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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 242, 14 December 1995
CONTENTS
[1] KALASHNIKOVS GO OFF IN SARAJEVO TO CELEBRATE DAYTON AGREEMENT.
[2] DID FRENCH DO A DEAL TO FREE PILOTS?
[3] PARIS DENIES STORY.
[4] UN SQUABBLE OVER EASTERN SLAVONIAN FORCE.
[5] RUGOVA SAYS KOSOVO WILL BE ON INTERNATIONAL AGENDA.
[6] SERBIAN PARTY BACKS NATO.
[7] ROMANIAN AIRLINER CRASHES IN ITALY.
[8] ROMANIAN SPOKESMAN ON CONFLICT WITH UKRAINE.
[9] MOLDOVAN STUDENT STRIKE COMMITTEE CONTESTS SUPREME COURT RULING.
[10] BULGARIAN TRADE UNIONS CLASH WITH GOVERNMENT.
[11] NANO ALLOWED TO ATTEND HIS MOTHER'S FUNERAL.
[12] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES CUSTOMS UNION WITH TURKEY.
[13] REACTIONS TO CUSTOMS UNION VOTE.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 242, Part II, 14 December 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] KALASHNIKOVS GO OFF IN SARAJEVO TO CELEBRATE DAYTON AGREEMENT.
The BBC
on 14 December noted that France was anxious to put on a good show to
offset the fact that the settlement is primarily an American
achievement. The International Herald Tribune added that the Gaullist
government wanted to add a diplomatic coup of its own by obtaining
mutual diplomatic recognition by Belgrade and Zagreb and by Belgrade and
Sarajevo. The BBC reported that Croatia in particular, however, did not
want to take any action that could be viewed as endorsing rump
Yugoslavia's claim to be the single legal successor to the former
Yugoslav federation. Meanwhile in Sarajevo, international media noted
that the mood on 14 December was optimistic and that shots were fired in
celebration. * Patrick Moore
[2] DID FRENCH DO A DEAL TO FREE PILOTS?
There has been much speculation inrecent weeks that French expressions of concern for Sarajevo's Serbs
were linked to the issue of the two captured pilots. The Daily Telegraph
wrote on 13 December that, in the wake of failed attempts to free the
officers, "as the Bosnian peace talks wound up, Belgrade reminded France
of its historical friendship with Serbs and asked for 'a gesture.' Mr.
[Jacques] Chirac responded by expressing concern that the peace pact did
not protect the Sarajevo Serbs. In return, France expected its pilots'
release. When this did not follow, Mr. Chirac asked Mr. [Slobodan]
Milosevic for their return [by 11 December]." Gen. Jean-Philippe Douin
then "flew to Belgrade to handle the negotiations [and] ended by
drinking plum brandy with Gen. Ratko Mladic." -- Patrick Moore
[3] PARIS DENIES STORY.
International media on 13 December said that the
French defense and foreign ministers denied having made any concessions
to obtain the two men's release. Nasa Borba on 14 December reported that
Mladic wanted to keep the pilots in order to plea bargain with the Hague
war crimes tribunal and gave them up only when Milosevic threatened to
arrest him if he did not. -- Patrick Moore
[4] UN SQUABBLE OVER EASTERN SLAVONIAN FORCE.
A squabble has broken out at
the UN over who should police eastern Slavonia, Western agencies
reported. UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali on 12 December
recommended that 9,300 troops be sent to the region under the auspices
of a multinational force to be attached to the UN NATO-led
Implementation Force (IFOR), Hina reported. This proposal contradicts an
earlier understanding with the Americans that the east Slavonian force
remain a UN operation, and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright
convinced Boutros-Ghali to downgrade the "recommendation" to a
"preference." After the original report was publicly released, Albright
called it "misguided and counterproductive" for the secretary-general to
try to avoid this operation "because of the risk of exacerbating a
negative image of UN activities in the former Yugoslavia." Currently,
1,600 Belgian and Russian peacekeepers serve in eastern Slavonia. --
Michael Mihalka
[5] RUGOVA SAYS KOSOVO WILL BE ON INTERNATIONAL AGENDA.
Following a meeting
with German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel the president of the Kosovar
shadow-state Ibrahim Rugova said that Kosovo will be on the
international agenda once the Dayton peace agreement has been signed. He
said he had been assured of support by Kinkel and previously by the U.S.
government, Nasa Borba reported on 14 December. Kinkel, however, is
quoted as saying that Bonn does not support Kosovo's breaking away from
rump Yugoslavia. Nasa Borba added that Serbian Socialist Party deputy
leader Goran Percevic met with the German parliamentary Foreign Affairs
Committee and that the Kosovo conflict was discussed at the meeting. --
Fabian Schmidt
[6] SERBIAN PARTY BACKS NATO.
Nasa Borba on 13 December reported that New
Democracy supports rump Yugoslavia's membership in NATO's Partnership
for Peace program as a means of integrating the rump Yugoslavia into
Western institutions. Since it was founded in 1990, it has been the only
party in the rump Yugoslavia to have a consistent and "clear pro-
European orientation." ND provides critical backing for the governing
Socialist Party of Serbia in the Serbian republic's legislature, giving
the SPS a de facto majority. A recent spate of remarks by ND member
Dusan Mihajlovic stressing the party's support for PfP may be designed
to support Milosevic's desire to reintegrate the rump Yugoslavia into
the community of nations. -- Stan Markotich
[7] ROMANIAN AIRLINER CRASHES IN ITALY.
A Romanian airliner crashed on 13
December near Verona, killing all 41 passengers and eight crew members
on board, Romanian and international media reported. The Russian-built
Antonov 24 plane caught fire shortly after it crashed about one km
beyond the end of the runway at Villafranca airport. -- Matyas Szabo
[8] ROMANIAN SPOKESMAN ON CONFLICT WITH UKRAINE.
A high official in the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs told a press conference on 13 December that
Romania and Ukraine are not discussing any territorial problems at
present, nor is such a discussion on the agenda. Gabriel Gafita said the
issue of "historical rights" can be approached in contexts other than
that of the bilateral treaty between the two countries. He said the
"discussion on Serpent Island has triggered some emotional reactions"
and that Romania hoped these "would soon be overcome" now that the two
countries' foreign ministers have agreed to work jointly to prepare a
summit meeting between their premiers. -- Michael Shafir
[9] MOLDOVAN STUDENT STRIKE COMMITTEE CONTESTS SUPREME COURT RULING.
Anatol
Petrencu, leader of the Moldovan students' strike committee that
organized street demonstrations earlier this year, told BASA-press on 12
December that the committee contests a recent ruling of the Supreme
Court that the protests were illegal. The court outlawed the protests
because they were held during working hours and blocked traffic on the
main Chisinau streets and because some demonstrators were underage. A
judge at the trial, Petre Raileanu, told BASA-press that the ruling was
final and could not be appealed. -- Michael Shafir
[10] BULGARIAN TRADE UNIONS CLASH WITH GOVERNMENT.
Representatives of the
major trade unions on 13 December walked out of a meeting of the Council
for Trilateral Cooperation, which consists of representatives of the
government, employers, and trade unions, Demokratsiya reported the
following day. Both Podkrepa and the Confederation of Independent Trade
Unions in Bulgaria (KNSB) disagreed with those parts of the state budget
draft for 1996 dealing incomes policy, saying they do not see any chance
to reach an agreement with the government on this question. The
government wants to deduct 2% social insurance contribution from
workers' wages; in the past, employers made all such contributions. The
trade unions object to those plans, arguing they will lead to a fall in
real incomes. -- Stefan Krause
[11] NANO ALLOWED TO ATTEND HIS MOTHER'S FUNERAL.
Imprisoned Albanian
Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano was released from jail for 24 hours on
13 December to attend the funeral of his mother, Reuters reported the
same day. More than 2,500 people were present at the burial of Marije
Nano, with the funeral reportedly turning into a show of support for her
son. President Sali Berisha ordered Nano's release after a court had
rejected his request. Nano was sentenced for misappropriating Italian
aid funds and has three-and-a-half years left to serve, but his guilt is
disputed and the Socialists say he is a political prisoner. Amnesty
International and international parliamentary bodies have called for
Nano's release. -- Fabian Schmidt
[12] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES CUSTOMS UNION WITH TURKEY.
The European
Parliament on 13 December approved the customs union accord between the
EU and Turkey, international media reported. Some 343 deputies voted in
favor of the agreement, 149 against, and 36 abstained. The agreement,
which calls for the removal of tariffs on industrial products and other
impediments to trade between the EU and Turkey, was signed last March
following 20 years of negotiations. It becomes effective on 1 January
1996. The European Parliament initially appeared determined to reject or
delay the deal on the grounds that Turkey's human rights record and
progress toward democratization was insufficient. Its turnaround stems
from the widespread belief that Turkey's pro-Western orientation needs
to be shored up. The deal is accompanied by an aid package worth $1
billion to help protect Turkish producers. -- Lowell Bezanis and Stefan
Krause
[13] REACTIONS TO CUSTOMS UNION VOTE.
Greece expressed its reservations after
the European Parliament's vote. Government spokesman Tilemachos Hytiris
said Turkey will have to prove that it conforms to EU standards, and he
called on the government in Ankara to improve its human rights record.
None of the 24 Greek deputies in the European Parliament voted in favor
of the agreement. The Cypriot government called on Turkey to withdraw
its troops from northern Cyprus. Also on 13 December, some 1,000
Armenians, Cypriots, and Kurds demonstrated outside the EU offices in
Athens to protest the customs union, chanting "Turkey's hands are washed
in blood." -- Stefan Krause
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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