
[13] TURKISH POLICY SHIFT ON CFE?
[14] BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 231, Part II, 29 November 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] KARADZIC SAYS HE BACKS DAYTON AGREEMENT.
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan
Karadzic told CNN on 28 November that he supports the peace pact. He
added, however, that time would be needed for its implementation and
that his government would have to build new housing for Serbs from
Sarajevo and other areas assigned to the Croat-Muslim federation. He
used a conciliatory tone and avoided the bluster and references to
bloodbaths that characterized his spate of interviews in recent days.
Karadzic said that U.S. troops did not have to worry about "incidents"
if they "came as friends." -- Patrick Moore
[2] GERMAN CABINET DECIDES TO SEND TROOPS TO BOSNIA.
The German cabinet on
28 November decided to send 4,000 troops to the former Yugoslavia,
Western agencies reported the next day. The troops will consist largely
of auxiliary personnel, including medical and transport units, and for
the first time will be guarded by their own troops. To date, Germany has
avoided sending combat troops to the former Yugoslavia because of
sensitivities over World War II. The troops will be based in Croatia.
The Bundestag is expected to endorse the cabinet's decision next week.
The opposition Social Democrats have said they will vote for the
deployment. -- Michael Mihalka
[3] PRO-PALE SERBS TO LEAVE SARAJEVO?
UN officials in Sarajevo said tens ofthousands of Bosnian Serbs would rather leave than live in the Muslim-
Croat Federation, Nasa Borba reported on 28 November. A UNHCR spokesman
estimated that 40,000-60,000 Serbs live in the Serb-controlled part of
the city (Bosnian Serb leaders put the figure at 120,000-150,000). He
added that they do not trust the Bosnian government, despite its call
for Serbian civilians to stay in their homes. It is unclear how the
Bosnian government intends to differentiate between those who actively
participated in the war and those who did not. Meanwhile, pro-government
Serbs in Sarajevo have urged fellow Serbs in the Pale-controlled parts
of Sarajevo to accept the Dayton agreement and not be manipulated by
Pale, the BBC reported, quoting Radio Sarajevo. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[4] TURKISH PREMIER IN BOSNIAN CAPITAL.
Tansu Ciller on 28 November paid a
one-day working visit to Sarajevo aimed at investigating how Turkey can
contribute to Bosnia's postwar reconstruction, international media
reported. She noted that Turkey was prepared to help train Bosnian
soldiers, and she opened a branch office of the Turkish Foreign
Ministry, to be run by the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency.
Her visit is part of an effort to highlight Turkey's ties to Bosnian
Muslims in the run-up to parliamentary elections scheduled for 24
December. -- Lowell Bezanis
[5] SERBIAN PRESIDENT PURGES PARTY OF "HARDLINERS."
Tanjug on 28 Novemberreported that a number of top-level nationalist leaders of the ruling
Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) were removed from their posts on the eve
of the rump Yugoslavia's national holiday. According to the news agency,
three prominent hardliners were sacked from executive ranks to be
replaced by purported moderates. Mihailo Markovic and Borisav Jovic,
long-time aides of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic who helped found
the party, were removed as vice presidents, while Milorad Vucelic was
ousted as leader of the SPS in the parliament. Replacing them are
Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic, former Premier Nikola Sainovic, and
federal President Zoran Lilic. AFP reported that Jovic said in an
interview with Radio B 92 that he had no idea what prompted the
dismissals. -- Stan Markotich
[6] CROATIAN UPDATE.
The Croatian Sabor (the lower house of the parliament)
on 28 November unanimously elected Vlatko Pavletic as its speaker,
Vjesnik reported. The new government won a vote of confidence by 77 to
five with 39 abstentions. Hina reported that opposition parties
criticized the government for failing to present its economic program
and demanded that the Sabor discuss the Dayton peace agreement. Also on
28 November, Pavletic received a delegation of Bosnian Posavina
expellees, who staged a protest rally outside Zagreb's town hall. Some
170,000 Croats lived in Bosnian Posavina before the war; about 3,000
Muslims and Croats are estimated to have lost their lives in its
defense. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[7] DID TUDJMAN SELL OUT POSAVINA CROATS?
Evidence continues to mount thatthe Croats at the Dayton conference made little or no effort to regain
the Posavina. Bosnian Croat leader Kresimir Zubak told Novi list on 29
November that the delegation split over the Posavina question. Zubak is
from northern Bosnia and opposes the agreement. Hina quoted Bosnian
Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic as saying that Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic got up at the opening session and "in front of everybody said
that there existed an agreement with the Croats about the area and that
there was nothing left to discuss." Silajdzic added that the Americans
provided the Croat-Muslim federation with crucial support on the
questions of Sarajevo, Gorazde, and the constitution, but "where there
was no American support, we didn't get what we wanted." -- Patrick Moore
[8] SLOVENIA OPPOSES BELGRADE'S ATTEMPTS TO ASSERT JURISDICTION OVER ASSETS.
Hina on 28 November reported that representatives from Bosnia-
Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and Slovenia met in Ljubljana to
discuss and coordinate strategies aimed at countering Belgrade's efforts
to assert control over access to foreign assets once held by the former
Y
ugoslavia. With the recent suspension of sanctions, Belgrade is
apparently attempting to gain control over foreign-currency and gold
reserves. Slovenia's Foreign Minister Zoran Thaler said "the succession
issue should be discussed apart from the peace process. It has nothing
to with war in Bosnia." He also observed that all of the Yugoslav
successor states should have an equal say over the contested assets. --
Stan Markotich
[9] ROMANIAN PREMIER IN RUMP YUGOSLAVIA.
Nicolae Vacaroiu on 27-28 November
paid an official visit to Serbia and Montenegro, Radio Bucharest
reported. He was accompanied by Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu and
Trade Minister Petru Crisan. In a series of interviews, Vacaroiu
stressed it was the first visit paid by a head of government to that
country since the lifting of U.S. sanctions. He also said the talks
focused on resuming traditionally close economic ties, and he expressed
hopes that bilateral trade would reach $1 billion a year. Vacaroiu met
with senior officials, including Yugoslav President Zoran Lilic and the
presidents of Serbia and Montenegro, Slobodan Milosevic and Momcilo
Bulatovic. The two sides signed a series of bilateral agreements,
including one on promoting and protecting mutual investments. -- Dan
Ionescu
[10] STUDENTS, TEACHERS DEMONSTRATE IN BUCHAREST.
Thousands of Romanian
teachers protested in Bucharest on 28 November over low pay and the poor
state of education, Radio Bucharest and international media reported.
The teachers were joined by Bucharest University students, who have
resumed earlier protest actions against a controversial education law
(see OMRI Daily Digest, 18-20 October 1995). Representatives of
teachers' trade unions handed over their demands to the Government, and
agreed to start negotiations next week. Meanwhile, the Senate adopted a
set of modifications to the education law, already passed by the Chamber
of Deputies. According to a senate official, most of the students'
claims were thus met. -- Matyas Szabo
[11] MOLDOVAN-DNIESTER SUMMIT CALLED OFF.
Moldovan President Mircea Snegur
and the president of the self-styled Dniester republic, Igor Smirnov,
have called off a meeting scheduled for 29 November, BASA-press
reported. Dniester Vice President Aleksandr Karaman was quoted as
blaming Chisinau for allegedly presenting Tiraspol with "unacceptable
proposals and ultimatums." Chisinau repeatedly signaled its willingness
to grant the breakaway region broad autonomy, but Tiraspol insists on
full recognition of its independent statehood. -- Dan Ionescu
[12] BULGARIAN ETHNIC TURKISH PARTY ASKS PRESIDENT FOR HELP.
The Central
Council of the Movement for Rights and Freedom (DPS) on 28 November
asked President Zhelyu Zhelev to assist in the "normalization of the
situation" in Kardzhali, Standart reported the following day. Rasim Musa
of the DPS was elected mayor of that city, but the governing Bulgarian
Socialist Party (BSP) demanded that the election be invalidated (see
OMRI Daily Digest, 20 November 1995). The Municipal Electoral Commission
declared the elections valid and the Regional Court in Kardzhali
rejected the BSP's petition. Nonetheless, the government-appointed
provincial governor has so far not confirmed Musa's election or called a
meeting of the city council, Demokratsiya reported. -- Stefan Krause
[13] TURKISH POLICY SHIFT ON CFE?
Ankara has announced its willingness toaccept an unspecified modification in the Conventional Forces in Europe
treaty, Turkish and Western media reported on 28 November. Turkey
previously was adamantly opposed to any modification of the treaty. An
unnamed official told AFP that Turkey may accept such changes as long as
they meet its security needs. -- Lowell Bezanis
[14] BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION.
Parliamentary delegations from 11
countries participating in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
organization met in Ankara on 28 November, international media reported.
The meeting opened with an appeal for closer cooperation. Turkey's
parliamentary chairman, Ismet Sezgin reproached Russia for hosting a
session of the Kurdish parliament-in-exile, while Gennadii Seleznev,
deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy and
Communication, said the event was in keeping with pluralism and
democracy in Russia, Yeni Yuzyil reported on 29 November. -- 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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