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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 232, 30 November 1995
CONTENTS
[1] CHIRAC CALLS FOR CHANGES IN DAYTON AGREEMENT.
[2] FINAL DETAILS OF NATO DEPLOYMENT PLAN HAMMERED OUT.
[3] UPDATE ON PURGE OF SERBIAN SOCIALISTS.
[4] UN SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNED ABOUT KOSOVO.
[5] BIG SHAKEUP DUE IN CROATIAN MILITARY?
[6] CROATIA, IRAN DISCUSS COOPERATION.
[7] SLOVENIAN, CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET.
[8] SLOVENIAN GOVERNMENT RESISTS CALLS FOR EARLY ELECTIONS.
[9] ROMANIAN OPPOSITION ATTACKS CABINET OVER ECONOMIC POLICIES.
[10] ROMANIAN SECRET SERVICE WORRIED ABOUT COMPUTER USERS.
[11] HEALTH CARE WORKERS DEMONSTRATE IN BUCHAREST.
[12] BULGARIAN AIRLINES IN DIRE STRAITS.
[13] TWO BULGARIAN JOURNALISTS FIRED FOR SUPPORTING DISSENTING COLLEAGUES.
[14] AMERICAN MARINES START TRAINING IN ALBANIA.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 232, Part II, 30 November 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] CHIRAC CALLS FOR CHANGES IN DAYTON AGREEMENT.
International media on 28
November reported that French President Jacques Chirac has called for
greater security guarantees for Sarajevo's Serbs. The U.S., however,
said that the agreement initialed in Dayton is the one that will be
signed in Paris on 14 December. Washington fears that tampering with any
one part of the patiently assembled package could cause the whole thing
to come undone. It is unclear what prompted Chirac's statements.
Elsewhere, Hina reported on 29 November that Franjo Komarica, the
Croatian bishop of Banja Luka, has called on Croatian troops to respect
Serbs and their property in the areas of western Bosnia to be returned
to Serbian control. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on 27 November
reported that uniformed Croats were looting and burning Serbian
property. -- Patrick Moore
[2] FINAL DETAILS OF NATO DEPLOYMENT PLAN HAMMERED OUT.
NATO defense
ministers, meeting on 29 November in Brussels, resolved the remaining
questions about the alliance's deployment plan for Bosnia, Western
agencies reported. The "enabling" force, which will to clear airfields
and set up headquarters, is expected to begin arriving in Bosnia on 1
December. Most of the 60,000 troops should be deployed within 30 days of
the signing of the peace treaty, expected to take place in Paris on 14
December. However, questions remain about disarmament and
reconstruction. U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry said the U.S. will
arm the Bosnian army within six months if talks prove unsuccessful on
arms reduction. Austria on 28 November made a formal offer of 300 troops
for Bosnia. The Czech government followed suit the next day by
announcing it would send up to 1,000 men. -- Michael Mihalka
[3] UPDATE ON PURGE OF SERBIAN SOCIALISTS.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung on 30 November reports on the continuing purge of nationalist
hardliners in Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's Socialist Party of
Serbia. In addition to prominent national figures such as Mihailo
Markovic, chief party ideologist, several lesser-known personalities
have also been removed, including Radovan Pankov, a party leader in
Vojvodina, and Tanjug chief Slobodan Jovanovic. There is speculation
among the Western media that Milosevic is trying to distance himself
from the nationalists in the wake of the Dayton peace talks. Meanwhile,
RFE/RL on 29 November reported that one of the ousted, Borisav Jovic,
who is a long-time Milosevic ally and among the party founders, recently
published a manuscript implicating Milosevic in instigating and waging
war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. -- Stan Markotich
[4] UN SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNED ABOUT KOSOVO.
Elizabeth
Rehn, following a two-day visit to Kosovo, has expressed concern about
the effects of ethnic tensions in Kosovo, AFP reported on 28 November.
She said that "quite obvious very serious...incidents have happened."
She added that she was "very concerned about the terribly big difference
in opinion and views between Serb authorities and Albanians, especially
regarding the very important questions of education and health care."
Shadow state President Ibrahim Rugova, meanwhile, repeated demands for
an international conference on Kosovo and the southern Balkans.
According to AFP, "tens of thousands of police are deployed in the
region to cool interethnic tension." -- Fabian Schmidt
[5] BIG SHAKEUP DUE IN CROATIAN MILITARY?
Nedjeljna Dalmacija on 29 Novemberwrote that it has an unconfirmed scoop on an impending complete overhaul
of the army, navy, and air force to bring them into line with NATO
standards. Once the arms embargo is lifted, equipment will be modernized
and improved, but there will be big problems in replacing large numbers
of trucks and other Warsaw Pact materiel "of dubious quality." There
will be a wholesale retirement of officers with a background in the
former Yugoslav army, because their outlook is too rooted in its
doctrine and thinking. Two generals who might succeed Zvonimir Cervenko
as chief of staff are Ante Gotovina or Ante Roso, both of whom received
their training in the French Foreign Legion. -- Patrick Moore
[6] CROATIA, IRAN DISCUSS COOPERATION.
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman met
with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati in Zagreb on 29
November to discuss "trilateral cooperation between Bosnia, Croatia, and
Iran," AFP reported. Valayati pledged Iran would help Bosnia and Croatia
reconstruct their countries, while Croatian Defense Minister Gojko Susak
said Croatia and Iran are expected to sign a military cooperation
agreement before Christmas, HINA reported the same day. Valayati said
that once the arms embargo against Croatia is lifted, Iran has no
reservations about military cooperation. This view was also expressed by
representatives at a two-day meeting of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference in Tehran, which ended on 29 November. The delegates pledged
"military, economic, humanitarian, and judicial aid" to Bosnia and
stressed the need for a military balance between Bosnia, Croatia, and
Serbia. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[7] SLOVENIAN, CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET.
Slovenian Foreign Minister
Zoran Thaler met with his Croatian counterpart, Mate Granic, at Bezanec
Castle, just north of Zagreb, on 29 November, Hina reported. Both
ministers agreed the meeting was "successful and useful," noting they
had discussed plans for talks between the Slovenian and Croatian prime
ministers for January 1996. Thaler said Ljubljana supported Croatia's
efforts to achieve EU membership. For his part, Granic reportedly
briefed Thaler on developments at the recently concluded Dayton peace
talks. Both ministers indicated that bilateral cooperation was a
priority and raised the issue of Belgrade's attempts to seize control
over overseas hard currency assets of the former Yugoslavia. -- Stan
Markotich
[8] SLOVENIAN GOVERNMENT RESISTS CALLS FOR EARLY ELECTIONS.
STA on 28
November reported that the cabinet of Janez Drnovsek will not agree to
holding elections in the spring of 1996, some six months before they are
slated. The announcement came in the wake of recent pressure by
Christian Democratic Party (SKD) members who had proposed early polling
as means of reactivating foreign policy and domestic economic reform.
The governing coalition is made up of the Liberal Democratic Party
(LDS), the United List of Social Democrats (ZLSD), and the SKD. -- Stan
Markotich
[9] ROMANIAN OPPOSITION ATTACKS CABINET OVER ECONOMIC POLICIES.
Romania's
main opposition bloc on 28 November threatened to initiate a vote of no
confidence in the government over its economic and social policies,
Reuters reported. A spokeswoman for the Democratic Convention of Romania
(CDR) was quoted as saying the motion was necessary because of "the
government's poor economic performance." The CDR blamed Nicolae
Vacaroiu's left-wing cabinet for the depreciation of the national
currency and for plunging living standards. It added that it would table
a no-confidence motion if the ruling Party of Social Democracy in
Romania supported the government's austerity draft budget for 1996. The
CDR recently issued a political program pledging to radically improve
the country's economic situation within 200 days if it won the 1996
elections. -- Dan Ionescu
[10] ROMANIAN SECRET SERVICE WORRIED ABOUT COMPUTER USERS.
A report on the
Romanian Intelligence Service's activities from October 1994 to
September 1995, published earlier this month, has provoked heated
parliamentary debates, Radio Bucharest reported on 28 November. The
report claims, among other things, that foreign secret services are
increasingly using computer techniques to collect data on Romania's
economic, social, and political situation. Niculae Ionescu-Galbeni, a
deputy for the opposition National Peasant Party-Christian Democratic,
warned against extending the concept of "threats to national security"
to the economic and social sectors. -- Dan Ionescu
[11] HEALTH CARE WORKERS DEMONSTRATE IN BUCHAREST.
Trade unions from the
Romanian health care sector on 29 November protested in downtown
Bucharest over low pay and budget cuts in the sector, Romanian media
reported. Union representatives from 40 regional branches took part in
the meeting. The demonstrators were joined by other professional groups,
including teachers and workers from the timber industry. Marius Petcu,
leader of the health care workers' trade union, said if the government
does not meet the protesters' demands, they will appeal to international
organizations. -- Matyas Szabo
[12] BULGARIAN AIRLINES IN DIRE STRAITS.
State-owned Balkan Bulgarian
Airlines on 29 November announced that it risks losing its three leased
Airbus planes if the government does not offer financial assistance,
Western agencies reported. Balkan owes $8.5 million in leasing fees to
the Dublin-based Japanese company Orix. Two planes are impounded in
Amsterdam and London, and the third is grounded in Sofia. Balkan is
facing severe financial problems which forced it to suspend a number of
international flights in October (see OMRI Daily Digest, 20 October
1995). So far, there has been a marked lack of interest in Balkan's
privatization. -- Stefan Krause
[13] TWO BULGARIAN JOURNALISTS FIRED FOR SUPPORTING DISSENTING COLLEAGUES.
Bulgarian National Radio Director-General Vecheslav Tunev on 29 November
dismissed two journalists working on BNR's "Hristo Botev" program,
K
ontinent reported the following day. Georgi Vasilksi and Petar Kolev on
28 November broadcast a statement supporting journalists from Radio
Horizont (BNR's other channel) who had recently issued a declaration
accusing BNR's management of censorship (see OMRI Daily Digest, 27
November 1995). According to other Bulgarian media, journalists from the
private Radio Darik also came out in support of their colleagues at
Radio Horizont. -- Stefan Krause
[14] AMERICAN MARINES START TRAINING IN ALBANIA.
Some 350 U.S. marines from
the Sixth Fleet Expeditionary Force on 29 November began a six-day cold
weather training in the northern Albanian Lure Mountain region, Koha
Jone reported. Reuters the previous day quoted Albanian Defense Ministry
sources as saying the training was likely to have been organized to
accustom U.S. troops to Bosnia's climate and terrain for later
deployment there. U.S. military attache Lt.-Col. Steven Bucci did not
confirm future deployment in Bosnia but said the troops would "train to
use equipment they do not usually use." Albanian President Sali Berisha
has repeatedly offered air and port facilities to the United States and
to NATO troops. -- 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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