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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 243, 15 December 1995
CONTENTS
[1] SARAJEVO, BELGRADE TO RECOGNIZE EACH OTHER?
[2] IZETBEGOVIC CALLS TREATY "A USEFUL BUT BITTER MEDICINE."
[3] TUDJMAN SAYS "THIS IS A HISTORIC DAY."
[4] SERBIAN PRESIDENT REASSURES SARAJEVO SERBS.
[5] MACEDONIAN NATIONAL BANK PROMISES EASED MONETARY POLICY.
[6] EX-YUGOSLAV ALBANIAN PARTIES CRITICIZE MARGINALIZATION.
[7] HUNGARIAN MINORITY REPRESENTATIVES WALK OUT OF ROMANIAN SENATE.
[8] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES 1996 BUDGET.
[9] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT GOES TO MADRID, PREMIER STAYS HOME.
[10] BULGARIA TO OPEN EMBASSY IN SARAJEVO.
[11] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT ON PARIS PEACE TREATY, KOSOVO.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 243, Part II, 15 December 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] SARAJEVO, BELGRADE TO RECOGNIZE EACH OTHER?
AFP quoted diplomaticsources in Paris as saying that Bosnian Foreign Minister Muhamed
Sacirbey and his rump Yugoslav counterpart, Milan Milutinovic, exchanged
letters of official mutual recognition on 14 December and agreed to
exchange ambassadors within 60 days. Since Serb-dominated Yugoslavia
strongly supported separatist Bosnian Serbs during the war, its
recognition of an independent Bosnian state would affirm the statehood
of Bosnia, as agreed by the peace accord. However, Croatian and rump
Yugoslav mutual recognition has been delayed due to the unsolved issue
of Prevlaka peninsula, Nasa Borba reported on 15 December. Reuters
quoted Milutinovic as saying that Croatia, which allegedly earlier
agreed to exchange Prevlaka for the Dubrovnik hinterland, had broken the
promise but also "accepted rump Yugoslavia as the successor of former
Yugoslavia." But Croatia has repeatedly said that no one state can claim
to be the sole successor and that assets have to be divided fairly. --
Daria Sito Sucic
[2] IZETBEGOVIC CALLS TREATY "A USEFUL BUT BITTER MEDICINE."
BosnianPresident Alija Izetbegovic said in Paris that the Dayton agreement is
far from ideal and is not embraced by his government with enthusiasm. He
added, however, that it was a necessary measure in order to preserve the
unity and territorial integrity of his embattled republic. Nasa Borba on
15 December quoted him as saying that the struggle would now continue by
means of ideas rather than weapons. Izetbegovic promised to cooperate
with the international forces in implementing the treaty and told
Sarajevo's Serbs they should stay and "live in security." -- Patrick
Moore
[3] TUDJMAN SAYS "THIS IS A HISTORIC DAY."
Croatian President Franjo Tudjmantold reporters in Paris that he is "very satisfied" with the Dayton
treaty and with his meetings with his American and French counterparts.
Hina on 14 December reported that he said on his return to Zagreb that
Dayton "means an end to one of the most complex and most tragic wars
[and] crises." Earlier at the signing ceremony he recalled the
weaknesses of communist Yugoslavia and how these led to Serbia's attacks
on Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia. Tudjman also noted that Croatia "is
historically and geopolitically most closely linked to Bosnia-
Herzegovina." Nasa Borba on 15 December also quoted him as saying that
there will be no lasting peace until Croatia's occupied territories are
reintegrated. Meanwhile, the Association of Croatian Displaced Persons
issued a statement carried by Hina on 14 December calling for quicker
measures to restore normal life to the territories already taken back
this year. -- Patrick Moore
[4] SERBIAN PRESIDENT REASSURES SARAJEVO SERBS.
Slobodan Milosevic, speaking
on Television Serbia on 14 December after the signing of the peace
accord--reassured Bosnian Serbs that no harm will come to them. "Room
for fears or worries does not exist," he said. While suggesting that
Sarajevo's Serbs may have legitimate concerns about life under Bosnian
government jurisdiction, he said "I am sure that any legitimate concerns
of the citizens of Serbian Sarajevo can be solved . . . with the
engagement of the international community, including, of course, [rump]
Yugoslavia." In a related story, Politika on 15 December reported that
Milosevic's ruling Socialist Party of Serbia has greeted the signing of
the peace in Paris by declaring "peace has emerged victorious." -- Stan
Markotich
[5] MACEDONIAN NATIONAL BANK PROMISES EASED MONETARY POLICY.
Addressing a
gathering of banking and insurance officials, Macedonian National Bank
Vice President Gligor Bisev promised that a recent easing of monetary
policy will continue through 1996, Nova Makedonija reported on 14
December. This will lead to increased bank financing for productive
investment. He predicted that retail price inflation in 1995 would be
6%, that social product would increase by 1.5%, and that the money
supply would grow by 12.5%. -- Michael Wyzan
[6] EX-YUGOSLAV ALBANIAN PARTIES CRITICIZE MARGINALIZATION.
The Council of
Albanian Political Parties in the former Yugoslavia has issued a
statement criticizing the "marginalization" of the Kosovo conflict by
the Paris conference. The parties said the conference only "pretends to
bring peace to the former Yugoslavia," noting that "without a just
solution to the Kosovo question and the problem of Albanians in the
entire former Yugoslavia, it will not be possible to overcome the Balkan
crisis and prevent future conflicts," BETA reported on 14 December. --
Fabian Schmidt
[7] HUNGARIAN MINORITY REPRESENTATIVES WALK OUT OF ROMANIAN SENATE.
Senators
representing the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR)
walked out of a debate on amending the law on local government, Romanian
media reported on 14-15 December. The UDMR senators objected to a
provision in the new law obligating members of national minorities to
submit a notarized translation in the Romanian language when they write
to local government authorities. The stipulation applies even in
localities where there is a majority of non-Romanian ethnics and where
local councils have no Romanian ethnic members. Two senators
representing the Party of Social Democracy in Romania claimed the UDMR
wished to bring about chaos in the country. When UDMR chairman Bela
Marko called the allegation a "chauvinist-nationalist instigation," he
was asked by the session's chairman to withdraw the remarks. In protest,
the UDMR walked out. -- Michael Shafir
[8] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES 1996 BUDGET.
The Moldovan parliament
approved the law on the 1996 state budget by a vote of 66 to 12, Infotag
reported on 14 December. The budget provides for a deficit amounting to
3.4% of GDP. Finance Minister Valeriu Chitan told Infotag that it is
assumed that the annual rate of inflation will be 10% in 1996. --
Michael Shafir
[9] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT GOES TO MADRID, PREMIER STAYS HOME.
Zhelyu Zhelev
will fly to Spain on 15 December to attend the EU summit in Madrid,
while Zhan Videnov will stay in Sofia, Bulgarian newspapers reported.
Videnov was to have headed the Bulgarian delegation, which will submit
Bulgaria's application for full EU membership. On 14 December, the
cabinet decided that the government delegation will be led by Foreign
Minister Georgi Pirinski. Videnov's participation in the parliamentary
debate on the 1996 state budget was given as the official reason, but
the fact that Pirinski rather than Zhelev will submit the application is
widely seen as a deliberate affront to the president. Videnov and Zhelev
have repeatedly clashed on a number of issues. Their strained relations
are indicated by the fact that the two were scheduled to fly to Madrid
on separate planes, 24 chasa reported on 14 December. -- Stefan Krause
[10] BULGARIA TO OPEN EMBASSY IN SARAJEVO.
First Deputy Foreign Minister
Stefan Staykov on 14 December announced that the government has decided
to open an embassy in Sarajevo, Reuters reported the same day. The
embassy will temporarily be headed by an acting ambassador, Staykov
said. The government also decided to reopen Bulgaria's trade mission in
Belgrade. This decision comes in the wake of the lifting of UN sanctions
against rump Yugoslavia and a visit by Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Trade Kiril Tsochev to Belgrade (see OMRI Daily Digest, 12
December 1995). -- Stefan Krause
[11] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT ON PARIS PEACE TREATY, KOSOVO.
Sali Berisha has
praised the Paris peace treaty as an historic achievement, Reuters
reported on 14 December. But at the same time he noted that the
agreement "constitutes a call to the international community to solve .
. . the Kosovo issue, which is the sharpest and most important." The
Kosovo conflict is not mentioned in the peace accord, but the UN
security council will maintain an "outer wall" of sanctions until the
rump Yugoslavia addresses the Kosovo conflict and cooperates with the
War Crimes Tribunal. These sanctions include rump-Yugoslavia's admission
to international political and financial institutions. Berisha has
proposed direct talks between Belgrade and Kosovar shadow-state
President Ibrahim Rugova under mediation of the U.S. -- Fabian Schmidt
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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